Glassed by immigration, allegedly

July 30th, 2008, Gold Coast Bulletin:

BEN Felgate ... was attacked trying to defend his girlfriend Stevie during an altercation at Cocktails and Dreams nightclub about 4am on Sunday.

His attacker -- described as being of middle-eastern appearance, about 170cm tall, and wearing a rainbow-coloured jumper -- slammed a glass in his face before fleeing ...

Ben is not the only Gold Coaster to have his world rocked by such a cruel act and the Gold Coast Bulletin is calling for glass to be banned from licensed premises to end this sickening and cowardly crime ...
How about calling for a ban on Middle Eastern immigration? Did the glass do it, or did the immigrant do it?

Rental crisis leaves family out in cold

June 14, 2008, Herald Sun:

A FAMILY of 13 were bunking down on the floor of an acquaintance's house last night as Victoria's rental crisis hit a critical new low.

The two adults and 11 children, refugees from Afghanistan, had feared ending up on Melbourne's cold streets after a desperate search for emergency housing failed to turn up suitable accommodation.

Father Hussein Zaghar declined the only emergency accommodation offered late in the day -- a one-room cabin at a caravan park 80km from Melbourne ...

The exhausted parents last night accepted a last-minute offer to bunk down at the home of a St Albans acquaintance, another ex-Afghan refugee.

"The acquaintance lives with his wife and seven children in a five-bedroom home in Hillside," Ms Heaney said. "That makes a total of four adults and 18 children sleeping on the floors for the weekend, when the search will start again."
That's two self-inflicted problems for the price of one: immigration causing a housing crisis, and their birthrates are off the scale - making the future problem twice as bad. Somebody take the razor blades off the Australian public who keep voting for self-harm.

John Brumby warns of dangers in growing too fast

July 28, 2008, Herald Sun:

JOHN Brumby has conceded Victoria's population growth is pushing its limits, thanks to the baby boom and immigration ...

In his strongest comments yet on the state's booming population, he said: "I think we are probably at the limits of growth." ...

While stressing the strength of the state's multiculturalism and its value, he said immigration had doubled over five years and Victoria had attracted a quarter to a third of that intake.
Too much common sense. Need to sit down ...

Sheehan: a reality check on Rudd's rhetoric

July 28, 2008, Paul Sheehan:

Could someone point out to me where, in last year's election campaign, Kevin Rudd or his Labor cohorts announced they were going to commit Australia to a gang-busters immigration program?

Where was Labor's policy announcement that Australia, with its stressed bread basket living from winter rain to winter rain, was going to increase its population by 1 million people during the three-year term of a Rudd government? I can't find it ...

I'm coming to the conclusion that our new Prime Minister is both dissembling and disingenuous. He has certainly misled the Parliament and the people on some big issues ... and there is a growing disconnect between his soaring green rhetoric and pragmatic brown actions.

This disconnect was evident early, during this year's 2020 ideas festival at Parliament House. One notable attendee, Professor Ian Lowe, president of the Australian Conservation Foundation, was struck by the divergence between rhetoric and reality, and by the foregone conclusions built into the process ...

How is increasing the population by a million people every three years going to contribute to lowering Australia's carbon footprint? Don't ask big business, or the ALP machine, both addicted to "growth" defined by corporate fundamentalism, which means higher per capita consumption and more consumers ...
Rudd looks like a dud.

Agent obtains warrant to evict Sudanese refugee family

July 01, 2008, Courier Mail:

A SUDANESE couple and their five children have been ordered out of their Brisbane home otherwise the police will come and throw them out ...

The Presbyterian minister mainly blamed the family's grim situation on the critical shortage of affordable housing.

However he fears discrimination is also at work.

"Whether it's racial, I'm not sure. It's certainly discrimination against large families," he said, describing how one agent had refused, without explanation, to give the family an application for one property ...
How ironic. Immigrant lobbies cause a housing shortage, and then whinge about it. This is the same twisted logic that feeds China with minerals and then complains we have to build an army capable of ripping an arm off an Asian giant. Or have mining companies double the size of Newcastle's coal port facilities, to fuel Asia, and then bemoan climate change and say "we have to wait for the world to act before we do". If you don't want these problems, stop creating them.

Video: CBN - can Britain survive multiculturalism?

July 27, 2008, YouTube:

UK: To beat extremism we must dissolve religious groups?

July 27, 2008
Third of Muslim students back killings:

ALMOST a third of British Muslim students believe killing in the name of Islam can be justified, according to a poll.

The study also found that two in five Muslims at university support the incorporation of Islamic sharia codes into British law.

The YouGov poll for the Centre for Social Cohesion (CSC) will raise concerns about the extent of campus radicalism. “Significant numbers appear to hold beliefs which contravene democratic values,” said Han-nah Stuart, one of the report’s authors. “These results are deeply embarrassing for those who have said there is no extremism in British universities.” ...
July 27, 2008, Minette Marrin:
... the incidence of conservative and separatist Muslim beliefs has been growing and is more prevalent in young Muslims than in their parents’ generation. British Muslims used to be much more moderate ...

Yet how can young Muslims fit into a liberal western democracy if they believe things that are intolerant, illegal and, in plain English, unBritish? ...

Insecure young people can be swayed by extremists. The question is how to stand up to the extremists ...

First, I think, we should abandon all discussions of what Islam truly is. No one will ever agree how many infidels can dance on a pin’s head ...

Religion is as long as a piece of string; true faith lies in the heart of the believer and is rarely susceptible to argument ...

What follows inescapably from this is that religious people and their views should not be officially recognised in groups. Religion should not be allowed a public space or public representation. This is hard for those of us who used to love the muddled Anglican compromise; it means the disestablishment of our national church – if it doesn’t self-destruct first ...

There must be no more religious schools – personally I would leave those that exist alone. There must be no public recognition of religious associations as representatives of anything or anybody: not on campuses, not in student unions, not in government consultations or in parliament.

So-called religious community leaders, or umbrella groups of religious bodies, must of course be free to associate as they like in private, in a free country, but publicly they must be ignored. Publicly they must not teach or promote illegal prejudices. Forced into the private sphere, denied the oxygen of publicity, power and influence, highly politicised religious groups will wither on the vine. Perhaps, in that wonderful phrase of Yeats, they might even wither into truth.
Minette has said some good things in the past, but I can't get my head around this one. It seems both self-destructive and impotent against Islam. We have experts that are telling us what Islam is, and always has been: Robert Spencer, Andrew Bostom, etc. Ignoring Islam and pretending it doesn't exist is not going to work. Demography is destiny, just ask Turkey.

Welcome to nation of university ghettos

July 23, 2008, Sydney Morning Herald:

A WIDENING gulf between local and foreign university students is creating segregated classes, cultural cliques and religious ghettos, raising fears of a backlash on campuses ...

While the atmosphere on campuses generally supported foreign students, Professor Marginson said: "So you've got this odd situation with the local students half-disengaged in a way I've never really seen before. The international student industry runs off the back of a reasonably strong local system which presumes a healthy relationship with the local students … all of that has become the marketing pitch. That's the flashpoint that worries me more than any other - that it could spring back into resentment."

