Free Republic

HAGUE, 30/01/08 - Another Labour (PvdA) politician has turned out to be supporting the radical Islamic group Hizb ut Tahrir. This time, it is Hatice Can-Engin, an alderman in the town of Gilze-Rijen. Can-Engin, of Turkish origin, signed a petition of Hizb ut Tahrir against the insulting of Islam. Gilze-Rijen Mayor Rene Roep has confirmed that Can-Engin signed the online petition. The alderman herself had initially denied this. Whether her action will have consequences for her functioning as alderman is not yet clear. Hizb ut-Tahrir, banned in Germany, aspires to worldwide Islamic dominance. Chairman Okay Pala recently said in newspaper...

(IsraelNN.com) Fahri Guven of the Islamist Turkish daily Milli Gazete quoted in his column the following excerpts from a recently published book by M. Ertugrul Duzdag and Ali Ulvi Kurucu presenting them as historical truths that every Muslim must take into account (translated by MEMRI): “The Jew is a curse. If you enter a war against the Jew you end up fighting powerful nations behind him. If you try to make peace, years pass with no result. He lies 70 lies. It is not surprising that America supports Israel. It is because America is a province of Israel! Last century...

ISTANBUL, Nov. 30 — A Turkish passenger jet crashed in the mountains of western Turkey early Friday, killing all 57 people on board, including several prominent nuclear physicists on their way to a conference, Turkish authorities said. The plane, a McDonnell Douglas MD-83 operated by Atlasjet, an airline based in Istanbul, took off from Istanbul and disappeared from radar shortly before it was due to land at the airport in Isparta. It crashed about seven miles from the airport, near the town of Keciborlu, the authorities said. The cause of the crash was unclear. The weather was good, airline officials...

Text of report in English by Turkish news agency Anatolia Antalya, 18 August: Hayrettin Balcioglu, deputy governor of the southern city of Antalya, said that two hijackers, who hijacked the AtlasJet passenger plane during a flight from the Turkish Republic of [self-declared] Northern Cyprus (TRNC) to Istanbul, surrendered to security forces. Balcioglu told the A.A [Anatolia Agency] that the hijackers were arrested by security forces. Source: Anatolia news agency, Ankara, in English 1009 gmt 18 Aug 07

Turkish elections to test Islamic democracy By Amberin Zaman in Ankara Last Updated: 12:41am BST 21/07/2007 Turkish PM Erdogan Holds final pre-election rally It is a sign of his enduring strength that Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's charismatic prime minister, has vowed to retire from politics unless voters return him to power with a strong mandate in tomorrow's general election. "If we do not come to power alone I will withdraw from my party," Mr Erdogan said during a campaign rally. Tens of thousands of supporters waving Turkish flags burst into applause as he challenged his secular rivals to do the...

Turkish and Iranian forces shelled Kurdish rebel positions across the border in northern Iraq, Iraqi Kurd officials reported Friday, amid fears that the conflict could open a new front in Iraq. Turkey has been building up its forces along the border with Iraq, and its leaders are debating whether to stage a major incursion to pursue separatist rebels who cross over from bases in Iraq to attack Turkish targets. Such an operation could ignite a wider conflict involving Iraqi Kurds, and disrupt Turkey's ties with its NATO ally, the United States. Iran has also clashed with Iranian Kurd fighters who...

By Hidir Goktas ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's president vetoed a constitutional amendment on Friday under which the head of state would have been elected directly by the people, a move likely to deepen a standoff between the secular elite and the government. At present the head of state is elected by parliament, which last month narrowly rejected the Islamist-rooted ruling AK Party's candidate for the presidency. President Ahmet Necdet Sezer's office said the controversial constitutional amendment was vetoed partly because it could weaken the current balance of power within the political system. "President Ahmet Necdet Sezer did not find the...law...

In Turkey, hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets for the third time in a month to demonstrate against Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. His conservative Islamic AK party is suffering under the severe criticism of secular Turks in favour of maintaining the strict separation of church and state. After mass demonstrations in Ankara and Istanbul, more than a million people are expected in Izmir, the second largest city in Turkey. The organisers hope the demonstrations will help unite the divided opposition in the run up to the parliamentary elections in July. The Turkish government decided to bring...

