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Sunday, June 30, 2013

Turkey's Twitter problem | GlobalPost

Turkey's Twitter problem

The battle between Turkey’s government and protesters goes cyber.

ISTANBUL, Turkey — Even as authorities moved to crackdown on social media amid a widening protest movement that engulfed cities across Turkey in recent weeks, Turkish officials are also emerging as avid users of both Twitter and Facebook.

More:Turkey's Twitter problem | GlobalPost

Mayor of Ankara: the diary of a troll | openDemocracy

Mayor of Ankara: the diary of a troll
Funda Ustek 30 June 2013

Soon after PM Erdogan`s comment on Twitter, detentions started for users who shared comments critical of the government or the police

More:Mayor of Ankara: the diary of a troll | openDemocracy

Turkey’s New Challenge | Brown Political Review

Turkey’s New Challenge

June 29, 2013 3:42 pm
Carter Johnson
Comments (0)

It began in a small park in Istanbul and very well might end in Brussels. Turkey’s protestors are now nearly silent after a month of abuse at the hands of riot police, their revolutionary spirit seemingly moved across the Atlantic to Brazil. Their actions, however, will be of importance to European politics for quite some time, as will be the harsh and unfair response to their protests handed down by Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.

More:Turkey’s New Challenge | Brown Political Review

Robert Miller: Why the protests in Turkey now? : Ct

Robert Miller: Why the protests in Turkey now?
Print Email
June 29, 2013 4:30 am • ROBERT MILLER | state guest columnist

Americans generally know little about Turkey and I have found that by and large most have a negative image of the country. Why then should we be concerned about the current unrest?

In 1974-75 I had the privilege of teaching at Ankara University and living and traveling extensively in Turkey with my family. At that time the nation was strongly secular, with strong Islamic traditions practiced only in rural Turkey. Adults and young people in the cities behaved and practiced Islamic traditions much like U.S. Christians followed theirs. Woman received equal treatment to men and made up a large percent of the faculty and professional positions in society. Although there was some political activity supporting a more rigorous Islamic state, the changes the founder of the Turkish Republic, Kemal Ataturk, instituted in 1922, seemed unlikely to change. Those included a new language replacing Arabic and full rights for women, eliminating the veil. Although a despot in his own right, Ataturk was highly revered. The strongly secular and equally revered military was also there to ensure the status quo.

More:Robert Miller: Why the protests in Turkey now? : Ct

Turkey: As order is restored, fears of a witch hunt surface | JPost | Israel News

Turkey: As order is restored, fears of a witch hunt surface
By IGAL ACIMAN, SPECIAL TO THE JERUSALEM POST
06/30/2013 02:35

The protests have been winding down since riot police retook Gezi Park in a June 15 raid, which was followed by mass arrests.

More:Turkey: As order is restored, fears of a witch hunt surface | JPost | Israel News

Thousands gather in Istanbul's Taksim Square to demand justice for slain protester

Thousands gather in Istanbul's Taksim Square to demand justice for slain protester

By The Associated Press June 29, 2013

ISTANBUL — Thousands of protesters returned to Istanbul's Taksim Square on Saturday, demanding justice for a demonstrator slain by police fire during demonstrations that have swept Turkey this month. Police later forced the protesters out of the square, pushing them back using their shields.

More:Thousands gather in Istanbul's Taksim Square to demand justice for slain protester

Istanbul protesters in solidarity with Kurds | Otago Daily Times Online News : Otago, South Island, New Zealand & International News

Istanbul protesters in solidarity with Kurds
Home » News » World
Sun, 30 Jun 2013

Thousands of protesters have marched to Istanbul's Taksim Square chanting slogans against the government and police after security forces killed a Kurdish demonstrator in southeastern Turkey.

More:Istanbul protesters in solidarity with Kurds | Otago Daily Times Online News : Otago, South Island, New Zealand & International News

Turkish democrats demand EU entry | Europe | DW.DE | 29.06.2013

Turkish democrats demand EU entry

Politicians in Turkey are relieved over new negotiations for Turkey's accession to the European Union. Turkish media, however, have criticized the process, calling for European-style reforms in Turkey.

More:Turkish democrats demand EU entry | Europe | DW.DE | 29.06.2013

Turkey artists demand an end to divisive language

Turkey artists demand an end to divisive language

Saturday, Jun 29, 2013

ANKARA - Turkey's artists, journalists and authors including Nobel laurate Orhan Pamuk on Saturday placed a full-page ad in several newspapers, calling on the government to end divisive language and stop polarising the country.

More:Turkey artists demand an end to divisive language

Turkish Social Drama Named Best Movie at Moscow Film Festival | Art&Living | RIA Novosti

Turkish Social Drama Named Best Movie at Moscow Film Festival

MOSCOW, June 29 (RIA Novosti) – A social drama by Turkish director and writer Erdem Tepegöz,“The Particle” (Zerre), won the best film prize at the 35th Moscow International Film Festival that closed in Russia's capital on Saturday.

More:Turkish Social Drama Named Best Movie at Moscow Film Festival | Art&Living | RIA Novosti

AP names Butler chief correspondent for Turkey - Las Vegas Sun News

AP names Butler chief correspondent for Turkey

The Associated Press

Saturday, June 29, 2013 | 12:08 a.m.

Desmond Butler, an AP foreign affairs reporter based in Washington, has been named chief correspondent in Istanbul, Turkey, for The Associated Press.

The appointment was announced Tuesday by Niko Price, the AP's Europe Editor.

More:AP names Butler chief correspondent for Turkey - Las Vegas Sun News

XVIIth MEDITERRANEAN GAMES - Turkey wins historic gold medals in women’s tennis at Med Games

Turkey wins historic gold medals in women’s tennis at Med Games

MERSİN - Anadolu Agency

Turkey has won two historic gold medals both in women’s tennis singles and doubles at the Mediterranean Games in Mersin. The pair Çağla Büyükakçay and Pemra Özgen won their finals against Anastasia Grymalska and Federica Di Sarra competing for Italy, clinching a historic gold. Büyükakça also won the singles competition, beating her Spanish rival Sara Sorribes Tormo in two sets.

More:XVIIth MEDITERRANEAN GAMES - Turkey wins historic gold medals in women’s tennis at Med Games

Deadly crackdown on Kurdish demonstration - Europe - Al Jazeera English

Deadly crackdown on Kurdish demonstration

At least one person killed and nine others wounded after security forces fire at protest in southeastern Turkey.

More:Deadly crackdown on Kurdish demonstration - Europe - Al Jazeera English

Thousands march in Istanbul in solidarity with Kurds - chicagotribune.com

Thousands march in Istanbul in solidarity with Kurds

1:58 p.m. CDT, June 29, 2013

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Thousands of protesters marched to Istanbul's Taksim Square on Saturday chanting slogans against the government and police after security forces killed a Kurdish demonstrator in southeastern Turkey.

More:Thousands march in Istanbul in solidarity with Kurds - chicagotribune.com

Turkey's Erdogan: His own worst enemy?

Turkey's Erdogan: His own worst enemy?
Yasemin Ergin, Special for USA TODAY 11:16 a.m. EDT June 29, 2013
Turkey

Leader's crackdown against protesters has damaged his political standing
Erdogan's stubbornness and intolerance for dissent could threaten him
Analysts say the situation is changing how politicians view voters

ISTANBUL — At a gathering in a park in Istanbul, dozens of people communicate with hand signals so as not to disturb the neighbors.

More:Turkey's Erdogan: His own worst enemy?

The great divide | Frontline

The great divide

The recent events in Turkey following Prime Minister Erdogan’s authoritarian actions have only polarised its society and politics further. By JOHN CHERIAN

THE nationwide protests that have rocked Turkey since the end of May, claiming three lives and leaving more than 5,000 people injured, show no sign of ending. Even after the police forcibly ejected protesters in Taksim Square in Istanbul and Kizilay Square in Ankara on June 15, protests are continuing in the major cities of the country. For a brief period it looked as if the situation was heading towards a bloody denouement, but the siege of Taksim Square ended temporarily. No deaths were reported from there. However, many protesters were hospitalised. Several doctors who attended to them at the protest sites were arrested on charges of sympathising with them. The government also declared the area closed for meetings and protests. It will, however, be difficult to keep the area cordoned off indefinitely. Riot police had to fire tear gas shells and use water cannons against thousands of protesters who tried to regroup and enter the area after they were dispersed. Trade unions announced a nationwide strike following the crackdown. In other words, Turkey seems to be heading for more political turbulence.

More:The great divide | Frontline

Hamas: Turkey PM to visit Gaza on July 5 - Alarabiya.net English | Front Page

Hamas: Turkey PM to visit Gaza on July 5
Thursday, 27 June 2013

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit the Gaza Strip next week, a senior official in the ruling Hamas movement told a newspaper on Thursday, despite opposition from Washington.

“The visit of Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan is to take place on July 5,” Abdelsalam Siyyam, secretary general of the Hamas government said in an interview with Falestin, a newspaper considered very close to the Islamist movement.

More:Hamas: Turkey PM to visit Gaza on July 5 - Alarabiya.net English | Front Page

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Cats rule Istanbul | Business Line

Cats rule Istanbul


As Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan evoked water cannons, tear gas, smoke and other drastic instruments to beat the young citizenry of Turkey into falling in line with his latest ‘vision’ for the country, which includes denuding a beautiful, tree-filled park to ‘develop’ a mall and a likely monstrosity to dictatorship, I worried about the cats of Istanbul.

More:Cats rule Istanbul | Business Line

INTERNATIONAL - Canadian ambassador delivers subtle Gezi messages

Canadian ambassador delivers subtle Gezi messages

Nisan Su Aras ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News
Canadian ambassador to Ankara John Holmes makes subtle and witty comments regarding the Gezi Park protests at a reception, also saying he was pleased to note that some attendees were wearing symbolic red dresses

More:INTERNATIONAL - Canadian ambassador delivers subtle Gezi messages

Turkish firm buying venerable Linden Nut | Recordnet.com

Turkish firm buying venerable Linden Nut

By Reed Fujii
Record Staff Writer
June 29, 2013 12:00 AM

Turkhan Foods, a Ripon walnut and almond processor and distributor, has acquired the assets and operations of Linden Nut Co., a grower-owned walnut processor and shipper established in 1984.

