Turkish revolt: what next?

Turkish revolt: what next?

After the heavy protests against Erdogan's government, little has been said on its outcome.

Violently repressed protesters in Turkey, on June 15, had attracted the attention of the international community. Now, on its aftermath, what is happening?

Ozan B., student at Istanbul's Technical University, is positive about the "big political awareness" it has launched However, he admits that politics in itself remains troubled.

Two months ago, Prime Minister Erdogan had announced Gezi Park's transformation into a shopping centre. This had provoked a movement of peaceful, ecologically-driven demonstration from students.

Soon, governmental police forces dislodged them with water canons and pepper gas, severely harming some participants.

Since then, what had started as the Gezi Park Resistance became a nation-wide movement of protest against Erdogan’s governance, spreading to major cities like Ankara and Izmir.

Already before this, the government had applied a set of very restrictive measures, angering more and more the people.

“For example, they voted new laws bringing extra limitations on alcohol consumption; and on the appearance, [restrictions] over socialisation and contact of young couples in public spaces”, says Dr Raptopoulos, teacher of Middle-Eastern politics at the University of Pireus, Greece.

What are now the consequences of this two-month-old revolt? The first and main one has affected Erdogan's image.

“Erdogan received a heavy blow. According to a gallop […] after the protests, his popularity had dropped from more than 50% to 35%,” says Dr Raptopoulos.

“It is important, since he aimed to make constitutional amendments that would permit the shift to a Presidential system.

“This way he could have become President towards the end of his mandate, earlier than 2015,” he adds.

Indeed since February, the Prime Minister was considering to replace the existing parliamentary system with an executive presidency, which worried the opposition, seeing an attempt at a totalitarian regime.

"It's good that Erdogan is going through a hard time. He has turned people against each other for too long", confides Ozan.

Indeed, since Ataturk's quick secularist policies in the 1920s and 1930s, Turkey had become polarized between Islamic and Western values, a rift on which Erdogan played.

Erdogan's policies also came at the cost of freedom of speech, with several cases of jailed journalists and academics. Again recently, an outlet of Facebook speaking for the minorities has been shut down.

The symbol of this group, a pomegranate, was supposedly against Facebook's standards. An excuse indeed rather obscure.

As for the protesters themselves, Dr Raptopoulos says, “Turkish justice has been very severe with the participants. Arrests continued to take place in the offices and homes of ordinary people many days after the end of protests.” Now, police remains in the street, but no trouble is occurring anymore, according to Ozan.

Now, the next step will be to see if those protests and their influence in politics will have an impact on Turkey's bid to join the European Union, negotiations being discussed since 2005 already.

This article was written as an assignment for the London School of Journalism.

Second bail refusal for mafia boss Rancadore

Domenico Rancadore, 20 yeas ago

Domenico Rancadore has been refused bail for a second time at Westminster Magistrates’ Extradition court yesterday in the morning.

Running away from the Italian authorities for 19 years, Rancadore is charged for being one of the heads of the powerful Sicilian Mafia ‘Cosa Nostra’.

Yesterday’s review, aimed at a second bail out application, ended with District Justice Quentin Purdy saying to him: "It seems to me clear that if you are released on bail there is a risk you will disappear. I can see no grounds to grant you bail and be satisfied that you will return."

He also said that he had to serve 7 years in jail. Rancadore actively lived under a false identity with no other explanation than avoidance of police: therefore there are no conditions for bail grant.

Indeed, all of Rancadore’s documents were Italian, such as passport and driving license. A prosecutor said that Rancadore had been reluctant to use his real name for some matters because he had no trust in the Italian authorities.

For the record, Rancadore had been already acquitted in Italy once , but arrested again on the very next day for the same charges of being involved in the Sicilian mafia.

The prosecutor tried to make a point of law by saying that the European warrant was inconsistent with the Italian one.

A prosecutor said Rancadore did not want to go back to Italy, after he allegedly said, “They will kill me”.

He had been acquitted of Mafia-related crimes after the 'Maxi Trial' in Italy, on December 16, 1987, and came to the UK in 1993. He was convicted in his absence of Mafia links in Italy after he went on the run, and he came to the UK knowing all this, said a prosecutor.

He is detained since his arrest by Scotland Yard officers two weeks ago in his home in Manor Waye, Uxbridge, West London.

Rancadore will appear before this court again on September 20.

This article was written as an assignment for the London School of Journalism.

London, 'Safe Haven'

London, “safe haven”

Crisis in Maida Vale does not exist: prices rise, people buy, and life goes on.

House prices continue to rise in Maida Vale, and people keep on investing in the area in spite of the recession, according to an estate agent of the area.

Max Martin, an estate agent of Pembertons, at 125, Shirland Road., says, “Whether they are English, Greek, French or Italian, all big fortunes come and invest in central London.”

He adds, “You don't feel the recession in central London. All that is zone 1, 2... Everyone wants to buy here.”

Inflation in the housing market has made a lot of noise in the news, July having been the fastest growing month since November 2006. But for him, the media create this illusion. As he puts it, London is a “safe haven”.

In Maida Vale, where Martin has worked for five years in this estate agency – so since the beginning of the 2008 crisis – he says that he has seen no change in business. “Just prices have increased, but there are still people to buy.”

