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Babel Series: Politics on the Turkish Wikipedia

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By Mabeenot

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This week, we visited the Turkish Wikipedia for an interview with VikiProje Siyaset (WikiProject Politics). The project began in April 2010 and has sustained a small but enthusiastic group of editors focusing on both the domestic politics of Turkey and international politics. The basics for article quality and importance ratings have been determined, but tracking this data has not yet become widespread on the Turkish Wikipedia. The project maintains a portal, a variety of resources, and a rotating selection of images to spruce up the project's page. We interviewed Cano58.

What motivated you to join WikiProject Politics? Do you focus primarily on Turkish politics or international politics?: Cano58: I'm interested in politics from all times and anywhere. The project was set up by Ahzaryamed and was already running when I got there. However, there was not enough support. I liked the idea of having a project present to cover politics, so I tried to recruit some members. Then I encouraged them to contribute to the encyclopedia. I am interested in both local and international politics.
How does WikiProject Politics keep track of its articles? Does the project tag or assess the quality of articles? Is this standardized across the entire Turkish Wikipedia?: Cano58: We tried to follow the example of other current projects and existing assets from the Turkish Wikipedia projects. Articles on identifications and the church, "solidarity and cooperation in order", and by writing about the places we go. While we have certainly had some success replicating some of the contents of other Wikipedias, the politics project has stagnated recently. We need to continue to develop, update, and support articles about political ideas and/or the basics of Turkish politics. We have some resources to help: 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Have you contributed to the Politics Portal? How important are portals to the Turkish Wikipedia? What can be done to improve the accessibility and usefulness of portals in general?: Cano58: First, the portal is the vein of life of Wikipedia. Portals give to the reader of specific topics a direction, guidance, and support as well as structuring the information. When examining a topic, portals are a door providing access to the good and beautiful. I've made some edits to the Portal. However, thanks to the big contributions of my dear Hetanaheta, the format and order are set. The Portal is almost entirely his work. A special "portal site" should be created to serve as a connection point like the main pages of all Wikipedias. There are certainly issues with portals, but projects that are in operation can show off their finished articles and other results in the content of their portals.
Do you read or edit politics articles in other languages? Has the Turkish Wikipedia benefited from translating material from other languages of Wikipedia? Are there any important articles on the Turkish Wikipedia that are currently neglected by the English Wikipedia?: Cano58: I know mid-level Azerbaijani. For this reason, I do contribute to the Azerbaijani Wikipedia. But my low level of English drives me to improve my English as well and contribute to the content, and I also plan to work to build the English language Wikipedia. I will definitely benefit from translating content. Information can be enriched when learned in other languages. This is Wikipedia's sphericity. English Wikipedia is arguably the most advanced. However, all of the content specific and detailed in Turkey do not have entries in the English language Wikipedia. For example, mountains, villages, towns, lakes, small institutions and organizations, etc...
In general, what role do WikiProjects play in improving articles on the Turkish Wikipedia? How does WikiProject Politics compare to some other WikiProjects you've encountered on the Turkish Wikipedia?: Cano58: They are certainly effective. Wikipedia has an overall focus on co-operation. However, this is overall. When we look at specific subjects like mathematics, literature, geography, technology... there are many issues with the content. General projects are not comprehensive while smaller projects are less extensive but more comprehensive since they are only interested in their topic and do good work with beautiful and efficient results.
What are the project's most urgent needs? What can contributors from the English Wikipedia do to help the Turkish WikiProject Politics? How can Turkish Wikipedians contribute to the English Wikipedia's articles about politics?: Cano58: A simple question. Most articles will be in several languages. The same project (WikiProject Politics) is available in several language editions of Wikipedia. We can improve articles with material from other projects, through interaction between different languages, and with collaborating together (work, plan, layout, etc.).
Is there anything else you would like to add?: Cano58: The most important thing all the time, and let's not forget, is that every subject needs contributors. We are human beings who share the same ideals. It is a global structure. Politics is just one of dozens of subjects covered by Wikipedia. But no subject is more or less important than the other. Politics is a very interesting branch that is important in many different areas and all need work. Wiki-communities enrich the content of politics in all languages and can fulfill a greater potential.