GA, GI, GU

According to a Hürriyet news, Diyarbakır Police Department, who issues car licence plates, is having a problem with GA, GI and GU letters. Because GA means “ox”, GU means “shit” in Kurdish. And finally, GU means “shit” again in the local Zaza accent…

Haleva (C) is accompanied by Beyoglu district Mayor Ahmet Misbah Demircan (R) as they walk together with residents during a commemoration near the Neve Shalom synagogue in Istanbul, November 15, 2009. Relatives and friends gathered at a peace monument near the Neve Shalom synagogue to mark the sixth anniversary of the Al Qaeda-linked twin suicide car bomb attacks against the city’s two main synagogues. Neve Shalom and Beit Israel synagogues had been devastated in twin suicide car bomb attacks on November 15, 2003, killing around 30 people including Jewish people praying as well as Muslim passersby.REUTERS/Murad Sezer

 

and a few more from the Turkish society…

No sense of humor, for sure…

Jenny White points out a good case. Whatever happens in the political-legal side, a sort of social conservatism continues to rule…. I heard about this ad campaign’s destiny just last night and then I see Jenny’s piece…

The Country of No

by Jenny White

No sense of humor. No humans with animal heads.

A recent ad campaign depicting human bodies with animal heads has caused protests from different groups around Turkey. In Eskisehir, protesters accused the ads of ‘insulting Turkishness’ and managed to suspend them from being displayed on city billboards.It began when animal-headed humans appeared on billboards a few weeks ago asking consumers if they were “fool enough” to pay too much for a product. The ads featured a goose, a cow, a carp and a sheep, each chosen for its implication of foolishness…………….

Photo from Hurriyet

Social fabric roundup

trilemma: rotten, soldier, objector

A documentary from Turkey examining how gays and the Turkish military view each other in a complex and changing society in which military service is considered a rite of passage for every man. The Turkish army regards gays as sick or diseased and issue medical exemption reports to gays known as “rotten” reports. Gays have to decide whether to try to get such a report, do their military service, or become conscientious objectors.

LINKS to DOWNLOAD HERE.

Turkey and human rights – Some progress and many setbacks

I am still optimistic, still, really. But there are not all good news here.
In the mean time: a first case. a policeman arrested because of assault to a young citizen:

Police Officer Arrested After Attacking Student

Efkan Bolaç, lawyer of the severely beaten student Güney Tuna, stated that 8 police officers were involved in the assault on her client: “Tuna was not …
PM Erdoğan’s speech at his party convention was discursively promising:

This Star daily headline underlines the fact that PM Erdoğan named political outsiders of Republican history from a wide range of political opposition.

[CROSS READER] Democratic initiative leaves its mark on AK Party congress

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) held its third ordinary party congress on Saturday at the ASKİ Sports Hall in Ankara.

State of Turkish women; surveys, stats etc.

A keen observer of state of Turkish women, Jenny White writes: 

Women and Work: Some Reflections On The Numbers

by Jenny White

 The World Bank together with the Turkish State Planning Organization are about to release a report on the status of women’s work in Turkey. A preview: 3 of 4 Turkish women neither work at paid employment nor are looking for work. Turkey has a 22 % female labor participation rate, compared to 62% average in OECD countries and 33% in developing countries).

Turkey’s Oguz Savas (L) Engin Atsur and Omer Asik (R) look on after losing their FIBA EuroBasket 2009 quarter-final basketball game against Greece in Katowice September 18, 2009. REUTERS/Ivan Milutinovic

After football, Turkish dreams shattered in basketball, too….

 

“Polls near, status quo anticipated

An official video by Higher Election Council that teaches how to vote (In Turkish)

Mustafa Akyol on Anti-Semitism In Turkey

Mr. Akyol wrote two columns on Anti-Semitism in Turkey recently. There are also other features related to Turkish society.. Have a look…

“Photo Ed: Christians celebrate Christmas in Istanbul

“Treatment of Widows and Divorced Women

In the following text, you will find a huge round up on Turkish society. I highlighted Jenny White’s emphasis on a particular section of Turkish women but there is also stuff on the threat of a new earthquake in Istanbul, Tuzla disasters, Turkish academia and in the mean time Istanbul is burning with heat and humidity. Boy, I am doing my best to ignore the evil weather!