Turks see U.S. as biggest external threat, poll results show

January 07, 2011 | 18:49

Some 43 percent of Turks perceive the United States as the country’s biggest threat, followed by Israel, according to a broad survey carried out in December.

“This the highest ratio ever on the external threat question among our surveys,” Professor Özer Sencar, chairman of Ankara-based MetroPOLL Strategic and Social Research Center, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review on Wednesday.

“The U.S. foreign politics since the Iraqi invasion, the hood incident [the U.S. detention of Turkish soldiers during the Iraq war], the war in Afghanistan, repeated Armenian bills in the U.S. Congress and the negative statements that Turkish leaders make about the U.S. and Israel play a major role in this perception,” Sencar said.

The Ankara-based MetroPOLL survey company, which is affiliated with the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, surveyed 1,504 people in 31 provinces in December.

The survey asked “From which country does the biggest threat come?” with 43 percent of Turks saying the U.S., followed by 24 percent who indicated Israel, 3 percent for Iran, 2.3 percent for Greece, 2.1 for Iraq, 1.7 for Russia and 1 percent for Armenia.

In previous years, Armenia, Russia and Greece were perceived as the main external threats for Turks, Sencar said.

“But their ratios have fallen to around 1 or 2 percent. Turks do not see them as enemies anymore,” he said, adding that the “zero problems with neighbors” foreign policy strategy of Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu was working.

Source: here

Quoting si++

The Magnificent Century faces trial

Turkish TV series slammed for sultan portrayal.

Some Turks are furious over a new television series that they believe depicts an Ottoman sultan in a negative light, and the government is promising to respond to the complaints.

Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç says the government will act "within the framework of the law" following an outcry over "The Magnificent Century," a drama on Show TV that portrays the 16^th-century rule of Suleyman the Magnificent.

Suleyman presided over the Ottoman empire´s glory years, but some commentators say the series hurts his reputation, showing him in his harem and apparently consuming alcohol, which is banned in Islam.

A script writer for the show says Suleyman only had a fruit drink in his goblet in the first episode, which aired Wednesday.

 

Associated Press

 

Source: here

I probably never will understand this.

They should rebuild the Topkapi palace. Everybody can see the harem there, and can see several cups and glasses, which one could possibly put wine in! SHOCK  Ofcourse, this is gives the sultans a bad name, and is bad for Turkey and for islam....

Well, as far as I know the Harem is still very much intact and open to visitors. We must be neither proud nor ashamed of it. It is just a truth of the past very much like the concubine culture or the red streets of the West.

To be honest, if a man marries many women, he should be intitle to a "stiff" drink once in a while

I am not sure what you saw in Topkapı but the Harem was not in Topkapı palace. Topkapı palace is too small for the entire Harem. The harem was somewhere else where there is now Istanbul university campus in Beyazıt.

Hezarfen Çelebi - The flying Ottoman

YouTube link: here

Source site: here

The cartoon is fantastic!  Thanks for sharing this. 

Wonderful video. I will add this to my blog.

There is an harem area in Topkapi palace. It´s not a matter of discussion but a fact. If you don´t believe me, go to the Topkapi palace, and ask "show me the harem please." They will not direct you to the other side of town.

In any case, my point about rebuilding it is that people were getting angry because a tv show was showing some things that really happened. If they want to make the sultans look like perfect halal angels, they should rewrite history.

Here is a virtual tour of the harem section of Topkapi Palace. 

http://www.360tr.com/topkapi/english/