As an homage to Taqiyya .... err ... Tayyip Erdoğan, the greatest hero Turkey would ever get, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ("I write as a sow pisses") about 226 years ago composed the Turkish March.
Voilà, Omnium proudly presents a jazzy version with the fantastic Fazil Say.
Showing posts with label Turkey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Turkey. Show all posts
Friday, January 30, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
Turkey on tenterhooks
'Normally' I do set links - yes, yes, it's time to overcome my lazyness and perhaps even for a revival of my 'Wordy Wednesdays :) - however this synopsis of what keeps great parts of the Turkish society on tenterhooks is so excellent that I asked Erkan - after the private, here the official congratulation, Dr. Saka :) - for his permission to pinch it.At the bottom you'll find - in chronological order - several links to the best source one can find when being interested (not only!!) in what's going on in Turkey.
End of the eulogy. :) Judge yourself.
Forensic officers search for weapons in a wooded area in central Ankara January 9, 2009. More than 40 people, including three retired generals, nine military officers, a state prosecutor and a former chairman of the higher education board, were detained for their suspected links to a right-wing group. The military, which has unseated four governments in the past 50 years and views itself as the guarantor of Turkey's secular order, denies any link to the group, known as Ergenekon. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY)
Here are some ideas Erkan briefly notes
about the Ergenekon case:
1. I am personally not upset that coup plotters and their sympathizers are at least 'harassed' during the never ending Ergenekon case. All arrested, detained, investigated personalities are part of dark relations in Turkey's recent past. One is happy to see that there is a sort of "divine justice" in life.
2. I am suprised that the Case continues even after the end of closure case against AKP. There is a widespread belief that there is an understanding between the military bureaucracy and government now. PM Erdoğan's pro-State statements and cadre changes in AKP leadership seemed to be evidence for this belief. The case seemed to have lost AKP's political support.
3. Ergenekon is a very broad, powerful and well-supported network. Its illegality is reversed or justified by a particular civil mode of political culture. There are many civilians who support coups in order to protect the regime. This is still a strong pattern of political thinking in Turkey. One should not forget that in 1960 an elected PM was hanged! In order to protect Kemalism, many civilians would not mind a military coup and even execution of government members. In such a political climate, Ergenekon gang members could easily operate, settle and be protected. Many gang members become inseperable from the rest of smypathisers.
4. Turkish legal system is conservative, backward and has loopholes. In such a political and legal context, it is very hard for prosecutors to operate against Ergenekon. No need to say, system is totally politicized.
5. In order to operate, political and communal support is needed. I do not mind that prosecutors have some "backing".
6. In order to operate, there might be some violations of "procedures", that are constantly highlighted by secularist circles. "procedures" that are never settled, that are constantly manipulated. Same procedures that were not criticised when PM Erdoğan was imprisoned before, when Beşir Atalay, current minister of interior affairs, was thrown out of his university years ago, when pro-Islamic columnists were detained in the same like some columnists are now detained....
7. Despite my support in general, I have to admit that the Case process sometimes becomes too problematic to support. the Indictment itself is an interesting text but messy, long and evidentially weak.
8. I feel better with the latest wave of arrests after which hidden weaponry is found. Technical analysis finally secured the fact that some newly found grenades are now part of a group of grenades that were found initially in Ümraniye, İstanbul that started the whole process.
9. I understand that some of the arrests are just meant to harass pro-coup personalities who does not have any organic membership with the gang. But evidential connections have to be secured. Only after hard evidence, this very difficult process of Ergenekon case can continue and maintain public support.
10. But how can there be more evidence? That's a hard task. Turkish intelligence seems to be divided. Only some can provide direct help. Army intelligence act mostly after the fact. Evidences can easily be hidden or destroyed under the cloud of sympathy in several levels of bureaucracy. Police forces can be helpful but according to media reports, which are themselves quite suspicious, evidence is not collected properly (such as data found in computers are not registered according to proper procedures) and despite good intentions, evidence is corrupted most of the time.
11. In case of lack of hard evidence, evidentiality of the case becomes inevitably political. If there was a strong mainstream media support, instantiation of strong evidentiality could be more easily achieved. This also lacks.
12. If political support is secured limitedly through some negotiations, then there will only be some victims, and Ergenekon case will be closed without much sensation at a particular moment.
13. If political support is secured strongly, then there will be sensational conclusions. If AKP secures another big victory in March elections, this might lead to a strong political support for the case.
14. If Ergenekon gang members decided to retire after the AKP rule, their old misdeeds would be forgotten and they would live happily after. But their belief that they own the State led them to this particular predicament...
15. This is a good lesson for some: if you politicise the law, this is what you will get. This is in turn a lesson for those who rule now: If you maintain this level of politicization, you might again become the victim of the process. Justice is needed for all, although revenge tastes good for the moment...
On the same topic:
Here come the pain - Ergenekon gang receives a serious blow in the 10th wave of arrests
'Turkish judges' - so anxious ...
Why does military intelligence fail to see what the police can see?