Turkish Presidential Candidate Out Published: 5/6/07, 11:45 PM EDT By SUZAN FRASER ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - The candidate of Turkey's Islamic-rooted ruling party halted his run for the presidency Sunday after opposition lawmakers boycotted the second vote on his candidacy over worries that he could inject religion into the country's long tradition of secular politics. The candidate, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, said the rift between his party and opposition secularists had compromised the parliament's ability to choose a president. He said the way forward was a constitutional amendment proposed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan allowing direct election of the...

Turkey poll halted over Islamic fears By Amberin Zaman in Istanbul Last Updated: 1:52am BST 02/05/2007 Turkey lurched deeper into political crisis last night after a court halted the country's presidential election. Police and demonstrators engaged in bitter clashes during an unofficial May Day march in Istanbul yesterday. About 700 arrests were made The constitutional court annulled the first round vote of the ruling party's candidate, Abdullah Gul, amid fears that he wanted to take the country in a pro-Islamic direction. The court ruled that not enough MPs took part in the vote last Friday for it to be valid....

Turkey's constitutional court has ruled the first round of the contentious presidential election null and void. The case was brought by a secular opposition party. It wanted to prevent the only candidate, Abdullah Gül of the Islamic AK party, coming to power. His opponents fear Mr Gül will end Turkey's separation of church and state. Turkish presidents are chosen by parliament every seven years, and the court ruled the poll invalid because not enough MPs were present when voting began. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan says he now wants to hold an early general election possibly in June. The last...

Turkish anti-Islamic rally draws 500,000 By Duncan Hooper and agencies Last Updated: 2:51pm BST 29/04/2007 Around half a million people gathered in Istanbul today demanding the resignation of the pro-Islamic government. The streets of Istanbul were a sea of red Turkish flags The rally will spur fears of a military coup as it follows a steep rise in tensions between Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the country's prime minister, and the pro-secular army, which accuses the government of tolerating the activities of radical Muslims. "Turkey is secular and will remain secular," the protesters chanted, waving the national flag. Ahmet Yurdakul, 63 year-old...

Turkish ruling party warns army Turkey's army chief (left) is said to have talked to the PM by phone Turkey's ruling party has sharply criticised an army threat to intervene in politics, saying the military must remain under civilian control. Cemil Cicek, spokesman for the Islamist-rooted party, was commenting after an unusual statement by the army vowing to defend the secular system. The army, which led coups in the past, said it was concerned by the party's choice of presidential candidate. Mr Cicek said any army intervention was "inconceivable in a democratic state". "The chief of the general staff is...

Turkish Islamists face Christians' death trial By Damien McElroy in Malatya, Turkey Last Updated: 12:54am BST 23/04/2007 A gang of suspected Islamic nationalists was facing the possibility of trial for the torture and murder of three Christians at a Bible publishers in Turkey last night after investigators called for their prosecution. A judge was considering whether the group - 11 men and one woman - should face trial after they were questioned for eight hours over the deaths of two Turks and a German, who were bound to chairs and had their throats slit in Malatya on Wednesday. As the...

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) -- Attackers on Wednesday slit the throats of three people in a Turkish publishing house which printed bibles, security officials said, the latest attack on minorities in mainly Muslim Turkey.

Turkish novelist flees to US 'in fear for life' By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent Last Updated: 2:27am GMT 14/02/2007 The Turkish novelist and Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk is living in exile in the United States and is believed to be in fear for his life. Amid a climate of intimidation that has seen the prosecution and even murder of dissident intellectuals throwing into doubt Turkey's aspiration to the join the European Union, Mr Pamuk, 54, who is living in New York, is said to have told friends he has set no deadline for his return. Instead, according to the...

Turkey is unlikely to join the EU for at least 15 years Turkey finally began talks on joining the European Union in October 2005, more than 40 years after it first began to woo the emerging bloc. Now it seems that things are already going wrong. What are the main problems? More generally, what are the main arguments for and against Turkish membership of the EU, and how does the accession process work? Why is Turkey's EU membership bid in trouble? There are two issues. TURKISH MARATHON 1959 - Turkey applies for associate membership of EEC 1963 - Association...

