dagblog - Comments for "Turkey: Wave of searches and arrests of investigative journalists"

Gulen presently heads a

AmericanDreamer — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:48:48 +0000

In reply to Follow up: Charges Against

Gulen presently heads a network of now about 130 charter schools operating with mostly taxpayer funding throughout the U.S.

From what I have been able to find out there is no evidence of crossing 1st amendment lines on church/state separation with a curriculum that illegally promotes the practice of Islam using taxpayer dollars. There definitely is promotion of Turkish culture in the form of Turkish dancing, for example (which I would not seek out for our kids as a use of school time I would favor but is in no way illegal and is not problematic to me if parents don't have a problem with it.) Some of the Gulen schools (which deny they form a "network") have hired Turkish emigres on H-1B visas at a time when thousands of U.S. citizen educators have been laid off due to budget cuts. The Gulen schools say that they are hiring the H-1Bs to fill employment needs they cannot fulfill in local labor markets.

I suspect that the above would be news to many American taxpayers.

Follow up: Charges Against

artappraiser — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 18:07:54 +0000

In reply to Turkey: Wave of searches and arrests of investigative journalists

Follow up:

Charges Against Journalists Dim the Democratic Glow in Turkey
By DAN BILEFSKY and SEBNEM ARSU, New York Times, January 4/5, 2012

ISTANBUL — A year ago, the journalist Nedim Sener was investigating a murky terrorist network that prosecutors maintain was plotting to overthrow Turkey’s Muslim-inspired government. Today, Mr. Sener stands accused of being part of that plot, jailed in what human rights groups call a political purge of the governing party’s critics.

Mr. Sener, who has spent nearly 20 years exposing government corruption, is among 13 defendants who appeared in state court this week at the imposing Palace of Justice in Istanbul on a variety of charges related to abetting a terrorist organization.

The other defendants include the editors of a staunchly secular Web site critical of the government and Ahmet Sik, a journalist who has written that an Islamic movement associated with Fethullah Gulen, a reclusive cleric living in Pennsylvania, has infiltrated Turkey’s security forces.

At a time when Washington and Europe are praising Turkey as the model of Muslim democracy for the Arab world, Turkish human rights advocates say the crackdown is part of an ominous trend. Most worrying, they say, are fresh signs that the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is repressing freedom of the press through a mixture of intimidation, arrests and financial machinations, including the sale in 2008 of a leading newspaper and a television station to a company linked to the prime minister’s son-in-law [....]

There is officially entirely

AmericanDreamer — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 05:22:58 +0000

In reply to There is officially entirely

There is officially entirely too much crazy shit going on for me to keep up with it all.

That makes two of us, at least.

There is officially entirely

kgb999 — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 05:19:12 +0000

In reply to Turkey: Wave of searches and arrests of investigative journalists

There is officially entirely too much crazy shit going on for me to keep up with it all.

Good highlight.

From the English-language

artappraiser — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 05:05:40 +0000

In reply to Turkey: Wave of searches and arrests of investigative journalists

From the English-language Turkish paper that is editorially pro-ruling party:

Odatv documents show plot to hinder Ergenekon investigation

Recent documents seized during a search of the Odatv office have revealed attempts to water down the ongoing investigation into Ergenekon, a clandestine gang charged with plotting to overthrow the government. Odatv.com is a news portal that is believed to be linked to Ergenekon.

07 March 2011 / TODAY'S ZAMAN, İSTANBUL

http://www.todayszaman.com/news-237535-odatv-documents-show-plot-to-hind...

Psychological war through media major strategy of pro-coup groups
A recent operation against the alleged media leg of the Ergenekon terrorist operation has once again come to reveal that pro-coup groups frequently use mass media as a major tool in their anti-democratic attempts.

07 March 2011 / BURAK KILIÇ, İSTANBUL

http://www.todayszaman.com/news-237516-psychological-war-through-media-m...