Did the last Ergenekon operation just save us from a military coup?
End of the eulogy. :) Judge yourself.
Forensic officers search for weapons in a wooded area in central Ankara January 9, 2009. More than 40 people, including three retired generals, nine military officers, a state prosecutor and a former chairman of the higher education board, were detained for their suspected links to a right-wing group. The military, which has unseated four governments in the past 50 years and views itself as the guarantor of Turkey's secular order, denies any link to the group, known as Ergenekon. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY)Here are some ideas Erkan briefly notes
about the Ergenekon case:
1. I am personally not upset that coup plotters and their sympathizers are at least 'harassed' during the never ending Ergenekon case. All arrested, detained, investigated personalities are part of dark relations in Turkey's recent past. One is happy to see that there is a sort of "divine justice" in life.
2. I am suprised that the Case continues even after the end of closure case against AKP. There is a widespread belief that there is an understanding between the military bureaucracy and government now. PM Erdoğan's pro-State statements and cadre changes in AKP leadership seemed to be evidence for this belief. The case seemed to have lost AKP's political support.
3. Ergenekon is a very broad, powerful and well-supported network. Its illegality is reversed or justified by a particular civil mode of political culture. There are many civilians who support coups in order to protect the regime. This is still a strong pattern of political thinking in Turkey. One should not forget that in 1960 an elected PM was hanged! In order to protect Kemalism, many civilians would not mind a military coup and even execution of government members. In such a political climate, Ergenekon gang members could easily operate, settle and be protected. Many gang members become inseperable from the rest of smypathisers.
4. Turkish legal system is conservative, backward and has loopholes. In such a political and legal context, it is very hard for prosecutors to operate against Ergenekon. No need to say, system is totally politicized.
5. In order to operate, political and communal support is needed. I do not mind that prosecutors have some "backing".
6. In order to operate, there might be some violations of "procedures", that are constantly highlighted by secularist circles. "procedures" that are never settled, that are constantly manipulated. Same procedures that were not criticised when PM Erdoğan was imprisoned before, when Beşir Atalay, current minister of interior affairs, was thrown out of his university years ago, when pro-Islamic columnists were detained in the same like some columnists are now detained....
7. Despite my support in general, I have to admit that the Case process sometimes becomes too problematic to support. the Indictment itself is an interesting text but messy, long and evidentially weak.
8. I feel better with the latest wave of arrests after which hidden weaponry is found. Technical analysis finally secured the fact that some newly found grenades are now part of a group of grenades that were found initially in Ümraniye, İstanbul that started the whole process.
9. I understand that some of the arrests are just meant to harass pro-coup personalities who does not have any organic membership with the gang. But evidential connections have to be secured. Only after hard evidence, this very difficult process of Ergenekon case can continue and maintain public support.
10. But how can there be more evidence? That's a hard task. Turkish intelligence seems to be divided. Only some can provide direct help. Army intelligence act mostly after the fact. Evidences can easily be hidden or destroyed under the cloud of sympathy in several levels of bureaucracy. Police forces can be helpful but according to media reports, which are themselves quite suspicious, evidence is not collected properly (such as data found in computers are not registered according to proper procedures) and despite good intentions, evidence is corrupted most of the time.
11. In case of lack of hard evidence, evidentiality of the case becomes inevitably political. If there was a strong mainstream media support, instantiation of strong evidentiality could be more easily achieved. This also lacks.
12. If political support is secured limitedly through some negotiations, then there will only be some victims, and Ergenekon case will be closed without much sensation at a particular moment.
13. If political support is secured strongly, then there will be sensational conclusions. If AKP secures another big victory in March elections, this might lead to a strong political support for the case.
14. If Ergenekon gang members decided to retire after the AKP rule, their old misdeeds would be forgotten and they would live happily after. But their belief that they own the State led them to this particular predicament...
15. This is a good lesson for some: if you politicise the law, this is what you will get. This is in turn a lesson for those who rule now: If you maintain this level of politicization, you might again become the victim of the process. Justice is needed for all, although revenge tastes good for the moment...
On the same topic:
Here come the pain - Ergenekon gang receives a serious blow in the 10th wave of arrests
'Turkish judges' - so anxious ...
Why does military intelligence fail to see what the police can see?
Did the last Ergenekon operation just save us from a military coup?
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Thanksgiving at the Oral Office
Remember Bill Clinton?
Fine.
Remember Thanksgiving 2001 (sic!)?
No?
Well, let's have a look.
Afterwards one could read that Mr. Bush had pardoned the turkey, named it - now guess! ...? ... yes!! - Liberty, and from now on Liberty would live in Vir-gin-ia-ha-ha-ha. Well who would believe this from a notorious liar?
According to my friend Tetrapilotomos his deep throat has investigated the truth.
[quote] Monica still lives in the Oral Office, and her favourite place is the one under the President's table.[unquote]
Now don't I mind Mr. Bush's preference for turkeys (be they female or male); I wonder however, why there has never been an impeachment trial?
Fine.
