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Archive for September, 2020|Monthly archive page

Judiciary mess roundup: As German Foreign Ministry report states “Freedom of expression nonexistent in Turkey,” Kars Mayor Ayhan Bilgen announces resignation from post while under detention

In Uncategorized on September 30, 2020 at 12:38

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Freedom of expression nonexistent in Turkey: German Foreign Ministry report

Duvar English
Duvar English Although the Turkish Constitution protects freedom of expression, citizens are not allowed to
Kars Mayor Ayhan Bilgen announces resignation from post while under detention

The co-mayor of the eastern province of Kars, Ayhan Bilgen, announced on Sept. 30 that he will resign from his post.

Bilgen, alongside 19 other Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) politicians, was detained on Sept. 25 as part of a probe into the October 2014 Kobane protests. A total of 82 people were being sought.

Kurdish man dies after being thrown from military helicopter in Turkey’s east

Duvar English
Duvar English A Kurdish man who had been in intensive care for 20 days due to being thrown from a military helicopter died
5-day blackout of Halk TV enters into effect

Bianet :: English
Broadcaster Halk TV has been blacked out by the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) for five days. The channel will start broadcasting again at 12 a.m. on October 3.
Critical TV broadcaster blacks out for 5 days following Turkish media watchdog ruling

Duvar English / by Azra Ceylan
Turkey’s media watchdog to blackout critical broadcasters Halk TV, TELE 1 for five days Duvar English A July ruling by
How was evidence hidden in Berkin Elvan case?

Bianet :: English
Attorney Çiğdem Akbulut has spoken about the attempts to spoil evidence in the investigation launched into the killing of 15-
No one has stood trial in 11 years for 12-year-old Ceylan Önkol’s death in an explosion

Bianet :: English
Ceylan was killed by a mortar shell explosion in the Kurdish-majority Diyarbakır province in 2009.
20 prisoners died in first nine months of 2020 in Turkey

Duvar English
Duvar English Twenty prisoners have died behind bars in Turkey since the beginning of this year, according to figures from the
RESILIENCE PROJECT: Who is behind hate media in Turkey?

Bianet :: English
“Hate and Propaganda Media in Turkey: Affiliations, Models and Patterns” report has been released as part of the international Resilience Project, which is implemented in partnership with a series of media organizations, including bianet from Turkey.
Crime scene footage of aide’s ‘suicide’ in Turkish deputy’s home reveals struggle

 

Video footage of Nadira Kadirova’s room showed struggle at the site of her alleged “suicide,” as the young woman’s mother accused ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy Şirin Ünal of killing Kadirova, who worked as help in the family home.

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Turkey denies downing of an Armenian jet or ‘foreign fighter’ claims

In Uncategorized on September 29, 2020 at 19:33

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Erdoğan calls on Armenia to ‘end occupation in Upper Karabakh’

The Turkish president on Sept. 28 called on Armenia to immediately end the occupation of Azerbaijani territories, so the
Nagorno-Karabakh battles rage for second day: Live news

KAL JAZEERA ENGLISH (IN DEPTH)
Live coverage of the continuing fighting between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces in the disputed Caucasus region.
Karabakh clashes: Azerbaijan denies ‘foreign fighter’ claims, UNSC to hold emergency meeting

Bianet :: English
Germany’s Merkel spoke with both countries’ presidents, Turkey’s Minister of Foreign Affairs reiterated support for
Karabakh clashes: Azerbaijan denies ‘foreign fighter’ claims, Armenia urges Germany to ‘curb Turkey’s stance’

Bianet :: English
Germany’s Merkel spoke with both countries’ leaders, Turkey’s Minister of Foreign Affairs reiterated support for
Turkish F-16 shoots down Armenian SU-25 fighter jet: Armenian Defense Ministry

 

The Armenian Defense Ministry said on Sept. 29 that a Turkish F-16 shot down an Armenian SU-25 fighter jet.

The SU-25 warplane was over Armenian territory and the pilot was killed, Reuters cited the ministry spokesperson as saying.

Reuters – Reuters Editorial – Sep 28, 6:56 AM

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey is sending Syrian rebel fighters to support Azerbaijan in its escalating conflict with neighbouring Armenia, two Syrian rebels have said, as Ankara pledges to step up backing for its majority-Muslim ally. The clashes

 

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Turkey’s Finance Minister said exchange rate is not important as Lira slides to new record lows on Caucasus clash fears

In Uncategorized on September 29, 2020 at 17:33

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Albayrak says lira exchange rate in Turkey’s hands, does not look at value – report | Ahval

Turkish Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak said he does not look at the lira’s value…

Turkey: Lira slides to new record lows on Caucasus clash fears

AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (IN DEPTH
Escalating crisis between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh sparks fears of deeper Turkish involvement.

