News for today's 2018

TURKEY’S BALKAN POLICY UNDER AKP

8:02 PM Tukiyooo 0

<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0GcXtVqG9cD0YcN7Y1NK59ROgqCHzXieNIU2DY0Rd1KUyJh2VyIMhbMUojv_2YZoDAFgObCNwKNCTpYHxBuN3SBZoXpXxh2WjFUilHs5SI6jlBa_npau0wD1x2dy2UACRa-BZPcFfXtUZ/s1600/260px-Presidential_Seal_of_the_Republic_of_Turkey.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0GcXtVqG9cD0YcN7Y1NK59ROgqCHzXieNIU2DY0Rd1KUyJh2VyIMhbMUojv_2YZoDAFgObCNwKNCTpYHxBuN3SBZoXpXxh2WjFUilHs5SI6jlBa_npau0wD1x2dy2UACRa-BZPcFfXtUZ/s1600/260px-Presidential_Seal_of_the_Republic_of_Turkey.svg.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Turkish Presidential Seal</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 1;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“TURKOISLAMIC” SYNTHESIS</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">After AKP and Erdogan rose to power back in 2002, TURKEY was on the verge of a severe financial crisis that led to a deal with the IMF and a haircut of 62% on its deposits. However, TURKEY – facilitated by its political system which allows for more authoritarian policies to be implemented- is now ranked among the countries with the highest rates of development (8.5%) and claims for a more influential role in the regional arena. Its comeback provided it with the opportunity to pursue a more extrovert foreign policy, seeking to exploit current tensions and long standing divisions. Such a case are the BALKANS where TURKEY tries to gain access and promote its geopolitical interests by means of economy, diplomacy and religion, all under the concept of neo-Ottomanism. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Read related article: </span></u></b></i></span></div><span style="color: blue;"><i> </i></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">TURKEY <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">GROWS FASTER THAN EUROZONE'S MAJOR ECONOMIES</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> at </span></i></span></div><i> </i><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><i><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/04/turkey.html"><span lang="DE-AT" style="mso-ansi-language: DE-AT;">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/04/turkey.html</span></a><span lang="DE-AT" style="mso-ansi-language: DE-AT;"> an </span></i></div><i> </i><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><i><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/01/turkey-always-force-to-reckon-with.html"><span lang="DE-AT" style="mso-ansi-language: DE-AT;">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/01/turkey-always-force-to-reckon-with.html</span></a></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This proactive policy is neither an innovation of Erdogan’s government nor of its Minister of Foreign Affairs Davutoglou. The founder is considered to be Turgut Ozal who introduced the concept of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Turkoislamic</b>synthesis as a means to extend TURKEY’S sphere of influence. Later on, when Ismail Cem was minister of Foreign Affairs (1999-2002), he too opted for a multidimensional pro-active foreign policy yet with a firm Western orientation. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">TURKEY’S SHORT-TERM AND MEDIUM-TERM FOREIGN POLICY IN THE REGION ARE THE STRENGTHENING OF BOSNIA AND ALBANIA</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In both these cases but also under Erdogan, TURKEY longed to take advantage of current instabilities in order to redefine its position in the new world order following the end of the Cold War. When referring to Turkish Foreign Policy under the AKP, one cannot but refer to Ahmet Davutoglu -chief advisor at the Prime Minister’s Office during the period 2002-2009 and from 2009 on, Minister of Foreign Affairs-who seems to be the most crucial figure. The so -called “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Davutoglu’s Doctrine</b>” which is described in his famous book “The strategic depth” seems to find a literal application in AKP’s policies. With regard to the BALKANS, the two most important short-term and medium-term goals of TURKISH foreign policy in the region are the strengthening of BOSNIA and ALBANIA and the creation of an international legal framework that could set the minorities of TURKISH origin under the protection of the TURKISH state. Under this legal framework, TURKEY should seek to ensure such provisions that would provide it with the pretext to intervene in issues related with the Muslim minorities in the BALKANS. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1AS3_J1RHVPaIKvB_PVcNq1tk6h94A-XSNWEbwEHyyGS_xGj1hLR0nrmKgzAg83dNzl-hpaFznc4SB3DL2rIZ6BhP7mQ9hhBwyxnOt6VNa3dqvQ1-nNWNE2Wd9TnaHoqPBGcGJgtEUZhm/s1600/Turkish+Islamic+Union+-+Harun+Yahya+Wallpaper.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1AS3_J1RHVPaIKvB_PVcNq1tk6h94A-XSNWEbwEHyyGS_xGj1hLR0nrmKgzAg83dNzl-hpaFznc4SB3DL2rIZ6BhP7mQ9hhBwyxnOt6VNa3dqvQ1-nNWNE2Wd9TnaHoqPBGcGJgtEUZhm/s320/Turkish+Islamic+Union+-+Harun+Yahya+Wallpaper.