Remember Thanksgiving 2001 (sic!)?
No?
Well, let's have a look.
[quote]Come on, be a good bird.[unquote]
[quote]Oops, she's does it. I'll call her Monica.[unquote]
Afterwards one could read that Mr. Bush had pardoned the turkey, named it - now guess! ...? ... yes!! - Liberty, and from now on Liberty would live in Vir-gin-ia-ha-ha-ha. Well who would believe this from a notorious liar?
According to my friend Tetrapilotomos his deep throat has investigated the truth.
[quote] Monica still lives in the Oral Office, and her favourite place is the one under the President's table.[unquote]
Now don't I mind Mr. Bush's preference for turkeys (be they female or male); I wonder however, why there has never been an impeachment trial?
Friday, November 14, 2008
Cricketers of the World, be very scared
Posting an article according to which the mayor of the Turkish city of Batman is suing producer/director Christopher Nolan and Warner Bros. for royalties from the film The Dark Knight, Jams O'Donnell Esq. yesterday morning finally stated: "I have no idea if this is a spoof or not but I do love a bit of frivolous litigation!"
About three hours later, I was able to resolve all his doubts: 'When even one of the most honourable and trustworthy newspapers on this planet, and thus in this galaxy and all those galaxies still to discover - i.e. Hurriyet - would sacrifice space for the Dark Mayor's accusations, now, then it must be true, Jams, hm?'
So far, so ... so ... well, let's call it bizarre.
Not bizarre is when some bad men would get off forbidding any son of Batman now living in Germany (or elsewhere!) to name his restaurant 'Batman'.
I wonder when they will bring in an action for injunction against all Cricket Clubs on this planet.
Ah, may they choke from their arrogance and acquisitiveness!
Won't happen?
Oh well, then may Spiderman punish them!
Ceterum censeo it's time that the Turks get what they need: Atapluckism.
About three hours later, I was able to resolve all his doubts: 'When even one of the most honourable and trustworthy newspapers on this planet, and thus in this galaxy and all those galaxies still to discover - i.e. Hurriyet - would sacrifice space for the Dark Mayor's accusations, now, then it must be true, Jams, hm?'
So far, so ... so ... well, let's call it bizarre.
Not bizarre is when some bad men would get off forbidding any son of Batman now living in Germany (or elsewhere!) to name his restaurant 'Batman'.
I wonder when they will bring in an action for injunction against all Cricket Clubs on this planet.
Ah, may they choke from their arrogance and acquisitiveness!
Won't happen?
Oh well, then may Spiderman punish them!
Ceterum censeo it's time that the Turks get what they need: Atapluckism.
Friday, November 07, 2008
Getting afflicted with doubts
Telling a young lady the facts that inspired me to write the dialogues in previous post, she spontaneously said:
- They must not become member of the EU.
- You know that one could argue the opposite view - with exactly the same reasons, don't you?
- I know. However, I don't think they would change, once they became member of the EU. And noone - at least no majority - would insist on them changing their misogynous behaviour. On the contrary, I hear politicians say 'Ah, we should accept their culture is different from ours.
- :) And ...
- And soon some noisy Turks - not the friendly and decent one's - living here will demand those laws to become valid in in this country, too, 'because we are Turks and do have the right to live our culture wherever we do live'. And as you know, the noisy one's mostly get what they want.
...
Hm, when even a friendly, cosmopolitan, well-educated young woman would speak out such vehemently against Turkey becoming a member of the EU, what will those think who happen to be less educated?
Yes, even this blogger starts getting afflicted with doubts. And he is asking himself: Cui bono?
UPDATE:
In order to make it easy to follow (and continue) this discussion, I changed the date of this post from October 27th to November 7th.
Thanks everybody for her / his patience.
- They must not become member of the EU.
- You know that one could argue the opposite view - with exactly the same reasons, don't you?
- I know. However, I don't think they would change, once they became member of the EU. And noone - at least no majority - would insist on them changing their misogynous behaviour. On the contrary, I hear politicians say 'Ah, we should accept their culture is different from ours.
- :) And ...
- And soon some noisy Turks - not the friendly and decent one's - living here will demand those laws to become valid in in this country, too, 'because we are Turks and do have the right to live our culture wherever we do live'. And as you know, the noisy one's mostly get what they want.
...
Hm, when even a friendly, cosmopolitan, well-educated young woman would speak out such vehemently against Turkey becoming a member of the EU, what will those think who happen to be less educated?
Yes, even this blogger starts getting afflicted with doubts. And he is asking himself: Cui bono?
UPDATE:
In order to make it easy to follow (and continue) this discussion, I changed the date of this post from October 27th to November 7th.
Thanks everybody for her / his patience.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Social Perversity in Turkey
... or: 'Social reality' in Turkey
1.
- You say you have been gang raped by bureaucrats, men of law, politicians and an 80-year-old retired general?!
- Yes.
- What’s your age?
- 13.
- So you should go home and tell your parents.
- ?
- They can file a complaint if they wish.
