An analysis of Turkish public debates on the (re)opening of an Armenian church in the context of Turkey’s EU candidacy and neo-ottoman revival

1\. Introduction: Research Question and the Case 1.1 The Transformative Power of Europe in Turkey 1.2 The Transformations of Turkey on its Way to Europe 1.3 Reinventing Turkish National Identity: Turkey as a ‘Tolerant Nation’? 1.3.1 From Rapture to Continuity with the Past 1.3.2 Turkey as the Heir of the Empire of Tolerance and Bridge of Civilizations 1.3.3 Quo Vadis Turkey? 2\. The Case of the Armenian Church Sourp Khatch/Akthamar 3\. Empirical Findings: Government Policies and Public Debates on the Akhtamar Church 3.1 The Government Perspective on the Sourp Khatch Church in the Turkish Media (2005-2010) 3.1.1 Suppressing Genocide Claims through Church Renovations 3.1.2 When the Past Comes Closer: The Aftermath of the Hrant Dink‘s Murder 3.1.3 Summary of Official View: Four Frames 3.2 Content Analysis of Selected Opinion Pieces 3.3 Norm Internalization or Reinterpretation of Norms? 4\. ConclusionTurkey has undergone significant legal and institutional reforms regarding minority rights and cultural rights in the past decade as part of a reform process to meet political criteria for EU membership. However, it has not been studied so far if this increasing institutional compliance has also led to transformations at a normative level in the public discourse in Turkey. To explore this question, this paper presents the results of a qualitative media analysis that I conducted on the restoration and reopening of an Armenian church in 2007 – a milestone for the Republic as churches were destroyed or doomed to vanish for nearly a century since the Armenian Genocide in 1915. The restoration of the Sourp Khatch/Akhtamar Church became a showcase for Turkey’s self-promotion as a ‘tolerant nation’. However, the church was notably made accessible to the public as a museum that initially lacked the cross on its dome and was conceived to only host a religious service once a year. This opening of a church-museum is a symbolic instance in Turkey’s ongoing transformation process in which tolerance and plurality have become prominent keywords in politics and public debate. Yet, as the findings suggest, they do not so as a reflection of European norms, but rather stand for a rediscovery and reinterpretation of Turkey’s Ottoman past practices as a multi-religious empire. I show, however, that this reinterpretation occurs on the shaky grounds of a blindfolded view of the past, in particular the denial of the Armenian Genocide, and on the denial that minorities are still endangered in present day Turkey. I conclude that, without an acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide, Turkey’s nostalgic embracement of the Ottoman past and representation of norms such as tolerance as the ‘true’ Turkish/Islamic norms do not stand for a norm internalization or a norm adaption process, but instead, for a disconnection between norm and practice

Global Migration From the Eastern Mediterranean and Eurasia: Security and Human Rights Challenges to Europe (GLOMIG)

The main objective of this project is to foster international cooperation between the EU and the INCO countries by organising workshops, forming expert groups, and providing policy recommendations to officials and other stakeholders on global migration. The project focuses on the Western Balkans; Caucasus; Russia, Eastern Mediterranean and Turkey. More specifically, the project aims to contribute to the European Research Area through the creation of a common platform. It will enable interested parties from the EU and above-mentioned INCO countries to share their insights, experiences, and know-how on migration. Towards this aim, the Centre for Black Sea and Central Asia (KORA) and its partner institutions shall organise workshops in order to provide a milieu for interaction for academics, policy-makers, and NGO representatives through which they can develop new strategies for dealing with problems related to global migration and formulate policy recommendations. Addressing Research Area 8.3.3. of the Work Programme, the project aims to promote and facilitate comparative, collaborative, and interdisciplinary approaches to global migration and its opportunities and challenges in terms for EU and INCO countries.SSA - Specific Support Action (FP6-2004-CITIZENS-6

Tolerance as a European Norm or an Ottoman Practice? An Analysis of Turkish Public Debates on the (Re)Opening of an Armenian Church in the Context of Turkey’s EU Candidacy and Neo-Ottoman Revival

