A documentary on Hrant Dink

please check here for the updated links.

A documentary by Ümit Kıvanç. “Justice for Hrant Dink” in Turkish…

It can be a glorious moment

A group of unarmed PKK members are entering Turkey borders now.  It could be a giant step; it depends how the group will be met…

photos from Milliyet

PKK ‘surrender’ tests Turkey plan

from BBC News | Europe | World Edition

Eight Kurdish rebels cross into Turkey from Iraq to surrender in a sign of support for Ankara’s peace efforts.

Israel helps Ayrılık to increase its ratings?

The photo below has to be included here. From the Turkey-Armenia game. As far as I understood it was an operation by Young Civilians.

In the crisis between Israel and Turkey it should be noted Israel reacted too much to a serial that was not popular at all. I haven’t heard anybody discussing Ayrılık episodes. And as far as I know the serial was not in the top 100 ratings list. Now I hear producers are happy that people will be curious and watch the serial. There had to be a stronger reaction to Valley of the Wolves movie who had a substantive anti-semitic emphasis in some parts. Ayrılık hadonce made it to popular discourse through what Zeynep Tokuş , an actress and former beauty pageant winner was wearing:

Zeynep Tokuş in veil for Ayrılık serial.

A roundup follows:

Human chain for Ceylan, this evening in Taksim

I have an evening lecture, I will probably not be there but let me announce the event for Ceylan. Another shame for the Turkish authorities. In the mean time, not much progress in the Hrant Dink assassination trial, censorship issues and a note on infamous Diyarbakır Prison. Erkan’s Field Diary offers a roundup on the darker side.

An asymmetrical war against the military

by ADEM YAVUZ ARSLAN

We have heard this so many times in the past, but we heard it once more this past Friday at the weekly press conference held at the military’s General Staff headquarters: “There is an asymmetrical war being waged against the military.”

Today is the second anniversary of Hrant Dink’s murder….

 

Commemoration ceremonies for slain journalist Hrant Dink

ISTANBUL – Slain Turkish- Armenian journalist Hrant Dink will be commemorated on the second anniversary of his murder.

 

‘Dink murder a vicious attack on freedom of expression’

By YONCA POYRAZ DOĞAN on Interviews

Sir Geoffrey Bindman, a British legal expert on human rights issues, has said the murderers of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who was assassinated two years ago today by a young man influenced by neo-nationalism, took aim at his vision of a Turkey that allowed free speech.

 

Today’s Milliyet accuses security personnel and points out 10 points of neglect…

The water finds its crack: an Armenian in Turkey, Hrant Dink

The interest of foreign journalists, politicians and intellectuals in Turkey is more intense than ever. Their opening inquiries are clear and strong: “Where is Turkey going? Will nationalism increase? If it does, to what kind of a regime can Turkey slide?”

Then comes a special question, the one that people like me – a Turkish citizen and an Armenian – can always expect: “Are you minorities afraid of the way things are going?”

 

Another brick in the wall… Mr. Aksu replaces Mr. Fırat

In another upsetting news,powerful deputy chairman of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Dengir Mir Mehmet Firat resigns (or replaced by Abdülkadir Aksu).

 

Mr. Fırat was one of the top advisors who has been building AKP’s Kurdish policy. He is said to be disappointed with the latest AKP moves and resigned although the official reason is "personal health issues".

 

The replacement is symbolic: the new deputy Abdülkadir Aksu has a notarious record in political life. As I had noted here,  he was the minister of Interior Affairs when Hrant Dink was assassinated! And guess what:

He happened to be in the same post in four different governments and he happened to be the Police Chief in 1977-78 in Kahraman Maraş when the Maraş massacre happened. During his ministries, Muammer Aksoy, Çetin Emeç, Bahriye Üçok, Turan Dursun, Hiram Abbas, Necip Hablemitoğlu were assassinated….

 

HürriyetUnexpected leave of deputy leader shakes Turkey’s ruling AKP
Hürriyet, Turkey – 33 minutes ago
The unexpected resignation of the powerful deputy chairman of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) could cause a change in the cabinet as 

“Ergenekon: worries and hopes

 last week something like a minor judiciary coup happened within judiciary circles. I realize today that I have not emphasized that enough. A prosecutor from Ankara ordered the search of Ergenekon’s Istanbul based prosecutor’s headquarters. The claim was that Ankara prosecutor believed there was illegal phone listening happening in Istanbul prosecutor’s office. So  like an ambush, some officials visited the Istanbul office, then began to  have a look who was being listened.  This is a giant scandal. Some officials were found to be listing those who was being listened. This is a scandal. This is a judiciary intervention to an ongoing trial by another section of Turkish judiciary. I hear that some bureaucrats in Ankara are very anxious because of the Ergenekon trial.

I hear that there are already new ‘understandings’ after the AKP closure case.  One shouldn’t be very hopeful any more (!).

Ergenekon: worries and hopes

What will the outcome of the Ergenekon case be? This question alone is sufficient to explain the hopes and worries about the future of Turkey.

Elder brother caught in Dink case

The older brother of one of the main suspects in the murder of journalist Hrant Dink was detained by police yesterday. Osman Hayal was detained for being in Istanbul when a teenage nationalist

Ergenekon questions in Malatya massacre case

The lead suspect in the Malatya massacre case denied any connection with retired Maj. Gen. Levent Ersöz, who was arrested in relation to the Ergenekon case, in a trial at Malatya’s Third Court