Closure of websites intensifies ‘homophobic atmosphere’ in Turkey
ISTANBUL – The closure of several internet forums for gays is another example of homophobia and a new step towards silencing gay organisations in Turkey. That’s the view of spokespersons for huge gay forums that were closed this week on the order of a government organisation.
The sites seem to have been closed because of ‘inappropriate content and immoral actions’, but …
Arzu Erbas an ‘angel’ in Turkish press
ISTANBUL – An ‘Angel of goodness,’ she is called in the Turkish press, the crèche owner of Turkish descent, Erzu Erbas, who was murdered in Amsterdam on Monday night. Several Turkish newspapers report on the Turkish émigrée and mainly focus on the fact that she helped poor people in Turkey with the income she earned in the Netherlands.
Arzu appears on …
Google Sites closed down in Turkey
ISTANBUL – Following a court order access to “Google Sites”, a site where people can build their own website, has been blocked in Turkey, according to several Turkish media today. The reason for the closure? Google Sites would admit sites with content insulting to Atatürk, Turkey’s founding father.
Insulting Atatürk is forbidden by law in Turkey. An organisation that defends the …
Families of murderers flee Turkish village
ISTANBUL – A hundred and twenty people from twelve families have fled from Bilge, the Turkish village where on Monday night 44 people were murdered at a wedding ceremony. The families fear for their lives, as they have ties to the gunmen and they have been threatened with revenge.
Since the killings the families fleeing the village in the southeast of …
Turkey blunders with Armenian radio
ISTANBUL – The Armenian radio station which Turkish state broadcaster TRT put on the air last week is not understandable to Turkish Armenians: the broadcasts are in a dialect spoken only in Armenia. It seems it was not done on purpose, and an internal investigation has been announced into the matter, according to Friday’s Hürriyet newspaper.
The station was meant to …
Criticism of Turkish authorities in Turkish papers
ISTANBUL – Pride in the pilots of the crashed airplane and appreciation for the Dutch rescue workers in the Turkish morning newspapers, but there is also criticism: authorities in Ankara were too ready to declare that there were no fatalities to be mourned. As well, there is quite a lot of speculation over the cause of the crash.
Most critical is …
Row over press freedom in Turkey
ISTANBUL – A restriction of the freedom of press, or simply an effort to get big businesses to pay their taxes too? A tax fine of 700 million lira (325 million euros) for tax evasion by a big newspaper publisher, has sparked a debate about press freedom in Turkey.
Dogan Publishers is part of Dogan Holdings, one of Turkey’s biggest businesses, …
Turkish state TV starts broadcasting in Kurdish
ISTANBUL – Turkish state television has opened a Kurdish channel, TRT6, on the first of January. Prime Minister Erdogan caused some excitement by declaring in Kurdish in a recorded interview for the channel that he hopes it will be beneficial. Various Kurdish artists will collaborate in the opening programme.
The channel, which will be broadcasting in Kurdish 24 hours a day, …
ISTANBUL – A commercial Turkish TV channel will soon start a series about Ergenekon, the shadowy gang that orchestrated a plot to overthrow the government. The makers, who remain anonymous for now, promise a romanticised series based on fact. This was reported in daily newspaper Milliyet today.
The Ergenekon gang was broken up earlier this year. Dozens of ex-military personnel, journalists and …
Turkish opposition wants debate on corruption
ISTANBUL – One of Turkey’s opposition leaders, Deniz Baykal, wants a television debate on an alleged corruption scandal in which governing party AKP is involved. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is not responding to the offer.
Erdogan hopes that the scandal will blow over, but in the meantime it has kept Turkish politics and media enthralled for weeks. Tension is still high …
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