Four Austrian police officers have been suspended after allegations they made racist comments to an Olympic athlete. Tuncay Caliskan,an Austrian of Turkish descent, competes at the international level in Taekwondo. Mr Caliskan, 29, said the racist slurs came when he sought help at a Vienna police station after being threatened by a man with a baseball bat. The city's police have been accused of several cases of brutality towards immigrants over the past two years. In this case, a police spokesman confirmed that there had been a "violent and loud" confrontation in the police station. He said all four...

October 31, 2006 Turkish Minister Supports Intelligent Design In a recent TV debate on the Turkish educational system, the country's Minister of Education, Mr. Hüseyin Çelik**, argued in favor of intelligent design and for incorporating the theory into Turkish high school biology textbooks. The debate was aired on CNNTurk* on 17 October 2006, on the popular TV show Tarafsiz Bölge (Neutral Zone), which is hosted by the trendy Turkish journalist Ahmet Hakan Coskun. During the 2.5 hour-long program, the minister was challenged by another leading journalist, Ismet Berkan, who has previously argued for Darwinism and against ID in his columns....

AMSTERDAM — The continued radicalisation of especially young Muslims remains concerning, the national anti-terrorism co-ordination office NCTb said on Monday. The NCTb also said it was "remarkable" that a rising number of Turkish youths were finding their way into networks of radical Muslims prepared to use violence against western society. Earlier, Dutch Turkish youths were appearing occasionally in "jihad networks" made up primarily of North Africans, but there now appears to be whole groups of youths susceptible to radical Islam. "Frustration over the position of Muslims in the Netherlands and anger over the events in conflict regions give food to...

Clicky Here For Superman Of Turkey-SUPERMEN DONUYOR! My cat has more personality...

Al-Qaeda chief kills Turkish hostage on film By Paul Willis (Filed: 24/09/2006) A video purporting to show the new leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq murdering a Turkish hostage has appeared on the internet. If authentic, the recording would be the first known footage of Abu Ayyoub al-Masri, a Sunni Muslim who is said to have assumed leadership of the organisation after the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in an American airstrike in June. The items were posted on Friday night with a statement identifying Masri, also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, as the executioner. Masri appears flanked by two men...

Turkish novelist wins free speech case By David Rennie, Europe Correspondent (Filed: 22/09/2006) A best-selling novelist was yesterday cleared by a Turkish court of insulting her country in a case regarded as the latest test of free speech for a nation vying to join the European Union. Both the government in Ankara and the European Commission expressed relief when Elif Shafak was acquitted of the charge of "insulting Turkishness". A protester in Istanbul vents her anger on a poster of Elif Shafak Nationalists had brought the case after she wrote a novel in which fictional characters discussed the massacre of...

Turkish pilot mistakes airports due to poor English 17.08.2006 Poor command of English is said to be why the pilot of a Turkish charter plane landed by mistake at a Polish airbase close to the western city of Poznan and not a civilian airport, situated a dozen kilometers away. After a 3 hour stop over, the plane with 200 Polish tourists on board was allowed to fly to the civilian airport. Ground control said the woman pilot of a Boeing 737 listened to their command but could not tell why she landed at the Krzesiny military airport. A spokesman for...

Turkey shortlists Rooivalk attack chopper Cape Town – It is an awe-inspiring sight, watching a nine-ton attack helicopter perform a loop and barrel rolls – the aeronautical equivalent of Luciano Pavarotti performing a perfect pike on the diving board. But this is exactly what Denel Aviation‘s CSH-2 Rooivalk attack helicopter can do – although that is not part of its operational flying capabilities. The Rooivalk was designed to fly in all weather conditions day or night at extremely low level, sometimes at an altitude of 10m, to avoid being detected. Developed in the 1990s, the Rooivalk (“Red Hawk”) is used...

Hakan Yildirim says he is fully behind Germany in the World Cup. If Turkey were in the competition, however, it would be a different story. In the Nordmarkt area of Dortmund, a quarter with many Turkish families, Mr Yildirim, 20, helps run his father's restaurant, the Saray grill. There are many German flags hanging from balconies and lampposts, and protruding from car windows. "We support Germany, of course. We live here, we eat their bread!" says Mr Yildirim. "Our families are here and our future is here." In other Turkish areas it is no different. There were reports of celebratory...