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />  <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In order to promote TURKISH foreign policy’s interests, he proposes as a guideline the use of intra-and extra-regional balances in order to prevent the formation of a BALKAN coalition. Recognizing the existence of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">three historical fields of influence – the Holy Roman Empire of the GERMAN Nation, the Orthodox-Slavic heritage and the Ottoman Empire, he suggests that the U.S. will choose to support the Islamic factor in the area to prevent the increase of influence of GERMANY or RUSSIA.</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Read related article</span></u></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">: GREATER ALBANIA at </span></b></i></span></div><span style="color: blue;"><i> </i></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/01/greater-albania-united-states-project.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/01/greater-albania-united-states-project.html</a></span></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">TURKEY gains foothold in the BALKANS on the grounds of common history, the presence of approximately 1,000,000 people of TURKISH origin in these countries, the geographical proximity, its growing economic presence and a foreign policy that aims to secure allies in TURKEY’S integration to the EU through the establishment of friendly relations with BALKAN countries. Given the volatile situation in the BALKANS where national fermentations have not been completed, combined with US political disengagement in the region, accompanied with reluctance or failure to foster institutions that will ensure the sustainability of the state to whose creation they contributed, a stabilizing actor is considered essential for the region. Such a role was agreeably taken over by TURKEY. The main target of TURKEY’S BALKAN policy, as shaped by the AKP, is to prove to the EUROPEANS that it has western features. To alleviate fears of establishing a zone of influence in the area, it assures that it wishes the integration of these countries to NATO and the EU. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><i><span style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Read related article: </span></u></b> </span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">TURKEY INVESTING HEAVILY IN BIH at</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></b></span></i></div><i><span style="color: blue;"> </span></i><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/07/bosnia-european-unions-stepchild.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/07/bosnia-european-unions-stepchild.html</a></span></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As Özden Zeynep Oktav aptly notes: “Seen in retrospect, it can be said that TURKISH activism in the BALKANS has always been nourished by the crisis situation in the region. TURKEY started to become active in the region due to the crises in BOSNIA – HERZEGOVINA & KOSOVO. However, the important issue is that during both crises TURKEY has acted within the framework of NATO, the EU and the West in general. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">TURKEYS GEOPOLITICAL TACTICS IN THE BALKANS<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The cornerstone of TURKEY’S BALKAN policy is to secure influence in BOSNIA – HERZEGOVINA, which seems to include three levels: at a local level by encouraging dialogue among peoples constitutionally recognized in the country, at a regional level, with pressure on BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA, SERBIA and CROATIA to develop stronger links between them and thus overcome the conflict, at an international level by undertaking diplomatic initiatives promoting the territorial integrity of the country and its integration to the Euro-Atlantic institutions. President Abdulah Gul’ visit back in October 2009 in Belgrade – the first TURKISH officer’s visit after 29 years- marked the resumption of relations between SERBIA and TURKEY. On the 24<sup>th</sup> of April 2010, the presidents of TURKEY, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA, CROATIA and SERBIA signed the Istanbul Declaration on Peace and Stability in the BALKANS which guarantees the territorial integrity of BOSNIA and commits the signatories to improve cooperation and to ensure mutual commitment to the path towards EUROPEAN integration. (This initiative is part of the rationale for multilateral agreements in the BALKANS in which TURKEY will participate in order to ensure diplomatic footholds). Furthermore, in February 2008 TURKEY recognized KOSOVO’S independence and has committed itself to promote its interests internationally. Finally, TURKEY strongly supports the efforts of “MACEDONIA” -which has been recognized under its constitutional name since 1991- for achieving full membership in NATO and the EU, before finding a solution to the name dispute with Athens. In December 2010, the Ministers of Defence of Turkey and “Macedonia” signed an agreement on economic and military cooperation. At a NATO summit in Chicago (20 – 21 May 2012), although the issue of enlargement of the Alliance was not officially in the agenda, TURKEY did not miss the opportunity to move diplomatically to promote the nominations of FYROM, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, MONTENEGRO and GEORGIA.