Turkey: A Colorful Country, Literally

Fresh painted.

Rainbow Stairs Frenzy

I have come to the conclusion that AKP (the ruling party led by Mr Erdogan) will not be able to govern Turkey even if they manage to seize a majority in the parliament after 2014 elections. They simply derailed; there is no other word to describe it.

After Beyoglu governor claimed colorful stairs would not make anyone happy and painted the Findikli stairs back to grey, everyone grabbed a can of paint and a brush and colorful stairs, sidewalks and what not (use your imagination) have begun to pop up all around Turkey. Here are a few pictures from rainbow stairs frenzy:

Diyarbakir - Sanat St.

Cihangir-Ist.

Kuzguncuk-Ist.

Urfa

LGBT has just declared "Pride Week" and we are waiting the expected reaction of Turkish government: unleashing the police, any minute from now.

Grey is the New Orange

Well, it did not last long. Erdogan's governor quickly repainted it, back to grey. At this very moment governor Ahmet Misbah Demircan is just on TV, explaining why grey is the new orange and how he hates to see smiling faces.

#direnmerdiven

Stairs That Make You Smile

People following Karaköy Findikli Cihangir route grab their phones to capture an image these days: A colorful stairs painted with the colors of rainbow.

No, it was not an LGBT event. The stairs were painted by a 64 year old retired engineer Hüseyin Çetinel. It took him a week to clean and paint them. Reason? He wanted to make passers by smile! If you are near by, go have a look and test if he succeeded.

500 Million Dollars for Gezi Park

The latest gossip between the members of Corps Diplomatique in Ankara has added a new dimension to the whole shebang of Gezi Park protests and the ensuing ruthless police intervention (attack). It seems that Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the crowd plus a minister from Black Sea region allegedly made a sweet deal for construction of a hotel in the park area with an undisclosed ex Soviet republic's president in Asia.

Rumour has it that a down payment of USD 500 million was received in advance from his highness by his highness but when the protests got out of hand the deal went south.

Meanwhile the Prime Minister disappeared for 8 days and was much later discovered in Bodrum area, inspecting construction sites with Environment and Urban Planning Minister, Erdogan Bayraktar (he was coincidentally from Black Sea region). "No tolerance," he said, for those ugly buildings, "they will all be demolished."

Back in Ankara, birds whispered that another site in lieu of Gezi Park had been offered to the unknown president who now asked his money back. And what do you know? It was miraculously in Cennet Bay, Bodrum, the replacement site that is.

Then we saw Erdogan leaving to Turkmenistan for a one-day visit on August 15th:

The Turkish prime minister, who was invited by Turkmen President Gurbanguli Berdimuhammedov, is expected to visit the Avaza region, located on the east side of the Caspian Sea, for the purpose of promoting further economic cooperation between the two countries. The prime minister will be accompanied by several cabinet ministers.

Oh, I know what you're thinking, and I detest you for that. How could you? I, for one, believe in his integrity and condemn all of those liars who are making such false accusations. 500 mil, huh? It's worth 5 times more, at least. This alone proves them wrong.

Tears Can't Hide Figures

I watched PM Erdogan crying on TV. Apparently he was deeply moved by the death of a 17 year old Egyptian girl in demonstrations. The video (subtitles are not mine, live with it):



It is really upsetting to see people die of all ages and gender and color, especially if you cannot do anything to help when it happens right in front of your eyes, on your TV or computer screen. You know it is not a game, no magical potion or wizard will give their lives back.

But was he sincere? I really hope he was not!

According to Bureau of Statistics, for the period 2002-2008:

• 241 police officers, 91 soldiers, 17 special ops members, 15 rangers, 45 wardens were tried for sexual assault and rape. None was convicted.
• 50% of rape victims were under 18.
• 90% were girls, 10% boys.
• Women called emergency response lines for:
  57% physical assault, 46.9% sexual assault, 14.6% incest, 8.6% rape
• Total number of reported rape victims was 62,000.
• In 2002, 66 women were murdered, in 2007 the number reached to 1011.
• 55% of 5-10 year old children and 40% of 10-16 fell victim to incest.

