Barack Obama....
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Jesus Christ
Hillary Clinton.
Who of the 3....
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Belgians are Turks?
Okay, the American's make jokes about the Polish, the Spanish about the Portuguese people and the Dutch about Belgium, which is our national right...don't take that away from us...))
Anyway, I had a good laugh this morning reading the article "Belgians are Turks, says Turk academic'.
Professor Ahmet Arslan said that when the Selçuk part of the Oğuz tribe formed a state in Central Asia, their capital was called Genk, having the same name as the city of Genk in Belgium. He also said the symbol of Genk Municipality was a double headed eagle, and added as his conclusive proof, “In the Selçuk tribe, the same symbol was used. One head symbolized Interior Oğuz while the other Exterior Oğuz.”
Interpreting history, by all meaning, especially through philology, the study of ancient texts and languages, is the only valid parameter. Not some kind of cheap redenations. Philology also includes the close study of texts and their history. It includes elements of textual criticism, trying to reconstruct an author's original text based on variant manuscript copies. And therefor you need to understand the classical languages.
History from the Belgium takes its name from the Belgae, the early Celtic tribes who had settled in the area of the Low Countries during Preobscene era.
I am waiting on the moment that this professor claims that Brussels is built by Turks. Maybe a good way to become a EU member....
Anyway, I had a good laugh this morning reading the article "Belgians are Turks, says Turk academic'.
Professor Ahmet Arslan said that when the Selçuk part of the Oğuz tribe formed a state in Central Asia, their capital was called Genk, having the same name as the city of Genk in Belgium. He also said the symbol of Genk Municipality was a double headed eagle, and added as his conclusive proof, “In the Selçuk tribe, the same symbol was used. One head symbolized Interior Oğuz while the other Exterior Oğuz.”
Interpreting history, by all meaning, especially through philology, the study of ancient texts and languages, is the only valid parameter. Not some kind of cheap redenations. Philology also includes the close study of texts and their history. It includes elements of textual criticism, trying to reconstruct an author's original text based on variant manuscript copies. And therefor you need to understand the classical languages.
History from the Belgium takes its name from the Belgae, the early Celtic tribes who had settled in the area of the Low Countries during Preobscene era.
I am waiting on the moment that this professor claims that Brussels is built by Turks. Maybe a good way to become a EU member....
Monday, January 07, 2008
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Poem by Dylan Thomas
Clown in the Moon
My tears are like the quiet drift
Of petals from some magic rose;
And all my grief flows from the rift
Of unremembered skies and snows.
I think, that if I touched the earth,
It would crumble;
It is so sad and beautiful,
So tremulously like a dream.
Dylan THOMAS
My tears are like the quiet drift
Of petals from some magic rose;
And all my grief flows from the rift
Of unremembered skies and snows.
I think, that if I touched the earth,
It would crumble;
It is so sad and beautiful,
So tremulously like a dream.
Dylan THOMAS
Friday, January 04, 2008
Changes on this blog
Seda
Above Sandra.
I posted earlier that this blog will go through several changes. Not only the host will be a different one, but some co bloggers will be added as well. Unfortunately, Derya will not be able to be a regular blogger anymore, due to her job which requires a lot of time. She also told me that she cannot gain access to typepad. We will figure out how we can solve this since we like here comments and opinion. Its annoying that wordpress is banned in Turkey, so is blogspot in Syria.
New co bloggers will be Seda, a Turkish friend living in Greece, and a dear friend of mine, for years, Sandra. Born in Suriname and raised up in the Netherlands.
And last but not least: Bea, who will move back to the USA will contribute as well.
Together with a Dutch in Armenia, and an Greek/Australian in Greece, we will have a nice team here.
New co bloggers will be Seda, a Turkish friend living in Greece, and a dear friend of mine, for years, Sandra. Born in Suriname and raised up in the Netherlands.
And last but not least: Bea, who will move back to the USA will contribute as well.
Together with a Dutch in Armenia, and an Greek/Australian in Greece, we will have a nice team here.
