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President Erdoğan visits Anıtkabir as Turkey marks Victory Day

Turkey is celebrating the Victory Day on Aug. 30, marking the 92nd anniversary of the Turkish victory against Greekforces at the Battle of Dumlupınar, the final battle of the War of Independence.

The celebrations began with an official ceremony at Anıtkabir, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, which was attended by political leaders and military commanders. 

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel, Constitutional Court President Haşim Kılıç, deputy prime ministers Bülent Arınç, Ali Babacan, Yalçın Akdoğan and Numan Kurtulmuş were present at the ceremony.

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu also attended the ceremony although his party boycotted Erdoğan’s oath-taking ceremony in Parliament on Aug. 28. However, Kılıçdaroğlu did not attend the program at the Çankaya Palace following the visit to Anıtkabir, while Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli preferred to skip the entire program in Ankara and join the celebrations in Afyon.

President Erdoğan left a wreath on Atatürk's Mausoleum and the group observed a minute's silence afterwards, which was followed by the recitation of the Turkish national anthem.

Erdoğan will later attend a military parade and host a reception at the Çankaya Presidential Palace in the evening.

Victory Day, marked on Aug. 30, was won under the leadership of Atatürk. The victory over the Greek military on Aug. 30, 1922 was the last large engagement between the two armies. The war began with the Greek invasion of İzmir in May 1919 after the end of World War I with tacit support from the Allies, especially Great Britain. 

In the past, the highest official level reception to mark Victory Day was hosted at the General Staff Headquarters instead of the presidential Çankaya Palace.

In an amendment to the regulation governing national and official feasts, ceremonies and celebrations passed in May 2012, responsibility for hosting the Victory Day reception was transferred from the Chief of General Staff to the president.

With the A-level protocol being implemented, politicians, members of high judiciary and the top brass of the TSK have been invited to the reception.

Turkish woman stabs man after alleged sexual harassment on bus

A 19-year-old woman in the southern province of Adana has stabbed a 27-year-old man after he allegedly abused her on a transit bus.

The man is under treatment at a hospital and is in critical condition.

The incident occurred early Aug. 30 on a highway in the Çınarlı neighborhood. The woman, identified with only her initials as A.D., accused H.Y., a man who was sitting in a seat behind her, of sexually harassing her. 

An argument started between the two after the accusation and the driver forced them out of the bus on a highway when the argument got out of control.

The woman reportedly took out a knife from her purse and stabbed the man in the chest after they got off the bus.

H.Y. was hospitalized after the incident and A.D. was taken into custody by the police. 

Prosecutors have launched an investigation into the issue.

Turkey's Jewish intellectuals denounce being targeted over Israel's Gaza assault

A group of Turkish-Jewish intellectuals have denounced being targeted over Israel’s recent operations in Gaza, describing attempts to hold them responsible for Israel’s policies as "racist."

Prominent figures such as scholar and columnist Soli Özel, leftist writer Roni Margulies, economist Cem Behar and former radio host and activist Avi Haligua, stressed their opposition to Israel’s actions in a letter released Aug. 29. However, they also added that no one should expect unity of opinion in a community of 20,000 people, and expressed their wish that their opinion not be interpreted based on their identity. 

Here is the full letter:

"Israel’s latest attack on Gaza led, once again, to cries of ‘Why does the Jewish community remain silent?’ A campaign was even launched that claimed that the Jews of Turkey bear responsibility for what Israel does in Gaza.

"No citizen of this country is under any obligation to account for, interpret or comment on any event that takes place elsewhere in the world, and in which he/she has no involvement. There is no onus on the Jewish community of Turkey, therefore, to declare an opinion on any matter at all.

"It is anyway not possible for a community of 20,000 to declare a unified opinion. No human community can be monolithic and the Jewish community is not. Its members include people of all kinds, with a great variety of views.

"In the same way the people of Turkey cannot be held responsible for the barbarity of what the Islamic State [of Iraq and Levent, ISIL] does because a number of Turks are among its fighters, the Jewish community of Turkey cannot be held responsible for what the state of Israel does. It is racism to hold a whole people responsible for the actions of a state and we wish to declare that we are opposed to this.

"We, the undersigned, are children of Jewish families in Turkey. It is incumbent upon us to express an opinion on the attack on Gaza precisely to the same degree that it is on any other citizen of Turkey, no less, and certainly no more.

"None the less, we wish to declare we are opposed to the Israeli state’s policies on Gaza, not because we are of Jewish origin, but because we are human. We may not agree on all matters, some of us oppose all of Israel’s policies, some of us oppose some of them. But all of us are opposed to Israel’s aggression, militarism, expansionism and the violence it brings upon the Palestinian people.”

German documentarian found dead in Fethiye

German documentary filmmaker Bernd Girrbach was found dead early Aug. 29 in Turkey after a two-day police search.

The 58-year-old filmmaker had begun walking on Lycian Way, located in the Fethiye district of Turkey’s Muğla province, on Aug. 26.

Girrbach, who worked for Germany’s ARD channel, was in Turkey to film a documentary on Lycian Way, a trekking path that attracts travelers from across the world. Girrbach was conducting the initial research for the documentary when he lost his way somewhere along the 540-kilometer walking path on the road between Ölüdeniz to Geyikbayırı. Girrbach sent a text message for help to his wife, Elke Girrbach, who was also in Fethiye. He could not be reached again on his phone, however. 

Girrbach’s body was located through his mobile phone signal, which police tracked via two portable base stations, Ölüdeniz local police said.