Turkey
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, three-time Turkish prime minister in 2011
A faltering EU bid, separatist threats from the Kurdish minority and rumours of a presidential strategy. Ahmet Insel, a political scientist, liberal economist, editor of Orhan Pamuk and professor at Paris and Istanbul, spoke to cafebabel.com before the 12 June elections in Turkey
turkey, politics, recep tayyip erdogan, orient express, istanbul, orhan pamuk
Did you hear the one about the Turks who've been in Germany for fifty years?
1961. Hundreds of thousands of invited Turks start making their way to Germany to work: the so-called ‘guest workers’. The bilateral agreement between Turkey and Germany changed German society. To the German government the Turkish migrants were nothing more than compensation for labour shortages in Germany. However, as author Max Frisch famously announced just four years on: ‘We called for workforce and people came’. Fifty years later more than 2.5 million people of Turkish origin live in Germany. It is only recently that the integration debate has stalled, that third generation Germans are insulted as foreigners and that public ‘islam-bashing’ is officially back thanks to German former European central bank chairman and best-selling author Thilo Sarrazin. Is it time for a U-turn on all things multi-cultural?
- Read the special edition Did you hear the one about the Turks who've been in Germany for fifty years?
- Islam and Europe: a five step waltz
- Sila Sahin, Turkish-German actress and first 'muslim playboy model'
- Older migrants of Europe: forgotten until when?
- Meeting 4 of 500, 000 'Almanci' German Turks who returned 'home' over last 30 years
Alcohol ban? Istanbul cafes versus Turkish authorities
This summer a new broom was sweeping clean the streets of Istanbul – as well as the country’s football and armed forces. Who’s wielding the broom? What ‘rubbish’ are they trying to get rid of? ‘Turkey eats dirt’ is cafebabel.com’s response to the summer ‘dust up’ by the Turkish authorities. The final in our three-part series: Turkey cracks down on those famously dangerous things, street cafes
turkey, party, politics, bar, alcohol, the streets of europe, islam
Turkey: army and Kurdish 'toxins' flushed
For more than a month now a new broom has been sweeping clean the streets of Istanbul – as well as the country's football and armed forces. But who’s wielding the broom? What ‘rubbish’ are they trying to get rid of? ‘Turkey eats dirt’ is cafebabel.com's response to the summer ‘dust up’ by the Turkish authorities. Read the second of three articles in a series on the shake-up of the nation, about an army which resigns
turkey, religion, politics, discrimination, society, religion and democracy, recep tayyip erdogan
Fenerbahce, Besiktas, Trabzonspor: playtime over for Turkey's big football clubs
For more than a month now a new broom has been sweeping clean the streets of Istanbul – as well as the country's football and armed forces. But who’s wielding the broom? What ‘rubbish’ are they trying to get rid of? ‘Turkey eats dirt’ is cafebabel.com's response to the summer ‘dust up’ by the Turkish authorities. Read the first of three articles in a series on the shake-up of the nation’s football
Orient Express Reporter 2010/11: citizen journalism’s ‘corridor no.10’ in Balkans and Turkey
For nine months, this citizen media has been sending an editor from its team of six in Paris along with volunteer teams of journalists to the likes of Bosnia, Macedonia and the EU’s 28th member state as of July 2013, Croatia. A project initially born of idealism in the winter – the aim being to present ‘our Balkan neighbours’ from an on-the-ground, positive viewpoint – the monthly city missions became a veritable bastion of shared and unshared realities throughout the year (travel in the Balkans, football fever), even when some well-meaning articles inevitably dipped into the usual shadows of already mediatised topics. Politics decides the status of a Balkan member state in relation to the EU, and politics is unavoidable in the daily lives of young people. In December 2010, Montenegro and Albania respectively garnered ‘EU candidate’ status and celebrated visa-free access to the EU’s Schengen zone. Their journalists and Arab-revolutionary wannabes dream whilst in Kosovo, a Spaniard (whose homeland has not recognised the ‘world’s second newest country’) has a one-on-one with the prime minister. As Irishwoman simply tries to understand Serbia, which is racing ahead in its EU prospects after 'handing over old war criminals', whereas from Turkey, whose negotiations to join the EU seem stalled, the scene is set by a passionate cult of football supporters in Istanbul. And that was the key to this year's editorial mission: passion. Read the best of cafebabel.com’s jaunt in the east and south-east (Image: (cc) Ezequiel Scagnetti for Orient Express Reporter Kosovo/ ezequiel-scagnetti.com/)
- Read the special edition Orient Express Reporter 2010/11: citizen journalism’s ‘corridor no.10’ in Balkans and Turkey
- Hunting Hashim Thaci in Prishtina
- Being a Beşiktaş football supporter in Istanbul
- Selling Serbia, a PR nightmare
- Try finding an Arab revolution in Albania
- Vox-pop: Being a young journalist in Montenegro
Religious fever in Istanbul: between football and Armenians
