No Debate?

In a column of July 9, 2007, I stated that Turkish political communication atmosphere is top-down. No real discussion possible. Why is there no live-debate between the main party leaders? Are they afraid to lose their temper as some months ago...

The person down on the right, Deniz Baykal, celebrates today his birthday, for your information.

Election predictions II

My friend Erkan put on his blog an interesting poll.
Still, I am convinced that people will change their minds at the last moment and a lot of protest votes will come out: votes for anti-establishment parties.
And still I think that the CHP will do worse than the opinion polls show.

In the last weeks I spoke with many people who normally would vote for the CHP. Now they are looking at other parties. Some say: GP, some choose to vote for an independent candidate, some admit that - unlike AK party roots from political Islam - they will vote for them. Of the 15 people who used to vote for CHP, only one will vote for them again. And one of the other 14 will vote for MHP.

I am still pondering my head while the 'Turkish Diaspora' (6 million people) are only able to vote when they come over to Turkey as Yasemin stated in her post. Are the Turkish diplomats able to vote abroad?

There was a small poll in the Netherlands among the 500.000 Turkish people living there. Most of them support the AK party and only some would vote for independent candidates of the DTP if they were able to vote in the Netherlands. MHP was the third party. It was strange to see that there is almost no support for the CHP in Hollanda...

First Dutch sweet shop opened in Istanbul

This month a shop opened in Bagdat Caddesi: a Dutch sweet shop. I don't think that many people know that the Dutch are famous for their cookies, candies, chocolates, cakes and licorice (see picture above). In fact, I got all kinds of funny jokes about the Dutch cuisine, but may I remind my Turkish, Italian and Greek friends that after the USA and France, the Netherlands is the third largest producer of food in the world..)) With only 600.000 people working in agriculture...

Here are some chocolate samples of Droste.


Although not sweets, below a picture of some of the hundreds of different cheeses the Netherlands produces. Dutch cheese, together with Indo-Dutch food and Mustard sauce, I miss the most since I left the Netherlands 8 years ago. Beer? In Czech republic you have pretty good beer, the USA is Heineken and Amstel minded, and Turkey has its Efes Extra, which beats even Belgian beer..)

Election time

Comparing the Dutch elections with the Turkish one is comparing like the Kentucky Derby, the 2 most exciting minutes in sports, with a turtle race.
Dutch elections are dull, and it's all about 'intellectual stuff', whilst the Turkish elections are overheated once in a while, but for sure full of surprises. And I have to admit: 'I love it'...
For a turtle race you can go to Costa Rica, where they organize such a race from there to the Galapagos Islands. Or to a restaurant in Key West, Florida. That is a nice place to stay for a week or so.

Turkey attacks Kurdish positions in N. Iraq

As I have witnessed over and over again, in general, Turkish media are slow.
When T. Erdogan made the statement that he will not return as the leader of Ak Party if he fails to establish a single party government, it was all over the news in Europe.
It took 36 hours for Turkish journalists to announce that what he said was true.

Yesterday a bomb attack in front of an AK office, and more interestingly:

'Turkish Army' bombed several cities in 'Northern Iraq'. I asked my Turkish wife to check all the news channels, but since there is censorship, they can not broadcast it. Only if there is some kind of 'victory'.
Read your newspapers on Friday, then you will read more...))

Paintings of Iman Maleki of Iran - Exhibition in Catalonia

Studying



Sunlight...



Omens-of-Hafez



Secret meeting: making music



Girl by the window

More information about Iman Maleki soon.

FIFA ranking by July the 18th 2007..

Where is Turkey..)) Where are England and Greece, the European Champions of Euro 2004?
But there is still the Netherlands..)

1. Brazil
2. Argentina
3. Italy
4. France
5. Germany
6. The Netherlands
7. Croatia
8. Portugal
9. Spain
10. Mexico

The insignificant citizens of Turkey

Who are they? Of course us, the ones that live in other countries. We are many, I guess, but we cannot vote in the coming elections unless we travel to Turkey between 25th of June and 22nd of July. Many countries let their citizens vote by post or at their embassies/consulates, but we, the Turkish citizens, are not given this right. Why??

