https://twitter.com/MahirZeynalov/status/799514778716794881
https://twitter.com/MahirZeynalov/status/800823333159890945
https://twitter.com/MahirZeynalov/status/798185888408707076… Read the rest
Posts Tagged ‘ Turkey ’
Call upon the Turkish government
Sep 11th, 2016 4:53 pm | By Ophelia BensonOrhan Pamuk, JM Coetzee, Elena Ferrante and others protest the Turkish government’s attack on thinkers and writers:
… Read the restWe the undersigned call upon democrats throughout the world, as well as those who care about the future of Turkey and the region in which it exerts a leading role, to protest the vendetta the government is waging against its brightest thinkers and writers who may not share their point of view.
The background to this letter is the coup attempt on 15 July 2016, which mercifully failed and was quickly subdued. Had the Turkish people themselves not resisted this assault on their institutions, the result would have been years of misery.
In the aftermath of that coup, it is understandable that
The Daily Hate Speech
Jun 13th, 2016 8:54 am | By Ophelia BensonSorry to cite the Daily Mail as a source, but sometimes one has to. So, the Daily Mail:
… Read the restA Turkish newspaper with links to the country’s President has published a homophobic headline calling those who died in the Orlando mass shooting ‘perverts’ and ‘deviants’.
Yeni Akit, a right-wing newspaper which has supported the likes of Al-Qaeda in the past, broke news of the attack with the headline: ‘Death toll rises to 50 in bar where perverted homosexuals go!’
…
According to Turkish think-tank the Hrant Dink Foundation, Yeni Akit is one of the worst offenders when it comes to using hate speech against minorities, in particular the LGBT community, but also against Jews, Armenians and Christians.
In just four
Embedding hatred
Apr 24th, 2016 5:39 pm | By Ophelia BensonThe BBC has more details on Erdoğan’s way with dissenters.
… Read the restTurkey’s hard line on insults:
- Between August 2014 and March 2015, 236 people investigated for “insulting the head of state”; 105 indicted; eight formally arrested
- Between July and December 2014 (Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s presidency), Turkey filed 477 requests to Twitter for removal of content, over five times more than any other country and an increase of 156% on the first half of the year
- Reporters Without Borders places Turkey 149th of 180 countries in the press freedom index
- During Mr Erdogan’s time in office (Prime Minister 2003-14, President from 2014), 63 journalists have been sentenced to a total of 32 years in prison, with collective fines of $128,000
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You can see it when you look at Hitler’s Germany
Jan 1st, 2016 12:20 pm | By Ophelia BensonErdoğan thinks the Turkish presidency – occupied just now by none other than Erdoğan – should have more power, the way Hitler did.
… Read the restAfter returning from a trip to Saudi Arabia, Mr. Erdogan was asked by the Turkish news media whether a presidential system was possible given that the government is now organized under a prime minister.
“There are already examples in the world,” Mr. Erdogan said. “You can see it when you look at Hitler’s Germany.”
Hitler, who became chancellor of Germany in 1933, assumed the presidency in 1934, a move that allowed him to consolidate power to become the Führer.
While Mr. Erdogan did not elaborate, his comment is bound to raise concern among critics who view
“Secularism” in Turkey
Oct 6th, 2011 8:55 am | By Ophelia BensonBurak Bekdil explains why Turkish secularism isn’t.
A majority of Turks, Sunni Muslims, overtly or covertly believe that they should be “more equal” than the others because they constitute the majority. They think that it is their natural right to enjoy preferential treatment in terms of governance and law enforcement. Remember how the crowds in Istanbul last year, trying to attack the Israeli consulate, shouted at the police who were trying to prevent bloodshed? “Leave the Jews to us! What kind of Muslims are you?” A simple search will produce thousands of examples of this nature unveiling the conscious or subconscious desire of the Sunni Turk for preferential treatment in public administration.
It’s not unlike the US that way. … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
