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How did the lipstick affair make it into the news? Did Turkish Airlines issue a press release in which it stated that as of now red lipstick is forbidden for stewardesses? No, they reacted only after the discussion started. Probably it was the group of stewardesses that protested the ban by putting pics of themselves with red lips online. Fact …
It was another victorious week for Prime Minister Erdogan: he managed to get the Turkish media further under his control. And the media are not even protesting. On the contrary, they are willingly and with a smile accepting Erdogan’s proposal to make propaganda for the peace process that the government is (supposedly) initiating. At the same time yet another columnist …
My thoughts go back these days to a story I wrote in 1996. What it was about isn’t important. The state of mind I was in is. Pure concentration, no distraction, only that one story that I wanted to write as perfectly as possible. I worked for hours in what we would now call ‘flow’, and the result was commensurate. …
It’s all vanity. I just couldn’t resist when national IMC-TV asked me to be on their late night show to talk about developments in the Kurdish issue. In Turkish. Vanity, a will to be part of the debate, a wish to speak out. Could I do that properly in Turkish? The funny answer is: I’m not sure.
I know my subject, …
News paper Taraf began publishing in November 2007. I remember it very well. I arrived in Turkey in December 2006, and when Taraf was first published we sometimes used it in Turkish language class. The writing in the paper was grammatically not too complicated, and there was another journalist in language class too, so we sometimes picked Taraf articles to …
The Prime Minister of a country dealing with huge problems both inside and right on its border, who spends his energy criticizing a TV series. Funny as it seems, the way the ‘problem’ of this highly popular TV series, “Magnificent Century”, is being handled at the moment isn’t very funny at all. Far from it. The …
Catching up – from soap series and ombudsman to Patriots and hunger strike
How to start blogging again after not doing it for some three weeks? That ain’t easy, dear readers. Especially when you blog about Turkey, where so much happens in three weeks. How can I decide what’s the most important thing in this period of time, enough to start up the blogging routine again?
There was the death …
‘It seems to me you are not totally objective’, an editor emails me. I nearly explode. She is right of course – the subject I propose to write about reveals what I find important – but she means it differently. She means I’m not being journalistic. That I’m not looking for balance in the article I want to write. That …
Do you want a Kurdish senses package, normal size or XL? A package that lets you smell, feel, watch and listen to the Kurdish regions of Turkey? There is a way! It’s one of the perks I thought of to stimulate the crowds to contribute the funds I need to continue working on my book about the Kurdish issue. Want …
Press freedom and the dirty tricks of the judiciary
There has been some good news this week when it comes to press freedom in Turkey: a total of four jailed journalists were released from jail after a court decision. At least, that seems to be good news. When you look at it a little bit closer, it’s only good news on a personal level. It’s great these men (two …
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