Donme secularists vs Islamofascists

[Gavur]

Islamist party divided by MP's abuse of wife

May 17, 2006

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2183987,00.html

From Suna Erdem in Istanbul



A TURKISH MP who beat his wife has split the ruling party of conservative Islamists and highlighted the domestic violence that is widespread in the country, an EU candidate.
Unusually for a headscarf-wearing, religious political wife, Esma Urun, 52, complained to the police last week after her husband of 35 years, Halil Urun, allegedly beat her. She had confronted him over her suspicions that he had a mistress and threatened to leave him. She allowed the media to print photographs showing her bruises, and the case has dominated headlines.



“Women in Turkey are crushed and harmed,” she told the Sabah newspaper yesterday. Although some MPs of the ruling Justice and Development Party have complained, Mr Urun has received little more than a mild rebuke.

[Gavur]

Gunman shouting 'Allah is great' shoots five at Turkish Council of State

ANKARA (AFP) - Five judges were wounded, two seriously, when a gunman shouting "Allah is great" opened fire during a session here of the Council of State, Turkey's highest administrative court, Ankara governor Kemal Onal said.



Earlier media reports Wednesday said one judge had died in the attack by a man TV channels identified as lawyer Aslan Alpaslan, who was immediately arrested in possession of a handgun.

Alpaslan broke into the room where the 2nd Chamber of the Council was in session on the eighth floor of the building and unloaded two clips from his automatic pistol, shouting "Allahu Akbar" -- God is Great -- the NTV and CNN-Turk news channels reported.

One of the badly injured judges, 2nd Chamber president Mustafa Birden, was known for his rulings confirming a ban on women's Islamic headscarves in the public insititutions and universities of Turkey, an overwhelmingly Muslim country with a strictly secular political system.

Sources at the nearby Hacettepe University Hospital where the wounded were taken said Birden was hit in the stomach and fellow judge Mustafa Yucel Ozbilgin in the neck, CNN-Turk said.

Media reports said the assailant was armed with an Austrian-made Glock automatic pistol, which can pass through metal detectors without setting off the alarm.

Asked about a possible motive for the attack, Onal told reporters: "I don't know, I don't know at all."

[Gavur]

Suspected Islamic gunman wounds 5 judges in attack on Turkish court

ANKARA, Turkey A gunman stormed into a meeting at Turkey's highest administrative court on Wednesday and opened fire, wounding five judges, the governor's office said. The court had recently ruled against promoting a teacher who wore an Islamic-style head scarf.

The attacker, who was detained and being interrogated by anti-terrorism police, reportedly chanted "Allahu Akbar," or "God is Great," as he fired his weapon, private NTV television reported, citing witnesses.

Tansel Colasan, deputy head of the administrative court, the Council of State, told reporters that the attacker was shouting "I am the soldier of God," and said he was carrying out the attack to punish the court decision on head scarves.

The judges, all from the same court chamber, had been severely criticized for a February decision barring the promotion of an elementary school teacher who wore an Islamic-style head scarf outside of work.

"This attack will go into the history of the republic as a dark stain," President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said in a statement condemning the attack.

"These attacks will never reach their goal," Sezer said, adding that the justice system would not be intimidated and would fulfill its duty with "loyalty to the secular and democratic republic."

The country's staunchly secular military also denounced the assault.

"I condemn this vile attack with hate," said Gen. Hilmi Ozkok, chief of the General Staff, in a message to the administrative court, according to NTV.

Under Turkish law, women are not allowed to enter schools or other public buildings wearing head scarves, and the wives of ministers are excluded from government functions and formal state dinners if they wear them.

The attacker reportedly told police that he shot the judges to protest the court decision, private CNN-Turk television reported. The attacker was carrying a lawyer's identity papers, and police are investigating whether the identification papers belonged to him.

If confirmed that the attack was carried out as a protest, it could put the Islamic-rooted government in an extremely uncomfortable position.

Some 99 percent of Turks are Muslims. The country's secular establishment, however, which includes the courts and the military, has sought for decades to restrict Islamic influence, which some political leaders view as an obstacle to Western-style modernization.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's wife, Emine, wears a head scarf, and his governing Justice and Development Party has made no secret of its desire to lift a ban on wearing head scarves in government buildings and universities.