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Read related article:</span></u></b></i></span></div><span style="color: blue;"><i> </i></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">TURKEY...... EMERGING POWER at</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/09/seismic-shift-in-middle-east.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/09/seismic-shift-in-middle-east.html</a>and</span></i></span></div><span style="color: blue;"><i> </i></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><i><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">NEW EXTREMIST ORGANIZATIONS POSE A THREAT TO STABILITY IN THE REGION?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">At <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/04/the-balkans.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/04/the-balkans.html</a>and</span></i></span></div><span style="color: blue;"><i> </i></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><i><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">EXTREMISTS ESTABLISH FOOTHOLD IN THE BALKANS</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></i></span></div><span style="color: blue;"><i> </i></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/kosovo.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/kosovo.html</a></span></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">  </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">COLLAPSE OF COMMUNIST REGIMES PROMPTED ISLAMIC NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS FROM THE ARAB GULF STATES AND SAUDI ARABIA TO PROMOTE WAHHABISM</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Another important issue that has risen after the collapse of the communist regimes and the consequent lifting of prohibitions related to religious practices, is the redefinition of the role of religion. Islam was used as a differentiating factor to ethnic groups, especially in KOSOVO and MACEDONIA. The traditional elite and the rural populations were reluctant to be identified as Muslims, preferring to highlight their national origin. For instance, the ALBANIAN Muslim community perceives itself as a cultural minority in EUROPE and gradually adopted its own national myth, based on the rejection of the religious divisions among ethnic ALBANIANS. The vacuum created by this regime change provided an opportunity for Islamic Non-Governmental Organizations, closely associated with the ARAB GULF states and SAUDI ARABIA, to promote the extreme version of Islam as proposed by Wahhabism – the religious fundamentalist movement within Islam that advocates the return to the teachings of the basic texts of Islam (Koran, Hadith, Igkma). Given Islam’s radicalization, the prevalence of extreme religious tendencies in the Islamic world, and the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">proven connection of Islamic NGO’s with Al-Qaeda</b>, the U.S. saw TURKEY as a country that </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaQQrGSPw75uoH6GvxXkCaDa0_NEhCWw8dFFLeV8scvG90ZgVkZK_gaJVTZY-obtog5F_dbN-PDhWJ_91MQXvnWKpkSJblZvHzNOCl4OM7boA2IAHx6dp6iiGBNLvFSG681aZCRlgEnLKN/s1600/TIKA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaQQrGSPw75uoH6GvxXkCaDa0_NEhCWw8dFFLeV8scvG90ZgVkZK_gaJVTZY-obtog5F_dbN-PDhWJ_91MQXvnWKpkSJblZvHzNOCl4OM7boA2IAHx6dp6iiGBNLvFSG681aZCRlgEnLKN/s1600/TIKA.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">could act as a counterbalance. It is important to remark that TURKEY was presented as a moderate Islamic actor rather than a secular Islamic state. This verbal change bears more than a simple symbolism. Instead, it emphasizes moderation as a means to secure network communication with the countries where Muslim populations inhabit and alleviate the pressure toward secularism and the imposition of a Western-style democracy. However, despite the initial fear of the radicalization of the BALKANS, the upgrade of the role of religion did not put into question the relationship between religion and the state and the social structures of those countries. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Read related article: </span></u></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">6 PART DOSSIER ON WAHHABISM IN BIH at</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></u></b></i></span></div><span style="color: blue;"><i> </i></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/wahhabism-in-bosnia-herzegovina.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/wahhabism-in-bosnia-herzegovina.html</a>and</span></i></span></div><span style="color: blue;"><i> </i></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/ethnic-rift-key-hindrance-to-bosnias.