Istanbul – The Turkish Supreme Court of Appeals annulled the life sentence of Metin Kaplan, also known in Europe as the Caliph of Cologne. His plans to overthrow the Turkish secular state and install an Islamic state, are, according to the court, not serious enough grounds for a life sentence. This is as reported in Turkish media this weekend.
It’s not …
Some call him the only hope for leftist Turks: Mustafa Sarigül. He is the mayor of Sisli, a district in Istanbul, and he is about to start a new political party, the Turkey Change Movement. A real social democrat party, he promises, with the aim of justice and work for all.
So when the foreign press club announced a meeting with …
My love and I stand on the balcony of the house he grew up in. We look out over the village. It’s been snowing, everything is white, and the sun that has made the snow sparkle all day, is slowly disappearing behind the hills. It’s cold. Then I notice that only a few houses have a smoking chimney. It could …
The empty hands of Tekel-workers
A crate is thrown into an iron barrel and the fire flares up. But it doesn’t get really warm: the ice cold wind blows along the plastic sheeting that it is hoped will offer some protection against the weather. The group of men from Batman, in the south-east of Turkey, have been living on the street in the city centre …
Indignation all around: alleged military coup plotters wanted to use journalists in their plans to overthrow the government. Daily newspaper Taraf recently revealed yet another coup plan, and it contains two lists: one of 137 names of journalists who would be asked to cooperate with the coup plotters to help create a chaotic atmosphere in the country, which would ‘justify’ …
Pictures, people want me to take pictures of Istanbul in the snow. It’s been snowing rather heavily for a few days now, and I guess the people who request pictures imagine the most beautiful views: mosques covered with snow, the old city turned white, narrow streets with snow flakes coming down.
But that version of Istanbul in winter doesn’t exist. At …
Al Qaeda suspects arrested in Turkey
ISTANBUL – The police this week arrested more than 150 people in a raid against terror organisation Al Qaeda. The operation was speeded up for fear of terrorist attacks in the country. According to Turkish press agency Anatolia on Friday, around 120 suspects were arrested in more than ten provinces.
Before 2003 Al Qaeda was not known to be present in …
Hrant Dink – three years after the murder
I was in an eye hospital for on an assignment when I heard the news: Hrant Dink had been killed. There were TV screens in the hospital, and I couldn’t stop watching, wishing my Turkish was better, wishing I could understand what exactly was going on. But the biggest news, that Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink had been shot
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A journalist, says Fatih Özyar, doesn’t just write an article about something he isn’t sure about. True, that’s how it should be. But is that really what happened?
Özyar writes for the biggest daily newspaper in Turkey, Hürriyet. He is the correspondent for Hürriyet in the Netherlands. A few days ago he reported that a journalist from the Netherlands, Armand Sag, …
Istanbul starts one year Cultural Capital of Europe
ISTANBUL – Starting tomorrow Istanbul will officially be Cultural Capital of Europe for one year. On seven locations in the city events are planned for Saturday night, for example a big fireworks display in the presence of President Abdullah Gül and a concert by popular singer Tarkan on Taksim, the central square of the city.
Besides Istanbul, Essen (Ruhr Region, Germany) …
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