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Prime Minister Wiretapped — Vast Corruption Upending Turkey's Government
cold fjord writes with an update on the political upheaval happening in Turkey "From the article: 'Dawn raids last Tuesday nabbed almost 60 people and implicated three government ministries, the directors of state banks, and some of Turkey's most powerful businessmen in a massive corruption probe spread across three different cases. Three members of Turkey's cabinet resigned on Christmas Day, and one called on Erdogan to follow suit as accusations of kickbacks, smuggling, and abuse of office continue to mount. The scandal has even acquired an international dimension as suspicions that Iran has been using Turkey's banks to shirk sanctions were further bolstered by the arrest of Reza Sarraf, an Iranian businessmen who is accused of bribing the Economic Minister while coordinating transactions from Iran worth $120 billion. The AKP is scrambling to defend itself by claiming the arrests are a result of a dastardly foreign conspiracy ... while police officials have been removed and reshuffled and special prosecutors appointed to a degree that makes Nixon's Saturday Night Massacre look like exemplary justice. The Turkish press continues to eagerly publish the latest colorful details that emerge from the probe, including police reports of $500,000 bribes administered in boxes of chocolate and news that Erdoan himself was being wiretapped as part of the investigation.' Erdogan has been urged to resign, three days ago Turkey banned journalists from entering police stations, and police are using tear gas on protesters."
Hi there! You're clueless about what constitutes new for nerds and what matters! We've got story after story on Slashdot about intelligence agencies with people making claims that they must be doing it to politicians. Here is a case of a national leader being wiretapped, and you claim "Nope" "Nope". That is before the question of a NATO ally's government staring into the chasm is considered, and the possible ties to Iranian sanctions busting. You are truly clueless.
It matters and to suggest it doesn't just shows what a myopic moron you are.
The islamists are taking over the asylum and they're a bit too close for my liking.
This is a country that wants to get into the EU? I think they have a bit of work to do before that... Like providing basic rights to their citizens rather than operating a government that makes Argentina at its 30 year ago worst look positively angelic by comparison.
Perhaps Mr Anonymous Coward would have a different view if he lived in a country rapidly going down the Thomas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&v=2WNrx2jq184
police reports of $500,000 bribes administered in boxes of chocolate and news that Erdoan himself was being wiretapped as part of the investigation.'
That must be a big box to hide that many bills
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
The islamists are taking over the asylum and they're a bit too close for my liking.
Ah yes, the thinly veiled racism. They're brown people with names you don't know how to pronounce. That makes them evil, right?
Is it just me or is every Google+ user that posts to slashdot a douchebag?
I don't know which is worse - the ignorance, or the illogicality, of this puerile post.
So some turkish banks were caught helping some unnamedIranian actors.
Then some members of the Turkish cabinet, bank manages and the prime minister himself have been forced or are about to resign, because ...
Some providential wiretaps show some wrongdoings.
Who ordered those wiretaps and when?
Here is some trivia: in Hebrew that bird is called 'Hodu' which is also used in that language as the name of a country you call in English 'India'.
Rumor has it there is corruption there too.
Is that a coincidence or what?
sigo ergo sum
The truly bizarre aspect of this is that it involves aspects of a power struggle involving the Turkish PM and a Turkish Imam currently residing in the US.
Turkish imam Fethullah Gulen wields power from self-imposed exile
The more extreme Islamists in power are facing challenge from more moderate Muslims.
I hope it turns out well, or Turkey is in trouble. Erdogan has already managed to yank out many of the checks on the government that have long existed, as well as cozying up with Iran.
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
Actually it is fully named "taregol hodu", meaning Indian chicken. If you can find any country in the world where there isn't rampant corruption and bribery and other shenanigans, I'd like to hear about it. Try reading the Miami news for a while.
Well, there is a point to "the islamists are taking over". It is a power struggle between Erdogan's party, which has a bit of an islamist agenda, and the Gülen movement, which is an islamist movement, whose goals are unclear. Turkey has always had a "deep state", mainly secular, Atatürk-oriented, which has done some ghastly things. And now either islamist movement is interfering there. It's not racism. It might be bigoted, but racism?