Greek, Turkish Jets Collide Over Aegean By DEREK GATOPOULOS, Associated Press Writer Warplanes from Greece and Turkey collided over the Aegean Sea as they shadowed each other Tuesday in disputed airspace, and officials said the Turkish pilot was rescued unhurt. There were conflicting reports on the fate of the Greek pilot. A Turkish Foreign Ministry statement said the Greek pilot had died, but officials in Athens said a rescue operation was still under way. The two F-16 fighter jets collided over international waters near the island of Karpathos after two Greek jets intercepted two Turkish warplanes, military officials from both...

Persecution and martyrdom of Christians under 20th century totalitarianism - mainly of Russian Orthodox Christians under Bolshevism - is by far the greatest crime in all of recorded history. It is several times greater than the Holocaust in terms of innocent lives brutally destroyed. It has killed more Christians in a few decades than all other causes put together in all ages, with Islam a distant second as the cause of their death and suffering. And yet it still remains a largely unknown, often minimized, or scandalously glossed over crime. According to the respected and reliable OUP World Christian...

USS PORTER, At Sea (NNS) -- USS Porter (DDG 78) departed the Black Sea country of Georgia April 10, after being at anchor outside the city of Poti for four days. Within hours, Porter was at work strengthening enduring and emerging partnerships not only with the Georgian navy, but also the Turkish navy. "I think it's the first time we have done a trilateral exercise underway with the Georgian, Turkish and U.S. Navies," noted Commander, Task Force 67 Capt. Bob Lally, who assumed tactical control of the guided-missile destroyer before it entered the Black Sea, April 4. "Cooperative training helps...

WASHINGTON, March 24, 2006 – Turkish-American relations are critical to the health of the United States, the top U.S. military officer said here today. In a wide-ranging interview, Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke to Murat Akgun of Turkey's NTV network about a number of aspects of life in Turkey's geopolitical neighborhood. Iraq dominated the discussion, with Pace talking about what's right and wrong in the country. He said the training of Iraqi security forces is moving ahead well. Iraqi troops, he said, control more than half of Baghdad and about a third of...

Troops are urged to avoid theaters with Turkish film Army says “Kurtlar Vadisi Irak” depicts GIs as indiscriminate killers A woman stands next to a billboard featuring the new Turkish movie “Valley of the Wolves Iraq” in Istanbul, Turkey. Tickets for the movie, the latest of a genre of pop culture works feeding off growing anti-American sentiment in Turkey, are selling out across the country. Soldiers in Europe have been advised to avoid movie theaters showing a new Turkish film that depicts U.S. soldiers as indiscriminate killers of Iraqis, according to an Army communication circulated last week. In a...

Chickens run rings around Turkish bird flu busters Colin Freeman in Kusadasi (Filed: 15/01/2006) For the boiler-suited bird flu team from Kusadasi town council, the question of why the chicken crossed the road was no laughing matter. Having pecked his way out of a wriggling sackful of condemned birds, the white cockerel sprinted from the council depot and across a dual carriageway, forcing several staff to dodge the rush-hour traffic in pursuit. A Turkish boy and a municipality worker try to catch chickens The chicken's escape was thwarted only by Ayhan Bekmez, one of 90 council staff pressed into service...

Turkish boy's death not bird flu Officials have been taking precautions in Turkey A 14-year-old Turkish boy who died at the weekend was not killed by bird flu, the country's health ministry says. The boy was initially feared to have died from the same virus that has killed more than 70 people in Asia. Three of his siblings, who were also taken ill, have also tested negative for the disease, while tests on two others have still not been returned. It is still not clear what did kill Mehmet Ali Kocyigit, officials said. "The disease is not caused by bird...

As bedtime approached, some of the children began to cry, fearful that "the soldiers" were going to come and kill them in their sleep.