- But it’s me who …
- You are too young to differentiate what is rape and what is love.
- But …
- Your family will know how to restore your family’s honour. Farewell.
***
2.
- So you say, the day before yesterday you have been gang raped by bureaucrats, men of law, politicians and an 80-year-old retired general?!
- Yes.
- What’s your age?
- The day before yesterday?
- Yes.
- 13.
- So you should go home and tell your parents. They can file a complaint if they wish.
- But, why can’t I …
- You are too young to differentiate what is rape and what is love.
- But I am married.
- With 13?!
- No, yesterday was my birthday. And my wedding.
- Well, but that was yesterday. You were still 13 when …
- My husband got 500 dollars f …
- He was not your husband the day before yesterday, hm?
- No. … eh …Yes.
- You are obviously slightly confused. Go home, tell your parents and your husband, and they will know how to restore your family's honour. Good night and good luck.
Irreal?
Well, read this, and then go on talking.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Whodunnit?
Praised be my laziness. It has its advantages. :) When Sunday I happened to read the first news of the bomb attack in Istanbul I intended to write a post but didn't as I was pretty sure that one of the many Turkish 'opinion-tellers' soon would get close to what I am thinking, and thus save me lots of time*.
And, voilà:
And, voilà:
It did not take much time for Turkish officials, and even less time for the Turkish media, to put the blame of Sunday evening's deadly blasts on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, terrorist gang. The explosions in Istanbul killed at least 17 people -- five of them children -- and wounded scores of others. Although Istanbul Governor Muammer Güler stressed that investigations were ongoing, he also said the blasts appeared to have been the work of the PKK. It also did not take much for the PKK gang to issue a denial. The pro-PKK Kurdish news agency, Fırat, quoted Zübeyir Aydar, one of the senior chieftains of the gang, as saying that the PKK “has nothing to do with this event … this cannot be linked to the PKK.”Irrespective of who might actually be behind the deadly Sunday evening attacks, I am confident that sooner or later one of those creative prosecutors – who have successfully demonstrated their rather superb skill in literature with the 2,455-page “Ergenekon indictment” masterpiece – will find a way of incorporating this tragedy among the heinous crimes they believe a cocktail of hardcore leftists, Maoists, Kemalists, patriots, nationalists, ultra-nationalists and fascists have committed with the aim and intention of disrupting public peace and order, creating conditions for a military takeover, or provoking a national outburst and thus getting rid of the elected government of the country.
Full article here.
* Saturday evening I had asked a friend in Turkey to translate a sequence in a Hurriyet article about the 'Ergenekon affair'. She did, after following introducing words which now do again let me chuckle:
You don't mean all 2455 pages but only this article hm? :)
Believe me these silly plays are not worth your giving time.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Gülen top of the brainless
Ha ha ha - continue til paragraph 114.
Deleted 113. Thus paragraph Paragraph 115 de facto is paragraph 2, or vice versa.
Just checked the headlines posted by Erkan 30 minutes ago. Lots to read, indeed!
Gülen tops intellectuals list. Can't stop laughing.
You see, an intellectual per definitionem is an intelligent person without brains.
Deleted 113. Thus paragraph Paragraph 115 de facto is paragraph 2, or vice versa.
Just checked the headlines posted by Erkan 30 minutes ago. Lots to read, indeed!
Gülen tops intellectuals list. Can't stop laughing.
You see, an intellectual per definitionem is an intelligent person without brains.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Tiny piece of ornithology
Merhaba. :) You have read the interview with Mr Kemal? And now you are a bit curious about what's a dodo? Welcome then, to a tiny ornithology lecture. Thanks to leo, here we go:
- Main Entry: do·do
- Pronunciation: \ˈdō-(ˌ)dō\
Function: noun - Inflected Form(s): plural dodoes or dodos
- Etymology: Portuguese doudo, from doudo silly, stupid
- Date: 1628
1 a: an extinct heavy flightless bird (Raphus cucullatus syn. Didus ineptus of the family Raphidae) of the island of Mauritius that was larger than a turkey and was related to the pigeon b: an extinct flightless bird (Raphus solitarius) of the island of Réunion similar to and closely related to the dodo
2 a: one hopelessly behind the times b: a stupid person .
2 a: one hopelessly behind the times b: a stupid person .
*
In case you have any further questions, we - i.e. Tetrapilotomos and I - will be pleased and do our best in the hope to be able to widen your horizon. Yakında görüşmek üzere? :)Thursday, June 19, 2008
Capita Turciensis
Recently - I was just reading the last chapter of The Bastard of Istanbul - I heard Tetrapilotomos chuckle, which induced following dialogue:
Yes?
Blimey, no wonder there's a steady increase of population in Turkey.
What are you busy with, Tetrapilotomos?
Merowinger time.
I see. And what does this have to do with the population growth in Turkey?
Do you know what aureum caput regni means?
Golden head of the imperium, or so?
Not bad. And caput orbis?
Head of the world.
Not bad. And what's a colloquial German word for broken?