Almost two-thirds of international students are from Asia, and many have no contact with local students ...

Connie Zhang, a Chinese student studying commerce at the University of Sydney, said last night: "We don't really hang out with the locals. In the first few years I tried to get along with them, but it's kind of difficult. In the third year I just hung out with
international students." Her friend Hua Feng said some international students lacked the confidence to speak in English. "It's a totally different world."
July 23, 2008
Mixing tough for overseas students:
ELIZABETH Lai, a 21-year-old Singaporean arts student at the University of Melbourne, says life in a foreign country has not had the international flavour she had hoped for ...

Instead, after a year in Melbourne, most of her friends are international students ...

"You tend to stick to groups and once you are in a group you get comfortable and don't want to stray from them," she said ...

Local student Cassandra Mertono ... admitting integration of local and foreign students was probably not the norm.

"It is a bit segregated on campus," she said. "You can certainly tell on site who is local and who isn't and the non-locals tend to stick together, especially in the undergrad years."
The newer undergrads have probably already learned in high school how to shut themselves off from the "celebration", segregate themselves from the "enrichment", shun the "vibrancy", and abstain from the "energy" - for their own emotional health.

White flight from schools? Check.
White flight from suburbs? Check.
White flight from foreign sounding job applicants? Check.
White flight from immigrant area real-estate investment? Check.
White flight from policing and nursing? Check.
University flight? Check.
Diversity fails again.
The diversity tap that won't be turned off until whites vote as whites, until Christians vote as Christians, until Australians vote as Australians. Until, wait for it, we discriminate and protect our own space as a distinct race, culture and religion.

Bogus references help students win residency

July 26, 2008, the Australian:

Private vocational colleges were increasingly using the federal Government's Migration Occupations in Demand List to promote hairdressing and cooking as what one disillusioned former college teacher described as "the easiest, cheapest and fastest way for students to get permanent residency".

Before students doing trade courses can apply for permanent residency, they need a trade certificate III and references saying they've completed 900 hours of work experience ...

Fraudulent references are also showing up in hairdressing, says Ruth Browne, director of Pivot Point International Academy in Melbourne, one of 2000 Pivot Point colleges in 72 countries: "I've heard there's all these scams with students paying for the industry validation certificates of 900 hours work experience. It just seems to be rife. It's a well-known fact within the international education industry that some migration agents are providing documents for required working hours; students don't even have to go to a salon to do it. But salon owners tell me some kids come in and say, 'I'm happy to work for nothing or my agent can arrange it."' ...

Melbourne migration lawyer Michael Clothier says: "I have so many clients abandon their courses in maths and science to take up hairdressing and commercial cookery because its easier to get permanent residence. One of the enticements to get people to the 'arse end of the world' to do their studies is that they can get (permanent residence) at the end of it." In fact some of the students who have come to him for migration advice were confused about the fact they actually had to attend classes, Clothier says. "They thought the fix was in."
That's the fate of nondescript-global-village civic nationalism: self-destruction. Yay team diversity!

I didn't rape her, I was reading the Koran to my dying dad

July 26, 2008, Herald Sun
Farah Jama used his dying dad as rape alibi:

A DNA sample led police to Farah Jama, 21, months after his victim, who was in her 40s, was found unconscious in a locked toilet cubicle at a Doncaster nightspot in July 2006 ...

But Jama pleaded not guilty, claiming he was at his family's Preston home on the night of the rape because his father was ill.

Family members told the jury Jama was reading his father passages from the Koran and "listening to him pronounce his last will" for all but 15 minutes of that night.

Judge Lacava said the claim was "most unsatisfactory" and must have been rejected by the jury who found Jama guilty of one count of rape.
The perp's name sounds African.

June diversity news from Blacktown

Hat tip: commenter
Blacktown Advocate
Wednesday, June 18, 2008. Page 11

A 51-year-old Seven Hills man was beaten and bound by three men in his Barbara Boulevard backyard last Thursday.

The man told police he saw three men of Middle Eastern appearance hovering around his son's granny flat and when he approached them, they threatened him and punched and kicked him to the ground before tying his hands with tape.

The men allegedly stole a small safe from the flat after smashing their way in through a glass door.

Police are appealing for information over the assault and theft.
Blacktown Advocate June 4, 2008, page 3.
A 17-year-old suffered facial injuries after a brutal robbery in Blacktown last Wednesday night. The teen was walking from Blacktown train station about 6pm, when a man described as Islander in appearance demanded money. The youth told police he was punched so hard that he fell to the ground. While he was down the man continued to punch him, causing bruising and swelling. After rummaging in his pockets for cash, the man fled towards the station. He was wearing a purple hooded jumper and white Nike shoes.
Blacktown Advocate. June 11, 2008, page 3.
Police are seeking assistance finding the men behind a cigarette heist in Prospect. Two men in their 20s and of Middle-Eastern appearance allegedly rammed a van containing cigarettes in a stolen red Mazda 121, about 8.30am. The 24-year-old driver told police one man pulled a gun and demanded he get in the car, before the men drove him around for about 20 minutes. He was later released unharmed on Stoddart Rd, Prospect. Police later found the empty van.
Blacktown Advocate, June 11, 2008, page 6.
More sex charges for bus driver

A Moorebank bus driver accused of molesting an intellectually disabled woman at Blacktown has been chared with a further six offences.

Five counts of indecent assault and one of obscene exposure were addede to two counts of indecent assault when Satendra Prasad Sharma appeared briefly in Blacktown Court last week.

The 43-year-old of Marshall Ave has been suspended from driving for Busways and was granted bail after his arrest in March.

One of his bail conditions is that he not drive a bus unless supervised.

Mr Prasad has not entered pleas to the charges and will reappear today when the Public Prosecutions Department will decide if it or police prosecutors will handle the case.

Mr Prasad is accused of kissing and fondling the 20-year-old woman in the Westpoint Tunnel on February 28 this year. He allegedly exposed himself in Alpha st.

Video: Turkish Islamists charge secular "plotters"

July 14, 2008, YouTube:

"The two cases highlight the deep divide between the two sides, but few believe that they will resolve it."


Demography will resolve it in favour of Islam. Get out while you can.

Report: Victorian employers prefer Smiths

Helen Szoke, July 18, 2008
Australia, land of the fair go (as long as you're not foreign)

WHAT does it take to get a job in this state if you are Sudanese, Congolese, Burmese, Iraqi, Somali or any other recent arrival from a non-English-speaking country?

Clearly a lot, according to the Harnessing Diversity research report being released today by the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission and the Victorian Multicultural Commission.

At a time when we are hearing so much about labour market shortages and skill shortages, Harnessing Diversity reveals stories of people who have lived in Victoria for some time, can't get their overseas work experience recognised and can't get a job. How can this be so, when we know that some sectors of the job market are running at 20% vacancy rates, when employers are using all sorts of strategies to retain workers because of labour market shortages?