BTW, Turks are not brown people, although a few do have unpronounceable names.
i am shocked. shocked i tell you!
Sacred cows make the best burgers.
We've got story after story on Slashdot about intelligence agencies with people making claims that they must be doing it to politicians. Here is a case of a national leader being wiretapped, ...
Where in any of the links does this have anything to do with foreign (i.e. NSA) wiretapping? So what, local authorites are wiretapping.
The wiretapping was done by Turkish authorities to catch corruption in their own government.
It has nothing to do with the NSA other than a vague accusation of foreign conspiracy of some sorts in an attempt to deflect accusations.
So ANY wiretapping story is gonna be automatically considered an NSA story?
Clueless indeed.
Personally I'm in favour of "Turkish Delight."
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
There is no major news agency in Europe reporting about this outside of Turkey.
Apparently reading newspapers is becoming a lost art.
France
Germany
Belgium
The Netherlands
Great Britain
Fethullah Gulen has a huge following in Turkey. His disciples have invaded the police forces. They became buddies with Turkey PM to reach their anti-secularist agenda. They crippled the Turkish army using their pawn police and pawn judges.
The economy looks strong and religious zealots are praising the PM and this is getting to his head. He forgets that it is Fethullah that actually controls everything in Pennsylvania and he openly started fighting Fethullah by banning prep schools, which is the main source of fresh meat for Fethullah. (there must be other behind the scene issues, but we dont know them yet). That link is the Zaman newspaper, which is also owned by Fethullah
So now Fethullah/CIA is tired of PM's shit and they are unveiling what was already known for who knows how long. Interesting things are unfolding if you are Turkish.
...yeah, right.
this must be the 234th "uuu news aren't reporting about this!!" shit piece of commentary I've read this year about this and that - every fucking time it has been about something that the news orgs were in fact reporting about. I don't know why the fuck this myth about turkish problems persists - since fuck, the news are reporting it! THE PROBLEM IS THAT THE FUCKING DOLTS WHO REPEAT THE LIE THAT THE NEWS AREN'T REPORTING ABOUT IT ARE IN FACT NOT READING THE NEWS, but still want to appear like they keep up to date and care and shit.
http://yle.fi/uutiset/turkin_hallituskriisi_syvenee_jo_kolmas_ministeri_erosi_korruptiosotkujen_takia/7001035
that's a finnish broadcasting company(that is, bbc equivalent, paid out of tax dollars) news about it.. plenty of news on other sources as well. but as I said the people who want to be seen politically active nowadays don't even fucking read the fucking news, they just repeat what they read on some blog while getting high.
look man, even if you don't actively go to read news every day then you would know the fucked up situation in turkey, the protests and all.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Erdogan likes to blame things on others so much. During the huge country wide protests in May and June, he blamed it on foreign powers, interest lobbies, international media and his political rivals. Now he blames them all plus protesters. It isn't hard to guess why; his voters are comparably less educated and more prone to believe everything bad comes from "infidel seculars" and "infidel foreigners". This time he isn't completely wrong however. He has been crossing swords with Fethullah Gulen, leader of an international muslim community for some time. He had been supporting Erdogan even before his rise to power, and pulled lots of strings for his benefit. Now the tables have turned. Gulen has excessive control over government bodies, judicial system and the police organization. This is going to be bloody.
If you can find any country in the world where there isn't rampant corruption and bribery and other shenanigans, I'd like to hear about it.
Here you go. Denmark seems rather nice.
Ah, yes, the not so thinly veiled stupidity that confuses race and religion.
Religion is a personal choice, you moron. At least it should be.
When you're a pro, you just delegate the counterfeiting to "Zimbabwe" Ben Bernanke, or Janet "Weiss" Yellen.
Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
Religion is a personal choice, you moron. At least it should be.
