Turkey

'Operational Accidents': On the Turkish State and Kurdish Deaths

http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/3842/operational-accidents_on-the-t...

"The Turkish Armed Forces targeted and killed those Kurdish youth - some as young as 12 - suspecting them of being terrorists associated with the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK). The killing took place in a political context where the Turkish state's proudly conducted war on terror has been targeting citizens of Turkey not only militarily but also judicially with the force of law.

Strikingly, neither the Turkish army nor the Turkish government has yet expressed anything resembling an official apology regarding the killing of the thirty-five Kurdish citizens. In telling contrast to his prompt and passionate denunciations of Israel's 'operational accidents' that kill Palestinian civilians, Prime Minister Erdogan kept completely silent for more than twenty-four hours after the deadly operation by the Turkish Armed Forces..."

Turkey Rejects Oil, Gas as Collateral For Greek Cypriot Bailout

http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=383552

"Turkey has strongly reacted to a possible Greek Cypriot plan to put oil and gas exploration rights around the eastern Mediterranean island as collateral for an international bailout package it desperately needs to protect its economy from going bankrupt."

Ayalon: Israel Will Defend Greek Drilling in Cyprus (2011)

http://www.jta.org/news/article/2011/11/23/3090421/ayaklon-israel-will-d...

"Israeli Deputy FM Danny Ayalon said in Greece that Israel will defend Greek oil drilling in Cyprus..."

No wonder Israel and Turkey are making nice again...

Riots, Barricades, Street Battles as Police Fight Protesters in Turkey (and vid)

http://rt.com/news/turkey-clashes-istanbul-park-067/

"Thousands of protesters in Istanbul clashed with police in the most violent rally Turkey has seen in years. Hundreds have been injured and dozens arrested in fierce rioting which the media has dubbed the Turkish Spring as it spreads across the country.

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The Right to the City Movement and the Turkish Summer

The entire plan for Taksim Square’s redesign is part of an overall neoliberal turn that Prime Minister Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) are central to. Istanbul's city center has been undergoing a rapid process of gentrification, especially in the historic neighborhoods of Sulukule, Tarlabaşı, Tophane, and Fener-Balat, which housed the poor, the immigrants, the Kurds, and the Roma. The goal of this so-called “urban renewal” is to make room for more tourist attractions, or to—at minimum—“clean up” the neighborhoods, removing working class urban dwellers who might scare off tourists. The idea is that this new and improved city center will attract foreign investment in Istanbul, which is to be further developed into a financial and cultural hub at the crossroads of Europe and the Middle East.  

Some outlets have linked the Gezi Park protests to the AKP's recent restrictions on the sale of alcohol.Journalists doing so are attempting to portray the Gezi Park occupation as a conflict between Erdoğan's Islamism and the country's secular ethos. The secularist opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has also taken this stance, and has tried to coopt the uprising by turning the movement into a symbol of culture wars between secular youth and an older Islamist generation.  Attractive as that framing may be to Western media, it could not be further from the truth. While many protesters are without a doubt staunch secularists who are motivated by opposition to the AKP's increasing social conservatism, there is no indication that this is what ultimately brought thousands of people out into the streets. In fact, when CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, came to Gezi Park to speak, protesters sang over him, preventing him from being heard. It is clear that the movement thus far is about a conflict in visions for urban space between ruling elites and the people who actually live, work, and play in the city. In this regard, it is telling that #DirenGeziPari emerged as the original hashtag on Twitter. This connects to protests held in 2009 in Istanbul against the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, which took place under the banner of “Diren Istanbul”—“Resist Istanbul”—cleverly shortened in translation to “ResIstanbul.” 

At the same time, and as the protests appear to spread and take on a more generally anti-government tone, it is not unlikely that general dissatisfaction with Erdoğan will eventually win out as the primary message of the movement. In that case, we can expect to see a rift between the liberal secularist opposition who joined the protest on 31 May and after and the radical protesters who spawned the movement in the first place.  

 

Turkey Government Moving Toward Fascism:  (and vid)

http://www.presstv.com/detail/2013/06/02/306733/turkey-government-moving...