Turkey jails two more

artappraiser — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 04:55:16 +0000

In reply to Turkey: Wave of searches and arrests of investigative journalists

Turkey jails two more journalists over coup plot
By Ibon Villelabeitia, Reuters, March 6, 2011

ANKARA - A court on Sunday charged two more prominent journalists with links to an alleged plot to topple the Turkish government in a case that has raised worries of media freedom in Turkey.

Ahmet Sik and Nedim Sener, who have written investigative books about Turkey's clandestine "deep state" activities, were detained on Thursday with six other journalists after police raided their homes at dawn. They were jailed pending trial....

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/06/us-turkey-plot-idUSTRE7251G920...

Turkish Court Jails 2 Journalists
By SEBNEM ARSU, New York Times, March 6, 2011

ISTANBUL — A Turkish court ordered two journalists jailed on Sunday, pending the outcome of an investigation into accusations that the military plotted to overthrow Turkey’s pro-Islamic government in 2003.

The journalists, Nedim Sener and Ahmet Sik, were arrested after testifying for more than 14 hours about what the authorities said was their involvement in an effort to the topple the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Mr. Sener and Mr. Sik were known at the time for articles they wrote opposing a coup.

About 100 journalists waited in front of the courthouse as their colleagues were questioned.....

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/07/world/europe/07turkey.html?src=twrhp

oh the "bumping" thing

artappraiser — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 04:45:16 +0000

In reply to Thank you for your reply, and

oh the "bumping" thing doesn't ever concern me, my attitude is the more people posting things the better. And I would think anyone seriously interested in the "In the News" section would be clicking "more" for the full page(s.) I even suggested Genghis move the box to the bottom of the page when others were complaining about the front page real estate it was using; I figure the small audience that would be interested would still find it.

Thank you for your reply, and

AmericanDreamer — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 12:42:01 +0000

In reply to American,I'm flattered you'd

Thank you for your reply, and for the interesting link to the Herbert piece in the Why I Protest "In the News" link. Also, ironically, after your reply on the meta post "invitation", I realized, too late, that when I posted the "Why I Protest" news link, which was an opinion piece by a Madison protester, the news link you posted on Turkey turned into a pumpkin. Probably exhibit A for you--a true news piece getting bumped for an advocacy piece.

I will add that there's only

artappraiser — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 04:36:57 +0000

In reply to American,I'm flattered you'd

I will add that there's only one strong conclusion I have from my experience on sites like this:

The people interested in news and analysis and the ones coming for political activism and advocacy/activist journalism and punditry are two very separate audiences that clash when put together. They come for different things, don't mix well, and often irritate one another unnecssarily.

American,I'm flattered you'd

artappraiser — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 04:27:40 +0000

In reply to Off topic, I know. I have no

American,

I'm flattered you'd be interested but first, that comment to articleman along the lines of the internet and the role you see for it in humankind's future was meant a bit sarcastically. I don't really have any grand theories of that kind. Though I admit the theories that others have are of interest to me. Second, I can think of a gazillion other things I'd rather do than write an essay on it.

Besides doncha know ego-based blog churn is out of style? And that social media is the new black and churn has been relocated to Twitter.

I admit I am always tempted to pipe up when I see things occuring on a thread that relate to something I experienced in the past meta-wise or something happening related to a meta article I read somewhere. But I more often than not regret that I did so. At TPM I was just frustrated at the completely unnecessary idiocy of the tech incompetence, as I was there long enough to see it repeated over and over and over.

I should add: just look at what quinn has to say about Chris Lehmann's take down of Clay Shirky's ideas. Why would I want to submit myself to that kind of reaction to writing up something that I hated writing up and when I haven't studied as much on it as either of them?

All I've ever really been interested in on the net is finding a bunch of people to share the best reporting and wriiting by others and then analysis and discussion of it. When that ends up being something meta that people actually are debating the worth of doing (or even attacking people doing it in preference for advocacy writing and activism) of course I get dragged in.