ANKARA, Turkey - Turkish police detained a Syrian who is believed to have been a go-between for al-Qaida and a Turkish cell that carried out deadly 2003 bombings in Istanbul and said Wednesday they are pursuing other militants. Turkish media said the Syrian was one of 10 people detained who were plotting to attack Israeli cruise ships docking at vacation resorts on the Mediterranean coast, but police later denied the reports. Israel on Monday urged its citizens not to visit beach resorts on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey and five cruise liners carrying some 5,000 people were diverted from Turkey...

Rojda was 13 when she was raped two years ago by a neighbor in this hardscrabble Kurdish province. In order to "cleanse" her honor, she was forced to marry her attacker in an unofficial Islamic-style ceremony. He later was convicted of raping a 7-year-old boy and has been imprisoned. But Rojda's troubles were far from over, according to an account of her ordeal provided by her family and attorneys. She allegedly was raped again in March by her father-in-law, who she said demanded she prostitute herself to earn her keep. When Rojda refused, the relatives and attorneys charge, a group...

ANKARA, Turkey - A Turkish group uniting hundreds of businesses and organizations demanded Tuesday that Arnold Schwarzenegger's movies be banned from Turkish television to protest the California governor's use of the term genocide to describe the massacre of Armenians by Turks during World War I. Schwarzenegger, a former actor best known for his role in "The Terminator," declared April 24 a "Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide." California has one of the largest populations of diaspora Armenians. An umbrella organization grouping some 300 Ankara-based associations, unions and businesses and led by the Ankara Chamber of Commerce said it launched...

ISTANBUL, Turkey - Turkish bookshops have a best seller, but some of them are hesitant about giving it too much display. It's "Mein Kampf." The popularity of Adolf Hitler's book, filled with anti-Jewish diatribes and dreams of world domination, is puzzling some Turks. Does it reflect rising anti-Semitic or anti-Western sentiment in Muslim Turkey? Or anger over Israel's treatment of the Palestinians and the war in Iraq (news - web sites)? Is it a backlash against the country's moves to join the European Union (news - web sites)? Or does it simply offer a cheap thrill? At least two new...

PRESIDENT STEPHANOPOULOS ADDRESSED GREEK EMIGRANTS IN BELGIUM Athens, 4 February 2005 (16:00 UTC+2) Hellenic Republic President Kostis Stephanopoulos addressed Greek emigrants during the last day of his visit to Belgium. Mr. Stephanopoulos was deeply moved when he referred to his origin saying that he comes from the Peloponese, Northern Epirus in south Albania and Cyprus and pointed out that he comes from two still occupied parts of Greece. He added that Europe is a new united motherland in which no nationality is lost. He called on the Greeks to welcome the immigrants arriving in Greece like the hospitable Belgium did,...

THE extent of a food poisoning outbreak at two Turkish restaurants in Melbourne's inner-north continues to grow, with authorities investigating more than 400 suspected cases. The Department of Human Services (DHS) has confirmed 24 cases, with seven people in hospital, including an 18-month-old baby. The Alasya Restaurant and Alasya 2, both in Sydney Road, Brunswick, were closed on Wednesday night after the outbreak was discovered. They underwent heavy cleaning yesterday. Bread from an adjoining bakery, Alasya Cakes, which was distributed to a number of restaurants and cafes around Melbourne, was recalled today after the department discovered it had not undergone...

A wedding is being held at the newly built Sheraton hotel in Irbil. The Kurdish bride and groom sit blinking into a video camera, their family clustered around. In the background, American contractors are drinking Turkish beer. This place of smiles and shining marble is the Iraq that was meant to be after the fall of Saddam Hussein. It existed for a brief moment after the invasion when American soldiers were at first greeted as liberators. Now the only place still deeply grateful for getting rid of the dictator is in the north of the country, in Kurdistan, a sanctuary...

Throughout the 1990s, Turkish foreign policy analysts had an easy job. After all, Turkish foreign policy was predictable. Ankara cooperated enthusiastically with Washington, whether in the Middle East or in the Balkans. Turkey aligned itself with Israel and kept at arms length from Middle Eastern neighbors such as Syria and Iran. In Europe, Ankara traded heavily with the European Union (EU) but did not allow the EU to dictate foreign policy. The European Union's frequent allegations and criticism of human rights abuses in Turkey, especially with regard to Turkey's fight against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK, Partiya Karkaren Kurdistan) terrorists, soured...

