Two politically/socially concerned TV series ceased to be broadcasted due to rating issues. Bu Kalp Seni Unutur mu had focused on left politics and coup d’etat years of late 70s while Kasaba focused on an Alevite minority. More in Turkish here.
Turkish women
International Women’s Day celebrated
More celebration photos here. Rights activist İlkkaracan: Turkey needs urgent initiative on gender equality by YONCA POYRAZ DOĞAN Activist and researcher Pınar İlkkaracan has said Turkey needs to work harder in order to reverse some downward trends in women’s participation in public life, and for that to happen it should start an initiative, complete with … Read more
Turkey: The 4th laziest country according to the Daily Beast
Turkey: The 4th laziest country. In terms sporting practices, she is the number one though! According to the Daily Beast. Check out the laziest countries there. In the mean time, Hürriyet says Turkish women are no more scared and more call 183 to ask for help against domestic violence. Turkish Media Says Court Sentences Turkcell … Read more
Enver Aydemir still needs our attention and Hrant Dink case, too
Disciplinary Fine for Detained Conscientious Objector Aydemir from Bianet :: English The Eskişehir Military Court imposed a one-month disciplinary fine on conscientious objector Enver Aydemir because of his refusal to wear prison clothes and disobedience of orders. Aydemir is not allowed for one month to see anybody else but his lawyer. Police forget to bring … Read more
“Details of honor killing shocks Turkey” (UPI)
The hole where Medine Memi was buried by her relatives in the courtyard of their house in Adiyaman, southeastern Turkey, February 4, 2010. Memi, a 16-year-old girl, was buried alive by relatives in southeastern Turkey in a gruesome honor killing carried out because she reportedly befriended boys, the Anatolia news agency reported Thursday. REUTERS/Tevfik Parlak/Anatolian
Details of honor killing shocks Turkey (UPI)
from Yahoo news
ISTANBUL, Turkey, Feb. 5 (UPI) — The father and grandfather of a teenage girl buried alive for talking to boys have been arrested and are being held for trial, authorities in Turkey say.
R.I.P. for an exceptional Turk, Şakir Eczacıbaşı.
Among the rich families of Turkey Eczacıbaşı family is exceptional. No other families can challenge Eczacıbaşı in the amount of investment in arts and cultural fields. But not only in terms of investment, this family is exceptionally urban, modern and politically liberal in their reactions and positionings. One of their leading members, Şakir Eczacıbaşı, passed … Read more
GA, GI, GU
According to a Hürriyet news, Diyarbakır Police Department, who issues car licence plates, is having a problem with GA, GI and GU letters. Because GA means “ox”, GU means “shit” in Kurdish. And finally, GU means “shit” again in the local Zaza accent…
Haleva (C) is accompanied by Beyoglu district Mayor Ahmet Misbah Demircan (R) as they walk together with residents during a commemoration near the Neve Shalom synagogue in Istanbul, November 15, 2009. Relatives and friends gathered at a peace monument near the Neve Shalom synagogue to mark the sixth anniversary of the Al Qaeda-linked twin suicide car bomb attacks against the city’s two main synagogues. Neve Shalom and Beit Israel synagogues had been devastated in twin suicide car bomb attacks on November 15, 2003, killing around 30 people including Jewish people praying as well as Muslim passersby.REUTERS/Murad Sezer
and a few more from the Turkish society…
No sense of humor, for sure…
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
Social fabric roundup
trilemma: rotten, soldier, objector
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
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:
[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.
A keen observer of state of Turkish women, Jenny White writes:
Women and Work: Some Reflections On The Numbers
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….
"Polls near, status quo anticipated
An official video by Higher Election Council that teaches how to vote (In Turkish)
Mustafa Akyol on Anti-Semitism In Turkey
Mr. Akyol wrote two columns on Anti-Semitism in Turkey recently. There are also other features related to Turkish society.. Have a look…