Istanbul // A former Turkish beauty queen was found guilty on Tuesday for insulting president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on social media, and was being handed a suspended sentence of more than one year in jail.
A Turkish court sentenced 27-year-old Merve Buyuksara – crowned Miss Turkey in 2006 – to 14 months in prison for publicly insulting Mr Erdogan in a satirical poem she posted on her Instagram account, the Dogan news agency reported.
The punishment has been suspended, it added.
The Master’s Poem – which was shared by the model while Mr Erdogan was serving as prime minister – criticises the Turkish strongman with verses adapted from the national anthem.
Mr Erdogan, who was elected president in August 2014 after serving as prime minister for more than a decade, is often called Buyuk Usta – the big master.
Mr Erdogan’s lawyer, Hatice Ozay, told the court that the model’s posts on social media cannot be considered criticism but rather was an “attack against my client’s personal rights”.
Ms Buyuksarac won the Miss Turkey beauty pageant ten years ago and has since worked as a model as well as appearing on reality TV shows.
After being briefly detained in January 2015, she admitted to sharing the poem which had been printed in a Turkish satirical magazine but said she did not want to insult the president.
Journalists as well as ordinary citizens end up in court for insulting or slandering Mr Erdogan, who is accused by critics of being increasingly authoritarian.
The number of cases has swelled after Mr Erdogan moved to the presidency in 2014.
Justice minister Bekir Bozdag said in March that almost 2,000 people in Turkey have been prosecuted for insulting Mr Erdogan since he became president.
Ironically, Mr Erdogan was himself sent to jail in 1999 for reciting a nationalist and Islamist-tinged poem that the authorities of the time deemed was guilty of “inciting religious hatred”. He was at that time mayor of Istanbul.
* Agence France-Presse
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Enjoys reading: Chinese novels, romantic comedies, reading up on business trends, government policy changes
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UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
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Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.
You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”
However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.
This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”
This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.
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You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.
The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments
The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.
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Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.
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10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
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- Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
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