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…

Turkey's Chief Rabbi Ishak Haleva (C) is accompanied by ...

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…

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The Decade in 7 Minutes and a Friday video selection from Erkan

The Decade in 7 Minutes:

I?ve Got Nothing: Crowdsourced Song Created by YouTubers [VIDEO]

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The Republic is 86

Instead of self-congratulations here how we stand at our human rights record:

Turkey’s dirty stories on display – Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review

Turkey

Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
October 26, 2009

The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and other laws and policies contributed to the generally free practice of religion; however, constitutional provisions regarding the integrity and existence of the secular state restrict these rights.
The Government generally respected religious freedom in practice. There was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom by the Government during the reporting period. The Government continued to impose limitations on Islamic and other religious groups and significant restrictions on Islamic religious expression in government offices and state-run institutions, including universities, for the stated reason of preserving the “secular state.” Authorities continued their broad ban on wearing Islamic religious headscarves in government offices as well as public schools. The Government also continued to oppose “Islamic extremism.” Religious minorities said they were effectively blocked from careers in state institutions because of their faith. Minority religious groups also faced difficulties in worshipping, registering with the Government, and training their followers. Although religious speech and persuasion is legal, some Muslims, Christians, and Baha’is faced some restrictions and occasional harassment for alleged proselytizing.

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Hülya Avşar and Ceylan Önkol; ending up in the same, Kurdish narrative…

Hülya Avşar
Hülya Avşar

After some disappointing and unnecessary remarks, a popular culture icon, Hülya Avşar was interviewed in Milliyet and this ended up with an investigation.

Challenge for Infamous Prosecutor: BIA Quotes Avşar Interview
Bakırköy Public Prosecutor Ali Çakır’s investigation against Hülya Avşar and Devrim Sevimay has nothing to do with “justice”. This abuse of public power under the pretense of the “Kurdish Initiative” is nothing else but mobbing against the two women. We are protesting.

In the mean time, a scandal might be developing:

A Facebook group accusing military forces in the local area

“The family of a girl killed by a mortar shell fired from an unknown location overlooking the village of Şenlik in Diyarbakır province has asked how it can request an investigation into her death when there are no state authorities in the area…VIA

Diyarbakır Chief Prosecutor Durdu Kavak has said that two bomb experts are conducting an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Ceylan Önkol in the village of Şenlik in Diyarbakır province following her family’s allegations that there were no state authorities in the area to provide assistance. VIA

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Chatting about Kurdish initiative?

Obama and Erdogan chat at G20 meeting. This photo hit the first pages of many Turkish dailies today...
Obama and Erdogan chat at G20 meeting. This photo hit the first pages of many Turkish dailies today...

The rumor is that they talk about the Kurdish initiative…

Nimet Çubukçu (Minister of Education)
Nimet Çubukçu (Minister of Education)

Mrs. Çubukçu, the new minister, started new school year with a course on “discrimination”. A great symbolic move.

In the mean time,

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