Al-Qaeda and the USA

According to the National Intelligence Estimate, the group of all 16 'intelligence' agencies such as the CIA, NSA, FBI, etc., Al-Qaeda-Iraq, established after the USA-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, became more and more a threat to their Homeland = USA.
So the second goal of the invasion is also a disaster...it took them 4 years to come to this conclusion. Is this a joke?

First post from Florence

Hello all. Hans has been kind enough to introduce me. I should correct just one thing: I am not that fluent in German; although I have studied it for 6 years as my second foreign language I have never practiced it. I use it only in my occasional trips to Germany to talk to waiters at the cafes and restaurants, and for communicating with shop assistants. Yet, I should admit that it was great help in learning Norwegian since their grammars are alike and there are quite a few similar words.

I don't think I will be posting as often as Hans, I don't even manage posting to my own blog very often, but I will definitely continue editing his posts and helping him technically whenever he needs my help.

An excellent polemic

Burak Bekdil wrote today an excellent column as a reply to Mustafa Akyol's column of last week. This is an excellent polemic, where the journalists are not insulting, not becoming personal but give their opinions from their points of view, and share them with their audience of TDN.
Now it's waiting on a reply of Mustafa. Excellent writing by the both of them.

Here is the column of Burak:

The sum of all secular fears – a reply
Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Last week, my ‘column neighbor’ Mustafa Akyol drew a very realistic typology: The secular Turk. That typology is so real, but does not explain Turkey as a whole. Hoping to make the picture more complete, I shall draw my typology: The Islamist/pragmatist Turk.

My “column neighbor” Mustafa Akyol wrote an excellent article titled, “The sum of all secular fears,” (Turkish Daily News, July 12, 2007) that was witty yet realistic; perfectly describing, in one virtual character that was the “secular Turk” coming home from a trip to “the West” with his girlfriend with fake blond hair, the superficiality of the “white Turk.” Mr. Akyol's account of the “secular Turk” in stylish jeans and t-shirt could not possibly be more accurate.
Allow me to remind you of Mr. Akyol's hero, the secular Turk, who takes a vacation to visit some place in Europe or North America: He is the boyfriend of the elegant girl with fake blond hair; he gets offended when the “indigenous westerner” he chats with during the flight believes all Turks wear fez or turbans; he believes in the Kemalist revolution “which worked really hard to wipe off anything Oriental from Turkish society;” he comes across terribly unpleasant scenes at Istanbul's Ataturk airport upon his return from the days of pilgrimage to the temples of modernity: Men with beards who prefer mosques to nightclubs and women with headscarves who as their role model take Prophet Mohammed's daughters and not Britney Spears; he calls these devout Muslims “cockroaches.”

Continue reading here.

Update

Made same changes on my blog:
The most important one is that Yasemin Yalcinkaya will be a co-author of this blog.
She is Turkish and speaks several foreign languages fluently: English, Norwegian, German, Italian and of course her native language Turkish. No, she doesn't speak Dutch and French, I do...but together we can be a news wire..))
For the past 17 years she is studying, living and working abroad e.g. Norway and Italy. Married to an Italian, and now living happily ever after near Florence with her husband and two children.
She has a PhD. in computer science, and can talk and write about the interesting developments in both Turkey and Europe.
Hey, what do you want more: a really inter cultural multi-lingual blog?!
She is looking for a job now, in Italy, Italia, Firenze preferibile, signori, but she feels comfortable to be my unpaid editor for the time being...help her!

Carnaval in Fatih, Istanbul

As some of you already know, my favorite district of Istanbul is Fatih. Not because of the 'modern Islamistic dressed women' (...) but because it's the place where my friends of the Foreign police have their headquarters and where I can buy a residency. The trip is always exciting, especially when my wife drives me and she drives from Macka to Mecidiyekoy to Fatih...quite a longer way than direct from Macka to Taksim and so into Fatih. Enfin: it was again a freaky hot day, and when you wear a suite like me, you will not be unseen in this area.

But my mood became cheerful seeing all the flags. Even some in our Dutch national color Orange...thousands and thousands there in Fatih. Looks like they are ready for carnival a la Rio instead of elections. I think they how know to party, in a different way than I used to do, but a la, everybody has his or her taste. As you can see in the picture below, one girl made her (although completely unrecognized) entry and danced on the street as we do in Rio..)



