Top: Erdoğan after win flanked by son Bilal / Beneath left: Fethullah Gülen Following a solid win for the AKP in the nationwide local elections in Turkey, PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, declared victory and made pointed threats directed at his opponents. He stated his intention to “enter the lair” of
Continue readingTag: Turkey
LeDaro: Turkey’s Parliament knows how to put legislation through
They must have consulted Rob Ford. 😉
Continue readingmark a rayner | scribblings, squibs & sundry monkey joys: The Lost Power Point Slides (Yanksgiving History Edition)
Chief Massasoit presents items NOT supplied for the first Thanksgiving, circa 1621 (only slide) deep-fried turkey cranberry sauce potatoes, white or sweet pie of any kind (there were pumpkins, though). Pilgrim chef suggests the following harvest feast, circa 1621 (second … Continue reading →
Continue readingThings Are Good: A Turkish Hotel Wins Hospitality Innovation Award for Accommodating Protestors
During the Taksim Square protests in Turkey earlier this year, Divan Hotels’ flagship property in Istanbul opened their doors to the protestors. Not a bad place to get support after suffering police brutality and tear gassing. The hotel is adjacent to Gezi Park’s Taksim Square, the site of protests last
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Arms Race Update – Turkey Buys Air Defence System from China
Turkey, NATO’s sole member from the Muslim world, has ordered a new, air defence system – from China. A government committee chaired by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, prime minister, decided this week to proceed with buying the long-range anti-aircraft and ballistic missile system from the state-owned China Precision Machinery Import-Export Corporation,
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Chemical Agents Of The State
Canadians first somewhat accepted RCMP officers dousing peaceful protesters (and the media) with pepper spray, back in the 90s, during the OPEC summit in B.C. It’s regressed to the point where Officer Bubble cries about the possibility of getting soap in his eyes, while his even less scrupulous brothers in
Continue readingdrive-by planet: U.S. ‘red line’ on Syrian chemical weapons – a pretext for arming opposition fighters
The Obama administration claims that the Syrian al-Assad regime has crossed a “red line” by using chemical weapons repeatedly over the past year. Obama has gone ahead and authorized the arming of Syrian rebels. According to U.S. officials the weapons will likely include small arms, ammunition, assault rifles and a
Continue readingdrive-by planet: As Turkey explodes Erdogan claims he is not ‘a dictator’ – rather a ‘servant of the people’
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan claims he is not a dictator… not even a master… but rather “a servant of the people.” Not many Turkish citizens are convinced because following the Gezi Park protest, the treatment meted out to demonstrators by Turkish police has been a total horror show. It
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Turkish Spring: Another take on events of May 31
Claire Belinski Claire Berlinski, writing in the City Journal in the wee hours of the morning of May 31, captured her thoughts about the beginnings of the Turkish unrest: But as news of the injuries and deaths spread by word of mouth, and particularly as photos and videos of the
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Turks arrest al-Nusra rebels – seize chemical weapons: the west’s Syrian delusions
There has been very little coverage in western media of a current story in Turkish dailies that places chemical weapons in the hands – not of forces connected with Assad – but of the opposition al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front. The Turkish paper Zaman reports that members of al-Nusra planned to bomb
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Arab Spring comes to Turkey
Istanbul June 2013 Much to the surprise of the government: Another way of looking at the AKP is as a party of building contractors, who have never seen anything they did not want to build and have grown accustomed to bulldozing anything in their path. In Istanbul alone, there are
Continue readingbastard.logic: Creeping Fascism Like Woah
Business Insider: The AP reports that 5,000 Golden Dawn supporters marched past the US Embassy in Athens, chanting anti-Turkish, anti-US and anti-immigrant slogans. The anti-US feeling was prompted by memories of a 1996 territorial dispute between Greece and Turkey that only ended peacefully after the intervention of the US, and led to three Greek
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Is America Now Okay With the Post-Mubarak Egypt?
Did Benjamen Netanyahu just rebuild America’s relationship with Egypt?After the fall of the brutal, murderous Mubarak regime, many American pols seemed genuinely distraught when a candidate from the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammed Morsi, was elected the f…
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: NATO Went to War for America, Why Not Turkey?
Like the United States, Turkey is a full member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Article 5 of the NATO charter obliges all members to come to the aid of any other member under attack. For the second day running, Turkey has received artillery barrages fired by Syrian government forces.
Continue readingThe Global Express: The Politics Behind Genocide Recognition
Every year as April 24th approaches, there is a feeling of anticipation, that the once inevitable recognition will finally be acknowledged. Presidents upon Presidents and the same speech after speech. We all know it was a tragedy, but our fight is much more than a simple tragedy. Every year it seems
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: How the GOP should criticize Obama on Iran
Leaders of Brazil, Turkey & Iran As the Republicans continue to escalate their misguided criticism of Obama and his handling of the issue of a nuclear Iran, they desperately need a brief history lesson. I am not talking about a history lesson that extends back to the days of a
Continue readingDrive-by Planet: Rick Perry’s misguided ‘Islamic terrorist’ spin re Turkey
As though we need any more proof that American politics on the right risks a descent into unhinged nuttiness, up steps Rick Perry with his wisdom on Turkey. Perry, who isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer, has screwed up time and again in the course of the Republican race.
Continue readingDrive-by Planet: Sarah Ferguson orphanage film: Turkish court files charges
The Duchess of York aka Fergie has been charged by a Turkish court in connection with an ITV documentary she participated in that investigated conditions in Turkish orphanages. She has been charged with breaching Turkey’s laws by acquiring secret undercover footage and violating the privacy of five children involved. In
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: That Was Fast. Iraq Stumbles Into Civil War.
Iraqis knew they were getting something special for Christmas this year, the departure of American combat forces. And a good many Iraqis also knew that marked the time for settling old scores and balancing the books. Power struggles are opening in Iraq, several of them. That’s largely because the central
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