Tag: Turkish politics

Turkish women telling their stories on patriarchy

Özgecan Aslan (22 October 1995 – 11 February 2015) was a Turkish university student who was murdered as she resisted a rape attempt on 11 February 2015 on a minibus in Mersin. Her burnt body was discovered on 13 February, causing nationwide outrage and sparking protests across the country on the following days. After Özgecan’s …

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At least 1235 workers died in 2013.

According to our compilation based on news items published in media, reports of labor organizations, and testimonies of workers and their families, at least 1235 workers died in 2013. Work murder, not work accident … As The Assembly for Workers’ Health and Work Security, we document deaths at workplace. The criteria for our documentation is …

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Why revolt in Turkey?

The spirit of this century seems to be one of mass struggles and highly confrontational demonstrations. Every morning, we wake up to hear about a huge protest in some distant part of the planet. It turns more and more difficult to follow what is going on here and there. But why are all these people …

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A young girl… can die right at this moment. – Şöhret Baltaş

Note: This essay, written by Şöhret Baltaş, was published in Jiyan.org in Turkish on March 18th, 2014 with the title “Bir kız çocuğu… Şu dakika ölebilir.” As part of our efforts to inform the English speaking audience about male violence in Turkey, we attempted a free translation of this literary text. Location: Bingöl, Turkey. Year: …

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The Political Crisis in Turkey – Mehmet Baki Deniz, Sinan Eden

Possibilities for the Turkish Society While the Ruling Class Coalition Falls Apart   In the last weeks, Turkey has witnessed a rising trend of political strife that started with the arrest of dozens of people by the prosecutors due to allegations of corruption and bribery. The interrogation revealed an illicit chain of bribery and close …

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What is going on in METU, Ankara?

The METU Forest The Middle East Technical University (METU) was founded in 1956 in an area of 4500 hectares. This huge region was said to consist of swamps and have a soil like white powder. The forestations were launched on 1961, when students, academics, Ankara citizens as well as some politicians participated in the festivals. …

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Labor unions in Turkey and in Gezi protests – F. Serkan Öngel

I’m not saying “Don’t unionize.” Do it, but do it in your spare time. The Turkish original of this article, “Sendikalı olma demiyorum hobi olarak yine ol!”, signed F.Serkan Öngel, was published on August 4th, 2013 in Birgün newspaper. For our English-speaking audience, we prepared a shortened translation of the article. Permission to Collective Agreement …

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The Mayonnaise Phenomenon – Sinan Eden

The original of this article, titled “L’alchimie de la Mayonnaise”, was published in French in Rouge & Vert, the newspaper of Les Alternatifs, on July 11th, 2013. It was written on June 23rd. It starts with a camp to prevent the destruction of a public park in the middle of Istanbul which is attacked by …

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Turkey’s 9/11 : Reyhanlı

Editor’s note: This is a compilation of news items and articles originally published in Turkish. With the exception of the introduction, we do not claim any intellectual nor political credit for the text. All the analyses belong to the authors of the texts referred to at the end of each paragraph. Yet, the mistakes and …

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4 + 4 + 4 Why “Religionization” of Public Education is Harmful – Özgür Düşünce Hareketi

  Editorial note: This article, “4+4+4 Dinselleşen Eğitim Sisteminin Zararları” (Part 1 and Part 2) was written collectively by Özgür Düşünce Hareketi (Free Thought Movement) in Turkey. It makes a thorough analysis of the recent transformations in the Turkish education system. We, Out for Beyond, decided to take this opportunity to provide an account of …

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