Usually when a number of soldiers die in the fight against the PKK, you see more flags on the street over the following days. Not this time. Seventeen soldiers died last weekend in the southeast of the country, but even though the national grief is no less than any other time, now there’s a lot of criticism of the army. …
Yesterday, there was a trial in Ankara concerning article 301, the infamous Penal Code Article on ‘insulting Turkishness’. Thursday there’s one in Istanbul, Friday in Iskenderun. I get an update on trials that concern ‘freedom of expression’ every week. The trials are not only about 301, but also about other articles that are misused to limit the freedom of expression. …
Today I could write about the withdrawal of the Turkish troops from northern Iraq. About how here in the newspapers it’s stated that everybody already knew about the withdrawal, except prime minister Erdogan – at an occcasion where he would speak to a group of journalists, Erdogan’s speech had already been distributed and the speech still spoke of ‘the continuing …
Last night the Turkish army started a military operation in the north of Iraq. I was just reading about it on the internet, when BNR Newsradio – a big Dutch radio station – called me: would I like to contribute some comments about the invasion in their broadcast right after the 12 o’clock news? Of course I would, …
For me, the arrest of Kemal Kerincsiz appeals to my imagination. He’s an ultra-nationalist lawyer, who is notorious for the lawsuits he started against writers and journalists like Orhan Pamuk, Elif Safak and Hrant Dink because they insulted ‘Turkishness’. Harmful cases in my opinion, because they provoked emotions that even led to murder.
And now Kerincsiz himself is behind bars. It …
Military action against the PKK in northern Iraq is intensifying. Several planes have bombed targets and the army says no civilians were killed. And once again, I’m amazed by the way some newspapers write about it. One applauded the ‘wonderful show’ in which the Turkish army showed how well equipped and trained they are. Well, they probably are, but ‘ …
It’s quite a mystery what happened during the abduction of eight Turkish soldiers by PKK militia a bit more then two weeks ago. They have now been released, but were soon afterwards arrested because questions arose about their loyalty to the Turkish state. Were they really kidnapped, or were some of them moles for the PKK, telling them of their …
I passed Yeni Valide Cami today at prayer time. The mosque was full of people, the imam was giving his sermon. I heard what state religion can do – they don’t call it state religion here, but in fact the ministry for religious affairs trains all the imams and tells them every week what to focus on in their Friday
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She had been in a good mood all day, taking care of the guests coming to her house for seker bayrami, the festival marking the end of the fasting month. He came home early from work in his own business, to take time for dinner and exchange the latest family and village news. An average Turkish couple in an average …
This morning I talked to some relatives of Turkish soldiers who died in the fight against the PKK in the southeast of the country. I met the relatives in Ankara, at the national office of a support group for wounded veterans and family of killed soldiers. The interviewees and the head of the organisation were a bit sceptical. Why did …
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