Turkey has undergone significant legal and institutional reforms regarding minority rights and cultural rights in the past decade as part of a reform process to meet political criteria for EU membership. However, it has not been studied so far if this increasing institutional compliance has also led to transformations at a normative level in the public discourse in Turkey. To explore this question, this paper presents the results of a qualitative media analysis that I conducted on the restoration and reopening of an Armenian church in 2007 – a milestone for the Republic as churches were destroyed or doomed to vanish for nearly a century since the Armenian Genocide in 1915. The restoration of the Sourp Khatch/Akhtamar Church became a showcase for Turkey’s self-promotion as a ‘tolerant nation’. However, the church was notably made accessible to the public as a museum that initially lacked the cross on its dome and was conceived to only host a religious service once a year. This opening of a church-museum is a symbolic instance in Turkey’s ongoing transformation process in which tolerance and plurality have become prominent keywords in politics and public debate. Yet, as the findings suggest, they do not so as a reflection of European norms, but rather stand for a rediscovery and reinterpretation of Turkey’s Ottoman past practices as a multi-religious empire. I show, however, that this reinterpretation occurs on the shaky grounds of a blindfolded view of the past, in particular the denial of the Armenian Genocide, and on the denial that minorities are still endangered in present day Turkey. I conclude that, without an acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide, Turkey’s nostalgic embracement of the Ottoman past and representation of norms such as tolerance as the ‘true’ Turkish/Islamic norms do not stand for a norm internalization or a norm adaption process, but instead, for a disconnection between norm and practice

Decoding 5HMC as an Active Chromatin Mark in the Brain and its Link to Rett Syndrome

Functions of the nervous system are accompanied at the cellular level by changes in gene expression, regulated by transcription factors and epigenetic mechanisms, such as histone modifications and DNA methylation, that are frequently altered in neurological disorders. 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC), a recently identified DNA base derived from 5-methylcytosine, accounts for ~40% of modified cytosines in the neuronal genomes, suggesting that 5hmC is a stable epigenetic mark and its interpretation in the nervous system may differ from the other tissues. This hypothesis was supported by the recent findings showing that 5hmC is enriched over the bodies of active genes within euchromatin in a cell-specific manner. In the first part of this study, we identify the methyl-CpG binding protein 2 (MeCP2) as the major reader of this activation mark and demonstrate that MeCP2 is the only methyl-CpG binding domain (MBD) protein that binds 5hmC and, 5mC, with high affinity. We reveal strong preferential inhibition of MeCP2 affinity to 5hmC by a Rett-syndrome-causing mutation, R133C. We then show that MeCP2 recognizes 5hmC and 5mC within CpA context. Modified CpAs were recently shown to exist in embryonic stem and neuronal cells, where it localizes to actively transcribed gene bodies. Together these data support a model where 5hmC and MeCP2 formulate a cell-specific epigenetic mechanism for establishing active chromatin states that facilitate gene expression. This is supported by our observation of reduced chromatin accessibility of 5hmC containing loci in the absence of MeCP2. In the second part of the study, we discover a complex in the brain nuclear extract that assembles specifically in the presence of 5hmC. We purify and identify components of this complex: the purine-rich element binding protein (Pur) α and β, which are required for the proper development of neuronal cell types. We verify the increased affinity of recombinant Pur α and Purβ to 5hmC and support a binding mechanism where they separate two strands of DNA and recognize specific sequences. These findings offer a previously unknown function for Pur proteins via binding to 5hmC. This study presents new decoders of a novel epigenetic mark, 5hmC, that is effectively and differentially employed in the brain. Unlike previous studies, we introduce readers of 5hmC as a stable activation mark. In addition, by mechanistic characterization of our model we link 5hmC to an autism spectrum disorder and offer a new avenue toward investigation of its pathophysiology

Faith-Based Organisations and Exclusion in European Cities (FACIT)

The research concerns the present role of FBOs in matters of poverty and other forms of social exclusion (such as homelessness or undocumented persons) in cities. We define FBOs as any organisation that refers directly or indirectly to religion or religious values, and functions as a welfare provider or as a political actor. The central assumption is that FBOs tend to fill the gap left after the supposed withdrawal of the welfare state in several domains of public life, particularly in social welfare and in social protection. At first sight, this looks like a return to the charity of former times, when such associations occupied the fore of social help in many countries. But we might as well witness the beginning of a new type of welfare regime with a stronger focus on local policies and strategies and new interplays between local authorities and civil society organisations. What is the position of FBOs in combating poverty and other forms of social distress cities? How has this role changed over time and how do these activities contribute to combating social exclusion and promoting social cohesion? What are the implications for policies and the governance of European cities? From both scientific and policy perspectives, there is a great need for better empirical and comparative data on what is going on in European cites in matters of poverty and exclusion policies and, in particular, the contribution of FBOs in the reduction (or deepening) of the problems. FBOs have direct entrance to the ‘poor side’ of cities because of (1) their activities in deprived urban neighbourhoods and among excluded groups and (2) as in the case of many FBOs with a non-western background, because their members often belong to these deprived and excluded groups themselves.CP-FP - Small or medium-scale focused research project (FP7-SSH-2007-1

Neue Perspektiven durch Berufsorientierung : Das Wahlfachmodul “Wirtschaftsdeutsch“ an der Istanbul Universität

