Ataturk Tattoo

Turkey’s Tattoo Politics-the Atlantic
Türkiye’nin yeni siyasi sembolü: Atatürk dövmeleri-Hurriyet

Mapushane (Prison)

Mapushane from necdet yilmaz on Vimeo.

The battle between YouTube and Turkish officials continued this week as Turkey reportedly unblocked and then re-blocked the Google-owned video site in the country over unflattering videos of the country’s political leaders.
Turkey re-instated a ban on YouTube this week, days after a 2.5-year ban was lifted last Saturday, according to a state-run news agency. On Tuesday night, a Turkish court banned YouTube again, this time over an old video purportedly showing former opposition leader Deniz Baykal in a hotel room with someone other than his wife. Baykal was forced to resign over the video in May.

This video that criticizes banning YouTube was uploaded to Vimeo because it can not be seen in Turkey.

Children's Day

 The Grand National Assembly of Turkey was established on 1920, April 23, and to commemorate the event, April 23 was proclaimed a national holiday in 1921. Since 1927 it has also become Children’s Day (Turkish Çocuk Bayramı), an official holiday dedicated to the children of Turkey and the world. The day is celebrated annually in Turkey with spectacular activities.

Improving democracy in Turkey.

                                                    Anti-democratic sunnet costumes                                      Parliamentary democratic one

“Sunnet” is a religious tradition that is the circumcision of a young boy in Turkey. Before the operation and sunnet celebration, boys are dressed up with sunnet costumes. These are usually as sultan or military officers. Probably the reason is to honor or encourage boys who will have surgery. However, Turkey has been facing anti-democratic problems for years. To dress them up parliamentary democratic costumes, such as black cylindrical hat, tuxedo, may help improve democracy in Turkey.

Sultan

-The military is upset, his majesty.
-It’s OK. They will learn what democracy is finally.

Turkey’s Leaders Seek to Defuse Crisis-NY Times

Revolution in the Taksim Republic Monument

Few thousands of workers (“reasonable number” according to the Istanbul Governor), trade union members, students and political party members could gather in the Taksim Square and celebrated the May Day yesterday. Turkish media said, a taboo has been broken since 1977. Workers also put flowers to the Taksim Republic Monument and waved red flags and banners around it.

Although the monument is a symbol of the Square but many people don’t know much things about it. Especially two secret figures of the statues: the Soviet generals. Because it was also a taboo to mention about them during the Cold War era.

Mikhail Frunze, an important leader of the October Revolution, and Kliment Voroshilov, a Marshal of the Soviet Union, are standing behind the Ataturk, Ismet Inonu and Marshal Fevzi Cakmak‘s statues. What is the reason of their presence? When the Ottoman Empire was occupied after the World War I, in 1918, the Soviet Union, ruled by Lenin, gave  military aid to the Turkish National Movement against the same enemy, imperialist western countries during the Independence War. Both generals were sent by Lenin to Ankara in 1921 and they established good relations with Mustafa Kemal. They went to the battlefield, gave advises and tactics. They left the country with good wishes in 1922. General Firunze became a national hero and died in 1925 (or killed by Stalin). His comrade general Voroshilov visited Ankara in 1933 again. He defended Russia against Germany in World War II and was appointed to Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. He died in 1969. After establishing new Republic of Turkey in 1923  Ataturk started his western style reforms in many fields. He ordered to make many statues and monuments to break taboos that had existed from Ottaman times that restricted the depiction of human form, this was done in compliance with the Islamic Rules. Italian sculptor Pietro Canonica was commisioned for several monuments including the Taksim Republic Monument in Istanbul among the others in Ankara, Izmir and Samsun. Two Soviet general’s figures, who had played active role the relationship between two countries, were added into the monument by Ataturk’s order for showing appreciation to the Soviet Union in 1928.

After World War II the political winds shifted, the old friend Soviet Union, ruled by Stalin, turned to enemy. Therefore, Turkey joined to NATO during the Cold War. To talk about communism, Marxism were banned strictly. Many people were arrested, tortured, exiled or killed because of their thoughts. Of course text books didn’t mention about the Soviet aids in the Turkish Independence War. Researchers couldn’t write about the two generals in the monument. This was totally secret and forgotten until The Popular History (Populer Tarih) Magazine was brave enough to publish an article about it in 2002, 13 years later the Berlin Wall collapsed. 

Today, talking about the two revolutionary Soviet generals’ statue is not a taboo anymore. But neither tourists, who take pictures of the monument, nor citizens, who wait for somebody in front of it, know them. Even the workers…

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