Iran News

Turkey is trying to figure out what to do, if it can't get oil from Iran because of the embargo.  There are also fewer Iranian tourists visiting Turkey, as the Iranian rial has fallen in value.  The central bank in Iran is trying to fix that with a single fixed exchange rate.

An Iranian university professor was arrested in the United States.  He's accused of sending lab equipment to Iran.

Three Iranian opposition leaders have been under house arrest for almost a year now.

The Institute for Science and International Security released a report saying that Iran will not make nuclear weapons this year.

Israel is very concerned about a nuclear Iran.  A former IDF chief said that Israel should try to stop Iran, and military action may be needed.  But according to Time magazine, a senior IDF official has already said that Israel can't stop Iran's nuclear program, only delay it some.

Quick News Roundup

Another earthquake in Van, Turkey.  This was a smaller 4.9.


A Bangladeshi man in Oman died of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF).  Apparently some animals in Oman carry the animal version.  A Pakistani man died of similar symptoms several weeks ago.  It is thought they both contracted CCHF from handling contaminated meat.  It's not common, but it does happen.  In 1995-1996 there were 4 cases.

A small passenger ship sank off the coast of Iran today.  Rescue efforts are underway.

The Egyptian election is over.  The Freedom and Justice Party (Muslim Brotherhood) won the most seats.  Their speaker will be Saad al-Katatni.

Quick News Roundup

A lot of stuff has happened over the past few days:

Big earthquake in Turkey.  Magnitude 7.2  It's been a while since the last one.

The Saudi crown prince died.  So far all the kings have been the sons of Abdul Aziz, the founder of the Kingdom.  Call me crazy, but maybe they should try having a ruler who isn't over 80 years old?  Or maybe even less than 60?

Qaddafi is dead and Libya is "officially" free now.

The United States is leaving Iraq.

Women's News October 3, 2011

Women in the eastern Turkish province of Van are committing suicide.  There have been 22 deaths so far in 2011.  Women's associations are very alarmed and worried about reports of incest.  And some of the deaths may not be suicides, but homicides.  Most of these women were only 18 or 19 years old.

Bahrain has 3 newly elected women MPs, bringing the total up to 4 out of 40 in Parliament, and 11 out of 40 in the Shura council.  This is a big step for female equality:  10% of Parliament and 27% of Shura.

Turkish Government Returns Property

In 1936, the Turkish government issued a proclamation that ended up with the government claiming property that belonged to minority foundations in Turkey.  Now the government is returning property that was "registered as public or foundation property."  Any foundations that lost property have 12 months to apply for a return of their property.  According to the article:

Some of the property set to be returned to Armenian, Greek and Syriac foundations include schools, churches, stores, hundreds of houses, buildings and apartments, cemeteries, factories, and even nightclubs.

I think this is definitely a step in the right direction.  Addressing past wrongs will only help Turkey's future.

Turkey Helps Kids Stay Healthy

I'm in the United States, and sometimes I watch a show called Food Revolution (by Jamie Oliver).  He's a British chef who is trying to improve children's lunch menus at schools.  He's already done that in the UK, and now he's trying it in the US.  People from outside of the US probably won't believe what often passes for food in school cafeterias here!

Anyway, the Turkish government wants to stop childhood obesity, so they are making it illegal to sell sodas, fast food, and potato chips at schools.  They'll sell yogurt instead.  They also have new menus.  I think that's great!

Women's News April 25, 2011

A Muslim woman may be representing the UK in the Miss Universe contest.  And she's getting some flack for doing it too.  Here are some comments condemning and supporting her.

What I find ironic, is compare those Muslim reactions in the UK to this American commercial featuring Miss Turkey.  It wouldn't surprise me if many Americans were confused by this, because they think of Turkey as a Muslim country, whereas it's really more of a secular country.

Neat article about Emirati women at a university in Sharjah (UAE) who attended a conference discussing all sorts of topics that you don't think would normally be discussed: mental health, suicide, divorce, substance abuse, etc.