And there might be a chance that another 'yabanchi' will join this team.
Will keep you updated.
No freedom of religion in Turkey...
As Turkey is trying to convince the world in general and the EU in particular, about their religious freedom, below you will find an article about the intolerance the Turkish state imposed on non Suni Muslims and other religions. This is not an act of the AKP party but institutionalized the last 60 years.
While Turkish citizens are crying that there is no place to worship in Europe, Turkish people over there knows better: their Mosques and school are funded with government money. Even cultural centre's are established for a better understanding.
The ignorance or arrogance of some Turkish people is astonishing.
The article below is from here
"In Turkey, the freedom in need of expansion is freedom of religion. While each of the issues that is currently on the agenda is a priority issue, each also touches on a broader question which remains off the agenda: freedom of religion and belief in Turkey itself.
A significant problem facing religious groups in Turkey is the nation’s biased religious registration laws. Registration is required for religious leaders and institutions to serve the spiritual needs of their constituents.
Currently, the Sunni branch of Islam is the only “state-sanctioned” form of religion.
The Alevi Islamic Community is not recognized as a separate religious group and is instead considered to be a de-facto group within Sunni Islam. This lack of distinct recognition severely limits their ability to form their own houses of worship and leaves them suspect to the laws of the state that pertain to Sunnis.
The Shi’a community is not recognized as a separate legal entity either.
The Armenian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, and Jewish communities are recognized as having “a special legal minority status.” However, this only applies to the individuals within these communities and not to their religious institutions, which severely hinders the ability of these groups to perform a wide range of functions necessary to maintaining and serving the needs of their respective adherents.
All other religious groups, including the Roman Catholic Church, mainline Protestant and Evangelical groups, have no official legal status within the Republic of Turkey.
Religious education is another significantly contentious religious freedom issue in Turkey.
There are two aspects of religious education that are particularly troublesome: the first is that Turkey requires a majority of its population to take state-mandated religious education classes; the second problem is the current restrictions that religious groups face in properly educating their clergy. Turkey currently requires all Muslims in the country, regardless of their sectarian affiliation, to partake in religious education classes.
Minority religious groups are exempted from these religious classes. The Alevis, and other Turkish Muslim minority groups, claim that these classes teach only the Sunni form of Islam that advances religious beliefs that are in conflict with their own religious teachings. These groups also complain that many of these mandatory classes actually demean and dismiss their beliefs.
Many other minority religious communities in Turkey face serious problems in educating their believers.
In 1971, the Turkish government closed all university-level religious schools, both Muslim and Christian.
There are numerous restrictions in place that hinder the ability of these institutions to reopen their doors, such as a requirement that all students be Turkish citizens, a very serious problem for Greek Orthodox clergy.
The government argues that these restrictions are necessary to prevent radical Islamic groups from opening their own religious schools that could spread a violent and extremist form of Islam.
These restrictions disproportionately burden the nation’s religious minorities.
The Greek Orthodox population has fallen to approximately 3000 people over the past several decades. They do not have a large enough population to maintain the primary Greek Orthodox seminary in Turkey – the Halki Monastery. Halki Monastery was among those university-level religious institutions closed by the government, and it faces numerous restrictions to reopening.
The Turkish Government will currently not allow any foreign students to be educated at Halki. Without foreign students, there are not enough Turkish Greek Orthodox seminarians to maintain an official seminary. In addition, due to legal restrictions mentioned above, this Monastery cannot call upon foreign seminarians to travel to Turkey to train the students of the Monastery.
In approximately a generation, the Greek Orthodox population will no longer have the capacity to train new theological leaders. Furthermore, due to legal restrictions that any religious leader in Turkey must be a citizen and be educated in Turkey, within a few years there will be no one that is eligible to be the new Patriarch of Constantinople. As a result, this religious group will have no way of practicing its faith or continuing its traditions. Without the ability to practice their faith or continue their traditions, the Greek Orthodox community will slowly disappear to the pages of history. The continued closure of Halki threatens the very survival of Turkey’s ancient Greek Orthodox minority and the “primus inter pares” of Orthodoxy, the Patriarch of Constantinople.
