Turkish police storm offices of opposition media group

[MowCowWhoHow III]

Source: AFP

Istanbul (AFP) - Turkish riot police firing tear gas and water cannon on Wednesday stormed into the Istanbul headquarters of a media group linked to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's main rival, just days before a weekend election.

The action triggered widespread concern about media freedom in Turkey, with critics accusing the government of trying to silence opponents of Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) ahead of Sunday's vote.

Police in riot helmets moved in after a controversial court ruling ordered the seizure of the Kozi-Ipek conglomerate linked to US-exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen, the one-time Erdogan ally now regarded as his nemesis.

Officers smashed through the gates of the media compound with chainsaws, according to images broadcast live on the group's television stations, Bugun and Kanalturk.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/turkish-police-storm-opposition-media-group-073821300.html

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. You're making it hard to enjoy my gummi bears.

(Haribo Gold bears, at least the ones I've looked at the packaging closely on, are made in Turkey. )

[DetlefK]

2. But Haribo is a german company...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haribo

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

3. I guess it's outsourcing for cheaper manufacturing.

Or maybe they keep all the German made gold bears in country, and send the second-rate Turkish ones to America.

[Angleae]

5. I hope those aren't the sugar free variety.

http://www.amazon.com/Haribo-Sugar-Free-Gummy-Bears/dp/B008JELLCA/

(scroll down to the reviews)

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

6. Oh Gods, the one about the guy with the German date had me nearly in tears, I was laughing so hard.

No, thankfully, these were the regular bears.

[MowCowWhoHow III]

4. Turkey is looking more and more like its troubled neighbors (Reuters)

Turkey is looking more and more like its troubled neighbors

It should have been a moment of unity against a backdrop of horror.

At a qualifying match this month for next year’s Euro 2016 soccer championship in the central Anatolian city of Konya, the teams of Turkey and Iceland stood, heads bowed, for a minute of silence commemorating the 102 victims of suicide bombings in Ankara three days earlier. But sectors of the crowd erupted in jeers and booing, shouting right-wing slogans and Allahu Akbar (God is Great). Instead of a closing of national ranks, the moment spotlighted Turkey's raw divisions.

The bombings, carried out by Islamic State followers from inside Turkey, targeted the pro-Kurdish coalition the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), left-wing activists and trade unionists as they gathered for a rally against fighting in southeast Turkey between security forces and insurgents of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). It was the deadliest terror attack in Turkey’s history but, far from uniting the country, it increased the polarization. Turkey’s qualifying victory over Iceland was eclipsed by the rancor on show in Konya’s stadium.

“Don’t we have a heart that beats for them (the Ankara victims) and the lips to hush? What does it take to respect a person who passed away? Are we so unfamiliar with these feelings?” wrote former national team manager Mustafa Denizli in Hurriyet newspaper.

Turkey, a NATO ally and candidate for EU membership, risks sliding into the sort of ethnic and sectarian strife that has torn Iraq and Syria to its south. In the view of some alarmed analysts, Turkey is starting to resemble its neighbors. “We are becoming more and more Syrianised and we are turning into more of a Middle Eastern country than a European country,” said veteran analyst Cengiz Candar.

Read More: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/27/us-turkey-election-polarisation-insight-idUSKCN0SL12Y20151027