Ergin Hava
The government of Vietnam is keen to strengthen mutual trade and investment ties with Turkey and increase the current bilateral trade volume of $850 million to $2 billion in 2012, Vietnamese Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan said in an exclusive interview with Today's Zaman on Friday in İstanbul.
May 7, 2011
May 6, 2011
Fethullah Gülen extends condolences over Kastamonu attack
Today's Zaman
Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has extended his profound regret over the killing of a police officer in what he termed a “malicious ambush” and said he shares the sorrow with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
A group of outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) members is believed to be behind the attack on police officers who escorted Erdoğan in Kastamonu early on Wednesday. The attack left one dead and two others injured.
Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has extended his profound regret over the killing of a police officer in what he termed a “malicious ambush” and said he shares the sorrow with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
A group of outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) members is believed to be behind the attack on police officers who escorted Erdoğan in Kastamonu early on Wednesday. The attack left one dead and two others injured.
May 5, 2011
Is the Gülen Movement a civil society initiative?
Muhammed Çetin
Civil society is described "as an arena of friendships, clubs, churches, business associations, unions, human rights groups and other voluntary associations beyond the household but outside the state … [providing] citizens with opportunities to learn the democratic habits of free assembly, non-coercive dialogue and socioeconomic initiative.
"1 The terms "civil society sector" or "civil society organization" cover a broad array of organizations that are essentially private, that is, outside the institutional structures of government. They are also distinct from business organizations: They are not primarily commercial ventures set up principally to distribute profits to their directors or owners. They are self-governing and people are free to join or support them voluntarily.2
Civil society is described "as an arena of friendships, clubs, churches, business associations, unions, human rights groups and other voluntary associations beyond the household but outside the state … [providing] citizens with opportunities to learn the democratic habits of free assembly, non-coercive dialogue and socioeconomic initiative.
"1 The terms "civil society sector" or "civil society organization" cover a broad array of organizations that are essentially private, that is, outside the institutional structures of government. They are also distinct from business organizations: They are not primarily commercial ventures set up principally to distribute profits to their directors or owners. They are self-governing and people are free to join or support them voluntarily.2
May 4, 2011
Journalists’ ‘real fear’ in Turkey
Yavuz Baydar
Nobody disputes the fact that free speech and media freedoms are worrisome issues in today’s Turkey. Yet, there is a disturbing cacophony among my local colleagues when it comes to detecting the sources of such problems, exposing the culprits and diagnosing the chronic maladies that affect the profession.
What is worse, the cacophony, which is aimed at creating confusion for foreign observers and decision makers, is deliberately spread. Cynicism and partisanship have been basic elements that pollute the conduct of journalists here. No wonder undue simplifications are common among them.
Nobody disputes the fact that free speech and media freedoms are worrisome issues in today’s Turkey. Yet, there is a disturbing cacophony among my local colleagues when it comes to detecting the sources of such problems, exposing the culprits and diagnosing the chronic maladies that affect the profession.
What is worse, the cacophony, which is aimed at creating confusion for foreign observers and decision makers, is deliberately spread. Cynicism and partisanship have been basic elements that pollute the conduct of journalists here. No wonder undue simplifications are common among them.
May 3, 2011
Kimse Yok Mu to build 4 schools in Sudan
Today's Zaman
Turkish aid organization Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There) has laid the foundation for the Kimse Yok Mu Education and Culture Complex, which contains four schools, to be built in South Darfur, Sudan.
South Darfur Governor Abdu-Elhameed Musa Kasha, Turkey's Ambassador to Sudan Yusuf Kenan Küçük and Kimse Yok Mu President Mehmet Özkara were among those present at the foundation-laying ceremony in Niyala, alongside Turkish businessmen and Sudanese citizens.
Turkish aid organization Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There) has laid the foundation for the Kimse Yok Mu Education and Culture Complex, which contains four schools, to be built in South Darfur, Sudan.
South Darfur Governor Abdu-Elhameed Musa Kasha, Turkey's Ambassador to Sudan Yusuf Kenan Küçük and Kimse Yok Mu President Mehmet Özkara were among those present at the foundation-laying ceremony in Niyala, alongside Turkish businessmen and Sudanese citizens.
May 2, 2011
System change debates should not mar new constitution
Fatih Vural
After two days of intensive deliberations in the northwestern province of Bolu, the Abant Platform has urged the preparation of a new, civilian and democratic constitution in Turkey following the general elections of June 12, saying that the preparation process of the new constitution should not be deadlocked over debates about Turkey's possible system change.
The Abant Platform, which regularly convenes to discuss some of the most vital issues of Turkey and the world with the participation of individuals from every segment of society, gathered for its 23rd meeting titled, “New Constitution, New Term,” at the Abant Palace Hotel over the weekend.
After two days of intensive deliberations in the northwestern province of Bolu, the Abant Platform has urged the preparation of a new, civilian and democratic constitution in Turkey following the general elections of June 12, saying that the preparation process of the new constitution should not be deadlocked over debates about Turkey's possible system change.
The Abant Platform, which regularly convenes to discuss some of the most vital issues of Turkey and the world with the participation of individuals from every segment of society, gathered for its 23rd meeting titled, “New Constitution, New Term,” at the Abant Palace Hotel over the weekend.
May 1, 2011
Gülen paranoid
Abdülhamit Bilici
Reading some Turkey-originated media articles demonizing the Gülen movement and spreading the paranoia that people associated with the movement are turning a highly democratic country into an empire of fear, I start to realize that I have been very naive, unaware, disloyal and ungrateful.
It appears that I am not aware of the fact that our democracy has been smoothly functioning like clockwork for many decades, that our courts have been administering justice at the speed of light and that our prisons are filled only with people who are convicted by courts. I feel that I am too blind to see that the popular saying “Don’t hire a lawyer; instead hire a judge” was invented to depict the status of the judiciary in Patagonia, so I didn’t know that the country where members of the Supreme Court of Appeals, as the highest legal authority, asked some influential people, “Do you want us to quash or uphold it?” was Uganda. And no one from our country has ever applied to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) with complaints about human rights violations. The members of the judiciary who would diligently hail every coup and rush to attend every briefing invitation from the junta members were actually the citizens of Papua New Guinea. I did not know that Fethullah Gülen had to live in self-imposed exile for 13 years now with the accusation of treason by the same judiciary.
Reading some Turkey-originated media articles demonizing the Gülen movement and spreading the paranoia that people associated with the movement are turning a highly democratic country into an empire of fear, I start to realize that I have been very naive, unaware, disloyal and ungrateful.
It appears that I am not aware of the fact that our democracy has been smoothly functioning like clockwork for many decades, that our courts have been administering justice at the speed of light and that our prisons are filled only with people who are convicted by courts. I feel that I am too blind to see that the popular saying “Don’t hire a lawyer; instead hire a judge” was invented to depict the status of the judiciary in Patagonia, so I didn’t know that the country where members of the Supreme Court of Appeals, as the highest legal authority, asked some influential people, “Do you want us to quash or uphold it?” was Uganda. And no one from our country has ever applied to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) with complaints about human rights violations. The members of the judiciary who would diligently hail every coup and rush to attend every briefing invitation from the junta members were actually the citizens of Papua New Guinea. I did not know that Fethullah Gülen had to live in self-imposed exile for 13 years now with the accusation of treason by the same judiciary.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
