So far excluded but… “Turkey cannot be excluded from Mosul operation: Erdoğan”

Turkey cannot be excluded from Mosul operation: Erdoğan Ankara cannot be excluded from the operation launched to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Oct. 17 PM Yıldırım says Turkey joined air strikes in Mosul operation Turkey has joined air strikes by … Read more

A poll sums it all: ” Turks somehow liberal on rhetoric but not in practice”

Poll: Turks somehow liberal on rhetoric but not in practice “We came up with a set of questions related to liberal values and tried to figure out whether Turkey is indeed, as some outsiders might perceive, a country devoid of liberalism, or whether liberal and democratic values have in fact taken root in Turkish society,” writes … Read more

Cyberculture agenda: Will be hard to find a cooler President: “Joi Ito interviews Barack Obama for Wired: machine learning, neurodiversity, basic research and Star Trek

Joi Ito interviews Barack Obama for Wired: machine learning, neurodiversity, basic research and Star Trek Boing Boing Joi Ito (previously) — director of MIT Media Lab, former Creative Commons chief, investor, entrepreneur, and happy mutant — interviewed Barack Obama for a special, Obama-edited issue of Wired   Google Warns More Than a Dozen Russian Journalists and Activists … Read more

Erdoğan insisted on the Bashiqa base, “Turkey-backed Syrian rebel forces attack ISIL’s Dabiq…

Bashiqa base in northern Iraq will remain: President Erdoğan President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Oct. 15 that Turkey’s presence in the Bashiqa military base in northern Iraq will remain, amid the ongoing row with Baghdad, which has demanded the immediate withdrawal of the Turkish military from the camp Turkey-backed Syrian rebel forces attack ISIL’s Dabiq Turkey-backed … Read more

Journalism agenda: New PEW research- Younger adults prefer to get their news in text, not video,

Younger adults prefer to get their news in text, not video, according to new data from Pew Research Nieman Journalism Lab by Ricardo Bilton Digital publishers may be pouring time and energy into cranking up their video operations, but for a lot of their potential viewers, text is still the way to go. New data from … Read more

Bashiqa camp crisis. Erdogan, whose soldiers remain in Iraqi soil, rejects moving them and tells Iraq PM to ‘know his limits’

Backed by Putin, Turkey seems to have started a new crisis that will weaken relations with US. I am not sure too much reliance on Russia is a good thing. OR this is just another stunt for the domestic audiences… Erdogan tells Iraq PM to ‘know his limits’, says will not get orders on Bashiqa … Read more

Buddies again. Putin meets Erdoğan in Istanbul Energy Summit…

Putin in Turkey to push energy deals  EurActiv.com by Georgi Gotev Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Turkey today (10 October) for talks with counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, pushing forward ambitious joint energy projects as the two sides try to overcome a crisis in ties. Three Turkish diplomats seeking asylum in Germany after coup attempt: Report At least … Read more

Thank you @fcstpauli_EN for Solidarity with Naki, a “footballer faces up to five years for ‘PKK propaganda’ on Twitter”

Footballer faces up to five years for ‘PKK propaganda’ on Twitter A Turkish third-tier footballer playing in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır faces up to five years in prison for seven social media posts that prosecutors have said constitute “terrorist propaganda.” ‘What about our human rights?’: Kurds feel force of Turkey’s crackdown theguardian.com – Constanze Letsch … Read more

US 9/11 bill might have angered Erdoğan as much as Saudis as he calls on Muslim countries to united against it…

Erdoğan calls on Muslim countries to unite against US 9/11 bill Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Oct. 2 urged Islamic nations to unite in solidarity against a newly passed bill in the U.S. that allows families of the victims of the 9/11 attacks to sue Saudi Arabia for their losses. Erdoğan sends strong messages to EU, … Read more

Only a few, literally, critical legacy media outlet remains in Turkey after the last raids…

I guess, Cumhuriyet, Sözcü, Halk TV are the only few media outlets that remain to be classified as critical of government… Hayatın Sesi TV Sealed Bianet :: English Regie room of Hayatın Sesi TV has been sealed, its Youtube broadcast shut down. Continuing its broadcasting on social media, channel staff said “We are here and not … Read more

Antiques Festival in Taksim Square (to boost declining Taksim area popularity)- Istanbul news roundup…

Antiques Festival to Begin on Taksim Square Still Under Construction Bianet :: English Beyoğlu Municipality has initiated a series of festivals which will continue for 50 days. The events aim at reviving İstanbul’s Beyoğlu district which has become dull and empty following the bombing and the coup attempt. However, not even the construction of Taksim Square, … Read more

For the record, despite his “insulting poetry” Boris Johnson had a good time in Turkey.

Boris Johnson lauds his Turkish washing machine on first visit to Ankara World news: Turkey | guardian.co.uk British foreign secretary displays raffish style during first official trip since writing a poem about the Turkish president having sex with a goat Boris Johnson seeks to mend fences in talks with Turkish leadership  World news: Turkey | guardian.co.uk by … Read more

Turkey denied entry to Lagendijk, who was one of the permanent advocate of Turkey’s EU candidacy…

Dutch politician, columnist Joost Lagendijk denied entry to Turkey Joost Lagendijk, the former co-chair of the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee and Today’s Zaman columnist, was denied entry to Turkey on Sept. 25 after his flight from the Netherlands landed at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport In other news: Turkish markets, lira seeking recovery after Moody’s rating cut Turkey’s … Read more

Turkish experts finally resolved the controversy around Gollum (!)

Gollum Was a Victim, say Experts in Erdoğan Defamation Case  Bianet :: English Experts in the defamation case launched against Dr. Bilgin Çiftçi for juxtaposing photographs of President Erdoğan and Gollum have said that the Lord of the Rings character was oppressed, and not a bad individual. Gollum ‘not evil’ say Turkish experts, over Erdogan comparison … Read more

Despite Turkey’s objections Moody’s downgrades Turkey’s sovereign debt rating to ‘junk’ level….

Turkish officials criticize Moody’s cut Turkey’s credit rating to ‘junk’ level Senior Turkish officials have criticized the cut to Turkey’s sovereign credit rating by ratings agency Moody’s, claiming that the move is “biased” and does not reflect the realities of Turkey’s macro indicators Moody’s downgrades Turkey’s sovereign debt rating to ‘junk’ level Moody’s cut Turkey’s sovereign debt … Read more