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Turkish Spring?

Swing_n_Speed

By Swing_n_Speed
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Swing_n_Speed Newbie

Swing_n_Speed

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It's on like Donkey Kong......in a nutshell this is the far right Islamist government v/s The Seculars. Protests initially were about the conversion of a huge park into a Shopping Mall and religious center. Things subsequently got out of hand. Police brutality ensued. There were casualties. The protests which began in Istanbul are now quickly spreading to other cities as well. My Turkish friend says this fight is for Attaturk, to restore his secular principles, against Erdogen who dreams of setting up the next Ottoman Caliphate! (her words not mine) Offcourse once again the mainstream media is woefully lagging in any coverage whatsoever. many will still have you believe this is an environmental protest. http://occupygezipics.tumblr.com/ Occuply-Gezi1.jpgANK03_TURKEY-REPUBLIC_1029_11.JPGhi-istanbul-protests.jpgRTX103XA1.jpg Ergogen is a bit of a physco so I fear things may take a turn for the worse. The only positive is that he doesn't have military backing, as a matter of fact the military is itching to get back at him. Nonetheless Erdogen has been in power long enough to have created and armed alternate militias, a trend so popular in the Arab world, leaders whom Erdogen is chaddi buddies with.

Crookbond Newbie

Crookbond

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It's on like Donkey Kong......in a nutshell this is the far right Islamist government v/s The Seculars. Protests initially were about the conversion of a huge park into a Shopping Mall and religious center. Things subsequently got out of hand. Police brutality. They were casualties. The protests which began in Istanbul are now quickly spreading to other cities as well. My Turkish friend says this fight is for Attaturk, to restore his secular principles, against Erdogen who dreams of setting up the next Ottoman Caliphate! (her words not mine) Offcourse once again the mainstream media is woefully lagging in any coverage whatsoever. many will still have you believe this is an environmental protest. Ergogen is a bit of a physco so I fear things may take a turn for the worse. The only positive is that he doesn't have military backing, as a matter of fact the military is itching to get back at him. Nonetheless Erdogen has been in power long enough to have created and armed alternate militias, a trend so popular in the Arab world, leaders whom Erdogen is chaddi buddies with.
I think it's unfair to categorize the media into one bucket. The good ones always report such incidents. Al Jazeera, NY Times (Global Edition), WSJ are covering this extensively.
Clarke Mentor

Clarke

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From what I've heard, its the military that has kept the country away from Islamization over the years. Sounds undemocratic, but that might be the reality.

Swing_n_Speed Newbie

Swing_n_Speed

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I think it's unfair to categorize the media into one bucket. The good ones always report such incidents. Al Jazeera' date=' NY Times (Global Edition), WSJ are covering this extensively.[/quote'] Aha you're probably right. I don't follow either of those I was getting updates on Twitter, RT and some Norwegian news channel. And it was frustrating cos British media were totally downplaying the protests. That said the story is picking up. BBC has even moved away from their environmental protests stand and now are reporting this as an anti Erdogen rebellion. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22739423 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20028295
zumi Newbie

zumi

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the Turkish military will fight tooth and nail to defend a secular Turkey if Islamisation of turkey gets to far ahead.

JourneyMan Newbie

JourneyMan

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If Erdogan is counting on the Arabs to bail him out, he's going to be disappointed. I'm wondering if this is going to end up being a military coup. If the military really is against him, then it should be a pretty straightforward affair because they're strong in Turkey.

Swing_n_Speed Newbie

Swing_n_Speed

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isnt he supposed to be a one who salvaged turkey of quite a financial mire some years back?
Yep he was at the helm during Turkey's economic revival. The way things are going though that bubble is about to burst. Merryl Lynch has already placed Turkey on recession watch. The stock market has halved over the past year. Short term obligations for Turkish business are at 59billion. Turkey's trade deficit ballooned to a tenth of its total output - as bad as that of Greece or Portugal. And the country has been borrowing on short-term money markets to finance the import bubble. Erdogan has the weirdest economic views of any serving head of government. He justified the credit bubble on religious grounds, pledging repeatedly to cut the "real" interest rate (the cost of interest minus the inflation rate) to zero. The biggest joke is last year the growth in the economy was entirely due to Gold sales, which was spurred by Iran which is trying to circumvent the problems of its sanctions-plagued banking sector and has been moving the precious metal out of Turkey, either directly or through third countries, as an alternative to cash. If I could I would short the Lira!No wonder Erdogen is so desperate to get into the recession plagued Euro-zone.
Pakistan Collaborator

Pakistan

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I support those on the streets of Istanbul. Leave Taksim Square alone! It's a site of great historical significance. We won it fifth time in Istanbul!

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