Kaputt. Spelled with one t less in English it means a) utterly finished, defeated, or destroyed and b) unable to function.
Not bad. And do you know what a condom is being called in Turkish.
No idea.
Kaput.
Yes?
Blimey, no wonder there's a steady increase of population in Turkey.
What are you busy with, Tetrapilotomos?
Merowinger time.
I see. And what does this have to do with the population growth in Turkey?
Do you know what aureum caput regni means?
Golden head of the imperium, or so?
Not bad. And caput orbis?
Head of the world.
Not bad. And what's a colloquial German word for broken?
Kaputt. Spelled with one t less in English it means a) utterly finished, defeated, or destroyed and b) unable to function.
Not bad. And do you know what a condom is being called in Turkish.
No idea.
Kaput.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Justice à la Turkiye
Not that I were surprised.
Observers voiced disappointment with the conduct of the trial of 19 persons for the January 2007 murder of Armenian-Turkish newspaper editor Hrant Dink after a third hearing was held yesterday [February 11th] in the Istanbul suburb of Besikta. The press is not being allowed to attend the trial. Full article at Reporters without Borders.I am not even surprised that while millions would demonstrate either for or against a headscarve ban, 500 people demonstrated in a square to demand justice.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Justice or insulting Kerinçsizness?
Smiling like a Cheshire cat from one ear to the other, today Tetrapilotomos asked me to read the following:
Turkish police arrested 33 persons who were actively involved in ultranationalist activities. Some of them are quite high profile. Retired general Veli Küçük, who has been in the news since the Susurluk case, some mafia leaders, the notarious lawyer Mr. Kerincsiz, Aksam columnist Güler Kömürcü, Sevgi Erenerol, spokeswoman for the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate - one opposed to the Fener Greek Patriarchate- are among the arrested ones...
I did and said: Interesting. And what's the amusing part about?
Spake Tetrapilotomos:
"I cannot remember that - and if so when - it happened in past decades that by reading a news I thought I were dreaming.
Therefore, I have been visiting this entry of Erkan's blog, at least twice every day, since.
Not that I wouldn't rely on Erkan who is the best journalistic source one can find in Turkey; no, it's just that I was anxious the good news could emerge as one of my daydreams, that I had become victim of my wishful thinking.
Now, after seven days I have decided to believe my eyes
The infamous Kemal Kerinçsiz arrested. What a pleasure, what a delight! Once again, filled with joy my heart is rising like a falcon up to the sky!
The neurotic who would fill complaints against dozens of Turkish journalists and authors inculpating them of insulting Turkishness, the pettifogging moron who'd sue the moon if only he could, whenever this planet's celestial neighbour dares to not appear exactly in the shape as is determinated in the Turkish flag, facing a trial himself! Ah, I wish him good health so that he may be able to enjoy the rest of his life behind bars."
Said I:
"Aside from that I remember that once you wished him to lose all his teeth except one for permanent toothache, as an admirer of Mr Kerinçsiz you will be aware of that the honourable gentleman heads the Büyük Hukukçular Birliği (Great Union of Jurists), which is responsible for most article 301-trials. One if not all of his approximately 700 dear colleagues and brothers in mind will do their best to turn the table and file a complaint against the prosecutors for insulting Kerinçsizness.
By the way, my dear Tetrapilotomos, I do start to understand why you would never write what you are thinking."
And here, for the beginning, a bit more about Operation Ergenekon.
Turkish police arrested 33 persons who were actively involved in ultranationalist activities. Some of them are quite high profile. Retired general Veli Küçük, who has been in the news since the Susurluk case, some mafia leaders, the notarious lawyer Mr. Kerincsiz, Aksam columnist Güler Kömürcü, Sevgi Erenerol, spokeswoman for the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate - one opposed to the Fener Greek Patriarchate- are among the arrested ones...
I did and said: Interesting. And what's the amusing part about?
Spake Tetrapilotomos:
"I cannot remember that - and if so when - it happened in past decades that by reading a news I thought I were dreaming.
Therefore, I have been visiting this entry of Erkan's blog, at least twice every day, since.
Not that I wouldn't rely on Erkan who is the best journalistic source one can find in Turkey; no, it's just that I was anxious the good news could emerge as one of my daydreams, that I had become victim of my wishful thinking.
Now, after seven days I have decided to believe my eyes
The infamous Kemal Kerinçsiz arrested. What a pleasure, what a delight! Once again, filled with joy my heart is rising like a falcon up to the sky!
The neurotic who would fill complaints against dozens of Turkish journalists and authors inculpating them of insulting Turkishness, the pettifogging moron who'd sue the moon if only he could, whenever this planet's celestial neighbour dares to not appear exactly in the shape as is determinated in the Turkish flag, facing a trial himself! Ah, I wish him good health so that he may be able to enjoy the rest of his life behind bars."
