The ongoing debate

On the ongoing debate in Turkey about which party is reliable and which is not, the following article is interesting, click here.

The author is a former member of the General Assembly and Executive Board of the CHP.

Mrs. Gül

She said that she had noticed the anger on the faces of the people at the mass "republican rallies".
"When you look at the past of these angry people you notice that they grew up without love. This is why I am not angry at them. Life is short and beautiful, why are we consuming it with these arguments?"

Mrs. Hayrünnisa Gül

In an interview with Sabah, published in Today's Zaman, Mrs. Gul makes a statement unworthy for a possible first lady by denigrating other people their views.

Strange sounds...

According to a survey released this weekend, only 28% of the Dutch are in favor of a possible Turkish membership of the EU. And 67% are against. This has more to do with the rapid expansion of the EU with 12 countries in 3 years. Believe me.
The day before this survey was released the Minister of Justice in the Netherlands, Hirsch Balin, (this is another article) issued a statement that the EU must be aware and respect the 'special role' the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) are playing in the Turkish society. While the EU is urging that the TSK must stay out of politics.
And on the same day the Somalia-born-Muslim Ayaan Hirsi Ali, now a Dutch citizen, told in an interview with the German newspaper Der Welt, that the Turkish Army can keep Europe safe of Islamic extremism....oink...

Something in the air..

Tomorrow another demonstration. This time in Izmir. The most liberal city of Turkey.
I don't see these demonstrations as only anti-government but also anti-establishment.
In fact, the atmosphere of the long hot summer of 1967 of Europe and the USA, merely Paris, Amsterdam and San Fransisco, which was dominated by anti-establishment, first feminist move and anti-consumptism, is in the air.
With the upcoming elections in July, this will be an interesting spring and summer for Turkey.
As they say that this demonstration will be the last one, I have my doubts. I foresee some uproar. Hopefully peacefully.

An interview with Nurduran Duman

For those interested in Nurduran Duman, the poet, and her work, today's Cumhuriyet Kitap Eki (Cumhuriyet Book Addition) published an article and picture, another one than the two which I use. She looks a little Holy in these ones..))
And I am sorry, can not provide a link since Cumhuriyet is still not in the digital time frame.
Old socialist who became reactionary.

Poem three - Sea Language and Literature

Deniz Dili ve Edebiyatı
(Sea Language and Literature)

müjde. gün döndü güle bakanlar
yaşasın! uzun yıllar var bahçeme
düşmedi kötü niyetli yaprak
Düşse de, yıkadım uykumda geceleri
yaktım koyu mavi çizgidendi direği
çürük, yelkenleri yamalı.

şimdi tüm ırmaklar denize!
kan, sinir uçları hepsi
böbrek taşları hep denize!

suya bakan yüzler gördüm
anahtarları iki kaş arasında
iki orman ortasından geçiyor yolları
kalbime. Kalbim susma sakın
bu çırpıntı, bu aşk!
Hey sevmesini sevdiğim…
Hadi denize.

Nurduran Duman

Just bad propaganda

Putting this picture on the front page of TDN is a pragmatic choice.
It shows his bad side: a populist. And that he is a fanatic believer in France Grandeur. His 'finger' shows: remember! Also: 'remember and be warned'.

On the other side, Turkey is so obsessed with who is in charge in France that it thinks he is the one who can be blamed for Anti-Turkism...
But let's be reasonable: his primary goal is the liberalization of the old socialistic French republic. I don't think Turkey is high in his agenda.
It looks like, according the Turkish press, that only Germany, France and sometimes the UK have a say in Turkey's EU bid. They are deadly wrong.
Turkey simple doesn't understand the consensus policy which dominates the EU. A policy which can be more efficient than any other system.

The ride of my life! A roller coaster...

Just back from an exhausting trip of 42 hours to Amsterdam and back to Istanbul.
Beside the discouraging information my Turkish friends and partners faced, they had still fun, although we all almost fell asleep during a dinner on Monday night..!!!
But our flight yesterday back to Istanbul is another story. It started good; we were all upgraded to business class.
The captain told that the trip would be quick. Clear view, no delays expected.

