It was not for the first time that I enjoyed the beautiful landscape of Kapadokya in central Turkey. I lived there for some months in 2007, and since I have been living in Istanbul I have come back to the region often, for romantic reasons. But this time I came just for myself. The love is no more. And that …
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 …
Dutch Zeynep Killi (53) sues Turkish generals
Thirty years ago, after the military coup in Turkey, Dutch-Turkish Zeynep Killi (53) was locked up in the infamous Diyarbakir jail. Because of a change in the constitution the coup plotters can now be prosecuted. Killi took her chance and travelled to Diyarbakir.
ISTANBUL – Whispering among each other the inmates talked about who, if they ever got the opportunity, would …
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 …
Former Turkish leader Erbakan party leader again
ISTANBUL – At a party congress in Ankara Necmettin Erbakan (84), former Prime Minister of Turkey, has been elected leader of the religious Saadet Partisi (Felicity Party). Erbakan, the grand old man of conservative Islamic Turkish politics, once again has firm control of the party, according to several Turkish media reports on Sunday.
Erbakan has led several religious parties since the …
No Diyanet soccer tournament yet
Diyanet is not a very much debated institution in Turkey. Which is kind of strange, when you think of it as one of those that protect the existence of the secular, kemalist Turkish state. In that perspective, you can compare Diyanet to, for example, the army or the judiciary. Those two institutions are widely discussed, especially since the AKP government …
Polarization and press freedom
The award for the most untrue quote related to press freedom goes to Egemen Bagis, Minister of EU Affairs. He wrote in “Today’s Zaman” newspaper (a religious and very pro-government daily): ‘Today in Turkey there is not an issue or topic that cannot be discussed. Everybody in Turkey can freely discuss his ideas and everyone is free to express their …
Headscarves allowed again at Turkish universities
ISTANBUL – Women wearing a headscarf on Monday regained the right to enter universities in Turkey. It had been forbidden for more than ten years after a decision by the Constitutional Court. The new situation is the result of a decision of the Board for Higher Education (YÖK), according to reports in several Turkish media outlets on Tuesday.
The YÖK has …
I was exhausted after travelling, after talking Turkish the whole day and after meeting too many people. The last visit Rosarin and I paid was to yet another village family. The TV was too loud, the coffee too bad, the talk too long – and for a big part in Kurdish so I didn’t understand a word. I know it’s …
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