And for the period of 2008-2013, the Bureau managed to say sex offences increased by 30% compared to previous 5-year period; no numbers yet (maybe they are too ashamed). I would also go ahead and say, after cross-referencing ... data, that ... (but it only means jail time for me).

He has/had an opportunity to make a difference and he has done nothing. When innocent people were being massacred in Egypt, his police force (my heroes he call them) killed 5 people and injured approximately 9000. Long term effects of 400,000 gas bombs and thousands of litres of chemicals used and literally poured on peaceful Gezi Park protestors are unknown yet.

So, I sincerely hope that he is just a lousy politician trying to steal a vote or two by publicly crying. If he is sincere, then there really is something wrong with him as his tears cannot hide his numbers.

Media That Accumulates Is Not Independent

S. Fitzgerald Johnson's latest article Egypt: Educating the Empire draws a number of valuable political lessons from the Egyptian crisis. Although he identifies five of them, I would like to touch the third one, media's role. Johnson argues that,

[...] media that accumulates, for a state or bourgeois class, is never independent. The military claims that its intervention on 3 July 2013 restored a revolution and was not a coup, and the media – both state and privately owned – has dutifully represented the intervention as restoring a revolution and not a coup.

[...] The military labels all those opposed to its coup "extremists" and the media obediently incites against the military’s opponents calling them "terrorists."

[...] The names vary – New York Times, Al-Ahram, Pravda – but media that accumulates is always the instrument of the dominant classes in society. And make no mistake – the dominant classes are those controlling material wealth, not the numerical majority.

On a related note, here are five Turkish newspapers of August 16th, copycatting each other with identical/exact headlines and placement, citing Erdogan's "Bir Musa çıkar hesabını sorar" about Egypt. This was not the first and it is beyond disturbing:

Clearly, making an informed decision on anything is getting more difficult each day. We have to find, create, protect and cherish independent news outlets vigorously if we really care about our freedom (and sanity I might add).

From Super-Friend to Super-Foe

It is difficult to look inside the head of a probable schizophrenic like Mr Erdogan, and almost impossible to track his thought process vis-a-vis his political alliances. Not so many years ago he was best buddies with Bashar Assad, the president of Syria. You would not believe if I translated his discourse about Assad, his greatness, etc but maybe this photograph will:

Assad and Erdogan with wives

Assad has not changed; he was a dictator then, he is a dictator now.

Not so long ago, Erdogan had no trouble aligning himself with politicians and neo-cons like Graham Fuller, Morton Abramowitz, Paul Wolfowitz nor with institutions like AJC and ADL with obvious ties to Israel. He was eager enough to push several military projects like UAV's and modernization of fighter jets with the Jewish state. Now he is delusional enough to claim Israel set up the coup that ended Morsi regime in Egypt.

Foxman and Erdogan

I have not seen any change in Israel's or USA's policy in Middle East. Right or wrong, it is roughly the same. Yet, Israeli-Turkish relations deteriorated to a record low or outright hostile if I may say.

Obviously, there is something wrong with Mr Erdogan. Yesterday you could be his super-friend, tomorrow he can declare you the most evil person in the world.

A New United Nations Coming

In a recent (Aug 22) TV interview, Prime Minister Erdogan has called for a new United Nations. Claiming UN is not working the way it is meant to be, "We told them so many times but they either did the opposite (of what we said) or nothing," citing UN's policies in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Syria, Iran, Israel, Egypt and Palestine as examples.

If we really say that the world is bigger than five [permanent members of the Security Council], then the other countries could establish their own United Nations. Such a move could be made. Such a move would prompt them [the United Nations] to reform. What will the U.N do when they (other nations) would pull?

I am appalled. First preciously alone, then magnificent defeat and now a new UN. Heading full speed but where?