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/ethnic-rift-key-hindrance-to-bosnias.html</a></span></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">TURKEYS INFLUENTIAL SECRETARIAT FOR RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS (SRA)</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In terms of TURKISH penetration in the BALKANS with Islam as a starting point, AKP’s government uses the TURKISH INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT AGENCY (TIKA) and the Secretariat for Religious Affairs, while government involvement is recorded in religious and parastatal organizations in the region. TIKA was an organization founded during Turgut Ozal’s presidency as a means of an active foreign policy within the concept of TURKOISLAMIC synthesis. TIKA as an international relief agency can act only in States which are officially classified as “developing”. Therefore, the actions have been limited to the Western Balkans and could not penetrate in GREECE and BULGARIA. TIKA takes up symbolic actions such as rebuilding mosques or programs such as assisting in rural development and providing health care. Rebuilding mosques is considered important in order to raise the morale of the Muslim communities. Also, it takes a symbolic character of the restoration and rehabilitation of the Ottoman heritage and a reaffirmation of the role of TURKEY as a protector of Muslims in the region. The Secretariat for Religious Affairs is under the Prime Minister’s Office and is therefore independent of the Foreign Ministry and its action goes beyond the limits imposed by traditional diplomacy, thus allowing it to work with Islamic organizations. Since 1995, it organizes the “EUROPEAN Islamic Council”, in which participants are the heads of the Islamic directorates from 38 countries (Central ASIA and the BALKANS). Since 2007, the Presidency of the Council decided to hold an annual meeting of the Heads of the BALKAN Muslim communities. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEdRPowmtd0oC2-EKFaCecFr4V0lq7KGJ_j1h2HnJHsl9ENOYGtB6Kah-0H0k0juoEIGCOugDl0VpsbuhgIhYVDwmzMumWFXVc6IyNb-r8EbsA1BFAloAIo0fm3NL1CnI6hW8UGyia5Wt0/s1600/resize.aspx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEdRPowmtd0oC2-EKFaCecFr4V0lq7KGJ_j1h2HnJHsl9ENOYGtB6Kah-0H0k0juoEIGCOugDl0VpsbuhgIhYVDwmzMumWFXVc6IyNb-r8EbsA1BFAloAIo0fm3NL1CnI6hW8UGyia5Wt0/s400/resize.aspx.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">President Abdullah Gül received Bosnia and Herzegovina's  Reis-ul-Ulema (Grand Mufti), Hussein Kavazovic, and his accompanying  delegation at the Çankaya Presidential Palace. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table></span><strong></strong></div><span style="color: #990000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></b></span><br /><span style="color: #990000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: red;">Read related article on Husein Effendi Kavazovic at: </span></span></b></span><br /><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/03/bosnias-dangerous-tango.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/03/bosnias-dangerous-tango.html </a><br />and<br /><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">INFLUENTIAL ISLAMIC COMMUNITY IN BOSNIA</span></b></span></span></span><br /><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/ethnic-rift-key-hindrance-to-bosnias.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/ethnic-rift-key-hindrance-to-bosnias.html</a><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">SRA’S RESPONSIBILITY AND INFLUENCE GOES BEYOND THE TRADITIONAL ADMINISTRATIVE BORDERS WITHIN THE NATIONAL TERRITORY</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLm2s8e0ybn-psy19iaRLLUY38iRYfosbXLL3gnQGehXQHGsjANY0fabLONcUzWYOVcGFeVsCCqg985XKAIcoWfwBAhoPvZzInhs0KqQxqIUrzG9Wo88TzuzxA8qjMvBsowL_kSGwGcsUe/s1600/erdogan-gulen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLm2s8e0ybn-psy19iaRLLUY38iRYfosbXLL3gnQGehXQHGsjANY0fabLONcUzWYOVcGFeVsCCqg985XKAIcoWfwBAhoPvZzInhs0KqQxqIUrzG9Wo88TzuzxA8qjMvBsowL_kSGwGcsUe/s320/erdogan-gulen.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h1 class="title entry-title" itemprop="name"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The AKP<span style="font-size: x-small;"> and the G<span style="font-size: x-small;">ulen Movement </span></span></span></span></h1></td></tr></tbody></table></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Secretariat was also established after an Ozal’s initiative to restore the faith to traditional Islam. Its responsibilities include the appointment of imams, the payment of their salaries, the organization of religious activities; it acts as the highest religious authority in matters of doctrine and faith. After the 1980 coup, it began to assume responsibilities that went beyond the traditional administrative borders within the national territory and began to operate in countries where there were TURKISH immigrants. Parastatal organizations acting in accordance with the TURKISH government also play an important role, acting through networks that are difficult to detect and control. The most outstanding example of all is Gulen’s Movement, (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%BClen_movement">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%BClen_movement</a>) which has founded a significant number of colleges and universities in the BALKANS (indicatively, the University of Burch in Sarajevo and the Epoca University in Tirana). Also, the reconstitution re-recorded and re-Islamic brotherhoods adjacent to the tradition of Naksibendi.