The way back was an interesting tour as well. As my wife (Call her O. or I. but I think her surname is more important..)) still doesn't know the ways in Istanbul although born and raised here and lived here all her life (with the exception of wasting 6 years abroad...) this time - the shortest in her opinion - was first 20 km in the direction of Edirne, from there a turn around to Ataturk airport, and then finally back to Macka. Quite an interesting tour. If she was a taxi driver I was already with her in a police station..))

And do I have my papers now? No, one more trip to Fatih, this time by taxi tomorrow, which takes 10 minutes one way, instead of twice 1 hour...
Pictures I made out of a shaking car..))

You have to keep in mind, my O. or I. sometimes stops on the highway when she has to make an decision: shall I take this Exit or not? Even for the Turkish drivers she is a pain in the ass. For me, I don't know better: she is only not allowed to drive when we are on holiday...

For more info call the Hot line of Turkish suicide drivers..)) It starts with an 9...

The Turkish and Dutch politics..

...are for sure not compatible. First of all we don't have a threshold, and second the Dutch politics are all about consensus, compromise and negotiations: what the parties promised can only be realized if they are part of the government, and willing to negotiate about which promises they can fulfil and which not. It's an interesting game but the government in the end represents the majority of the voters. A minority cabinet with the support of individual members of other parties are a rarity in Dutch history.
In 1992, for the first time ever, the moderate right liberal party, the VVD, together with the moderate socialist of the PvdA - and as binding factor the social liberal D66 - formed a government without any of the Christian parties. This cabinet lasted for 8 years, surviving one election. And it was the first time that none of the Christian parties were represented in the government. It was called the Third Way, (I don't agree that Mussolini was a represent of the Third Way, but wikipedia is an open source) together with Blair's policies by then and Clinton's views about how the world can be governed. The 9/11 attacks destroyed the hope for another world, and the radicalisation within some Muslim communities until today, broke the last stray.
Today Turkey is making itself up for the next elections, and suddenly I found myself surrounded by information about Baskin Oran. Exactly one of the persons of this Third Way.
Read here an interesting overview about his pragmatic views. And here is his web site.
He can make the difference.
At least, his ideas are not radical comparing with contemporary Turkish political parties.

Busvertising

A really great ad of Canon.

Not in English....

But the picture speaks for itself...

1977 and today...

In 1977, late French President Francois Mitterand, then opposition leader, told a French magazine: "One has to be careful not to turn the common market into a mere free trade zone. Neither Greece nor Spain is in a position to join the (European) Community. Accession is neither in their interest nor is it in our interest. Interim steps are desirable."

Four years later, Mitterand was elected president of France. By the time he left the presidency in 1995, Greece, Spain and Portugal had been EU members for more than a decade, negotiations were completed with Austria, Finland and Sweden, and the first steps had been taken towards the admission of post-communist Central and Eastern Europe.

It means that Turkey has a very long way to go and that the pace of reforms should not slow down. On the contrary, no matter what the political benefit, Ankara should give emphasis to political and economic reform and even the staunchest European political opponent to Turkey's membership would have to change their mind.

Turkey must change from a military republic into a democratic republic a Turkish professor told yesterday.

Bagvertising

Bagvertising in South Africa

Today's post

Several Turkish newspapers are interesting to read.
Some of them I follow closely, for example TDN.
In today's TDN Elif Safak writes about 'the life of a Turk is so difficult'.
I disagree with her. Turks, knowing the European cultures, the Middle Eastern ones and having knowledge of Central Asia, have a Golden key in their hands, which card they don't show in their negotiations with the EU.

Nationalism, a lost case.

Again, today, Orhan surprised me with his column. So right, so human, so on the target.
No sensational news, only facts.
For sure, a person with a heart on the right place! And we use that expression in the Netherlands, the heart on the right place for people who are opening their mind, without any fear.

Below the first part of the column of this brave person.