Harnessing Diversity makes it clear that racial discrimination is behind many of the rejections people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds face. While much of the blatant racism and name-calling is a thing of the past, the discrimination people face today is more subtle, entrenched and much more difficult to identify and deal with.

This sort of discrimination is so systemic that often people don't even realise their own biases and bigotry.

Take, for example, the research on people with Arabic-sounding names who failed to win an interview until they changed their names on their applications to ones that sounded Anglo-Saxon. There are even reports that some recruitment agencies recommend applicants change their names so that they can get an interview ...

There are a number of ways to tackle this.

The first is that the Government, as our largest employer, can demonstrate leadership by reducing discrimination in its own recruitment and promotion practices within the public service. This includes active recruitment of people from different cultural backgrounds, mentoring and support for disadvantaged members of culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

Second, highlighting those organisations and individuals who demonstrate best practice and encouraging others to do the same will help challenge some of the negative attitudes and practices against people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds ...

The land of the fair go is an illusion for many migrants. It can only become a reality with practical initiatives that break through the systemic and often internalised racism that still exists ...
Helen Szoke on Life Matters (15 minutes in):
"What's probably more worrying is that some job placement agencies suggested that people should try to change their name after they were repeatedly unsuccessful in even getting an interview. Now, this is not new, if you think about the wave of migrants after the 2nd world war there were many who Anglocised their names ... What's worrying is that we're a very different world to 50 years ago, a much more global world, and to feel that people have to go to those lengths to at least even get a foot in the door - I mean that's astonishing ...

... in order to achieve equality you have to treat people differently ..."
July 18, 2008
Public servants may have to divulge religion and ethnicity
VICTORIAN public servants may have to divulge personal information about their religion and ethnicity under a move to crack down on workplace discrimination.

And businesses could be asked to help fund a campaign encouraging employers to adopt culturally inclusive workplaces.

The recommendations come from a State Government report that has found ongoing racial and religious discrimination at work.

The report, to be released today, calls for the state's anti-discrimination watchdog to be given power to launch its own investigations and to seek orders through the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

Currently, the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission can act only if a complaint has been lodged with the organisation.

The report, Harnessing Diversity: Addressing Racial and Religious Discrimination in Employment, says research showed that people with non-Anglo-Saxon names often missed out on jobs because of their backgrounds.

"In Victoria, the research found that those with Vietnamese and Greek-sounding names had significantly less success in gaining job interviews than those with Anglo-Saxon names, despite the details in the applications being identical," it says ...
Helen Szoke, another of the racial deniers. She's so astonished by her findings that she presumes "people don't even realise their own biases and bigotry". And the next logical step for the denier is the move towards fascism. Whether you like it or not, they're going to ram diversity down your throat. The harnessing is of you, not diversity. But denial never works. "The land of the fair go is an illusion", yes, for Helen Szokes and the racial deniers. Race, culture, religion and identity matter to people. That's why there's white flight in suburbs and schools. That's why you can't get people to fill diversity-frontline jobs like police and nurses. That's why Hazel Rowley admitted that race cannot be transcended in America. That's why Britain is sleepwalking into segregation. That's why diversity is a flawed ideology.

Importing Sino-Fascism?

11/07/2008
China spies on top ALP figures

The Chinese consulate-general in Sydney has targeted federal Labor ministers and staffers in an intelligence-gathering operation.

A Chinese vice-consul in Sydney cultivated a Labor staffer over a 15-month period before the federal election in November 2007.

The staffer told The Canberra Times that he was encouraged to divulge information on Labor Party figures and handed over internal ALP documents.

He was paid $800 and was offered more money if Labor won the federal election ...

The vice-consul said Mr Howard's defeat would be "good" for Australian-Chinese relations because his government had "lost its way" and Mr Rudd "better understood the role China will play in the future" ...

He encouraged the staffer to get a job with a federal Labor minister and mention was made of the possibility of travel to China, with the cost at least in part paid by a Chinese travel agency.

The vice-consul emphasised it was necessary to "be discreet" about their meetings ...

The staffer says he broke off the relationship with the vice-consul shortly after Christmas 2007 ...

A security expert and visiting fellow at the Australian National University, Professor Clive Williams, said the affair looked like "standard methodology" for intelligence recruitment.

"The aim is to compromise a person and then to later put pressure on them to provide more sensitive information," Professor Williams said ...

The Chinese embassy in Canberra has repeatedly denied that China runs spies under diplomatic or consular cover in Australia.

The embassy's press office did not return calls yesterday.
Sept, 2000, John Derbyshire
Importing Sino-Fascism?
... immigrants from different cultures ... bring quite different notions of governance, nationhood and citizenship with them. These attitudes can be very persistent, surviving long after actual memories of the "old country" are forgotten ...

I signed myself off with my Chinese name—not out of any real intent to deceive, only because this was a Chinese e-list and I thought they might throw me off if they knew I was a round-eye ...

The response to my mild, questioning remarks was astonishing. What kind of Chinese was I, that wanted to dismember the Motherland? Didn't I know that those territories had been Chinese since the beginning of time? That their inhabitants were sunk in slavery and oppression under wicked priests and landlords until rescued by Chinese occupation? ... That all the countries of the world recognized Chinese sovereignty over them? That China's right of possession had been acknowledged by the Nationalist governments of the 1930s and 1940s, even before Mao came along? The range of tones was from baffled to furious. How could a Chinese person cast doubt on the integrity of the national borders?

We went back and forth a few times, until someone noticed that my sign-off Chinese name, "Yuehan", was the common Chinese transcription of "John". Was I really Chinese? I confessed frankly that I am not; that I am an Englishman living in America, with a Mainland-Chinese wife and two half-Chinese children.

Now the floodgates of race-hatred opened. One of the subsequent e-mails addressed me as: "England Big Nose". Another offered, as part of a long, labored attempt at sarcasm, to "kiss my hairy hand". Yet a third laid out a very complicated psychological theory trying to demonstrate (if I have understood it correctly) that for a white man to wish to marry a Chinese woman was a form of mental illness, dooming both partners to misery and their offspring to madness ...

Bear in mind, please, that the writers of these e-mails are the intellectual cream of Mainland China, now immigrants to the U.S. Few do not have Master's degrees; many have Ph.D.s ...

Underneath all this were some even more disturbing currents: a deep, atavistic hatred of the West and all its works; a profound scorn for Western "civilization" and "democracy"—the quotation marks seem to be obligatory. Also, a rooted conviction that China had never done anything wrong, and never could ...

This is the voice of the new generation of Mainland Chinese, born in the 1970s and 1980s: puffed up with self-pity and self-righteousness, all their rage and frustration directed against the outside world, utterly ignorant of the modern history of their country ...