(</span> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naqshbandi">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naqshbandi</a>)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">TURKEYS STRATEGIC INVESTMENT IN THE BALKANS</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">With regard to the economic promotion of TURKEY in the region, we see investment in strategic sectors such as Tele-communications, infrastructure and banking sectors. Regarding trade relations between TURKEY and the BALKAN countries, a 6.7% of the total export product of the country is directed to them. The further expansion of TURKISH exports is stalled by the law quality of its products, the transparency of the trade process and the working conditions. Analysts foresee the possibility of a further penetration of TURKISH products if the economic crises continues, causing GERMAN and FRENCH companies, AUSTRIAN and ITALIAN banks to withdraw from the area and GREEK investments to decline.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Read related article:</span></u></b></span></i></div><i><span style="color: blue;"> </span></i><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">WESTERN ARROGANCE AND IGNORANCE LED TO UNDERESTIMATE TURKEY at </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/09/turkeys-middle-east-chess-game.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/09/turkeys-middle-east-chess-game.html</a></span></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #134f5c;">EU BALKAN POLICIES FOSTER TURKISH KEY - LEADER POSITION IN THE BALKANS</span> </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9aVizNp5CvyTYVqw-g5O496ZzWAQiDRQ-fQZjTTZTc4KM5YMa1ERBanzbhupUsr0i3rPajsNo-14IU0pgpo0LSECanhEAI26pj6mGL-QucmIFKtOiOrkxAogiMcXLN2frqsVodnttfElu/s1600/european_union.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9aVizNp5CvyTYVqw-g5O496ZzWAQiDRQ-fQZjTTZTc4KM5YMa1ERBanzbhupUsr0i3rPajsNo-14IU0pgpo0LSECanhEAI26pj6mGL-QucmIFKtOiOrkxAogiMcXLN2frqsVodnttfElu/s320/european_union.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Since TURKEY’S integration process to the EU delays, it seems no longer willing to abandon a multifaceted field of action in order to join the lengthy and collaborative processes of EU. Nonetheless, the integration of friendly-allied countries in EU can provide support to the TURKISH integration’s efforts. For TURKEY, to exert political influence in the grade that it will secure regional domination, a mix of continuous economic crisis and a long-term blockade of the BALKAN countries from the EU are considered to be the only two factors that will allow such a development. Brussels’ declining leverage has in turn opened opportunity for other players such as TURKEY, RUSSIA and CHINA to fill in the gaps.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: blue;"><i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Read related article:</span></u></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">at <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">DOES TURKEY REALLY NEED THE EU?</b> <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/06/does-turkey-really-need-eu.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/06/does-turkey-really-need-eu.html</a>and</span></i></span></div><span style="color: blue;"><i> </i></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/11/turkeys-interest-in-eu-membership.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/11/turkeys-interest-in-eu-membership.html</a></span></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By Liountri Christianna</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #990000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">More articles related to TURKEY</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">: </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/turkey-iran-great-silk-gold-road.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/turkey-iran-great-silk-gold-road.html</a></div><span style="color: blue;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/12/for-turkey-as-model-in-middle-east.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/12/for-turkey-as-model-in-middle-east.html</a></div><span style="color: blue;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; 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TURKEY’S BALKAN POLICY UNDER AKP