Orhan Kemal Cengiz

We have a phrase in Turkish, “felaket tellalı,” which can be translated literally into English as “scaremonger.” For the last three months I have been acting like a “felaket tellalı” about the situation in Turkey. Actually not only I but a lot of other columnists and intellectuals are behaving like this as well. Are we exaggerating situations, are we too negative, or are we suffering from the grip of collective neurosis? There might be many things, but I think we all focus on all these negative things to prevent the worst from happening. The other thing is that when the things happen, which we do not want to mention (for sake of not being stigmatized as paranoid or as conspiracy theorists), most of the time it is too late to react against them. For some, the Santoro, Dink and Malatya murders came as “big surprises,” but actually they were not! Before these incidents happened there had been many reactions towards what these victims represented in the Turkish society, but for most people these signs were invisible! We all have our own “selective perception,” and we tend to ignore the “signs” if they do not indicate an immediate danger for us.
There have been operations against some neo-fascist “civil society” organizations in Turkey for a while. We have known of these organizations and their connections for some time. They take oaths on guns, declare they know all “traitors,” and keep long lists of these people. In terms of their ideology and world view, these organizations are quite similar to the neo-fascist and skinhead movements in Europe. But have you ever heard of any of these neo-fascist organizations in Europe being set up and run by retired high-ranking army officers? This is happening in Turkey now. A retired captain was caught in a home with 27 hand grenades in his possession. And we continue our lives as if these things are not happening in Turkey. We can only see the tip of the iceberg.

Continue reading here.

The other Kim...

Dutch top model, Kim, spotted in Amsterdam.

Food for the Turkish press..))

Scandal threatens new French cabinet

A beautiful Mind

This is the real John Nash. Saw tonight maybe for the 6th time the movie 'A Beautiful Mind'. One of my favorite movies.

Foreign commentators

While Amnesty was not well known in Turkey several years ago, it's now widely seen as a independent human rights body. Without a political program. It criticize easily left wing, right wing or religious groups when using terror, torture, indoctrination etc. Regarding Turkey: I had lately a discussion with Emre about racism etc., who wrote that Turkey have a clear record. I share his optimism about Turkey but a report of AI about Turkey is still very critical. It is updated May of this year. Read it here.

Turkey is in a tense situation. You should think that foreign news agencies are watching the elections closely. But no real attention as far as read the European or USA press. Yes, IHT comes up with articles but the rest is marginal. Only through Turkish Digest I received the next article. By an organization founded by Trotsky. It's all about the CHP and its 'unarmed forces'.

More about the CHP in Turkish Daily news by the columnists M.A. Birand, Yusuf Kanli and Mustafa Aykol. You can read them here, here and here if you missed the opportunity to read before.

Risky Turkish election predictions

I am not going as a political junkie with my ears to the ground to predict the result of the upcoming election, riding by riding.
More, I will use my own evaluation process which is entirely subjective. I have a very different political background than most of my Turkish friends with whom I agree and disagree on several issues.

Predictions are undoubtedly influenced by specific insights, experiences, or biases about particular contests. However, I strive to come up with predictions that are most sensible as we see them. Let me clarify: I will use general and typical Turkish trends. And I listened to politically minded individuals who pay close attentions to news and issues. I also share polling information and gossips, which may influence my prediction.

Also, I take in consideration 'foreign influences'. Doesn't matter of these are from Islamistic countries, the EU or the Jointed States of America. What most of the people outside Turkey doesn't understand is that there is a 'silent Islamitization on local level' in Turkey going on. At the same time, the closer Turkey comes to adapting the Acquis communautaire, the more their rights are guaranteed.

Anyway, here we go:

I strongly believe that the AK party will gain around 35%-40% of the votes. Mainly from rural areas but also from the new middle class in urban areas. And from people who are saying that they are against the AK party but secretly support them. Also don't underestimate the Turkish people who are living abroad. They often see the big picture, and progress which has been made in Turkey. Next to these factors, people will understand that the first priority of a country in crisis is the macro-economy, the micro-economy will improve as well with more years of AK party in the government. Looking at the high unemployment, especially under young people, they will not vote for an MHP-CHP possible coalition. People want Pavlov: security, freedom, shelter. And it looks like that the AK party did a great job in this, but have still a long way to go. Stability is the magic word of the AK party.

CHP will get 13%-15% of the total of the votes. They have a strong stronghold in several parts of the society, but lacks charisma for new young voters. Their posters and campaign messages are of the last century. Turks are much smarter than what they are promising now for 80 years. I don't think they get a big share of the new young voters. Baykal is simple not the man who attracts new voters.