"Press TV has conducted an interview with Barcin Yinanc, the associate editor for the Hurriyet Daily News in Istanbul and Eser Uzun Belding, a Turkish citizen in New York City."

Turkish Police Clamp Down on Anti-Government Protesters (and vid)

http://rt.com/news/istanbul-park-protests-police-095/

"Turkey has entered a fourth day of turmoil, as the country is swept away in the biggest wave of anti-government protesting in years. Thousands now flood the streets, as police continue to crack down on protesters with tear gas and water cannon.

Erdogan says the Turkish intelligence services are investigating possible foreign links to thle weekend riots."

Erdogan Risking the 'Must Go' Path  -  by Pepe Escobar

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MID-01-030613.html

"...Predictably, harsh police represssion led to the protesters being joined by top cadres from Turkey's main opposition party, the Republican People's Party (CHP). And sooner rather than later, the Taksin Square green theme morphed into a Tahrir Square-style 'Down With The Dictator'..."

Second Fatality, Thousands Injured as Police Try to Curb Turkey Protests (and vid)

http://rt.com/news/turkey-protester-dead-clashes-183/

Turkey Police Brutality: Cops Attack Protesters, Use Gallons of [US made] Teargas (photos, video)

http://rt.com/news/turkey-police-brutality-reports-148/

"My father and grandmother have never seen anything like this. In three generations the police have never behaved like this. This is not normal in Turkey and I don't understand why this is happening.."

Turkish Clashes Continue as Erdogan Protestors 'Extremists'  -  by Bill Van Auken

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/06/04/turk-j04.html

"...One Turkish trade union federation representing public sector workers has called a two-day strike beginning June 4 in protest against 'state-terror' by the Erdogan government..."

Protests in Turkey Can Turn into Civil War: Huseyin Bagci (and vid)

http://www.presstv.com/detail/2013/06/04/307141/turkey-protest-can-turn-...

"Press TV has conducted an interview with Huseyin Bagci, a professor of International Relations at the Middle East Technical University, Ankara."

This is a very good summary of the latest developments in Turkey:

http://www.vice.com/en_uk/vice-news/istanbul-rising

Anti-Erdogan Protests Becoming Uprising: Ralph Schoenman (and vid)

http://www.presstv.com/detail/2013/06/09/308043/antierdogan-protests-bec...

"Ralph Schoenman, political commentator, Berkeley, about the issue of anti-Erdogan protests in Turkey.

'So it's a generalized opposition to the subordination of imperialism, authoritarianism and the austerity measures that are affecting the population at large in drastic fashion.."

Turkish Police Oust Taksim Protesters with Tear Gas as Erdogan Cheers Removal of 'Rags' (and vid)

http://rt.com/news/police-turkey-taksim-square-505/

"Hundreds of Turkish police clashed with protesters after taking over Taksim Square in Istanbul. The raid allowed removal of barricades and banners. PM Erdogan praised the troops for removing the 'rags' as he branded the revolutionary symbols.

The few protesters present at the square when police arrived were quickly dispersed with teargas, eyewitnesses report. They retreated to neighboring areas and are launching systematic assaults at police forces, being beaten back each time.

RT's crew reporting from the scene: 'There are serious clashes in the small streets surrounding the square. They are running after each other tossing stones, bottles and smoke grenades there. It's a real meat grinder in there,' reports RT's Ahraf El Sabbagh."

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I watched that live last night for a few hours. It was intense to say the least and in the end the police managed to clear the square out using water cannon trucks, tear gas and even a few bulldozers. 

It's well understood that any and all forms of escalation are possible in the interests of maintaining what the Turkish government and its allies designate as democracy, in a manner fully consistent with what they’ve exercised on numerous occasions within their own fiefdoms.

'If You're in NATO You Can Get Away With Murder' (and vid)

http://voltairenet.org/article178869.html

"British journalist Neil Clark to RT.."

The Uprising Against Brother Erdogan

http://www.voltairenet.org/article178848.html

"For Thierry Meyssan, the Turkish people are not protesting against Recip Tayyeb Erdogan's autocratic style, but against his policies: in other words against the Muslim Brotherhood, of which he is the mentor.

