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A family of five died in a downpour yesterday in northwestern province of Tekirdağ. Fatih and Hande Çakır and their three children — Büşra, Berna and Asra — who were reportedly living in a watchman’s hut on a farm, had moved from the eastern province of Erzurum to Tekirdağ for the children’s education.

Tekirdağ resident Ahmet Önal, who helped the family settle down on the farm, was called by Fatih Çakır when the downpour started at 3 a.m. yesterday and was asked to help fight the rising floodwaters. Önal was first to arrive the scene, where the hut the family was living in had been dragged 500 meters away. Önal said he arrived at the farm 10 minutes after Fatih Çakır called him, but he could not approach to the hut due to the floodwater. When search-and-rescue teams arrived at the scene, they found the body of 6-year-old Asra. Later the bodies of Büşra, Berna and their mother Hande were also found. Read more…

Gazprom Eyes Turkish..

Russian natural-gas giant Gazprom is in talks with businessman and former State Minister Cavit Çağlar. The company seeks to acquire Çağlar’s shares in BİS Enerji, a joint-stock company founded in 1992 and headquartered in Bursa.

If these talks do not bear fruit, then the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund, or TMSF, is likely to enter the fray. Cavit Çağlar had turned over his 50-percent stake in Bis Enerji to TMSF back in March. BİS meets the needs of the Bursa Industrial Zone. With its 410 megawatts of power, BİS is the largest plant in the area. The plant’s other partner is Muammer Ağım, the owner of the Metrocity shopping mall in Levent.

According to the agreement signed between Çağlar and TMSF, the businessman will maintain the right to sell his shares in the plant until the end of the year. The money Çağlar obtains from the sale of his shares in BİS Enerji will be used to pay off his debt to TMSF. If Çağlar cannot complete the sale by the end of this year, then TMSF will jump in. Therefore, Çağlar is keeping TMSF abreast of the developments. Read more…

Many of the stops along Istanbul’s Metrobus routes are not disabled-friendly, according to a social rights association that has filed a complaint against the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.

According to a law passed in 2005, all public structures built after that date had to be disabled-friendly, said Süleyman Akbulut, head of the Social Rights and Studies Association, or TOHAD. “We warned the municipality many times and they just ignored us,” he said.

Disabled to file complaint against Metrobus

The 41 kilometer Metrobus line has 32 stops and runs between Avcılar on the European side and Söğütlüçeşme on the Asian side of the city. While it has provided some relief to public transportation with its special Metrobus-only roads, there have been serious criticisms over the buses used. Phileas buses used on the route have been criticized for being too expensive and not strong enough for Istanbul’s population and roads.

Akbulut said the stations at İETT Camp, Küçükçekmece, Şirinevler, Bayrampaşa, Edirnekapı, Ayvansaray, Halıcıoğlu, Perpa, SSK Hospital, Çağlayan, Zincirlikuyu and the four new stations in Kadıköy were not disabled-friendly.

All their warnings to the municipality were dismissed with the reply: “We are on it. Our work is continuing,” said Akbulut. Read more…

Four soldiers were killed in the eastern province of Elazığ on Aug. 17 after a lieutenant gave one of the privates a hand grenade whose pin he had pulled out to punish him for sleeping during his night watch, the Taraf daily claimed yesterday.

The testimony of members of the army obtained by the daily reveal that the four soldiers died when an activated grenade given to them by Lt. Mehmet Tümer exploded. According to the records, Tümer wanted to punish Pvt. İbrahim Öztürk for falling asleep during his night watch. It had previously been claimed that the soldiers were killed when a hand grenade carried by one of the soldiers exploded accidentally as they were patrolling the rural area against the prospect of a terrorist attack by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Four other soldiers were injured in the blast. However, soldiers’ testimonies point to a totally different cause behind the deaths. Read more…

Abdullah Gul

The government has been working on a package for war veterans or the families of members of the security forces killed in the line of duty to show that their pain will not be forgotten as there are efforts to settle the country’s long-lasting Kurdish issue.

The package involves establishing a directorship under the Prime Ministry for veterans and families of security forces killed in the country’s fight against terrorism.

Interior Minister Beşir Atalay, coordinating the government’s recent initiative to settle the Kurdish question, met last week with a number of family members of soldiers who were killed or injured during fights with terrorists. Read more…

The death of well-known Turkish movie and television series director Yücel Çakmaklı, known as Turkey’s “national director” since he led the Turkish National Cinema movement in the 1970s, is being mourned by his friends, colleagues and those who were touched by his work.