The GP, the Young Party is the underdog. And Turkish people (like the Dutch) love the underdog...I predict that they will get 11%-14% of the votes, maybe even more. Why? A lot of people will do a protest vote. And since the CHP, DP, and MHP didn't evolve with the time mind, and people don't want to vote for the traditional parties, I think Cem Uzan - with his charm - will do a good job. Especially under new young voters and people who don't know for which party must vote. And charisma can cover a lot. And since he is young and can act as a leader (which Turkish people like) the outcome of this election can be a surprise for the GP...and Turkey.

DP will not pass the threshold. As presented earlier as an good alternative for the current AK party and CHP, lost its attraction when both the DYP and ANAP failed to compromise on their candidate list. I think that for most people its not clear where they stand for and more important, what are they going to do after the elections. I will give them 5%-8% of the votes.

MHP will always appeal to certain people as the savior of Turkey with their warrior mentality. But more on sentiments than logical statements. A 5% hardcore of ultra-nationalist will always support them. But throwing a rope in the public, which the leader of the MHP did, to hang the imprisoned PKK gang leader, is damaging MHP its image. I don't think that the Turkish people like this a-social behaviour anymore. Also, the party leader, Devlet BAHÇELİ, is too old to lead the Turkish nation in a new area. I expect not more than 6%-8% of the Turkish population to vote for them.

Then there are still circa 15% of the voters left. Regarding the Kurdish-Turkish candidates, who will run as independent but in fact for the DTP, I expect that they will take 10% of the seats. And then we have i.g. Baskin Oran, one of the many independent candidates. I expect that they also will gain votes and seats.

In the end, an AK party with the Young Party coalition will be an interesting option.

Scary

This article scares the hell out of me:
Read it here.

Forgiven by God 'himself'

David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican senator is linked to a prostitution ring in Washington DC. Now he claims that he received forgiveness from God himself. Looks like the Republicans have a direct line with God...probably they need that for all the crimes they are responsible for...
Read here the story.

You are in Turkish politics: Smile!

Monday, July 9, 2007 Turkish Daily News

Hans A.H.C. de Wit

Hardly any Turkish politician has the charisma, uses the appropriate language, or simply has the imagination to unite the Turkish nation. From right to left wing, from conservative to socialist, if only one of these present-day politicians had even 10 percent of the magnetism or the vision Mustafa Kemal Atatürk had, Turkey would be treated with more respect than it could ever dream of. And misanthropy would not flourish on Turkish soil. Atatürk started a new era for Turkey decades ago, and past and present politicians should complete in his spirit what he could not finish.

Turkish communication atmosphere
In recent weeks, I have witnessed some interesting developments in Turkey. For me, these have highlighted problems associated with the top-down flow of communication in Turkish politics, which lacks encouragement on meso-level and civil organization to be part of a communication platform. A platform that can have the layout of the physical infrastructure (communication and power distribution systems) especially on that of education, research and technology policy that is oriented toward improving the existing communication environment where the Turkish nation can be competitive, not only in business, but in politics as well.

The principles of the foundations of the republic of Turkey don't have to be violated; only the communication atmosphere will be improved. Whilst there are many issues in Turkish politics today, this article solely addresses those to do with communication.

Continue reading here.

First impressions of Earth Live

Snoopy Dogg in Germany. He had fun. Obviously.



Linkedin Park, my favorite of the last year. A pity that they performed in Tokyo. Missed the show.



Shakira in Hamburg. Originally planned for Istanbul - which could not make it as host for this worldwide event. She was the opening act in Hamburg.

One of the Seven World wonders?

The Oosterscheldekering in the Netherlands (see picture, a mechanical 8 km dam) is sometimes referred to as the eighth Wonder of the World, and has been declared as one of the modern Seven Wonders of the World by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

It's part of the Delta works, which embraced around 10.000 miles of dams, dikes, storm surge barriers, locks etc.

After the North Sea flood of 1953, a commission was installed which had to come up with a plan to research the causes and seek measures to prevent such disasters in future. They revised some of the old plans and came up with the so called "Deltaplan".

With the Chinese wall, the Delta works are the only two human made constructions in the world which can be seen from the Moon!

Athens in debate, Bodrum in action

While in Athens they are still debating what caused the forest fires around Athens 10 days ago, see the entries of Vassili of the end of June, Bodrum, a well known place to go for Sun, Sea and pleasure in the South West of Turkey is today surrounded by fire. But with the help of the volunteers and the locals, Bodrum is saved from a disaster.