Women's News January 23, 2011

A Yemeni woman, Tawakul Abdel-Salam Karman, was arrested at protests in Sana'a.  Her arrest has set off further protests, for her release.  She is an activist and member of the Islah political party.

An Iraqi man living in Arizona goes on trial this week for the honor killing of his daughter.  His daughter refused an arranged marriage, then moved in with her boyfriend and his mother.  In October of 2009, the man ran over his daughter and the boyfriend's mother, killing his daughter.

The US government is hosting a conference in Turkey from January 22 to 26.  It's called "Invest for the Future: Women Driving Economic Growth."

Women's News January 18, 2011

The Yemen Observer has their own person of the year:  Gamalah al-Baidhani.  She's founder and chairperson of the ALTAHADI Foundation for the disabled.

News of the weird:  A French-Iranian girl was convicted of luring a Jewish man to be kidnapped and tortured, then killed by a gang in France.  She's currently in prison.  But the head of the prison has been having an affair with her.  So has one of the guards.  It's a big mess.
 
The Yemeni government has been arresting some Shi'ites on charges such as spying for Iran and promoting Shi'ism.  This leaves their wives in limbo, so some of them have joined the Yemeni Organization for Defending Human Rights.

A psychologist in Turkey is out of a job, supposedly because her skirt was too short.  First she was reassigned, then her contract was not renewed.

Turkish Headscarves

I have had numerous posts over the years about headscarves, especially in Turkey.  The whole issue is explosive in Turkey.  Headscarves were banned for many years, but have been making a comeback lately.  It was a very big deal that the First Lady of Turkey actually wears a headscarf.  The Turkish Daily News has a section dedicated to the Headscarf Issue, so if you're interested, it will keep you up to date on how headscarves are affecting Turkey.

Turkish Head Scarf Ban Harms Women?

New evidence suggests that banning headscarves may actually hurt women's employment chances.  Those who choose to wear a headscarf are discriminated against, intentionally or unintentionally, by not being able to hold government jobs, or taking lower-paying jobs, and sometimes being unable to find a job at all.  Apparently this may be hurting all women's employment, as the employment rate for women in Turkey has decreased over the years, while in other Muslim countries it has increased.

Personally, I believe wearing or not wearing a headscarf is a personal choice.  It should not be mandated or banned by the government of any country.  It it based on your religious beliefs and your upbringing.  I understand why Turkey has banned headscarves, because of its foundation as a secular nation.  But I believe that ban discriminates against women.  Now we have more proof about exactly what happens because of the ban.

Women's News November 9, 2010

Women in Jordan are running for office.  Unfortunately, they rarely succeed.  Currently, a quota system is in place so that there are at least a few women in the parliament.  Some women are pressured by their family or tribe not to run for office.  And even if they do run, most do not get enough votes to win a seat in parliament.  Women have made some strides, in employment positions, but Jordan is one of those countries where women are still murdered as part of "honor killings," and in many ways, women are still dependent upon their husbands.

As many as 2 million Yemeni children don't go to school - and most of them are girls.  Yemen is a very poor country, so many children face malnutrition, and have to work as well.  Human rights organizations are worried about a possible increase in child-trafficking too.  There is also a very large urban-rural divide in Yemen.  In rural areas, only 13% of girls go to school, compared to 69% for boys.

The First Lady of Turkey wears a headscarf.  You may remember that being a point of contention when her husband was first elected.  Now she has gone on record as saying that girls should not be forced to wear headscarves at a young age; they should decide once they are old enough to understand the situation.  I am very glad to hear her say that, because that is something that has been bothering me for a while.  From what I understand about Islam, girls do not start wearing a headscarf, or covering up, until they reach puberty.  So why do some countries force 3-year-old girls to cover themselves?  If that is a tribal law that has become a national law, surely you could fight that on the basis of Islamic law?

Suicide Bomber Hits Istanbul: Update I

The PKK was suspected of the bombing, but they denied it, and extended the ceasefire.  Now officials are saying the suicide bomber was a member of PKK and police are still investigating.  The government is getting flack from the Nationalist Movement Party and the Peace and Democracy Party over how it  handles the PKK.

