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Erdem Gündüz, a performance artist swiftly dubbed the "standing man" on social media in Turkey after he staged an eight-hour silent vigil in Taksim Square on Monday in support of the ongoing Gezi protests, allegedly also protested the headcarved ban at universities by entering a university wearing a headscarf in 2007.Facing the Atatürk Cultural Center, which was draped in Turkish flags and a portrait of Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Gündüz stood silently for eight hours on Monday, inspiring similar protests elsewhere in İstanbul as well as other provinces across the country.Turkey has been rocked by demonstrations that began in and around Taksim Square after police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse crowds protesting a government plan to redevelop the Gezi Park in Taksim.A friend of Gündüz said in a post on Facebook that, years ago, Gündüz had also protested a ban preventing headscarved students from entering universities by attending a class with a headscarf.Until 2010, headscarved students were not admitted to lectures at universities due to the headscarf ban. The ban was eliminated after the Higher Education Board (YÖK) sent a circular to universities on the issue. However, there are still some university students who face problems when wearing a headscarf because some universities and professors insist on retaining the ban.Gündüz, however, posted on his Twitter feed that the photos were taken during a performance at the university.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç has called silent, standing protests -- inspired by a Turkish man who staged an eight-hour silent vigil in İstanbul's Taksim Square -- "peaceful,” but warns that standing for extended periods of time may cause health problems.“This is not a violent protest. It goes easy on the eyes. It is a peaceful kind of protest. It is not something to be condemned,” Arınç said prior to a party meeting on Wednesday. He added that he appreciates any kind of protest that is in line with the law. However, he warned that standing in one place for a long time could cause health issues.It was the first official comment regarding the standing protests started by performance artist Erdem Gündüz, who stood silently for eight hours late Monday and into Tuesday in Taksim Square, the scene of violent clashes between police and anti-government protesters in recent weeks. Gündüz's vigil has inspired hundreds of others to follow his lead.The silent protests stood in stark contrast to demonstrations at the weekend, which saw some of the fiercest clashes between police and protesters so far -- with police firing tear gas and water cannon to clear crowds from the square.The government set off protests nationwide and drew criticism abroad over a police crackdown that began May 31 against environmentalists and other activists in Taksim Square who were protesting plans to cut down trees and redevelop the adjacent Gezi Park. Thousands have flooded the streets nightly since then, many honking car horns, banging pots and waving Turkish flags.Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who was re-elected in 2011 and has held power for 10 years, mobilized his supporters over the weekend in two huge rallies where he insisted his duty was to keep order, railed against media coverage of the protests and lashed out at unspecified foreigners who he claims want to hurt Turkey.
Turkish intelligence is blamed for possibly deliberate negligence in preventing a terrorist organization from blowing up a roadside bomb that killed 11 people, six of them civilians.Five police officers and six civilians, including a 2-year-old girl, were killed and several others were critically injured in an attack by the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the southeastern province of Bitlis on Oct. 18, 2011.A remotely controlled bomb was detonated while an armored police vehicle was passing by in the Güroymak district of Bitlis province in the predominantly Kurdish southeast of Turkey. Police officers Yalçın Demir, Volkan Sabaz, Kamuran Ercan, Bülent Emen and Şaban Kılıçaslan died in the blast.A report published in the Turkish Taraf daily on Wednesday claimed that the bomb used in the blast initially seized by the Turkish Intelligence Organization (MİT) spy in the PKK. The bomb was later lost and a week later it was used by the PKK, killing 11 people.During the blast, children Hiranur Eraslan and Ferit Eraslan and their uncle Cahit Eraslan died at the scene of the incident while their van was passing by the armored police vehicle. Heavily injured children Esra, Elif and Mihriban Eraslan were critically injured and were hospitalized. Elif and Esra later succumbed to their wounds and died in the hospital.The saga started when the Turkish intelligence spy within the PKK seized a remotely controlled bomb and brought it to the intelligence agency office in Tatvan on Oct. 3, 2011. MİT Tatvan District Chief H. and MİT personnel U. then phoned Bitlis Police Department chief Halil İbrahim Doğan and told him that they have an explosive and they need the help of bomb squads.MİT personnel didn't want to put the life of their spy at stake and they asked bomb squads if it is possible to give the bomb back to the spy in a way that would be unusuable in a PKK attack. The police told the MİT personnel that it is possible but PKK has the capability to again make the bomb functioning. The