Reset Password
Reset Link Sent
| Blogs > spunkycumfun > Sexy TIMES |
NO TURKISH DELIGHT
|
NO TURKISH DELIGHT   I heard some very shocking news this week as part of my job. I was going to do a blog post about panda bears tonight but panda bears can fucking wait. Instead I'm going to blog about Turkey, the country not the bird! As a university politics lecturer, I teach a large number of international students on my courses. This academic year, there are students from Azerbaijan, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, China, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Indonesia, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, South Sudan, Spain, Sudan, Thailand, Turkey, USA, Venezuela, Vietnam and of course the UK. It’s like the United Nations but without the conflict. When coming across people from different countries, you realise the differences but you also realise that we have far more in common than we have in difference. We all want to survive and have access to food and clean water; we want shelter and a home; we all want a job to look after our families and friends; we want to feel secure and be respected; and we want to be ourselves however culturally and socially defined. International students are very important to universities here in the UK and probably elsewhere in the West because they are charged massive fees. International students pay three times that UK/European Union students pay and get exactly the same for their money. They are a cash cow for universities, but yet a target for governments, like the UK’s government, wanting to curb immigration. Enough of the context; I’ll now cut to the chase. My university has an agreement with the Turkish Ministry of Interior for senior Turkish government officials to come over and study here. In the last ten years the Ministry has sent over 40 civil servants to study here. I’ve just been told that all bar two are now in prison awaiting trial! There was an attempted coup d'état in Turkey this July. The coup spectacularly failed - another golden rule of politics, if you’re going to have a coup make sure you win otherwise there’ll be terrible reprisals. After the failed coup, the Turkish President, Recep Erdoğan, ordered a purge of the Turkish state to root out the conspirators and supporters of the coup. That is why nearly all my former Turkish students are in jail. The increasingly autocratic Turkish President has gone on record as admiring Hitler for running an effective government. Just as he admires Putin, no doubt Trump will admire Erdoğan! Why is the world taking a bad turn towards demagoguery and nationalism? In Turkey, according to reports, up to 50,000 Turkish people - soldiers, judges, civil servants, university lecturers, school teachers etc - have been rounded up and imprisoned. Monitors of Amnesty International, an international body dedicated to promoting human rights and protecting the rights of those people opposing tyrannical regimes, aren’t allowed access to Turkey. Amnesty International, after receiving harrowing accounts from sources in Turkey, claim that these people are being imprisoned without charge and without legal representation and that they are being tortured. These people have no chance of a fair trial - this is Turkey - and if, but more likely when, imprisoned will face appalling conditions - think Midnight Express! I don’t believe that my former students as civil servants conspired, though they may have supported the ideals behind the coup. The coup was fronted by the military, and almost certainly orchestrated by the Turkish dissident, Fethullah Gülen, holed up in America. My former students were arrested because they were Western-educated with ideas about democracy, human rights and the rule of law. They were arrested for being liberal in an increasingly illiberal state. And I feel a little responsible! Do you like Turkish Delight? What do you do when you’re powerless to change things? I feel totally powerless with this situation. I’d love to go to Turkey and campaign for the release of my former students. But I realise that my intervention may be counter-productive. I feel totally powerless because I can’t raise this issue here with any expectation that the UK government will take it seriously. The West is dependent on Turkey as an ally in its proclaimed war against terrorism and as an ally against Russian power.   |
|||||
|
Istanbul is beautiful city. Here's the Blue Mosque. [image]
| ||||
|
Turkey is safer than your country...UK BR-EXİT 
| ||||
|
Turkey is safer than your country...UK BR-EXİT 
| ||||
|
You have modified the policy..england prime minister .Theresa Mary May...Hillary will became prime minister of usa... hopefully, Turkey is the first country to strike you... we'll be waiting.... 
| ||||
|
When people are educated they are less likely to be controlled by an oppressive government. In the US we under-fund education so the ignorant can easily be controlled by fear. Just look at how our elections go, facts and intelligent dialog are hard to find. Sad story about your students. When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
| ||||
|
Do you like Turkish Delight? sure do. Last time I had this was over in the middle East. What do you do when you’re powerless to change things? Run!!!! hugssssss V Wow Spunky didn't know this.. You would make a sexy Prof by the way! Become a blog watcher sweet_vm
| ||||
|
Fuck that shit. Do we not have enough unsolved problems here in America? People are strange when you're a stranger."