Flying to Turkey means flying over Hungary, and there the troubles started: lots of turbulence first and then suddenly coffee and wine was flying around in the cabin and people became really afraid; the plane hit a bubble in the air. Just in an area with a lot of thunder and light. So, the pilots started to climb over these nasty clouds, which took 30 minutes.
But compliments to the captain who kept all the time the passengers informed.
In the end, we arrived 30 minutes before planned arrival time in Istanbul.

Turkey for sale? Turkey submissive?

Sorry to say, but I see more and more comments in the Turkish press and on blogs that the AK government is submissive to the EU...
To help everybody out this fable: Turkey is the only country since the establishment of the EEG (former name of the EU) which tries over and over again to change the criteria of a club they want to be a member of...the Copenhagen Criteria, Treaty of Maastricht, Treaty of Nice...and even the CA, the 'constitution' of the EU..

And then, you have these people who are saying that this government is selling this country out, while Turkey has the most restricted rules of the greater European area regarding foreign investments and buying property.
And did Turkey not confiscate property of 'their' foreigners over the last 100 years?

KLM, the Reliable Airline?

Will fly tomorrow morning at 5.30 am (!) to Amsterdam. I don't like this flight, it means that I have to wake up at 2.30 am, on my way to the airport by 3.00 am and check-in at 4.00 am.

Will be in Amsterdam by 8.00 am, local time, and will have the first meeting at 09.30 am, and the last one that day at 8.00 pm (dinner). Not something to look forward to.

KLM is using the motto: The Reliable Airline. Here are some comments. You can make up your own mind.

How to address a Nation III

As in my former posts, I promised to write about Mr. Erdogan's speech which he delivered last Monday, April the 30th.
I see this not from a political point of view, but as a foreigner who is living in Turkey.

Honestly, Mr. Erdogan's speech was bad from the beginning until the end, from my observation as an international communication manager.

Why? I shall explain this in detail.

First of all, there was and is a mini-crisis in Turkey. Which means that either the President or the Prime Minister has to ease the tension! To avoid speculations about 'who did what', simple: tell what is going on.
Instead of a clear explanation about the increasing tensions, the Turkish nation saw a bad 30 minutes promo about how well the economy is doing. No words about the social standards of the average Turks and nothing about the their struggle for life, neither about the tension with the military nor with the EU. Not one word to the people about what really is going on. Only empty words about: Let's Unify.
Nothing wrong with promoting what you did, but don't use your time as a Prime Minister by what you and your party have achieved, while ignoring the tensions and protests in the streets and the country.
Also, Turkey became more polarized while the PM was asking for unification. And in this speech there was no sign of consensus or compromise. It was party politics as usual. And that's exactly what you don't do in this situation. Addressing the Nation means being above all parties.

Second: it takes 5 minutes for an ordinary statesman to highlight his or her mission.
30 minutes of preaching will have a boomerang effect. You don't get your message understood.Listeners will get confused. And all the facts you want to bring over will fade away as a leaf, blow away in the wind.

And last but not the least: the footage.

If you address a nation which is in crisis, don't use the propaganda tool. Be fair. Don't misuse the situation to broadcast a bad promo. And don't compare Turkey now with Turkey in 1923. The facts which were shown are hilarious. Also, it's not good to broadcast all the time short shots of people applauding for you, which leave the impression that a new cult was created. A new cult, but this time about Mr. Erdogan. Are we serious?

The 4th and 5th of May in the Netherlands

The Dutch remember the victims of the Second World War on the 4th of May. At 8 o'clock, two minutes of silence. It's always an impressive but sober moment, especially in the Dam Square in Amsterdam. Normally very noisy but then complete silence.
The Queen and her son, in military uniform. Read my article about why he is in military uniform by clicking here.


