I'm from Turkey, and one of the most interesting things I've seen about America is homeschooling. I think parents can provide their own education, and ultimately, they can even issue diplomas and transcripts to their children. Are these diplomas and transcripts accepted by universities and employers? This seems unbelievable to me because in my country, nobody would trust a diploma or transcript issued by someone's own parents, and they wouldn't believe it's bias-free.
Here too, there are ways to obtain a diploma without physically attending school every day, but whether you will actually receive a diploma or your scores are determined by exams of an external institution, and you cannot take these exams at home.
Dün konu açmıştım taban puanı karşılamama rağmen "taban puanı karşılamadığım için" ek madde 1 başvurumu reddetmişler diye.
Aslında tam okula fiziksel olarak gidecektim bu konuyu görüşmek için. Ama gitmeden yarım saat önce nihayet okul Cuma günü attığım maile yanıt verdi "Hata giderildi, ret kaldırıldı, yatay geçiş başvunuzun başvuru kriterlerini karşıladığı onaylandı" diye. O yüzden gitmedim.
I know many autocratic states do things like this to their rivals when the risk is minimal. But the Saudis killing Khashoggi was anything but minimally risky. In today's world, with security cameras everywhere, it's impossible to do something like that and leave zero evidence. I guess they didn't think they'd leave zero evidence? So how did they risk such a shocking assassination, destroying their own reputation and potentially damaging their relations with other countries? Was it really worth it to eliminate just one political rival? Or did Khashoggi know very critical things that shouldn't be told to others?
Here in Turkey, insulting someone is not just rude, it is a criminal offense under the law. If the person who was insulted can prove it and files a complaint with the police, the offender may face imprisonment for 3 months to 2 years or, if a fine is imposed, a monetary penalty ranging from $200 to $8,000. In addition, the person who was insulted may be entitled to compensation for emotional distress.
About one million people a year file reports with the police alleging that they have been insulted
What constitutes an insult is generally determined by Supreme Court rulings that have been established over the decades. There’s even a website called hakaretmi.com that explains which words are considered insulting based on court precedents. For example, calling someone a “idiot” is considered insulting, but calling them “ignorant” generally isn’t.
There is such a vast body of case law on this subject, built up over decades through millions of cases, that there is virtually a precedent for every word in the dictionary regarding whether it is considered insulting.
This law applies to insults made to someone's face, insults made behind their back when other people are present, and insults made online.
If the insult is made online, it is an aggravating factor.
An insult doesn't have to be to falsely accuse someone of something that will damage their reputation. Simply calling someone "stupid" or "crazy" is also an insult. If you say "You're so stupid!" to someone, and that person goes to the police, you can end up in court. I think we have one of the harshest insult laws in the world; to avoid committing this crime, if you're speaking publicly, you need to think 20 times before you speak once.
Furthermore, some famous people abuse this law to make money. How? Although insult is a crime, unlike violent crimes, the law allows you to get away with it if you reach an agreement with the person you insulted. Some people express highly controversial opinions just to be insulted. Then they hire a team of lawyers, find everyone on Twitter who used words that could be considered insulting, and then report them to the police. Then their lawyers offer them this: "If you pay us $1,000, we'll settle the matter and you won't be punished," and often even those in poor financial situations agree to the settlement simply to avoid having a criminal record.
What's it like in your country?
If a Turkish citizen has traveled to Japan a few times in the past and returned in accordance with the rules without overstaying, would this make that person seem more trustworthy?
On the one hand, I thought that travel history in accordance with the rules to a developed and wealthy country like Japan would seem good.
However, Japan exempts Turkish citizens from visa requirement. In this case, since that person is visa-exempt and Japan already accepts all Turkish citizens without vetting, would this be pointless in terms of strengthening the Schengen visa application?
I live in Turkey, where abortion is legal up to the 10th week of pregnancy. Some of the state hospitals (not majority of them) offer abortions, if you go to a state hospital that does, it's free-on-use and tax-funded. Almost all private gynecology clinics also perform them.
Conservatives and religious people are probably not huge fans of abortion here as well, but it's never perceived as a major agenda-setting issue. Mostly, nobody cares enough to make it a primary issue.
But from what I've seen on Twitter, this is a major issue in the US. It's one of the important political problems for conservatives.
Is this true, or is it just a social media perception?
If so, what are the reasons?
Justice Minister Akın Gürlek announced that a decision had been made to initiate legal proceedings against 49 suspects in the investigation launched regarding allegations of irregularities in the visa application process.
