fantastic. love the music too. It's particularly impressive to capture dome interiors as moving images like in that video as they're very difficult to light so they look good (they're probably still photos motion graphics). Those images remind me of a photographer I really like, David Stephenson... they may even be his. He has an extraordinary dome series. I first became aware of him about 10 years ago when one of his star series photos was on the cover of NYT Sunday magazine.
taklalaratar, some impressive playing in that video... do you know what the song is about?
I would say yes, for the most part, although the conclusion at the end is kinda vague to me. I don't think the coup was half baked, it was naive. It did involve at least two branches, the Army and the Air Force, and it did involve many generals. Eight generals did escape in a Blackhawk to Greece to seek asylum. It was naive in the sense as to how it saw or didn't see the role of social media. It was old school. Take over the state television and key transit points and declare it had assumed control. Erdogan did understand social media and called everyone to the streets immediately presenting the undertakers of this coup with the unpleasant choice of killing their own brothers and sisters to keep going. It was what effectively doomed the coup and in short order. I seriously believe that the military was acting with the best of intentions, to keep Turkey a secular state, as it has done in the past.
I stand by my statement that Erdogan and Morsi are the Muslim Brotherhood, whom I see as evil players, not the benevolent people that Obama tries to make us believe. As to Obama's personal favor of the MB, I remind all of his hosting them to a state level meeting with all the trimmings at the White House, while Netanyahu was forced to use the service entrance for his meetings with Obama at the same time period.
Back to Erdogan, he's gonna put his crazy train into overdrive now that he has effectively removed all opposition. He is not a friend of the west. He is not a friend to women.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accused the United States of "hypocrisy" and "double standards" and said the American soldiers might just as well have worn the logo of Al-Qaeda, the IS group or Boko Haram.
The United States has blacklisted the PKK as a "foreign terrorist organisation" but regards its Syrian-based sister group the YPG as a useful ally in the face of the Islamic State threat.
US military officials say they will continue to work with the YPG, which provides the bulk of the so-called "Syrian Democratic Forces" fighting ISIS.
Erdogan pledged on Saturday to pursue Turkey's military operations against the PKK, who he dubbed atheists.
"Haven't they destroyed our mosques? These people are atheists... They do not act according to our values," he said, promising to "see through to the end" the fight against PKK.
The Islam flag is raised once again to justify the war against the Kurds.
After the president arrived in Washington on Tuesday night, his security team got right to work, harassing protesters and journalists outside his hotel, as writers for one of the papers recently shuttered by Erdogan’s government noted.
That display of intolerance for dissent followed reports this week that Turkey’s foreign ministry had summoned Germany’s ambassador to complain about a satirical music video mocking Erdogan that was broadcast recently on German television. “We demanded,” a Turkish diplomat told Agence France-Presse, that the show “be removed from the air.”
The Germany foreign ministry confirmed the encounter on Tuesday.
A German diplomatic source told AFP that Ambassador Martin Erdmann rejected the request, explaining that “in Germany, political satire is covered by the freedom of the press and of expression, and the government has neither the need for, nor the option of, taking action.” (...)
It's a persistent myth being trotted out regularly which suits the narrative of demonization: "They don't condemn terrorism and are all (potentially) evil."
If one cares to look (which most don't) you can indeed find numerous reactions of the sort you posted to each and every event. Reputable polls also show a different picture.
Of course it is still a one way street when all Muslims are required to speak out against people who may be unrelated in many ways except for their religion. Are there such requirements when for instance hundreds if not thousands of innocent Muslims get bombed by drones? Do we require all {insert group here} to condemn such actions?
As for Turkey the question should be why is this happening? And the answer is that this is likely related to their actions against the Kurds in both Syria and Iraq (as well as at home).
While the loss of innocent life in such attacks is obviously deplorable, the same goes for the Turkish campaign against the Kurds, which has long been a point of contention between the EU and Turkey.
I'll bite too. In most arab countries the reactions on twitter after the Paris bombins were like: "They deserved it because of fighting against muslims" The children of my muslim neighbours were dancing on the streets of joy after 9/11. No imam or any other muslim (except one politician) in the Netherlands condemned any of the great terrorist attacks in the past 20 years. I'll bet that Paris was a short news event too in muslim countries. They have other issues like a civil war or bombings of their own so I get that. That's why they should not act suprised when a bombing in our backyard upsets us more than a bombing in their backyard. This is how things work in the world.
I'll bite too. In most arab countries the reactions on twitter after the Paris bombins were like: "They deserved it because of fighting against muslims" The children of my muslim neighbours were dancing on the streets of joy after 9/11. No imam or any other muslim (except one politician) in the Netherlands condemned any of the great terrorist attacks in the past 20 years. I'll bet that Paris was a short news event too in muslim countries. They have other issues like a civil war or bombings of their own so I get that. That's why they should not act suprised when a bombing in our backyard upsets us more than a bombing in their backyard. This is how things work in the world.
It is very easy to look at terror attacks that happen in London, in New York, in Paris and feel pain and sadness for those victims, so why is it not the same for Ankara? Is it because you just don't realise that Ankara is no different from any of these cities? Is it because you think that Turkey is a predominantly Muslim country, like Syria, like Iraq, like countries that are in a state of civil war, so therefore it must be the same and because you don't care about those ones, then why should you care about Turkey? If you don't believe that these attacks in Ankara affect you, or you can't feel the same pain you felt during the Paris or London attacks, then maybe you should stop to think why, why is it that you feel like that. Turkey is an amazing country with truly wonderful people. I have never felt more welcome, more happy, more safe than I do here.
Ankara is my home, it has been for the last 18 months, and it will continue to be my home.
You were Charlie, you were Paris. Will you be Ankara?See More