police warned the intelligence officers that they should have never given the bomb back to the PKK because they have the capability to use the bomb again in a terrorist act.Police told the intelligence officers that there needs to be a plan not to give the bomb back to the PKK but also keep the identity of the spy secret.Few days later, the MİT officers drafted a plan and conveyed it to the police. According to the plan, the spy who carries the bomb would be together with a PKK member while traveling to central Tatvan. Police would set up a checkpoint en route to Tatvan. The spy would drop the bomb when they would see the checkpoint while the PKK member was witnessing.Police set up a checkpoint crew and had been waiting about the details of the plan from the MİT for almost a week. But plan had never come and the MİT later told police that there was an “unwanted” development that they could not control and the bomb had to be sent to the PKK.A week after this information, PKK detonated the bomb in Güroymak district and 11 people died.Police made it clear in preliminary investigation in the scene of the incident that the bomb detonated on Oct. 18, 2011 blast was the same explosive MİT initially had.Police submitted this information to MİT, who rejected the claim and said that the bomb was not the same.A report prepared after an investigation in Gendarmerie Criminal Laboratory on Dec. 16, 2011 said the serial number of the bomb was the same with the serial number of the bomb MİT spy brought to the police department two weeks before.All evidence and findings were later referred to prosecutors, who then launched an investigation into possible negligence.While the investigation was launched against the MİT personnel, Parliament made an amendment regarding the trial of MİT personnel. According to the new law, the trial of intelligence officers was only possible if the prime minister allowed it to move forward.For nearly a year, the document was waiting in the office of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and few days ago, the prime minister rejected to grant the permission for the trial of the MİT personnel.Twenty minutes after the explosion, the MİT conveyed intelligence to police that several members of the PKK were preparing for a terrorist attack in Güroymak. A day after the explosion, the PKK orchestrated joint attacks on Turkish troops, killing 24 soldiers and injuring 18 others.
Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has said he hopes Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan continues the “cruelty” he is showing Gezi Park protesters -- and thus ensure his own exit from power.Speaking at his party's parliamentary group meeting on Tuesday, Kılıçdaroğlu said: “There is a saying. They say to the cruel: ‘May your cruelty increase. So that you can go as soon as possible.'” He went on to accuse the government of being oppressive. “They want to take Turkey prisoner. They want the make the country their own prisoner, but nobody can be an obstacle in the path of democracy as long as the CHP is standing,” Kılıçdaroğlu said. Beginning with a referendum on a package of constitutional amendments in 2010, the CHP leader said, the administration has brought the judiciary to heel and sidelined Parliament in the legislative process by issuing a series of decrees that are now the law of the land. The government politicized the judiciary and used specially authorized courts created to hear crimes "against the state" to suppress opposition, he said. The courts have since been abolished. “They tried to form pro-government unions. They politicized the judiciary. They imprisoned people who opposed them with the help of the specially authorized courts. They established all kinds of pressure.” Kılıçdaroğlu also accused the government of silencing the media. “I will give just one example of a single union whose membership rose by 770 people under the Justice and Development Party (AK Party). This is a civil servants' union. This can't be accepted. You can't pressure people and force them to become members of a particular union. We denounce this kind of attitude." Kılıçdaroğlu claimed the AK Party had lied to Turkey's Western allies. “They went to the US, England, Brussels. Everywhere they went, they said, ‘We want to bring in democracy, improve freedoms; we are tired of the custodianship regime.' The West, alien to the culture of taqiyya, [an Islamic religious belief that permits lying when a Muslim faces persecution] believed them. They also said the CHP is pro-status quo and against freedoms and democracy.”The Gezi Park protests, he continued, have shown the government's true colors, however. “People wanted to protect their city: young children, our children that are our hope for the future. But they showed the remorseless face of the state to these children. They used pepper spray, batons and even guns and riot tanks [to suppress the protestors].” He said the government has put the judiciary under siege, destroyed civil society, made a mockery of the media and silenced the country's intellectuals. “Now it has come to the point of directly interfering with the man on the street. The prime minister is now at such a point that he decides how many children the women in the country should have and in what way they should have them.” Kılıçdaroğlu said the Gezi Park protests have given new breathing space to society and shown the world the truth about the AK Party government.