Ultra Nationalism

The elections are coming. Nothing different from other countries, only the fact that Turkish parties are appealing to their ultra nationalist roots, and their background, making this kind of images:



The leader of the MHP, an ultra nationalist movement in Turkey, throwing a rope in the public 'who will hang ...no. 1 state enemy of Turkey?'

The question remains: is Islam in Turkey compatible with Democracy Western style and is Turkish style Democracy in style with Europe's demands? Or has it to face a modern Middle East country kind of Democracy in the near future, with ultra nationalist Islam as leaders?

The people of Turkey must decide, not foreigners.

Ever lost your luggage?

Ad of Casino di Venezia at the airport carousel...

Changes

Too many changes this week. Which caused too much stress.
And the weather is also not helpful: a nice breeze would be welcome.
No real plans for the summer yet, due to all the misery. But we will see, things can change quick here....
Later!

Road trips, 9/11

What I miss about the USA are the road trips: driving in 5 days from downtown Miami to Kansas City for a wedding, and back.
September 2001. Wedding was on Saturday, September the 8th, so we left by car on September the 6th on Thursday, and arrived on the 7th after a 24 hrs. drive on Friday there. Exactly in 24 hrs: 1800 miles.
The weekend there, and some rest. Nice wedding.
On the 10th of September, Monday back. This time we decided to have a break in Atlanta.
We made it, in 12 hrs. Found ourselves a good hotel, and the next day on our way back to the South and the heath. Since Maria worked for CNN for 8 years we planned to visit friends at CNN. But we were late.
We drove our car on the road, turned the radio on, and..that was 9.18 it... 9/11.
The road from Atlanta to Miami was empty, 1.100 miles...we made it for the 8PM news.
I shall never forget that day. What a madness.
And it still lingers on.

Turkish and Turkishness 2

All of you:
Asked, especially the Turkish readers what now Turkishness means.
No, not one of you you came with an answer.
Tomorrow another person, Professor Aytal will be put on trial for 'insulting Ataturk'.
A good writer and friend of mine wrote a column about it. Read it here.

And out of the blue, a friendly person specialised in linguistics replied to my post of the 8th of June.
Here her responds to my questions.

Toyota is doing it again..

Toyota, a car for the proletarians in West Europe, is doing it again: disturbing wild life!

Ad populum argument, Ataturk and Aristoteles

I am not sure, but I guess that many of you never heard about the Ad Populum argument.
An argument often used in countries practising culture relativism (we did it like this for hundreds of years, so why change it?) or by indoctrination of the masses: everybody thinks like this, so, if you think different, you are wrong.
This argument pops up all the time in the Turkish polemics. Everybody knows exactly what Ataturk have said and would have implemented. They all use the Ad Populum argument, which simply makes any debate impossible. You face a militaristic attack of the Left or Right wing minded people while criticizing a simple thought or thing.
Maybe I must shut up, and stuck to Aristotle: after him 'nothing new' has ever been revealed, said or written...but he is a Greek...ha

Isn't it a Shame?

That in a country which braga all the time about religious tolerance (while even the Ottomans were well known about their segregation policies) a country where Turkish people feel so threatened by a tiny small community - whose members try to act as discrete as possible - that they are attacking the tiny minorities? I am not talking only about the killings, but the threats, harassment etc.
A tiny population of less than 0.3% of the total Turkish population...is considered as a threat by some Turkish people? And the violence increased after January of this year, 2007.
And isn't it a shame that the Turkish government had to issue a decree about this. To protect them? But it looks like for the mainstream Turkish media it is fun to fuel the anger all the time.
Read Hurriyet.

Police of Openess...

You can say a lot about Sarkozy's stance against Turkey's EU membership, but the guy has a domestic and economical agenda as well. Of his 33-person cabinet, 11 are women, 20% are from the left. And Rachida Dati, Rama Yade and Fadela Amara have one thing in common: They're women, they're from minority backgrounds and they're feminists. So, a woman from the Maghreb region of North Africa is now in charge of the Justice Ministry on Place Vendôme, a woman born in Senegal is responsible for human rights issues in the Foreign Ministry on the Quai d'Orsay and a woman of Algerian descent is to henceforth devote herself to the socially disadvantaged in the banlieues.