The Shaman Within - dd2

Following suit with the very old family tradition, I took the wrong bus. When I realized it, instead of the good ol' E5 we were already running on the freeway. As most of you know you can not find bus stops on freeways, ours included. Fortunately I was finally back home, in the land of the flexible rules and the least-bothered people with them. I asked the driver if he could drop me at a convenient place near to my destination. "No problem," he said and soon I was on a bridge trying to figure out the best path to the exit toll booths 50 meters below. That proved easy, too; apparently many had done it before and the path down to the booths was clearly marked. 10 minutes later, I was down and walking back on E5 - we had already cleared Hereke, my final destination - contrary to what I had originally intended.

I could have taken another bus, but it was August, I had 15 days off and nothing better to do with a very light hand baggage. So... After ten minutes on foot while a gentle breeze washing my face, I saw a cemetery, alongside the road, overlooking Izmit Bay. It did not occur to me that I had been to the place before until I arrived at the gate. Then I remembered. Here, in this isolated but beautiful place had we buried my grandmother. I was 5 then and could barely remember the details.

Cemeteries are special. Regardless of the monotheistic culture soup we are forced to swim, that little man, or the woman, your preference, the shaman inside survives. The only enemy that kills him is Hollywood. Against its horror movies, ghosts, zombies, etc, shaman is helpless, he suffers a silent death. And I met Hollywood at a very late age, so mine was alive and kicking. The little man told me to get in and I entered the cemetery. There was not a single soul around to ask for direction but the shaman knew the way. In less than a minute I found her grave and was standing by her tombstone. Her Birdie! After all those years, I was back, at my roots, at the place where I came from, and eventually would go.

"Birdie," she used to call me, because I was the one who would run to the grocery and fetch her cigarettes (now an illegal act), Gelincik brand, finest specimen of the once famous Turkish tobacco. I would run, not wasting a moment to deliver her cigarettes. The change was always mine!

Her smoking was like a ritual. She would wait for my mother, for coffee, real Turkish style, no less. Well, that meant 10 minutes during which she would open the box, take one cigarette, rolling it with her thin fingers, adjusting it so that it would fit perfectly to the holder. She took her time, hers was not a competitive world. Grace! That was all that mattered. When coffee was ready, so was she and her cigarette, now properly placed in its holder. She would light it, yes, oh so gracefully, take a puff, release the smoke with a barely audible sound. Then she would take a sip from her coffee and complement my mother.

Authority was her second nature. I had never seen her raise her voice. Yet, nobody could say no to her, especially my father. When facing her, he was like a child. I remember once reading in a study that in Turkish society the highest status for women was being a grandmother, somewhat similar but stronger than seen elsewhere around Mediterranean. A study in vain, confirming what is already known. Long time later, I asked my father if she abused it or was ever capricious. He told me "No, she was not." She was the wisdom itself, another shamanic trait.

And the shaman took over me completely. I walked over and sat on her grave, resting my back to the now slightly yellowish marble, where her name "Melek" (meaning angel in Turkish) was carved. I took out a cigarette, not Gelincik but pure Turkish still, and started my own ritual (I took a mental note to bring coffee next time). We smoked together. Although I usually gazed at the bay, I was careful enough to exhale towards the ground, so that she too could enjoy it. Here I was, together with grandma, in a cemetery, in our cemetery, two generations together, in the most peaceful place in the world.

Part 1: Significant Dots of Red and Black
Part 3:

Censorship Attempts by Facebook Protested

A large number of academics from all over the world have protested Facebook's censorship policies.

We, the undersigned academics, condemn Facebook for increasingly having exercised political censorship against opposition Facebook group pages in Turkey.  Over the course of Gezi protests in Turkey, Facebook has blocked a considerable number of group pages that were created and followed by people who believed in the transformative political power of social media.

Full text and list

Magnificent Defeat of Preciously Lone Ranger

Poetic, is it not? This is how Turkish Foreign Office describes the results of international policy of Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ahmet Davutoglu (Minister of Foreign Affairs). Seriously, they had first come up with "preciously alone" and then they coined the "magnificent defeat" (I really doubt if either of them read Frederick Buechner [wikipedia]) phrase.