Turkey’s Greek Orthodox community is a victim of a silent genocide as their population, religion, and way of life are eroded over the years by actions taken by the Turkish government.
The Government periodically meddles in the internal functioning of religious communities. The Higher Court of Appeals recently ruled in favor of the Government in a dispute over the Greek Orthodox Patriarch.
The government refused to recognize the use of the term “ecumenical” in reference to the Patriarch. This means that the Turkish government refuses to recognize the Patriarch as leader of anything more than the country’s small Greek Orthodox community, in contrast with the esteemed position that the Patriarch holds amongst other Orthodox communities worldwide.
As the government only allows Turkish citizens to be members of the Orthodox Church hierarchy, this condition places a great strain on such a small population.
Another cause for concern in Turkey is the recent string of attacks against Christians. In January 2007, a protestant church in Samsun was severely vandalized. In April, three workers at a Bible house in the city of Malatya were viciously murdered. The victims’ throats were slashed, and a fourth person inside the building was attempted to escape by jumping out of a window and was severely wounded. It is imperative that the international community pressure Turkey into prosecuting those responsible to the fullest extent of the law.
Every community of faith needs the freedom to practice their religion without worrying about either themselves or their religious institutions being physically harmed."
While Turkish citizens are crying that there is no place to worship in Europe, Turkish people over there knows better: their Mosques and school are funded with government money. Even cultural centre's are established for a better understanding.
The ignorance or arrogance of some Turkish people is astonishing.
The article below is from here
"In Turkey, the freedom in need of expansion is freedom of religion. While each of the issues that is currently on the agenda is a priority issue, each also touches on a broader question which remains off the agenda: freedom of religion and belief in Turkey itself.
A significant problem facing religious groups in Turkey is the nation’s biased religious registration laws. Registration is required for religious leaders and institutions to serve the spiritual needs of their constituents.
Currently, the Sunni branch of Islam is the only “state-sanctioned” form of religion.
The Alevi Islamic Community is not recognized as a separate religious group and is instead considered to be a de-facto group within Sunni Islam. This lack of distinct recognition severely limits their ability to form their own houses of worship and leaves them suspect to the laws of the state that pertain to Sunnis.
The Shi’a community is not recognized as a separate legal entity either.
The Armenian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, and Jewish communities are recognized as having “a special legal minority status.” However, this only applies to the individuals within these communities and not to their religious institutions, which severely hinders the ability of these groups to perform a wide range of functions necessary to maintaining and serving the needs of their respective adherents.
All other religious groups, including the Roman Catholic Church, mainline Protestant and Evangelical groups, have no official legal status within the Republic of Turkey.
Religious education is another significantly contentious religious freedom issue in Turkey.
There are two aspects of religious education that are particularly troublesome: the first is that Turkey requires a majority of its population to take state-mandated religious education classes; the second problem is the current restrictions that religious groups face in properly educating their clergy. Turkey currently requires all Muslims in the country, regardless of their sectarian affiliation, to partake in religious education classes.
Minority religious groups are exempted from these religious classes. The Alevis, and other Turkish Muslim minority groups, claim that these classes teach only the Sunni form of Islam that advances religious beliefs that are in conflict with their own religious teachings. These groups also complain that many of these mandatory classes actually demean and dismiss their beliefs.
Many other minority religious communities in Turkey face serious problems in educating their believers.
In 1971, the Turkish government closed all university-level religious schools, both Muslim and Christian.
There are numerous restrictions in place that hinder the ability of these institutions to reopen their doors, such as a requirement that all students be Turkish citizens, a very serious problem for Greek Orthodox clergy.
The government argues that these restrictions are necessary to prevent radical Islamic groups from opening their own religious schools that could spread a violent and extremist form of Islam.
These restrictions disproportionately burden the nation’s religious minorities.
The Greek Orthodox population has fallen to approximately 3000 people over the past several decades. They do not have a large enough population to maintain the primary Greek Orthodox seminary in Turkey – the Halki Monastery. Halki Monastery was among those university-level religious institutions closed by the government, and it faces numerous restrictions to reopening.
