The most difficult thing about living abroad
Of course people often ask me if I miss my home country the Netherlands. No, not the country, but I do miss people. Not the Dutch people in general (even less since I’ve come to know them better from a distance), but the people close to me. My family, who has known me for fourty years. Friends since my teenage …
Deadlock after opposition boycots parliament
ISTANBUL – A first in Turkish politics: the new parliament was inaugurated Tuesday the afternoon, but only about two third of a total of 550 MP’s took their oath. Two opposition parties refused to take part in the ceremony because some of their group members are in jail. Prime Minister Erdogan didn’t comment yet on the situation.
The raising tensions reduce …
Chaos feared during inauguration Turkish parliament
ISTANBUL – The inauguration of the new Turkish parliament, on Tuesday, is feared to turn out chaotic. Nine elected MP’s won’t be present because they are in jail, there is heavy discussion about a seat that might go from the Kurdish block to governing party AKP, and the biggest opposition party threatens to boycot the ceremony. The pro-Kurdish MP’s who …
Last night, (an advisor of) president Gül said the Syrian refugees in Turkey are not refugees, but guests in Turkey, and that they can come and go as they please. I just couldn’t believe my ears. The last thing Turkey does to refugees coming in, is treating them as guests. Yes, for now, Turkey is building the Syrians a (plastic) …
Exciting elections last Sunday, very exciting. I’m not gonna keep you posted here about the general results or the implications of that, because others did that already and I don’t have much to add to what Aengus Collins writes. Let me focus on an update about people I wrote about during and before the elections.
* On …
Joost Lagendijk: ‘Turks want change’
ISTANBUL – The winner of the Turkish elections of last Sunday, the AKP, will have to come with a reasonable offer for a new constitution, says Dutch Joost Lagendijk, teacher at the Istanbul Sabanci University and former Euro Parlemetarian. He is optimistic: ‘The Turks want change.’
Lagendijks optimism is mainly based on the power of social institutions, like business associations and …
ISTANBUL – Metin (47) votes for Abdullah Öcalan. That the leader of the Kurdish seperatist movement PKK is in jail, is not relevant. Hij points at the posters of the candidate for pro-Kurdish party BDP. ‘I vote for Öcalan via him.’
The neighborhood Tarlabasi, a few minutes walk from Istanbuls central Taksim Square, is old, dilapidated and poor, and mainly inhabited …
Third term for ‘Islamist’ Erdoğan
ISTANBUL – The Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will most probably start his third term as the most powerful man in tyhe country. With that he is on the way to become the longest ruling democratically elected leader of Turkey. Erdoğan became PM in 2003 and can continue in that position after Sunday till 2015.
During the reign of the …
Like in every Turkish election rally, there was a sea of flags. This time, last Saturday, they were the red flags of the CHP, the Republican People’s Party, and blue flags with the portrait of the party’s leader, Kemal Kilicdaroglu. CHP supporters waved their flags to the rhythm of the music played. Stimulating election songs, and songs by artists of …
Weekly The Economist advises Turks to vote for the biggest opposition party CHP in the 12 June elections, because the bigger the CHP vote, the smaller the majority of the ruling AKP party. And the AKP has to be kept under a two thirds majority, according to The Economist, because with a two thirds majority the …
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