Apparently something changed in the ministry's rank and file. When I once had some interest, they were recruiting from international relations, political sciences, public administration or similar fields of colleges. When did they switch to literature and/or drama and how did I miss it? The Guardian did do justice with Shakespearean tragedy after all.

Gone are Proud Locos

 It leaves without a hassle from Haydarpasa everyday, destination: Adapazari; and so it is appropriately called: Adapazari Express. Filled with workers and students, but especially workers, it runs back and forth during the day. The regulars of early morning and late evening departures are easy to spot. Tired, seldom in the mood for chat, living in their own worlds, trying to get some rest and above all, accumulate strength to make it again another day, for tomorrow.

As soon as it clears Bostanci, it gains some momentum, as if it knows it has its real customers on board now, not those who sneak in to reach the suburbs of Istanbul faster. Electric powered, it runs as if it is tearing the air and the ground apart, regretting the laws of physics that restrain it. Arrogant and selfish, it is way different than its predecessors. I remember.

When I was a regular, when the service was first introduced, the locomotives were steam powered. Those engines, they were gentle, humble souls. They were aware of their limits. But most of all, they knew that the reason of their existence was passengers, you, us. Primitive as they were, they still tried their best to take you to your destination on time. Puffing and steaming, replenishing coal and water along the way, they shyly apologized you for not getting you any faster. When they were delayed, they almost cried in despair. If only they had more power...

Maltepe: her place. Can't remember how many times I came here, day and night, dawn or midnight. I should have never dated her. Yet, in affairs of the heart, reason seldom prevails. She wasted her two years for me. Time, it was important for her. She tried again after me. How I wish she had succeeded.

After the diesels were introduced, they renewed the rail tracks. So our selfish engine is running above par on its way to Gebze, where Pippa was murdered. I am looking at the scenery, trying to understand what went wrong. Diesels were a different breed. They were and still are indifferent, despite all the heat, cold creatures. A robot of some kind. They simply work. What went wrong? During the transition from steam to diesel and to electric, something changed. Someone poked a finger?

My joyride begins as we are approaching to Hereke. I deliberately choose the first car in trains (long time ago, you were allowed to smoke there). You could have watched the sparks at night when steam-powereds were at service. Now I see the reflection of the moonlight over the bay. No sparks, though.

As soon as we clear Hereke, it is the loco's time. Until Yarimca, or its present distasteful new name Korfez, it will go at full speed, rail tracks permitting. It does not care whether you are on time or not. Screaming through the night, it will satisfy its own hunger for speed, cursing the railroad company for the tracks and possibly Newton as well. It will only last ten minutes, alas. Soon, the sound of the brakes will be heard, silencing its moans and cries of protest.

Yarimca: my usual stop nowadays. I get off here, sort of glad not hearing its protests any more, that arrogant creature! It slowly accelerates as I watch the cars go by, a habit that stuck long time ago. At the back of the last car I notice the conductor and we mentally wave hands at each other. And Adapazari Express disappears with memories, my memories, as I turn back and walk home. 

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia Should Resign!

Turkey – a "preciously alone" country – is now pointing the finger at Middle Eastern monarchies for their extraordinary political and financial support to the Egyptian coup d’éta. Here is an example op-ed from the press:

That’s why I believe senior Turkish government members preferred to direct their criticisms toward Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, the Turkish secretary-general of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC). As they cannot demand the resignation of King Abdullah, it’s a lot easier to bash İhsanoğlu, who was elected to this position thanks to the great efforts of President Abdullah Gül during his stint as foreign minister in 2005.

There has to be a saying to describe this behavior but what? Pity I cannot remember, my memory is preciously weak!