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Surgeon’s suit over criticism posted online by patient’s husband is part of wave of such claims - Metro - The Boston Globe

5:20 PM Tukiyooo 0

<base href="data:"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">During Lyn Votour's struggle against bone cancer and a cascade of complications, her husband slept with her in the intensive care unit for nine weeks. Back home in Central Massachusetts, he changed her bandages, replaced her feeding tube, and shielded her from debt collectors.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">And as she lay dying on the hospital bed in their living room, he snuggled beside her, holding her hand.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">They had been married 26 years, and his wife's death at age 46 overpowered Gary Votour with doubt and rage. He was furious at himself for allowing her to have surgery, during which she had a stroke, at friends who didn't visit, and at his wife's neurosurgeon.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Believing that airing his concerns would help him heal, Votour requested a meeting with the surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital. When the surgeon turned him down, Votour's psychiatrist urged him to write her an "open letter'' online, detailing his concerns about his wife's medical care.</p><p id="skip-target" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">He got a response, just not the one he had hoped for.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Last month, the surgeon, Dr. Sagun Tuli, sued Votour and the owner of the website for defamation in Middlesex Superior Court, demanding $100,000 for the damage she said the blog post had done to her career. Her lawyer, David Rich of Boston, said Votour's blog popped up on the first page of Google search results for Tuli, who now works at MetroWest Medical Center in Framingham. Votour has since removed the blog post.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">"It's difficult to believe we have a legal system that allows people to be sued for expressing their grief,'' Votour said in an interview.</p><div class="figure" style="margin: 0.5em -79px 2em 23px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; clear: right; float: right; width: 352px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkYchnHOSaSsT4y_BHY1Pu0dKXaeGLqEuJuLL6a3eiHEamN9Kw7A5W1600KH-M4EDneC2x49GCWZq3aA83U1apctU5HhUXcmc0CkhJwVagJiNOYYr6CfCVePWl_AhuIqr0U7_O0kSRGYo/s1600/handout_Votour_hs-711269.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5867975065463750674" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkYchnHOSaSsT4y_BHY1Pu0dKXaeGLqEuJuLL6a3eiHEamN9Kw7A5W1600KH-M4EDneC2x49GCWZq3aA83U1apctU5HhUXcmc0CkhJwVagJiNOYYr6CfCVePWl_AhuIqr0U7_O0kSRGYo/s320/handout_Votour_hs-711269.jpg" /></a><div class="figcaption" style="margin: 0px 0px 0.2em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 0.75em; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; list-style: none; line-height: 1.58333333; font-weight: bold; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><p class="credit" style="margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 10px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; list-style: none; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0.05em; text-align: right; text-transform: uppercase; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; list-style: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Lyn Votour was diagnosed with a rare bone cancer after an accident in 2005.</p></div></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Tuli's lawsuit is part of a gathering wave of claims brought by doctors against former patients, and sometimes their relatives, over negative ratings and reviews they have posted on the Internet, lawyers say.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Not only have personal blogs proliferated, but consumer sites such as Yelp and Angie's List allow patients to rate and comment on their physicians. These sites are viewed by thousands of people who increasingly rely on them to choose doctors.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">David Ardia, codirector of the Center for Media Law and Policy at the University of North Carolina, said the Internet "has realigned the power structure that existed between doctors and patients,'' giving patients far more influence than they have ever had. "The Web is just chock-full of people commenting on their experiences. Doctors have reacted with a great deal of hostility toward this.''</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">A quick perusal of Yelp reveals the kind of comments that are riling doctors. "Fast, Central, Misguided," said one comment about a Copley Square practice. "Decent for your quickfixmedtricks but leaves a bit to be desired in taking the time to truly understand the ailment."</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Wrote another commenter about a Fenway office: "I feel much more like a number than a human being there."</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">The Digital Media Project at Harvard University tracks lawsuits filed against patients and others for online comments. Its website includes seven such cases filed over the past five years or so, though it's not a comprehensive list. In some, patients took down their negative comments. In others, judges dismissed the suit, ruling that patients' comments were protected under the First Amendment guarantee of free speech.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">In one 2011 case, Dr. Aaron Filler, a neurosurgeon, sued a former patient in a Los Angeles court for posting negative comments about him on rating sites such as <a href="http://RateMDs.com">RateMDs.com</a>, including that he posed an unusually high risk of death to patients. A judge dismissed Filler's suit, deciding that the patient was exercising free speech on a public issue, and ordered the doctor to pay $50,000 in legal fees.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Doctors feel they are at a disadvantage in responding to negative reviews because medical privacy laws forbid them from discussing a patient's care in public — a limitation that hotels, restaurants, and other often-rated businesses and professionals don't face. They also worry that their explanations could be used against them in a malpractice suit — although a new Massachusetts law protects doctors' apologies.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Dr. Richard Aghababian, president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, believes rating websites present a skewed picture of doctors because patients are more likely to post about negative experiences — even though they may be rare. "For surgeons, their reputation is very important," he said. "We don't want to discourage them from taking on really tough cases because they don't want to ruin their ratings.''</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Companies have cropped up to help doctors fight back. <a href="http://PhysiciansReputationDefender.com">PhysiciansReputationDefender.com</a> specializes in disputing negative online ratings. <a href="http://MedicalJustice.com">MedicalJustice.com</a> gathers reviews from a doctor's patients and posts them on the Internet.