I think it´s a good first step, but it´s striking to see that the person who is welcomed back is the one who is threatened by Ocalan. So this must be seen as a starting point, and not the end of this democratization process. Next step is to stop this trend where political parties are forbidden.

I can see the pictures. Yes, the right picture looks movie-star like. I´m sure he was charismatic, otherwise he wouldn´t have come so far. You can be the person with the best ideas in the world, but you always have to convince others as well that your ideas (and you yourself) are great.

From experience I can say that it´s hard to convince people that their own country-loving history lessons they received in school might not show the complete or even actual truth about what happened.

Pfff... he was a dictator, he wore a mustache. That means he fits in the list. That the mass media is upset is just silly. The piece about him is nice, matching is mustache style with the stage he was in in his political life

Read it here: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/03/30/stiff_upper_lip

I know that if somebody would hurt my children, I would want to kill them. Sure, I am human after all. But that is why we are all living in countries with a modern legal system. Sometimes it´s to protect us from ourselves. Where do you draw the line for death penalty? Let´s say somebody killed 10 children... Clear, death penalty. Let´s say he killed 1... Let´s say he killed one, but he was in a crazy state at the time, thinking the child was an alien from outerspace?

I don´t think any person has the right to kill anybody else. Even if that other person is "god damned". If that other person is really god damned, god will take care of that person, you don´t have to. We are civilized people, and we don´t have to lower ourselves to the standard of "an eye for an eye".

In my opinion, a murderer is a criminal because he doesn´t have the right to decide if another person lives or not. However, I also don´t think a state, a judge, or the police have the right to decide if a person lives or not. That´s why I´m against death penalty. Even if you would kill the person who killed those kids, it wouldn´t bring those children back. A long life sentence is better in my opinion. I´d rather die than have to be locked up the rest of my life.

I think headscarfs in lower schools are not good. Than it´s the parents who decide, not the girl. But we´re not talking about little kids her. Every girl from the age of 16 can decide for herself if she wants to wear a scarf or not. Or perhaps the age of 18? If you are old enough to vote and decide on the faith of the country, your old enough to choose how to practice your religion.

For me it´s okay for people to wear a headscarf. It´s strange for me to not see girls with headscarfs on Turkish universities, since in Holland it is a common sight. The only problem we had in Holland was with a woman who demanded that she could wear a facial veil during exams... She sued the university and lost

If you fight a cold with either an arsenal of antibiotics or your grandmother´s special recipe (involving coffee, lemon, herbs, and whatever lays around the house).

The girl in the documentary said that she didn´t mean it in a negative way. As she said it, she was explaining the form of government. And thinking about it, I guess she was right. She also said that he did good things, but that doesn´t make him a saint. She was from a very pro-Ataturk family, but at one point she got a more nuanced view. She wasn´t negative about him, but she did recognize the negative aspects of his ruling (as well as the positive).

The documentary maker was surprised about the current status of Ataturk. He noted that Ataturk himself wasn´t a fan of religion, but that he by now he has almost become the centre point of something close to religion himself (with all the statues, special days, etc.) He said he felt like sometimes Turkish people seem to forget that Ataturk was human, ad had his own problems as well (he mentioned a love-affair with alcohol).