More:Turkish firm buying venerable Linden Nut | Recordnet.com

The Armenian Past of Taksim Square : The New Yorker

The Armenian Past of Taksim Square
Posted by Emily Greenhouse

Taksim Square, like Tahrir Square and Zuccotti Park before it, is just another space in a city: it could have been one more spot to meet friends, or to read a book under a tree. But Turkey’s Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, decided he’d like to replicate the Ottoman-era Taksim military barracks on the site, and build it into a shopping mall and a mosque. In late May, several dozen environmentalists began protesting Erdoğan’s designs in Gezi Park, the island of trees within the Square, and were attacked by Turkish police with tear gas and water cannons. Soon, as Elif Batuman wrote, “only fifteen per cent were protesting the destruction of trees, while forty-nine per cent were protesting police violence against the kinds of people who were protesting the destruction of the trees.” Since then, nearly eight thousand protesters have been injured. By now, the protest has broadened into an objection to Erdoğan’s religious agenda and authoritarian rule. Today, “Taksim Square” is no longer just a tangle of people and plazas but a byword for a clash of ideas, a movement, a battleground.

More:The Armenian Past of Taksim Square : The New Yorker

MURAT YETKİN - The big energy game in Mediterranean

The big energy game in Mediterranean

The British Petroleum company announced on June 28 that the natural gas from Azerbaijan’s Caspian Sea fields of Shah Deniz will be connected to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) via the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) for European markets. This project is likely to kill Nabucco softly.

More:MURAT YETKİN - The big energy game in Mediterranean

The Fascinating, Makeshift Shelters That Occupied Turkey's Protests | Co.Design: business + innovation + design

The Fascinating, Makeshift Shelters That Occupied Turkey’s Protests

Like recent protest movements that inspired it, #OccupyGezi seemed to have come out of nowhere. What began as an environmental demonstration to dispute the development of Istanbul’s Gezi Park transformed into nationwide protests involving hundreds of thousands. The crowds voiced their discontent with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s leadership, his authoritarian impulses, and the creeping defeat of secularism in Turkey.

More:1: #OccupyGezi Architecture | The Fascinating, Makeshift Shelters That Occupied Turkey's Protests | Co.Design: business + innovation + design

Growing pains | South China Morning Post

Growing pains

Market watchers are learning they also to have to keep an eye on the middle classes in emerging markets as the development ride can be rocky

At the beginning of this year, Eurasia Group, the political risk firm I lead, released its top 10 risks of 2013. We gave our top slot to increasing turmoil in "emerging markets".

More:Growing pains | South China Morning Post

Turkey Protest Violence All Too Familiar to Kurds - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

Turkey Protest Violence All Too Familiar to Kurds

By: Fazel Hawramy for Al-Monitor Posted on June 28.

The brutalization of Turkish society by the Turkish security forces for most of modern Turkey's life, and particularly since the military coup of 1980, has inevitably resulted in an internal crisis of governance and the lack of a civic mentality. However, it is wrong to lay all the blame for the crisis that came to a head in Istanbul’s Gezi Park at Prime Ministers Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s doorstep.

More:Turkey Protest Violence All Too Familiar to Kurds - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

Gezi Park: Revolutionary ethos and the hope of history being a bad teacher - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

Gezi Park: Revolutionary ethos and the hope of history being a bad teacher

Unfortunately political polarisation seems the destiny of Turkey for the foreseeable future, writes Richard Falk.

As the dramatic Turkish protests subside, or declare an intermission, this is a time to take stock, but cautiously.
Precisely when political reality explodes in unexpected ways, pundits come along suggesting comparisons, offering hastily constructed explanations, and cite influences and antecedents. Surprise is suppressed by most ‘experts’ who do all that they can to hide these awkward exposures of how little they knew about the explosive forces in society, which erupted without any advance notice. After the explosion these wannabe gurus step forth with undiminished confidence to tell us with learned demeanour why and how it happened, why it was almost inevitable to turn out as it did, and the most arrogant and often most influential even dare tell us what to expect next, and why it is good or bad.

More:Gezi Park: Revolutionary ethos and the hope of history being a bad teacher - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

Gazprom Says Turkey May Surpass Germany as Largest Export Market - Businessweek

Gazprom Says Turkey May Surpass Germany as Largest Export Market
By Anna Shiryaevskaya and Stephen Bierman
June 28, 2013

OAO Gazprom, Russia’s natural gas exporter, said that Turkey may overtake Germany as its largest customer on growing demand.

More:Gazprom Says Turkey May Surpass Germany as Largest Export Market - Businessweek

Cypriots close to 'burying the hatchet', and not in each other - Inside World Football

Cypriots close to 'burying the hatchet', and not in each other

Published on Friday, 28 June 2013 12:33
By Andrew Warshaw
June 28 - Turkish Cypriot football officials believe their landmark talks with the Greek side aimed at unifying football on the politically divided island should move a vital step forward by the end of August. That's when both bodies hope to have secured enough common ground to finally request FIFA to meet them after months of tortuous negotiations over a draft agreement.
"The negotiations with the CFA (Cyprus Football Association) are being finalised in a very good way," Cyprus Turkish Football Association President Hasan Sertoğlu told assembly members. "We have strong support from the clubs and the other authorities."

More:Cypriots close to 'burying the hatchet', and not in each other - Inside World Football

Tourists flock to Turkey despite protests (SETimes.com)

Tourists flock to Turkey despite protests

28/06/2013

By Marina Stojanovska for Southeast European Times in Skopje -- 28/0613

The recent police crackdown on demonstrations in Istanbul and other Turkish cities drew global headlines for its severity, but that has not convinced tourists from the Balkans to ditch their plans to visit Turkey this summer.

More:Tourists flock to Turkey despite protests (SETimes.com)

Gül and Erdogan Engaged in a Power Struggle in Turkey - SPIEGEL ONLINE

Turkish Power Struggle: Brotherly Love Begins to Fray in Ankara

By Maximilian Popp in Istanbul

REUTERS

Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan and President Gül have long been political allies. But ongoing protests in the country have caused their relationship to fray and the ensuing power struggle could spell the end of the AKP.

The two men came from different backgrounds, but shared a belief in Allah and a common goal: power. Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Abdullah Gül, now respectively prime minister and president of Turkey, have worked together since the 1990s and their alliance has helped political Islam attain more power than ever before.

More:Gül and Erdogan Engaged in a Power Struggle in Turkey - SPIEGEL ONLINE

Friday, June 28, 2013

MediaPost Publications Twitter, Facebook Rebuff Turkish Government 06/27/2013

Twitter, Facebook Rebuff Turkish Government
by Erik Sass, Yesterday, 2:47 PM

The world’s leading social networks are taking a stand -- at least for the time being -- in favor of privacy and free speech, according to news reports saying Facebook and Twitter have both rejected requests from the Turkish government to help it track down social media users accused of spreading slander and fomenting rebellion in the recent protests. The government has already arrested dozens of people for allegedly spreading misinformation and making “libelous” comments on Twitter, as well as “inciting rebellion.”

More:MediaPost Publications Twitter, Facebook Rebuff Turkish Government 06/27/2013

CONTRIBUTOR - Between rhetoric and reality: Turkey’s foreign policy

Between rhetoric and reality: Turkey’s foreign policy

MARIETJE SCHAAKE

The uprisings in the Middle East have prompted both important questions and expectations about the role of Turkey in its region. Even though the mantra of “zero problems with neighbors” remains the official foreign policy doctrine of the Justice and Development (AK Party) government, the reality on the ground seems fundamentally different.

More:CONTRIBUTOR - Between rhetoric and reality: Turkey’s foreign policy

Four arrested in Turkey anti-government protests - Channel NewsAsia

Four arrested in Turkey anti-government protests

Turkish police have fired tear gas and used water cannons to disperse hundreds of anti-government protesters in the capital Ankara, leading to four arrests, local media and witnesses said Friday.

More:Four arrested in Turkey anti-government protests - Channel NewsAsia

Gezi Protests in Turkey: A Historic Milestone | The Bullet No. 843

Gezi Protests in Turkey:
A Historic Milestone

The Gezi Park protests in Istanbul have been the center of attention not only in Turkey but the whole world during the last few weeks. This has been a revolt unforeseeable in terms of its scale, influence, the intensity of its resentment, and the courage, determination, and self-confidence of masses of people, many with no previous political affiliation and experience. It is commonplace to say now that the movement was not just about the initial problem: the destruction of a ‘couple of trees’ to make space for a shopping mall or a kitsch Ottoman style caserne. It was essentially about demanding basic human rights or the right to demand rights.

More:Gezi Protests in Turkey: A Historic Milestone | The Bullet No. 843

Turkey’s foreign minister about opening new chapter with EU: one swallow doesn't make a summer - FOCUS Information Agency

Turkey’s foreign minister about opening new chapter with EU: one swallow doesn't make a summer
28 June 2013 | 08:25 | FOCUS News Agency
Home / Southeast Europe and Balkans
Ankara. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu met with the EU ambassadors accredited to Ankara, made a broad statement and answered to their questions, CNN-TURK reported.
In the beginning of his statement Minister Davutoglu pointed at the importance of the Turkey-EU ties and described Turkey’s membership as a development of global importance. The minister also reminded that the EU was a peaceful project, Turkey has done what it had been asked to deserve the membership, and now the country was expecting the same decisiveness from Brussels.

More:Turkey’s foreign minister about opening new chapter with EU: one swallow doesn't make a summer - FOCUS Information Agency

Ankara Says Date of Erdogan's Gaza Trip Not Yet Decided — Naharnet

Ankara Says Date of Erdogan's Gaza Trip Not Yet Decided

by Naharnet Newsdesk 20 hours ago

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Gaza next week, a senior official in the ruling Hamas movement told a newspaper on Thursday, although Ankara insisted a date has not yet been set.