Gürlek stated that the investigation is being conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Minister Gürlek explained that prosecutors are investigating the allegation that “obtaining a visa directly has been made practically impossible.”
It was announced that the financial audit covers the period from January 2024 to July 2026.
Allegations regarding procedures carried out through intermediary agencies and the appointment system for Schengen visa applications had been brought before Parliament.
The government had announced in June that an investigation had been launched into seven companies.
In his statement, Minister Gürlek also announced that the investigation is being conducted based on the suspicion that appointments were booked in bulk using software referred to as “bots.” In addition, it was announced that there were “strong findings” regarding the following allegations:
High sums of money were collected from citizens under the guise of “software,” “consulting,” and “service fees” by guaranteeing the provision of visas or appointments within specific timeframes
Fees were not refunded in cases where the promised services were not delivered
Applicants’ personal data was transferred to private digital systems
It is becoming increasingly difficult to secure a Schengen visa appointment, particularly during the summer months.
Which countries require a visa from Turkey, and which do not?
The EU has released Schengen visa data for 2025
To secure appointments more easily and expedite the visa process, it is necessary to use the services of intermediary companies and make certain additional payments.
Gürlek also announced that the investigation was conducted at 63 separate addresses in Istanbul, Ankara, Antalya, Balıkesir, Bursa, and Izmir.
Firuz Bağlıkaya, President of the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TÜRSAB), drew attention to the problems encountered in the Schengen application process in a statement he made on May 29.
“Appointments, which are opened in limited numbers and at irregular times, are also being blocked by bots. Appointments are opened at midnight, on holiday mornings, and on Sundays,” he said, alleging irregularities.
He claimed that appointments were being sold for “prices ranging from 300 to 500 euros, and even up to 1,000 euros in urgent cases.”
According to Schengen visa statistics from the European Commission—the executive body of the European Union—Turkey ranked second behind China in the number of Schengen visa applications in 2025, with 1,268,000 applications.
İkisine de puanı yeten biri.
Dokuz Eylül hem %100 İngilizce hem sıralaması daha yüksek. Hem de yeni AACSB sertifikası almış. AACSB dünya geneli İşletme fakülteleri için en prestijli sertifika.
Ama okuyacak kişi İzmirde başka bir ilçede yaşıyor. Dokuz Eylüle deyim yerindeyse dağ başında olduğu için yazmaktan çekiniyor.
Sizce sırf ulaşım olanaklarından dolayı Ege yazmaya değer mi?
In Turkey, where I live, there are extremely broad laws against insults, including insulting another person, insulting the memory of a deceased person, insulting public officials, insulting the head of state, insulting the memory of a deceased head of state, insulting state institutions, the military, the national flag, the flag of a foreign state, the national anthem, or the head of state of a foreign country.
These laws are neither new nor were they introduced by the current government. Laws of this kind have existed throughout the country’s recorded history, and many of them are more than a hundred years old.
Such laws also seem to be popular among the public. When you oppose them on the grounds that they violate freedom of expression, many people defend them by saying, “By no stretch of the imagination is there even the slightest connection between freedom of expression and insulting someone.”
Every year, around one million people have to appear in court for allegedly insulting someone else.
From what I have found, many countries in continental Europe have similar laws. One major exception, however, is the United States. As far as I understand, almost everything there is protected as free speech, apart from certain exceptions such as death threats.
So, what do you think about laws of this kind in other countries?
I'm in Turkey, and ever since I can remember, the supermarket I've shopped at the most is Migros. I think it's currently the second most popular supermarket in the country. It used to be number one. I never would have thought it might be a foreign company.
I was shocked for a moment when I saw Migros in a TikTok post from Switzerland.
Özellikle son 2-3 senedir her gün bu terimi sosyal medyada görüyorum. 3 sene önceye kadar ne anlama geldiğini bile bilmiyordum.
İnternetten tanımına bakınca "involuntary celibate" yani "istemsiz bekar" çıkıyor. Yani bir kişi bekar olmak istemediği halde partner bulamadığı için bekar kalıyorsa böyle deniyor.
Ama sosyal medyada özellikle failin erkek mağdurun kadın olduğu tüm suç olaylarında faile "incel" diyorlar.
Ancak en azından medyaya yansıyan failin erkek mağdurun kadın olduğu neredeyse tüm olaylarda failin eşi veya sevgilisi var. Yani partnerleri var. Bu yüzden tanımsal olarak "incel" olamazlar.
Bu yüzden ben bu terimin bu kadar kullanılmasına anlam veremiyorum. Gerçekten incel olanların incel olmayanlara göre daha çok suç işlediğine dair istatistiki veri var mı?