'Trouble-maker' Girls Tie Bureaucracy in Knots

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Yeni Şafak Newspaper, 29 November 2016)


"Hey, ?+%& your call to prayer. It's making me think about 
jumping off the balcony." (a bit too loud for Umay hanım)

Umay Anadolu Kaboğlu posted a message on social media on
the night of 15 July as the coup was taking place.  Kaboğlu's
post was critical of the ezan (call to prayer) eminating from a
mosque near her and her message contained a curse word.

The public prosecutor on the Anatolian side of Istanbul started
an investigation.  In the subsequent indictment Kaboğlu claimed
that she did not issue the 'tweet' in question, that she did issue
her last tweet at about 11 PM criticizing the coup-plotters,  and
that her Twitter account may have been stolen during the night.

However, the prosecutor stressed that although the suspect
claimed to have not issued the offending tweet, on the date of
the alleged crime and afterwards she used her Twitter account.
Consequently, the suspect's defense should be considered an
attempt at saving herself and in the indictment the opinion
was reached that her defense was without merit.

The indictment stated that Kaboğlu should be tried for the
crime of "publicly denigrating a religion that a portion of
the populace adheres to."  A sentence of from 6 months to
one year in jail was requested.  In the event that the court
accepts the indictment Kaboğlu's trial will begin.


Calls from mosques rallied the public to resist the coup on 
15 July.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Milliyet Newspaper, 30 November 2016)


   Public prosecutor with time to kill finds a target.

Güneş Erzurumluoğlu (20) was seriously injured when a piece
of shrapnel hit her neck during an explosion in Suruç district of
Şanlıurfa province.  She has been in a wheelchair ever since.
Believing that no treatment was available for her in Turkey,
Güneş hanım started a campaign on social media so she could
go to a clinic in Basel, Switzerland.

However, the Kocaeli public prosecutor fined Güneş hanım
1,103 TL (about 300 USD) for acting contrary to the Aid
Gathering Law and based on article 36 of the misdemeanor law.
Güneş hanım explained that "people wanting to help asked for
an account number so we started a campaign on the internet.
When friends told us we had to get permission we stopped the
campaign and submitted the proper documents to the governor's
office."

"We submitted a document from 10 professors testifying that
I am 98% handicapped and will need lifelong treatment. The
governor's office, though, considered this insufficient. They
said that a letter had come to them from the police saying that
we were collecting money for an illegal organization."

Güneş hanım added that the aid campaign is continuing on an
international website. "People are helping through that site.
We have filed an objection to the (1,103 TL) fine and the legal
process is ongoing."


           Suruç is hard by ISISistan.

Trump: The Deer Hunter

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 30 November 2016)


  Promised to bring back some Turkish Delight.

Eric Trump (32), the son of President-elect Donald Trump, came
to Antalya at the invitation of a Turkish businessman.  Young
Trump stayed in Antalya for three days and went hunting for
wild deer in the hinterlands near Finike, with the permission of
the Nature Protection and National Parks Directorate.

Trump, who came to hunt in order to de-stress after the long election
campaign, departed Antalya yesterday at 11:40 aboard  a regularly
scheduled commercial flight to Germany.  A senior Turkish official
told Hürriyet in connection with Trump's surprise trip that Trump
was very pleased with the visit.


         Eric's beard didn't fool anybody.

Trump came to Antalya with his own private bodyguards and
entered and exited Antalya Airport via the VIP lounge.  Permission
was not granted to photographers who wanted to take pictures as
Trump waited in the lounge to board his plane.  Turkish authorities
deployed guards for Trump and arranged for him to use the VIP
lounge upon notification of the visit from the U.S. Embassy.

Fleeting 'Taken 2' Fame Taken, Too

//ed. note: digital Turkish version unavailable.//

(HaberTürk Newspaper, 28 November 2016)


 
 "Are those the haunting notes of Necati's kemençe I hear..."

Necati Yılmaz of Rize lives in Istanbul and he had a part in
the 2012 film 'Taken 2', staring Liam Neeson, where he got
to play his 'kemençe' (3-string violin-like instrument).  But
his fate didn't change, for he still plays his instrument along
İstiklal Avenue in Istanbul in order to make ends meet.

Originally from Güneysu in Rize, Yılmaz has been playing
his kemençe on İstikbal Avenue for 15 years.  He retired from
the baking trade and took up the kemençe.  Everyone along the
avenue knows him, which is how he got the part in 'Taken 2',
directed by Olivier Megaton.

We encountered Yılmaz as he sat and played on the avenue
the other day. He said that "I was sitting right here when I
got the film offer.  I was on the set for a day. I even met the
lead actor (Liam Neeson).  They wanted me to play my
kemençe as part of a scene and they paid me 1,000 TL."


                                 Rize province

Bionic Arm Latest Challenge for 'Superwoman'

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Milliyet Newspaper, 27 November 2016)


Next time you complain about the sniffles, think of her.

Zübeyde Nisa Karabacak (26) lost her arm from the elbow down
in an accident in Gaziantep on 21 March.  Searching the internet
for a prosthetic arm, Zübeyde hanım learned that 'Touch Bionics'
produces prosthetics that are controlled by one's brain.