The Turkish Government will currently not allow any foreign students to be educated at Halki. Without foreign students, there are not enough Turkish Greek Orthodox seminarians to maintain an official seminary. In addition, due to legal restrictions mentioned above, this Monastery cannot call upon foreign seminarians to travel to Turkey to train the students of the Monastery.
In approximately a generation, the Greek Orthodox population will no longer have the capacity to train new theological leaders. Furthermore, due to legal restrictions that any religious leader in Turkey must be a citizen and be educated in Turkey, within a few years there will be no one that is eligible to be the new Patriarch of Constantinople. As a result, this religious group will have no way of practicing its faith or continuing its traditions. Without the ability to practice their faith or continue their traditions, the Greek Orthodox community will slowly disappear to the pages of history. The continued closure of Halki threatens the very survival of Turkey’s ancient Greek Orthodox minority and the “primus inter pares” of Orthodoxy, the Patriarch of Constantinople.
Turkey’s Greek Orthodox community is a victim of a silent genocide as their population, religion, and way of life are eroded over the years by actions taken by the Turkish government.
The Government periodically meddles in the internal functioning of religious communities. The Higher Court of Appeals recently ruled in favor of the Government in a dispute over the Greek Orthodox Patriarch.
The government refused to recognize the use of the term “ecumenical” in reference to the Patriarch. This means that the Turkish government refuses to recognize the Patriarch as leader of anything more than the country’s small Greek Orthodox community, in contrast with the esteemed position that the Patriarch holds amongst other Orthodox communities worldwide.
As the government only allows Turkish citizens to be members of the Orthodox Church hierarchy, this condition places a great strain on such a small population.
Another cause for concern in Turkey is the recent string of attacks against Christians. In January 2007, a protestant church in Samsun was severely vandalized. In April, three workers at a Bible house in the city of Malatya were viciously murdered. The victims’ throats were slashed, and a fourth person inside the building was attempted to escape by jumping out of a window and was severely wounded. It is imperative that the international community pressure Turkey into prosecuting those responsible to the fullest extent of the law.
Every community of faith needs the freedom to practice their religion without worrying about either themselves or their religious institutions being physically harmed."
Sobering information about Drunk driving...
A friend of mine told me the following some rather sobering information about punishment for drunk driving convictions in other countries than in the Netherlands, where we have a zero-tolerance policy against drinking and driving.
He told me that
-In Australia, the names of drunk drivers are printed in newspapers under the caption, "He's drunk and in jail."
-In Malaysia the driver is jailed and, if married, the spouse is jailed too.
-In the United Kingdom, Finland and Sweden there's an automatic jail term of one year.
-In Turkey, drunk drivers are driven twenty miles out of town and forced to walk back home.
-In Bulgaria, a second drunk-driving conviction results in capital punishment.
-In El Salvador, your first offense is your last -- execution by firing squad.
So, if you live in the centre of Istanbul, and they drive you out of the city, then another 30 km, wow, that's a hell of a distance. But if prefer the Turkish option over the El Salvadorian one...
But are these stories true?
He told me that
-In Australia, the names of drunk drivers are printed in newspapers under the caption, "He's drunk and in jail."
-In Malaysia the driver is jailed and, if married, the spouse is jailed too.
-In the United Kingdom, Finland and Sweden there's an automatic jail term of one year.
-In Turkey, drunk drivers are driven twenty miles out of town and forced to walk back home.
-In Bulgaria, a second drunk-driving conviction results in capital punishment.
-In El Salvador, your first offense is your last -- execution by firing squad.
So, if you live in the centre of Istanbul, and they drive you out of the city, then another 30 km, wow, that's a hell of a distance. But if prefer the Turkish option over the El Salvadorian one...
But are these stories true?
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Fear or being misinformed?
Below you will find a comment, published on TDN forum, of a British friend of mine who lives in the Netherlands.
