Turkish aid organisation IHH linked to extremism

ISTANBUL – The Turkish organisation IHH (Foundation for Humanitarian Relief), which organized one of the ships in the aid convoy to Gaza, and which was attacked by Israel today,  has two faces: aid organisation and friend of extremists. In Turkey it is mainly supported by conservative Muslims.

IHH, founded in 1992, is one of the biggest and best known aid organisations …

50 years later

It was 50 years ago today, May 27th, that the first military coup took place in Turkey. President Celal Bayar, Prime Minister Adnan Menderes and others were arrested, put on trial and sentenced to death. In September 1961 Menderes and two of his ministers were hanged. Bayar’s sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.

The trials against the politicians took place in …

Religious class

Another legal victory for parents who don’t want their kid to attend compulsory religious classes: an Istanbul court ruled that a child of atheist parents can skip the class. It’s not the first time. In 2007 the European Court for Human Rights ruled that a child with Alevi parents, (Alevism is an Islamic sect), cannot be obliged to follow the …

Working in Havana

It was quiet in Havana, early Friday evening. The afternoon quests had gone, the staff were eating their dinner and getting ready for the night. In a few hours the tourists would come in – young men, but mainly young women.

I couldn’t stay to see it: I had to catch a night bus that would take me away again from …

Turkish opposition has new leader

ISTANBUL – Turkey’s biggest opposition party, the CHP, has a new leader after eighteen years. Kemal Kilicdaroglu was elected chairman with a historic majority on the party’s convention on Saturday. The previous party leader, Deniz Baykal, recently stepped down after a sex scandal.

The CHP congress this weekend in Ankara is already being called the ‘congress of hope’: party supporters hope …

Beautiful Ataşehir

I remember I just couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw Ataşehir for the first time. I passed it in a long-distance bus leaving Istanbul, and I turned on my seat because I just couldn’t take my eyes off it. Even now, every time I pass this part of the city, I’m amazed and overwhelmed. To …

Hold on to power

There is so much speculation going on about ‘the sex tapes’ of Deniz Baykal, that I eagerly add my own speculation: Baykal put the video online himself. It looks like the whole scandal will strengthen Baykal’s position as CHP leader.

The facts are: Deniz Baykal, CHP leader since 1992, stepped down as leader of his party after a compromising tape of …

Headscarf discussion in Dutch TV-show, with yours truly

Today, Thursday 13th of May, I was one of the three correspondents in a Dutch TV-show that discussed the position of the head scarf in their countries. Besides me, Maarten Veeger, Dutch correspondent in Italy, was in the programme, and Stefan de Vries, Dutch correspondent in France.

You can watch the show here, but sorry, …

She laughed along

More than a year ago she told me she missed our appointment because she was in a car accident. I asked her how bad it was and if she was injured. Luckily, she said, she only got a black eye.

After that, she stopped lying about it. When we talk, eye to eye but increasingly just on msn or by phone, …

Free will

‘The deputies exercised their free will’, said Prime Minister Erdogan yesterday. He said it after one of the most important constitutional reforms (about making it more difficult to close political parties) was not adopted by parliament. The reform needed 330 votes to be part of a referendum package later this year, but it got only 327 votes. Since Erdogan’s governing …