Article by Mustafa Akyol (for full article, click here):
The people of Damal, a district of the eastern city of Ardahan, couldn’t have imagined that their modest and destitute town would attract droves of visitors and become the focus of the Turkish media. But that is exactly what happened in the past few years with the […]
After three amazing comebacks to reach the semifinals, Turkey is wild with rejoicing and hope. Two consecutive wins would make Turkey the Euro 2008 champion. But first the Turks have to clear the German hurdle in the semifinals in Basel, Switzerland, this evening and then take care of the other […]
Photo from Zaman
Mehmet Yilmaz’s column in Hurriyet:
I saw a very interesting picture published in one of Turkey’s pro-Islamic newspapers on Thursday. To protest the Constitutional Court ruling*, a group of male students at Yuzuncu Yil University in Van marched wearing white headscarves.
I was touched by their show of concern for their female friends to find a solution to the issue. After seeing […]
From Mustafa Akyol’s column:
[Serif Mardin] argued that, in the past decades, the official ideology of the Republic (i.e., Kemalism) has been overshadowed by the teachings of Islam. Using the “imam” and the “teacher” as symbols for religious morality and secular ethics respectively, he flatly proclaimed: “The imam has won over the teacher.” …
The reason why […]
Summary of Ibrahim Kalin’s column, based on three recent reports:
According to the 2007 census, about 60 percent of the total population of Turkey is under the age of 30. So just what is this young and extremely dynamic population doing?
About 40 percent of Turkey’s youth seems to be doing “nothing”. They don’t work, they […]
A new TESEV publication analyzes the training and ethical standards of Turkey’s police and security services. Of particular interest is the definition of “deep state” on page 27 and institutional paranoia on p. 38. For the report, click here.
Turkey recently ranked 115 out of 140 countries on the Global Peace Index (GPI), which measures the relative peacefulness of nations and regions around the globe. Turkey’s overall peace score was below that of Libya, Cuba, Syria, Jamaica, and Iran.
The GPI forms part of the Institute for Economics and Peace. The report is written in […]
Istanbul Metro Murals, Taksim station, Photos by Jenny White
Excerpts from an article in Turkish Daily News:
As Istanbul’s municipality and governorship celebrate the 555th anniversary of the conquest of Istanbul, academics believe the significance attached to the celebrations has been increasing over the last decades due to a rise in Islamist sentiments in Turkey.
The conquest of […]
Arguing that the right to life of citizens is under attack in the provinces of Van, Hakkari and Yüksekova, the Diyarbakir branch of the Association of Human Rights (IHD) announced the results of their latest report on violations of human rights in the Southeast in a recent press conference:
Over the last four months 242 women […]
A system of sea taxis will be instituted in Istanbul, a great relief to those of us stuck for hours in traffic and crammed into overcrowded buses with someone’s elbow in your eye. But the sea taxi prices are high, making it a facility for the wealthy and for emergencies. What about more ferries, […]