Aylin

Minutes after independent deputy Aylin Nazlıaka handcuffed herself to the rostrum during the ongoing constitutional debate, I took a small poll on what my friends thought of the protest. The first reaction, based on the fleeting images of the deputy handcuffed to the mike, were mostly negative.

At least two lawmakers were injured on Jan. 19 as brawls erupted in parliament between supporters and critics of the contentious constitutional amendment package.

Among those hurt were a deputy from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and one from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Pictures showed the two women being carried away on stretchers from the parliament.

'Aylin' by Ay?e Kulin, translated by Dara Çolako?lu (Amazon Crossing, 267 pages, $25)

The driver of a bus that rammed into a bus stop on a busy street in Ankara, killing 12 people, was arrested by a local court on Oct. 2. 

E.A. was arrested following the accident in the capital's Dikimevi neighborhood.

Turkish writer Elif Şafak has taken to Twitter to respond to Health Minister Mehmet Müezzinoğlu's controversial recent statements concerning motherhood, stating that “motherhood is not a career.” 

“Motherhood is not a career. Turkish women should decide their own paths in life [not male politicians from above],” Şafak wrote on her official Twitter account on Jan. 1.

Rescue efforts to aid a freighter which sank after colliding with another merchant ship in a snowstorm off the Adriatic port of Ravenna on Dec. 28 have been suspended due to bad weather conditions, officials have said.

A woman tea-maker at the Youth and Sport's Ministry in Turkey's capital Ankara was severely wounded after being stabbed six times by a male co-worker on Dec. 16. 

The man, also a tea-maker only identified at F.B., stabbed his colleague, only identified as G.Ç., six times early on Dec. 16 inside the ministry's building in Ankara, reportedly due to money issues.

The Turkish president’s statements over ‘nature’ of women and men receive criticism from opposition deputies as well as women rights activists The Turkish president’s controversial statements over gender equality have precipitated a new debate in Parliament, as well as opprobrium on the part of women’s rights activists.