Turkey Live Coverage (13 June): Concern over Syrian Refugees

2200 GMT: The first reaction to Israel's recently declared report on the Mavi Marmara flotilla tragedy came from Turkey. According to Haaretz, one official from the Foreign Ministry underlined the importance of an official apology and added:

The State Comptroller [Micha Lindenstrauss]'s report regarding the decision making process is not in Turkey's interest. If the reports we received are correct, it shows that the attack on the Mavi Marmara and the killing of the Turkish nationals could have been prevented.

1930 GMT: The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu writes about the Kurdish problem on his Twitter account:

CHP aims at solving every problem in a legitimate platform. The legitimate platform of this problem is the Parliament. Politicians shall discuss problems with every dimensions. There are terror, psychologic, economic and social dimensions of this problem. 

If we do not solve this problem, external actors come into play. Without solution, emotional breaks emerge. If this problem can be discussed everywhere, why not under the roof of the Parliament? 

Click to read more ...

Turkey Live Coverage (2 April): After the "Friends of Syria" Left....

1545 GMT: The President of the Constitutional Court, Hasim Kilic, speaking at the International Judicial Reform Symposium, has said that politics cannot compromise the judiciary. He said that major problems in the Turkish legal system are due to problems in practice, including a lack of objectivity among judges, shortcomings in vocational education, and a distancing from universal values. Hasin continued:

Judicial practices that know no bounds and that cannot be accounted for engendered the outcome of paying heavy prices and formed the justification of amendments in the laws and the Constitution itself. Just as we objected to the aims of the judiciary in surrounding politics, we will not give permission to politics to surround the judiciary today.

The state of law is formed and developed in line with the way you use the language [of laws and rules]. Making judges free from worries, fears, ideological pressures and emotions of "friend & enem"' in his/her inner world is the sine qua non of his/her objectivity. As long as the invasions of consciences are not overcome, it is impossible to provide an independent and objective judiciary.

Click to read more ...

Protest and the Web: The US Government's Initiative for "Internet in a Suitcase" (New York Times and Al Jazeera English)

The New York Times and Al Jazeera English promote the efforts of the US Goverment and non-government organisations such as the New America Foundation to bypass restrictions on the Internet in other countries:

NEW YORK TIMES: The Obama administration is leading a global effort to deploy “shadow” Internet and mobile phone systems that dissidents can use to undermine repressive governments that seek to silence them by censoring or shutting down telecommunications networks.

Click to read more ...