This mindset has been fostered by the Communist educational system. As Steven W. Mosher has documented in his new book Hegemon: The Chinese Plan to Dominate Asia and the World, the Communists have been at pains to replace the discredited Marxist-Leninist rationale for their rule with nationalism of the grossest and coarsest type. Chinese school history textbooks make no mention of the 1959-61 famine—in terms of the number dead, a greater human calamity than WW2—but dwell bitterly on the tale about a sign saying NO DOGS OR CHINESE at the entrance to a Shanghai park in the 1920s. (Does anybody know if this story is true?) This hyper-nationalism is not limited to the schools, either; it is carried over to movies, TV shows, popular magazines and even roadside billboards.
Cherish the Motherland, which never has done, and never could do, any wrong. Hate the foreign devils, who have inflicted untold miseries on our people, and who never cease plotting to weaken and dismember our country. The borders of the People's Republic [which are actually those of the Manchu empire, minus Outer Mongolia] are sacred and inviolable, and must not be questioned.
I have sat with Irishmen for long evenings, discussing their history and their nationhood as topics on which different points of view might be exchanged, different opinions passionately, yet reasonably, held. No such discussion is possible with these younger Mainland Chinese. When you raise their "national question", they just lose their temper and ask how you dare be so impudent as to offer an opinion on something that only concerns Chinese people. If you ask them whether they would prefer a free, democratic China without the "three T's" (Tibet, Turkestan and Taiwan) or the present corrupt despotism with them, they unhesitatingly go for the latter.

Moreover, this Chinese group feeling is consciously racial and explicitly anti-white. Irish immigrants do not have this reflex working to alienate them from their new countrymen.

The U.S. now has several million Chinese immigrants and soon-to-be citizens who are at least susceptible to these prehistoric attitudes. Across the Pacific, there are a billion more—armed with nuclear weapons.

Be afraid; be very afraid.
April, 2008
China calls for a people's army to march on Canberra to defend torch
THOUSANDS of Chinese Australians are being asked to rally and defend the Olympic torch from Tibetan "splittists", "scum" and "running dogs" when it arrives in Canberra next week.

The mass campaign is being organised by community leaders in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, while the Chinese embassy is also said to be actively supporting a peaceful show of strength ...

Perceptions that the West is pro-Tibet and anti-China have generated a furious outpouring of ethnic Chinese patriotism, fuelled by private bloggers and the state propaganda machine.

But the Canberra campaign is unlikely to improve Western views of China because many protest leaders are borrowing the militaristic anti-Tibet and anti-Western rhetoric that is bubbling out of the mainland.

One letter widely circulated among Chinese Australians said "the China forces" in Canberra are weak and need reinforcement because the city is a "separatist base" for Falun Gong, pro-Tibet, pro-Uighur (an ethnic minority group in China's north-west) and other "splittists". It said that no Chinese can tolerate being humiliated by "scum of the Chinese nation" and "running dogs".

"Whether you carry a Chinese passport or are an Australian citizen, I believe that each and every one of you, the sons and daughters of China, are as one with us in loyalty and love for the motherland!" the letter said ...

Zhang Zhuning, chairman of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association in Canberra, said Australian police were underestimating the "piles of monks" and Vietnamese "paid" thugs from Sydney who would create trouble.

But he was not afraid of local Falun Gong groups because Chinese triad gangs had "quietened them down"......

Student organisers say they are arranging express courier deliveries of giant Chinese national flags from the mainland because shops in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne have sold out...
2007
The Howard Legacy: Displacement of Traditional Australia from the Professional and Managerial Classes
A book which should be read by all those who think about the future of Australia, but especially of concern to those with children/grandchildren with educational aspirations.

In 2005 in the Sydney Morning Herald Michael Duffy asked the rhetorical question: "Is it perhaps the first time in history that a nation'­s elite have invited another group to come in and replace it?"

Now Dr Peter Wilkinson has collected together both readily available and hitherto unpublished data to show that indeed traditional Australia is being displaced from the professional and managerial classes. This is the enduring legacy that Prime Minister John Howard's regime has bequeathed to the future of Australia. How has this come about?

It arises from a complex web of policies, largely bipartisan, particularly the selective immigration policies which favour applicants with an Australian university degree. Recent arrivals, i.e. the overseas born and non-English speaking background resident students, predominately Chinese, are now in a majority in some fields of education in the universities. They are concentrated in the lucrative and prestige careers. At the UNSW they are the majority overall.

The Chinese presence in Australia has been analysed: numbers, distribution, school and university enrolments, social attitudes and political influence. With near one-fifth in the electorates of the Prime Minister and the Shadow Minister for Immigration, they are influencing immigration policies. The conclusion is that on present policies Australia will have a Chinese minority dominating the economy. Does it matter?

Excerpt:
In selecting skilled immigrants, those who have done a degree in Australia receive bonus points in the criteria for acceptance for residency. In effect the policy selects those Asians who have higher cognitive ability, predominantly ethnic Chinese. In the ‘knowledge economy’ of today a premium is paid for qualifications and cognitive ability. They and their children (who will inherit their higher intelligence) will fill the professional and managerial ranks in Australia. They will dominate the cognitive class and hence have disproportionate influence in the country. This has important ramifications for both internal and external policies as ethnic demographic change continues.

---
Do you think our country is in good hands, Thorpey?

What do you think, Coates?

Thanks for the legacy, Mr Howard.

Hat tip: commenters, Reclaiming Australia, Oz Conservative

Liam Clancy - the Band Played Waltzing Matilda

For the late SAS soldier Sean McCarthy. Click to watch ...

Call them the Harry Potter books on Islam

July 17, 2008, Raymond Ibrahim:

Dinar Standard:
... Saniyasnain Khan says Islam is essentially a religion of peace and harmony but there are two main reasons why some people dislike Muslims and Islam. One is violence that has been associated with it while the other is the perceived bad treatment of women by Muslims.

‘I felt that there was a pressing need to educate the new generation about the real Islamic values so that they become little ambassadors of Islamic goodness and they also stimulate them to learn about Islamic ideals as they grow up,’ said Mr. Khan, whose first book “Tell Me About Hajj” has sold over 30,000 copies.

"Children get a lot of negative information about Islam. There is a big need to give them the right picture so that they grow up to be peace-loving individuals” said Mr. Khan who often contributes articles on spirituality to the Times of India.
Interesting statement. At first, when Khan says that Muslim children “get a lot of negative information about Islam” it seemed that he was indicating the negative “propaganda” surrounding Islam. But the “big need to give them the right picture so that they grow up to be peace-loving individuals” implies that the “negative information” about Islam isn’t what infidels say about it, but how Muslim adults teach it.
A trustee of CPS International, a non-profit organization working towards peace and spirituality, Khan says “my endeavor is to present books for children that provide a solid foundation of Islamic moral values. The basic purpose of these books is to teach themes carefully chosen from the Quran and other Islamic sources so that the children not only learn its ethical values but also embody them in their lives.”
Why all the "care" when choosing themes, Mr. Khan? Why not represent them all? Surely you don't find some of those "themes" problematic?
Now dear Muslim children it's time to play pretends, close your eyes and imagine a place far far away where the Koran has no bad verses, none, it's a magical wonderland. Now open your eyes. So if someone says something bad about Islam you close your eyes and go to that place far far away where no one can criticise you. Don't listen to them, just get on your broomstick and go.

