Jan 07 2009

Always a Turk

Communist sympathies: in 1951 that was something that could result in your Turkish citizenship being taken away from you. And for decades it was why Nazim Hikmet, one of Turkey’s most famous poets, could not get his citizenship back, not even after his death in 1963. But now the time seems to have come: Hikmet will get his …

Jan 03 2009

Bags of coal and crates of bread

Coal. These days it’s mainly coal that municipalities hand out to the poor, who don’t have a gas connection and cannot afford to use an electric heater, and who also find coal too expensive. Luckily there is the AKP holding some stock – it’s mainly AKP municipalities where the poor receive these gifts. Prime Minister Erdogan tries his best to …

Jan 01 2009

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, …

Quick