Turkey is Typing… · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

As that transition from the lazy days of Summer turn into Fall, a gloomy spell has fallen over the Turkish bloggers this week…and actually, I can agree with them myself.  Murat from American Turk writes about the frustration of the day to day mundane of the office:
I'm unhappy at work, more than anything else. So many missed deadlines, dropped balls, failures to communicate lately that I am hating not only my job but also my performance. It's hard to be your best when it's so [sic] thankless and uninspiring to exceed expectations.
And in a post inspired by Murat's, Me and Others laments over missed deadlines:
last night i didnt even touch the translation which should have been finished this morning. this was quite expected, because i hadnt slept the day before and regardless of my nick name suggest i am not a super hero. i am actually very angry with myself for once more playing the game with their rules. i just cant determine the deadlines yet. well it is me who determines the deadline in the end, because it is me who is going to finish the job, but this feeling of crossing to the untrustworhty side really kills all my mood.
It isn't all gloom in the Turkish blogosphere this week, but there is a definite sense of waiting and reflection. Athanasia's Daily writes about her lack of posting lately due to her trying to make a major decision for the path of her life and her plan to travel to Sultanahmet (in Istanbul) to take part in Ramadan celebrations. Farid, a Turk living in Azerbaijan, writes of his impressions of Ramadan on his blog “Don't Dream Your Life Away…”:
Nobody seems to care. I think, Soviet Union has affected our religion a lot…People talk about it less and nobody is really excited here…
I was feeling Ramadan more in USA than here…
Metroblogging Istanbul has posted up photos taken from walking around town (in Istanbul) that show a sense of general dissatisfaction with the world, from Muslim charity advertisements to aid children in Lebanon to invitations to protest meetings being held after Friday prayers.
Idil from Ignore Me If You Can wrote about the shock of the coup in Thailand and muses on if something similar happened in Turkey:
What I’m wondering is, will Turkey ever come to the point where they want out of the current government and will they ever be forced to take them down like in Bangkok.
I have to admit I don’t want AKP or any similar party to have any kind of power in Turkey but the answer isn’t a military coup. I’m not sure it should even be a last resort even though I’d be pretty happy to see them gone for good.
I’ve always had a huge sympathy for the Turkish Army. For some reason, I feel more secure knowing they’re around.
Talk Turkey wrote an excellent piece this week on his 10 recommendations on needed change in Turkey.  His ideas range from giving up on the EU, allying more with the U.S. and Israel, giving Cyprus back, becoming and accepting the role of modern Islam, to a slightly unorthodox idea of buying an NBA franchise in the US to capitalize on the larger number of Turkish basketball stars.  While I highly recommend the article (and the developing comments dialogue), I can't copy the whole thing in this post, but I will show you his conclusion:
Do you have a Top 10 worthy of consideration? What about reducing the role of the ‘generals’ while cutting the defense budget by 25% and eliminating the mandatory army. What about being the first country, instead of always following others’ lead, to enact some ‘serious’ and meaningful human rights practices those others can emulate for their own. Reform the justice system, educate the illiterate, teach the ‘press’ to be more newsworthy and not play into the emotions of our culture. Help ‘westernize’ our people. Invest in the US. Join with Hollywood and find a cause to fight for, even if it's only for great publicity. Create more ‘branding.’ Become more ‘visible’ in the US, as well as Global Affairs. Do not materialize petty differences but focus on the new world order. Don't be afraid of God but be wary of organized religion. Modernize Islam. Bring an effective end to our obsession with sex and violence. Give women a real chance. Study the past and prepare for the future. Respect the customer and instill proper customer service.
Interesting links:
1.We are the Turks- blog devoted to biographies of notable Turkish-Americans.
2. Erkan's Field Diary has linked to an article from Sabah News about the rise of blogging in Turkey (in Turkish).
3. More of a teaser than a link, but next week I am planning a Turkish Food Blog extravaganza for this weekly.