Erdogan's government had condemned the court's decision, and pictures of the judges were printed in Islamic-oriented newspapers.

Deniz Baykal, chairman of the main opposition Republican People's Party, held Erdogan's government responsible for the attack.

"I hope those who still can't see where Turkey is being dragged, who refuse to see it, will take this as a warning," Baykal said. "Unfortunately, blood has spilled into politics in Turkey. Turkey is being dragged into a very dangerous situation. Everybody should come to their senses."

Erdogan also condemned the attack, and said the culprit would be severely punished.

The secular military is also deeply uncomfortable with the government's position on the head scarf issue and what is sees as a creeping Islamization of society.

The head of the court chamber, Mustafa Birden, was wounded in the liver and the spleen and was successfully operated on, Prof. Dr. Ugur Erdener of Hacettepe University Hospital said.

Birden reportedly had received death threats recently, and the administrative court complained recently that its members could become targets, CNN-Turk TV said.

Judge Mustafa Yucel Ozbilgin was in critical condition and undergoing surgery for a bullet wound to the head, which caused severe damage to the brain, Erdener said. A sixth judge escaped the attack unharmed, having thrown himself onto the floor, reports said.

The governor's office in Ankara confirmed that five judges were wounded in the attack. The attacker reportedly had examined Birden's office on Tuesday, Colasan said.

[imported_RUDO]

5 Injured, 2 Serious, in State Council Shooting Ankara

5 Injured, 2 Serious, in State Council Shooting Ankara
By Cihan News Agency
Wednesday, May 17, 2006



Five people were attacked and two injured seriously in the shooting which took place at the Turkish State Council building in Ankara around ten o'clock on Wednesday morning, according to a statement from the Ankara governor's office.

Initial reports claimed that the chief of the State Council's 2nd Chamber Court Mustafa Birden had been killed. This has not been confirmed by local hospital officials.

The assailant, who has been named as Alparslan Aslan and who is thought to be a lawyer, entered the court deliberation room and opened fire on members of the court.

The assailant was detained by police and taken to the Ankara Cankaya Security Authority Headquarters. The suspect reportedly used a "Glock Gun" to carry out his attack.

The Glock gun cannot be detected by X-Ray machines since it is plastic plated.

Turkish Justice Minister Cemil Cicek arrived at the scene shortly afterwards and was informed of the details of the shooting by police authorities

[imported_RUDO]

Gunman is Said to be Member of Istanbul Bar Assoc.

Gunman is Said to be Member of Istanbul Bar Assoc.
By Anadolu News Agency (aa), Ankara
Published: Wednesday, May 17, 2006
zaman.com


Alparslan Aslan, who launched an armed attack Wednesday morning during a meeting of the 2nd Department of Turkey’s State Council, was a member of the Istanbul Bar Association, officials said.

The assailant’s weapon was a Glock brand, officials informed. Aslan is now in custody at the Cankaya Police Department.

Reporters said that Aslan, who launched the armed attack during a meeting around 9:45 a.m., had also come to State Council the previous day, forced the door to President’s room open and fled the scene after officials reported the case to police.

State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin, Minister of Justice Cemil Cicek, Governor of Ankara Kemal Onal, and Ankara Police Commissioner Ercument Yilmaz visited the State Council for inspection of the crime scene.

[imported_RUDO]

Shall The Army wait for next attacks???

Shall The Army wait for next attacks???

[Gavur]

Islamic Head Scarves at Issue in Killing of Judge in Turkey

By SEBNEM ARSU
Published: May 18, 2006
ISTANBUL, May 17 — A gunman stormed into a courthouse meeting room in Ankara on Wednesday and shot five judges, apparently in anger at a ruling enforcing a strict ban on the wearing of Islamic head scarves.

The Times's Moscow bureau.
One judge later died, and top officials, including the prime minister, who himself had criticized the court's ruling, rushed to denounce the attack as a violation of Turkey's secular and democratic traditions.

The gunman, who was captured, is Alparslan Arslan, a lawyer.