You might want to get out in the real world a bit more. Religion is often what you're born with. Yes, it would be nice if everyone got to pick and chose after careful deliberation, but that rarely happens. And, in many places in the world, religion is also a tag or badge or category that places significant restrictions on your life at many levels.
Very few countries have the separation between church and state that is jealously guarded in the US.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
> Is it just me or is every Google+ user that posts to slashdot a douchebag?
So I see you are just as guilty of stereotyping as any racist.
The funniest thing? In Turkish, that bird is called "Hindi", which assumes that the bird came from India...
Nice strawman, leftie AC lurker. Are you a member of the SWP, by any chance?
There is corruption, and then there is Corruption. I can't imagine paying a bribe in the Western world as part of a driver's license application. But there are countries where that is necessary, and similar arrangements are needed for basic interaction with the government or other institutions. That is a fight that various parts of the world fight, and which drives the public mad. The people hate the corruption, but then when given a job in which they can extract payments too few people resist the temptation or social pressure to extract the payments to pass on to the tribe or extended family. That explains some of the attraction of political Islam. The Islamists rightly decry corruption, and Muslim people turn to them, but the results are almost always disappointing. In time corruption rears its head and you are still stuck with the hand and head chopping and other harsh laws brought by the Islamists, and the corruption continues.
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
Many Americans are shocked to find out how religion and the state are still tied together in even Western Europe.
They are doing still stuff that was ruled out in the US before the revolution.
In a lot of ways the fact that America is so religious is due to the separation allowing for more freedom and diversity.
- This is a power struggle between an Imam who lives in a mansion in Pennsylvania vs. his servant.
- In the past week, 5 ministers resigned. That is almost %20 of the cabinet
- In the past two days, almost all the police chiefs in the country were suspended
- When district attorneys ordered police to arrest some key businessmen, police refused. Eventhough this is a constitutional offense and has a penalty of jailtime, no one is on trial
- A reshuffle is expected tonight or tomorrow. Definitely before weekend. The servant wants to pick up the pieces but the Imam is bent on destroying them
- These fractions were once united through their belief in Allah and were hell-bent on destroying the old regime which they claim was built by American servants and godless infidels
- No Muslim country in the area would interfere if these two fractions are to murder each other this very moment. Just like Assad is murdering his country and destroying history that dates before religion and no one does anything useful
List goes on and on and on. You wouldn't care and I can't blame you. Just know that these are not much different from any other crazy religious people in the world. Just like anywhere else in the world, there are some people in this country who are harming its future. The mistake is that they are ruling now. This too shall pass.
Turkey is more secular than the USA. In the courts in TR u don't take an oath on holy books. Prime ministers take oath on constitution. Not saying "God bless Turkey" . On Turkish money there are pictures of Ataturk and Turkish scientists. No "In God we trust" on our money either ;)
Its actually pretty interesting to read where the various state names originated. People don't really think about them, but its almost invariably not nearly all that ... impressive.
Half a dozen at least are named for Kings and Queens (Carolinas, Georgia, Louisiana, Virginias...) New York is named for the Duke of York. Kind of amusing the names stuck what with the revolution and all.
Indiana is roughly 'land of indians'
Oklahoma is literally 'red person' in a native dialect
Caliornia is 'hot oven' in spanish
Vermont is 'green mountain' in french
And perhaps most amusing Texas amusingly is "hello friend'.
With only minor changes in history, we could have had a nuclear superpower named roughly "The Republic of Hey Buddy"
Names are funny things. :p
I read somewhere that 'Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.'
That mayst been some olden goings on tither.
Seems like they've bettered themselves since.
sigo ergo sum
5th or 6th definition in the 'Urban dictionary'?
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
Turkey is more secular than the USA. In the courts in TR u don't take an oath on holy books. Prime ministers take oath on constitution. Not saying "God bless Turkey" . On Turkish money there are pictures of Ataturk and Turkish scientists. No "In God we trust" on our money either ;)
That may well be 'superficial secularism'. If indeed, the Turkish government is closely tied with a single religious faction and grants extra power to that faction, the window dressing makes little difference.
And you don't have to swear on Bibles in the US if you are so inclined.