I don't say that I agree or disagree with him, but it shows how bad the Turkish Republic is doing its PR, relying on the USA to enter the EU.
Very often you hear (mostly Turkish) diplomats telling the world just how strategically (militarily) important Turkey is for the security of Europe and especially the EU.
Nope! The EU is not looking for an extra army. These people sometimes forget that there are enough nuclear powers in the EU, not to speak of far more advanced armies as it is already.
There is also this story about being 'a bridge between the West and the Muslim world'. Nope! EU has it's own institutions and channels for this. They don't need some kind of broker or middle man. Anyway the Turks will never be accepted by the Arabs as a go between.
How about Turkey being the most important energy hub for the EU? Nope! Useful but not the most important. Again the EU has it’s own institutions and channels for this and again there is no need of yet another broker.
Its up to you to comment.
I don't say that I agree or disagree with him, but it shows how bad the Turkish Republic is doing its PR, relying on the USA to enter the EU.
Very often you hear (mostly Turkish) diplomats telling the world just how strategically (militarily) important Turkey is for the security of Europe and especially the EU.
Nope! The EU is not looking for an extra army. These people sometimes forget that there are enough nuclear powers in the EU, not to speak of far more advanced armies as it is already.
There is also this story about being 'a bridge between the West and the Muslim world'. Nope! EU has it's own institutions and channels for this. They don't need some kind of broker or middle man. Anyway the Turks will never be accepted by the Arabs as a go between.
How about Turkey being the most important energy hub for the EU? Nope! Useful but not the most important. Again the EU has it’s own institutions and channels for this and again there is no need of yet another broker.
Then you have the story about how beneficial Turkey’s accession would be for the job markets in the EU, how this would solve the social welfare costs for the aging population of Europe.
Turkey’s accession would be for the job markets in the EU, how this would solve the social welfare costs for the aging population of Europe. Nope!
Truth is, is that although unemployment in the EU is at an all time low, still more than the half of the social welfare recipients in the EU are immigrants (1st 2nd and even 3rd generation) from outside the EU. A big proportion of them are Turks (or shall we say Turkish passport holders). Why should this trend change once Turkey is in the EU? They will just create an even bigger burden on the tax payers then they do now.Its up to you to comment.
Shnorhavor Nor Tari!
I'm a bit late, but this is the first time in five days or so that I am online. I wish all of you a very happy, successful and peaceful 2008!
In Armenia the "holiday season" only really started on the 31st and will last for another week or so. Christmas is celebrated according to the Orthodox calendar on January 6 and then what is called the 'Old New Year' on January 13.
However, the real New Year is much bigger than Christmas and the celebrations last about a week starting from January 1st. So this whole week is a week off for almost everyone, including me. New Year's Eve is usually celebrated at home with family, but from January 1st people visit their friends, neighbors and relatives and eat and drink a lot. In every house there is a table filled with food and drinks standing ready for use because at any given moment guests can show up.
This can be lots of fun, but the downside of this is that many people spend more than they can afford on their New Year's table. A friend who has a shop in a small town in the north of Armenia once told me that all the money he makes in the run-up to New Year has to last him until April, because until then people just don't have money to spend. A taxi-driver in Yerevan told me the other day that for taxi's it is basically the same: For quite some weeks after New Year business is slower than usual, because people just don't have money to spend.
I'm off to another food fest at friends!
In Armenia the "holiday season" only really started on the 31st and will last for another week or so. Christmas is celebrated according to the Orthodox calendar on January 6 and then what is called the 'Old New Year' on January 13.
However, the real New Year is much bigger than Christmas and the celebrations last about a week starting from January 1st. So this whole week is a week off for almost everyone, including me. New Year's Eve is usually celebrated at home with family, but from January 1st people visit their friends, neighbors and relatives and eat and drink a lot. In every house there is a table filled with food and drinks standing ready for use because at any given moment guests can show up.
