What Is Not Happening in Turkey!
By Murat Guzel - Throughout the week, we have witnessed that the US media coverage of the Gezi Park protests in Turkey misrepresented a lot of the facts on the ground. The American public was presented with a sterilized and highly romanticized view of the protestors with almost no reference to very well-known hate-based ideological groups which capitalized on the opportunity for conflict. Moreover, a segment of the Turkish community in the United States sponsored an advertisement published by two major newspapers which further exploits the existing misunderstanding of the events. It is unfortunate to see that most of the information and commentary on these protests in Turkey suffers from a failure to understand Turkish politics and society, and therefore, misguides the American public opinion.
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ISTANBUL, Turkey —Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan returned to Turkey on Friday morning in a defiant mood, calling for an end to the anti-government protests that have rocked the nation during the last week. In a speech from atop an open-air bus to thousands of supporters, Erdogan, back from a four-day trip to North Africa, said, "These protests must end immediately." "No power but Allah can stop Turkey's rise," continued Erdogan during an address to the scores of Justice and Development Party faithful who had gathered at Istanbul Ataturk Airport, according to local news reports. 
As protests have rocked Turkey over the past few days, three Turkish professionals in the U.S. decided on Sunday that they had to take some action. Turning to their technology backgrounds, the trio launched a crowd-sourced fundraising campaign on Indiegogo to buy a full-page ad in the front section of the New York Times in support of their fellow Turkish citizens who’ve clashed with the government across dozens of cities. In just a matter of hours, they’d jump-started the fastest major politics funding campaigns in Indiegogo’s history. 
ISTANBUL — Tens of thousands of protesters called for the resignation of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and fought police firing tear gas in central Istanbul for the second day Saturday. A defiant Erdogan declared he would not back down from a controversial construction project that set off the protests, but then called off the police. Denouncing protesters as “entirely ideological,” Erdogan vowed in a speech to go ahead with plans to build a replica of an Ottoman-era barracks on what is now parkland off of Taksim Square in the heart of Istanbul’s downtown. But he conceded there had been excessive use of tear gas and that citizens had the right to express their views. 
Istanbul was rocked by a violent police crackdown Friday when Turkish police moved in on the thousands of demonstrators who have been protesting in a downtown park since Monday. Reuters reports that police fired tear gas and a water cannon at protesters in Gezi Park around dawn; 100 sustained minor injuries. But if some of the messages circulating on social networks are any indication, the so-called occupiers may persist, even now that the park is clear: more than 61,000 tweets have been sent with the hashtag #geziparkı, and photos and videos from the crackdown are trending worldwide. In fact, as of 11 a.m. on Friday, five of the 11 trending terms on Twitter related to the protests. 
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New York — AP - Friends and strangers came to pay their respects Thursday to a New York mother of two who was killed while vacationing alone in Turkey. The viewing for Sarai Sierra was held at Christian Pentecostal Church on Staten Island on Valentine's Day, which marked the 15th anniversary of Sierra's engagement to husband Steven, a New York City bus driver. The 33-year-old Sierra disappeared Jan. 21, and her body was discovered 12 days later near Istanbul's ancient city walls. Police say she suffered a fatal blow to the head.
Turkish authorities probing the murder of an American woman in Istanbul are reportedly hunting for a homeless man who may have attacked her near the city's ancient walls on the day she disappeared. Istanbul police are searching for the man, identified only as "Z," in their investigation into the death of 33-year-old Sarai Sierra, of Staten Island, N.Y., whose body was found Feb. 2 near remnants of the city's ancient walls, according to the Turkish newspaper, Vatan.
(AP) ISTANBUL - Turkey's state-run agency says the body of a New York City woman killed while on a solo vacation in Turkey is being returned home. The Anadolu Agency says a casket carrying the remains of Sarai Sierra was loaded onto a New York-bound plane on Thursday. The agency said Turkish Airlines is transporting the body for free. 