It's cold at the end of April in Istanbul, but these are days of celebration, and its not just to do with the strong national pride for football. The 23rd celebrates the modern republic's first national assembly and is dedicated to children, the future of the country. The 24th is easter for the catholics, protestants and orthodox, but also for the Turkish Armenians (and Turks) who silently protest for the 'genocide' that took place on the same day of their intellectuals during the ottoman era in 1915. These are also days of protest, between the Kurdish minority and the students who fight for their respective rights. Tourists invade the city which was once Constantinople, a paradise for young people and an eldorado for those who 'came back' from their immigration to Europe. Read the articles from our French-Italian-Serbian-Albanian team who report from Turkey in the framework of our special edition, Orient Express Reporter
- Read the special edition Religious fever in Istanbul: between football and Armenians
- An Albanian in Istanbul on children’s day
- Being a Beşiktaş football supporter in Istanbul
- Meeting 4 of 500, 000 'Almanci' German Turks who returned 'home' over last 30 years
- Easter in Istanbul with Turks and Turkish Armenians
In Turkey, only 'rotten' boys escape military service
It's an obligatory rite of passage for all Turkish men between the ages of 19 and 40. Ahmet, 32 and Murat, 28, will gain the respectability necessary for employment and marriage from it. Those exempt from military service are certified 'rotten', being physically or mentally disabled - that includes the obese and homosexuals. This group of young voters are also being targetted in the upcoming general elections in Turkey on 12 June
turkey, mustafa kemal atatürk, homosexuality, youth, society, job seekers, gay
Istanbul 'sex bus': student beaten for defending couple speaks
On 17 April a young Turkish couple were asked to leave a city bus because the driver considered their kissing and hand-holding as too obscene. Events worsened: whilst arguing with the driver at the stop in Taksim Square stop in the couple's defence, fellow passenger and politics student Gökçe Koç, 28, was assaulted by a stranger getting on the bus. We meet via facebook where Koç started a protest group, Seks Otobüsü (‘Sex Bus Number…’): 34 TN 1992 25T
turkey, politics, best of cafebabel.com, mustafa kemal atatürk, islam, taksim, society
Censorship: EU vs Turkey's 138 internet domain name ban
Rated ‘partially free’ in the reporters without borders freedom index, Turkey is the European country with the highest amount of domain name bans. The Turkish telecommunications directorate list of 'expurgatorial words' - for example, you can't use the word for sister-in-law (Bildaz) - was sent to web hosting companies on 28 April. In the EU there are less amusing comparisons
turkey, tower of babel, idioms, pornography, censorship, languages, youtube
Huzun, bourgeois, opposites: what is Orhan Pamuk’s Turkey?
Negotiations over Turkey’s accession to the European union began in 2006 but Europeans remain on their guard; the fear of the unknown is well known. The nobel literature prizewinner is one of Turkey’s main figureheads though he was accused of insulting Turkish identity. View from Poland
turkey, culture, integration, world affairs, culture calendar, stamboul
EU-Turkey: Atatürk and Charlemagne on your euro notes
It is simply accepted that any new member will fit into and accept EU symbols as their own. Turkey will have to accept this, just like others member states have done in the past and will do in the future...but here are some ideas for a future European Union and Turkey via branding national myths and symbols
turkey, currency, politics, advertising, greece, mustafa kemal atatürk, byzantine empire
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I: ‘Young people in Europe feel unsafe’
He speaks seven languages, he’s down with the green cause and he’s the leader of the global orthodox movement which in Europe exists in the east, north and the Mediterranean, but he resides in Istanbul. Interview with the spiritual leader of 300 million worldwide. cafebabel.com in Athens and Istanbul meet the man
Catch Istanbul if you can
We're not even sure what Europeans think and know about Istanbul. It seems like it should be capital of Turkey, but it hasn't been since 1923. Its rich past reveals how it was a kind of European Union even before this one - where formal membership negotiations began five years ago in October - even existed. From religious clothing to boom-box playing imams via politically-affiliated university food, a first time glance at a metropolis from two districts which seem to bleed European references. Istanbul for beginners
- Read the special edition Catch Istanbul if you can
- Gay culture in Istanbul: ‘We have the balls to say it out loud’
- Sorry, we’re women: inside Istanbul’s modern-traditional Blue Mosque
- Islam for beginners: first stop Istanbul
- Modern myths: politically divided university canteens in Istanbul
- Getting to grips with Byzantium, Constantinople, Istanbul and Europe
German erasmus student on life in Istanbul
Who speaks English? Why don't men look me in the eye? Why do people still wear headscarves? A score of questions hit the European newcomer studying in the Turkish city
turkey, party, university, mustafa kemal atatürk, islam, society, religion and democracy
Israeli soldier: 'Arabic language of Middle East'
He will finish his military service in October aged 22. Daniel from Tel Aviv is sure of his ideas: Obama, peace, politics, Israel-Palestine, Europe-Turkey... A spontaneous voice far from stereotypes which the media reinforce daily. Interview
turkey, middle east, politics, europe, youth, war, barack obama
Turkey votes yes: fit for the EU king?
58% want extensive constitutional reform. The British, Belgian, Spanish and Czech press say the referendum on 12 September consolidates democracy - but is there potential danger for secularism and the separation of powers? Press review
turkey, eurotopics, candidate countries, european union, referendum
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