Murderer? Well, Yes. Thief? Never!

turkce links to original Turkish article

(Hurriyet Newspaper, 15 July 2014)


No honor among thieves, according to Galip bey.

Galip Ozdemir (47) was caught while carrying a
suitcase containing the body parts of his girlfriend
Esma Ekinci (37) whom he had killed and then
dismembered in a hotel room in Antalya. However,
when accused of robbery Ozdemir took great
exception, declaring  "give me life in prison for
the murder but I can't tolerate one day in jail with
robbery on my record!"

Continuing, Ozdemir said that "My children will be
judges and prosecutors. Don't let there be any harm
to them coming from me. I don't want to offend the
deceased in God's presence. She's dead and gone
but I took care of all her needs."

Ozdemir's remarks shocked the courtroom. Last
year on 26 December Ozdemir first smothered his
girlfriend Esma Ekinci in a hotel room. He then took
her body to the bathtub, cut her into pieces and put
the body parts in a suitcase. Ozdemir next went to
a forest where he buried Ekinci's hands, which he
had severed from her wrists. Later Ozdemir was
caught by the Gendarmerie with the suitcase
containing the body.


Antalya province, on Turkey's Med coast.

The Blessed Little Whore House in Amsterdam

ingilizce links to original English article

(IslamicOnline, 14 July 2014)


Amsterdam without those annoying bicycles...


AMSTERDAM – An eccentric plan for an Amsterdam bar that allegedly offers its Muslim visitors “halal” prostitutes has been announced by a Belgian news agency, an idea expected to raise controversy among the city’s Muslim population.

“As everyone else, there are Muslims who want to go to prostitutes and could not do so without violating their religion,” Jonathan Swik, the future manager of the bar and former manager of a hotel in Gembloux, told Nord Presse last week.

“Today, thanks to the Croissant chaud, all Muslims wishing to indulge can do so without committing the haram,” he added.

According to the Belgian news agency Nord Presse, the inauguration of the new bar is planned next June.

Named «Croissant chaud», the new bar would allegedly offer halal prostitutes to Muslim customers interested in the services offered by the bar and who might have religious concerns.

The agency claims that the bar idea was approved by three “moderate” imams who have drafted rules and conditions governing this place.

“Our criteria to certify halal hostesses were developed in partnership with 3 open, moderate imams,” Swik said.

These conditions include that prostitutes have a total ban on drugs or alcohol and are tested every 2 months.

They will also have to perform their five daily prayers, even if some of them should be performed during a service, he added.

However, Swik did not clarify how relations between unmarried couples would be made lawful in the new bar.

Muslims make up one million of the Netherlands’s 16 million population, mostly from Turkish and Moroccan origin.

Update from the ISIL-Rojava Battlefront

turkce links to original Turkish article

(Hurriyet Newspaper, 13 July 2014)


On the battlefront in Rojava, western Kurdistan

According to Salih Muslim, the co-chairman of the Syria
Democratic Union Party (PYD),"ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq
and Levent) has moved a portion of the weapons the group
seized from the Iraqi army in Mosul to Kobani and now
they are using these weapons against us (Syrian Kurds)."

In a statement he gave to Hurriyet, Muslim stated that ISIL
is currently attacking Kobani's Carikli Hill and the villages
of Beyadiye, Ziyaret and Zormar in the Kurdish region of
Syria close to the Turkish border. Attending a conference
entitled "Consequences of the Syrian Crisis for the People
of Syria and Turkey" in Paris, Muslim told Hurriyet that
there has been heavy fighting in the area since the night
before last.



Muslim went on to say that "ISIL has targeted us both in
Iraq and in Rojava (western Kurdistan in Syria). Last night
(the night before last) ISIL attacked Kobani and this
morning (yesterday morning) they entered three villages
with tanks.  The villages are surrounded on three sides and
the other side is the Turkish border. This morning we
learned that 4,5 vehicles and a tank belonging to ISIL were
destroyed. Kobani is resisting."

The PYD leader noted that ISIL is much stronger from the
standpoint of military ammunition and he added that "the
latest technical (weapons) that ISIL got from Mosul are
giving our people difficulty."  In a statement he gave to
AA (Anatolian News Agency), Muslim asserted that "ISIL
has moved some of the weapons it seized from the Iraqi
army in Mosul to Kobani and they're using these weapons
against us now. These include armored tanks, mortars and
other heavy weapons. In particular, we are having trouble
stopping the armored tanks because normal bullets have
no effect on these tanks. We're looking for anti-tank
explosives and other heavy weapons on the black market."

Rage Against 'Obscene' Statues Spreads to Urfa!

turkce links to original Turkish article

(Milliyet and Hurriyet Newspapers, 12 July 2014)


The Puritans could have used Sahin bey.

In Siverek district of Sanliurfa province, fruit-seller
Sahin Akguler put a scarf on the head of the statue
of a girl in a municipal park. Akguler also tied a
shawl around the statue's midsection.

Akguler claimed that the statue was disturbing
citizens and so, during the holy month of Ramazan,
he decided to cover certain areas of the statue.
Citizens, for their part, viewed the covered up
statue with surprise.


Siverek district is in NE Sanliurfa province.

'Obscene' Statues Controversial in Ordu Province

turkce links to related Turkish article

(Hurriyet Newspaper, 10 July 2014)


Beauty is in the eye (or spray can) of the beholder.

