Collation

The Serbian government is planning to set up a Council for the Serbian Language and introduce fines for public institutions and companies that do not use Cyrillic, as well as tax benefits to promote wider use of the script, state-owned newspaper Vecernje Novosti reported on Monday. 

Tens of thousands of people came together to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Sarıkamış operation, during which around ten thousand Turkish soldiers froze to death in the northeastern part of the country during World War I.

The vigil against the privatization of the protected beach of Ä°ztuzu on the Mediterranean will enter its second week beginning on Jan. 6, with activists relying on each other to prevent the transfer of the right to run the recreational facilities at the site to the new holders.

Selahattin Demirtaş, co-chair of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) has joined the commemoration of the 34 villagers who lost their lives in a Turkish military airstrike in 2011 in the southeastern province of Şırnak, calling on the government find those responsible for the deaths.

The Beşiktaş football fan club çArşı is a unique one with many unique acts. Its demonstrations carry small subtle messages filled with pangs of intelligence. Their cheers are humorous; their social campaigns are sentimental. For example, they went naked in the middle of winter to shiver together with Van earthquake victims. 

A trial against 35 individuals associated with Beşiktaş’s football fan group çArşı on charges of “attempting to overthrow the government” during last year’s Gezi Park protests has started at the Çağlayan Courthouse in central Istanbul.

A painting by 20th century Turkish artist İbrahim Çallı was sold for over 2 million Turkish Liras at an auction by Antik A.Ş.

Paintings and antiques chosen from private collections were offered for sale at the 284th auction at the Shangri-La Bosphorus Hotel. Classical Turkish paintings and Ottoman works were sold at record prices in the auction.

The relationship between art and government is not a new topic, but this does not mean we will not discuss it over and over again. Come on, let’s discuss it.

Some 160 individuals, including top businesspeople such as Doğuş Holding’s Ferit Şahenk, daily Hürriyet Chairwoman Vuslat Doğan Sabancı, Koç Holding’s Ali Koç, Çukurova Holding’s Mehmet Emin Karamehmet, along with former top soldiers and journalists, were wiretapped with fake names in 2008 and 2009.

Turkey’s media organizations have been unprecedentedly banned from reporting about a parliamentary inquiry into corruption allegations concerning four former ministers of Cabinet.

A request for the ban was filed by the Parliament Speaker’s Office to the Ankara Chief Prosecutor’s Office on Nov. 21, asking for a ban that will last until Dec. 27.