After giving an overview of the implementation of Business German in the curricula of German Departments outside of Germany and showing which place Business German has taken within these departments today, this article focuses on the teaching goals and contents as well as on the competences that ought to be achieved by the students in the German Department at Istanbul University in order to explain which chances and opportunities this study field opens up to students of German language and literature

Comparative Cytogenetics of Two Squalius Bonaparte, 1837 Species (Cypriniformes: Leuciscidae)

The karyotypes and other chromosomal characteristics of Anatolian endemic species Squalius carinus Özuluğ and Freyhof (Ichthyol Explor Freshw 22(2):107–148, 2011) and S. fellowesii (Günther, 1868) (Cypriniformes: Leuciscidae) were analysed by means of sequential Giemsa staining, C-banding and silver staining. The diploid chromosome numbers were invariably 2n = 50; their karyotypes were composed of 12 pairs of metacentric, ten pairs of submetacentric and three pairs of subtelo-acrocentric chromosomes in S. carinus, whereas ten pairs of metacentric, ten pairs of submetacentric and five pairs of subtelo-acrocentric chromosomes in S. fellowesii. No heteromorphic sex chromosomes were detected. The largest chromosome pair in their karyotypes was a subtelo-acrocentric chromosome. C-positive heterochromatins were observed on the pericentromeric regions of most of the chromosomes in the studied species. In addition, heterochromatic blocs were observed in the karyotype of S. carinus. The nucleolus organizer regions were detected terminally on the short (p) arms of single submetacentric chromosome pair in both species. Our study thus confirmed overall conservatism of leuciscin karyotypes. © 2020, Shiraz University

Climate change may have minor impact on zooplankton functional diversity in the Mediterranean Sea

Aim To assess the impact of climate change on the functional diversity of marine zooplankton communities. Location The Mediterranean Sea. Methods We used the functional traits and geographic distributions of 106 copepod species to estimate the zooplankton functional diversity of Mediterranean surface assemblages for the 1965–1994 and 2069–2098 periods. Multiple environmental niche models were trained at the global scale to project the species habitat suitability in the Mediterranean Sea and assess their sensitivity to climate change predicted by several scenarios. Simultaneously, the species traits were used to compute a functional dendrogram from which we identified seven functional groups and estimated functional diversity through Faith's index. We compared the measured functional diversity to the one originated from null models to test if changes in functional diversity were solely driven by changes in species richness. Results All but three of the 106 species presented range contractions of varying intensity. A relatively low decrease of species richness (−7.42 on average) is predicted for 97% of the basin, with higher losses in the eastern regions. Relative sensitivity to climate change is not clustered in functional space and does not significantly vary across the seven copepod functional groups defined. Changes in functional diversity follow the same pattern and are not different from those that can be expected from changes in richness alone. Main conclusions Climate change is not expected to alter copepod functional traits distribution in the Mediterranean Sea, as the most and the least sensitive species are functionally redundant. Such redundancy should buffer the loss of ecosystem functions in Mediterranean zooplankton assemblages induced by climate change. Because the most negatively impacted species are affiliated to temperate regimes and share Atlantic biogeographic origins, our results are in line with the hypothesis of increasingly more tropical Mediterranean communities

Turkey’s war against peace: why the EU should rethink its support for Erdoğan

On 10 October a bomb attack on a rally in Ankara killed almost 100 people. Esra Ozyurek and Bilgin Ayata write that against the backdrop of renewed hostilities between Kurdish groups and Turkish security forces, the bombing may prove to be a lasting blow for hope of a permanent reconciliation in the country. They argue that the EU should hold the Turkish state accountable for the increasing violence and provide greater support to those campaigning for greater democracy in the country

Psikolojik Roman, Romana Yansıyan Yazar ve Türk Edebiyatındaki Bazı Örnekleri Üzerine Bir İnceleme

Bu çalışmada bir kitaplık malzeme teşkil edecek nitelikteki geniş bir konu olan psikolojik roman türü, ana hatlarıyla değerlendirilmeye çalışılmıştır. Yazıda genel olarak edebiyat-psikoloji ilişkisi üzerinde durulduktan sonra psikoloji ve edebiyatın kesiştiği noktada ortaya çıkan psikolojik romanların teknik özellikleri, Batı'da ve Türk edebiyatında psikolojik romanın gelişimi ile edebi esere yansıyan yazar ile ilgili tespitler ve yorumlar yapılmaya çalışılmıştır. In this study, psychological novellype which is a so broad subject that it can fill in a library in terms of source was tried to evaluate superficially. In this piece of writing, it was tired to mention about the relationship between literature and psychology, to state the technical qualities of psychological novels which appeared in the point where literature and psychology intersecled, and it was also tried to make comments and definitions about reflections which was seen after the development of psychological novel in Western and Turkish literature on literary work and writer