Yucel Cakmakli

Stating that his cinema career began thanks to Çakmaklı, who died on Monday at the age of 72, director Mesut Uçakan said he first met Çakmaklı at a cinema club in 1973 and that the late director had a profound impact on him. “It is impossible to forget his friendship. I imagine the pain of losing him will grow worse,” he said.
Uçakan also highlighted that in order to understand Çakmaklı, one needs to look at the situation of cinema when he began working as a director. “In a twisted effort to resemble the cinema of the West, the Turkish cinema industry grew distant from its own values, its national and religious values. There was even a sense of mocking the religion — Islam — and beliefs by creating imam characters with round trimmed beards and whirling eyes who wear black cassocks. Read more…

At nearly 180 years old, the St. Dimitrios Orthodox Church-turned-mosque in Istanbul should be recognized and protected as a cultural asset. The metropolitan municipality is pushing forward with restoration plans, but church officials and architects are criticizing the project because the city wants to turn the site into a mosque again instead of preserve its original use.

A derelict church in Istanbul’s Silivri region will be restored and again put to use as a mosque by the metropolitan municipality, sparking criticism from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and architects.

The St. Dimitrios Church in the village of Ortaköy in Silivri, a district along the Sea of Marmara, was built in 1831. The village was primarily made up of Greek Orthodox residents until the population exchange in the early 1920s, after which Turks from the Balkans settled there. The new residents preserved the cross and the figurines on the church, but converted it to a mosque by constructing a wooden minaret next to the building.

Villagers used the church as a mosque until a new mosque was built, after which the St. Dimitrios Church was abandoned. The wooden minaret collapsed after a while and eventually the abandoned building became a sty and depot. Read more…

VISITORS: Avi Alkaş of Jones Lang Lasalle estimates some 4,000 visitors will visit Sapphire each weekend once the complex opens.

Sapphire Çarşı, a new shopping complex in the Sapphire skyscraper, is expected to become one of the main attractions in Istanbul, rivaling the old city’s historical monuments. The 300-meter building, which is expected to open in February 2010, will also host 180 residences and an upscale rooftop restaurant

A new shopping center focusing on Turkish design, patterns and traditions will open in Istanbul’s Sapphire skyscraper in February.

The mall will consist of some 134 shops in 30,500 square meters of rented retail space next to the metro station in the city’s 4.Levent district.

Nahit Kiler, chairman of Kiler Holding, which owns Sapphire, envisions the complex becoming one of the main attractions in Istanbul. The 300-meter-high building is the highest in Turkey and the second-highest in Europe. Its 236-meter scenic terrace, which will likely host an upscale restaurant and a nightclub, will be the first of its kind in Turkey. The total cost of the building is $250 million, excluding land, and it is being built to withstand earthquakes of at least magnitude 8. Read more…

Mothers Take..

Mothers take Kurdish matter into their own hands

Mothers of fallen soldiers and Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, militants met over the weekend in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır to send a message of peace, saying more bloodshed cannot resolve the Kurdish issue.

The meeting between the Ankara-based Emergency Rule Families of Martyrs and Gazis (veterns) Association and the Mesopotamia Families of Those Lost Support Association was held Saturday at the headquarters of the Southeast Journalists Association. Read more…

YAS

Turkey’s Supreme Military Board, or YAS, meeting started in Ankara on Saturday when the top level officials will discuss the new promotions or expulsions from the army, the state-run Anatolian Agency reported.

Promotion and retirement of the army personnel will be assessed in the meeting which is headed by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. Also the chain of command for the coming years will be shaped in the board’s meeting.
Read more…

Former Turkish diplomat picked to shape NATO’s future

A former Turkish ambassador will be one of the 12 wise men who will help shape NATO’s future role, Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review has learned.

Ümit Pamir, Turkey’s former representative to the military alliance, will work with the group of experts that the secretary-general has tasked with reviewing NATO’s “Strategic Concept,” which is the official document that outlines NATO’s enduring purpose and its fundamental security missions

Read more…

Iran's incentives draw Turkish investors

Neighboring Iran is slowly but surely opening up to the world

, welcoming foreign investors with attractive incentives. Many Turkish companies are rediscovering Iran’s low costs and tax advantages, but some businesspeople fear the situation could develop into a transfer of investments from Turkey to Iran

Vehicles with Turkish license plates, people speaking Turkish and investment zones and incentives being created solely for Turks are just a few of the signs indicating that Iran is drawing closer to its northwestern neighbor.

Read more…

The final turn in government’s Kurdish opening

As the government mulls a solution to the Kurdish issue, the pro-Kurdish political party says the imprisoned leader of the PKK needs to be heard and regard for constitutional guarantees and a general amnesty are essential.

Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, is expected to announce a “road map” in mid-August that offers short- and medium-term recommendations on resolving the Kurdish issue. Speculation abounds that the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, government will preempt the Kurdish leader with its own plan. Read more…