More:Ankara Says Date of Erdogan's Gaza Trip Not Yet Decided — Naharnet

Turkey protests: hundreds set up barricades in Ankara | World news | guardian.co.uk

Turkey protests: hundreds set up barricades in Ankara

Main road is blocked in working-class district of Dikmen as small core of protesters continue daily demonstrations

More:Turkey protests: hundreds set up barricades in Ankara | World news | guardian.co.uk

The EU Bows To German Pressure To Delay Turkey’s Membership Talks - Analysis Eurasia Review

The EU Bows To German Pressure To Delay Turkey’s Membership Talks – Analysis
June 28, 2013
Istanbul, Turkey

By Elcano Royal Institute

By William Chislett

The EU averted a possible derailment of embattled Turkey’s moribund accession negotiations by agreeing to open the first chapter in three years, but not this month as originally promised because of Ankara’s excessively brutal handling of the demonstrations which have rocked the country and particularly appalled Angela Merkel, Germany’s Chancellor.[1] Failure to have opened the chapter –on regional policy– could well have led the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, an abrasive figure, to pull the plug on the negotiations.

More:The EU Bows To German Pressure To Delay Turkey’s Membership Talks - Analysis Eurasia Review

Turkey does not know how many Kurdish rebels have left the country | Vestnik Kavkaza

Turkey does not know how many Kurdish rebels have left the country
27 June 2013 - 5:12pm

According to the Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey, Bekir Bozdag, militants from the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party continue to leave the country.

More:Turkey does not know how many Kurdish rebels have left the country | Vestnik Kavkaza

Turkish FM to meet UN expert probing Syria chemical arms claims | Al-Shorfa

Turkish FM to meet UN expert probing Syria chemical arms claims
2013-06-27

Davutoglu held closed-door talks in Ankara with Swedish expert Ake Sellstrom, who, along with his team of investigators, has so far been barred from entering Syria.

More:Turkish FM to meet UN expert probing Syria chemical arms claims | Al-Shorfa

Small protests rumble on in Istanbul | News24

Small protests rumble on in Istanbul
2013-06-27 15:03

Ankara - Hundreds of protesters took to the streets in a residential area of the Turkish capital overnight, setting up barricades and lighting small bonfires.

More:Small protests rumble on in Istanbul | News24

Is Turkey Opening Up to Its Alevis? - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

Is Turkey Opening Up to Its Alevis?

The first was placed under treatment with the beginning of the Kurdish peace and democracy opening. The second, however, has led to even deeper sensitivities, affected especially by the civil war in Syria or perhaps by ploys intended to create such an effect.

More:Is Turkey Opening Up to Its Alevis? - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

Turkey’s protests: Still out on the streets | The Economist

Still out on the streets
Even as protests calm down, questions linger about Turkey’s political future

Jun 27th 2013, 15:06 | From the print edition
Another day in Taksim Square THE protests that have convulsed Turkey since May 31st are prompting many questions about the future of Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Has the prime minister’s popularity been irreparably dented?

More:Turkey’s protests: Still out on the streets | The Economist

The rise of Turkish soap power

The rise of Turkish soap power
By Nathan Williams BBC News

As Turkish soap operas reach increasing numbers of viewers in the Arab world, the sight on TV screens of Muslims drinking alcohol or conducting adulterous relationships is becoming commonplace - and the shows have presented a new image of relations between man and woman.

More:BBC News - The rise of Turkish soap power

Turkey Investigates Social Media Postings That Allegedly Insult Officials

Turkey Investigates Social Media Postings That Allegedly Insult Officials

By SUZAN FRASER 06/27/13 11:04 AM ET EDT AP

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish authorities are investigating people who allegedly insulted state officials or incited riots on social media, the deputy prime minister said Thursday, in a sign the government is intent on meting out punishment over the massive protests that swept the country in June.

More:Turkey Investigates Social Media Postings That Allegedly Insult Officials

Turkish terrorist suspect arrested in Vienna - Las Vegas Sun News

Turkish terrorist suspect arrested in Vienna

The Associated Press

Thursday, June 27, 2013 | 8:52 a.m.

Austrian and German authorities say a suspected member of a Turkish terrorist group has been detained in Vienna.

The German general prosecutor's office says the 39-year old suspect is strongly suspected of membership in the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front.

More:Turkish terrorist suspect arrested in Vienna - Las Vegas Sun News

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Turkish Protests Provide Electroshock to EU Ties - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

Turkish Protests Provide Electroshock to EU Ties

By: Fehim Taştekin for Al-Monitor Turkey Pulse Posted on June 26.

“Turkey does not need the EU, but the EU needs Turkey. If need be, we know very well how to tell those countries, ‘Buzz off, mate!’ The EU needs Turkey more than Turkey needs the EU.” Those sharp words belong to Turkey’s EU Minister Egemen Bagis. And they were not uttered in a casual chat. The statement was relayed to journalists by Bagis’ press office on June 19 under the title “If need be, we’ll tell EU countries ‘Buzz off, mate!’”

More:Turkish Protests Provide Electroshock to EU Ties - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

Facebook denies providing data to Turkish government

Facebook denies providing data to Turkish government

ISTANBUL

Facebook has denied having agreed to share data regarding postings on the Gezi Park protests with the Turkish government, as had previously been stated by Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications Binali Yıldırım.

More:SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY - Facebook denies providing data to Turkish government

Turkey and the EU, a difficult relationship - The New Federalist, webzine of the Young European Federalist

Turkey and the EU, a difficult relationship

Wednesday 26 June 2013, by Alessio Pisanò

As a result of the crackdown on the mass demonstration in Istanbul by the conservative government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan the negotiation for Turkey accession to the EU could be frozen. Germany and the Netherlands expressed strong disappointment for the massive use of police force on demonstrators in Taksim square and therefore are trying to block these negotiations due to start this week in Brussels. Critics say that the German and the Dutch governments are just taking an excuse to stop Turkey to get closer to Europe. It is a fact that Angela Merkel is a longstanding opponent of Turkey entry which is an associate member of the European Union and its predecessors since 1963. Another fact is that Mr Erdogan and his ministers’ reaction to the demonstration and official statements do not help at all.

More:Turkey and the EU, a difficult relationship - The New Federalist, webzine of the Young European Federalist

TOURISM - Turkey aims to reach 48.5 million tourists

Turkey aims to reach 48.5 million tourists

ANKARA/ISTANBUL - Anadolu Agency

Turkey aims to reach around 48.5 million tourists annually between 2014 and 2018, a 4.6 percent increase over the 2007-2012 period, and increase tourism income per visitor $932, a 2.3 percent increase, in accordance with the targets in the latest economic development plan.

More:TOURISM - Turkey aims to reach 48.5 million tourists

Lawyers show solidarity with Turkish people’s struggle - Inquirer Opinion | Inquirer Opinion

Lawyers show solidarity with Turkish people’s struggle

Philippine Daily Inquirer
10:46 pm | Wednesday, June 26th, 2013

The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), a voluntary association of hundreds of progressive lawyers, law students and paralegals giving pro-bono services, expresses its solidarity with the Turkish people in their militant mass actions against their government’s antidemocratic and antipeople policies.

More:Lawyers show solidarity with Turkish people’s struggle - Inquirer Opinion | Inquirer Opinion

Denmark charges 11 men with terror financing for collecting money for Kurdish group

Denmark charges 11 men with terror financing for collecting money for Kurdish group

By The Associated Press June 27, 2013

COPENHAGEN - A Danish prosecutor has charged 11 men with terror financing for providing money to a Kurdish separatist group.

Prosecutor Lise-Lotte Nilas said Thursday the men were responsible for collecting and transferring 130 million kroner ($23 million) to the PKK, or Kurdistan Workers' Party.

More:Denmark charges 11 men with terror financing for collecting money for Kurdish group

Turkey probes social network 'insults' - Europe news - Boston.com

Turkey probes social network 'insults'
By SUZAN FRASER / Associated Press / June 27, 2013

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish authorities are investigating people who allegedly insulted state officials or incited riots on social media, the deputy prime minister said Thursday, in a sign the government is intent on meting out punishment over the massive protests that swept the country in June.

More:Turkey probes social network 'insults' - Europe news - Boston.com

Ocalan presents proposal for second stage in peace process

Ocalan presents proposal for second stage in peace process

ANKARA Jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan said on Tuesday that he has sent Ankara a proposal for the next phase in peace efforts to follow the withdrawal of rebel fighters from Turkish soil.

More:Oman Tribune - the edge of knowledge

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Thanks, But No: Social Media Refuses To Share With Turkey : Parallels : NPR

Thanks, But No: Social Media Refuses To Share With Turkey

by
June 26, 2013 3:08 PM

Turkey's battle with the Internet took a new twist on Wednesday.

Twitter has refused to cooperate with the government, but that Facebook had responded "positively" and was "in cooperation with the state."

Turkish Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications Minister Binali Yilderim, quoted in Turkish media, did not elaborate on what this cooperation entails. But Turkish officials have complained that social media outlets aren't sharing user access information with prosecutors and law enforcement agencies.

More:Thanks, But No: Social Media Refuses To Share With Turkey : Parallels : NPR

Ege Ozyegin: Not a Turkish Spring, but a Call for Democracy From the Youth

Not a Turkish Spring, but a Call for Democracy From the Youth

The events that have been transpiring in Turkey have now entered their third week. The peaceful protests, originally advocating an environmental cause, escalated into a massive anti-government uprising. Essentially what has been happening in Turkey is the Turkish youth are striving to safeguard the secular democratic republic that their founding father, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, left them to protect. One major slogan of the uprisings reads: "Turk Gencligi 1. Vazifesinde! Atam rahat uyu!" which means, " Father rest in peace! Your children are fulfilling their duty!" As the threat has become clear to all, crowds of 47 percent college students have been fighting for their rights and liberties, pushing for the government and especially the prime minister to resign. The trees the environmentalists were originally protecting serve as the catalyst that precipitated this entire protest. These trees are now a symbol of what Ataturk created and the Turkish youth will do anything they can to prevent them from being demolished. The way that this Occupy Gezi movement should be read is people chanting; "We are fed up with the policies of this conservative Islamic government. We want our freedoms, rights, and unrestricted press back!"