Next, Zübeyde hanım contacted the company's distributor in
Turkey, Simay Medikal, and provided her arm's measurements.  The
bionic arm was manufactured in England for Zübeyde hanım and
brought to Izmir, where it was attached to her natural arm.


Losing an arm was nothing, after thyroid cancer and heart attacks.

Now, with her new bionic arm, and using 'brain power', Zübeyde
hanım can shake hands, hold a glass of tea and use a computer,
not to mention put make-up on.

As for Zübeyde hanım's life before her bionic arm, she fell victim
to thyroid cancer at age 18 and successfully battled the disease for
5 years.  After that, she suffered two heart attacks before losing her
arm. (!)

Maintaining a positive attitude (somehow!), Zübeyde hanım
embraces life with vigor and says "I can't describe my joy.  The
first night I had it, I slept with my prosthetic arm.  When I hold
something with my new hand I scream with delight."  The cost
of the brain-controlled prosthetic arm is 150,000 TL (about 50,000
USD).

"Widow Village" (Not!)

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(HaberTürk Newspaper, 26 November 2016)


Happily married ladies, from left: Ayşe, Fatma, Ayşe, Fatma, Ayşe.

The village of Dulköy, with its 340 households and 1,200 residents,
is part of Araklı district of Trabzon province.  But because of its name
the village has been split in two.  In particular, the women and young
girls of the village have applied to village chief Selahattin Akyıldız
to have the name of the village changed.

//ed. note: 'dul' means 'widow' but people also use it to refer to 
divorcés.//

The women say that "people think that widows live in this village.
Anyone who hears the name of the village makes fun of it.  Other
villagers, claiming that the name of the village comes from the
Dulkadiroğulları Principality, object to any change.

Nevertheless, since 932 villagers signed a petition for the change
the village chief submitted it to the Araklı district chief and
suggested that the village's new name be 'Çamlıca'.  Being very
diplomatic, Araklı Mayor Recep Çebi said that "we want to make
an evaluation that represents the majority. Everyone's voice should
be heard."


Village chief Selahattin Akyıldız even has a widow's peak hairline.

Village chief Akyıldız noted that "the village's name is very annoying
for us.  Writing 'dul' (widow) on identity papers bothers our people.
Just about everyone wants the name changed.  The Araklı mayor says
the petition will have to go to the Trabzon assembly for a decision. I
looked in the history books and there's no connection at all between
our village and the Dulkadiroğulları Principality."

dulkadiroğulları principality nowhere near Dulköy

One of the women of the village, Esma Ay, remarked  "Can a
village have 'widow' for its name?  People think that the people living
here are all widows.  Our children are embarrassed by the name. Why
hasn't it been changed by now?!"  Another village woman, Safiye
Kara said "the country is laughing at us, we're ashamed of the village's
name."

Village chief Akyıldız offered these examples of the burdens of being
from Dulköy: "we gave a girl as a bride to another province. At the
marriage table, when the groom heard the name of her village he
said 'I won't marry a widow!'  We convinced him, but with difficulty.
And once I was in Ankara getting a license and the woman there asked
for the name of my village.  When I said 'Dul' she asked again and
said 'sir, I'm not asking for your marital state, I'm asking for the name
of your village."


Araklı district is in east-central Trabzon province.

Animal Edition: They're Better Off Without Us

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(HaberTürk Newspaper, 25 November 2016)


                      No comment.

Driver M.V., who tied his dog to the back of his car in
Çorlu district of Tekirdağ province, has been fined 526 TL
(about 175 USD).  Explaining that he owns the dog in
question, M.V. said "my dog was stolen two days ago. When
I found him he was two blocks from my house.  He's too big,
so I didn't put him in the car."


Well, there's at least one human who's humane.

The Çorlu District Animal Protection Council fined the driver
526 TL, in accordance with the appropriate section of the law
that punishes "behaving badly toward animals, torturing them,
beating them, leaving them without food or water, in the cold
or the heat, and neglecting them." The council will meet again
in the coming days to consider an additional penalty for M.V.


               Tekirdağ province

------------------------------------------------------------------------
türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Milliyet Newspaper, 25 November 2016)


                      "Wilbur, where are you?!"

In Balıkesir's Edremit district, a horse that was wandering around
the side streets near the Abidin Pakmaya Anadolu High School was
chased by some children.  The spooked horse ran down PTT
Avenue in the Soğanyemez neighborhood and crashed into the top
of a fishermen's shed.

Startled onlookers, seeing that the horse was stuck inside, called
the city for help and a veterinarian arrived at the scene, along
with rescuers.  Since the horse was too big to get through the
shed's door, efforts began to lift the horse through the roof. Then,
by means of a back-hoe the horse was lifted out of the shed on
the second try.


                Safely back home.

The horse was not hurt and it was delivered to its owner who
came to the scene.  Fortunately, there was no one in the shed
when the horse crashed through the roof.


Edremit district is on the Aegean in western Balıkesir.