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Ultimately, some doctors file lawsuits to try to protect their names, despite what Ardia calls "the reputational cost'' of going to court, a step that often brings even more attention to the negative review.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">While the rating sites are generally immune from libel claims, said Sandra Baron, executive director of the Media Law Resource Center in New York, individuals who post comments are not. In general for a doctor to win such a suit, she said, the statements made by the patient have to be shown to be false and to have hurt the doctor's reputation.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Most lawsuits filed by doctors against patients or their families arise from a soured relationship, and that certainly seems true for the Votours and Tuli.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">In March 2005, Lyn Votour was driving to her job counseling troubled youth when her car skidded on black ice and crashed. An ambulance rushed her to a local hospital, and tests on her neck eventually discovered a rare bone cancer unrelated to the accident.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">An oncologist at Brigham referred her to Tuli to have some of her vertebrae removed, a complicated and rare operation. During a second surgery, Votour suffered a stroke that paralyzed the left side of her body.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">The Votours and Tuli seemed to work well together at first. Tuli, for example, supported allowing Gary Votour to sleep in the ICU for an extended period, an unusual practice.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">But after Lyn Votour was discharged to Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, the couple's relationship with Tuli deteriorated, according to Gary Votour. His wife was eventually discharged to the couple's home in Barre in July 2006 with a feeding tube and a breathing tube.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">More than two years later, depressed and in pain, she asked her husband to remove her feeding tube, he said. Soon she stopped talking, he wrote on the blog, except for "one brief lucid moment when she thanked me for letting her go and made me promise to move on with my life and try to find happiness again.'' She died days later, in October 2008.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">"I was not doing well with grief,'' he said in an interview. "I wanted to go back and talk to Dr. Tuli about some questions that were bothering me. I really wanted to ask her why don't doctors follow up after discharge. I wanted to understand why doctors just wash their hands after discharge.''</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Votour contacted a patient advocate at the Brigham, who said she would arrange a meeting. But the advocate called back and said Tuli had declined to meet, Votour said.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Rich, her attorney, said a Brigham lawyer told Tuli not to meet with Votour.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">A hospital spokeswoman, Erin McDonough, said in a written statement that a log kept by the patient advocate "documents that Dr. Tuli indicated that she was not comfortable meeting with Mr. Votour. . . . The hospital's records clearly indicate it was her decision.'' The hospital lawyer said she never spoke to Tuli about Votour's request, McDonough said.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Frustrated, Votour put up his blog in March 2010 and e-mailed a link to Tuli and other Brigham staff who had cared for his wife.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">In his post, Votour criticized Tuli for not visiting his wife at Spaulding, according to a copy of the blog included in the lawsuit. He wrote that the surgeon called their home once after her discharge but did not offer to help coordinate her care, and that Spaulding doctors and others urged him to file a lawsuit against Tuli. At another point, he said he lost his wife "not to cancer but to indifference and egotism.''</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">In the lawsuit, Tuli said these statements are false and defamatory. In written comments, Rich said that patient privacy laws prevent Tuli from discussing the reasons for the stroke, but according to the blog, she told the Votours it was caused by a preexisting tear in the heart.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Rich wrote that Votour completely misunderstood how discharge planning works at large hospitals. Tuli, Rich said, did not have privileges to treat his wife at another hospital and they lived too far away for her to provide follow-up care.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Rich said Tuli was surprised by the blog, because Votour had previously written e-mails complimenting her care of his wife. After Lyn Votour's stroke, Tuli "spent 12 hours with Votour and was completely responsive and sympathetic,'' Rich said.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Tuli, who won a $1.6 million jury award against the Brigham and the chief of neurosurgery in 2009 for gender discrimination, left the hospital in 2011.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Rich called the lawsuit a last resort — lawyers for Tuli initially asked Gary Votour to take down his blog in 2010. Votour took down the blog in February. He said his client hopes to "work out some amicable solution.'' But she wants Votour to sign an agreement not to write about her again — something he has refused to do.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">People have expressed concern to Tuli about what they read on Votour's blog, Rich said, and some have certainly been dissuaded from seeking her out as a surgeon. "If you are thinking of hiring someone or working with someone, the first thing you do is Google her name,'' he said.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">In the end, Ardia said, doctors will not find satisfaction through the courts, but by using the Internet to their advantage — encouraging happy patients to write online reviews and trying to address the concerns of those who are not. "The ultimate solution is engagement and realizing that not every patient is going to be happy.''</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.125em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; position: static; z-index: auto; ">Votour, who still owes $25,000 to credit card companies for expenses related to his wife's care, has moved to Columbia, S.C., where he earned a master's degree in hospital administration. He now works as a patient advocacy consultant. He named his company Fierce Advocacy.</p></div><a href="http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2013/03/30/surgeon-suit-over-criticism-posted-online-patient-husband-part-wave-such-claims/TLAp5DOMpZISPevfLL6B1I/story.html">http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2013/03/30/surgeon-suit-over-criticism-posted-online-patient-husband-part-wave-such-claims/TLAp5DOMpZISPevfLL6B1I/story.html</a><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div>

