Ergenekon Case

Here comes the pain- Ergenekon gang receives a serious blow in the 10th wave of arrests…

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Police just retrieved buried weapons in a field in Gölbaşı, Ankara after finding a map in İbrahim Şahin’s house. Mr. Şahin had been a police special force chief. He was also tried in Susurluk trial but he "lost memory" then and he did not talk….

 

 

Weapons strengthen argument that Ergenekon is armed gang

The fact that countless amounts of weapons, including 73 hand grenades, numerous guns and rifles along with Kalashnikov and Kanas firearms, have been found up to this point during raids as part of the ongoing investigation into Ergenekon, a shady network of groups and individuals accused of plotting to overthrow the government, strengthens the accusations that the gang has engaged in armed activities and assassinations.

 

Ret. generals, academics, journalists detained in Turkey’s Ergenekon

Turkish police have detained around 30 people on Wednesday in the latest investigation and detainment wave in the controversial Ergenekon case. There are three retired generals, two academic and a journalist are among those who are taken into custody.

 

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"Religious Kurds become key vote in Turkey

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'bi xêr hati

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‘bi xêr hati | Welcome

By Mavi Boncuk

Prime minister R. T. Erdogan’s welcoming remarks for the TRT 24 hour Kurdish language TV channel 6 "TRT 6 hayırlı olsun" in Kurdish made the headlines of Turkish dailies with a variety of transliterations. Almost all of them wrong. The funniest came from Aydin Dogan’s Hurriyet and Milliyet by completely reversing the message and not welcoming it by using the word Bê’ in the wrong order. They all should have said “TRT Şeş li ser xêrê be” and to this Mavi Boncuk says ‘bi xêr hati | Hosgeldiniz | Welcome"
Headlines from Turkish dailies:

[There might be a Freudian slip- Milliyet and Hürriyet’s real intention is probably not to welcome it…]

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"TESEV Kurdish Report

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"Dimensions grow in Ergenekon case

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"Ergenekon case is more important than elections

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"The old Erdoğan versus the new Erdoğan

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"Reform Stalls, and Liberals Can No Longer Hold Their Fire

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"Altan Tan: Kurds? love affair with AK Party ending

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If only there were more Greeks and Armenians…

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 … Turkey would be a better country to live. Maybe we wouldn’t have to put up with some rulers whose only skill in life is to be born as a Turk…

 

Murdered journalist’s son condemns minister

ISTANBUL – Arat Dink and the defense minister both agree that the population exchanges involving thousands of Turks, Greeks and Armenians are what made the country what it is today. The disagreement is on the nature of the consequences."

Gönül blunders in remark on history

ANKARA – With remarks in honor of Atatürk, the ruling AKP’s defense minister recalls the population exchanges between Greece and Turkey after World War I, attracting criticism for his nationalist language and the drift toward pro-state stances."

 

In the mean time, 

 
Ara Kocunyan, chief editor of the Armenian daily newspaper Jamanak, ...

Ara Kocunyan, chief editor of the Armenian daily newspaper Jamanak, poses for a photo at a printing house in Istanbul, in October. Jamanak, the oldest Armenian newspaper in operation in Turkey, celebrates this fall a hundred years of existence beaten by the undertow of an often tragic history.(AFP/File/Mustafa Ozer)

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For a few more municipalities…

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PM Erdoğan gone crazy. His latest statements are unbelievable. He has explicitly supported citizens’ use of weapons against protesters. He is riding on the nationalistic discourse even MHP does not use any more: Love or Leave… We will see what this will lead to. I am afraid that AKP now alienates most of Kurds. Mr. Erdoğan believes he has already secured more pious, traditional Kurds but he seems to ignore that religious Kurds are not like religious Turks. Every Kurd I know that does not support PKK still have a nationalistic consciousness. They voted for AKP because they thought this party was the only one that could embrace them. Now it seems this may not be the case. AKP might witness a big time disappointment in the region…

http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/_np/0874/6760874.jpgPrime Minister along with some other ministers… 

In the mean time, militaristic propaganda knows no boundaries in major Turkish TV channels. Those respected anchormen/journalists like Uğur Dündar and Mehmet Ali Birand have spent considerable amount of prime time coverage from commando education centers this week! Just watch the prime time news, you will see what I mean.  This week most of the members of Turkish government got briefed at the commando center!

No, the Prime Minister would not have said such a thing

Mehmet Ali Birand

PM accuses intellectuals of cultural erosion, forgets about Üzmez

The prime minister yesterday accused the country’s intellectuals for the erosion of the concept of family in society, but remained tight-lipped on the much-criticized sexual harassment

Oktay Eksi: Quo vadis Turkey?

Where are we heading towards? We need to confess that we feel a sense of fear when we look at the prime minister’s recent remarks and attitudes that support our previous concerns which have been raised in this column on related issue."

 

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AKP uses the Establishment language against DTP

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and pro-AKP columnists act accordingly… Many of the columns I quote shape their writings according to AKP’s new policy against  Kurds. As PM Erdoğan feels he has the support of establishment, he doesn’t bother himself finding a new political language in approaching Kurds. In the old times, his party would have relied on more sophisticated and concerned election strategies….

 
Turkish riot police use tear gas to disperse Kurdish protesters ...

Turkish riot police use tear gas to disperse Kurdish protesters during an unauthorized demonstration in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2008. Protests and violence erupted across southeastern Turkey on Saturday as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the area, a hotbed of Kurdish rebel sentiment. An explosion at offices of Erdogan’s party in the area injured six people, authorities said.

(AP Photo/Ibrahim Usta)

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"New equation on the ?Kurdish Issue?….

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New equation on the ‘Kurdish Issue’ by MÜMTAZ’ER TÜRKÖNE

The Kurdish issue — the country’s biggest problem — is now entering a very different stage. Both sides of the issue have come to the fore. On one side is the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Democratic Society Party (DTP).

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"AKP?s Paternalism And Hierarchy, Not Conservatism, Is The Problem

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Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (R) is accompanied ...

Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (R) is accompanied by top military officials as he attends an official ceremony to mark the 85th anniversary of Republic Day at the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of secular Turkey, in Ankara October 29, 2008. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY)

 

AKP’s Paternalism And Hierarchy, Not Conservatism, Is The Problem

By Jenny White on Erik Zurcher

Turkey needs an urban, secular and liberal political movement that can successfully utilize the inherent potential of society to complete the modernization process while addressing the Kurdish and secularist-anti-secularist clash, according to Dutch historian and Turkey expert Erik Jan Zürcher.

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"I?m scared Ergenekon will turn out like Şemdinli

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Ergenekon trial will continue tomorrow. Not much expected from tomorrow’s session.  There is a round up on Ergenekon trial here. Then there is another set of round up on Constitutional Court’s decisions that were released last week. Finally another set of round up on DTP leader’s last week statements and Kurdish issue in general…

I’m scared Ergenekon will turn out like Şemdinli

By NURİYE AKMAN on Interviews

The Ergenekon trial began last week. There is an expectation that some circles will try to sabotage the trial and dilute the facts. Propounding the views of those who oppose the trial prosecutors is also being seen as part of this plan.

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