Mary Ashworth, resident of Wymering Road since ten years, says she has not felt the recession whatsoever. She adds, “I am actually also renovating one of my apartments on rental. It costs a bit of money, but it is worth it on the long-term with future lodgers.”

Indeed, when walking in the streets of Maida Vale, it makes one wonder how come so many houses are being under construction.

“These are just works of maintenance. Putting new floor, touching up a bit... Every seven years, people do their property up,” says Martin.

Since central London is such a “safe bet”, people are ready to make investments and renovations which will add to the capital gain of their property. Whether it is for buying or renting, there will always be someone to pay the price.

This article was written as an assignment for the London School of Journalism.

Let's Get Arted!

If you want to get to know contemporary visual Art, the Summer Exhibition 2013 remains the place to be. Located at the Royal Academy of Arts in Burlington House, the 245^th edition of the event will give something to everyone through a wide selection of paintings, photographs, architecture, drawings, prints... And the simple fact that I enjoyed some pieces and hated others can confirm its laudable versatility.

 

First we get an introduction in the Wohl Central Hall with a few basic ‘raw’ pieces made out of wood, stone and iron. Then, we get to the main plat-de-resistance with a room filled of paintings, from bright-coloured and very graphic ones to more classic and dark ones.

In the Large Weston Room, a 'provocative' painting will inevitably be much discussed, as is its (only) point: a painting representing many penises, entitled Affluenza, by Ian Daniell. It made me think of someone that would have gone naked in the street in the sole intention of bringing attention over him, without any real driving motivation underneath: it is pointless. 

Surprisingly enough, I found at least one indirect interesting aspect: people's reaction over it, especially women. They would look away quickly and continue their walk ignoring it, or even peer more closely at the multitude of paintings just below it, ostensibly oblivious of the main one above. But inevitably, when their gaze shifted from painting to painting, it would make a half-second detour by checking the big ugly one above. They thought it would go unnoticed...

In Room IV though, I encountered a striking and intense painting, with an actual story to tell this time: that of the still recent French-German conflict over the region of Alsace. Melancolia, by the (obviously German) painter Anselm Kiefer Hon, gives a black-and-white view of the Rhin river and of the opposite shore, from a forest of one of the two banks. A weird cage is in the air: a prison owned by no one, since there have been suffering from both sides of the river, in the end.

For those not fond of painting, there are also architectural constructions, like cars made out of rusty grids (Large Weston Room: Blame the Tools, by Ron Arad) or other more conceptual works (in Room V and VI). But there is also, out of the blue, a rather classic little sculpture: a slightly modernized and silvery Nike figure, by James Butler, very elegant and simple.

You will be able to enjoy some photography too, and in Room X, a collection of six wide tapestries. This medium may be original, but the works themselves actually made me uncomfortable. Colours of all shades, and shapes going in all directions were overwhelming, giving an overall nightmarish impression. It was very lively, but certainly not peaceful – almost aggressive.

In the end, the Exhibition manages well to propose as many various pieces as possible, for all tastes. Go there alone, with friends or family; it brings a nice change to afternoons spent in front of the telly.

Visit the website of the Exhibition.

This article was written as an assignment for the London School of Journalism.

Cosa Nostra's boss heard yesterday afternoon

Domenico Rancadore

Domenico Rancadore, 64, has just been committed by the Extradition Court of Westminster, London, to remain in custody until August 22, when he will be heard again.

Running away from the Italian authorities for 19 years, one of the heads of Cosa Nostra, the powerful Sicilian Mafia, has been arrested yesterday in his home in Manor Waye, Uxbridge, West London.

In 1999 he was convicted in his absence and sentenced to seven years in jail. He does not agree with his extradition.

Known in England as Marc Skinner, the Italian warrant as well as that of yesterday accused Rancadore of being a ‘man of honour’, consisting in contacting other leaders of the organization; extortion, racketeering and drug trafficking on behalf of Cosa Nostra; and of ‘illicit management of building effects’.

He was heard yesterday afternoon at 3 p.m. by District Judge Quentin Purdy. Rancadore is said to have received the equivalent of £340,000 through his dealings.

The authorities from his country did not find him for a long time, and he has ‘no formal identity’ in England since he was under a fake name. D.J. Quentin Purdy therefore refused him bail saying the defendant had 'actively evaded apprehension for a significant period of time'.

District Judge Quentin Purdy

Rancadore had been acquitted of Mafia-related crimes after the 'Maxi Trial' in Italy, on December 16, 1987, and came to the UK in 1993. He had been living in England since then with his family, dealing with a travel agency.

Euan Macmillan, representing Rancadore, said yesterday that his client was suffering from heart condition. D. J. Quentin Purdy therefore reported the rest of the session to a week, leaving time to get further medical proofs.

Benjamin Siefert, appearing for the Italian authorities, said in offensive that Rancadore was trying to escape by the back of his house, after having been alerted by his wife and daughter of the arrival of the authorities.

Macmillan responded by telling again the age and health condition of Rancadore, which could never have permitted him to escape: he was therefore merely wandering in the back of his house.

The hearing will continue in two weeks, on August 22, at 10 a.m. at Westminster Court. A full extradition hearing will take place on November 25.

This article was written as an assignment for the London School of Journalism.