Oh They All Look Alike Anyway...

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(HaberTürk Newspaper, 5 July 2016)


"Hey, which one of you is Chinese?!" (none of the above).

The Istanbul wing of the Ülkü Ocakları (ultra right-wing
nationalists) held a march to support the Moslems of
East Turkistan (China's northwestern Xinjiang province). The
group began the march at Beyazit Square in Istanbul and
concluded it at Sultanahmet Square.

As the group was making a press statement, a splinter group
headed toward the Topkapı Palace, where they attacked a
group of Korean tourists they mistook for Chinese. Police
in front of the palace intervened and spirited the Korean
group away from the scene.


Getting pumped up before...what was it we were gonna do?

Police and the Ülkücü members then clashed, with the police
using pepper spray to disperse the group. One of the Korean
tourists subjected to the Ülkücü attack, smiled as she said
"I'm not Chinese, I'm Korean!".

Border Edition: Cow Flees, Baby Floats Away

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 4 July 2015)


Refused asylum in Armenia, she balks at return to Turkey.

A cow that was beaten by its shepherd in Halimcan village
of Kars province jumped into the Arpaçay River that forms
the border between Turkey and Armenia on 29 June. The
cow was dragged by the current to the Armenian side of the
river, where it was rescued by Armenian soldiers.


Halimcan village is in Kars's Digor district.


Engin Karadağ of Halimcan village applied to the Digor
district chief to get the cow back. On 2 July, district chief
İsa Bolat met with Armenian border officials and after a
protocol was signed, Amenian soldiers brought the cow to
the Arpaçay River bank.

When the animal balked at returning to Turkey, a rope was
thrown across the river and the cow's owner and relatives
entered the water and pulled the cow to the Turkish side.


       Kars province, on the border with Armenia.


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

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 4 July 2015)


Drifting towards an EU life in Greece, Melda was turned back.

The Ilgin family was vacationing on the beach at Küçükkuyu
in Çanakkale's Ayvacık district and they put their 10-month
old baby Melda into the water in a floating rubber raft.
Somehow, the parents did not notice that the wind dragged
their child out to sea.


          Küçükkuyu at top center.

Fortunately, Turkish Coast Guard boat 'TCSG-8' was able
to retrieve the baby about one kilometer off shore, as she was
drifting toward the Greek island of Midilli (Lesvos). Tiny
Melda was rescued to the accompaniment of applause from
the shore.

            Çanakkale province.

Fast-breaking News: A Tale of Two Towns

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(HaberTürk Newspaper, 3 July 2015)


Yerköy'ers can chow down 1 minute before Çiçekdağ'ers.

Yozgat Yerköy and Kırşehir Çiçekdağı...their geographic
position and social structure make them two districts
very much within each other...and this togetherness has
increased as they both have expanded.

But this situation has created some oddities for both
towns and it has them both living in 'araf'' (a place
separating heaven from hell).  For example, neighbors
live close to one another but they have to dial either
the Yozgat area code or the Kırşehir one in order to
phone each other.


    Yerköy and Çiçekdağ located at center left.

The oddities have increased during the holy month of
Ramazan. Those living between the two mosques of
the two districts have a difficult time at 'iftar' (evening
fast-breaking time) because the iftar times for each
mosque are one minute apart.

If a neighbor gets confused and breaks his fast
according to the time of the 'wrong' mosque, then
they he might sin by eating too soon. Mehmet Doğan,
who has lived in Çakmak neighborhood of Çiçekdağ
for 40 years, explained that "the call to prayer happens
at 20:20 in Yozgat's Yerköy district and at 20:21 in
Kırşehir's Çiçekdağ district. So people in Çiçekdağ
may break their fast too early by mistake. We're in
Çiçekdağ but physically closer to Yerköy, so we
have to be careful."



 

Asylum Edition: Jet-Skis and Purloined Passports

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(HaberTürk Newspaper, 2 July 2015)


Asylum-seeking for the rich and infamous.

Human traffickers who arrange for illegal migration along
the Aegean coast are now taking migrants who want to
reach the Greek islands on jet-skis.  With the name "guaranteed
jet escape", the organizers get 10,000 UDS from migrants with
enough money for the special transit. However, three days ago
two Syrian who tried to get to the island of Kos, near Bodrum,
on a jet-ski were caught along with an organizer.

Those who can't afford the jet-ski trip, pay 1,000 USD to
board a Zodiak rubber boat or other vessel to make the trip.
Bodrum, Kuşadası and Ayvalık are the preferred departure
points for asylum-seekers heading to the Greek islands.  


      Turkish-Greek Aegean Sea border.

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

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(HaberTürk Newspaper, 2 July 2015)


                    Take your pick!

Human trafficking knows no limits. The traffickers have begun
to bring false passports into Turkey by cargo from abroad.
Based on a tip, anti-smuggling police teams conducted an
operation a few days ago at a cargo distribution center in Ikitelli,
Istanbul. Turkish citizen S.S. (58), K.A. (31) and Moroccan
M.O. (45) came to pick up the cargo containing the passports
and the three were taken into custody.

After the suspects gave statements they were released (!). In
the cargo package there were 30 passports, mostly French, but
also ones from Denmark, Germany, Holland, Lithuania, Finland,
Romania, Norway, Sweden and Austria. Nineteen of the passports
had been stolen and the others may have been sold by their
owners to the gang.

The traffickers sell the passports to migrants trying to get to
Europe by air for between 10 and 15,000 Euros. The picture
on the passport is not altered and the traffickers make the
necessary esthetic alterations on their customer to conform
with the passport picture. Generally, this method is used at
airports where there is a heavy tourist flow.

 
Where the passports are...cargo hubs in Ikitelli, Istanbul.