Ian Bunn | Political & Popular Culture Arts

Ahmet Davutoglu the 54 year old Turkish Foreign Minister, former political scientist, academic Professor and an ambassador at large has stated that “’Jihad’ not to be confused with terrorism”. In an article on France 24 reports that Davutoglu told a business conference in Istanbul, the idea of jihad should not be confused with terrorism adding that the notion is often misunderstood by American “neo-cons and pro-Israelis”.  There is no connection between jihad and terrorism, adding that suggestions to the contrary come from American neo-cons and Israelis. “’Jihad’ is the name of fighting for our honour, if required, but above all it means fighting against one’s own limitations,” Davutoglu said at a business conference entitled “Turkey in light of international developments, 2013” at the headquarters of the Independent Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association. “For us, jihad is a sacred notion; let us not taint this notion by using it like neo-cons and pro-Israelis in America,” Davutoğlu said, while condemning an opposition party deputy who asked the Turkish government on its policy regarding the jihadist movement in Syria at a Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Commission meeting on Feb15. Wikipedia states Davutoglu was granted a title of ambassador in 2003 by the joint decision of President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Abdullah Gül. His publications include Alternative Paradigms: The Impact of Islamic and Western Weltanschauungs on Political Theory, and his book Strategic Depth is a very influential book in Turkey’s foreign policy orientation. He is very influential in the military, academic, and government triangle shaping Turkish foreign policy. Davutoglu was one of the leading actors on behalf of the Turkish government during the shuttle diplomacy for the settlement of 2008 Israel–Gaza conflict. He has since called for Turkey to become more than just a regional power within Europe and the Middle East and desires Ankara to have a far more influential role in world politics.

Inspired by France24 ow.ly/iuWZ0 Image source Wikipedia ow.ly/iuX5X

Contemporary art is good for business (February 26th)

Suzy Hansen a US freelance writer living in Turkey for five years speaks of an Istanbul Art-Boom Bubble in an article she published. In the article Hansen states “It appears that Istanbul, which went from a cosmopolitan wonderland in the 19th century to… a “pale, poor, second-class imitation of a Western city” for much of the 20th, is having its moment of rebirth… it is a heady time to be young and talented in Istanbul… In this conservative Muslim country of 80 million, the artists have minimal influence on social and political life at home… They have grown up during a relatively free and prosperous time in Turkey and make up an artistic elite that has more in common with their counterparts in other nations than with their own countrymen… the ruling Islamic conservative Justice and Development Party (A.K.P.), which routinely throws writers and journalists in jail, rarely bothers with provocative artists, at least so far… Freedom of expression is bad for politics, but contemporary art is good for business. Whether the government’s heavy-handed relationships with the corporate patrons of the art world will be good for art is another story.”

Inspired by Suzy Hansen http://ow.ly/96xX6 image source facebook http://ow.ly/96yYm

İbrahim Tatlıses the 58 year old  Turkish pop/folk singer veteran on 38 albums, known as Ibo to his throng of Middle Eastern fans, having survived two previous assassination attempts has again been attacked and seriously wounded from a gun-shot wound to the head. Tatlises was shot to the back of the head from a Kalashnikov rifle as he was entering his vehicle following his weekly TV show at the Beyaz channel in Istanbul. Tatlises’s female colleague Buket Cakici was also received a gun-shot wound to her neck by the unknown assailants. Tatlises also an actor and director of dozens of films, a businessman involved in tourism construction and restaurants in Iraqi Kurdistan remains critically injured following a four hour operation.

Inspired by the BBC ow.ly/4joMD image source Tacirci ow.ly/4joTK