The Telegraph – European leaders will demand that Greece does more to speed up the deportation of illegal migrants back to Turkey amid reports of foot-dragging by Greek authorities in implementing the EU-Turkey deal on migration.
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EU disburses 467 million euros for Syrian refugees in Turkey
Hurriyet Daily News – The European Union announced on Oct. 17 the dispersal of 467 million of 3 billion euros in aid that has been pledged for over 3 million refugees living in Turkey. “The total amount of funding allocated under the Facility [for Refugees in Turkey] now stands at over 2.2 billion euros, with over 1.2 billion euros already awarded via concrete contracts,” said Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, in a letter on the progress of the implementation of the funding. “Of this, 467 million euros has been disbursed to the implementing partners,” he said.
New EU Border Guard Launched at Bulgaria-Turkey Border
novinite.com – As of Thursday Bulgaria starts to play an increasingly important role in protecting its own borders and thouse of Europe, EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos has said.
Debit-card aid seen insufficient for refugees in Turkey
MB – As many as one million refugees, or one third of those being sheltered across Turkey, will have pre-paid debit cards as part of the European Union’s multi-million-euro aid package. NGOs in Turkey welcomed this project with cautious optimism, arguing it is “insufficient” to cope with the refugees’ social and economic integration into local communities.
Refugees as Peons in Foreign Policy: Turkey, the EU and Reflections of Lasker and Nimzowitsch
Article by Nicolas Parent originally published for IN/WORDS MAGAZINE & PRESS
New York, 1927 – Edward Lasker and Aron Nimzowitsch, two of the greatest minds in chess at the time, went head to head in an off-hand game. At that time, smoking was almost synergetic with chess playing. Nimzowitsch, however, had a severe allergy to smoke and records show that he often requested tournament directors and ombudsmen to enforce a no smoking rule during game play. Lasker, on the other hand, was notorious for his strategy of ‘smoking out’ his opponents, typically burning cheap cigars with an unbearably foul scent. Before this specific match, Lasker agreed not to smoke whilst playing against Nimzowitsch. However, mid-game, Lasker pulled out a cigar and laid it on the table. Nimzowitsch furiously acalled upon the tournament director to intervene, but this was to no avail as Lasker had yet to light the cigar. Dissatisfied, Nimzowitsch responded by saying “(…) but he is threatening to smoke, and as an old player you must know that the threat is stronger than the execution” (Winter, 2015).
Albeit the comical exchange, a similar narrative has developed in respect to what European political circles and newspapers have called a ‘migration crisis’. Continue reading Refugees as Peons in Foreign Policy: Turkey, the EU and Reflections of Lasker and Nimzowitsch
Notes from the Back-Alleys of a Turkish Border City
The Locals, the Syrians and the 15 July Coup Attempt in Gaziantep
By H. Pınar Şenoğuz
Turkish politics is full of surprises with intriguing conclusions – or perhaps we cannot talk about endings yet – and diverse social impact among its adherents. The 15 July coup attempt and the ‘resistance of Turkish people’ hailed by the national media, for instance, was such an extraordinary event as the anthropologist Lisa Malkki would coin (Malkki, 1997). Continue reading Notes from the Back-Alleys of a Turkish Border City
21 missing as new migrant boat disaster unfolds in the Aegean
Daily Sabah – During a renewed rise in the crossings of illegal immigrants to Greece from Turkey, a migrant boat disaster on Thursday fueled fears of a return to the period before a EU-Turkey deal to curb the migrant flow when migrant deaths were almost a daily occasion.
The Coast Guard and volunteers are scanning the Aegean Sea for 21 migrants who went missing after their boat traveling to Greece from Turkey’s Bodrum sank on Thursday. Six bodies were recovered from sea in two days of efforts while four others were rescued alive.
The venture of free speech in the Turkish higher education landscape
Linksnet / Peripherie – Cavidan Soykan published an article about the persecution of Academics for Peace members in Turkey (in German).
Academics for Peace gathered in Ankara on September 22
We republish Academics for Peace‘s call for a gathering that took place on September 22. The original can be found on the homepage of Academics for Peace.
Continue reading Academics for Peace gathered in Ankara on September 22
Aachen Peace Price for Academics for Peace – Speech by Çetin Gürer
In occasion of the awarding of the Aachen Peace Price on 1st September 2016 to Academics for Peace, we post the content of the speech by Çetin Gürer. You can find the speech on the homepage of the Aachen Peace Price (in Turkish and German). Continue reading Aachen Peace Price for Academics for Peace – Speech by Çetin Gürer