Tate Modern honours Princess Fahrelnissa Zeid, modern art pioneer
Come this June (2017), Tate Modern celebrates the life and works of Princess Fahrelnissa Zeid, an artist who can rightly be seen as one of the female pioneers, in the wider Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, of both modernism and abstraction in a western sense, responsive to western aesthetics and sensibilities. Abstraction, through reinterpretation of Arabic/Farsi/Osmanli/Urdu calligraphic forms, isn’t new to a region...
But is EU listening? Greece-Turkey refugee transfers beset by gross violations
Arbitrary transfers of refugees and migrants from Greece to Turkey need to be stopped amid the growing fears of human rights violations, but whether European Union leaders are heeding calls for reform isn’t at all clear. The deportations of refugees and migrants from Greece to Turkey must be halted immediately and people wanting to seek asylum should not be kept in detention, said Oxfam, Norwegian Refugee Council and...
Turkey complicates the fight against ISIL
Turkish diplomatic and military moves are complicating the fight against Daesh aka Islamic State, ISIL or ISIS. Today (28 July 2015) Turkey is hoping to widen European/NATO support for its military offensive in Syria whose ultimate aim remains far from clear. The Turkish attacks in Syria are seen in the West as helping the fight against ISIL. From Kurdish standpoints these attacks are aimed at crushing the Kurds. Are the Turkish hits...
Turkish business women helped with mentoring
Mentoring for Turkish women in business, launched in Ankara 5 March 2015. Photo: EBRD EU, EBRD and Turkey celebrated International Women’s Day with the launch of a mentoring service for women entrepreneurs. The initiative is part of a tripartite Finance and Advice for Women in Business Programme in Turkey, funded by the European Union, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Turkey. The mentoring launch in Ankara 5...
Bank borrowing drives up Turkish external debt
Turkish banks’ foreign liabilities are on the increase, and that bodes ill for the country’s economy. Most of the recent increase in Turkey’s external debt has been driven by bank borrowing, Fitch Ratings said 3 September 2014. The rapid rise in banks’ foreign liabilities, particularly at the short end, leaves them more vulnerable to an extreme stress involving an abrupt and prolonged market shutdown. The...