What started on Taksim Square is not a color revolution over a new building project, but an uprising that calls the 'Arab Spring' into question..."

Protesters Who Return to Taksim are Terrorist Supporters - Turkish minister (and vid)

http://rt.com/news/minister-turkish-protesters-terrorists-771/

"Activists returning to Taksim Square will be considered 'supporters or members of a terror group,' Turkey's EU minister told local media. This comes after police bulldozed the tent camp in Gezi Park in one of the worst nights of violence in Istanbul..."

TO THE PUBLIC
6th of July 2013

We want to make our press release known to the public since it was prevented from being read on the Taksim Square by the police. We are here and we are going to continue to be here.

The struggle of the Taksim Solidarity Group and all the citizens who supported it during the process of Gezi Park has proved to be justified. This struggle for democracy aswell as human and civic rights has had the widest participation in our countries history and was proven right once again by the judicial decision. The need to save the historical Taksim Square and the Gezi Park has been reassured by this sentence.

We are here to communicate the legal decision which cancels the plans to render Taksim Square and Gezi Park a place without identity, without people and full of concrete. We are here to open this place to its real owners again, that is to everybody. We are here to notify the legal cancelation of the plan to make Taksim a place without identity and to build a artillery barrack in Gezi Park. We are here to insist in the fact that all the interventions done to the park since 27th of May 2013 have been illegal. As it is illegal to close this public space to the people by using police force.

We are here because we have the right to be part of decisions about our living spaces.

Our public park, which is also our gathering point during natural disasters, is under police occupation for days. Our access to our square, the space where we voice our demand for democratic rights, is prohibited. Government, by its practices, made our living spaces, parks, squares inaccessible for us.

Inspite of this repression and violence we are still coming together where ever we live, with all the values and colours that make us to be ‘we’, with our surprising common sense, our strenght to resist, our determination and incredible creativity.

We are here to remember the people we lost, to denounce the violence that still goes on all over Turkey, and to remind our demands once again. We are here for Ethem, Mehmet and Abdullah. We are here to demand the release of all our friends who were arrested when their only purpose was to meet in the park. We are here to exclaim that it is a terribly injust to release the police officer who provoked Ethem’s death.

We have seen that in the absence of police violence we are able to strew the seeds for a new life in a peaceful way, in our streets, in our squares and in our parks.

Neither the media blackout, nor the random and unlawful practices of the government, nor the arrests, custodies, and unrooted accusations that aim to divide us, will be able to stop our solidarity.

We haven’t abandoned our solidarity, our demands and our gains and we won’t do so in the future. We will remind them once more:

The government has to declare urgently that it abandons the planed demolition of AKM and the – already juridically declared illegal – plans and projects that aim to deprive Taksim and the Gezi Park of people.

We demand to stop the prohibitions and the gathering, demonstration, action bans in our squares and public spaces especially in Taksim and Kizilay, and in all over Turkey; all the obstacles to the right to speech should stopped.

Starting from resistance against the demolition in Taksim Gezi Park, all the responsible parties who prohibited public’s most democratic right to act, who gave the order for violent repression, who executed this order, or made sure it is executed; who caused injury of thousands and the death of five people, should be taken off their duty; the use of gas bomb and similar material should be prohibited,

All the citizens who are under arrest due to their attendance to the resistance all over the country should be released, the government has to publicly declare that no further investigation will be opened on their behalf,

We demand urgently, that all our parks that are closed to public use at the moment, that are also places we gather and take refuge in case of natural disasters, mainly Gezi Park, should be immediately opened.

Long live our solidarity.

Everywhere is Taksim. Everywhere is resistance.

TAKSIM SOLIDARITY

http://takethesquare.net/2013/07/11/taksim-solidarity-press-release-6th-...

Stiff Sentences For Writers, Military and Political Leaders in Turkish Coup Plot Trial (and vid)

http://rt.com/news/turkey-ergenekon-trial-verdict-041/

"People here say that essentially Ergenekon is just a pretense under which the Prime Minister is taking people who he personally does not like and putting them in jail so as to get rid of dissident voices..."

