Lies and Flags

There's a video on Youtube about Hasankeyf, in Kurmanci.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8A5UNwGJok

Below is a rough English translation:

"Turkey's president is claiming
that the building of the Ilsu dam has started and that
he has gotten the approval of Switzerland/Austria and
Germany. But, this is not true and he is simply
trying to deceive you. The reason it isn't true is
that according to not Turkey Law - but rather
International Law they need the approval of the
villagers that will be affected in order to get the
Guarantee Credit from the three countries. This has
not happened so by law the dam cannot proceed. To
date there have been 19 projects like this. Some
examples, Batman....Those displaced were either given
homes or dumped in the city. The ones who were given
homes where happy. But, remember, five years later
they had no water, no work and no food - they ended up
like the others. And those who went into the city
remain still with no work and no homes and no gardens,
nothing."

Then the voice of the woman is heard speaking of the living conditions
(water-food-work etc). Then the man makes an
appeal to the people of Hasankeyf...

"Don't be deceived
by what you might be told. Have you heard of the
government giving away such things? Figure out the $
they will re-imburse you with. Will this money
sustain you? For how long? Can life in a city with
out jobs be better than your home among family and
friends? Isn't the taste of your own home better than
hunger? Think!
Then the last thing the women says is, "we allowed our
home to go under water...I wish it hadn't happened."

A friend of mine once said that you never quite know you're in Turkey until you go to Kurdistan (eastern Turkey) where they have the Turkish flag planted on every monument, and ridiculous sayings of Ataturk carved into every mountain, as if the presence of the Turkish Army, it's tanks, helicopters, military transports and American made fighter jets weren't enough. But perhaps its because they know they don't belong there.

There's an article in the Turkish Daily News that made me laugh:
Huge Turkish flag unveiled in Mersin

"A 4,500 square meter Turkish flag embroidered in the Toros Mountains of the Mediterranean province of Mersin was unveiled on Sunday with an opening ceremony."

Get that? They had to EMBROIDER IT. Some people are getting so confused about their identity they need a really big flag to convince themselves.