#president of turkey

[girlactionfigure]

[simply-ivanka]

[relaxedstyles]

[eretzyisrael]

[davidaugust]

"Nothing is more meaningful than being part of a struggle for democracy. That’s why millions of Turks turned out to the polls and gave the opposition a historic victory in local governments across Turkey earlier this year. That’s how the Poles organized a winning coalition to vote out the conservative Law and Justice Party last year. It can happen here, too."

[nando161mando]

“People in Gaza wait for freedom flotilla”

Pro-Palestine activists disturb Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s speech, demanding support for the “Freedom Flotilla”.

#GazaGenocide

[palestinesposts]

Strong reaction from the whole world to Trump's pro-Israelism. The dream of American occupation by evicting 2 million people from Gaza is stupid. China, Russia, Turkey, Malaysia, Arab countries, including the US and European politicians are strongly condemning this statement of Trump.

[the-eyespy]

🇹🇷 Celebration after Erdogan's defeat in the municipal elections.

[head-post]

Turkey blocks access to Instagram in response to deleting posts about Hamas leader

The Information and Communication Technologies Authority of Turkey blocked access to social media platform Instagram, according to AP News.

The authority announced the decision on Friday morning but did not provide a reason. However, Turkish media reported that it was in response to Instagram deleting posts by Turkish users expressing condolences over the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.

Sanctions for Instagram’s blackout policy were swift. The Information Technologies and Communication Authority blocked access to Instagram.

Previously, Fahrettin Altun, communications director and assistant to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, sharply criticised the Meta platform for not allowing users in Turkey to post messages of condolence for Haniyeh.

Unlike its allies, Turkey does not consider Hamas a terrorist organisation. Erdoğan called the group “liberation fighters” instead. The country is also mourning Haniyeh on Friday.

However, Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul and a member of Turkey’s main opposition party, condemned the decision to block Instagram, accusing the communications body of acting as a “censorship unit.”

Social media is a platform that everyone uses for many purposes, including for commerce and communicating. It is unacceptable that a platform used by the entire country is arbitrarily shut down one morning.

Turkey has a history of censoring social media and websites. For example, it blocked the video hosting platform YouTube from 2007 to 2010.

Read more HERE

[donde-el-diablo-parquea-la-moto]

Thinking about Foolish becoming a KELP

[bopinion]

2024 / 29

Aperçu of the week

“This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.”

(Elmer Holmes Davis, US-American news reporter, author, Director of the United States Office of War Information during World War II and winner of the Peabody Award, the Alfred I. duPont Award and many more)

Bad News of the Week

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has often been called “Trump with a brain”. The same could be said of James David “J. D.” Vance. And that's what makes him so dangerous. And his selection as Trump's running mate a clever move from the Republican perspective. Vance stands for the American Dream like no other. From nothing, as a working-class child with a drug-addicted mother, he has worked his way up through military service and law school to become a successful businessman, a bestselling author and US senator.

That sells well. As does his “age” - if you can call it that at 39. And that he comes from the Rust Belt. And, of course, that he owes his success to America and the Almighty God. His political views are arch-conservative. Migration? No. Abortion rights? No. Ukraine support? No. Climate protection? No. Understanding of democracy? No. Welfare state? No. Creepy. Where Trump is vague, Vance is clear. He doesn't just play the tough guy, but seems to really believe in his wet reactionary dreams.

And he knows how to sell his political ideas eloquently. Presumably even to those for whom Trump's populism is too crude. And he also knows how to coherently explain his original blanket rejection of his current idol (“Never-Trumper”). After all, he has proven in office that he was and will be the best president of all time.

We will probably only find out in his memoirs whether Vance donned the Make America Great Again cap out of a calculation for power or out of real conviction. Either way, he will be able to score points with the electorate, which is clearly not immune to racism, sexism, homophobia, protectionism, conspiracy theories, exclusion, predatory capitalism or xenophobia and seems to have a second planet in the trunk.

