sne Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 He stole the plot from Revenge of the Sith and didn't get sued by George Lucas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awol Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 Damn shame the coup failed last year. He was always going to be an ethnosectarian fascist dictator if given the chance and Turkish religious Conservatives have just served it up to him on a plate. Not a good day for the Kurds, or the prospects of regional de-escalation. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 Still can't get over the feeling that the coup was staged and they were set upp to fail. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted April 17, 2017 VT Supporter Share Posted April 17, 2017 They won't be joining the EU now, once they've brought back the death penalty. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted April 17, 2017 Moderator Share Posted April 17, 2017 Interesting that Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir all voted No. Turkey is a very divided nation again - I wouldn't want to be living there right now, they're in for a very unpleasant few years I think. Turkish women will be particularly worried today. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFC_Hitz Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 Having a coffee in a cafe in Istanbul, people watching. There's a strange sense of calm, maybe acceptance. I went for a wander with the protests last night on the Asian side and they just banged their pots and pans. The police didn't do a thing but they were out in force. It's a strange and ugly time for such a beautiful country. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentVilla Posted April 17, 2017 Moderator Share Posted April 17, 2017 Entirely predictable result and next phase of the destruction of the secular state in favour of a fundamentalist dictator. You couldn't pay me to step foot in Turkey any time soon. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 Big market, Turkey. Sort of place we need to be cosying up to post Brexit. A special deal on visas and who knows, they might set up a Beko fridge freezer production line here somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awol Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 not that it will make a bit of difference.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 Latest stuff on the increasingly close race in France from The Grauniad: Quote ... The latest polls show Macron and Le Pen clinging on to the narrowest of leads on 22% to 23%, while a late surge by the hard-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon and scandal-hit rightwinger François Fillon appears to be holding, putting both on between 19% and 21%. ... Several polls modelling possible second-round permutations have suggested that Macron would win the runoff whoever he is against, while Le Pen would lose. Mélenchon would defeat everyone except Macron, and Fillon lose to all except Le Pen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 I was amused by the revelation that Melenchon has a hologram of himself so he can campaign in many cities at the same time. Genius idea, don't know why nobody's thought of it before. One of those Million Dollar Homepage, headthump moments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 Looks like there'll be an election to the parliament in the UK as well. June 8th. Everybody's having an election this year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 Erdogan is 'Europe's' version of Assad, very dangerous man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 1 minute ago, Dr_Pangloss said: Erdogan is 'Europe's' version of Assad, very dangerous man. Or Lukashenko, Karimov or Mugabe. Take your pick, it's clear he's trying to emulate the very worst dictators in the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awol Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 Macron and Le Pen through to final round. If she loses by less than 20% in May she'll more than double her father's performance at the same stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 Macron 8/1 on now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post maqroll Posted April 24, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted April 24, 2017 3 hours ago, snowychap said: Macron 8/1 on now. Just as I was getting used to Under Armour. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted April 24, 2017 Share Posted April 24, 2017 It's utterly hilarious how Macron is being portrayed as a lefty, very much a centre-right candidate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awol Posted April 24, 2017 Share Posted April 24, 2017 5 minutes ago, Dr_Pangloss said: It's utterly hilarious how Macron is being portrayed as a lefty, very much a centre-right candidate. To run he resigned from the Socialist Party where he Hollande's economy minister - so responsible for the 75% tax that drove so many successful Frenchies to London. Not exactly Thatcher in disguise! I also can't help thinking he's a wee bit young for the job... not that there is any alternative at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted April 24, 2017 Share Posted April 24, 2017 17 minutes ago, Awol said: To run he resigned from the Socialist Party where he Hollande's economy minister - so responsible for the 75% tax that drove so many successful Frenchies to London. Not exactly Thatcher in disguise! I also can't help thinking he's a wee bit young for the job... not that there is any alternative at this point. Not sure that's entirely accurate, fairly sure that was pushed through before Macron became Economics minister in 2014. In fact the phasing out of the 75% tax seems to coincide with Macron's appointment to that position. As a former investment banker he is will known to have put forward a number of business friendly policies. Admittedly he's not an easy one to pin down, a lot of his policies strike me as slightly right of centre (i.e. Tory) but he is partial to the old left wing dog whistle. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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