Significant Dots of Red and Black - dd1

He was in the news; shouting, waiving his hands, calling for revenge. Only 16, maybe 17, or 18 at best. Frustrated in a devastated land by bombings, attacks, what not. "Death," he says, "kill them all!" The warrior of the future, potential terrorist; depending on your point of view.

Some organization, one or the other, will foster him, train him, send him back to the field. More pain, bloodshed, tears, anger... but above all, hatred. You could see it in his eyes.

I think we should take him, before anybody else, for military training proper. And I have a great idea whereabouts. What better place can there be the ideal training ground for him and his friends but Dardanelles?

They appeared in the morning of March, 18th. Queen Elizabeth, Agamemnon, Lord Nelson and Inflexible entered Dardanelles around 10:30, followed by the French armada. Their targets were Ottoman artilleries at Mecidiye, Namazgah and Hamidiye, guarding the straits, the route to Istanbul. Churchill's plan was simple: destroy the artilleries, clear the mines, then Godspeed to the Ottoman capital. Yet, all plans made on the table deviate to some extent when put into practice. This one deviated considerably. At the end of the day, Bouvet, Irresistible, Ocean were sunk, Goulois and Inflexible took heavy damage and they were barely afloat. A ground assault was inevitable.

Had it been up to the War Minister Lord Kitchener only, the British 29th division would have fought in Gallipoli. Tough opposition of British generals forced Kitchener to declare Australian and New Zealand divisions then located in Egypt would take their place.

And so they did. The first 1500 Anzac soldiers set foot in Dardanelles, at the Kabatepe region, which properly renamed Anzac Cove after the war.

In the ensuing campaign nearly 350,000 people had died from both sides and Çanakkale has the highest number of cemeteries among Turkish cities. In the map above red dots show Turkish, black dots invasion forces' cemeteries. And cemeteries are special; they have always been.

Part 2: The Shaman Within

The Correct Political System for Egypt

As the turmoil in Egypt continues, the death toll increases each day. It will eventually subside one way or another so it is imperative to understand what went wrong in Egypt's first trial of democracy.

I, for one, put the blame on the presidential system that put Morsi in power. The movement (that is softest word I have come up with to describe them) of Ihvan or Muslim Brothers found itself in full control with almost no restraints; remember that this was once an illegal underground organization that managed to survive by hard working and obeying orders to the letter, so nobody from within criticized.  With one fourth of the populace supporting them, the presidential system gave them the means to press their own agenda with no respect for different views. It lasted one year.

Now, try to imagine a parliamentary democracy with a coalition government in which Ihvan was a member, and ask yourself if this whole thing would have played out the same. I would go ahead and say it would have been a very troubled partnership, a lot of fights, tense meetings, etc but compromise in the end and no bloodshed. I humbly think it is still the right way to go. Finally,

Dear Brotherhood,
You screwed up! Give it up and get over it. There is no reason for your friends, relatives, colleagues, wives, husbands, sisters from either side to die. Reflect on what you did wrong. There will be many elections to be won or lost. Be a part of the process and help create a free and democratic Egypt for all.

Secret Love Nest

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been missing for the last 8 days. His speaker denied rumours of sickness, all the press seemed to agree that he was not in a holiday spot, resting. Now, answer one simple question:

What does a politician do when he is not on duty, not on vacation or not hospitalized?

I am sure we can all agree that the universal answer to above question should be he is screwing around somewhere.

Could not help it. My apologies!

In Memory of Yavuz Çetin

Twelve years ago we lost him. Yavuz Çetin's unexpected death was a blow to friends and fans and family. His unique style of Blues will always be remembered. May he rest in peace.

No Mini Cooper to Turkish Police

Some products become icons; even when neither their creators  nor their manufacturers wanted them to be. In rare cases, it does not even help the sales. Mini Cooper is one such product; a car with a cult following. Now, take a look and see Turkish Police in action at Taksim Square:

Now see them in a Mini Cooper, almost exact same place:

I have no idea if this will hurt the sales of Mini Cooper but I do know that I am terribly hurt. Please, stop selling Mini Coopers to Turkish Police!