I walk down Istiklal Street and see a huge advertisement in a book shop window. ‘Historical lies of the Republic’. I step back and look again. A book critical of the truths of the Turkish state through the decades? And it’s advertised that prominently? Then I see the sales slogan accompanying the book: ‘Documented answers to the lies of the …
Two soldiers will go on trial. They accidently shot another soldier while they were on duty in the South-Eastern province of Adiyaman. They saw a shadow, thought they were being attacked by the PKK and started shooting. The army has now revealed that the soldiers* were not trained well enough. My heart breaks when I think of these young men …
Karayilan caught! Blunder, or strategy?
Saturday the news came in: Murat Karayilan has been arrested in Iran! That’s what you could really call ‘breaking news’: Karayilan is the leader in the field of the PKK, so the second man after jailed leader Abdullah Öcalan, and high on the ‘most wanted’ list of the Turkish state. But soon it turned out the news wasn’t true, or …
‘We have to support it, what else can we do?’ I was talking to a teacher last night at a huge gathering to commemorate the first anniversary of the incident involving the Mavi Marmara, the aid ship that was violently stopped on the way from Turkey to the Gaza strip, which led to the death of nine people. Thousands of …
Anybody who thinks the increase in the killings of women will vanish as soon as the AKP is no longer governing Turkey, should really very quickly wake up. One, because that’s not going to happen any time soon (they will probably win the coming elections). Two, because it is a dangerous form of denial of the complexity and seriousness of …
This is a very cynical thing to say, but honestly, I think at MHP headquarters there is some relief after the decision by Kurdish separatist movement PKK to end its unilateral cease-fire. The more PKK violence, the stronger Turkish nationalist feelings and the more votes the MHP will get. Will they, thanks to the PKK, be able to pass the …
From now on I will now and then publish guest blog posts on this website, written by Turkish journalists. The first guest blog post is written …
Throwing eggs: Turkish students are good at it and getting better. This week they brought down an ‘egg rain’ on AKP MP Burhan Kuzu, member of a parliamentary commission that advises on constitutional change. He came to the Political Science Faculty of Ankara University, and was welcomed by the ‘Egg Throwing Collective’. Dozens of eggs landed on him. Well, on …
Soon after the suicide bomb exploded yesterday morning on Taksim Square in Istanbul, several media announced there was a need for blood at the hospitals where the wounded were taken. Two hospitals were mentioned, and the blood types needed were A and O positive. Apparently, colleagues of the wounded policemen were already in line to donate their blood.
We’re not talking …
I remember visiting Anitkabir (Atatürk’s tomb in Ankara) with a friend of mine who admires Atatürk. He was sort of on top of the world, and I asked him why. He answered: ‘You know, Muslims go to Mecca, Kemalists go to Anitkabir.’
I couldn’t get it out out of my mind today. In the news there was an event that took …
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