This can be lots of fun, but the downside of this is that many people spend more than they can afford on their New Year's table. A friend who has a shop in a small town in the north of Armenia once told me that all the money he makes in the run-up to New Year has to last him until April, because until then people just don't have money to spend. A taxi-driver in Yerevan told me the other day that for taxi's it is basically the same: For quite some weeks after New Year business is slower than usual, because people just don't have money to spend.
I'm off to another food fest at friends!
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
New blog
By January the 17th, this blog will continue on http://internationsmusings.typepad.com/
Since this blog has no administrator anymore its hard to handle.
The co bloggers: Vassilio, Myrthe, Derya, Seda and Bea will get direct access to the new blog.
I hope to succeed in transferring all the posts of this blog to the Typepad account.
It will take me some time to create a nice outfit for the new Internations Musing blog.
In the meanwhile, this blog will be still the blog to post and comment on.
Thanks
Since this blog has no administrator anymore its hard to handle.
The co bloggers: Vassilio, Myrthe, Derya, Seda and Bea will get direct access to the new blog.
I hope to succeed in transferring all the posts of this blog to the Typepad account.
It will take me some time to create a nice outfit for the new Internations Musing blog.
In the meanwhile, this blog will be still the blog to post and comment on.
Thanks
I Will Find My Darling in the New Year at the Bottom of a Rose Branch
Nurduran, a good friend, who posted here several poets, wrote a short story for the New Year:
I Will Find My Darling in the New Year at the Bottom of a Rose Branch
“I let every opportunity slip away, even death.”
This was one of the immortal theatre heroes Cyrano De Bergerac’s closing remarks before he died... He couldn’t accept the fact that such a poet, a musketeer, a music lover, a man who knew physics, a man who was kind as himself and also a hero would die with a beat to the head with wood, as no one else including myself could. (Except for the writer Edmond Rostand).
As the question of whether Cyrano made the remark stated above to the musketeer or if it was the other way around flows through my head eager to find a bed to surface; first of all I intend to wish that nobody shares Cyrano’s fate in 2008. And that they welcome 2009 with a year end that is full of unused opportunities.
Contrary to those who say that welcoming the New Year is nothing but hanging a new calendar on the wall and having to buy a new diary, I think that being in every celebration that witnesses various aspects of our lives is an opportunity. The current formulas of physics may not suffice to decide whether time cares if it is given a name or not but what harm is there in evaluating what has developed in the name of the human race, what has deteriorated, what has made people happy, what has humiliated them in the past year we gave a number a year ago? What can we loose by naming the coming year, New Year in order to conduce toward a new beginning, actually wishing to witness better times for ourselves, our country and our planet?
As long as we aren’t beside ourselves with consuming, aren’t the new year celebrations just another opportunity to express Love, confess love, thank everyone in our lives for being there, wishing them the best, honoring time that witnesses our every moment and most importantly for the whole world to have fun and enliven the universe with hope and best wishes all at the same time? Since we cannot all cry at once... Since we cannot all cry, and stand by watching the absurdity of those who set out to be kings of the world...
One should target the uniting, the peacemaking, the love contaminating and developmental side of everything and celebrate everything worth celebrating with latitude... Because, just as you can’t separate a melody from another, you can’t keep a person away from another. As one finds their darling at the bottom of a rose branch with a folk song from the city of Kütahya which they have never heard before; one other may embrace a totally different person and sing the “Salonika folk song” looking STRAIGHT into their eyes.
2008 will be composed of days that latitude is crowned and makes a pine needle blossom; days in which the fact that blood is thicker than water is comprehended once and for all; days in which we can stand against those who pass for wise men, side by side without the notion of “superior-inferior” clouding our judgment, brighter, wiser, and more sightful days in which we won’t let good deeds turn bad; It will be blessed.
Surely it will be blessed, did I write that many poems I attached to blue beaded brooms and made into fortunes to be drawn in vain?
“May getting rid of the past sorrows
beating them off
come easy as playing a game,
Let no evil eye affect
your love
your lover
in the new year(s)”
With the wish that the lives that are tangent to each other fully touch, and the ones that don’t, do.
And that those who are far away come back into our lives, and to feel the closeness of those who are near.