Said I:
"Aside from that I remember that once you wished him to lose all his teeth except one for permanent toothache, as an admirer of Mr Kerinçsiz you will be aware of that the honourable gentleman heads the Büyük Hukukçular Birliği (Great Union of Jurists), which is responsible for most article 301-trials. One if not all of his approximately 700 dear colleagues and brothers in mind will do their best to turn the table and file a complaint against the prosecutors for insulting Kerinçsizness.
By the way, my dear Tetrapilotomos, I do start to understand why you would never write what you are thinking."
And here, for the beginning, a bit more about Operation Ergenekon.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Dark matter happens
:)
Seems I decided in favour of the title heading my latest post, because my (sub-) conscience felt/knew that I should not waste a title as to be found above now, in order to just satisfy my sometimes strange sense of humour.
Indeed, and seriously, dear readers:
Dark matter happens
As to be seen above: Turkish readers visiting my blog are obviously not supposed to see my "visible" support for freedom of speech in their country.
Would you call this democracy, Mr. Gül?
Or would you call censorship an act of "libertarian paternalism", ordered
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Shit happens
Wanderer, if you come to Harran, beware of your peristalsis.
Short Postskriptum:
Dear readers,
to find the four letter word in the title above, undoubtedly will have irritated your eyes, as you would not expect such a word when visiting this blog.
Let me, therefore, try to explain what let me feel the urgent need to confront you with an aprosdoketon of this kind.
Originally, of course, I pondered about headlines such as
Modern twin town of Gotham and Schilda found(ed) in Turkey
or
Yippie yippie yooh: Turkey ripe for the EU
or
A (septic) tank is not a tank is not a tank . . .
[if you don't believe me, ask General Büyükanit]
Considering - for various reasons, which to elucidate would take too long - all these headlines too long, I went on rummaging all shelves and drawers in the delivering room of my thoughts, when suddenly the poison cupboard fell open.
Probably my fault, as I suppose I did not lock it properly when lodging the latest word I had found when visiting . . . ah, I should rather not tell.
Anyway, what a mess. Fortunately, not all words had dropped out; still, more than you would find in the Devil's Kitchen, and therefore it took me quite a while to put them all back.
Ah well, as you have come to know and appreciate I am not a man of many words and thus far from being blithering, chatty, gabby, garrulous, gossipy, loquacious and so on, to meet your expectations I shall cut this long story roundly short, and - the more as I am convinced that brevity is the soul of the wit - immediately come to the essential inheritent interior essence which is hidden in the root of the kernel of everything:
Yes, for about half an hour, or so, I contemplated following alternative.
Dark matter happens
But this would have been the more irritating, wouldn't it?
And, after all: Shit is part of Omnium, isn't it? :)
Short Postskriptum:
Dear readers,
to find the four letter word in the title above, undoubtedly will have irritated your eyes, as you would not expect such a word when visiting this blog.
Let me, therefore, try to explain what let me feel the urgent need to confront you with an aprosdoketon of this kind.
Originally, of course, I pondered about headlines such as
Modern twin town of Gotham and Schilda found(ed) in Turkey
or
Yippie yippie yooh: Turkey ripe for the EU
or
A (septic) tank is not a tank is not a tank . . .
[if you don't believe me, ask General Büyükanit]
Considering - for various reasons, which to elucidate would take too long - all these headlines too long, I went on rummaging all shelves and drawers in the delivering room of my thoughts, when suddenly the poison cupboard fell open.
Probably my fault, as I suppose I did not lock it properly when lodging the latest word I had found when visiting . . . ah, I should rather not tell.
Anyway, what a mess. Fortunately, not all words had dropped out; still, more than you would find in the Devil's Kitchen, and therefore it took me quite a while to put them all back.
Ah well, as you have come to know and appreciate I am not a man of many words and thus far from being blithering, chatty, gabby, garrulous, gossipy, loquacious and so on, to meet your expectations I shall cut this long story roundly short, and - the more as I am convinced that brevity is the soul of the wit - immediately come to the essential inheritent interior essence which is hidden in the root of the kernel of everything:
Yes, for about half an hour, or so, I contemplated following alternative.
Dark matter happens
But this would have been the more irritating, wouldn't it?
And, after all: Shit is part of Omnium, isn't it? :)
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Nazim Hikmet had a dream
Nazim Hikmet had a dream:
Yaşamak bir ağaç gibi tek ve hür
ve bir orman gibi kardeşçesine,
bu hasret bizim.
To live like a tree and at liberty
and brotherly like the trees of a forest,
this yearning is ours.
- - -
Thus spake my closest friend, Tetrapilotomos:
"Sometimes I think: Past is. Is presence. Impossible to let bygones be bygones or even forget about. It’s there. Is presence. And maybe herein lies the reason that we remain unable to learn from the past."
- - -
The following poem by Hikmet is dedicated, especially to those being in power in Turkey, pretending to love the(ir?) country, pretending to be the most democratic democrats ever on Turkish soil and under Turkish sun, pretending to be guarantors of free speech and guardians of freedom of opinion, and who - like most of their predecessors - have banned Nazim Hikmet’s books from public libraries.Yaşamak bir ağaç gibi tek ve hür
ve bir orman gibi kardeşçesine,
bu hasret bizim.