Turkish central bank unexpectedly raises interest rates; lira jumps | Ahval

(Story was updated with economist comment in the ninth paragraph.) Turkey’s central bank hiked its…

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How the FinCEN files are (not) reported in Turkey

Duvar Englishby Mehveş Evin

The FinCEN files that were released last Sunday shook the world. News agencies have since put forward detailed reports of criminals, oligarchs, and despots moving dirty money around the world.

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“Meanings of masks” and an #anthropology roundup

In Uncategorized on September 29, 2020 at 15:23

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Meanings of masks

Meanings of masks
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
New ways to think about and practice protective masking, from faculty in the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences.

Grid showing six kinds of masks

In this series of commentaries inspired by an idea from associate professor of literature Sandy Alexandre, MIT faculty draw on their discipline expertise to offer new ways to think about, appreciate, and practice protective masking – currently a primary way to save lives and to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.

Image courtesy of SHASS Communications.

Another piece about doing ethnographic research during the global pandemic crisis

The Open Access Anthropology Journal Tic…by Sherry Fukuzawa

Source: Teaching Anthropology

by: Jolynna Sinanan, University of Sydney

We all agree that participant observation, ‘hanging out’, ‘being there’ and ‘being in the field’ is essential to conducting fieldwork, so as fieldwork plans have been dashed during this global pandemic, it is understandable to feel deflated. There has been renewed interest in digital methods and digital ethnography to collect qualitative data about cultures and societies. However there have been fewer discussions about other ways of gaining anthropological knowledge. During these unique circumstances, I have been reflecting on other ways to know my field site, beyond the interviews and participant observation. My emerging research on mobile media and mobile livelihoods in the Everest tourism industry illustrate three points. Firstly, while methods in digital ethnography and digital anthropology are incredibly useful during social isolation, there are other ways for understanding how the digital is imbricated in daily life (see Lupton, 2020). Secondly, ethnographic research is important, but it is only one piece for generating knowledge in an anthropological project and thirdly, as a related point, there are ways we can build on anthropological ways of knowing our field sites when we can’t conduct ethnographic fieldwork.

Conversation: Tim Ingold on Environmental Destruction, Injustice and the Future

The Wire Science

Anthropology Professor Kyra Stull creates Subadult Virtual Anthropology Database

Nevada Today

Anthropology Professor Kyra Stull creates Subadult Virtual AnthropologyDatabase  Nevada Today

Archaeologists in Mexico find first Mayan slave ship

+AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (IN DEPTH)
Mexican scientists recently identified the vessel as ‘La Union’, believed to have gone down in September 1861.

Imagining the Neanderthal’s World

SAPIENS by Julia M. Klein
[no-caption] Denis Pobytov

Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death, and Art by Rebecca Wragg Sykes. Bloomsbury Sigma, August (U.K.) & October (U.S.) 2020.

Archaeology and genomics keep enriching and complicating the story of human lineage. Homo sapiens had more (and closer) company than we once suspected, including relatives such as the Denisovans, the hobbit-like Homo floresiensis, and Homo luzonensis, from the Philippines. New research also has upended our views of Neanderthals.

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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL calls for the ‘Allegations of torture in Van must be independently investigated’ WHILE “Three HDP politicians hospitalized over food poisoning under detention

In Uncategorized on September 28, 2020 at 11:48

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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: ‘Allegations of torture in Van must be independently investigated’

Bianet :: English
Amnesty International has sent a letter to the authorities in Turkey regarding the allegations that Osman Şiban and Servet Turgut were subjected to torture or other ill-treatment after being detained by gendarmes in eastern Van province.
Three HDP politicians hospitalized over food poisoning under detention

 

Three politicians from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) were hospitalized over food poisoning while under detention, deputy Hüseyin Kaçmaz said early on Sept. 28.

Mayor Ayhan Bilgen, İsmail Şengün and Can Memiş were taken to a hospital and Bilgen returned to police headquarters after his treatment was completed, he said.

The party on Sept. 27 said that Bilgen told his lawyers that he was suffering from food poisoning because of the dinner served at the Ankara police headquarters and that he wasn’t taken to a hospital.