Yours,
Nurduran Duman
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
a new life for Turkey
A new life awaits Turks in new year
Starting a new year is always a joyful occasion, but Turkey has more to celebrate this year than just greeting 2008, as changes made to 170 laws are likely to pass next week, challenging some Turkish citizens to change their old ways of doing certain things.
A comprehensive ban on smoking will be one of the first bills taken up in Parliament after New Year’s. If the bill to be taken up this Wednesday passes, smoking in bars, restaurants and coffeehouses will be banned.
A host of new laws -- combined in a single bill -- will take effect in early January, perhaps as early as next week, and is bound to transform daily life in the country. The bill includes amendments to the basic penal legislation as part of the European Union harmonization process. The changes introduced are more than likely to directly influence the way we live our daily lives.
The new year will bring significant changes to Turks’ lives as the 170 amendments to be made to several penal provisions regulate a wide variety of daily life activities, from smoking habits to the way we treat our pets and other animals. The changes vary from fines introduced to employers who do not enforce official lunch hours in their offices to heavy penalties for hooliganism at football games. Individuals who fire bullets into the air will be deprived of their right to firearm ownership; owners of dangerous dog breeds will have to guarantee that they will not breed their animals and those who trade in animals without a license will have to pay heavy fines.
Although most of these new laws may seem to simply be a description of how a decent person with common sense would act normally, a majority of these are in fact a major challenge for many Turkish citizens. Very soon, most of us will seriously have to change our habits, as the harmonization bill has already passed the parliamentary Justice Committee. This 651-article bill will be introduced to Parliament next week.
continue reading
Starting a new year is always a joyful occasion, but Turkey has more to celebrate this year than just greeting 2008, as changes made to 170 laws are likely to pass next week, challenging some Turkish citizens to change their old ways of doing certain things.
A comprehensive ban on smoking will be one of the first bills taken up in Parliament after New Year’s. If the bill to be taken up this Wednesday passes, smoking in bars, restaurants and coffeehouses will be banned.
A host of new laws -- combined in a single bill -- will take effect in early January, perhaps as early as next week, and is bound to transform daily life in the country. The bill includes amendments to the basic penal legislation as part of the European Union harmonization process. The changes introduced are more than likely to directly influence the way we live our daily lives.
The new year will bring significant changes to Turks’ lives as the 170 amendments to be made to several penal provisions regulate a wide variety of daily life activities, from smoking habits to the way we treat our pets and other animals. The changes vary from fines introduced to employers who do not enforce official lunch hours in their offices to heavy penalties for hooliganism at football games. Individuals who fire bullets into the air will be deprived of their right to firearm ownership; owners of dangerous dog breeds will have to guarantee that they will not breed their animals and those who trade in animals without a license will have to pay heavy fines.
Although most of these new laws may seem to simply be a description of how a decent person with common sense would act normally, a majority of these are in fact a major challenge for many Turkish citizens. Very soon, most of us will seriously have to change our habits, as the harmonization bill has already passed the parliamentary Justice Committee. This 651-article bill will be introduced to Parliament next week.
continue reading
Monday, December 31, 2007
New Years Resolutions...
...yes, I make them each year over and over again. It's fun.
For me this year:
1) less time behind Internet, more clearly: less blogging and other social media tools, but more time writing articles and working at my book. The latter must be finished by the end of the summer 2008.
2) shall I stop smoking? I have to!
3) moving to another country? Big chance! On the top of the list: Dubai, Italy, Greece, Canada and France. Only for the first I need a work permit, the rest not. So, we will see.
Wish you all a pleasant evening and for tomorrow: wake up healthy..))
For me this year:
1) less time behind Internet, more clearly: less blogging and other social media tools, but more time writing articles and working at my book. The latter must be finished by the end of the summer 2008.
2) shall I stop smoking? I have to!
3) moving to another country? Big chance! On the top of the list: Dubai, Italy, Greece, Canada and France. Only for the first I need a work permit, the rest not. So, we will see.
Wish you all a pleasant evening and for tomorrow: wake up healthy..))
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