The people of Ordu will decide whether to remove
"obscene" statues from their parks and boulevards.
The statues in question were created by artists who
participated in the International Stone Statue Symposium
held in Ordu two years ago


      "where is your decency?!"

Mayor Engn Tekintas of the AK Party (a religiously
conservative party headed by PM Tayyip Erdogan)
stated that "we're getting lots of complaints because
the statues are being defaced. We don't want to give
any reason for incitement so we'll evaluate it after
we take a poll."


                 Modesty, please.

When statues of female figures were sprayed with
the words "where is your decency?!" the municipality
brought in masters students from the sculpture faculty
of Erzurum's Ataturk University to repair the statues.


Ordu province, along the Black Sea coast.

ISIL's Battlefront in 'Rojava', Western Kurdistan

turkce links to original Turkish article

(Hurriyet Newspaper, 9 July 2014)

//ed. note: with much of the focus on ISIL's Iraq attack,
its push against Rojava (Western Kurdistan) in northern
Syria has been little noticed. Herewith a timely report with
unique information on ISIL's Rojava battlefront, hard by
the Turkish border.//



The reason why ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and Levent, or
just Islamic State)  has been able to so easily put pressure on
Kobani is because ISIL holds Rakka/Sarrin to the south, Tel
Ebyad to the east and Jarablus in the west. According to
information provided to Hurriyet by Idris Nassan, the deputy
foreign minister of the Kobani Canton, ISIL now surrounds
Kobani on three sides and has taken three villages on the
Euphrates River - Zor Mugar' Beyadi and Ziyaret - some
40-45 kilometers from Kobani.

Rojava's military force YPG (People's Defense Units) drove
ISIL back, resulting in over 100 ISIL casualties. ISIL left
behind an armored Hummer, a tank, a number of docka (?)
and automatic weapons. ISIL evacuated civilians in places
it targeted but also lost 16 lives there. Suleyman Shah's
Tomb (the tomb of the grandfather of Ottoman Empire
founder Osman, which is sovereign Turkish territory) was
attacked by ISIL on Monday and bombs of an undetermined
type were fired by ISIL on Kun Eftar village, just north of
the tomb.

YPG lost two fighters in this battle, while ISIL suffered
losses of between 20 and 30 men. ISIL did not achieve its
intentions in its attack on Jarablus and began an assault
against Tel Ebyad to the east.  Yesterday, ISIL hit the
village of Evdiko, 8 kilometers west of Tel Ebyad, and 6
Kurds died in the fighting.  ISIL also blew up a tractor
trailer carrying bombs at a YPG location at Ebu Surra
village, 60 kilometers south of Tel Ebyad, resulting in
the deaths of 4 YPG members.

According to local sources, ISIL crucified a number of
Kurds in Jarablus with the aim of inducing people to
leave the area. KCK (Kurdish urban organization) has
declared a mobilization in the region.

Kobani official Nassan renewed his accusation that ISIL
is using the border gates it has seized at Tel Ebyad,
opposite Akcakale, and Jarablus, opposite Karkamis, for
logistical access and the movement of militants. Nassan
stated that "illegal border transits are being permitted at
the Rai location, 40 kilometers west of Kobani."

A journalist from Kobani, Barzan Iso, asserted to
Hurriyet that "even if they say that the border is closed
support is still flowing to regions controlled by ISIL.
Just a little while ago, an aid organization from Qatar
sent assistance to Jarablus."


               ISIL-Rojava Battlefront

Why Kobani? 

So why is Kobani the target?  Rojava lies within the
borders of ISIL's declared' Islamic State' caliphate.
ISIL has stated that it will change the name of Kobani,
which was called Ayn el Arap (Arabian eye) by the
Baathists, to 'Ayn el Islam' (Islam's eye).

Kobani has importance for a number of reasons. ISIL
sees Rojava as an obstacle to its caliphate in the region.
According to Nassan, by seizing Kobani ISIL wants
to demolish the democratic freedom project. In
addition to Kobani, ISIL wants to add Mursitpinar to
the border crossings it already holds in order to
strengthen its position on the Turkish border.

Kobani lies between Jarablus and Tel Ebyad, both
of which ISIL holds. Rather than using the 85
kilometer road from Jarablus to Tel Ebyad, ISIL
must now circumvent Kobani, a distance that
amounts to 250 kilometers.  If the Rojava line
falls then ISIL will add another 450 kilometer
region to that which it already has and control
the border with Turkey.

 
                 Turkish-Syrian border

Only Her Hairdresser Knows for Sure

turkce links to original Turkish article

(Hurriyet Newspaper, 8 July 2014)


And they say blondes have more fun...


Pelin Derya Cetinkaya (24) graduated from the mathematics
faculty of Akdeniz University, Antalya, in 2012. Next,
Cetinkaya took pedagogy training at Adnan Menderes
University in Aydin. In 2013, she went to the test center
for the KPSS (sort of a federal employee entrance exam)
examination and had her picture taken with her hair blonde.

Subsequently, Cetinkaya changed her hair color back to
its natural dark shade and had her national ID card picture
taken with this hair. On 5 July, Cetinkaya went to the KPSS
test site at Danisment Gazi Anadolu High School in Adana
but was  taken into custody by test observers who saw that
her test photo and ID photo did not match. Cetinkaya was
suspected of trying to take the test for someone else and
given over to the police.

At the police station Cetinkaya was interrogated and her ID
card was seized but she was eventually released. However,
because she didn't have her ID card, Cetinkaya was unable
to sit for the teachers exam in the afternoon and 13 months
of preparation went for naught.