More:Ege Ozyegin: Not a Turkish Spring, but a Call for Democracy From the Youth

For many German Turks, Merkel's tough Turkey stance makes sense | Reuters

For many German Turks, Merkel's tough Turkey stance makes sense

By Sarah Marsh

BERLIN | Wed Jun 26, 2013 5:32pm BST

(Reuters) - For Recep Demir, a businessman from Germany's large Turkish diaspora, Chancellor Angela Merkel's opposition to Turkey joining the European Union makes perfect sense.

More:For many German Turks, Merkel's tough Turkey stance makes sense | Reuters

Restricting social media "never an option": Turkish communications minister, 26 June 2013

Restricting social media "never an option": Turkish communications minister

26 June 2013

Minister Yildirim said such restrictions were against the nature of social media.

ANKARA

Turkish government would never consider putting restrictions on the use of social media in the country, Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications Binali Yildirim said.

More:Restricting social media "never an option": Turkish communications minister, 26 June 2013

Police use tear gas to disperse 2,000 protesters in Ankara | theSundaily

Police use tear gas to disperse 2,000 protesters in Ankara
Posted on 26 June 2013 - 04:49pm
Last updated on 26 June 2013 - 07:09pm


ANKARA (June 26, 2013): Turkish riot police fired tear gas and water cannon early on Wednesday to disperse some 2,000 protesters in the capital Ankara, making 16 arrests.

Protesters had gathered overnight in the Dikmen district of the capital and attempted to erect barricades to block traffic on a main artery.

More:Police use tear gas to disperse 2,000 protesters in Ankara | theSundaily

Turkish soccer club shares win and lose on UEFA ruling | Reuters

Turkish soccer club shares win and lose on UEFA ruling

ISTANBUL, June 26 | Wed Jun 26, 2013 6:49am EDT

(Reuters) - Turkish football club shares were volatile on the back of a UEFA match fixing ruling on Wednesday, when local assets were broadly firmer on easing concerns over the Federal Reserve's plan to cut back its monetary stimulus.

More:Turkish soccer club shares win and lose on UEFA ruling | Reuters

Turkish Publisher Can Öz Emerges as Major Opposition Figure - SPIEGEL ONLINE

Turkish Publisher Can Öz: The Rebellion of an Apolitical Man

By Maximilian Popp
Photo Gallery: A Strong Voice for a Young Movement Photos
Sedat Mehder/ DER SPIEGEL

For years, Can Öz followed his father's advice to steer clear of politics. But the turmoil in Turkey has pushed the leading publisher off the sidelines and into the fray, where he is becoming a key voice of a movement still taking shape.

More:Turkish Publisher Can Öz Emerges as Major Opposition Figure - SPIEGEL ONLINE

Book News: Turkish Protesters Form 'Taksim Square Book Club' | Wyoming Public Media


Book News: Turkish Protesters Form 'Taksim Square Book Club'

By Annalisa Quinn

The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.

Erdem Gunduz, the protester known as "The Standing Man" who held a six-hour silent vigil in Instanbul's Taksim Square in response to clashes between Turkish police and demonstrators, has inspired protesters to form "The Taksim Square Book Club" — a group of demonstrators, some masked, standing silently and reading books. An Al Jazeera slideshow shows a many protesters holding pointedly political books such as George Orwell's 1984 (which has recently enjoyed a massive surge in popularity in the U.S., following revelations about NSA surveillance.)

More:Book News: Turkish Protesters Form 'Taksim Square Book Club' | Wyoming Public Media

In Istanbul, you could see the culture clash coming - The Globe and Mail

In Istanbul, you could see the culture clash coming

Lysiane Gagnon

Special to The Globe and Mail

Published Wednesday, Jun. 26 2013, 6:00 AM EDT

Ten years ago, even a tourist could foresee the drama that has been unfolding in Turkey, where the staunchly conservative government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan faces demonstrations against autocracy and religious fundamentalism. The cultural gap between these “two Turkeys” was already visible in the streets of Istanbul, starkly illustrated by the attire of its women.

More:In Istanbul, you could see the culture clash coming - The Globe and Mail

LETTER: Turkey not headed for Islamic state | Letters | BDlive

LETTER: Turkey not headed for Islamic state
June 26 2013, 00:00

IN RECENT weeks your coverage of events in Turkey has made the assertion that the governing party (AKP) is attempting to Islamise Turkey.

More:LETTER: Turkey not headed for Islamic state | Letters | BDlive

Erdogan’s ‘Three Children’ Campaign Alienates Women - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

Erdogan’s ‘Three Children’
Campaign Alienates Women

By: Kadri Gursel for Al-Monitor Turkey Pulse Posted on June 25.


During the 15 days the AKP government pulled out security forces from Gezi Park and its environs in Istanbul and left the park to protesters, the young people there used also humor to express their reactions to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

More:Erdogan’s ‘Three Children’ Campaign Alienates Women - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

Rozh Ahmad, "Kurds and Turks Share Doubts About Peace Talks Between PKK and Turkish Government"

Kurds and Turks Share Doubts About Peace Talks Between PKK and Turkish Government
by Rozh Ahmad

After nearly three decades of war, Turkey's Kurdistan region, home for an estimated 25 million stateless Kurds, warily awaits a long-lasting peace.

For the last 29 years this region has been ravaged by a ferocious conflict between the Turkish army, the NATO's second largest, and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a guerilla movement claiming to fight for cultural and political rights of Turkey's minority Kurds. They have fought each other in a war that has reportedly claimed the lives of more than 40,000 people on both sides, during which 5,000 Kurdish villages were destroyed or depopulated allegedly at the hands of Turkish soldiers.

More:Rozh Ahmad, "Kurds and Turks Share Doubts About Peace Talks Between PKK and Turkish Government"

Turkey and the Twitter menace - The Internaut - The Listener

Turkey and the Twitter menace

The prime minister loathes Twitter, but the mayor of Ankara embraces its power - until it backfires.

By Toby Manhire In The Internaut

“There is now a menace which is called Twitter,” said Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, waving his fist at protesters in Istanbul and elsewhere.

More:Turkey and the Twitter menace - The Internaut - The Listener

Erdogan's War On Ataturk's Legacy - OpEd Eurasia Review

Erdogan’s War On Ataturk’s Legacy – OpEd
June 25, 2013

By Hudson Institute

By Hillel Fradkin and Lewis Libby

Recently, a single man stepped into the mass demonstrations and counter-demonstrations that have roiled Turkey for weeks. The man stood still and silent, staring at an image on a wall. Soon scores of his countrymen, concerned about their freedoms, stood silently beside him, not just in Gezi Park, but in parks and squares across Turkey. It was a potent symbol in a war of symbols. In the Middle East, it may one day rank beside another standing man — the man who stood before the tanks of Tiananmen. Time will tell if it will prove equally futile.

More:Erdogan's War On Ataturk's Legacy - OpEd Eurasia Review

Hundreds March In Istanbul To Denounce Release of Police Officer Suspected of Killing Protester

Hundreds March In Istanbul To Denounce
Release of Police Officer Suspected of Killing Protester

By Countercurrents.org

25 June 2013

Over 1,000 people marched in Kadiköy's streets to protest the investigation into Ethem Sarisülük's death. Strong evidences show that the 26-year-old protester was killed by a police officer, however prosecutors ruled that the shooting was 'within the limits of self-defense.' DHA photo

People marched in Kadiköy's streets,DHA photo

Hundreds gathered on the night of June 24, 2013 in Istanbul 's Asian shores to protest the court ruling to release a police officer suspected of shooting a demonstrator in the early days of the Gezi Park unrest. [1]

Having been on life support for a number of days, Ethem Sarisülük, a 26-year-old blue collar worker, passed away last week.
More:Hundreds March In Istanbul To Denounce Release of Police Officer Suspected of Killing Protester

Opinion: Turkey is safer now for tourists than ever - www.travelweekly.co.uk

Opinion: Turkey is safer now for tourists than ever
26 June 2013 at 06.59

Akin Koc, managing director, Anatolian Sky Holidays

Every year around this time I take a regular trip Turkey to meet all our hoteliers and discuss contracting for the coming year.

These trips involve visits to all the resorts we feature, including Fethiye, Olu Deniz, Kalkan, Akyaka and Marmaris, along with the capital Istanbul too.

More:Opinion: Turkey is safer now for tourists than ever - www.travelweekly.co.uk

PIPES: What Turkey's riots mean - Washington Times

PIPES: What Turkey's riots mean

Rebellion has shaken Turkey since May 31. Is it comparable to the Arab upheavals that overthrew four rulers since 2011, to Iran’s Green Movement of 2009 that led to an apparent reformer being elected president last week, or perhaps to Occupy Wall Street, which had negligible consequences?

More:PIPES: What Turkey's riots mean - Washington Times

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

POLITICS - EU envoys respond to Bağış’s comparison of Turkish and EU police

EU envoys respond to Bağış’s comparison of Turkish and EU police

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Serkan Demirtaş Serkan Demirtaş serkan.demirtas@hdn.com.tr

Comparing the Turkish police’s brutal crackdown on peaceful demonstrators to other countries’ police interventions is pointless and not helpful, according to EU ambassadors, who have requested "transparency and accountability" in the investigation into the Turkish police’s harsh crackdowns on civilians during the Gezi Park protests.

More:POLITICS - EU envoys respond to Bağış’s comparison of Turkish and EU police

European Union, Turkey avoid rupture in relations - CNN.com

European Union, Turkey avoid rupture in relations
By Ivan Watson, CNN
June 25, 2013 -- Updated 1548 GMT (2348 HKT)

Istanbul (CNN) -- The European Union avoided a rupture of relations with Turkey by agreeing to open a new round of membership negotiations with the Turkish government.