| ||||
|
Do you like Turkish Delight? Yes, I do. What do you do when you’re powerless to change things? Well, when I really feel powerless I yell at the TV or throw the newspaper. Neither one does anything useful for imprisoned Turks, though. Authoritarianism is the same whether it's Mussolini's fascism or Stalin's perversion ofBolshevism. You can tell how fearful the reigning power is by the ferocity of their reactions. As painful as it seems to say it, this is a fight the Turks themselves have to fight. Even if the EU or America were willing to confront Erdogan, it's not our fight. You can speak up, send money, lend moral support and offer asylum, but it's Turks who have to stand up and change it. Become a member now and get a free tote bag.
| ||||
|
Do you like Turkish Delight? I don't think I have ever had it What do you do when you’re powerless to change things? I think there is always a way to express desires for change. Of course it may be minimal, but it is something. I have had trouble over the years understanding why a population will allow an individual or party oppress them. The military consists of men who have parents. If those parents are at the fore front of a protest, do you think that their own children will kill them? That is of course a simple example. If a population allows themselves to be subjected like this and their young children to be mistreated, in my opinion, they deserve what they have. After all they are they majority.
| ||||
|
I love turkish delight BUT chocolate coated is even better....BUT....I stopped eating right now because of my blood sugars.....you can have my portions!
| ||||
|
Do you like Turkish Delight? I used to indulge in rahat locum when I was younger. What do you do when you’re powerless to change things? I rant and eat a lot of chocolate. Visit my blog It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World of NaughtyInSO, leave a comment, become a watcher. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LIVE AND LET LIVE Be happy! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| ||||
|
Do I like Turkish Delight?  I'm not sure. I probably would, but most Americans really don't know what it actually is. Turkey is another place where I am powerless. .. It is true.. Don't start a coup unless you know you're going to pull it off. This coup seems to have been rather disorganized. .. Either they tried before they were ready or (as has been rumored here) Erdoğan planned it himself so he could get emergency powers. We have someone he wants too. A cleric that has been in exile for many years. .. But we're not going to arrest him. They have no proof that he was involved and from what is known of the guy he would discourage that sort of thing.
| ||||
|
TERORRİST:your country politicians You drew a map in 15 years...but remember, this is the map we draw of the world's most enduring this for years, you're looking at 2000-3000 Turkish delight in the taste..
| ||||
|
8 NOVEMBER BEGİNNİNG OF END
| ||||
|
Hey idiots swearing from...discuss
| ||||
|
Bonjour Spunky Je n'ai jamais été en Turquie Et je ne sais pas ce que je réagirais si un coup d'état se passait en France , je sais seleument que quand Napoléon III a fait le sien plusieurs milliers d'Occitan on été déportés ♥ Poton ♥ Bisou ♥ Annie ♥ Hello Spunky I have never been to Turkey And I do not know what I would react if a coup was going on in France, I only know that when Napoleon III made his several thousand of Occitans were deported ♥ Kiss ♥ Annie ♥
| ||||
|
You have modified the policy..england prime minister .Theresa Mary May...Hillary will became prime minister of usa... hopefully, Turkey is the first country to strike you... we'll be waiting.... There is no prospect of war between Britain and Turkey - we're both in Nato!
| ||||
|
NATO BİG LİE ...
| ||||
|
Do you like Turkish Delight? Yes (one of my favourite sweets) What do you do when you’re powerless to change things? Pray! 
| ||||
|
8 NOVEMBER BEGİNNİNG OF END
| ||||
|
When people are educated they are less likely to be controlled by an oppressive government. In the US we under-fund education so the ignorant can easily be controlled by fear. Just look at how our elections go, facts and intelligent dialog are hard to find. Sad story about your students.
| ||||
|
Do you like Turkish Delight? sure do. Last time I had this was over in the middle East. What do you do when you’re powerless to change things? Run!!!! hugssssss V Wow Spunky didn't know this.. You would make a sexy Prof by the way!
| ||||
|
Fuck that shit. Do we not have enough unsolved problems here in America?
