The Netherlands go where Turkey is coming from

“Abdullah Gül has no right to speak”, I hear all the time as a reaction to President Gül resisting the ideology of Dutch politician Geert Wilders, which discriminates against people and marginalises them. That’s because Gül has a problem handling minorities in his own country, the argument goes. Kurds and Christians in general and Armenians in particular are mentioned as …

Turkish Hitler ad taken off the air

ISTANBUL – The controversial shampoo ad with Adolf Hitler in the leading role will immediately be taken off the air in Turkey, the head of the advertising agency that produced it announced on Tuesday.

The company is stopping the campaign because it caused great anger in Turkey’s Jewish community of about twenty thousand people. Hitler praised the shampoo as suitable …

Hate crime of the month: Kurd lynched

An alliance of 46 organisations in Turkey has started a campaign against hate crimes. ‘Victims hardly ever lodge a complaint, if they live to tell their story.’

Istanbul – The woman who was abused by a taxi driver, punched in the face and kicked out of the taxi, just because she was Armenian: that is not just an attack on that …

Turkey returns property to religious minorities

ISTANBUL – Turkey adopted a law to return immovable property to foundations of religious minorities. It solves one of the biggest judicial problems of religious minorities in Turkey. The changes to the law will be announced tonight by Prime Minister Erdogan during an iftar dinner with members of religious minorities.

The legal amendment pressed for not only by religious minorities, but …

Ongoing discrimination against Alevites in Turkish education

Istanbul – ‘Absolutely nothing’ is the answer from lawyer Kazim Genç to the question what the Turkish government has done to end discrimination against Alevis (a path within Islam) in the Turkish education system. Genç won a case in 2007 regarding the obligation to receive religious education at the European Court of Human Rights. The verdict: the Turkish state can’t …