OPERATION AGAINST HDP: ‘They want to keep the HDP away from both politics and social life’

Bianet :: English
Specialized in the Middle Eastern and Kurdish Politics, Prof. Mesut Yeğen, Asst. Prof. Cuma Çiçek and journalists Faik Bulut and Aslı Aydıntaşbaş have spoken to bianet about the recent operation against the HDP.
‘It’s a war on words’: Turks fear new law to muzzle social media giants

World news: Turkey by Bethan McKernan in Istanbul

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s draconian legislation comes into force this week in a bid to censor free speech online

When a team of 20 police officers demanded to search journalist Oktay Candemir’s flat earlier this month, he feared the worst: members of the Turkish media who are critical of the government are often arrested on spurious terrorism charges, and he has been in trouble several times before.

 

Turkey’s opposition slams government crackdown on HDP

 

Turkey’s opposition parties have criticized the detention of dozens of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) members, saying that the move is politically motivated.

Turkish police on Sept. 25 detained dozens of HDP members, including the co-mayor of the eastern province of Kars, over 2014 violent protests against the siege by ISIS of the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobane.

Turkey seeks to lift parliamentary immunities of 7 HDP deputies

 

The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said on Sept. 25 that summary of proceedings will be prepared against seven deputies of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in order for their immunities to be lifted over 2014 violent protests against the siege by ISIS of the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobane.

The office, which carries out the investigation into the Kobane protests, said that the summary of proceedings will be prepared against the seven deputies into whom investigations are ongoing.

The deputies in question were the HDP’s Central Executive Board (MYK) members during Kobane protests, the prosecutor’s office said.

Earlier on Sept. 25, Turkish police detained 20 HDP members, including the co-mayor of the eastern province of Kars, Ayhan Bilgen, over Kobane protests.

Anadolu Agency: 24 activists detained over ‘provocative social media posts’

Bianet :: English
Journalists, lawyers, and authors are among the detained, according to reports.

Interior Minister targets Constitutional Court over decision on ‘Academics for Peace’

Bianet :: English
As the top court’s president accused Minister Soylu of “misleading the public,” the minister continued criticizing the court’s verdicts.

Claim that villagers were thrown from helicopter shakes Turkey!

Duvar English by İrfan Aktan

Despite severe oppression, censorship, detentions, arrests and threats, the Mesopotamia News Agency (MA) recently marked its third anniversary, continuing to report on the assaults by the state and the racists against the Kurds from the field. In fact, a recent story MA has been following for days has left the country appalled. The agency’s story has activated the opposition while the parliament was asked to convene in an extraordinary session. It was demanded that a parliamentary investigation committee be formed to investigate the incident.

Following the agency’s story, nongovernmental organizations and human rights activists sent delegations to the region where the incident took place. The MA story also caused national and international media to send more than 100 reporters to the region. The allegations have also drawn attention from Europe. A delegation from the European Commission was sent to the region, it was reported, to write a report concerning the allegations.

 

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Turkey as a bad model: “You are not in Turkey, Pelosi tells Trump over refusal to commit to peaceful transfer of power

In Uncategorized on September 25, 2020 at 18:23

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You are not in Turkey, Pelosi tells Trump over refusal to commit to peaceful transfer of power

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi has tore into President Donald Trump on Sept. 24 after he declined the day before to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the presidential election in November.

Pelosi said that she wasn’t surprised by his remarks, adding he’s “been contemptible of …governance” during his time in office, The Hill reported.

Of course:

Turkish top diplomat slams US Speaker of House on remarks about Turkey

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has slammed U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi for likening Turkey to North Korea and Russia as she accused U.S. President Donald Trump of admiring the leaders of these countries.

[Opinion] Does Erdoğan’s long arm now reach Belgian universities?

EUobserver.com – Headline News
Leuven’s Catholic University, one of Belgium’s best, has decided to close one of its respected but controversial chairs. And many say that is not because of an academic failure or scandal, but a result of the Turkish government’s relentless pressure.

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Another revenge operation against Kurdish Politicians- 82 arrest warrants over Kobane protests [that took place 6 years ago]

In Uncategorized on September 25, 2020 at 11:53

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Sırrı Süreyya Önder (L) and Ayhan Bilgen (R) among the detained

Turkish police detain dozens of HDP members, including Mayor Bilgen, over 2014 Kobane protests

Duvar English

Turkish police on Sept. 25 detained dozens of members of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), including the co-mayor of the eastern province of Kars, over 2014 violent protests against the siege by ISIS of the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobane.

Detention warrants were issued for a total of 82 people in seven provinces and Kars Co-Mayor Ayhan Bilgen, former deputies Sırrı Süreyya Önder, Ayla Akat Ata, Nazmi Gür, Emine Ayna, Beyza Üstün and Altan Tan and HDP Central Executive Board (MYK) member Alp Altınörs are among those detained early in the morning.

Footage showed dozens of police officers detaining Bilgen and putting him in an armored vehicle, as people chanted, “This city is proud of you.”

