Stories from Quick Reads and Turkey
Turkey's former mayor claims officials discovered hidden jellybean reserves
The former mayor was answering questions about recently discovered oil reserves when he made the comment about a major jellybean discovery.
A corny TV exorcism possesses Turkish social media
In Turkey, a woman named Pelin Hürman who describes herself as metaphysics expert, performed an exorcism on a TV show and quickly became a laughing stock on social media.
Istanbul police violently break up PRIDE March and arrest over 300 people
This year marks the 30th anniversary of Istanbul LGBT+ Pride Week. While local authorities banned all PRIDE events, protestors still took to the streets, marched, and chanted slogans.
Erdoğan's priorities turn to space as earthly problems mount in Turkey
As part of its national space program, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan unveiled plans to have its citizens serve aboard the International Space Station.
Turkey's latest attack on the arts: A provincial governor cancels a long-awaited music festival
While the statement did not specifically mention the upcoming music festival, the event falls under the calendar days mentioned in the statement.
In Turkey, a comedy show lands in hot water over a political sketch
The Guldur Guldur Show, a popular comedy show in Turkey, had its sketch removed by a television channel over a satirical bit about Minister of Finance and Treasury Nureddin Nebati.
In Turkey a journalist is arrested for covering an alleged hacking of a government database
The arrest comes after Haskoloğlu reported on an alleged hacking of a government database.
Has Turkey dodged its sunflower oil crisis?
In recent months, Turkey has been rocked by a handful of crises - financial, political, environmental, diplomatic but now it is grappling with a new one - the sunflower oil shortage.
In Turkey, health workers mark Doctor's Day by going on strike
To mark the holiday, health workers across the country said they would be on a two-day strike starting March 14 despite earlier warnings from the Ministry of Health against the protests.
Do we live in a news bubble of our own making?
We are able to follow news in multiple languages and make conclusions, choose what we share and what we label as misinformation.
‘This too shall pass,’ sings Turkish pop star
Fans are divided over the lyrics, with some claiming the song is about the pandemic and others arguing it addresses political issues. Regardless, the new song is a hit.
In Azerbaijan, a man arrested for disrespecting a flag
This is perhaps the first instance of strong public backlash against someone disrespecting a foreign flag in Azerbaijan.
In Turkey, a veteran pop star is facing scrutiny over song lyrics
The 67-year-old singer-songwriter, Sezen Aksu, is being accused of degrading religious values because one sentence in her song reads, "Give my regards to the ignorant Eve and Adam."
#helloTürkiye — Turkey's latest attempt to rebrand itself
The branding campaign follows a presidential circular signed on December 4, 2021, requiring the use of "Türkiye" instead of "Turkey" in all correspondence with other states, international institutions, and organizations.
The Turkish Lira continues to lose value at a breakneck pace
Turkey's largest business group urged President Erdoğan's government to "return to rules of economic science."
Turkey's spectacular city statues — a thing of beauty or an architectural failure?
Across the country one may find statues of garlic, a rooster, meatballs, local desserts, walnuts, pottery, and much more, symbolizing whatever that province is famous for.
5 Muslim Countries Where Gays Are Not Prosecuted by the Law
The LGBT Muslims blog identified 5 Muslim nations where the legal system does not outlaw homosexuality. The 5 countries are : Mali, Jordan, Indonesia, Turkey and Albania. While the law in these countries does not criminalize gay lifestyles, the LGBT Muslims blog points out that LGBT communities still suffer from...
Connecting Istanbul and London to Crowdsource the Web We Want Festival
Twenty-five years ago, Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web and gave it to the world. To mark this anniversary, we are building a major new three-part festival at Southbank Centre, where we will ask all kinds of people to share their ideas of how the Web should develop...
Turkish Law Professor Says Transparency Unaccepted in Politics in Turkey
Today's Zaman interviewed İştar Gözaydın, a professor of law and politics at Doğuş University in İstanbul, who has alslo done extensive academic research on Turkish law, society, politics, and is one of the founders of the human rights organization the Helsinki Citizens Association. In the interview, Gözaydın claims, among other...
Solidarity from Ankara for Alexander Sodiqov's Release
This post is part of our campaign #FreeAlexSodiqov: GV Author Detained in Tajikistan. Messages of support continue to pour in for Alexander Sodiqov, the Global Voices community member wrongfully detained by local authorities in Khorog, Tajikistan on June 16, while carrying out academic research. Global Voices is grateful to Dr....
Tor Users on the Rise in Turkey
Human rights and ethics advocate Frederic Jacobs notes that the number of people using Tor is on the rise in Turkey: Tor usage is peaking in Turkey. > 35 000 connecting. More expected for the next few days. pic.twitter.com/1c7AOflm7h — Frederic Jacobs (@FredericJacobs) March 23, 2014 Turkey has just banned Twitter.