So long as adult Muslims continue to play pretends with the Koran, no Islamic reform will ever happen, and their children will have no defence when the jihadists come knocking.

Turkey: 86 secular 'terrorists' charged

July 15, 2008, NY Times:

ISTANBUL — Eighty-six people, including writers, members of civil organizations and former military officers, were charged Monday with membership in an illegal ultranationalist organization and of plotting to overthrow the Turkish government.

... the suspects, 48 of them in police custody and the others free while awaiting trial, were charged with forming, managing and aiding the organization, which is accused of plotting a coup against the Islamic-rooted, governing Justice and Development Party, or AKP.

The 2,455-page indictment is widely perceived in Turkey as being part of a power struggle between the secular establishment, including parts of the military, and the democratically elected and religiously conservative government.

In another case currently before Turkey’s highest court, AKP and its leadership are charged with introducing religion into government and violating the secular principles on which the Turkish state was founded. Prosecutors seek to disband the party.

The possible coup emerged when a cache of weapons, explosives and illegal documents was found in the home of an ultranationalist retired military officer during a security operation 13 months ago.

Since then, several police investigations have provided information that the Ergenekon group — the name is a reference to a central Asian Turkic legend with strong nationalist overtones — had also been involved in an armed attack on a senior state court in 2006, as well as the 2007 bombing of Cumhuriyet, a left-wing newspaper in Istanbul. Both attacks were included in the charges announced Monday.

A security operation this month led to the arrests of other suspects, including two high-ranking retired generals. These suspects were not included in the indictment on Monday, but will be added in a separate filing, Mr. Engin said.

Military prosecutors have also begun an investigation into the charges against the two retired generals, Sener Eruygur and Hursit Tolon, a private news station, NTV, reported Monday. Military prosecutors demanded copies of evidence that security forces had collected from the former generals’ personal premises, NTV said.

The arrest of the two former generals has stirred controversy in a nation where the military has traditionally seen its role as protecting the secular state.

The military strongly denies any links with the Ergenekon network. It reasserts its loyalty to the secular Turkish Republic in occasional public statements.

Secularists remain suspicious of the governing party, which grew out of previous pro-Islamic parties. Some warn that the government’s policies will lead to Islamic-oriented conservatism.

Opposition parties have heavily criticized the government for appointing religious candidates to critical state positions during its almost seven years in power.

The coup investigation has coincided with the case against the ruling party at the Constitutional Court, where hearings have been held this month. The timing of the coup indictments, as well as the harshness with which some suspects were forced from their beds after midnight for interrogation, was seen by some Turks as an effort by pro-government prosecutors to intimidate secularists ...
Let's take a walk down MEMRI lane ...

June 27, 2008
More Audio Recordings Of Turkish Generals Published In The Internet
Recordings of the conversations and speeches of Turkish generals continue to be leaked periodically to Islamist and anti-military media and websites. On June 27, 2008 the radical Islamist Turkish daily Vakit reported that two new recordings of generals Kenan Kocak and Suha Tanyeri were published at metacafe.com disclosing the contents of Gen. Tanyeri's lecture about a “new counter-guerilla plan” and “dark warfare”.
June 28, 2008
“New Party” Registered With “Sun” For Its Symbol
Following signs AKP has been giving that they would erect a new party to replace the AKP in the event of closure by the Constitutional Court, competitors acted first and registered a new party. AKP’s current emblem is the “light bulb” and there were rumors that in case the party is closed down they would create a replacement party, possibly called “Yeni Parti” [the New Party], with the “sun” as its symbol. Recent AKP posters and billboards that are displayed all over the country, quote PM Erdogan’s words, “We witness thousands of times, the rise of the 'sun' after darkness” hinting on the symbol of a new party.

It is reported today that a center-right political party named “New Party” with the “sun” as its symbol has been registered yesterday by former MHP and ANAP politician and former minister Yasar Okuyan and 32 founding members. While it is believed that the move was made by competitors who wanted to prevent the AKP from using “the sun” as its new emblem, there are some speculations that the intention may have been to prepare the new home for members of the AKP.
July 1, 2008
Turkey Shaken With Arrests
Turkey woke up today to shocking arrests of two dozen prominent personalities known for their fierce opposition to AKP government. Among the detained are retired full generals and force commanders, ret. brigadier and major generals, an admiral, a colonel, a university professor, prominent journalists from Cumhuriyet and Tercuman dailies, Chairman of Ankara Chamber of Commerce, chairman of Ataturkist Thought Association and members of other NGOs. This is the first time in Turkish Republic’s history that top commanders are taken into custody of the police.

Police raided the homes of the detained at early morning hours and conducted search in their homes as well as in their work places, confiscating computers, documents and other belongings. Despite the fact that the court authorization for the detentions was obtained on June 29, police waited for two days to carry out the raids in four Turkish cities with 6000 officers, to coincide with the presentation of the verbal testimony of the Chief Prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya to the Constitutional Court in AKP’s closure case.

It is reported that the police is also looking for four other other personalities including the Honorary Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme Court Sabih Kanadoglu, and former AKP MP Turhan Comez that was expelled from AKP because of his opposition to party policies.

The official reason for the detentions is that those taken into custody had suspected links to an illegal, nationalist gang [Ergenekon] which is accused of paving the way to a military coup to topple AKP government. Over hundred people were taken into custody in the past year under the so-called “Ergenekon” investigation. Some prominent Turkish personalities are held in custody since last year without being indicted or having seen a judge.

While the government circles and the Islamist media attack the alleged gang and vow to crack it down, many Turks believe that AKP government uses “Ergenekon” in order to suppress, intimidate and eliminate its opponents.
July 2, 2008
Chief Prosecutor Accused AK Party For Trying To Establish Theocracy
Supreme Court Chief Prosecutor made his oral presentation on July 1 regarding the AKP closure case and claimed that the AKP was trying to establish an Islamic state. Chief Prosecutor Yalcınkaya said in his oral presentation that AKP’s goal was a system based on Shari’a law and that there was a clear and present danger in this respect.

In his one and a half hour presentation at the Constitutional Court, Yalcinkaya said that the Venice Criteria did not apply in this case and that the acquittal of Fethullah Gulen would not affect the outcome of this case, since this acquittal case did not change the fact that Gulen is an Islamist leader. Yalçınkaya also added that the annulment of the amendment about allowing the Islamic headscarf in the universities did not change the nature of the allegations, only strengthened them.

He also mentioned that the U.N. Security Council list of people who give financial support to terrorism included the Saudi businessman Yassin Al Qadı, who is associated with the PM and AKP circles.
July 2, 2008
Turkish Media Divided Over “Ergenekon” Detainments
Turkish columnists and commentators are divided over the detainment of two dozen people, including retired 4-star generals, journalists, business and civil society leaders over their alleged links with a gang that aims to topple the AKP government through a military coup.