More:European Union, Turkey avoid rupture in relations - CNN.com

Turkish PM lashes out at protesters - Acadiana's Multi-Media News Station

Turkish PM lashes out at protesters
Posted: Jun 25, 2013 10:45 AM TST Updated: Jun 25, 2013 11:55 PM TST

By SUZAN FRASER
Associated Press
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Turkish police on Tuesday detained at least 20 people allegedly involved in violent protests, as the country's prime minister continued to lash out at protesters - and a BBC journalist - he claimed were part of a conspiracy to harm Turkey.

More:Turkish PM lashes out at protesters - Acadiana's Multi-Media News Station

AP Names Butler Chief Correspondent for Turkey - ABC News

AP Names Butler Chief Correspondent for Turkey

LONDON June 25, 2013 (AP)

Desmond Butler, an AP foreign affairs reporter based in Washington, has been named chief correspondent in Istanbul, Turkey, for The Associated Press.

More:AP Names Butler Chief Correspondent for Turkey - ABC News

Turkey Unrest: A Family Split Between Erdogan and Taksim - SPIEGEL ONLINE

Generation Gap: Turkish Family Split Between Gezi and Old Way

By Özlem Gezer in Istanbul

The rift currently dividing Turkey also runs right through the middle of many families. SPIEGEL reporter Özlem Gezer has an uncle in Istanbul who loves Erdogan, a cousin who sleeps in the protesters' camp and parents who sit in Germany arguing over the unrest.

I'm sitting in an Ottoman corner booth in Istanbul, drinking tea. I've been listening to Sahmi for hours. "Erdogan won," he keeps saying, sometimes raising his hand for emphasis and sometimes pounding it on the table. Sahmi is a 64-year-old retiree living in Istanbul. He is also my uncle.

More:Turkey Unrest: A Family Split Between Erdogan and Taksim - SPIEGEL ONLINE

EU-Turkey agree to resume membership talks despite protest crackdown - FOCUS Information Agency

EU-Turkey agree to resume membership talks despite protest crackdown
25 June 2013 | 16:35 | FOCUS News Agency
Home / Southeast Europe and Balkans
Luxembourg. Turkey and the EU mended fences Tuesday, agreeing to reopen long stalled talks on Turkey's EU membership despite strong reticence from Germany and others over Ankara's tough crackdown on anti-government protests, AFP reported.
Ireland, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, said EU ministers agreed to resume membership talks with Turkey after a three-year break, but that a date to kick off the negotiations would be announced in the autumn.
European Affairs ministers meeting in Luxembourg "agree to open Chapter 22", an Irish statement said, referring to one of 35 sets of EU rules and regulations that candidates to membership of the bloc must satisfy before gaining entry to the European club.

More:EU-Turkey agree to resume membership talks despite protest crackdown - FOCUS Information Agency

Turkey's 'Standing Man' captured attention, but protest doesn't stand still - it forms assemblies - Comment - Voices - The Independent

Turkey's 'Standing Man' captured attention, but protest doesn't stand still - it forms assemblies

The loss of Gezi Park has inadvertently led to the development of community organisations. Could these be a sustainable foundation for mass social movement?

More:Turkey's 'Standing Man' captured attention, but protest doesn't stand still - it forms assemblies - Comment - Voices - The Independent

Global media romances the rebellion in Turkey - Alarabiya.net English | Front Page

Global media romances the rebellion in Turkey
Tuesday, 25 June 2013
Abdallah Schleifer

Two and a half years ago, the great global media delusion was that the vast demonstrations in Cairo’s Tahrir Square (and other urban centers throughout Egypt) had brought down Mubarak and constituted a non-violent Revolution – journalists flooded into town enthralled with this sort of sweet romantic revolutionary chic which the demonstrators had bought in on their own.

More:Global media romances the rebellion in Turkey - Alarabiya.net English | Front Page

Two wise men refuse to attend meeting with Turkish Prime Minister because of Gezi unrest

Two wise men refuse to attend meeting with Turkish Prime Minister because of Gezi unrest

ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

Erdem Güneş Erdem Güneş erdem.gunes@hdn.com.tr

Wise men Professor Baskın Oran and columnist Murat Belge have announced that they will not attend the final meeting of the Wise Persons’ Committee, which had been formed by the Turkish government to assist in the country’s bid to find a peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue, because of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s mishandling the Gezi Park protests in the country.

More:POLITICS - Two wise men refuse to attend meeting with Turkish Prime Minister because of Gezi unrest

Europe vs Asia in Istanbul - The Times of India

Europe vs Asia in Istanbul
DIPANKAR GUPTA | Jun 25, 2013, 12.00 AM IST

The Taksim Square upheaval is not about Islamic autocracy against secular democracy.

Use a sledgehammer to kill a fly and you are bound to miss it. This is what happened in Istanbul's Taksim Square. It started with just 50 environmentalists protesting the construction of a mall but when the state came down heavily, thousands poured out and a movement began.

oreEurope vs Asia in Istanbul - The Times of India

Tear Gas & Twitter in Taksim - an anarchist eyewitness analysis from Gezi Park, Istanbul - Anarkismo

Tear Gas & Twitter in Taksim - an anarchist eyewitness analysis from Gezi Park, Istanbul

Tear gas is a very good place to start trying to understand what is happening in Turkey. The main purpose of tear gas is to terrorise and thus break up large crowds of people. In Istanbul over the last weeks huge quantities have been used over and over to prevent large anti-government demonstrations developing.

More:Tear Gas & Twitter in Taksim - an anarchist eyewitness analysis from Gezi Park, Istanbul - Anarkismo

EUobserver.com / Foreign Affairs / No EU-Turkey talks until October

No EU-Turkey talks until October

By Andrew Rettman
Andrew email

BRUSSELS - The restart of EU-Turkey accession talks has been postponed from Wednesday (26 June) until at least October following a German request.

EU foreign ministers agreed the step at a General Affairs Council (GAC) in Luxembourg on Tuesday.

More:EUobserver.com / Foreign Affairs / No EU-Turkey talks until October

BBC concerned over Ankara mayor's Twitter campaign | GlobalPost

BBC concerned over Ankara mayor's Twitter campaign

The BBC expressed concerns on Monday about what it called a campaign launched by Turkish authorities to "intimidate its journalists" as government officials have lashed international media outlets for their coverage of the unrest that rocked the country.

More:BBC concerned over Ankara mayor's Twitter campaign | GlobalPost

In Pictures: The Taksim Square Book Club - In Pictures - Al Jazeera English

In Pictures: The Taksim Square Book Club
Protesters stand silently and read books in central Istanbul, in stark contrast with scenes of violence.
George Henton Last Modified: 24 Jun 2013 18:51

Istanbul, Turkey - After weeks of violent clashes between police and protesters across Turkey a new form of resistance has emerged - the "Standing Man".

Standing silently, and initially alone, Turkish performance artist Erdem Gunduz stood, with his hands in his pockets, facing the Ataturk Cultural Centre in Taksim Square, Istanbul, for eight hours.

More:In Pictures: The Taksim Square Book Club - In Pictures - Al Jazeera English

Erdogan Praises Police 'Heroism' Amid Turkish Protests

Erdogan Praises Police 'Heroism' Amid Turkish Protests

06/24/13 06:03 AM ET EDT AP

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey's prime minister has brushed off criticism by human rights groups and some European countries, insisting police officers have displayed "legendary heroism" in quelling weeks of anti-government protests.

More:Erdogan Praises Police 'Heroism' Amid Turkish Protests

Turkey’s E.U. Bid - NYTimes.com

Turkey’s E.U. Bid
By THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Published: June 24, 2013

For 26 years, Turkey has been angling for membership in the European Union, only to see its bid thwarted. Now, with the union on the verge of reviving talks on Turkey’s accession, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s outrageous crackdown on antigovernment protests in recent weeks is giving some Europeans a new excuse to question whether Turkey merits membership.

More:Turkey’s E.U. Bid - NYTimes.com

Germany compromises over Turkey EU bid - The Local

Germany compromises over Turkey EU bid

Published: 25 Jun 13 07:06 CET | Print version
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Germany sought on Monday to overcome a division with most of its European Union partners over reopening Turkey's stalled bid to join the bloc, a diplomatic source said.

More:Germany compromises over Turkey EU bid - The Local

Gizem Akyil: How Did Protesters in Turkey Get Labeled 'Terrorists'?

How Did Protesters in Turkey Get Labeled 'Terrorists'?
Posted: 06/24/2013 11:43 am

"There are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it."

Turkey's PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan is unquestionably an example of the latter, if not of both. Once a jailed and banned politician for inciting hatred, now prime minister, Erdogan explicitly backs his uncompromising stance in the face of protests across Turkey with the 50% support he received in the last election. The PM and members of his cabinet have condemned criticism from the European Parliament and other international bodies regarding the AKP's hard-nosed attitude. Yet, AKP ministers and mayors' on/off-the-record provocative statements concerning protesters have solely been examples of their failed governance and antidemocratic administration.

More:Gizem Akyil: How Did Protesters in Turkey Get Labeled 'Terrorists'?

Turkey policeman freed pending trial on protester's death | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR

Turkey policeman freed pending trial on protester's death
June 24, 2013 07:59 PM

ANKARA: A Turkish policeman suspected of shooting to death a 26-year-old protester during anti-government demonstrations in Ankara has been released pending trial, local media reported Monday.

More:Turkey policeman freed pending trial on protester's death | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR

More than 6200 servicemen killed in fight against PKK in Turkey - Trend.Az

More than 6200 servicemen killed in fight against PKK in Turkey

Azerbaijan, Baku, June 24 / Trend, A. Taghiyeva /

Since the beginning of the activity of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Turkey in 1984, a total of 6,205 servicemen have been killed in the fight against the PKK militants, Turkish Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz said, the online newspaper Sabah reported on Monday.

