Duru Irmak

Duru is finally here.

More on K.D.

Milliyet has a new article on Kadriye Demirel who was 'executed' by her big brother. The article details Kadriye's family's reaction to the event. In short, they think that 'her brother killing her is just normal. They say that "when he completes his sentence, the elders of the family will slap him few times, and the issue will not be discussed further."

The whole story is uglier than I first thought. Her brother killed her, because he would not be able to look at his family and friends in the eye if he hadn't killed her. He couldn't kill his cousin who raped his sister, because the cousin went to the police and tell them about the problem. Cousin's family 'did not want their son to marry her.'

At one point, the neighbors did not want to provide Kadriye a safe heavan. They were afraid that her brother will kill her in their house, and they will get into trouble.

All these event are taking place in the month of November 2003. There are some many shocking answers by the family member to the questions of the journalist, it is impossible for me to translate them all.

Here is the Milliyet article.

Another Ugly Day in Istanbul

Things seem to get worst since I started this blog. After Saturday's disaster, two other bombs were detonated in Istanbul. There are 27 deaths and hundreds injured.

Apparently, another Al Qaeda design... According to friends and family in Turkey, the streets emptied quickly, and everbody is waiting to understand what happened exactly.

I have received several pictures via e-mail. Some are here.

Feel-good movie of the season

Went to see 'Love Actually' tonight... It was a feel-good movie to the season, and possibly a 'chick movie,' but still, it was very good. Lost of famous actors, losts of stories, few very good scenes...

After the bombings

There are now 25 deaths in the sinagogue bombings. Hopefully this number will not go higher.

For the last three days Turkish newspapers are publishing the stories of the people who died in the bombings.

Today's news also include a decision given by the local goverment after a request from the Jewish leaders: All caskets, Jewish or Turkish, will be draped with Turkish flag.

Here is the article from Milliyet [Turkish]. Here is a Washington Port article.

Tradition!

Another 'honor killing' in Diyarbakir, Turkey, in the name of traditon. A young girl, K.D., 15, was raped and is six-months pregnant. Men of the family decided that she has dishonoured them.

The task of killing her is given to her brother, who is sixteen. Her mother and big sister tried to hide her. For twenty days, they were sucessful. Her brother, who has been chosen as the punisher, promised his mother that he would only talk to her, and took her back home. While walking, he took out his hatchet and hit her twice. She was down, he wasn't done. He took a big stone, kept hitting her. She died in the hospital.

This murder comes few months after the death of another young girl, Semse Allak, in Mardin, Turkey. She was stoned to death by her family for "staining their honor."

And, they call this 'tradition.'

Here is the Radikal article title 'Tradition is merciless.'

Sad day in Istanbul

A sad day for Turks and Jews in Turkey. Two bombs were detonated in front of two synagogues in Istanbul. 20+ dead and aprox. 300 injured.

As one of the local government officials said while visiting the sites, 'this' has no place in this century.

Home theater

On not-so-big screen this weekend:

- Finding Nemo... Still good, even on TV screen.
- O Simdi Asker / In the Army Now... About the short-term military service in Turkey. Very impressive...

Öncel Tuncay

One of legendary Galatasaray teachers died few days ago. Tuna Kiremitci [123] wrote this in Tempo magazine [in Turkish]:
Öncel Hoca öldü...

We had Öncel Tuncay as our 'Turkish language instructor' at 7th and 8th grade. All I know about Turkish, I learned from him :) Belive it or not, I still hear him correcting my mistakes (grammar errors, using old Arabic words instead of their Turkish counterparts, etc.).

Robot Games at Fort Mason

Went to RSA's robot games at Fort Mason today. Ant-size and mid-size robot figths were fun. We were looking at the experessions on children's faces during the games; they are really into robotics.

At one point, we were discussing the significance of colored clothespins attached to the radio controllers, and we have been instructed by a 8-9 year old girl. The way she told us her theory about their use was unbelievable. :)

Revolutions

Went to an early showing of third Matrix movie on Saturday. After all these negative comments about the movie, we actually liked it better than the second one. Obviously, a great deal of scenes could be omitted (long fight/war scenes), and some of the cliches could be removed from the dialogues, but it still was a fun movie. Also the ending could be better... just to make more moviegoers happy.

Will there be a fourth? It sure feels like it.

Neo@Home

On not-so-big screen tonigh:

- Matrix Reloaded

Wanted to watch it on DVD, before see the third part. Friday... Hopefully... If we can get tickets...

EU report on Turkey

European Union released their 2003 report on Turkey, listing what the country has accomplished lately, and what is still missing.

Here is the document.

Turkuaz Magazine

Getting better every month... In turkish and English... Turkuaz

Hero? Peaceful? Yeah right!

University of Texas lists Fethullah Gulen as one of their peaceful hereos:

Peaceful Heroes [link dead]

Is this a joke?