Tops in Child Porno
According to world-wide “Google Trends” research, the world’s top five cities hitting child-porn sites are all in Turkey, Trabzon, Izmir, Adana, Ankara and Istanbul respectively. Next in line are Auckland, Melbourne, Seattle, Tampa and Sydney.
(Radikal, 23 Dec. 2006)
Christians under pressure
Pressure on the Christian community did not let up this year. Early in the year a priest was shot while praying in his church in the city of Trabzon (the same Trabzon which leads the world in child porno hits) and another priest was knifed. Molotof Cocktails were thrown at several Istanbul Protestant church fellowship, one of which was severely damaged. Two Turkish Christians were arrested on obviously trumped up charged. Their court cases are ongoing. For more info go to the Compass Direct site, linked to www.pikkert.com.
Funnies
Muslims, failing to see the link, responded to a cartoon in the Danish newspaper Jyland Posten depicting Muhammed wearing a bomb as a turban, by bombing, rioting and killing innocent bystanders. A cartoonist depicting the Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayip Erdogan, as a cat caught in a ball of wool was sued by Mr. Erdogan. The Prime Minister lost the case.
Papa Don’t Preach
The Pope undertook major damage control during his visit to Turkey. He arrived unwelcome, after apparently linking Islam with violence. However, he played a weak hand well…
Nobel Matters
When Orhan Pamuk received the Nobel Prize for Literature, a few Turks rejoiced. Most seemed to think it was a western plot to support a national traitor because he once suggested that Turks were involved in an Armenian genocide.
Holy Sledge
The Prime Minister’s blood sugar dropped during Ramazan (month of fasting). As a result he fainted while sitting in the back of his car. His chauffeur raced to a nearby hospital, where both he and the body guard jumped out of the armoured car in a panic—which promptly auto-locked. They tried to break into the car using a “No Parking” sign, but to no avail. They then scrounged up a sledge hammer from a nearby construction site and eventually managed to rescue their man, who was bundled off on a stretcher, legs dangling everywhere. Member of Parliament and party yes-man Feyzi Berdibek bought the sledge from the workmen, annoucing he’d treasure the sacred object forever.
Oops…
Mehmet Ali Agca, the fellow who tried to kill Pope John Paul II back in the 80s and who really did kill newspaper man Abdi Ipekci, was finally released after nearly 25 years in prison. Following a public outrcy the court decided that they had “wrongly calculated” his release, whereup Mr. Agca was promptly rearrested and sent to back to his cell. He is now due to be freed in 2014.
Good times for Turkish cinema
After a long decline following the demise of the Yesilcam films of the 70s and 80s the Turkish film industry is making a comeback. In 2005 27 Turkish films were shown in cinemas. I’m not certain of the total number of films for 2006—but more than 20 were produced since September. The top 2 are probably Takva and Hokkabaz.
Attack on Supreme Court
A nationalist nut, lawyer Alparslan Arslan, attacked the Supreme Court Judges. One, Mustafa Yucel Ozbilgin died, 4 others were injured. He had already thrown a bomb at the Ankara office of Cumhuriyet newspaper earlier that day.
Jet Ski Imam
An “ultra-conservative” imam, Ahmet Mahmut Hoca, was caught living the high life in Malta. Women, visits to churches, and racing around on a Jet Ski struck most of the faithful back home as a bit odd.
Tights
Colourful tights are all the rage in Turkey this season.
A la Turca Highs and Lows of 2006 « pikkert
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