IMHO, the Church / State separation is not as assiduously maintained as it should be (along with separation of powers, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and a couple of other useful documents and concepts).
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
Well, there is a point to "the islamists are taking over". It is a power struggle between Erdogan's party, which has a bit of an islamist agenda, and the Gülen movement, which is an islamist movement, whose goals are unclear. Turkey has always had a "deep state", mainly secular, Atatürk-oriented, which has done some ghastly things. And now either islamist movement is interfering there. It's not racism. It might be bigoted, but racism?
BTW, Turks are not brown people, although a few do have unpronounceable names.
The leaders of the USA have also done ghastly and unspeakable things over the years. This might seem embarrassing to Turkey but can you imagine a corruption probe exposing the fact that US cabinet members and the president are as hopelessly corrupt? I mean we all know that most US political leaders they are corrupt to various degrees as they are in most countries but can you imagine the FBI raiding major corporations, wall-street banks, wiretapping the white house and hauling these bozos into court? At least Turkish law enforcement still has enough backbone to mount an operation like this. It would take another Snowden, sheltering in some secure foreign location safe from being kidnapped, gagged and locked away like the "Man in the Iron Mask" to expose this kind of graft in the US administration.
Only to idiots, are orders laws.
-- Henning von Tresckow
As available on Amazon.com, and as understood by the overwhelming majority of the population that knows the term.
You seem to have at a strange compulsion, probably more than one.
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
Our has that one it, but they left out the whole saying:
"In God we Trust; all other must use cash"
Texas is named for Tiles, because one of the earliest parts settled had red soil suitable for making roofing tiles from. Spanish has shifted its spelling/prononciation a bit between then and now.
(currently testing something about signatures here)
Eh, not quite.
California means nothing, it's a word that a novelist made up and appeared as a fictional land in "Las sergas de EsplandiÃn" - a book which the conquistadores were familiar with, and from which they drew the name.
Your other entries appear to be correct though.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Friends don't let friends enable ecmascript.
Well, there is a point to "the islamists are taking over". It is a power struggle between Erdogan's party, which has a bit of an islamist agenda, and the Gülen movement, which is an islamist movement, whose goals are unclear. Turkey has always had a "deep state", mainly secular, Atatürk-oriented, which has done some ghastly things. And now either islamist movement is interfering there. It's not racism. It might be bigoted, but racism?
BTW, Turks are not brown people, although a few do have unpronounceable names.
Actually, you would be surprised to know that the Gülen movement encourages inter-religious dialogue and is one of the most progressive Islamic schools when it comes to women's rights and dialogue with the West.
Well, at least I was surprised. Apparently, not all Islamic schools/movements are Islamist.
And the NSA thinks "Whew. Dodged that one!"
Well in Greek, a Turkey is called a "Gallos" and and a French mand is also called a "Gallos", and Americans hate the French. Is there a connection ?
Why is it then, that you better be Christian if you hope to attain any position of power in the good 'ol USA? Talk about superficial secularity.
Ahem....well in case you haven't figured this out yet...
We are fast approaching a pivotal moment in this human history. We are all aware, government employs primarily people who are attracted with conquering, and destroying humanity. However, up until this point you could flee to far off lands, you could cut a kings head off and end his/her reign and the weapons that people who do like government had access to were simple cannon and pistol and later during WWII planes/missiles.
This means that regionally a continent or two would be completely destroyed, like for example Europe or Japan later with Atomic weapons.
Now, we face a large number of psychopaths world wide with weapons and technology to destroy the human race and totally enslave it with no place to run or hide.
How long will we dodge this bullet I wonder? Do we get another 5 years? Maybe another 10 years?
I don't think we have even 10 years before the human race will have to choose:
Live as slaves as equals, or face extinction.
-Hack
Got Geometrodynamics? Awe, too hard to figure out? Too bad.
. Religion is often what you're born with. Yes, it would be nice if everyone got to pick and chose after careful deliberation, but that rarely happens.
