WikiLeaks' Embassy Files ain't no news to us.
A leading AKP minister with "reported ties to the heroin trade, well-known predilection for teenage girls, and his son's open mafia links" may have been confirmed by the US Embassy in Ankara now; but Turkish people already know other members of the parliament, too.
I worked for more than 15 hours today, just because of this leak, but I was more interested in a fire; a fire that engulfed a landmark in my city.
The fire broke out in Istanbul's historic Haydarpasa train station today, damaging the beautiful building seriously. Built in 1908 on the Asian side of Istanbul by the German architects, this train station was one of my favorites in this city (eat your heart out, Christian Wulff!).
The fire is suspicious, because the AKP government had always wanted to get rid of it and build some skyscrapers there, ruining the original silhouette of Istanbul. The controversial project is still on, though. Maybe it would be even easier to realize it now.
All in all, the Haydarpasa fire highlights the AKP reality once again: This pseudo-Islamic party is neo-liberal and neo-con in its core, maybe as much as Dick Cheney. Most of AKP's leading figures don't have anything to do with Islam. They just benefited from an Islamic perception as a leverage in Turkey where there are still uneducated, rural masses.
So, don't get surprised if you find a pedophile, mafioso junkie in their political ranks. But be surprised when the old domes of the Haydarpasa train station don't collapse.