Students who came to Turkey about four weeks ago to compete in the 11th International Turkish Olympiad -- a competition in which Turkish speakers from around the globe recite poetry, write essays and sing songs -- bid one another teary farewells during the Olympiad's closing ceremony in İstanbul on Sunday night.The 11th International Turkish Olympiad, organized by the International Turkish Education Association (TÜRKÇEDER), is part of Turkey's annual International Language and Culture Festival. A total of 2,000 students from 140 countries attended the 2013 Olympiad, which kicked off on June 1 with a grand ceremony at 19 Mayıs Stadium in Ankara and ended on June 16 with the closing ceremony in İstanbul.Nearly every country in the world sent students, who had the opportunity to spend time together and form strong friendships during the Olympiad, making it very difficult for them to say goodbye. Many cried as they bid farewell to their new friends. “Don't be sad, we will meet again,” some said in an attempt at consolation, while others exchanged gifts. Students took down email addresses and phone numbers and promised to keep in touch after returning to their home countries.Ukrainian student Reyana Kadirova told Today's Zaman that she'd met people from all 140 countries participating in the Olympiad, adding: “Thanks to the Turkish Olympiads, I formed friendships that I might not be able to build again in my life. Whichever Turkish city we visited, we were welcomed with great hospitality. I never felt like foreigner during the time I spent in Turkey.”Enes Ahmadi from Australia told Today's Zaman that he felt he had visited 140 countries at the Olympiads.Abdullah Waziri from Kenya, Alfian Nurdiansyah from Indonesia and Abdulrab Hoheb from India stayed in the same dorm room for the Olympiad, and formed lasting friendships.Nurdiansyah said that the three became like brothers in Turkey, although all of them come from different countries and cultures. He added: “Now, we are returning to our countries. I want our brotherhood and friendship to continue.”Akouvi Deborah Eguida from Togo said: “I don't want to return to my country. I could live forever here with such sincere and warm-blooded people. I had friends only in my country a month ago, but now I have friends from countries I couldn't find on a map.”Ahmet Dere, a Turkish teacher working at a Turkish school in Kenya, told Today's Zaman that though the students got acquainted just a month ago when they first came to Turkey to attend the Olympiads, the strength of their friendships made it seem like they'd known each other for 40 years.The closing ceremony of the Olympiads was held on Sunday night at İstanbul's Atatürk Olympic Stadium. Nearly 250,000 spectators joined in the festivities. Students fascinated local audiences with 99 stage shows in 55 cities across Turkey in the Olympiad.Praises from singers, politiciansTurkish pop diva Ajda Pekkan, who was on the jury for the Olympiad's singing finals (held at İstanbul Sinan Erdem Sports Hall on June 7), called the Olympiad a very successful organization. “I watched the closing ceremony on TV. The laser light shows, music and fireworks in the ceremony fascinated me. If there aren't any problems, I plan to attend the closing ceremony when it's held next year,” Pekkan said in an interview with Today's Zaman.Republican People's Party (CHP) Deputy Chairman Erdoğan Toprak told Today's Zaman that students who attended the Turkish Olympiad will move on to be advocates for Turkey in their countries, adding: “They will tell of our culture and hospitality in their countries. … I want to thank Turkish teachers [working at Turkish schools all over the world]. They have a very important duty.”Justice and Development Party deputy Nimet Baş said: “I am proud of the organization on behalf of my country and my language.”Songwriter Sezen Cumhur Önal, who also spoke to Today's Zaman, said the Olympiads were “a dream of June” and proposed that they be held not only in Turkey but in other countries as well. Önal also thanked well-respected Turkish scholar Fethullah Gülen for supporting the Olympiads.Arabesque singer and composer Orhan Gencebay praised the closing of the Olympiad, saying it was one of only two ceremonies he had ever admired in his life.The poetry final took place at the Ankara Arena Sports Hall in June. Thousands of people, including senior officials, politicians and high-profile guests from the media and art world, were in attendance. Maty Diokhane from Senegal, who recited “Zindandan Mehmed'e Mektup” (A Letter from Prison to Mehmet), a poem by famous Turkish poet Necip Fazıl Kısakürek, won the highest scores from jury members and was named the winner.The singing final of the Olympiad was held at İstanbul's Sinan Erdem Sports Hall on June 7. Bulgarian Martin Yordanov, who sang “Deli Gönlüm” (My Mad Heart), came first in the final.
