More blogs, more people to meet

Added several blogs to our blog roll:
First of all, Jake in Adana, whose former blog by Wordpress is not accessible anymore, but here is the new one.
Also another expat, Bea, a professional writer in Istanbul. Remarkable style of writing. Highly recommended.
Sincerae, another American in Istanbul, but going back to the USA. But will stay in touch.
And a blog, One world media, by the British journalist and photographer Onnik Krikorian, based in Yerevan. A very professional blog.
Mohammed from Baghdad is our guest writer. We agreed that I publish his postings under the name 'Last of the Iraqis'.

Met this week Esra, from Switzerland. Was a nice encounter. Only, she writes in Turkish, and is the only non-English blog on our blog roll.
Enjoy!

How democratic are we?

The Economist, together with the Economist Intelligence Unit, published today the Democracy Index by countries 2006.
Of the bloggers on this blog, the Netherlands ranks 3, Australia ranks 8, Greece ranks 22 (all so called 'full democracies'), Italy ranks 34 (a so called 'flawed democracy'), Turkey ranks 88, Armenia ranks 110 (both so called 'Hybrid regimes') and UAE-Dubai ranks 150 (so called 'authoritarian regime'). The last on the list is North Korea which ranks 167.
Interesting to see that all the 'old EU countries' (before 2004) are full democracies except Italy, which is considered as a flawed democracy like Cyprus and some other newcomers in the EU.
Also, a country, the USA, which calls itself the oldest democracy (wrong, that is Iceland) ranks only 17. Turkey ranks regarding 'Economical freedom' badly, and regarding 'press freedom' it got the stamp: 'difficult situation'. Armenia ranks overall bad.
Read the report here, scroll down the page where you can download the ranking.

This Blog & Ethics

Some people still don't get it. This is a collective blog. Okay, I initiated it, but all bloggers on this blog, Turks, Dutch and a Greek, living in Armenia, Dubai, Turkey, Italy and Greece have the same rights and features as me here. Before you leave a comment, read on the main page 'about Internations'. We will not delete a comment quickly since we are all grown ups here, and not that quickly insulted. It's all about people's intention. And 'The pen is mightier than the sword'.

Ethics: Erkan put an interesting memo on his blog about blogging and ethics. In general I agree with this opinion. But in a discussion some time ago with friends of the European Association of Communication Directors, we came up with three 'sins' in blogging: Inciting hate against others (other sexes, other nationals, other religions etc.), falsifying facts and/or misinterpreting the truth on purpose and using a blog as a propaganda tool by defaming other minded people.

Let me say first that this was an informal meeting and these 'sins' are our own opinion. And for sure these are no rules.

Allies and/or friends?

I didn't see Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad smiling that much while delivering his infamous and hilarious speeches at Columbia University and at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. But when he met his friend and/or ally PM Erdogan of Turkey he was one big smile.
His remarks about homosexuals, 'we don't have them (right, they will be executed) and women 'they are exploited in the West' (not right, but women in Iran don't have any rights) must worry Turkey. I personally don't think that this co-operation between Iran and Turkey will be a benefit to Turkey in the long run. We will see.