Turkish Society Archives - Page 126 of 127

Swine flu panic in Turkey

November 5, 2009 by erkan

last updated: 17 Nov 2009: 21:00

(Just heard that thousands of Turks already had swine flu and got over it. Met a friend yesterday who had recovered. Another TA friends is quarantine now but no body in panic really. She is treated, and she will be fine)

I did not have a single moment of panic, I declare. I do not know why. I was more worried with crimean congo hemorrhagic fever or bird flu. However, there is a low level panic feeling about swine flu now here in Istanbul, too. What is promising is that many ordinary people are in fact following authorities and try to take measures as much as they could. They are not fatalistic and they sure are not as indifferent as I am.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Miliband (L) reacts as he answers a question about H1N1 flu shots during a joint news conference with Turkey’s Minister for EU Affairs and Chief EU Negotiator Egemen Bagis in Istanbul November 4, 2009.REUTERS/Murad Sezer

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Political street-art

November 3, 2009 by erkan

Political streetartings from various cities of Turkey

istanbul 2010 kültür sanat başkenti

silahsız

Christian finishes his Eastern Anatolia trip…

October 28, 2009 by erkan

A dear friend of me and Erkan’s Field Diary, Christian Runkel was on a special Eastern Anatolia tour and he has so far reported from Batman and Van and Mardin and from Mardin to Midyat and then moved to The City of Abraham (Şanlıurfa) and wrote about Green Democracy there. Giza Pyramids in the Alps

No sense of humor, for sure…

October 24, 2009 by erkan

Jenny White points out a good case. Whatever happens in the political-legal side, a sort of social conservatism continues to rule…. I heard about this ad campaign’s destiny just last night and then I see Jenny’s piece…

The Country of No

by Jenny White

No sense of humor. No humans with animal heads.

A recent ad campaign depicting human bodies with animal heads has caused protests from different groups around Turkey. In Eskisehir, protesters accused the ads of ?insulting Turkishness? and managed to suspend them from being displayed on city billboards.It began when animal-headed humans appeared on billboards a few weeks ago asking consumers if they were ?fool enough? to pay too much for a product. The ads featured a goose, a cow, a carp and a sheep, each chosen for its implication of foolishness…………….

Photo from Hurriyet

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Social fabric roundup

October 17, 2009 by erkan

trilemma: rotten, soldier, objector

çürüğüm-askerim-reddediyorum

A documentary from Turkey examining how gays and the Turkish military view each other in a complex and changing society in which military service is considered a rite of passage for every man. The Turkish army regards gays as sick or diseased and issue medical exemption reports to gays known as ?rotten? reports. Gays have to decide whether to try to get such a report, do their military service, or become conscientious objectors.

LINKS to DOWNLOAD HERE.

Turkey and human rights – Some progress and many setbacks

October 8, 2009 by erkan

I am still optimistic, still, really. But there are not all good news here.
In the mean time: a first case. a policeman arrested because of assault to a young citizen:

Police Officer Arrested After Attacking Student

Efkan Bolaç, lawyer of the severely beaten student Güney Tuna, stated that 8 police officers were involved in the assault on her client: “Tuna was not …
PM Erdoğan’s speech at his party convention was discursively promising:

This Star daily headline underlines the fact that PM Erdoğan named political outsiders of Republican history from a wide range of political opposition.

[CROSS READER] Democratic initiative leaves its mark on AK Party congress

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) held its third ordinary party congress on Saturday at the ASKİ Sports Hall in Ankara.

State of Turkish women; surveys, stats etc.

September 18, 2009 by erkan

A keen observer of state of Turkish women, Jenny White writes:

Women and Work: Some Reflections On The Numbers

by Jenny White

The World Bank together with the Turkish State Planning Organization are about to release a report on the status of women’s work in Turkey. A preview: 3 of 4 Turkish women neither work at paid employment nor are looking for work. Turkey has a 22 % female labor participation rate, compared to 62% average in OECD countries and 33% in developing countries).

Turkey’s Oguz Savas (L) Engin Atsur and Omer Asik (R) look on after losing their FIBA EuroBasket 2009 quarter-final basketball game against Greece in Katowice September 18, 2009. REUTERS/Ivan Milutinovic

After football, Turkish dreams shattered in basketball, too….

As Erkan arrives Istanbul, an overview of Turkish agenda

September 17, 2009 by erkan

One of the murder stories I have read about throughout the summer reaches at a new level:

Karabulut murder suspect surrenders to police

Dear Prof. Jenny White emphasizes a study on the political identities of Turkish youth. A vital issue to think about.

Political Identities of Turkish Youth

from Kamil Pasha by Jenny White

I was very intrigued by Professor Selçuk Sirin’s study of political identities of Turkish youth but wanted more information than given in the press and the interview linked to in my previous post. Unable to find the original study on the web, I contacted Professor Sirin at New York University and he kindly sent me a summary of the results (presumably what had been released to the media). (21 pp in Turkish, click here sirin-basin-raporu.doc to download. For non-Turkish speakers, there are many clear pie charts, some of which I discuss below) Professor Sirin said he is still working through the rest of the data.

Relatively good news:

An anectode from the Victory Day celebration while 12 Days left…

September 5, 2009 by erkan

It is unbelievable but I have only 12 days left here. I do not have any night duties any more and thus I can sleep more and there is less physical work to do. I will probably be more online by next week. Last weekend there was the Victory Day celebrations and we were not … Read more

"Polls near, status quo anticipated

March 23, 2009 by erkan

An official video by Higher Election Council that teaches how to vote (In Turkish)

"Armed" high school kids; 1 in 10 in Turkey

March 4, 2009 by erkan

This is a survey result by a parliamentary commission. Knives or razor blades are accepted to be weapons though. Still, 6 % carry guns (!) Hmmm, "Among those asked" approach may not yield accurate results at all. Turks learn to boast in young ages. "I carry a gun" does not mean he really carries a gun…

Weapons ‘rife in Turkish schools’

More than one in 10 Turkish children takes a weapon to school, according to a survey by a parliamentary commission.

However, this still means something negative of course. Boasting about being armed… There follows some other survey results. Not a very positive social scene we have…

In 2007,

by the second day at 15:00,
1529 persons stabbed themselves or were attacked by the animals that were to be sacrificed. (Source here) Two died of heart attacks during the act of amateur butchery.
Here are the previous results: 2005 and 2006

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Jenny White points out a good case. Whatever happens in the political-legal side, a sort of social conservatism continues to rule…. I heard about this ad campaign’s destiny just last night and then I see Jenny’s piece…

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trilemma: rotten, soldier, objector

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A keen observer of state of Turkish women, Jenny White writes:

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However, this still means something negative of course. Boasting about being armed… There follows some other survey results. Not a very positive social scene we have…

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