Surgeon’s suit over criticism posted online by patient’s husband is part of wave of such claims - Metro - The Boston Globe

During Lyn Votour's struggle against bone cancer and a cascade of complications, her husband slept with her in the intensive care unit f...

X-ray Senior Systems Engineer ( X-ray metrology platforms | optics | subsystems |integration)(# 109309)

2:07 PM Anonymous 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="WordSection1"><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Job Title:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> X-ray Senior Systems Engineer<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Location:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> Milpitas, CA<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Duration:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> Fulltime<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Job Description:<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Responsibilities:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">The mission of Advanced Development group is to propose and demonstrate next-generation differentiated technologies for semiconductor device and thin film metrology. The X-ray   Sr Systems Engineer will be responsible for investigating X-ray metrology platforms, designing and analyzing hardware architectures, working on development and tests of prototype tools, and leading other scientists and engineers. This is a senior technical   position that would provide an opportunity to define the system architecture and combine an individual contributor and a technical leader roles.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Preferred Experience, Skills and Education:<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Required skills:<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">1.Expert-level systems knowledge of X-ray analytical technologies such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), small-angle and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS   and WAXS), X-ray reflectivity (XRR), X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy (XPS)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">2.Expert-level knowledge of key components and subsystems: sources, optics, detectors, and integration<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">3.Working knowledge of data analysis in X-ray metrology<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">4.Ability to manage external vendors, identify and retire technical risks, and define and communicate schedules.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Desired skills:<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">1.Knowledge of optical metrology techniques for critical dimensions, film thickness, and composition<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">2.Understanding of challenges in semiconductor metrology<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">3.Knowledge of IP development<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Minimum Qualifications:<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">Doctorate (Academic) with at least 5 years of experience.  <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">OR  <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">Master's Level Degree with at least 6 years of experience.  <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">OR  <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">Bachelor's Level Degree with at least 7 years of experience.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Please send in your resumes to vinod.sanker@kla-tencor.com</span></b><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div></div></div>

X-ray Senior Systems Engineer ( X-ray metrology platforms | optics | subsystems |integration)(# 109309)

Job Title: X-ray Senior Systems Engineer Location: Milpitas, CA Duration: Fulltime Job Description: Responsibilities: The mission of Adva...

TURKEY’S BALKAN POLICY UNDER AKP

Surgeon’s suit over criticism posted online by patient’s husband is part of wave of such claims - Metro - The Boston Globe

X-ray Senior Systems Engineer ( X-ray metrology platforms | optics | subsystems |integration)(# 109309)

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