He is not known to have previously displayed strong Islamist views, but during the siege, "he presented himself as the soldier of God," said Tansel Colasan, acting chief judge of the highest administrative court, the Council of State, where the shooting took place.

"He reportedly said he was there to punish the court members for their verdicts on the head scarf cases," Judge Colasan told reporters outside the courthouse in Ankara, the capital.

The shooting underlines the frictions Turkey faces as it navigates between those pressing for a greater role for Islam and those who want to protect secular rule. In recent years the government has worked to improve its democratic procedures in order to join the European Union.

The authorities said Mr. Arslan shot the members of court, which handles state administrative matters, during their morning meeting. Mr. Arslan is a licensed lawyer, which gave him relatively easy access to the courthouse, said Justice Minister Cemil Cicek.

Judge Mustafa Yucel Ozbilgin was shot in head and died after surgery. Another judge, Mustafa Birden, who was shot in the stomach, was described as being in stable condition, as were the other three who were shot.

President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said, "Pressures and threats will not defeat Turkish justice."

Turkey is overwhelmingly Muslim, but its law prohibits Islamic attire, including head scarves, at schools and other public buildings, in an effort to control religious influence on social and political life. In February the court ruled that a nursery school teacher would not be allowed to wear a head scarf, even away from the school premises. Critics saw this as an intrusion into her private life.

The state-run Anatolian News Agency, citing the accounts of investigators, reported that Mr. Arslan, in detention after the shootings, identified himself as an ultra-nationalist who was independent of any organization, and said he had been influenced by the debates on the head scarf. The investigators said they had found a handgun in his car.

The NTV news channel showed a cover of Vakit, a pro-Islamic newspaper, from February that featured an article that heavily criticized members of the court for supporting the ban on head scarves. The paper printed photos of the judges, including those attacked Wednesday. An Istanbul prosecutor has ordered an investigation of whether the newspaper violated the law by encouraging violence and making targets of official figures.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who leads the Islamic-inspired Justice and Development Party, has periodically criticized the court for rulings like the one on head scarves. But at a news conference after the shootings, he rejected implications that such criticism heightened public anger toward the court.

"This incident is one to be denounced," Mr. Erdogan said. "Building an association between the attack and the head scarf issue, or my views in the pre-election period, is an even uglier approach."

Sumru Cortoglu, the chairwoman of the Council of State, said the government had rejected her plea for more protection in face of media reports that seemed to make judges targets of violence. But Mr. Cicek, the justice minister, said additional protection was ordered last month.

[Gavur]

Turks Protest Pro-Islamic Party Government

by UPI Wire
May 18, 2006


ANKARA, Turkey - May 18, 2006 (UPI) -- More than 20,000 Turkish citizens protested in Ankara Thursday after a lawyer gunned down several judges, killing one and wounding four others, Wednesday.

Alpaslan Arslan, a lawyer, allegedly used a handgun to fire on the judges. Judge Yucel Ozbilgin died Wednesday at Hacettepe Hospital.

Arslan said the attack was in retaliation for the judges' ruling against the promotion of a teacher because she had worn an Islamic headscarf outside of school, CNN reported.

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, outlawed religious dress in public, Jurist reported.

Protesters marched to Ataturk's mausoleum where they shouted for the pro-Islamic Justice and Development Party to resign, BIA News Center reported.

"Turkey is secular and will remain secular," chanted protesters -- who included lawyers, professors, students, members of parliament and retired military officers.

Council of State President Sumru Cortoglu, Constitutional Court President Tukay Tugcu and Court of Appeals President Osman Arslan were among the protesters. They said they would not be swayed from Ataturk's path and principles.