| ||||
|
Do you like Turkish Delight? Yes, I do. What do you do when you’re powerless to change things? Well, when I really feel powerless I yell at the TV or throw the newspaper. Neither one does anything useful for imprisoned Turks, though. Authoritarianism is the same whether it's Mussolini's fascism or Stalin's perversion ofBolshevism. You can tell how fearful the reigning power is by the ferocity of their reactions. As painful as it seems to say it, this is a fight the Turks themselves have to fight. Even if the EU or America were willing to confront Erdogan, it's not our fight. You can speak up, send money, lend moral support and offer asylum, but it's Turks who have to stand up and change it. I only got politicised when I went to Zimbabwe. I had read about poverty - and I mean abject poverty - but when you see it first hand that's when I finally got politics!
| ||||
|
Do you like Turkish Delight? Yes dear I do. This was the first trip to the UK that I walked right past Thorntons and didn't go in and buy some. I especially like Fruit Jellies and Special Toffee too! I've lost another three pounds this week, so I guess passing up the sweets continues to pay off. What do you do when you’re powerless to change things? Eat Fruit Jellies and Special Toffee or sweets in general. I don't know why so many countries wish to be exclusionary now and I don't know to what lengths any of them will go to achieve their goals. It's a scary time. I'm very sorry to hear your distressing news. The person who told me - one of the two out of 40 not imprisoned - the news about my Turkish students being imprisoned, I fear, has also been imprisoned. He was just about to go back to Turkey and I asked him to email me on his return. I've had no email from him!
| ||||
|
The only thing we can do is probably to tell around us what are the dangers of populism. Our old democracies are not immune to these dangers. Sommaire Et la souffrance vgtale L'être idéal ? Un ange dévasté par l'humour. E.M. Cioran
| ||||
|
Do you like Turkish Delight? I don't think I have ever had it What do you do when you’re powerless to change things? I think there is always a way to express desires for change. Of course it may be minimal, but it is something. I have had trouble over the years understanding why a population will allow an individual or party oppress them. The military consists of men who have parents. If those parents are at the fore front of a protest, do you think that their own children will kill them? That is of course a simple example. If a population allows themselves to be subjected like this and their young children to be mistreated, in my opinion, they deserve what they have. After all they are they majority. Last week a Turkish dissident was assassinated while drinking coffee in a London cafe; the evidence suggests that the Turkish authorities ordered his execution. A while back a Russian dissident was poisoned - radiation poisoning - by the Russian secret services in a London hospital. He suffered an agonising death. It is dangerous sometimers for citizens to oppose those tyrants in power.
| ||||
|
I love turkish delight BUT chocolate coated is even better....BUT....I stopped eating right now because of my blood sugars.....you can have my portions!
| ||||
|
I thought your new government was going to be a good one! But I don't live in Canada so I don't know.
| ||||
|
Do you like Turkish Delight? I used to indulge in rahat locum when I was younger. What do you do when you’re powerless to change things? I rant and eat a lot of chocolate.
| ||||
|
Do I like Turkish Delight? I'm not sure. I probably would, but most Americans really don't know what it actually is. Turkey is another place where I am powerless. .. It is true.. Don't start a coup unless you know you're going to pull it off. This coup seems to have been rather disorganized. .. Either they tried before they were ready or (as has been rumored here) Erdoğan planned it himself so he could get emergency powers. We have someone he wants too. A cleric that has been in exile for many years. .. But we're not going to arrest him. They have no proof that he was involved and from what is known of the guy he would discourage that sort of thing.
| ||||
|
I really hope your words are true, but I fear the world in general is taking a really horrible turn for the worse.
| ||||
|
Bonjour Spunky Je n'ai jamais été en Turquie Et je ne sais pas ce que je réagirais si un coup d'état se passait en France , je sais seleument que quand Napoléon III a fait le sien plusieurs milliers d'Occitan on été déportés ♥ Poton ♥ Bisou ♥ Annie ♥ Hello Spunky I have never been to Turkey And I do not know what I would react if a coup was going on in France, I only know that when Napoleon III made his several thousand of Occitans were deported ♥ Kiss ♥ Annie ♥
| ||||
|
I agree with almost everything you say except about the European Union. I tend to see things more generally - economic/finacial crises always cause political crises. The economic conditions facing Germany after the First World War made Hitler putting Germany first attractive. And so the Second World War started. We had the Brexiteers arguing to put the Britain first and Britain will be be economically hit over the course of time. Now we have Trump wanting to make America great again, and that will lead to hatred and possibly war. We need to stand together. Economics determines politics; perhaps I'm a Marxist.
