A social fabric roundup: “One-third of Turks are poor or needy: Ministry?s report

One-third of Turks are poor or needy: Ministry?s report Nearly one-third of Turkish people, 23.6 million, are poor or needy *********** Behind the facade of Turkey?s recent economic growth Numbers do not lie, but they do deceive. Turkey?s GDP has more than doubled in the last decade, the International Monetary Fund expects the Turkish economy … Read more

According to tabsir.net “the winner is ? Islamophobia [Argo]

And the winner is ? Islamophobia from tabsir.net by tabsir The moral ambiguity of Homeland or Argo is a fitting tribute to the reality of US Middle East policy by Rachel Shabi, The Guardian, Monday 14 January 2013 Bigelow: “I’m a pacifist,” so your “Zero Dark Thirty” criticisms are invalid from Boing Boing by Xeni … Read more

A social fabric roundup: from the Guardian archive- A visit to a Turkish harem, Illegal Procedures in abortion cases…

A visit to a Turkish harem: from the Guardian archive, 18 January 1843 from World news: Turkey | guardian.co.uk The Countess of Grosvenor describes her visit to a harem – but does not find much to recommend in the lifestyle of its women At ten a.m. Mme. Macrioniti, the wife of an Armenian merchant, came … Read more

AKP leaders’ conservative assault on public continues with the polemic over ‘vagina’. A social roundup…

Deputy PM argues with opposition deputy over the word ‘vagina’ from Hurriyet Daily News Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç has stirred controversy in the Turkish Parliament…   Turkey’s PM Attacks Popular TV Show from Yahoo news Turkey is witnessing something of a battle royal. The country?s most popular soap television series, “Magnificent Century,” is about … Read more

Turkey’s Culture War on media products continue…New target: The Simpsons

  The Simpsons? fine is to protect children, not God, Turkish TV authority says from Hurriyet Daily News Fining the private broadcaster that aired an episode. Turkish TV channel fined for airing ‘insulting’ episode of The Simpsons from World news: Turkey | guardian.co.uk Watchdog says private broadcaster CNBC-e insulted religious values after show featured God … Read more

Ece Algan on the latest TV series crisis, Kamil Pasha on Turkish grade schoolers’ dress codes. A social fabric roundup…

  Dreaming of a horse with a bigger role: Television and Erdogan?s quest for soft power in the Middle East from On Turkish Media and Cultural Politics by ecealgan Disappointed with a popular Turkish TV series (Muhtesem Yuzyil) on the life of Suleiman the Magnificent, Prime Minister Erdogan criticized its depiction of the successful, expansionist … Read more

Feyza Akınerdem (@zfeyza): Leyla ile Mecnun’da 3. Sezon Başlarken: ?Mecnun’un Yolu? (spoiler içerir)

Leyla ile Mecnun’da 3. Sezon Başlarken: ?Mecnun’un Yolu? (spoiler içerir)   Leyla ile Mecnun 3. sezonunun ilk bölümünü, Kireçburnu’nda, açık havada, yönetmen, oyuncular ve 600’den fazla izleyiciyle beraber izledik. Leyla ile Mecnun takip ettiğim bir dizi değildi aslında. Ancak dizi ekibi ve izleyicinin beraber çekirdek çitleyip dizi izleyeceği bir etkinliği kaçıramazdım. Görebildiğim kadarıyla dizi oyuncularının … Read more

Behzat Ç, final episode of the 2nd season tonight

The only Turkish TV serials I have been following is Behzat Ç. Plot summaries of Behzat Ç from IMDB is here: Centered around a personally troubled, officially discredited police chief and his inharmonious police team in Ankara Police Force. Even though the show usually focuses on murders and other crimes that happens on a weekly … Read more

Social fabric roundup: Turkey ranks 47th in mothers report, Turkish middle class ‘loves malls’, and more..

Turkey ranks 47th in mothers report from Hurriyet Daily News Turkey ranks 47th on a list of the ?best countries in which to be a mother,? in… nuclear power stations, turkey style (!) RedHack hacks Turkish family ministry website on Mother’s Day from Hurriyet Daily News The socialist RedHack group today took down the Turkish … Read more

EFD Rights Watch and a social fabric roundup… “259 Women Killed in Turkey in 2011

259 Women Killed in Turkey in 2011 According to data collected by bianet, 14 women in Turkey were killed by men in December 2011. 24 women were injured, 15 women raped and 16 harassed. In total, 259 women were killed by male culprits in Turkey in 2011. Police detain 30 students from Hurriyet Daily News … Read more

Another lower point for Turkish TV: football commentator Erman Toroğlu performs an act of conjuration at a live TV show…

photos via by calling spirits, he wanted to know the fate of Turkish football… here is a video of the event:

Nationalist paranoia at Karabük University/ Politics of gender in Turkey (by Deniz Kandiyoti)

Fulbrighters Hounded Out of Karabük University By Spy Allegations from Kamil Pasha by Jenny White Americans Rachel Smith and Hayfa Aboukier have been teaching English at Karabük University under the Fulbright exchange program, like many other teachers around the country. (I was a Fulbright research fellow in Turkey in 2008.) Turkish teachers, students and researchers … Read more

?Losing My History?: Muhteşem Yüzyıl Provokes Anxiety Among Turkısh TV Viewers

It is a serial about the past of a nation: Ottoman Empire is both the most honourable and most hated past of the Turkish nation. It is the traditional and the Islamic. It is both remembered as the highest achievement of Turks in history, and the ancient regime which is defeated by the Republic. Indeed … Read more

Actors and actresses protest long serial episodes

Booming industry has a black side. An episode sometimes last 2 hours and not all actors and actresses are compensated enough… So there many of them gathered together to protest unhumane working conditions…. More photos and news in Turkish here. and a social fabric roundup: Leftist ‘moral police’ busted by actual cops in Istanbul Hurriyet … Read more