The Great Seljuk Empire ruled over an enormous area and created a unique civilization blending Turkish traditions with Islam and reaching excellence in the arts, sciences, architecture as well as military and land administration, and now it is possible to view professional photographs of their masterful buildings and artifacts in an ambitious publication.Five voluminous tomes and a documentary that were prepared as part of the Legacy of the Great Seljuks Project now make it possible to view photographs of some of the most important architectural pieces and a plethora of artworks that remain from the Seljuks' majestic heritage in various countries and museums of the world.The project, carried out under the auspices of President Abdullah Gül, was introduced to the public on Tuesday at a ceremony held at the Çankaya presidential palace. Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç, Education Minster Nabi Avcı, Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz and many other top politicians and bureaucrats were in attendance.The catalogues published in the project are arranged in five volumes, two dedicated to photographs of the finest examples of Seljuk art currently on display in 22 museums of the world including the Berlin Pergamon, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Louvre, the Hermitage, the David Collection in Copenhagen, the British Museum, the Isfahan Museum and others in Russia, Uzbekistan, Iran and Turkey and three others dedicated to Seljuk architecture.Project contributors traveled 120,000 kilometers of highways in 12 countries, took 50,000 photographs and hours of footage and visited more than 250 towns to catalogue 320 works of the Seljuk legacy. A 180-minute documentary was also prepared as part of the project.There is also academic information about the artifacts in the published catalogues, which is the result of extensive research and diplomatic efforts to ensure the Seljuk heritage in about a dozen countries could be catalogued, with the collaboration of nearly 200 academics, researchers, writers and diplomats. The works in these two volumes exhibit the artistic perfectionism the Seljuks reached in handcrafts including glass works, ceramics, fabrics and metal objects.The Great Seljuks ruled between 1037 and 1194 over a vast area starting in Central Asia, from where their ancestors the Oghuz Turks hailed, and extending to Anatolia in the west, and the Hindu Kush in the east and as far as Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula in the south.In an introductory note, President Gül noted: “Today, it is our responsibility to be loyal to this grand civilization and to protect it. When the Great Seljuks withdrew from the scene of history in 1157, their successors, the Anatolian Seljuk Empire, ruled until 1308, establishing Anatolia as their homeland. To carry on their traditions, we must ensure the preservation of objects in museums and the buildings of the Seljuk era, which have now become the common heritage of humankind. I think that the books and documentaries that will appear as a result of these preservation efforts will open new horizons for all who would like to carry out research in these fields.”Turkish and Persian scientists, poets, scholars and thinkers associated with this era include Ahmet Yesevi, Muhiddin Arabi, Konevi, Sarakhsi, Joseph Hamiadani, Shahrastari, Abdul Qadir Gilani, Omar Khayyam and dozens of others.The three remaining volumes in the series focus only on the architectural wonders the Great Seljuk Empire left behind. The first tome in the series includes mosques, bridges, fortresses, tombs, caravanserais and other masterpieces of architecture, one area the Seljuk excelled in, from modern-day Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Palestine, Yemen, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Afghanistan, Armenia and other areas where the Seljuk once ruled.The project also includes information about the Seljuk sultans from Alp Arslan, Malik Shah and Sultan Sanjar and the Seljuk architects Mohammed bin Atsız, Keluk bin Abdullah, Hürrem Shah of Ahlat, Makki the son of Hji Birti, Kerimuddin Erdi Shah, Abdulgaffar and Mohammed the son of Havlan of Damascus.Konya Selçuk Municipality was supported by the Presidency, the Prime Ministry Promotion Fund, the Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency (TİKA) and the Konya Intellectuals Association. The project coordinator was İbrahim Dıvarcı. The books were edited by professors Osman Eravşar and Haşim Karpuz of Selçuk University. Photographers Ahmet Kuş and Feyzi Şimşek contributed to the Great Seljuk Legacy Project.