| ||||
|
Do you like Turkish Delight? Yes (one of my favourite sweets) What do you do when you’re powerless to change things? Pray!
| ||||
|
I don't think my Turkish students knew the risks they took when getting educated in the West. They were paid quite handsomely by their government - they were paid their normal civil service salary plus extra to bring their families over here - and now they're in prison! But international students bring a lot to the table in terms of education.
| ||||
|
I've not commented on blogs for a very long time but your post is serious enough to genuinely deserve a reply. I feel for you. I've spent most of the last two years in the middle east - getting to know and like many Arabs and being appalled at the way they accept a form of rule much harsher that I had ever previously understood. I've never been to Turkey but I expect it to be similar. I would advise you to concentrate on ensuring that your personal feelings don't distort your lecturing work but remain true to yourself and acknowledge the hurt you feel wherever you feel it to be appropriate. If you still have students who may know some of those incarcerated in Turkey, it may be helpful to reach out to them? Most of all though, don't feel responsible. Erdoğan is responsible and, no matter how difficult it may be for your old students, he is a product of Turkish society. As for Turkish Delight; I'll eat a cube to be polite when offered, but I'm not a fan. Many thanks, genuinely meant, for your thoughtful comment.
| ||||
|
Do you like Turkish Delight? Yes. What do you do when you’re powerless to change things? That depends on the situation. It is a bad situation in Turkey and Erdoğan is the one responsible for the worsening situation. Educating people is a good thing to do but it is up to the ones educated to use it in an effective manor to gain the changes that will benefit the people. What Erdoğan is doing is exactly the kind of thing people like Trump would love to have the power to do. The best thing for Turkey would be an accidental death for Erdoğan and the sooner the better. When people like that get into power they drag even the good people down to their level because they can't oppose them without being targeted and eliminated. Bad economic times brings out the worst in people. Turkey was predisposed to being taken over by an ass like Erdoğan because of the lack of freedom to speak out against the leader whomever it may be in the country. When any society allows or excepts when the leaders make it a crime to speak your mind or expose the crooked activities of those in government as it has been done in Turkey it is headed for trouble. Freedom of the press and the citizens to speak as well as separation of church and state are essential to keeping tyrants out of power. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk is turning in his grave. All the work he did to make Turkey a decent civilized modern nation is being pissed away by a selfish egotistical tyrant. It is no easy task to turn an empire into a nation. Ataturk abolished the Sultanate and the Caliphate to allow the people to get out of the dark ages and the suppression of the religious leadership. Erdoğan is inviting the suppression and the dark ages back. He won't be able to control the infection when it gets going. Vive La Difference
| ||||
|
Do you like Turkish Delight? Yes. What do you do when you’re powerless to change things? That depends on the situation. It is a bad situation in Turkey and Erdoğan is the one responsible for the worsening situation. Educating people is a good thing to do but it is up to the ones educated to use it in an effective manor to gain the changes that will benefit the people. What Erdoğan is doing is exactly the kind of thing people like Trump would love to have the power to do. The best thing for Turkey would be an accidental death for Erdoğan and the sooner the better. When people like that get into power they drag even the good people down to their level because they can't oppose them without being targeted and eliminated. Bad economic times brings out the worst in people. Turkey was predisposed to being taken over by an ass like Erdoğan because of the lack of freedom to speak out against the leader whomever it may be in the country. When any society allows or excepts when the leaders make it a crime to speak your mind or expose the crooked activities of those in government as it has been done in Turkey it is headed for trouble. Freedom of the press and the citizens to speak as well as separation of church and state are essential to keeping tyrants out of power. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk is turning in his grave. All the work he did to make Turkey a decent civilized modern nation is being pissed away by a selfish egotistical tyrant. It is no easy task to turn an empire into a nation. Ataturk abolished the Sultanate and the Caliphate to allow the people to get out of the dark ages and the suppression of the religious leadership. Erdoğan is inviting the suppression and the dark ages back. He won't be able to control the infection when it gets going.
|
Notre vie est un voyage-♦-Dans l'hiver et dans la nuit
Become a member to create a blog
