Magnificent Century divides Turkish TV viewers over the life of Suleiman

Smash-hit soap opera based on Ottoman empire's most revered leader, Suleiman the Magnificent, provokes 70,000 complaints

For the show's producers, it is nothing less than a magnificent controversy. Muhtesem Yuzyil, or Magnificent Century, a lavish primetime soap opera about Suleiman the Magnificent and Hurrem, the slave who became his powerful wife, is as admired in Istanbul as it is reviled.

Suleiman ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1520 to 1566 at the height of its glory and is still revered as Kanuni, or Lawgiver. This has led to the series attracting a wave of protests from irate viewers and even government officials. Critics said it was disrespectful to the sultan because it showed him drinking alcohol

A documentary on one of Turkey's power men Ahmet Dvatoglu, The foriegn minister, who is a charismatic man.



The other two men weilding power for the government are currently the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the President, Abdullah Gul.



While this documentary starts out focussing on the Foriegn Minister, it later focusses on other challenging aspects of Turkey, including the Armenian and Kurdish issues and touches on the issue of the military and judiciary challenge to the current government.



(contents do seem to suggest that parts of this were filmed before September 12 2010.)

A good watch nevertheless for those who may be interested to know more about Turkey.

Israel offers £63,000 each to families of men killed on Mavi Marmara in exchange for Turkey's help in indemnifying navy against lawsuits

Israel has proposed paying compensation to relatives of Turks it killed during a raid on a Gaza-bound ship, in exchange for Ankara's help in indemnifying the Israeli navy against lawsuits, officials said today.

Read more @ The Guardian

The United States has notified Ankara that the expected new release of classified US documents may contain references to Turkey, a Turkish official said on Friday

Read more @ Todays Zaman

The files potentially contain information about Turkey helping militants in Iraq and America supporting the PKK in Northern Iraq (and Turkey).

Something to keep an eye on:

Israelis promise to stop eight ships carrying 10,000 tonnes of aid, 800 activists and politicians from more than 40 countries

A flotilla of eight boats carrying thousands of tonnes of construction materials, medical equipment and other aid is preparing to sail to Gaza in the next few days, setting the scene for a confrontation with Israel which has vowed to prevent the ships breaking the blockade on the Palestinian territory.

Three cargo ships and five passenger vessels plan to meet up in international waters between Cyprus and Gaza Strip before heading towards Gaza City. The Israeli military is expected to stop the flotilla and divert it to the Israeli port of Ashdod.

One of the organisers of the flotilla, which includes three vessels from Turkey, is IHH, a humanitarian aid group supported by Ankara. Diplomatic relations between Turkey and Israel have deteriorated since the Israelis launched a three-week war on Gaza in 2008-09. An attempt to block the flotilla is likely to increase tensions between the two countries. The Turkish prime minister, Racep Tayyip Erdogan, has called on Israel to avoid this be allowing the boats through.

Read more @ The Guardian

Something that I noticed over at London Muslim - An aid convoy from Turkey will try to breach the blockade that has been imposed by Israel and Egypt on Gaza by providing material that is blocked under the blockade - hazardous and dangerous things like building materials, medicine, generators and medical equipment. Scary, wooo.

London Muslim calls Turkey the "leader of the Muslim world" and I must agree that it is fast earning that title.

20 Ships to Head for Clash in Gaza

(IsraelNN.com) The Turkish IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation announced that a fleet of 20 ships would be sent to break Israel’s embargo on Hamas-run Gaza two months from now. Five of the ships will be under the auspices of IHH; the support of charitable businessmen in Turkey is being sought for funding to purchase them.

IHH was founded in 1992 to provide humanitarian aid to Bosnia, and later extended its reach to “deliver foodstuff, clothes and tents to crisis regions hit by wars, conflicts, and natural disaster to meet urgent needs of victims.”

However, it has now added political intervention to its agenda, vowing that its “aid ships will continue to head for Gaza until Israeli embargo is lifted.”

The cargo ships are to carry “Israeli-embargoed building materials, generators, medication, medical equipment and educational materials.” In addition, passenger ships accompanying the cargo ships are scheduled to carry “journalists, human rights advocates, activists and lawmakers from various countries.”

Read more @ Israel News Network