More:More than 6200 servicemen killed in fight against PKK in Turkey - Trend.Az

EU seeks to look beyond the Turkey protests and at long-term prospect for membership

EU seeks to look beyond the Turkey protests and at long-term prospect for membership

By RAF CASERT Associated Press

LUXEMBOURG — Turkey's hope of moving to the next stage of negotiations to join the European Union was kept alive Monday after Germany proposed a compromise that would bind the bloc to expanded talks, but only once it approved Ankara's latest reforms.

More:EU seeks to look beyond the Turkey protests and at long-term prospect for membership

Germany proposes delaying EU-Turkey talks over protests | Reuters

Germany proposes delaying EU-Turkey talks over protests

(Reuters) - Germany proposed on Monday postponing a new round of EU membership talks with Turkey by about four months to signal the bloc's displeasure at its crackdown on anti-government protests.

More:Germany proposes delaying EU-Turkey talks over protests | Reuters

Your Industry News - Alexey Miller and Taner Yildiz announces Russian-Turkish relations in energy sector have great potential

Alexey Miller and Taner Yildiz announces Russian-Turkish relations in energy sector have great potential
Monday, Jun 24, 2013
A meeting between Alexey Miller Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and Taner Yildiz, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of the Republic of Turkey took place today as part of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2013.

More:Your Industry News - Alexey Miller and Taner Yildiz announces Russian-Turkish relations in energy sector have great potential

Turkey interested in Belarus’ experience in nuclear energy - Economy / News / Belarus News | Belarusian news | Belarus today | news in Belarus | Minsk news | BELTA - Belarus News | Belarusian news | Belarus today | news in Belarus | Minsk news | BELTA

Turkey interested in Belarus’ experience in nuclear energy

24.06.2013 18:21

MINSK, 24 June (BelTA) – Representatives of Turkey’s energy sector have visited the construction site of the Belarusian nuclear power plant, BelTA learnt from the Russian nuclear corporation Rosatom.

More:Turkey interested in Belarus’ experience in nuclear energy - Economy / News / Belarus News | Belarusian news | Belarus today | news in Belarus | Minsk news | BELTA - Belarus News | Belarusian news | Belarus today | news in Belarus | Minsk news | BELTA

Israelis Gather Together With Turks to Protest in Solidarity - Shalom Life USA

Israelis Gather Together With Turks to Protest in Solidarity
Protestors unite outside Tel Aviv's Turkish Embassy to protest against PM Erdogan
By: Daniel Koren
Published: June 24th, 2013 in News » Israel

Israeli civilians gathered together at the Turkish Embassy in Tel Aviv earlier this week to protest in solidarity with the Turkish people, and against current Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"We protest in solidarity with all of those who face injustice," said one such protestor, Ronen Levi.

More:Israelis Gather Together With Turks to Protest in Solidarity - Shalom Life USA

3 Startling Examples Of Police Brutality In Turkey - SFGate

3 Startling Examples Of Police Brutality In Turkey
Michael Kelley, provided by
Published 11:50 am, Monday, June 24, 2013

On Sunday Turkish Prime Minister Edan defended aggressive police tactics against protesters who recently occupied Istanbul's Gezi Park and adjoining Taksim square over plans to demolish the park.

More:3 Startling Examples Of Police Brutality In Turkey - SFGate

Monday, June 24, 2013

Cinemaximum impact: Muzaffer Yildirim and Mars Entertainment transform Turkey

Cinemaximum impact: Muzaffer Yildirim and Mars Entertainment transform Turkey

June 24, 2013

-By Andreas Fuchs

filmjournal/photos/stylus/1378908-CineEurope_Yildirim_Md.jpg
Muzaffer Yildirim says his personal recipe for a successful business is to “think big, visualize, believe and make it happen.” Calling his work across Turkey “the ultimate example of how innovative thinking and foresight can lead to great success in the cinema exhibition industry,” the partners of CineEurope have selected the co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Mars Entertainment Group as their 2013 “International Exhibitor of the Year.” With over 500 screens in 24 cities operating under the Cinemaximum brand and accounting for 52% of total box office and 85% of cinema-advertising revenues in Turkey, Mars not only operates the country’s largest circuit but also its very best.

More:Cinemaximum impact: Muzaffer Yildirim and Mars Entertainment transform Turkey

BBC journalist received 'threatening' tweets from Turkish mayor | Media | guardian.co.uk

BBC journalist received 'threatening' tweets from Turkish mayor

Broadcaster condemns messages sent by Ankara mayor to reporter Selin Girit accusing her of 'treachery'

More:BBC journalist received 'threatening' tweets from Turkish mayor | Media | guardian.co.uk

Turkey, E.U. on the outs over protests - The Washington Post

Turkey, European Union on the outs over protests

By Michael Birnbaum, Monday, June 24, 8:01 PM E-mail the writer

BERLIN — After years of on-again, off-again efforts to join the European Union, Turkey is again on the outs with Europe, a major casualty of Turkish leaders’ harsh response to protests that have swept their country for more than three weeks.

More:Turkey, E.U. on the outs over protests - The Washington Post

EU ministers clash over reviving Turkey talks | GulfNews.com


EU ministers clash over reviving Turkey talks

Luxembourg: European Union ministers clashed over whether to revive membership talks with Turkey on Monday with several countries joining Germany in arguing it would send the wrong signal to reward Ankara after a crackdown on protests.

More:EU ministers clash over reviving Turkey talks | GulfNews.com

Nikolas Kozloff: When It Comes to Debate Over Turkey and Islam, the Left Is Dazed and Confused

When It Comes to Debate Over Turkey and Islam, the Left Is Dazed and Confused

It would be a mistake to draw a direct correlation between recent protests in Taksim Square and Turkey's larger struggle over secularism and Islam. Initially, it was a small group of environmentalists and apolitical folk who propelled demonstrations to public attention. Over time, however, more diverse constituencies joined the fray, including both secular and Kemalist supporters of Turkey's CHP or Republican People's Party, as well as far left and neo-nationalist groups. According to the Economist magazine, protesters come from widely diverse backgrounds including young and old, pious and secular, gays, Armenians, atheists and even anarchists. Grievances of the demonstrators, meanwhile, also vary considerably with some protesting neo-liberal economic policies and others concentrating on environmental concerns, human rights abuses, crackdowns on freedom of the press and even repression of the Kurdish minority.

More:Nikolas Kozloff: When It Comes to Debate Over Turkey and Islam, the Left Is Dazed and Confused

Germany still backs EU-Turkey entry talks | GlobalPost

Germany still backs EU-Turkey entry talks

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday that Germany still backs negotiations between the European Union and Turkey, after tensions spiked between the two capitals amid Ankara's crackdown on anti-government protests.

More:Germany still backs EU-Turkey entry talks | GlobalPost

Will Turkey welcome female entrepreneurs? | Entrepreneur | Financial Post

Will Turkey welcome female entrepreneurs?
Republish Reprint

Erin Bury | 13/06/24 9:31 AM ET

Amid political unrest, and riots in Turkey, the annual Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network (DWEN) conference went off without a hitch in Istanbul. The city joins other emerging-city hosts, including Rio de Janeiro and New Delhi.

More:Will Turkey welcome female entrepreneurs? | Entrepreneur | Financial Post

Prosecutor: Fatal shooting of Gezi protester was an act of self-defense

Prosecutor: Fatal shooting of Gezi protester was an act of self-defense

Mesut Hasan Benli ANKARA - Radikal

A police officer who allegedly shot a demonstrator during the early days of the Gezi Park protests was released on June 24 by a court in Ankara, with the prosecutor in charge of the investigation ruling that the shooting was “within the limits of self-defense.”

More:LOCAL - Prosecutor: Fatal shooting of Gezi protester was an act of self-defense

Turkey, Amid Islamization and Anti-Semitism, Fit For EU Membership? | Jewish & Israel News Algemeiner.com

Turkey, Amid Islamization and Anti-Semitism, Fit For EU Membership?
June 24, 2013 9:36 am 0 comments
Author:
avatar Ben Cohen / JNS.org

Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Photo: wiki commons.

JNS.org - It’s a familiar pattern.

The citizens of a Middle Eastern state explode with frustration against their corrupt, repressive government. They gather for noisy, impassioned demonstrations in their capital city. The authorities react violently. Images of middle-aged women and wheelchair-bound individuals being tear-gassed, clubbed, and sprayed with water cannon race across social media platforms like wildfire. The protests then spread to other cities. The authorities step up their repression.

More:Turkey, Amid Islamization and Anti-Semitism, Fit For EU Membership? | Jewish & Israel News Algemeiner.com

Merkel’s party underlines opposition to Turkish EU membership in election program - The Washington Post

Merkel’s party underlines opposition to Turkish EU membership in election program

By Associated Press, Published: June 23

BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc is stressing its opposition to Turkey joining the European Union in its manifesto for German elections in September, arguing the country doesn’t fulfill the conditions to join.

More:Merkel’s party underlines opposition to Turkish EU membership in election program - The Washington Post

Majoritarianism: Zombie democracy | The Economist

Zombie democracy

A note to Turkey’s prime minister, among others: winning elections is not enough
Jun 22nd 2013 |From the print edition

“BUT I’ve won three elections!” Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s embattled prime minister, growls at his critics. On the face of it, his case is compelling: surely, many people in Turkey and beyond would agree, popularly elected leaders can govern as they please? That’s what democracy means.

More:Majoritarianism: Zombie democracy | The Economist

Istanbul Trans Pride parade turns into Gezi Park protest | Gay Star News

Istanbul Trans Pride parade turns into Gezi Park protest

Turkey’s 4th annual transgender pride march turned into a march protesting the planned demolition of Istanbul’s Gezi Park and the marchers were joined by politicians from the main opposition party

More:Istanbul Trans Pride parade turns into Gezi Park protest | Gay Star News

APA - Number of losses of Turkish Army during 28-year armed struggle against PKK made public

Number of losses of Turkish Army during 28-year armed struggle against PKK made public

Baku – APA. The number of soldiers killed during the fight against the PKK terrorist organization in Turkey has been officially announced. APA reports quoting Turkish media that Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz responded to the survey of MP of the Republican People's Party (CHP) Oktay Eksi.

