I heard that twice this week from media I work for: ‘Contact us again if things get out of hand’. First about the strikes and protests that are organised against social reforms the government wants to carry through. And a few hours earlier today about the lawsuit that the chief prosecutor filed to the Constitutional […]
Turks all long to move to Europe. Isn’t it? Well, not the more highly educated Turks. Turkey offers them enough opportunities! Exactly one week after finishing his studies, he found a job. Majoring in environmental technology, Kaan Alpaslan (24) modestly says he ‘was lucky’, but there is more. Not only the company that hired him […]
Yesterday, there was a trial in Ankara concerning article 301, the infamous Penal Code Article on ‘insulting Turkishness’. Thursday there’s one in Istanbul, Friday in Iskenderun. I get an update on trials that concern ‘freedom of expression’ every week. The trials are not only about 301, but also about other articles that are misused to […]
I’m getting ready for the most exciting International Women’s Day for years, or actually, in my life. I thought I would be reporting on some demonstration somewhere, but over the last few weeks, this plan has changed. At the request of Press Now, an organization that promotes an independent press in different countries, I will […]
Today I could write about the withdrawal of the Turkish troops from northern Iraq. About how here in the newspapers it’s stated that everybody already knew about the withdrawal, except prime minister Erdogan – at an occcasion where he would speak to a group of journalists, Erdogan’s speech had already been distributed and the speech […]
The Turkish economy is growing by about 6 percent a year. You could call that positive, but for many Turks it’s hard to see it that way. The official growth doesn’t result in a higher national income or less unemployment. Some Turks still dream of going abroad to increase their standard of living, but more and […]
Yesterday, thousands and thousands of young Turkish men started their military service. There is no fear of being sent to the restless southeast or to northern Iraq: “What must be done must be done.” ISTANBUL – The young man in the picture, that’s Erhan. He is twenty years old and is thrown high up in […]
Last night the Turkish army started a military operation in the north of Iraq. I was just reading about it on the internet, when BNR Newsradio – a big Dutch radio station – called me: would I like to contribute some comments about the invasion in their broadcast right after the 12 o’clock news? Of […]
ISTANBUL – In utmost secrecy a delegate from the Kosovo government got into a car after arriving at Istanbul airport. Destination: the Albayrak flag factory. In his suitcase: a dvd with the definitive design of the flag of the republic that would announce its independence in a few days – now last Sunday. That was […]
Sulukule is a neighbourhood in Istanbul. Or, you could say, a town in Istanbul. Located against the old city walls bordering the old historical centre of the city, it has been home to Roma for hundreds of years. For a long time nobody cared to maintain the sometimes beautiful old wooden houses, and now Sulukule […]