'Turkey Targeted By Zionist Plots' (and vid)

http://www.presstv.com/detail/2013/12/26/342001/turkey-targeted-by-zioni...

"Press TV has talked with Yavuz Selim Kurt, a political analyst from Istanbul to shed more light on the graft scandal plaguing the ruling AK Party of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

'I want to say something, the main issue about the event is Iran, trade with Iran.."

Turkey's Real Corruption Scandal  -  by F William Engdahl

http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/2014/02/03/turkeys-real-corruption-scandal

"Turkey and a surrogate battle between East and West for the future of a pivotal land at the geopolitical crossroads..."

Turkey Blocks Twitter After PM Threatens To Wipe It Out

http://rt.com/news/erdogan-wipe-out-twitter-181/

"Turkey has blocked Twitter hours after embattled Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan threatened to close it down ahead of a key election. It comes after audio recordings purportedly demonstrating corruption among his associates were posted..

'I don't care what the international community says. They will see the Turkish republic's strength,' Erdogan added."

Gwynne Dyer: Revisiting the Armenian Genocide

http://www.straight.com/news/429361/gwynne-dyer-revisiting-armenian-geno...

Turkey’s unions are dead, long live the cooperative?

quote:

During its time in power, the AKP has restricted worker’s rights to organize and strike, intensified neoliberal employment policies, encouraged the practice of subcontracting and part-time work agreements and allowed for the structural violation of worker rights.

Workers in Turkey were once again reminded of their precarious position when at the end of January 15,000 metal workers planned to go on strike. After failing to reach an agreement with the employer’s union about better wages and the length of collective bargaining periods the workers announced that in 22 factories in ten different cities across the country they would lay down their tools and walk off the job.

However, the next day the strike was “suspended” when the government issued a Cabinet Decree deeming it a “threat to national security”. The suspension of the strike is in fact a strike ban in action. In order to prevent the workers from walking off the job, the government recalled a controversial law – approved in the aftermath of the 1980 military coup – which was designed to curtail the powers of the influential labor unions at the time....

quote:

Textile workers taking over

When in January 2013 the 94 workers of the Kazova Textile factory in Istanbul’s central Sisli neighborhood were collectively fired under false pretenses after their bosses had neglected to pay their salaries for four consecutive months, a small group of workers decided to resist. They organized regular protest marches and set up of a tent in front of the factory to prevent their former bosses from stripping the factory of anything of value.

Emboldened by the nationwide Gezi protests which rocked the country in the summer that year, the Kazova workers prepared for the next step and occupied their former workplace.

What followed was almost two years of struggles in which the resisting workers were beaten by hired thugs, tear gassed by the police and were caught up in an exhausting legal case in an attempt to claim legal ownership over the textile machinery that would allow them to provide in their own livelihoods....

http://roarmag.org/2015/04/turkey-worker-rights-union-cooperative/

George Galloway's Comment: 'How Serious Is Turkey in Fight Against ISIL?
http://www.presstv.com/Video/2051/07/31/422650/Turkey-Syria-ISIL-PKK

"Turkey has launched a series of airstrikes against bases of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq and Syria."

Iraq Calls on Turkey to Coordinate Strikes on PKK

http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2015/09/13/429049/Ibrahim-alJaafari--IraqT...

"Iraqi FM Ibrahim al-Jaafari-has called on Turkey to coordinate with Baghdad its military campaign against positions of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq.

The top diplomat noted that he had summoned the Turkish ambassador to Baghdad last week to protest the 'violation' of Iraq's territory and sovereignty after Turkish special forces crossed into northern Iraq in 'hot pursuit' of the PKK militants.

Meanwhile, German FM Frank Walter Steinmeier called on Turkey to exercise self-restraint amid Ankara's escalating fight against the PKK. The Turkish military has been conducting strikes against PKK positions in northern Iraq adn southeastern Turkey since late July.

The PKK has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region in southeastern Turkey since 1984. The conflict has left tens of thousands dead..."

Very much so...

Foreign Policy Diary - the Violent Middle East

http://thesaker.is/foreign-policy-diary-the-violence-in-middle-east-in-d...