Perihan Koca detained

Turkey issues arrest warrants for 82 over pro-Kurdish protests

World news: Turkey by Agence France-Presse

Mayor among those wanted for unspecified offences during 2014 protests sparked by Isis seizure of Kobane

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“Turkey records over 70 daily coronavirus deaths for first time since May

In Uncategorized on September 24, 2020 at 20:38

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Turkey records over 70 daily coronavirus deaths for first time since May

 

Turkey on Sept. 23 reported 72 daily coronavirus deaths — its highest since the beginning of May. The country had registered 78 fatalities from the virus on May 2, and since then daily virus deaths had remained below 70 – i.e. until Sept. 23.

According to the Health Ministry data, the country reported 1,767 new virus cases and 1,027 recoveries. The overall case count now stands at 308,069, with 270,723 recoveries.

The figures also showed that the number of patients in critical condition has risen to 1,561, while 6.7 percent suffer from pneumonia.

‘280 racist attacks in Turkey in 10 years’

Bianet :: English
A report released by the Human Rights Association (İHD) shows that 280 racist attacks have taken place and 47 graves
‘Quarter of Istanbul students can’t access remote education materials’

 

About one quarter of students in Istanbul don’t have access to educational materials provided by the Education Ministry, as they lack the technological infrastructure required to view the materials, daily BirGün reported on Sept. 21, as first graders and kindergarten students attended the first day of school.

 

Sexist, discriminatory words in Press Advertising Agency dictionaries

Bianet :: English
In three dictionaries sent by the Press Advertising Agency (BİK), a public institution, to media outlets, there are discriminating and sexist words about women, including words that the Turkish Language Association (TDK) decided to remove from its dictionaries.

In Turkey, women rise up to stop withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention

Global Voices Online by Arzu Geybullayeva

The Istanbul Convention is a Council of Europe treaty designed to prevent violence against women

Screenshot from Anit Sayac home page.

A website called Anit Sayac (Turkish for “monument tracker”) indicates the number “276” on its home page at the time of writing this story. It represents the number of women who were murdered in domestic violence attacks in Turkey—just in 2020. The counter is updated every day. But it is the names of the victims, written just below it, that strike the site’s visitors.

Armenians most targeted by hate speech in Turkish media, report shows

 

Armenians were the most targeted group in hate speech in the Turkish media in the past year, according to an annual report prepared by the Hrant Dink Foundation.

The report titled “Hate Speech in Media and Discriminatory Discourse in Media in 2019” said that there were 5,515 instances of hate speech in the past year and Armenians were targeted 803 times.

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  4. Bülent Arınç finally made him a laughing stock at a global scale…
  5. Meanwhile in Turkey… Istanbul shopping stampede…”‘Sexist’ Trabzonspor chairman…

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At free fall today: “US warns Turkey over failure to pay foreign healthcare debts

In Uncategorized on September 24, 2020 at 18:43

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The Financial Times – Laura Pitel in Ankara – Sep 23, 12:59 PM

International healthcare companies are struggling to reclaim around $2.3bn in debts owed to them by Turkey’s state hospitals, a senior US official has revealed, as he warned of the dangers posed to the Turkish economy by an unpredictable investment

Turkey’s Aktif Bank helped the porn industry, engaged in money laundering: FinCEN Files

Duvar English

Turkey’s Aktif Bank is suspected of having carried out money laundering on a grand scale for a customer network that includes the scandal-ridden German financial service provider Wirecard and shady figures from the porn industry, according to the FinCEN Files.

Turkish companies and banks pop up frequently and prominently in the FinCEN Files, a collection of secret documents from the US Department of the Treasury that was leaked to BuzzFeed News and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

Russian Internet giant leaving Turkey | Ahval

Russian tech giant Yandex, established to rival various Google services, has decided to shut down

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A little bit of greenification for the Taksim Square- “İstanbulites to decide which design project to be implemented in Taksim Square

In Uncategorized on September 24, 2020 at 12:43

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İstanbulites to decide which design project to be implemented in Taksim Square

Bianet :: English
Three projects have won an equivalent prize in the Taksim Urban Design Competition held by the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality. İstanbulites will now choose their favorite among them by taking part in the vote with their ID numbers.

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US agency grants $5 million to Istanbul Municipality to improve transport network

Hurriyet Daily News
The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality has received a $5 million grant from the U.S. Trade and Developments Agency (USTDA) that will help authorities deal with the city’s notorious traffic congestion.

Istanbul Music Festival kicked off virtually

Organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), the 48th Istanbul Music Festival kicked off on Sept. 18 with an opening concert streamed online.

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