More:APA - Number of losses of Turkish Army during 28-year armed struggle against PKK made public

Protests Reveal the Deep Divisions in Turkish Society - SPIEGEL ONLINE

A Country Divided: Where Is Turkey Headed?

By Daniel Steinvorth and Bernhard Zand
Photo Gallery: A Divided Turkey Photos
REUTERS

The uprising against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan clearly shows the deep divide between modernity and tradition in Turkey. Economic growth had long disguised the cleft. But now, the country must decide what its future will hold.

The first thing a visitor sees after passing through passport control in Istanbul is a monument to cosmopolitanism, consumption and the pleasures of drinking: a giant display shelf, 25 meters (80 feet) long, containing gin, vodka and whiskey, as well as wines from France, Italy and the US. Sales at the duty-free mall in Istanbul's Atatürk Airport are among the highest in Europe.

ANZEIGE
This would have pleased the man for whom the airport was named. Mustafa Kemal Pasha, known as Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey, liked to drink Raki, the Turkish anise-flavored brandy, even on Muslim holidays.

More:Protests Reveal the Deep Divisions in Turkish Society - SPIEGEL ONLINE

AJCongress Must Revoke Erdoğan’s Award « Commentary Magazine

AJCongress Must Revoke Erdoğan’s Award
Michael Rubin | @mrubin1971 06.24.2013 - 8:00 AM

On January 26, 2004, the American Jewish Congress presented Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan with its “Profiles of Courage” award for promoting peace between cultures. In a press release, the AJC reported:

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday told the American Jewish Congress that Turkey will stand firm to eradicate terrorism worldwide, offers security to its Jewish citizens, and will work to achieve peace in the Middle East.

More:AJCongress Must Revoke Erdoğan’s Award « Commentary Magazine

Council of Europe Secretary General to meet with Turkish PM over police violence - FOCUS Information Agency

Council of Europe Secretary General to meet with Turkish PM over police violence

24 June 2013 | 10:05 | FOCUS News Agency
Home / Southeast Europe and Balkans
Ankara. Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland will visit Turkey on June 25 to meet with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan due to the disproportionate use of force by the police during the mass protests across the country, NTV reported.

More:Council of Europe Secretary General to meet with Turkish PM over police violence - FOCUS Information Agency

Istanbul anxious to stay focused on 2020 vision for Olympic Games | Sport | guardian.co.uk

Istanbul anxious to stay focused on 2020 vision for Olympic Games

The IOC is set to present its latest evaluation reports on the three bidding cities, and Istanbul has good reason to be worried

More:Istanbul anxious to stay focused on 2020 vision for Olympic Games | Sport | guardian.co.uk

Ankara mayor's BBC spy claims spark hashtag war - CNN.com

Ankara mayor's BBC spy claims spark hashtag war
By Ivan Watson and Gul Tuysuz
June 24, 2013 -- Updated 1316 GMT (2116 HKT)

Ankara's mayor has used his Twitter account to accuse a BBC correspondent of spying
Mayor Ibrahim Melih Gokcek created a hashtag to spread the claims against the journalist
However, online opponents mobilized their own hashtag in response to Melih Gokcek
Their hashtag - accusing Melih Gocek of being a provocateur - became more widely spread

ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- Twitter has been the scene of a bizarre Turkish hashtag war between the mayor of Ankara and, well, a lot of other social networkers.

The drama began Sunday when Ibrahim Melih Gokcek, the man who has been mayor of Turkey's capital for more than a decade, accused a reporter from the BBC's Turkish service of being a foreign agent.

More:Ankara mayor's BBC spy claims spark hashtag war - CNN.com

Mosque Dream Seen at Heart of Turkey Protests - NYTimes.com

Mosque Dream Seen at Heart of Turkey Protests
Ed Ou for The New York Times

The architect Ahmet Vefik Alp with a model of a mosque that he designed to be built in Taksim Square in Istanbul.
By TIM ARANGO

ISTANBUL — Three weeks before street protests spread across Turkey, the architect Ahmet Vefik Alp traveled to Sunnylands, the famous Southern California retreat for heads of state, where he presented his blueprint for a project in Istanbul’s Taksim Square that has been the dream of Turkey’s Islamist movement for decades: a large mosque that would honor the country’s Muslim and Ottoman heritage.

More:Mosque Dream Seen at Heart of Turkey Protests - NYTimes.com

Turkish May foreign visitor arrivals rise 17.82 pct yr/yr | Reuters

Turkish May foreign visitor arrivals rise 17.82 pct yr/yr

ISTANBUL, June 24 | Mon Jun 24, 2013 5:47am EDT

(Reuters) - The number of foreign visitors to Turkey rose 17.82 percent year-on-year in May to 3.81 million people, Tourism Ministry data showed on Monday.

More:Turkish May foreign visitor arrivals rise 17.82 pct yr/yr | Reuters

Turkey's twitter generation is its European future
 | openDemocracy

Turkey's twitter generation is its European future

Heather Grabbe 24 June 2013

The protests that started in Istanbul’s Gezi Park two weeks ago have spread across Turkey and show little sign of dying down. They signify a clash between a modernising Turkish society and a still rigid and old-fashioned political system. The protests have resulted in the tragic loss of several lives and are endangering Turkey’s hard-won economic stability as investors take fright. But they also have a silver lining. They might force the government to reconsider its rejection of pluralism. And they might even help to revive Turkey's moribund accession process to the EU.

More:Turkey's twitter generation is its European future
 | openDemocracy

EU foreign ministers to decide on Turkey’s membership talks | EurActiv

EU foreign ministers to decide on Turkey’s membership talks

Published 24 June 2013

The Turkish government's handling of protests that have rocked the country for the past three weeks have strained relations with the EU, and a decision to take another step in Ankara’s accession talks, expected today (24 June), appears uncertain. EurActiv Turkey reports.

More:EU foreign ministers to decide on Turkey’s membership talks | EurActiv

Salmonella scare: Tahini off Abu Dhabi shelves - Emirates 24/7

Salmonella scare: Tahini off Abu Dhabi shelves
Reports allege Turkish brand contaminated

Published Monday, June 24, 2013

A Turkish product ‘Gesas’ has been taken off shelves in Abu Dhabi following international reports alleging it is contaminated with salmonella.
Abu Dhabi Food Control Department ordered the Turkish tahini product be taken off shelves after it tightened its procedures of border checks on products entering the emirate.

More:Salmonella scare: Tahini off Abu Dhabi shelves - Emirates 24/7

MUSIC - Chinese singer makes music video in Turkish city

Chinese singer makes music video in Turkish city

ANTALYA - Doğan News Agency

A famous singer in China, Tan Weiwei is shooting a music video and documentary for her new album in the southern province of Antalya’s Manavgat district. Working in ancient places such as the historic Kaleiçi district, the Aspendos ancient theater, the Temple of Apollon and the ancient city of Perge, Weiwei said it was “destiny” to make a music video in Turkey.

More:MUSIC - Chinese singer makes music video in Turkish city

Ankara mayor accuses BBC Turkish journalist of being an 'agent' in Twitter campaign, 24 June 2013

Ankara mayor accuses BBC Turkish journalist of being an 'agent' in Twitter campaign

24 June 2013

Ankara Mayor Melih Gökçek has launched a Twitter campaign against the experienced BBC Turkish service journalist Selin Girit, over her reporting via the social media network of a forum held among protesters at a small park in Istanbul.

More:Ankara mayor accuses BBC Turkish journalist of being an 'agent' in Twitter campaign, 24 June 2013

Articles: The European Union vs. Turkey

The European Union vs. Turkey
By Michael Curtis

In an uncharacteristic action on June 13, 2013, the European Union belatedly earned its credentials for the Nobel Peace prize it had been surprisingly awarded on December 10, 2012. The European Parliament (EP) passed a non-binding Resolution on the situation in Turkey [2013/26664(RSP)] stating that the Turkish police had used excessive violence in an effort to disperse a group of demonstrators that had been protesting against the planned felling of trees for a new construction project in Istanbul's Gezi Park in the Taksim Square area.

More:Articles: The European Union vs. Turkey

'Turkish economy at high risk, but not due to Gezi protests,' MIT economist says

'Turkish economy at high risk, but not due to Gezi protests,' MIT economist says

Güneş Kömürcüler ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
The Turkish economy is at risk not because of the countrywide protests, but rather the latest FED decisions, according to MIT economist Daron Acemoğlu

More:ECONOMICS - 'Turkish economy at high risk, but not due to Gezi protests,' MIT economist says

`There is no “Turkish Arab Spring” - Salon.com

There is no “Turkish Arab Spring”

In Turkey, support for the protesters isn't nearly as unified as the U.S. media might have you believe

By Wajahat Ali and Haroon Moghul

We landed at Atatürk International early last Friday with the impression from American media that Turkey was falling apart. But much of what we experienced this past weekend in Istanbul contradicted that narrative. We were left wondering whether the political situation is really a “crisis,” and, if so, what kind it was. We set out to talk to Turks beyond the media filter, trying to find out how they viewed things.

More:There is no “Turkish Arab Spring” - Salon.com

All aboard Erdoğan’s bus ride


All aboard Erdoğan’s bus ride

EMRE ÇALIŞKAN / SIMON A. WALDMAN

Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan once remarked that for him democracy was like a bus ride, once he gets to his stop he will get off. It is no coincidence that Turkish protesters currently facing severe crackdowns in their bid to save Istanbul’s Gezi Park often refer to their prime minister as a dictator, or authoritarian at the very least.

More:CONTRIBUTOR - All aboard Erdoğan’s bus ride

2.5 mln people partook in anti-gov't protests across Turkey: report - Xinhua | English.news.cn

2.5 mln people partook in anti-gov't protests across Turkey: report
English.news.cn 2013-06-23 21:46:56

ANKARA, June 23 (Xinhua) -- About 2.5 million protesters have taken to the streets across Turkey since the unrest initially erupted on May 31 over government plans to redevelop Gezi Park in Istanbul's Taksim Square, daily Milliyet reported Sunday.