France's newly appointed Justice Minister Rachida Dati, and Rama Yade, new junior minister for human rights.

And Socialist politician and human rights activist Bernard Kouchner is now Minister of Foreign Affairs!!
Imagine...AKP wins the absolute majority in the parliament and asks Baykal to become Foreign Minister...and asks 10 women from the CHP, DP and MHP to join his new cabinet...

This can happen to you too...))

My first job as a copywriter was to make a campaign for Post-it memos for the Netherlands.
Click on the picture to enlarge it. As you see, this kind of memo is still doing well..))

A blog about the Netherlands

Today I came across an interesting blog of an American woman, who moved with husband and kids to the Netherlands. In fact only for 1 year, but decided at the end to stay longer.
It's good and funny to see your country through the eyes of a foreigner.
How she describes the Dutchies and the 'Dutch way', is worth reading.

Cross cultural communication

Can you deal with other business cultures without knowing their language(s)?
Yes, and no. Yes, if you have a language which both of you can speak, and no, when the business cultures are too different and both of you are too prejudiced.

But how to manage business people acting globally? Simple, adapting to the business culture in the country you want to do business with. And for the sake of mankind, leave all your prejudices at home.
Dutch people like me tend to be critical. Not to put someone else down, or to let someone to loose his face. No, I am critical because I want to learn and listen to others, and don't want to take everything for granted. So, being critical means, I am interested.

The Netherlands is a small but, business-wise, important country. We were invaded by the Scandinavians, the French, Italians, Spanish and the Germans. But we are still there. And know how to trade. In fact the first multinational was the VOC.

At the same time, the Dutch speaks 3.6 (average) foreign languages. Basically, always English, German and French. But you will find easily Dutch people speaking 5 or more languages.

About cross cultural communication, which has also to do with dealing with other cultures and habits, two Dutch people became famous about this subject. Fons Trompenaars, with his books: Riding the Waves of Culture, Seven Cultures of Capitalism, Building Cross-Cultural Competence and 21 Leaders for the 21st Century, and Geert Hofstede, check out his site: http://www.geerthofstede.nl/

No discrimination anymore

Plasters are now available in all kinds of colors...

The world upside down

May I introduce you to Düzgün Yıldırım. According to wikipedia a Dutch citizen, born in 'Turkish Kurdistan'. In September 1980, at the age of 17, he came to the Netherlands as a political refugee. Today, Turkish Daily News, put an article with the catchy but also suggestive heading on their front page 'Holland’s new problem child: Yıldırım'.
Now, I can tell you, he is not our Dutch problem child. There are more important issues to solve. But since the Turkish media are following their 'citizens' closely in West Europe, here are some facts.
In 1994 Mr. Yirdirim was elected in the city council of Zwolle, for the moderate socialist party the PVDA. Not nice for him but the PVDA, put him on a lower place for the city elections of 2002. Which made him change his opinion: he moved to the real left socialist SP. But he didn't succeed to be elected. But he came back in the city council in 2003.
For the national parliament elections of 2006, several districts pushed the SP to put him on higher places. Although the SP gained a lot of seats, he was not one of them on their list.
But during the 'Senate' elections (the First Chamber) he gained some preferential votes (One of these votes was of himself). But his party, like all other parties in the Netherlands, have their own programme and rules. For the SP are preferential votes not valid, which he agreed upon and which is embedded in their party structure.
He was put on place 18, but only 12 seats were available.
Now we get the difficult part: the election council recognize the preferential votes, but his party not, which is their legal right. And he knows this, when the PVDA put him on an unelected place in 2002, and he made the switch to SP... sounds opportunistic to me.
Te SP congress voted him away with 993 against 38 away yesterday.

Another important note: his voting area (Zwolle, Hengelo, and Arnhem), are in the east of the Netherlands, and was a battlefield for PKK supporters and the Wolves (MHP) in the nineties. The first party is illegal and is 'declared' a terrorist organization. The second, the Grey Wolves, of the MHP, are considered as patriots in Turkey but not in the Netherlands. Fascism is not allowed.

Overall: It is a sad story for Mr. Yildirim, who 2 years ago told, live on Dutch Television, that he has two university degrees, and two of a college. In the end, he has one open university degree: management and organization.