The Islamist, leftist liberal, pro-AKP media organs hailed the operation calling it a step forward to enhance democracy, while the mainstream media commentators sounded their concerns that the Ergenekon investigation has turned into a “witch hunt”, being used by the AKP government to suppress its opponents.
July 2, 2008
Turkish Business Leader Slams Large Scale “Ergenekon” Detainments
Rifat Hisarciklioglu, Chairman of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) who is known to have close links with the AKP government and especially with the Turkish President Abdullah Gul, slammed the detainments carried out under the so-called “Ergenekon Operation” and said that it dealt a blow to "human dignity".

Retired commanders, journalists and opponent politicians are being accused of suspected links to an illegal “Ergenekon” gang [they define as a terrorist organization] which was alleged of paving the way to a military coup.

In his speech at an extraordinary meeting of Ankara Chamber of Commerce [ATO] Hisarciklioglu said "I condemn the detainment of Sinan Aygun, the chairman of ATO without any charges. If he was invited to the police station to give a statement, he would go to the station to give it".
July 2, 2008
Turkish Opposition Says “Ergenekon” Political Tool Of AKP Government; CHP Likens Detentions To Hitler and Stalin Era Operations
The new wave of detentions of retired high-ranking military officers and journalists known for their opposition to AKP government was condemned yesterday by all political parties other than the ruling AKP. Most opposition parties argued the government is heavily involved, even saying the AKP is directing the case to suppress political dissidents.

Main opposition CHP leader Deniz Baykal likened the detentions to Hitler and Stalin era operations and said that Hitler too had been elected by over 47% of the voters. Baykal said that the “Ergenekon case” is nothing but PM Tayyip Erdogan’s “personal case”. Baykal reminded that PM Erdogan has announced after the detentions the imminent release of an indictment, acting like the spokesman of “Ergenekon” case. Baykal said, “I told you that the staffing of all state positions by AKP partisans is completed. Now they are taking over the judiciary and the police”.

DSP leader Sezer said that the AKP was building a “fear empire”.
July 3, 2008
Are Waves Of Detentions Of Prominent Soldiers, Politicans, Journalists AKP’s Method Of Intimidation?
Many columnists in the mainstream media think that the new detentions are AKP government’s “warning” to military and civil society leaders and journalists to be “careful” – or their turn will come too. Some columnists argue that this open ended investigation, that they define as a "witch hunt", will continue and will also threaten Gen Yasar Buyukanit, Chief of General Staff, once he retires in August.

While members of mainstream media expressed their outrage at the manner in which respectable people were taken into custody, especially at the handcuffing of a fellow journalist – the editor of Tercuman daily – there was not one word of criticism in AKP-media organs.
July 3, 2008
Lands Forces Commander, Prime Minister’s Office Denied Discussing Detention Of Ret. Generals
Turkish Land Forces Commander Gen. Ilker Basbug, who is expected to become the new Chief of General Staff in August, denied allegations that PM Tayyip Erdogan and he talked about “Ergenekon” or the upcoming detention of certain retired generals during their meeting on June 24th.

Speaking to the press yesterday, Gen. Basbug said "This subject did not come up during our meeting. Turkey is going through difficult times. We all need to be responsible, careful and cautious”, urging the media to engage in responsible coverage. He called on everyone to share the desire for the unity of the armed forces. The Prime Minister’s Office made a similar statement that denied the rumors and speculations.
July 3-4, 2008
AKP's Coordinated Media: “July 7 Would Be The Day For Bloody Coup”
Fatih Altayli of Haberturk news portal pointed out to today’s identical headlines in AKP-press. He wrote that AKP formed a large group of partisan media that unconditionally and passionately supports the AKP government, and claimed that it is PM’s information office that must be directing these organs by providing the material to be published.

The pro-AKP media organs, Yeni Safak, Sabah, Star, Bugun all had the same headline today - as they did many times before, apparently based on leaked information from the government. They all had “July 7 Chaos Plan” on their front pages; they all alleged that the recently detained retired generals were organizing massive demonstrations to take place on July 6 to support the judiciary; during which time they would incite clashes between the police and the demonstrators; then they would carry out some assassinations; all in order to prepare the grounds for a military coup on July 7.

Cumhuriyet too pointed to the sameness of the news in pro-AKP dailies and wrote that these media organs were claiming to possess information that the two generals – now in custody – were making preparations for “a bloody July 7”.
July 3, 2008
Vakit: University Presidents Next
This time the radical Islamist Turkish daily Vakit targeted the secular university rectors [presidents] in today’s issue, with a front page headliner that read, “Pro-Coup Rectors In Panic”.

Vakit claimed that the secular university presidents were “shaking in their boots out of fear” that they would be the next to be investigated, allegedly for their links to the “Ergenekon terrorist organization”. Vakit claimed that 15 of these professors had had a meeting with the detained Gen. Sener Eruygur in 2003, when he was the commander of the gendarmerie.

For a long time the Islamist, pro-AKP media has been targeting certain names that were taken into police custody soon thereafter, raising suspicions that these media organs were being given information about the details of the investigation that by law should be conducted in secrecy.
July 7, 2008
Two Retired Turkish Generals Sent To Prison
10 out of the 21 people detained in early morning raids on July 1 were arrested and sent to prison, for suspicion of links to “Ergenekon” terrorist organization that allegedly made plans to overthrow the AKP government. Among the arrested are two four-star generals Sener Eruyugur and Hursit Tolon, and the chairman of the Ankara Chamber of Commerce Sinan Aygun who joined 58 other people who have been in prison for over one year without any charges or indictment against them.

Attorney for Gen. Eruygur said, “A commander who loyally served his country for many years has been formally arrested on false accusations. We do not accept any of the charges”. Gen. Tolon’s lawyer said that he would appeal to secure his client’s release and claimed that the General had not been judged fairly.

Zekeriya Oz, the prosecutor handling the Ergenekon investigation, demanded life imprisonment for retired generals Sener Eruygur and Hursit Tolon, claiming that the two have established and direct “the terrorist organization”.

Despite earlier reports that the 2500-pages-long indictment was ready to be published, the prosecutor of the case said on Friday that the indictment would further be delayed due to the new detainments, signaling the continuation of an open-ended uncertainty.
Arrested: Retired Gen. Şener Eruygur

Arrested: Retired Gen. Hurşit Tolon

Arrested: Sinan Aygun

July 7, 2008
Turkish Businessman Dies After Spending 13 Months In Prison Without Charges; His Widow Takes Case To European Court Of Human Rights
Businessman Kuddusi Okkir who was arrested last year under the “Ergenekon probe” was released on July 1, 2008 to die four days later. The widow of Okkir who was accused of being the "financier" of the "Ergenekon organization" said that her husband was taken from his home at 3:00 AM on June 20, 2007 as a healthy man and was given back to her when he was in a coma, about to die.

Speaking to the press Mrs. Okkir said that he had encountered lung cancer while in prison and did not receive timely treatment due to negligence. Mrs. Okkir said that it was ridiculous to claim that her husband was the “financier” of any organization when they had debts and they don’t even own a house. She said that all the appeals for his release were denied and he died without seeing the charges against him.

Due to financial difficulties Mrs. Okkir was not able to pay for her husband's funeral expenses which were met by the municipality thanks to the intervention of some journalists.