Copyright 2006 United Press International

[Gavur]

Turkish funeral turns into demonstration against government

Ankara, 18 May - Following the killing of Turkish judge Moustafa Ozbilgin and the wounding of four of his colleagues in an assault carried out by an alleged Islamist extremist lawyer in the Turkish high administrative courtroom, thousands of people staged a demonstration in support of a secular state. The courtroom was the same that earlier this year banned a female teacher from getting an professional upgrade on the grounds that the woman wore a headscarf. These circumstances lead the Turkish authorities to suspect the assault on the courtroom to be part of a wider plot to destabilize secular Turkish institutions, whereas among the 25,000 people who gathered at the funeral of judge Mustafa Ozbilgin in Ankara a group of demonstrators harrassed and insulted ministers and government officials accusing them of having fostered the anti-secularaist climatae having encouraged Islamist extremists to commit yesterday's crime. The scene was vaguely reminiscent of the anti-Islamist demonstrations that helped the military topple President Arbakan in the nineties. President Erdogan's party was in fact founded as the successor of the now outlawed Welfare party of former President Arbakan.

http://www.arabmonitor.info/news/dettaglio.php?idnews=14263&lang=en

[Gavur]

A massacre at the Council of State headquarters

Saturday, May 20, 2006










AYŞE ÖZGÜN
I listened to the murderer's father on SKYTURK TV on the day his lawyer son had attacked the Council of State building and shot five judges while they were in a meeting, killing one and wounding four others. (A massacre that strangely reminded me of Fehriye Erdal's murderous act at the Sabancı building and the kidnapping and murder of Gonca Kuriş some years ago by the radical Islamist group Hizbullah.)

“Of course he's been away from his home and living alone in Istanbul for the past seven years! Living alone in Istanbul is not easy.”

“Did he have any friends?”

“He shared his solicitor's office with two other lawyer friends. They had their office in Üsküdar.”

“When did you last talk to him?”

“He called me two days ago.”

“Did he say anything particularly different or strange?”

“No, he did not. He indicated he had not slept the night before.”

“Did you ask him why?”

“No. But he was prone to aggression at times.”

“How do you mean?”

“Well, sometimes he would get upset about a certain issue.”

“What kind of an issue, can you give an example?”

“Well, he was not fond of imperialistic powers. He would get upset talking about them...”

“How did you respond?”

“I talked to a psychiatrist. Then, I asked him to go visit the doctor but… he refused.”

Lawyer Alparslan Arslan shot and wounded five members of the Council of State in cold blood, murdering one, while shouting: “I am a soldier of Allah. I am here to punish those who refused the headscarf for a teacher...”

That is all that could be deciphered from his mumblings while he was running down the steps of the building after having fired 11 shots in the conference room of the Second Bureau on May 17, 2006 at 9:45 a.m.

A man of justice against justice! What kind of a twisted and distorted brain is this? Who brainwashed him? Who directed him?

A meter and a half of cloth is wreaking havoc in our secular democracy and republic. Radicals are willing to shoot and kill for the sake of a piece of cloth that is not even ordered to be worn by the women of Islam according to the Nur Sur'a of the Koran as interpreted by religious scholars appointed by the Religious Affairs Directorate. In order to remind some of what I'm talking about, let me recap. Three theologians sat around a table and attempted to interpret Nur Sur'a. What does the word “valuables" or "jewels/ziynet” refer to? It cannot refer to the “clothes” she is wearing because they themselves are items that cover her up. It cannot refer to the jewels she is wearing because men look at her even if her jewels are covered. It must then refer to the attractive parts of a woman. What could those parts be? The section just below her chin is pretty. Her neck is pretty. Her bosom is pretty. So that must be what the term “jewels” refers to. So? So (and this is the assumption of the religious scholars of the Religious Affairs Directorate in Ankara that brings me into turmoil) the woman must cover her head and these parts. I ask this question. Where does the “hair” come into the picture according to your interpretations?

The prime minister believes the Koran orders it. I believe it does not. Won't these religious scholars stand up and admit to their wrong interpretation of this Sur'a as being an order to cover hair? Why won't they? Because the headscarf is a tradition cloaked in a religious connotation that brings in good dividends, that's why.

I say a silent “goodbye and thank you” to Judge Mustafa Yücel Özbilgin, who has passed away. I extend my sincere wishes for a speedy recovery to the wounded judges. I thank all of them for upholding the Constitution of this country under such dangerous circumstances.

Atatürk scraped up the remains of the Turkish people and made us form a secular, democratic republic that we are being forced to hold on to for dear life! No matter how hard some try to change the way we are, no matter how much they try to polarize and divide us, we will, in the end, lick our wounds and wipe the tears from our faces and stand up straight and be proud for not having given in. Never.

http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=43916