And the sage goes on...
And do we threat our brothers in Europe well? Yes, we do...
But it is up to them which way we have to go, now...it's their turn...

Don't be sheepish

...ladies and gentlemen, stay ahead of the flock..))

America falls in Love with Africa

Yes, the Banana Republic...keep on shopping.

Freaking Hot!

It's so freaking warm in Turkey, that even the flowers are starting to sweat...
Istanbul today, 38 degrees, no wind, and a forecast which only says: no rain in the next 10 days...
Maybe a voodoo-do-do witch can make some rain...

Since when...

...is Turkey defining who is the head of the Greek Orthodox Church? Read it here.
It's obvious, that the so many called reforms and law implementations, after 1923 became anachronistic. The Constitutional Court in Ankara say simply that all religions fall under the rules of Religious (Islamic) Directorate of Turkey.
Athens came today with a clear and logical answer, read it here.

Media rows

While there is some kind of row between Turkey and Germany about 'teen Marco', a more serious row started with the publication of Merkel breastfeeding the twin brothers Kaczynski (one is president and the other PM of Poland) in Polish magazine Wprost. All about the fact that Poland, since they became member of the EU, demands more and more of the EU. Already the biggest beneficiary of the EU, they want more 'a have to say'. In contrary, Poland became within the EU increasingly unpopular. Their human rights record is terrible, especially regarding homosexuals, gypsies, Jews etc. But Germany still feels a 'guilt' against Poland since they invaded that country in 1939. And the far right populist twin brothers know this very well. Read here more about this dispute.

Maybe Ali Babacan must play a different card from now. Which one? Will tell you after he made his call to me..))

A poem of Dylan Thomas

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they

Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,

Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on that sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Dylan Thomas

Just arrived

Good to know this place before arriving at Gatwick airport in London.

Cem Uzan and Turkish Imperialisme

Yesterday evening there was an interesting TV special: Cem Uzan almost the whole evening in discussion. What he told sounds reasonable, especially regarding SE Turkey (it's an economical problem) and the EU (not a good match).

Although the guy has a notorious past, wanted by Interpol, and Nokia and Motorola are not happy with him, at least to say...he made a good impression.

Personally, I think that he will get a lot of protest votes. Turkish politics will be interesting again...more elections, and more reforms which will be delayed. And yes, of course this is because of the 'imperialistic' EU. Friends in Latin America are wondering when they will be enlisted as 'imperialistic enemies of Turkey' now as well, and what about African countries, countries in the Far East....

And is it not strange that Turkish people are saying that the Ottoman Empire (pure imperialism, only that they never left..) is an example for world history? They know at least how to deal with religions...etc.

I really get annoyed by comments like this, mainly made by anonymous people on forums, but now on blogs as well. You can criticize everybody, calling Europeans killers, but the sensitivity of the Turks are out of proportions when it comes to their history....

The curse of Turan

The Curse of Turan (Hungarian: Turáni átok) is a popular belief that Hungarians have been under the influence of a malicious spell for many centuries. The "curse" manifests itself as inner strife, pessimism, misfortune and several historic catastrophes. The first disaster was the invasion by the Mongols, and the second the invasion by the Ottomans, Battle of Mohács in 1526.
I heard about this from a Hungarian friend. There is also an expression in Hungary: 'What are the 4 worst things you can face: the Death, no house, no food and a Turk'. But never could verify this expression...

Kurdistan

Although I sympathize with the Kurds regarding their culture, language and tradition (please: no honor killing, which sounds more like horror killing), I don't sympathize with a guerrilla group as the PKK. In fact, Europe suffered a lot in the seventies and eighties of the last century because of these kind of organizations (RAF, Beider Meinhoff Gruppe, Rote Army etc.)
I came across an article which shows the 'New Kurdistan', which is outrageous.
Both Armenians and Kurds are claiming the same land. Also, Syria, Iran, Turkey and Iraq will lose territory.
Their map is ridiculous. And as long as Europe doesn't want to see the intentions of the PKK, their goals will be alive. Yes, the PKK is still alive and kicking.

Holland European Champion football under 21 year

Holland brushed aside Serbia to retain the European Under-21 Championship title with a convincing victory.
Last year the Dutch became European champion under 21, in Portugal. This year again, but now playing in the Netherlands.

Interesting ads

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