That is actually what many of the fights around extreme Islam are about: convert, leave, or die. That also goes for the local Muslims since they are often not considered pius enough for the tastes of al Qaida. The fact that al Qaida kills many Muslims has been costing them significant amounts of support in the Muslim world.
The current Turkish leadership has been playing footsy with Iran and other extremist elements. That have been sowing the seeds of future trouble.
There are many people in Africa turning to both Islam and Christianity.
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
Uh....
14 US Senators do not avow that they are Christian.
I read somewhere that 'Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.'
[Citation needed]
(grin)
I don't think he said it wasn't important, he said how is this news for nerds. Or in other words, why is it on slashdot's front page. Where is the nerd/geek connection.
Stuff that matters? - Nope
Correction: What happened in Turkey should be an inspiration for all citizens of the United States of America.
The American government has grown so corrupted that even a broken website cost the American tax payers One fucking Billion Dollars ! ( http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-12-02/obamacare-website-costs-top-1-billion )
When will we have FBI raiding the White House ?
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
The islamists are taking over the asylum and they're a bit too close for my liking.
Islam is regarded as race now ?
What kind of fucking moron are you ?
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
The islamists are taking over the asylum and they're a bit too close for my liking.
Ah yes, the thinly veiled racism
Islam is regarded as race now ?
What kind of fucking moron are you ?
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
No, what makes this particular group evil is that they want to turn another nation into a theocracy. It has nothing to do with their names or skin color. I have no problem with Muslims who are not evil, and that constitutes the majority of all Muslims. Religious fundamentalists are a problem, regardless of what religion they claim to be operating on behalf of.
You're the one that needs to get out in the real (non-costal) US a bit more. I wish you were right, but the facts on the ground are that in most of the rural US, the state and the predominant Christian sect church are hand in hand and full lock step, even to the point of prayers opening county and city government meetings.
Many languages in Europe have a pointer towards India in its name for the bird. It's named after the town of Calicut in Kerala in most of the languages nearest to me.
Also FatPhil on SoylentNews, id 863
What are you on about? We have a Muslim President! ;)
This is kind of a "Blade Runner" issue. We persons are programmed by our families and society. After that we don't even think about the basis for these issues. We just know it's important. But don't know why.
Dick
I think OP meant, "live as slaves -- as equals, or face extinction". I think they meant to describe living in slavery as essentially making all of us (slaves) equal. I don't think the slave-owners were intended to be included in the equality.
"Stratigraphically the origin of agriculture and thermonuclear destruction will appear essentially simultaneous" -- Lee
I beleive you are mistaken.
The origin of the state name, Texas, is from the word, "Tejas", which means 'friends' in the Caddo language.
(from wikipedia, but it is cited, and is confirmed elsewhere.)
Further, it is used as a greeting. So the "hello friends" interpretation is reasonable.
California means nothing, it's a word that a novelist made up and appeared as a fictional land in "Las sergas de EsplandiÃfn" - a book which the conquistadores were familiar with, and from which they drew the name.
You appear to be right, the origin I had appears to be a minor and largely discredited theory.
In any case, the premise that it is a 'nothing' word simply because it names a made up land in work of fiction is not convincing. Even if that is its origin, the name likely still means something.
Many authors select names with care, and they are not usually just random collections of sounds. (The exception being modern bad fantasy writers - who seem to delight in just throwing gibberish peppered with random puncuation at the wall.) Anyhow...
I located an interesting article:
http://archive.org/stream/originmeaningofn00davi/originmeaningofn00davi_djvu.txt
Long but interesting, particularly section 33+ where it specifically looks at
"THE ORIGIN AND MEANING OF THE NAMES CALIFORNIA AND CALAFIA, AND ASSOCIATED NAMES, IN LAS SERGAS DE ESPLANDIAN AND AMADIS DE GAULA."
Check it out.
I think many will agree (and quite a few will disagree or defend it). But my comment was to point out that the comment wasn't necessarily racist per se. And that the Turkish law enforcement acts now seems to be a result of one faction gaining control over it, and using it to get the other one out of office.