Turkish workers a mistake, claims Schmidt By Hannah Cleaver in Berlin (Filed: 25/11/2004) Helmut Schmidt, the former German chancellor, has inflamed the country's debate on immigration by saying that multiculturalism can only work under authoritarian regimes, and that bringing millions of Turkish guest workers to Germany was a mistake. "The concept of multiculturalism is difficult to make fit with a democratic society," he told the Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper. He added that it had been a mistake that during "the early 1960s we brought guest workers from foreign cultures into the country". Mr Schmidt, 85, who was the Social Democratic chancellor...

ISTANBUL, Turkey - Turkish security forces say they have dismantled much of the network behind last year's suicide bombings in Istanbul, but the two suspected masterminds remain at large, a scenario being played out around the world: police quickly make arrests but struggle to catch the organizers of terror attacks. While authorities shut down the network behind the Turkish bombings, attacks that killed some 60 people, the leaders of the strikes are thought to have fled to Iraq. "What al-Qaida and other terrorist groups often do is make sure that the true masterminds leave the country or go underground" after...

ISTANBUL, Turkey - A Turkish terror suspect testified Monday that members of an alleged Turkish al-Qaida cell met with Osama bin Laden and other top leaders of the network in Afghanistan and hinted the group funneled $150,000 to fund suicide bombings in Istanbul. The nine suspects, among 69 on trial for the suicide truck bombings that killed 61 people, appeared in court Monday to testify for the first time. The November 2003 bombings targeted two synagogues, the British Consulate and the local headquarters of the London-based HSBC bank. Prosecutors say those killed included British Consul-General Roger Short, and that more...

TEHRAN (MNA) -- During the latest season of excavations of the northern gate of Takht-e Suleiman, an ancient Zoroastrian fire temple located in northwestern Iran, the stamps of two seals were discovered which indicate that objects entered Takht-e Suleiman from other regions with special tags attached to them which seem to be advertisements. They signify that an early form of advertising was being practiced during the Sassanid era (224-642 C.E.), Yusef Moradi, the head of the excavation team, said on Friday. “The team began its excavations in early August and found the stamps of two seals at the upper levels...

Secrets of an ancient Persian armada sunk off the coast of Greece 2500 years ago are being dredged up by modern archaeologists. A team from Greece, Canada and the United States has just completed a second expedition to retrieve artefacts from 300 ships of the Persian King Darius that were wrecked in a storm off the Mt Athos Peninsula, northern Greece, in 492BC or 493BC. Aucklanders will be among the first to hear the results today when three of the expedition leaders present their findings in a free public lecture at Auckland University. In two trips so far, last October...

It is not certain when the reign of Ishpuini, who succeeded Sarduri, began. According to information gained from cuneiform inscriptions on tablets found near Zivistan Castle (now Elmal?), which is 15 km to the south of Van, Ishpuini was Sarduri's son. Thus it is probable that he ascended the throne in 825 or 824 B.C. One of the most important inscriptions made by King Ishpuini is the one describing the acquisition of the city of Musasir by the Urartu at Kelishin (Kel-i Shin). According to the information provided by the bilingual inscription on the Kelishin Stele, King Ishpuini had...

Dispute between Greece, England resumes with Olympics Games With the Olympic Games soon to open in Athens, one of the more bitter rivalries in history is set to resume, and it doesn't involve parallel bars or water polo. The Greek government is spending tens of millions of dollars on a museum atop the Acropolis in hopes that Britain will choose this occasion to return the Elgin Marbles, the elaborate sets of sculptures pried off the Parthenon and shipped to London two centuries ago. The British, unsurprisingly, have not complied. To understand why the sculptures mean so much to both...

Text of report by Tolga Sardan, "State of alert Against Al-Qa'idah air attacks", published by Turkish newspaper Milliyet web site on 27 July The airports in Turkey have been placed on "yellow alert" after the information Ankara received in connection with Al-Qa'idah's plan to use planes in its activities. The security units took action after they were informed by a reliable source on 16 July that "a plane might be hijacked to be used against a target or a home-made hand grenade might be exploded in one of the planes in flight". The possibility of an Al-Qa'idah action was discussed...