To live like a tree and at liberty
and brotherly like the trees of a forest,
this yearning is ours.
- - -
Thus spake my closest friend, Tetrapilotomos:
"Sometimes I think: Past is. Is presence. Impossible to let bygones be bygones or even forget about. It’s there. Is presence. And maybe herein lies the reason that we remain unable to learn from the past."
- - -
I LOVE MY COUNTRY
I love my country :
I have swung on its plane trees, I have stayed in its prisons.
Nothing can overcome my spleen
as the songs and tobacco of my country.
My country :
Bedreddin, Sinan, Yunus Emre and Sakarya,
lead domes and factory chimneys
are all the work of my people
who even hiding from themselves
smile under their drooping mustaches.
My country.
My country is so large :
it seems that it is endless to go around.
Edirné, Izmir, Ulukıshla, Marash, Trabzon, Erzurum.
I know the Erzurum plateau only in its songs
and I am ashamed
not to have crossed Tauruses even once
to go to the cotton pickers
in the south.
My country :
camels, train, Fords and sick donkeys,
poplar
willow
and red earth.
My country.
The trout which likes
pine forests, best freshwaters and the lakes
at the top of mountains,
and at least half a kilo,
with red reflections on its scaleless, silver skin
swims in the Abant lake of Bolu.
My country :
goats on the Ankara plain :
the sheen of blond, silky, long furs.
The fat plump hazelnuts of Giresun.
The fragrant red-cheeked apples of Amasya,
olive
fig
melon
and of all colours
bunches and bunches of grapes
and then the plough
and then the black ox
and then : ready to accept
everything
advanced, beautiful and good
with the joyous admiration of a child
my hard-working, honest, brave people
half hungry, half full
half slave...
tr. by Fuat Engin
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Wanted! Good answers to good questions
No, there does not exist any contract or gentleman's agreement between Mr. Bekdil and me.
No, I am not sure Mr. Bekdil is in possession of the best solutions to everything and all.
Yes, I do appreciate the questions he is asking.
Yes, I should like to read somebody's answers to these questions.
No, not Mr. Akyol's answers. (They would - with respect - be of no relevance.)
But what's about both Mr. Akyol's and (sic) Mr. Bekdil's president and prime minister?
Your turn, Mr. Gül! Your turn, Mr. Erdoğan!
Yes?
No, I am not sure Mr. Bekdil is in possession of the best solutions to everything and all.
Yes, I do appreciate the questions he is asking.
Yes, I should like to read somebody's answers to these questions.
No, not Mr. Akyol's answers. (They would - with respect - be of no relevance.)
But what's about both Mr. Akyol's and (sic) Mr. Bekdil's president and prime minister?
Your turn, Mr. Gül! Your turn, Mr. Erdoğan!
Yes?
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Good night, Turkey, and good luck! III
There may be trouble ahead
But while there is moonlight, and music, and love, and romance
Let's face the music and dance.
Irving Berlin, 1936
He who laughs has not yet heard the bad news.
Bertold Brecht
Ah, if I were to live in Turkey, for sure I could not (easily) sleep tonight.
Therefore, for those visiting me a little more to read, maybe to think about and to reflect, perhaps even to laugh here and there.
Yes, those who have come to know me and my dearest friend - a writer who would not write for reasons I shall probably never understand -, a little better, and whose visits I do appreciate very much, will know that we do rather prefer to look on the bright side of life. And life is bright when we can celebrate our sense for humour, irony and well ... some sarcasm here and there.
Really happy Tetrapilotomos and I however are, when we can lean back.
Today could have become such a day. Burak Bekdil, this year's first Flann O'Brian Prize Winner, and Huysman-Wilde-Prize Winner Mustafa Akyol started a new competition.
The little difference: This time Mr. Bekdil started, Mr. Akyol replied; and, for sure, this time it will be Mr. Bekdil who will give a reply to this reply (if the circumstances will allow).
Allright, ladies and gentlemen, enjoy yourselves first here, then here.
* For those readers who unfortunately happened to miss the first competition it is highly recommended not to miss reading this and this.
But while there is moonlight, and music, and love, and romance
Let's face the music and dance.
Irving Berlin, 1936
He who laughs has not yet heard the bad news.
Bertold Brecht
Ah, if I were to live in Turkey, for sure I could not (easily) sleep tonight.
Therefore, for those visiting me a little more to read, maybe to think about and to reflect, perhaps even to laugh here and there.
Yes, those who have come to know me and my dearest friend - a writer who would not write for reasons I shall probably never understand -, a little better, and whose visits I do appreciate very much, will know that we do rather prefer to look on the bright side of life. And life is bright when we can celebrate our sense for humour, irony and well ... some sarcasm here and there.
Really happy Tetrapilotomos and I however are, when we can lean back.
Today could have become such a day. Burak Bekdil, this year's first Flann O'Brian Prize Winner, and Huysman-Wilde-Prize Winner Mustafa Akyol started a new competition.
