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April 30, 2009
Turks and 'Meds Yeghern'
[Originally published in Hürriyet Daily News]
Quite a few people in Turkey are upset with President Barack Obama these days for using the term "Meds Yeghern" to describe the tragedy that befell on Ottoman Armenians in 1915. The term means "Great Catastrophe" in the Armenian language and it refers to the "genocide" of 1915. Some Turkish commentators unhappily argue that although Obama did not directly use the "G" word, he said what amounts to that.
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 12:44 PM | Comments (9)
April 25, 2009
Why Do We Have a Children's Day, Really?
[Originally published in Hürriyet Daily News]
Like every other April 23, last Thursday was Turkey's National Sovereignty and Children's Day. There were celebrations throughout the whole country to honor this national holiday. The one in Istanbul's Taksim Square was a bit ironic, though. There were thousands of children from various Istanbul schools who were in uniforms tailored for this special occasion. The uniforms were bright and eye-catching, but also as thin as T-shirts. And, unluckily, it was a very cold day. No wonder the teachers and the bureaucrats who overlooked them were wearing thick coats. "We are almost freezing," said a little girl to the cameras. "I wanna go home."
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 12:52 AM | Comments (3)
April 23, 2009
Discrimination Alla Turca Militare
[Originally published in Hürriyet Daily News]
Are you familiar with the strange notion in Turkey called "accreditation?"
I am not sure what the term means in other countries, but here it refers to the military's customary method to discriminate against certain segments of the media. The generals divide the newspapers and TV channels into two categories: the "accredited" and the "non-accredited." The latter are simply not allowed, let alone invited, to press conferences and other occasions of the military. Moreover, such media sources are literally banned from entering military zones. You simply cannot read or watch them in a military school or a barrack.
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 12:50 AM | Comments (0)
April 18, 2009
From 'Turkish People' to 'People of Turkey'
[Originally published in Hürriyet Daily News]
It is always news in Turkey when generals speak. For when they speak, they always say important things. Not necessarily intelligent, but important.
The speech given last week by Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ was remarkable because it was intelligent, too. Although I strongly disagreed with some of the points he raised, which I will address in a minute, if you kindly keep reading, I was positively surprised by a groundbreaking remark he made. He, in a quite unconventional way, proposed the concept of "the people of Turkey," instead of "the Turkish people."
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 12:47 AM | Comments (0)
April 16, 2009
Turkish Libido Versus Halki Seminary
[Originally published in Hürriyet Daily News]
If you want to understand why the Halki Seminary, the main school of theology of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Istanbul, remains closed for decades despite international pressure, you might take a look at the writings of the 5th century theologian St. Augustine.
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 12:43 AM | Comments (3)
April 12, 2009
Not At War With US, Either
[Originally published in Hürriyet Daily News]
The boldest headline that President Obama's visit to Turkey gave the world media was a simple reaffirmation. "The U.S is not and will never be," he said, "at war with Islam."
For many Muslims, it was good to hear this because they had really started to suspect that there was a "war on Islam" launched by the American government. In fact, no significant U.S. official had ever said anything close to that. Some of the policies of the Bush administration, from the Iraq War to Guantanamo to "rendition" created doubts and fears. Moreover, some Republican pundits and ideologues, which people perceived as the real mind of the Bush team, engaged in fear mongering about Islam. All these, at the very least, left a bad taste in the mouths of the world's 1.2 billion Muslims.
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 8:24 PM | Comments (12)
April 9, 2009
To Get Turkey Right, Hear What Obama Said
[Originally published in Hürriyet Daily News]
The trip to Turkey by President Barack Hussein Obama, as people loved to emphasize here, was a big success. Except for a few hundred "anti-imperialist," lefty protestors who hit the streets chanting, "Yankee go home," most Turks welcomed him calmly and some even fondly.
Some nationalists, including Nationalist Action Party, or MHP, leader Devlet Bahçeli, didn't like what he said about Turkish-Armenian relations -- or rather the lack thereof. But that's quite normal. The Armenian lobby in the United States, which is no fan of Turkey, didn't like the way he handled that issue either. The disapproval of extremists on both sides of a question is often the indicator of a fair position.
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 4:42 PM | Comments (5)
April 2, 2009
People Are Not Dumb, Election Results Say
[Originally published in Hürriyet Daily News]
During Turkey's "post-modern coup" of 1997, one of the powerful generals, Çevik Bir, said something remarkable. "What we are doing," he pompously argued, "is to do some fine-tuning to democracy." One of his colleagues, Gen. İsmail Hakkı Karadayı, is also reported to have explained the need for this military intervention in politics. "The problem," he said, "is that the people in this country are ignorant."
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 3:25 PM | Comments (7)
