Samsun Faces Severe Floods & more– 5th Sep 2023

Merhaba from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Turkey Update from the 5th of September twenty twenty-three A quick summary of what's going down in Turkey.

Last weekend, heavy rainfall caused severe flooding in the city of Samsun, damaging the roads. Reportedly, water filled the ground floor of many buildings, including the emergency service at a hospital. The mayor of the city said that, fortunately, no one died, and rescue teams helped over 600 people.

Now, some updates on the upcoming local elections…

Mansur Yavaş, the mayor of Ankara, the capital, and member of the main opposition the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, announced that he’d be running for mayor again. This cleared up the rumors that he might be planning to run for party leader or for president in the next presidential elections.

On the other hand, recall that there were rumors that Ekrem İmamoğlu, the current mayor of İstanbul and member of the CHP, was planning to take over the party. However, last month, İmamoğlu said that he was going to work on winning İstanbul again, quashing the rumors. İmamoğlu clarified that he didn’t say he was running for mayor, he only stated that he would aid in the campaign. However, he didn’t completely rule out his candidacy for mayor.

Moving on to the Homeland Party…

The party announced where it would nominate its mayor candidates: in Nazilli and Balıkesir.

Muharrem Ince, the head of the party, has been kind of Missing in Action. However, last week, he spoke about the past elections. He said that the CHP was wrong to include members of the Future and Felicity parties, both close to the ruling Justice and Development Party in ideology, in its own parliamentary candidates list. This way the CHP gave away almost forty PM spots to the other parties in its list.

Ince further added that the CHP would realize its mistake when the parliament votes for constitutional changes and controversial regulations in the parliament, as they would likely vote in favor of regulations that are against the CHP’s ideology.

During an interview on Wednesday the 30th, a journalist asked İnce if he’d return to the CHP if they changed their bylaws and members of the party were more involved in the decision-making process regarding the party. İnce said that if that happened, the CHP would be much like his own party, the Homeland Party, and he’d have no reason to not be a part of it.

Some international news…

On Monday the 4th, President Erdoğan met with his Russian counterpart Putin in Sochi. During their meeting, the two talked about reviving the Black Sea grain export deal that Russia backed out of in July. In order to follow along with the deal, it needs Russia’s support, as the country currently controls the ports. The deal helped avoid food shortage by getting war-torn Ukraine’s grain into the market, avoiding food scarcity in countries in poverty. Turkey and the United Nations have been trying to convince Russia to re-enter the deal. Reportedly, the meeting between the two leaders went well, and Erdoğan believes that it is possible to renew the grain deal.

Moving on to diplomacy…

The Justice minister stated that the ministry will rewrite the family law from scratch. He said that they are drafting a new law that puts importance on mediation, which can be practiced in many fields, including divorce, alimony, and compensation. He further said that such a regulation would end the suffering of many citizens going through divorce.

While we are on the topic of rewriting laws, on Friday the 1st, President Erdoğan mentioned the possibility of a new constitution. He said that it has been his dream since twenty eleven to ‘save’ Turkey from the old constitution that the coup regime prepared back in the eighties, and he’d restart the initiative to create a new constitution.

About education…

On Thursday the 31st, the head of the Education and Science Workers Union held a rally in front of the governor’s office of the city of Çanakkale to protest the dismissal of a public school principal for posting a picture with an alcoholic beverage on social media. He criticized the education ministry for acting according to religious rules instead of the constitution. Many questioned if there was a regulation that prevented public servants from drinking alcohol. They called the principal’s suspension a violation of the right to have a private life.

Next up, we have some news on the economy and international relations…

On Thursday the 31st, the president announced in a presidential decree that some agriculture and technology products from the United Arab Emirates will be exempt from export taxes.

In entertainment…

This week, news that the Istanbul governorate banned alcohol consumption in public places like parks, beaches, and picnic areas caused quite a stir on social media. Those who violate the new regulation will have to pay a fee of over 600 liras, around twenty-four US Dollars.

The governorate said that this wasn’t a new regulation and that it has been in practice since early this summer.

The Bar Association of Istanbul filed a lawsuit for the annulment of the regulation.

On Wednesday the 30th, Turkey celebrated Victory Day. On this day, Turks commemorate their victory against Greek forces in the Battle of Dumlupınar, which changed the course of events in Turkey's favor in the War of Independence. The President visited Anıtkabir, the mausoleum of Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, to commemorate his struggle to found the republic.

As part of the celebrations, all the hot air balloons in Kapadokya, one of the most famous tourist attractions in the country, hung up Turkish flags while flying.

Some sad news…

On Wednesday the 30th, the former minister of Food, Agriculture, and Livestock passed away. He was found dead in a swimming pool at a lodging of the Grand Turkish National Assembly in the city of Yalova where he had gone on vacation.

In sports…

On Sunday the 3rd, the Turkish Women’s Volleyball team beat Serbia in the final match of the Women’s European Volleyball championship, winning the gold medal. While that was a big success and many celebrated the win, calling the girls the pride of the country, many reactionists and radical Islamists, mostly people who share a common ideology with the ruling party’s government, targeted the volleyball team, especially Ebrar Karakurt, one of the players of the team known for her ‘tomboy’ appearance and for being in a relationship with a girl. Some even went as far as to support Serbia in the match to protest Ebrar’s life choices. However, Ebrar isn’t bothered by any of these. In a tweet, she wrote “I’m at the top, your voice isn’t heard.”

On the matter, Fatih Altaylı, an opposition journalist, called the people who targeted Karakurt “nazi waste” and argued that the government didn’t share the same sentiment as them. He pointed out that the president enjoys the music of Bülent Ersoy, a trans woman, and even sat at the same table as her during formal events.

And to close this edition, some updates on the art world…

Recall that back in July, the Istanbul Municipality held an exhibition called “Starting from the Middle" or “Ortadan Başlamak”. It displayed many artworks from prominent artists of the country. However, some Islamist organizations targeted the gallery, saying it insults moral and national values. They said that the exhibition promoted LGBT themes. This week, out of nowhere, the Istanbul Prosecutor's Office filed a lawsuit against everyone involved in the making of the exhibition for encouraging hatred and hostility.

That’s it for this week! Thanks for joining us!

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