Suicide Bomber Hits Istanbul

The attack took place in Taksim Square, and injured 32 people - 15 of them were policemen.  Apparently the bomber was trying to get into a parked police van, and blew himself up right next to it.  This was the last day of a ceasefire by the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party), which is outlawed, but it is not known if they are responsible.

More Flotilla News

Here's Juan Cole's post on the Libyan ship that changed course to Gaza, and a post about how Turkey is still upset about the original flotilla attack.

A French judge, currently working on the financial side of counter-terrorism says that he found out the IHH was a terrorist organization in 1996 (IHH is the Turkish group that sponsored the flotilla that was attacked). The same judge says he has investigated and Hamas has no ties to al-Qa'eda.

So far, there really hasn't been much going on with the flotillas. I haven't been able to decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing. On the one hand, nobody has been hurt. But on the other hand, this entire thing could die down and everybody may forget about Gaza (again).

Women's News July 12, 2010

Lots of Women's News, much of it not good.

A woman in Iran was sentenced to stoning, for adultery. The judges have temporarily decided not to carry it out. If you're wondering how stoning works, a woman is buried, with just her head above ground, and then stones are thrown at her head until she is dead. Lovely, huh?

Apparently young girls are being married off in one of the border provinces of Turkey, sometimes for money. Often these young girls are too young to consent, and this is a way to get rid of young female children.

The French National Assembly will be voting this week on an anti-burka bill. Technically, it's a bill that forbids covering your face in public places, because a bill that prevents Muslim women from covering themselves would sound racist. This bill is mostly aimed at Muslims and it really ticks me off. I do not agree with a woman being forced to wear a face covering, but there are women who do it on their own. I have met many Muslim women in America who wear a hijab (scarf over their hair), as a sign of their religion. When I visited the Gulf, I saw women wearing the niqab, a mask that covers the face. I asked about that, because most women were not wearing it. I was told that some women wore it for traditional reasons and that some women wore it because it kept the sun off of their face. So as much as I may agree with not forcing a woman to wear something, what if it is her choice? Where does it end? Perhaps the National Assembly would like to ban women not cutting their hair, and only wearing skirts, like the Pentecostals in America.

Finally, good news!!! A group of Palestinian girls formed a car racing team called the Speed Sisters and entered the Speed Test race. They are looking for sponsors if you would like to help.

Flotilla Apology?

According to the Turkish Daily News, Israel may be willing to apologize and compensate the people on board the Mavi Marmara. Turkey has demanded an apology, compensation, an international inquiry, and the end of the blockade. There is diplomacy happening behind the scenes, but right now both Israel and Turkey claim the other side requested the meeting.

According to Haaretz, the "secret talks" are causing trouble for the Turkish official involved, and both Israelis and Turks are watching the situation.

The Turkish PM has gone even further saying Israel should apologize and compensate the people of Gaza, and the Israeli government has not accepted a two-state solution.

Women's News June 25, 2010

As in Yemen, there is an effort underway to educate women in Turkey as well. This isn't big city women, this is women who live very sheltered lives, in an Islamic area. But they (and their menfolk) are learning that a lot of the things they have believed are not Islamic, and in some cases unhealthy or simply barbaric.

In Saudi Arabia, women's rights are very behind the times too. But do they need rescuing, or are they doing fine on their own? Read the article to find out one woman's opinion.

Middle East Mess

Well, things continue to get interestinger and interestinger. Lots of news from Turkey:

• The EU wants more than just the blockade lifted.
  

• Istanbul has decided to become the sister-city of Gaza.
  

• A coalition of groups is still planning a new flotilla.

• It's becoming harder to defend human rights in Israel. (This reminds me of life under George W. Bush. "You don't like torture - you're un-American, you traitor.")
  

• The President of Syria things Israel is raising the risk of another Middle East war. (Remember, you heard it here first.)
  

Blockade?

Israel says it will loosen up the Gaza blockade.

Juan Cole has a huge roundup of what's going on between Turkey and Israel.