Only in two cities, Bayburt and Bingol, people did not attend the protests; while 79 cities witnessed mass demonstrations, with the majority in Istanbul and the capital Ankara, the report quoted the Interior Ministry's record as saying.

More:2.5 mln people partook in anti-gov't protests across Turkey: report - Xinhua | English.news.cn

Turkey's Protests Are An Impediment For Its Prime Minister : NPR

Turkey's Protests Are An Impediment For Its Prime Minister
by
June 24, 2013 4:00 AM

After more than three weeks of anti-government protests, Turkey's leaders insist they will restore order and quickly bounce back from any damage to the country's economy or image abroad. The crisis comes at a delicate time for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He is in the midst of a fragile peace initiative with the Kurdish minority, dealing with an escalating war next door in Syria, and trying to convince parliament to strengthen the office of the president, which he is expected to run for as his final term as prime minister winds down.

More:Turkey's Protests Are An Impediment For Its Prime Minister : NPR

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Going Political In Istanbul | KAWC

Going Political In Istanbul

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The protests that started almost a month ago in Istanbul's Gezi Park have brought all different kinds of people out onto the streets. Most of the protesters are young and many have described themselves as being previously apolitical. Ayse Ozdel is a 21-year-old college student who grew up in Istanbul. Ayse, thanks so much for being with us.

More:Going Political In Istanbul | KAWC

EU Risks Upsetting Turkey with Threat to Call Off Talks

EU Risks Upsetting Turkey with Threat to Call Off Talks

June 23, 2013
BRUSSELS — The European Union is on the verge of scrapping a new round of membership talks with Turkey, a move that would further undermine Ankara's already slim hopes of joining the bloc and damage its relations with Brussels.

More:EU Risks Upsetting Turkey with Threat to Call Off Talks

Turkey arrests 23 more over anti-govt protests

Turkey arrests 23 more over anti-govt protests

ISTANBUL : Turkish authorities arrested 23 more people on Saturday over their alleged role in this month’s anti-government protests, accusing them of acting on behalf of a far-left “terrorist” group, a news report said.
A court in the capital accused them of helping to organise the protests and engaging in violence in the name of the Communist Marxist-Leninist Party, CNN-Turk said on its website. Another three were released but placed under judicial supervision, the report said. Interior Minister Muammer Guler said the operation had been planned for about a year against the “terrorist” (MLKP), but that the suspects were also implicated in the protests, the most violent since Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted govt came to power in 2002,. Prosecutors could not immediately confirm the arrests, which follow a sweep last Tuesday against far-left groups in Ankara.

More:Turkey arrests 23 more over anti-govt protests

Germany's Turks divided over Istanbul protests | World | DW.DE | 23.06.2013

Germany's Turks divided over Istanbul protests

Whether in solidarity or with a shrug, Germany's Turkish community is keeping a close eye on events in Istanbul. Many hope the young people in Taksim Square will prevail. Others prefer to say nothing.

More:Germany's Turks divided over Istanbul protests | World | DW.DE | 23.06.2013

EUROPE - German, Turkish press declare war

German, Turkish press declare war

ISTANBUL - Hurriyet Daily News

Media outlets in Turkey and Germany upped the severity of language of new reporting, amid rising tension between the countries that followed Berlin initiative to halt Turkey’s European Union bid.

More:EUROPE - German, Turkish press declare war

The Jewish Press » » Turkey Sliding Fast Down the Slope of Islamization

Turkey Sliding Fast Down the Slope of Islamization

Q: Are the protests in Turkey more Arab Spring or Occupy Wall Street?
A: The ideas that this is some far left thing is a slander by Islamists. Those involved include a wide front of social democrats, liberals, and conservatives (usually called center-right in Turkey), and all sorts of people who are tired of a ten-year-long march toward Islamism. This is the kind of thing we should be supporting. Instead, unfortunately, the Obama Administration is on the side of the democratically elected dictator, so to speak.

More:The Jewish Press » » Turkey Sliding Fast Down the Slope of Islamization


Covert crackdown: RT's correspondent water-cannoned in Ankara night raid (VIDEO) — RT News

Covert crackdown: RT's correspondent water-cannoned in Ankara night raid (VIDEO)

Published time: June 23, 2013 00:48
Edited time: June 23, 2013 04:23

Turkish police are continuing crackdown on protesters and apparently the press, which RT’s Tom Barton experienced first-hand when attacked by a water cannon. Social media are also flooded with pictures of the wounds from the police’s non-lethal force.

More:Covert crackdown: RT's correspondent water-cannoned in Ankara night raid (VIDEO) — RT News

Police seek to break up large crowds in Istanbul, Ankara

Police seek to break up large crowds in Istanbul, Ankara
June 22, 2013, 5:57 pm

ISTANDBUL (AP) — The intense conflict in Turkey between the government and protesters spread today from Istanbul to the capital of Ankara.

In Instanbul, police wielded water cannon to break up thousands of demonstrators who had gathered in Taksim Square to observe a memorial for four people killed during recent anti-government protests. The officers later fired tear gas and rubber bullets to scatter demonstrators who regrouped in side streets.

More:Police seek to break up large crowds in Istanbul, Ankara

Turkey’s protests: Erdogan cracks down | The Economist

Turkey’s protests - Erdogan cracks down
Vicious police tactics have reclaimed Taksim Square and other places of protest, but at a high cost to Turkey’s reputation

THE protests that have convulsed Turkey since May 31st are gradually dying down. Calm has returned across most of the country. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, seems firmly in control. To judge by the huge turnout at weekend rallies in Ankara and Istanbul of his Justice and Development (AK) party, his base is more loyal and adoring than ever.

More:Turkey’s protests: Erdogan cracks down | The Economist

Secularism in danger - Indian Express

Secularism in danger
Meghnad Desai : Sun Jun 23 2013, 06:18 hrs

While Gandhiji was fighting the British Empire for khilafat, Kemal Pasha abolished it. He also insisted that the Turkish language be written in the Roman script
 
I don't dabble in social media but I gather they are full of alarmist predictions about what might happen if and when Narendra Modi becomes prime minister. The answer is: look at Turkey. It was made into a secular Republic by its founder Kemal Pasha who had no time for the mullahs. While Gandhiji was fighting the British Empire for khilafat, Kemal Pasha abolished it. He also insisted that the Turkish language be written in the Roman script. Turkey was modernised, secularised and its women were emancipated, unlike in other Islamic countries (or India).

More:Secularism in danger - Indian Express

Silence and fear in Istanbul | Europe | DW.DE | 22.06.2013

Silence and fear in Istanbul

The violent dispersal of the Gezi Park protests in Istanbul and Prime Minister Erdogan's threatening rhetoric have scared the people of Turkey. Hardly anyone wants to speak about the recent events.

More:Silence and fear in Istanbul | Europe | DW.DE | 22.06.2013

Police disperse Istanbul protesters with water cannon | Fox News

Police disperse Istanbul protesters with water cannon

By by Nicolas CHEVIRON
Published June 22, 2013
AFP

ISTANBUL (AFP) – Turkish police used water cannon on Saturday to disperse thousands of demonstrators who had gathered anew in Istanbul's Taksim Square, calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

More:Police disperse Istanbul protesters with water cannon | Fox News

The women of Gezi Park are protesters, not pin-up girls

The women of Gezi Park are protesters, not pin-up girls

Turkey's Prime Minister Erdogan wants to cast women as mothers, sisters and wives, and those who oppose him should be careful that their imagery doesn’t do the same.

More:The women of Gezi Park are protesters, not pin-up girls

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Turkish police unleash water cannon on protests - San Jose Mercury News

Turkish police unleash water cannon on protests
By SUZAN FRASER and AMER COHADZIC Associated Press

ISTANBUL—Turkish police used water cannon to disperse thousands gathered in Istanbul's Taksim Square on Saturday to observe a memorial for four people killed during recent anti-government protests. The officers later fired tear gas and rubber bullets, and in some cases beat people with batons, to scatter demonstrators who regrouped in side streets.

More:Turkish police unleash water cannon on protests - San Jose Mercury News

Erdogan: Turkey, Brazil Protests Part Of Same, Foreign-Led Conspiracy To Destabilize Governments

Erdogan: Turkey, Brazil Protests Part Of Same, Foreign-Led Conspiracy To Destabilize Governments

ISTANBUL — Turkish police used water cannon to disperse thousands gathered in Istanbul's Taksim Square on Saturday to observe a memorial for four people killed during recent anti-government protests. The officers later fired tear gas and rubber bullets to scatter demonstrators who regrouped in side streets.

More:Erdogan: Turkey, Brazil Protests Part Of Same, Foreign-Led Conspiracy To Destabilize Governments

Censorship and Police Brutality Mark Three Weeks of Turkish Protests · Global Voices

Censorship and Police Brutality Mark Three Weeks of Turkish Protests
Video posts Video
Posted 22 June 2013 8:41 GMT
Written byBaran Mavzer

It's been three weeks since massive protests started across Turkey. Since their start on May 31, the country has witnessed media censorship, police brutality, protests by the thousands and the deaths and injury of protestors. Here is the summary of past three weeks:

More:Censorship and Police Brutality Mark Three Weeks of Turkish Protests · Global Voices

Young Dutch fighters in Syria - heroes or potential terrorists? | Radio Netherlands Worldwide

Young Dutch fighters in Syria - heroes or potential terrorists?
Published on : 22 June 2013 - 5:31pm | By RNW Arab Desk ((C) RNW)
The Dutch intelligence services estimate the number of young men from the Netherlands recruited to fight in Syria at anywhere between four and one hundred. Ahmed Marcouch simply says the number is unknown.

Three quarters of young Muslims in the Netherlands say their friends who go to fight in Syria are heroes, according to a recent survey. Speaking to RNW, Dutch MP Ahmed Marcouch said “It is important to hold the Muslim communities - mosques, imams, and individuals - responsible for those who participate in this violence and those who glorify the participants”.

More:Young Dutch fighters in Syria - heroes or potential terrorists? | Radio Netherlands Worldwide