TURKEY: A shooting in İstanbul & more – 13th Feb 2024

Merhaba from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Turkey Update from the 13th of February twenty twenty-four A quick summary of what's going down in Turkey.

On Tuesday the 6th, there was a shooting at the Istanbul Çağlayan Courthouse. The police killed the two attackers, and three police officers along with six civilians got hurt. Sadly, one of the injured civilians passed away.

The Interior Minister stated that the DHKP/C, which Turkey deems a terrorist organization, was responsible for the attack.

A police report on the incident revealed that the terrorists aimed to take public officials hostage, demanding the release of convicted DHKP/C terrorists along with presenting unlawful demands through manifestos. The attackers were reportedly planning to avoid capture by carrying a fake bomb-like device. The Istanbul Prosecutor's Office detained 48 individuals in connection with the attack.

On Thursday the 8th, at the swearing-in ceremony of a new member of the Constitutional Court, or AYM, court president Zühtü Arslan criticized the Court of Cassation for its failure to implement AYM’s decisions, including MP Can Atalay's release. Recall that despite two rulings for Atalay's release, the Court of Cassation refused compliance. Arslan delivered his speech in front of President Erdoğan and the president of the Court of Cassation. He emphasized the importance of upholding court rulings for the rule of law.

On Friday the 9th, as a response to Arslan’s remarks, Bahçeli, the head of the Nationalist Movement Party, an ultra-nationalist ally of the ruling party, said once again that the AYM was a national security issue, and that it should either be closed down or restructured from scratch. The government seems to see the AYM, a structurally neutral institution that is not connected to any organization or body, as its enemy, as it often rules to reverse some of its unlawful actions.

This year, President Erdoğan is set to appoint two more AYM members. Many expect the new members to shift the current dissident stance of the court, impacting future decisions.

In the popular tourist city of Muğla, there's a lot of talk on social media about a new luxury villa project being built where a forest once stood. Sadly, the forest was destroyed in a wildfire. Even though a former forestry director promised to replant the trees and assured the area would stay as a forest, construction companies built three instead. And now, the owner of Lujo Bodrum, one of the hotels, wants to add more villas nearby. The developers say everything is legal, with permits and approvals in place. But many are concerned about the impact on the environment and the future of the area. Loose rules allow building in protected spots. Muğla city fights to stop opening natural areas for construction, and filed almost 200 lawsuits. However, local governments can’t do enough to prevent these constructions. The government should tighten its construction approval policy in forest areas.

On Saturday the 10, during the election campaign of Ruling Justice and Development Part, or AKP’s, candidate for Küçükçekmece Municipality in İstanbul, a man opened fire at the opposite end of the street the campaign took place in. One person got injured in the shooting.

Reportedly, unidentified individuals arrived at the scene in a white car and carried out the armed attack. While many people, including the AKP itself, tied the attack to the AKP’s campaign, it was later revealed that the attacker actually targeted the woman injured in the attack, and it wasn’t related to the AKP.

On Wednesday the 7th, the Dragon capsule carrying the International Space Station crew, including Turkish astronaut Alper Gezeravcı, returned to Earth after a forty-eight-hour journey. They landed off the Florida coast on Friday the 9th, and the landing was broadcast live. Gezeravcı held a press conference at Ankara airport with the Minister of Industry and Technology. Expressing gratitude, he emphasized the joy of reuniting with his fellow citizens and achieving goals.

Reportedly, Turkey will send another astronaut to space around April. It’s a very costly trip and some criticize spending tax-payers’ money on such leisurely activities when people are having trouble making ends meet.

Murat Kurum, AKP's mayoral candidate for Istanbul Municipality, drew attention on social media for a statement he made during his speech at the Organization Training Program of the Educators Union. Criticizing Ekrem İmamoğlu, the current İstanbul mayor, Kurum said that İmamoğlu fulfilled only 87% of the promises he made. Although Kurum framed this as a negative comment, achieving 87% completion is actually quite commendable, especially given the limited governmental funding and support.

In some cities, rent prices continue to rise, while in others, they are declining. Over the past few years, Antalya has experienced a notable surge in migration, largely due to factors like the Russia-Ukraine crisis and the European natural gas shortage. These incoming groups, with their stronger purchasing power compared to locals, caused a surge in rental costs. However, there has been a recent decrease in the foreign population in Antalya, with an estimated forty thousand foreigners leaving the city. Some attribute this decline to government actions, such as closing certain neighborhoods to foreign residents. Antalya has tightened regulations on residency permits, impacting both residency requirements and citizenship applications, resulting in a significant reduction in applications. While some foreigners returned home as conditions improved there, others have relocated to Cyprus and elsewhere.

The European Union is assisting in the reconstruction of the earthquake-affected city of Maraş. They're focusing on improving transportation and making it more environmentally friendly. As part of this effort, the EU is providing funds for a project to purchase fifteen electric buses and install seven charging stations in the city. The EU will be the primary financier for this project, but it will carry out the project in collaboration with the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure

Let’s talk about the economy a little bit… During a market visit of one of the Republican People’s Party MP’s, a citizen stated that he had bought five peppers, five tomatoes, and other items like onions for a total of 200 liras. He mentioned that they used to buy these items by the sackful, but now they buy them by piece because they’ve become too expensive. Over this, the Sözcü newspaper reported that According to the Central Bank's inflation calculator, the country’s largest banknote, the 200 lira, now equals the value of twenty liras from twelve years ago.

the campuses on weekdays from: 08:30

Since the rector announced the news last week, visitors have started flocking the campuses. Some students said that the visitors were entering the amphitheaters, taking students’ pictures without their consent, and harassing them. Some also voiced their concern over safety. As a country who’s still struggling with terrorism, how safe is it really to allow everyone to enter the campus?

To cluse off the show with a bit of tech news, the Information and Communication Technologies Authority plans to change common Type-C port charges, like the European Union. It wants the USB Type-C plug to become the new standard for devices by the end of twenty twenty-four.

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

Last week we asked you to fill in a survey to get to know you and we got quite a few replies, thank you so so much ! We are very excited, tons of great ideas! We’ll be sharing the link to the survey one more time this week in the shownotes in case you didn’t see it. All respondents will be entered in a lottery to win a cruise in the Mediterranean… just kidding, it's in the South Pacific, but we would love to hear from you! Don’t be shy!

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