Oath-taking standoff over, charter is next from Hurriyet Dailynews by ANKARA- Hürriyet Daily News Parliament gears up to discuss a new constitution after opposition deputies reach agreement with the ruling party and take the oath of office We have agreed with Turkish officials to form peace council: Öcalan from Hurriyet Dailynews by ISTANBUL – Radikal … Read more
Even the main opposition accepts that AKP will lead the elections. The bets are on how much vote it will get… AKP’s current arrogancy is probably due to its being without any substantive alternatives…. Turkey’s general elections to be held on June 12 from Hurriyet Dailynews by ANKARA Daily News Parliament Bureau Parliament approved … Read more
However it gets complicated. If there isn’t hard evidence, and there is a growing anxiety over the evidence issue, then it is impossible to support this raid. This is despite the fact that I have no sympathy for Soner Yalçın and his gang at Oda.TV, an influential website with idiosyncratic left leanings, anti-AKP and pro-Ergenekon … Read more
To the list below, you can also add Erkan’s Field Diary. Anyone to contribute? 🙂 Dear jammers, creatives, revolutionaries, #HUFFPUFF has touched a nerve. Now, a firestorm is developing as writers, readers and publishers of indie media are rallying to huff and puff Arianna’s AOL merger into the ground. Media activists, this is our chance … Read more
Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan inspects a guard of honour during a welcome ceremony in Kiev January 25, 2011.? Read more » REUTERS/Gleb Garanich Turkish PM says stress causes harsh rhetoric from Hurriyet Dailynews Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said that recent comments he made regarding Turkish alcohol consumption arose out of a … Read more
Erdoğan, BDP and bilingualism by FATMA DİŞLİ ZIBAK The bilingual debate recently sparked by the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) has expanded, with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan now weighing in. After remaining silent for a time, Erdoğan has now strongly rejected opening the language issue to debate, saying that Turkey has only one … Read more
Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan gives a speech during an Ashura procession in Istanbul December 16, 2010. Thousands of Shi’ite Muslims gathered in Istanbul’s Halkali district to commemorate the Ashura, where Shi’ite mourners beat themselves with steel-tipped flails or slash their bodies with knives to mark the death anniversary of Imam Hussein, a grandson of … Read more
Meeting with Öcalan?s lawyers? from Today’s Zaman, your gateway to Turkish daily news :: Columnists by HÜSEYİN GÜLERCE Last Sunday, I had a meeting with jailed leader of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers? Party (PKK) Abdullah Öcalan?s lawyers in Yalova. Öcalan?s lawyers have been meeting with many writers for two years. PKK leader hints at alliance … Read more
The Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors of Turkey (HSYK) had just ripped of a key special Prosecutor’s judicial authority who decreed the arrest of a Prosecutor related to Ergenekon case. HSYK had been effective in obstructing judicial investigations against the military tutelage.
Venice Commission secretary slams HSYK, urges judicial reform
A nearly 12 square meter room for Abdullah Öcalan, imprisoned PKK leader, caused uproar among PKK members. Ministry of Justice yesterday released photos of Öcalan’s cell which is nearly 1 m2 smaller than the previous one. More photos here.
Pro-PKK Kurds used Öcalan’s cell as a pretext to celebrate the anniversary of PKK’s establishment. There were riots in many cities and I provide some photos below. My first reaction is that this is a case of habitus. PKK members does not know any other way to continue. After 3 decades of fighting, Kurdish question has come to a new and positive level and with major parts’ contribution, we might witness historical moments. However, PKK reactions mostly serve Turkish nationalists…I do not claim AKP does all good but I am not sure if pro-PKK Kurds help the process at all.. but let me not forget to add. This is a friend’s idea. There are nearly no PKK leaders who can really handle the process. Most of reasonable PKK leaders like Musa Anter were assassinated by either hawkish Kurds or the State apparatus and now we have a different sort of leadership problem…
AFP: Turkey defends prison conditions of Kurdish leader
In a move likely to block the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government?s Kurdish initiative, which aims to expand the rights of the country?s Kurds, sympathizers of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers? Party (PKK) and the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) are taking to the streets and resorting to violence in the cities.