Good News of the Week

I've been waiting all weekend for the breaking news. Finally it went “pling” and I read: Tadej Pogacar from Slovenia wins the Tour de France for the third time. And I said to myself that it was probably due to the coronavirus isolation at the beach house in Delaware that Joe Biden still hasn't realized that he's up against the wall in the presidential election. Or the announced visit by Benjamin Netanyahu, to whom he does not want to show any weakness. And then came the long-awaited news on Sunday evening Central European Time: Joe Biden is withdrawing his candidacy for re-election.

Unfortunately, contrary to general expectations, Biden has failed to put in place a solid succession plan during his term of office. Now, due to a lack of alternatives, he is also making an automatic case for his Vice President Kamal Harris. Her nomination before the 2020 election was “the best decision of his life”. There are disadvantages associated with the probable nomination of Harris: her approval ratings are hardly any better than those of Joe Biden recently. She lacks a profile of her own. Her track record as Vice President is rather poor.

On the other hand, Harris also has her (marketable) advantages: She is only 59 years “young”. She is known nationwide. She should be able to reach the female electorate and those with a (relatively recent) migration background. As the running mate so far, she probably has direct access to the donated campaign funds (war chest) and structures. She's already been vetted - and I don't mean the mandatory security checks for White House positions, but the search for “dirt” by Republicans.

With Harris' endorsement and initial support from notable Democrats, the likelihood of an open contest by the convention in late August has diminished significantly - even if that would have been the more democratic way to go. Biden's withdrawal comes late, but hopefully not too late. The US electorate can still be told that there is an alternative to Donald Trump that may even be more than just the lesser of two evils. Harris just needs to credibly step out of Biden's shadow. And sell her achievements better than Biden, whose political performance is not at all reflected in his approval ratings.

Personal happy moment of the week

There are people who have obviously done everything right in their lives. After a solid working life, they take a well-paid early retirement and celebrate this change with lots of friends at a nice party in their own garden. We were allowed to be there and enjoyed draught beer and a sumptuous buffet. And I ate a lamb skewer from the grill for the first time. Thank you very much, Stefan!

I couldn't care less...

...that Friday saw the biggest IT outage in history, with worldwide repercussions for air travel, retail, critical infrastructure such as hospitals, public administration and countless companies and private individuals. The error triggered by Crowdstrike paralyzed Windows. This may be by far the most widely used operating system globally, but in our household it reaches exactly 0.0%.

It's fine with me...

...that Ursula von der Leyen was elected by the European Parliament for a second term as President of the EU Commission. She has already successfully managed to keep the reins in her hands, even though the 27 heads of government of the member states like to run in different directions. With a strengthened right-wing, fairly reactionary conservatives, the migration issue condemned to eternal insolubility and a host of vested interests, it will not be easy to keep central projects such as the Green Deal on track. But Von der Leyen can be trusted to do so. Good luck.

As I write this...

...I'm listening to a brand new album by Deep Purple. The musicians are well into their 70s, but they still let it rip. The songs sound almost like leftovers from 50 years ago that a sound engineer found while sweeping up a well-known studio in Montreux. Nice.

Post Scriptum

We Germans know what it's like to (have to) be a divided country. And we were very lucky to be able to leave this behind us. Unfortunately, other peoples, such as the Koreans, cannot claim this for themselves. And there is still a divided country in Europe too: Cyprus.

The small island in the easternmost part of the Mediterranean has been suffering from an ethnic conflict between Greek and Turkish Cypriots for 50 years now. The conflict has a belligerent character, which the two protecting powers Greece and Türkiye - both of which are members of NATO - are virtually cheering on. The demarcation line with a buffer zone that divides the island is still monitored by UN blue helmets. Sad.

[betweenthetimeandsound]

Interesting article, especially thinking back to how Turkish-U.S. relations have deteriorated over the last decade. What would a better Turkey look like, and how would one get there?

[unabashednightmarepizza]

Just so you all know... I'm actually about to have a heart attack because of the elections... I wanna cry and shit like that 😭

[gay-----pisces2]

Fun fact: Abe Lincoln created Thanksgiving. So while your awkwardly listening to your Uncle who has been double fisting beers for half the night, and wishing your extended family didn't have an extended lifespan, know that President Lincoln created it to bring people together during the civil war.

But now people say that the pilgrims created it. Poor Lincoln.