Also the Dutch Prime Minister addresses the country, with a short speech. Not like T.E. Erdogan, which was this week a promo-speech of 30 minutes!


The 5th of May is Liberation Day, celebrating the end of the Second World War in Europe (in the Far East the Japanese whee still at war). There are celebrations throughout the Netherlands. But in the last years it became more a 'theme day', with this year the theme of Freedom, the rights of the Constitution and security. Also a traditional reading (or lecture) by a prominent Dutch person this year, the former Minister for Development Cooperation and the former Special Representative Secretary General of the United Nations in Sudan, Khartoum, Prof. Jan Pronk.

How to address a nation II

More than 80% of our communication is non-verbal. And therefore propaganda is a dangerous tool as I stated in my article of Wednesday, April 24th.

Enfin, wanted to write down here why T.E. Erdogan missed a Golden Goal this week Monday when he made a speech on Television. But my computer is not listening to me anymore. Will bring it to the Laptop Hospital tonight.

Until later!

Festivals for free

One of the things I miss of the Netherlands are the festivals, which are for free. Not only on Queen's Day but also random. And especially with the Uitmarkt in Amsterdam, the opening of the new cultural season at the end of August is 4 days fun.
The Boulevard of Broken Dreams started there.

It's all so double

Two years ago, I think, I spoke with a Turkish-Armenian and recently with a Greek Orthodox. But I asked a simple question: "How is life for you in Turkey?". And both gave the same answer: more relaxed.
But when I talked with several Christians here, they started to complain, and were scared. And had the feeling that it became not easier for them under this regime.

Being other than a Muslim and expressing this openly became a big deal. Being other than a Turk is another case. Life is easy. But it's again religion which divides us, while the purpose of religion is joy and bringing people together.

How to address a Nation

Yes, it was the BBC which brought the news first that the Prime Minister of Turkey would address the nation at 20.15 local time on the 30th of April. The Turkish media were slower. Either they don’t have the equipment, or they lack the courage to bring Flash news.

With this I mean: news which is news worthy. No speculations. I see too often the ‘?’ sign above articles and comments. Which leads always to speculations. The first trap for the reader.

Anyway, I am a foreigner, and therefore suspicious, especially when I talk or write. But I don’t want to get mangled in Turkish politics. But I can assure you that the Turkish politicians from right to left, from conservative to liberal (are there any?), are the reasons that Turkish image vanished upon today; which makes life not easier for Turkish people when they want to go abroad for personal reasons, or, simply, to do business.

More later about my professional view regarding T.E. (no, not E.T) Erdogan's speech. And the opportunity of a Golden Goal, which he missed by the way...sleep well!

The reputation of a headscarf

It takes 10 years to build a respected brand reputation, but you can destroy it in 5 minutes.
The Internet coup by the military was a start, but now it looks like that Turkey cannot get enough of all the negative images they are sending out! They are in the spotlight of the international media, and they don't want to leave the stage.

And..will the tourists come back this year? Good for the hard valuate.

Never heard that a country is sending its government away because it developed a rising economy, reshaping the social structure for its people, and last but not the least: was finally on track with what it promised before it came into power.
And this all because of a headscarf... Explore your senses, is what they promise in Greece...

I am knocking my head to the wall since I can not understand it anymore...

Where do you want to be on Labor Day...

In Istanbul, where on Labor Day, the police clashed with demonstrators...(this time not a demonstration organized by the retired generals and officers..)

Or being on the beach at Scheveningen (La Hague) where it's unusually warm for the time of the year....

Click here for another interesting article about the developments in Turkey. Yes, these are exciting times for news reporters!

Orange in The Netherlands, Red in Turkey...

While the streets of Istanbul colors red with Turkish flags everywhere, the Netherlands celebrated under a beautiful blue sky Queen's Day, and everything turned into orange, party color of the Dutch...

Thirsty?

This monkey was so thirsty that he needed a drink.
And he knows the way to get it for free...
Sometimes I am curious what monkeys think about human mankind...
Picture was taken today in Kashmir, India.