Vowel letters

Two Turkish movies currently playing in theaters take the audience on a journey into recent history with their soundtracks.

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) head Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has described the Dec. 14 police operation, in which the police raided a newspaper and detained a number of broadcasters, as a “coup.”

In strongly-worded remarks, Deputy Prime Minister Yalçın Akdoğan has ruled out any discussion with the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) on prospects of “autonomy” as part of the peace process, while a leading deputy of the HDP who indicated the presence of such discussion has also denied this claim.

Turkish actress Serra Yılmaz has claimed that she was “accused of being a Christian” for translating Pope Francis’ words into Turkish during his visit to Turkey between Nov. 28 and 30.

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.

It’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as you’ve never seen him before – except maybe you did two years ago, on a promotional poster for a TV series about a dark-haired desperado fighting for justice everywhere.

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.

“Sweden had a female minister of Turkish origin. Can you imagine Turkey having a Russian blonde Orthodox woman in the Turkish Cabinet in 20 years’ time? I really can’t imagine Turkey changing toward this mentality. But perhaps realities on the ground are going to force a change in the mindset,” Professor Ahmet İçduygu fron Istanbul’s Koç University told me.

A parliamentary commission into corruption among senior members of the government has questioned a sudden increase in the wealth of two former ministers on the back of allegations that they accepted bribes.

Former EU Minister Egemen Bağış has admitted receiving gifts including “chocolate, shirts and ties” from Iranian-Azeri businessman Reza Zarrab and said he helped some of Zarrab’s friends receive visas, speaking at a parliamentary commission on corruption allegations on Nov. 27. He also described “gift giving” as a “Turkish tradition.”