The little difference: This time Mr. Bekdil started, Mr. Akyol replied; and, for sure, this time it will be Mr. Bekdil who will give a reply to this reply (if the circumstances will allow).
Allright, ladies and gentlemen, enjoy yourselves first here, then here.
* For those readers who unfortunately happened to miss the first competition it is highly recommended not to miss reading this and this.
Good night, Turkey, and good luck! II
Those self-important fathers of their country
Think they're above the people.
(Euripides, c. 426 B.C.E.)
Hm, I do admit that I was very very close to withold what immediately follows, as I am not sure about its level of wisdom.
But why should a wise man be not wrong at the end?
Here we go, then:
. . . Why they're nothing!
The citizen is infinitely wiser.
Hm, being honest has produced a tiny dilemma: How to get the act together?
You see, the first two lines were thought as a lovely entry for this joke.
For a joke that tells what this blog's name promises: Omnium.
It tells all, about what can easily happen to everybody, if young or old, if white or black, if dark- or blue-eyed, if so-called Kemalists, secularists or Islamists, if followers of this Ism or that ideology, and whatever she or he may believe in, or not.
Having said this, I invite you to read:
With a little money in their pockets, they [two blacks] are walking down the street and run into a shop with a sign hanging on its window, that reads, “We make blacks white, guaranteed. Only $100.” However, one has $110 and the other $90. They make a deal: The owner of the bigger amount will go first and test it out; if he really turns white, he will give the remaining $10 to his friend so he can do the same. The first black man goes into the shop and leaves it after a very short time as a completely white person. His friend waiting outside is flabbergasted and immediately asks for the $10. But the answer he gets is like a slap on the cheek: “Go away, you dirty negro!”
With thanks to M. Nedin Hazar who "told" this joke, which is rather a dark parable getting close to the essential inheritent interior essence which is hidden in the root of the kernel of everything.
Read his complete article here.
Think they're above the people.
(Euripides, c. 426 B.C.E.)
Hm, I do admit that I was very very close to withold what immediately follows, as I am not sure about its level of wisdom.
But why should a wise man be not wrong at the end?
Here we go, then:
. . . Why they're nothing!
The citizen is infinitely wiser.
Hm, being honest has produced a tiny dilemma: How to get the act together?
You see, the first two lines were thought as a lovely entry for this joke.
For a joke that tells what this blog's name promises: Omnium.
It tells all, about what can easily happen to everybody, if young or old, if white or black, if dark- or blue-eyed, if so-called Kemalists, secularists or Islamists, if followers of this Ism or that ideology, and whatever she or he may believe in, or not.
Having said this, I invite you to read:
With a little money in their pockets, they [two blacks] are walking down the street and run into a shop with a sign hanging on its window, that reads, “We make blacks white, guaranteed. Only $100.” However, one has $110 and the other $90. They make a deal: The owner of the bigger amount will go first and test it out; if he really turns white, he will give the remaining $10 to his friend so he can do the same. The first black man goes into the shop and leaves it after a very short time as a completely white person. His friend waiting outside is flabbergasted and immediately asks for the $10. But the answer he gets is like a slap on the cheek: “Go away, you dirty negro!”
With thanks to M. Nedin Hazar who "told" this joke, which is rather a dark parable getting close to the essential inheritent interior essence which is hidden in the root of the kernel of everything.
Read his complete article here.
Good night, Turkey, and good luck!
The good news first. According to Erkan, Turkish bloggers are not longer banned from accessing to wordpress.
The . . . other (flash-) news:
MILITARY SAYS SECULARISM UNDER ATTACK BY “CENTERS OF EVIL” --The staunchly secular Turkish military said Monday that secularism is under attack by “centers of evil” in a strong warning one day ahead of the expected election to the presidency of a candidate with a background in political Islam. Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt, chief of the military, said in a note on the military Web site that “our nation has been watching the behavior of those separatists who cannot embrace unitary nature of Turkey and (behavior of) centers of evil who systematically try to corrode the secular nature of the Turkish Republic.”
[source: Turkish Daily News]
It seems, while Greece is burning (has been set on fire?), the Turkish people are sitting on a powder-keg . . . and . . . somebody else is sitting at the other end of the fuse.
Good night, everybody in Turkey. And good luck!
The . . . other (flash-) news:
MILITARY SAYS SECULARISM UNDER ATTACK BY “CENTERS OF EVIL” --The staunchly secular Turkish military said Monday that secularism is under attack by “centers of evil” in a strong warning one day ahead of the expected election to the presidency of a candidate with a background in political Islam. Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt, chief of the military, said in a note on the military Web site that “our nation has been watching the behavior of those separatists who cannot embrace unitary nature of Turkey and (behavior of) centers of evil who systematically try to corrode the secular nature of the Turkish Republic.”
[source: Turkish Daily News]
It seems, while Greece is burning (has been set on fire?), the Turkish people are sitting on a powder-keg . . . and . . . somebody else is sitting at the other end of the fuse.
Good night, everybody in Turkey. And good luck!
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