ETIQUETTE RULES FOR WHEN THE TURKISH ARMY SHOOTS

AT YOU BY MISTAKE** Then offers you tea at their barracks to apologise

Webit.bg Sofia 19/04/16

Once upon a time there was a makeshift country called Syria…◦ Forcefully carved out of the Ottoman

Empire after the Great War to give Britain and France equivalent areas of influence in the region. Imperial Russia would get Istanbul and control the Bosphorus Straits

◦ This secret partition deal (the Sykes-Picot Agreement) fueled a major “WikiLeaks” style scandal when the Bolsheviks shared the document with the UK press after taking over their country in 1917

◦ For almost 100 years Syria had nonetheless a (relatively) tolerant, multicultural, educated and wealthy population

◦ It started to become an ex-country in 2011 when the first shots were fired in Daraa…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sykes-Picot_Agreement

… it looks like this bloody mess now◦ A severe drought between 2006-11 had

killed 85% of all livestock, driving millions of farmers into the already overcrowded cities

◦ Syria is currently a patchwork of ever-shifting control areas disputed by:◦ Assad Regime (<60% of the population)◦ Daesh = Islamic State = ISIS◦ Al Nusra = Al Qaeda◦ Syrian, Turkish and Iraqi Kurds◦ Several Syrian rebel groups (FSA, etc.)◦ Iranian masters and Afghan slaves◦ Mercenaries from Russia, Serbia and ???◦ Assorted brainwashed nutcases with guns

◦ Climate change + century-old problem = good luck finding a permanent solution

syria.liveuamap.com/en

www.unilad.co.uk/articles/this-cartoon-succinctly-explains-the-background-to-the-syrian-conflict/

Theoretical Equivalent: U.S. caseSyria (21.5 million people in 2011)

◦ 250’000 killed◦ 10’500’000 displaced◦ 500’000 crossed into EU◦ 80’000 just in the Zaatari camp near

Amman, Jordan

5’000’000 Syrian refugees in total

Only 3.6% of the current Syrian refugee population has been resettled worldwide in the last five years;95%+ still live in only five countries in the immediate vicinity: Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt

U.S. (322 million people, 15x larger)

◦ 3’750’000 killed (US military deaths in World War II = 400’000)

◦ 157’500’000 displaced◦ 7’500’000 crossing into… Canada?◦ 1’200’000 in one camp near... Ottawa?

75’000’000 U.S. “equivalent” refugees

www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/02/syrias-refugee-crisis-in-numbers/

“Refugee for a Week” Route

Lesvos, Greece

ISIS here…

Russian Bases**

NATO Base*

Kilis Border with Free Syrian Army

(semi-open)

Yayladagi Border with Assad

Regime (closed)

Russian jet fighter shot down here…

www.linkedin.com/pulse/my-week-refugee-crossing-turkey-overland-from-syrian-border-garcia

* NATO Incirlik Air Base + “guest” Saudi F-15 jet fighters ** Russian Latakia Air Base + Tartus Navy Base “Bullets and

Tea” Incident

Al Qaeda here…

The “Bullets and Tea” Incident

Restaurant (Parking)

Russian Bases

NATO Base

Tea time at the concealed

military base (no biscuits)

Cevlik tourist resort (longest Turkish beach)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5903/

Entrance to UNESCO site

Soldiers in unmarked

bunker

My location when they

opened fire

Titus Tunnel – UNESCO Candidate Site

Surrender Location

World Governments pledging to UNHCR◦ On 30/03/16 a high-level UN meeting about

sharing responsibility for this unprecedented refugee crisis took place in Geneva

◦ The goal was to help more of Syria’s refugees through resettlement and other pathways such as family reunification programmes, student visas and medical evacuation.

◦ After five years, the world’s states have pledged to admit only around 180’000 refugees from Syria, a figure that is pitifully low

◦ It increasingly looks like refugees - Syrian and otherwise - will remain in the limbo of camps and similarly precarious housing until (if…) countries significantly accelerate their admission process

www.unhcr.org/pages/5694d22b6.html

How Technology Can Help◦ Technology can help in several ways to bridge this extreme case

of Digital Divide, particularly by providing free or at least heavily subsidised wireless online access and battery charging kits to:◦ Better communicate and co-ordinate camp activities ◦ Find online work (e.g. data processing), receiving payment

with innovative refugee-friendly platforms such as MONI.com◦ Online job fairs to support the creation of work visas for those

with skills in demand elsewhere in the world (IT, farms, etc.)◦ Remote education classes for those less skilled (to bridge their

knowledge gap), but above all schooling for refugee children so that they don’t get role models from terrorist groups instead

◦ Initiatives such as techfugees.com (originated during the last Davos WEF) are vastly improving the efficiency of the path from idea to field deployment and should be fully supported by those willing to volunteer and/or donate

https://hackpad.com/Tech-Projects-For-Refugees-hL0DFzrTNAqMaslow Pyramid v2.0

WiFi should be both simple and free

Don’t leave your camp without it

Zaatari Camp: Today

250 metres

eZaatari Camp: Tomorrow?

250 metres

Reconnecting our Forgotten Souls◦ Data access via the GSM network is clearly unrealistic for the

vast majority living far below the poverty line (86% < $1.7/day)

◦ Free wireless access of sufficient quality should be provided in camps and other areas with a high density of refugees - such as those in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt (the “big 5”)

◦ We propose to start with older generation WiFi infrastructure equipment donated by telecom operators after replacing their platforms with the latest upgrades (hotspots, routers, AAA, etc.)

◦ “Ruggedised” kit-based WiFi routers specifically built for tough environments such as refugee camps are currently being developed; those should be backed and financed accordingly

◦ Justifiable security concerns with the misuse of this infrastructure for criminal activities must be addressed with the relevant authorities and monitored accordingly

Etiquette Rules for when the Turkish Army shoots at you by mistake…1. Don’t make any sudden movements as they could be perceived as threatening2. Do keep all suspicious looking objects (e.g. phones, chargers) away from you 3. Don’t run away or you’ll be considered guilty by default and swiftly “neutralised”4. Do surrender following military protocol: your whole body in the soldier’s line of sight, on your knees, hands up with all fingers fully visible rather than on the back of your head (could be hiding a weapon)5. Don’t expect them to speak or understand a single word in English*

6. Do realise that they are mostly 18+ year old conscripts trying to do the hard job of defending a military base near a war zone7. Don’t forget that they’re probably more nervous than you with the possibility of executing an innocent person and being court-martialled 8. Do show them all the documents they require (but no more) and fully cooperate9. Don’t expect the tea to be particularly well brewed or to come with biscuits 10. Do use effective deodorant as your arms will be up for quite a long time

* Using Siri is quite tricky with a rifle pointed at your head and it’s rather challenging to type on Google Translate with both your hands up

HOW CAN YOU HELP?*

* and of course thank you for listening

Webit.bg Sofia 19/04/16

Where to learn more and engage◦ The usual suspects: keeping refugees alive with (some) dignity◦ UNHCR - www.unhcr.org◦ UNICEF - www.unicef.org◦ Amnesty International - www.amnesty.org◦ International Consortium of Voluntary Agencies - icvanetwork.org/forced-

displacement

◦ New kids on the block: Refugee Tech taking them beyond just survival◦ Techfugees - Techfugees.com◦ StartupAid - Startupaid.io◦ MONI- moni.com

Further contact:Marcelo Garcia - info@tokamak.chwww.linkedin.com/in/marcelogarcia