She intends to take the matter to the European Court of Human Rights [ECHR].
July 7, 2008
Former Turkish Chief Of General Staff: “No Plans For Coup During My Term, As Alleged”
The former Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok spoke to Hurriyet columnist Fatih Cekirge and denied the allegations that he had stopped some generals [including the newly imprisoned ones] that had plotted a military coup against the AKP government in 2004 [during his term].

Cekirge asked Gen. Ozkok if he had been aware of any coup attempts or plans made by some commanders. The retired top general said, “There is no such thing. I say clearly that if anything like this had happened, and if those generals had made such preparations while in active duty, the military prosecutors would definitely have intervened”. Cekirge wrote that according to Gen. Ozkok, there had been no attempts or planning by other generals against him, when he was serving.

Gen. Ozkok was clearly disturbed by the allegations and stated that the society as a whole is extremely confused and in distress. He said that the questions in everyone’s minds [about the Ergenekon operation] must be addressed and eased by a responsible official who must provide the necessary explanations as to what is happening in the country. He suggested that the President [Gul] assume this responsibility and said, “All must – and will - be figured out within the framework of democracy and the rule of law”.
July 8, 2008
“Ergenekon’s Neocon Plan: Bomb Attack In Taksim Square!”
The pro-AKP Turkish daily Bugun, known to be affiliated with the Islamist Fethullah Gulen Movement, claimed that “chaos plans” were found in the computers of the four-star generals arrested as “Ergenekon” suspects, which showed plots for a bomb attack in Istanbul’s largest square Taksim, and for the assassination of an important chief prosecutor that would trigger a military coup.

Bugun ties the “Ergenekon organization” with “American Neocons” and claims that the plans allegedly found in the confiscated computers were very similar to “Neocons’ horror scenarios for Turkey", which were discussed last year at the American Hudson Institute with the participation of a Turkish military representative.

Turkey’s pro-AKP media organs disseminate every day “news” and “details” about the “secret” investigation for which there is no indictment yet.
July 7, 2008
"Operations, Like Those In Hitler Era"
Legal professionals and law professors in Turkey are reacting to the manner in which the Ergenekon operation is being carried out. Professor Aydın Aybay criticized the raids carried out under the operation, saying, “These are the kind of operations seen in the Hitler and Stalin periods. Those responsible will pay for them one day.”

Referring to the fact that the indictment is said to be between 2,000 and 2,500 pages, Aybay said an indictment of 2,500 pages was unprecedented. He added, “An indictment only includes facts pertaining to the felony that is established through the investigation. A prosecutor that does such a thing is an inexperienced prosecutor. He does not know what being a prosecutor is.” Aybay also said that an indictment should not be kept waiting for 13 months in order to ensure justice. He said, “The fact that an indictment could not have been prepared in such a long time is not a good sign. This is a form of abusing rights.” He added that the raids carried out under the operation are also against the law.

Professor Burhan Senatalar, spokesperson for the December 10 Movement reminded that the closure case against the AKP and the Ergenekon probe coincided with one another. He said, “The AKP is trying to solidify its rule under the pretext of fighting for democracy”.
July 9, 2008
Six Killed In Terror Attack On U.S. Consulate In Istanbul
Three Turkish policemen and three gunmen were killed in the terrorist attack on the police guard at the main entrance of the well-fortified U.S. Consulate building in Istanbul. There is massive hunt for a fourth assailant believed to have fled the scene in the same vehicle that brought the terrorists there. Two wounded officers are being treated in the hospital.

According to unconfirmed media reports some of the attackers may have been in Afghanistan and one of them –identified as Erhan Kirgiz – had been accused of being a member of the Islamist terrorist organization IBDA-C that claimed responsibility in the November 2003 attacks in Istanbul on two synagogues, the British consulate and a British bank that killed over 60 people.

Ross Wilson, the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey said in Ankara that the attack was "an obvious act of terrorism" aimed at the United States and added, “This was an attack on an American diplomatic establishment. The persons who lost their lives are Turkish citizens and we are very sad about that. Turkey and the U.S. are close friends and allies and such acts of terrorism cannot change that".
July 11, 2008
Possible Al-Qaida Links In U.S. Consulate Attack; Turkish Police Detained The Fourth Assailant
Turkish police detained six people yesterday, suspected to have links to the terrorists that attacked the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul killing three Turkish policemen. The Ford Fiesta car that brought the terrorists to the consulate was seized and the driver that fled the scene is now in custody.

Police suspects Al Qaeda was behind the attack as the gunmen had traveled to Afghanistan where it is believed they received training. Islamist and jihadist literature were found during searches conducted in the homes of the attackers. It is reported that the father of one of the killed terrorists is a convicted member of the Turkish Hizbullah terrorist organization.
July 11, 2008
Islamist Media: Attack On U.S. Consulate Work Of “Ergenekon”, Not Islamists
Turkey’s pro-AKP, Islamist media argues that the target of the attack was the police, and not the U.S.. Islamist media also claims that the attack “smelled” of Ergenekon, denying the mainstream media reports that Al-Qaida or other Islamist groups had committed the crime.

Today’s front-page headliner of the Turkish daily Sabah that after its controversial sale joined the AKP-media read, “It Smells Of Ergenekon”, basing its story on speculations of an unidentified source in AKP government’s ministry of justice.
July 10, 2008
Vakit: CIA, Mossad, British Secret Service Behind Attack On U.S. Consulate
The pro-AKP, radical Islamist Turkish daily Vakit claimed that the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul was committed by foreign intelligence agencies, namely the CIA, Mossad and the British Secret Service and accused the mainstream media of attempting to lay the crime on Al-Qaeda or other Islamist groups. Vakit attacked the mainstream media for describing the terrorists as having beards.

The Islamist daily reported that Dr. Selcuk Ozdag of Mugla University told the newspaper that he believed foreign intelligence organizations were behind the attack to push the Turkish government to America’s lap. He said that these foreign agencies would attempt to lay the responsibility for the attack on Islamist groups or on Iran, to draw Turkey into the conflict with Iran and oblige it to act with the U.S. against its neighbor.
July 11, 2008
Founder of AKP, Former Deputy PM Resigned His Party
Former deputy PM Abdullatif Sener officially resigned from AKP today, during the party’s central executive board meeting. Sener, a former member of the banned Islamist Welfare Party [RP] of Necmettin Erbakan was one of the four founders of AKP along with PM Erdogan, President Gul, and former parliamentary speaker Bulent Arinc, all of whom belonged to the Islamist Milli Gorus movement.

Sener had decided not to run for parliament in July 22, 2007 general elections but remained a member of AKP’s executive board. Recently he talked about the need in Turkey for a new political formation and last week declared his intention to establish a new centrist party that would attract politicians from both the right and left of the political spectrum. His remarks signaling a new party drew harsh criticism from members of AKP who demanded his resignation.

