"In a month dedicated to Greece but also to one of the major poets, Yiannis Ritsos proceeds Teatro Due by staging a series of works from the 'Fourth Dimension'," wrote Italian newspaper Repubblica in an extensive tribute.
On November 6, Rethink Institute hosted a panel discussion to release a major new report, Diminishing Press Freedom in Turkey. The report discusses that in the last couple of years, hundreds of journalists critical of the government were dismissed, significant number of media outlets was handed over to loyalists, some media owners were bought off with government tenders. Enormous tax evasion fines were levied against those that dared to remain critical. The outcome is a dismal state of press freedom, contributing to overall decline of the Turkish democracy.
Press Freedom Panel
The panel discussion featured,
Yavuz Baydar (@yavuzbaydar), Turkish journalist, blogger and co-founder of P24, the Platform for Independent Media. Based in Istanbul, he currently writes opinion columns for Today’s Zaman and daily Bugün with specific focus on domestic and foreign policy issues. Active in the profession for over 35 years, Baydar was involved for last two decades in the field of press ethics, until he was fired as news ombudsman from daily Sabah for staunchly defending professional values during Gezi Park protests. He served as president of the Organization of News Ombudsmen (ONO) 2003–2004, and in 2014 received The Special Award of the European Press Prize for his fight against censorship. He is currently a Fellow at Harvard’s Shorenstein Center for Media, Politics and Public Policy.
Ilhan Tanir (@WashingtonPoint), Washington based freelance journalist for number of Turkish publications, including BBC Turkish, Diken.Com.Tr and Posta212. Tanir was formerly a columnist for Hurriyet Daily News until 2013 and correspondent for Turkish Daily Vatan until April of 2014.Tanir writes extensively on the Turkish domestic politics, Turkey-US relations, as well as issues related to the wider Middle East and Eurasian region. He also traveled several times to and reported from Syria since the uprising began. He received his Master’s degree from George Mason University in MPA & International Management, and his BA from Ankara University’s Political Science School, Mulkiye, in Turkey.
Fevzi Bilgin (@mfbilgin), president of the Rethink Institute an independent, nonprofit research institution in Washington DC. He manages an extensive research portfolio ranging from US-Turkey relations to Central Asia energy markets and provides analysis and guidance to various non-governmental organizations as well as interested government agencies and individuals. He received BA from Ankara University and PhD in political science from University of Pittsburgh. His publications include recent books, Understanding Turkey’s Kurdish Question, Political Liberalism in Muslim Societies.
Unemployment in Greece in August this year stood at 25.9%, lower from 27.8% year on year, and down from 26.1% in July 2014, mainly due to the enormous increase in tourist arrivals to the country.
The DNA profile of those buried in the Royal Vergina tomb will be compared to the new DNA material gathered from the Kasta Hill in Amphipolis, in order to determine whether the person buried in Amphipolis is of royal descent related to the royal family of Vergina, according to the director of the “Demokritos” lab Giannis Maniatis who is also responsible for the antiquity measurements lab.