After bidding farewell, Sener is expected to start his countrywide travels beginning with Konya, a stronghold of the Milli Gorus movement and of AKP. The first ad of his new political movement appeared today in a local newspaper in his hometown of Sivas. It said, “For honesty in politics, C'mon Turkey”.
July 11, 2008
Release Of “Ergenekon” Indictment Postponed Again; File To Be As Tall As 26-40 Storey Building
The long awaited indictment in “Ergenekon terror organization” probe has not been published today as promised, and is now expected to be released on Monday, July 14, 2008. The indictment that has not been written in over 13 months is said to contain 2500 pages and does not include results of the investigation of two dozen people detained on July 1, including two four-star generals, business leaders, and journalists. The prosecutor’s office said that there will be an additional indictment to be added later for the last group of detainees that according to experts may consist of about one thousand more pages.

Sinan Tumlukolcu from Gazi University said in a televised interview that this unheard of volume of papers of about 4 thousand pages together with about hundred times as many attachments and documents would reach about 400 thousand pages, which would fit into about 800 folders, which if piled on top of one another would be as tall as a 26-storey building. He said that when the case begins to be heard there would be many more documents presented and added to the file that might make it as high as 40-storey building.

Many Turkish analysts have criticized the declared volume of this case, saying that this long an indictment is unprecedented and besides putting an unmanageable burden on the court it would also jeopardize the chances of reaching a just resolution of this case. Some analysts have reminded that in Nuremberg case - which they described as “the mother of all cases” - the indictment against the high ranking Nazi criminals had been less than 70 pages long.
July 14, 2008
Long Awaited “Ergenekon” Indictment Filed; 86 Suspects Charged With Forming, Aiding A Terrorist Organization
At a press conference today, Istanbul’s Chief Prosecutor unveiled the outline of the 2455-pages-long indictment on the controversial “Ergenekon” probe charging 86 suspects of forming an anti-government terrorist organization; being member of a terrorist organization; helping a terrorist organization.

48 of the suspects that include retired army officers, leader of Workers’ Party [IP] as well as some business people are being held in jail, while the remaining 38 that include the prominent journalist Ilhan Selcuk of the anti-AKP Cumhuriyet and the former Istanbul University president Prof. Kemal Alemdaroglu had been released to be tried without detention.

The indictment that was filed today with the court does not include those that were detained on July 1. An additional indictment will be written for 21 people seven of whom are jailed, including the retired four-star generals Sener Eruygur and Hursit Tolon and will be attached to the original file.

Pro-AKP media organs for months have been disseminating news based on "secret" information allegedly seized during the operation, which were denied by Istanbul’s chief prosecutor who said today that these media reports create “information pollution”.
July 14, 2008
Military Prosecutor Requests Files Of Arrested Generals
Turkish TV channels reported that the chief military prosecutor of Turkey’s General Staff has requested copies of the documents relating directly to the two retired generals Sener Eruygur and Hursit Tolon, who were arrested in the Ergenekon investigation.

It was also reported that the civil prosecutors that are handling the “Ergenekon case” have been sharing information about the former military officers with the military prosecutors and that the military prosecutors are now preparing to charge two former officers in whose possession secret military documents were found.
July 14, 2008
Ankara Chamber of Commerce Chairman Released From Jail
Following the release of the “Ergenekon” indictment today, the Chairman of the Ankara Chamber of Commerce Sinan Aygun was released from prison to be tried without being detained.

Appeals made by attorneys of the two retired generals for their cleints’ release were denied.
July 15, 2008
Report On AKP’s Closure Case To Be Submitted To High Court Justices On Wednesday

The Constitutional Court rapporteur will submit his report regarding the closure case filed against Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to the high court on Wednesday. The timing of the submission makes the decision process likely to be finalized by end of July or early August.

Turkey has been locked in a political turmoil as everybody waits for the court's ruling on the closure case according to which the Islamist-rooted AKP is accused of being "the focal point of anti-secular activities".
July 15, 2008
Chief Justice: AKP Ruling Will Not Cause “Doomsday”

Chief Justice Hasim Kilic said on Monday that Constitutional Court’s critical ruling on the closure case against AKP will not cause a “doomsday” in the country, adding that Turkey is a great country that is strong enough to handle and overcome this situation.

Kilic said, “Nobody should be concerned. Turkey’s institutions are working and fulfilling their duties”. He refrained from giving a specific date for the resolution of the case.
July 15, 2008
More Questions Being Asked After The First Official Statement On Ergenekon Probe
The long awaited indictment on Ergenekon probe has now been sent to an Istanbul court. The court has 15 days to decide on the basis of its merits whether or not it will accept the case. As the details of the case cannot be disclosed until the court accepts it, only basic information was provided by Istanbul’s chief prosecutor. Analysts commented that the case is like a big bag into which prosecutors are throwing any and all the crimes.

Prosecutors alleged that Ergenekon was a terrorist and a “600-year-old-sect-like organization” based on the mythical legend of Agharta [Ergenekon] of central-Asian Turks.

The indictment also alleges that this organization – and not the radical Islamist Alpaslan Arslan- was responsible for the three bomb attacks on the secular, anti-AKP Turkish daily Cumhuriyet, as well as for last year’s shooting at the high administrative court [Danistay] that killed a judge and wounded five others. This leads to the confusing conclusion that two of the most prominent Cumhuriyet journalists, Ilhan Selcuk and Mustafa Balbay that were detained during the investigation, will stand trial for being part of an organization that enthused the attacks on their own newspaper. Inclusion of Danistay attack in the Ergenekon case also creates a legal problem, as an Ankara court already heard the case; dismissed any connection to Ergenekon; convicted and sentenced Alpaslan Arslan with life in prison for the crime that he admitted to have committed with religious motives. According to Turkish press reports following the announcement of the indictment yesterday, Arslan’s attorney submitted an appeal with the High Court of Appeals [Yargitay] to re-open and combine the Danistay case with the Ergenekon file. This would be the only way to get Alparslan Arslan to serve a shorter prison term.

During the announcement about the indictment the prosecutor also stated that there were 20 secret witnesses given code names or numbers, whose real identities would be protected. However, as other protected information, leaked throughout the process, columnist of pro-AKP Star daily disclosed today the professions of three of those witnesses, claiming that their names and what they have to say will shake Turkey.
Pictures

The editor-in-chief of the ultranationalist Tercüman daily, Ufuk Büyükçelebi (R), and the Ankara bureau chief of the radically secularist Cumhuriyet daily, Mustafa Balbay, were among those taken into police custody on Tuesday. Büyükçelebi was released on Friday, pending trial.

Arrested: Retired Gen. Şener Eruygur, Retired Gen. Hurşit Tolon, Journalist Mustafa Balbay, ATO chairman Sinan Aygün

And more pro-secular rallies since the arrests ...


Secularism and Islam at each others throats as per usual. Turkey: 99% Muslim, and the home of Islamophobia. And to think they still tell us that Turkey is the model of successful Islam. What shall Turkey do? Time for a two-state solution (or three if you want to settle the Kurds). Send in NATO or the UN or a 'coalition of the willing' and start building walls. Get Turkey off the coup-election merry-go-round. Stop the abuse of human rights. Sing us out Tammy ...