Despite its much-vaunted “zero problems with neighbors” policy, Turkey’s relations with neighboring countries showed a decrease in 2010 compared to the previous three years, according to the 2010 Global Peace Index released Tuesday by the Institute for Economics and Peace.

The failure of the initiative came as no surprise to Haldun Solmaztürk, the chair of the U.S. desk at the Turkish Center for International Relations and Strategic Analysis, or TÜRKSAM. “It is a good policy in principle, but it is not applied properly,” Solmaztürk said. “This is mainly due to a weak background and lack of vision of the leaders who try to drive such a policy, which creates an open-ended process where everyone is constantly waiting for something to happen.”

The world has become less peaceful in 2010, according to the latest Global Peace Index, which attempts to measure the relative position of nations’ and regions’ peacefulness. The report, released Tuesday, reflects a less peaceful world in 2010, where violence impacts the global economy by $7 trillion annually.

He added that “zero problems with neighbors” would be difficult to successfully attain in any event, as it sometimes – as with closer ties to Syria and Iran – represents interests that conflict with Turkey’s “long history of good relations with Western countries.” Reversing such a long-lasting trend, he said, would confuse the country’s foreign policy even more.

The Australia-based peace institute ranked Turkey 126th out of 149 countries on its 2010 Global Peace Index, which looked at internal and external factors such as conflicts, military capacity, respect for human rights and relations with neighboring countries. It is the fourth year the report has been compiled.

The index gave low grades to Turkey in terms of its level of organized internal conflict and its military capacity, which both remain high. The level of internal conflict, however, showed a small improvement this year compared to 2009.

The high level of internal conflict is normal, according to Serhat Erkmen, the chair of the International Relations Department at Ahi Evran University, who said Turkey is dealing with one of the most violent terrorist organizations in the region, referring to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.

PKK attacks had decreased before 2005, but ramped up again when the group’s leader, Abdullah Öcalan, was captured, said Murat Bilhan, the head of the Foreign Policy Platform at Istanbul Kültür University.

According to Solmaztürk, various governments have delayed addressing the Kurdish problem and left the issue to Turkish military forces to resolve. “Not only current but also previous governments could not define this problem,” he said.

Experts also believe it is normal for Turkey to have higher rates of military capacity due to its geographic position in a conflict-rich region. Still, Bilhan said, the Turkish military is not as sophisticated as it should be, adding that it should increase research and development while decreasing its current unnecessary spending.

In addition, military capacity does not necessarily show how violent or peaceful a country is, Erkmen said, noting that the Turkish military is active in many peace missions and does not use its military power as a threat to external or internal actors. Solmaztürk agreed that how military power is used is more important than its capacity.

Though the level of respect for human rights in Turkey is relatively high, the report said, it showed a decrease compared to last year, something Solmaztürk attributed to the lack of a sincere political will to address the issue.

“Unless political leaders embrace such principles themselves, their urging for respect of human rights and the relevant documents signed by them will be useless,” he said.

Erkmen said he had observed an improvement in Turkey’s human-rights performance this year, but that more efforts need to be made, citing Turkey’s bad grades on this subject in other international reports.

Intolerance and disrespect for human rights is common within state institutions, political actors and the wider society, according to Bilhan, who is also the vice president of the Turkish Asian Center for Strategic Studies, or TASAM. Given Turkey’s current intolerant atmosphere, he said, the country’s ranking on the Global Peace Index was rather high.

“Gender, ethnic, religious and other discriminations are so common in society that people openly say in surveys that they do not want Jews or gypsies as neighbors,” Bilhan said, adding that this problem is not caused by laws but by a lack of education. The current government has made some improvements to the laws on human rights, but they are not totally reflected in society, where the level of prejudice is still high, he said.

Data used to compile the report also showed an increase in the level of perceived criminality in society over the past four years, potentially reflecting a lack of trust in courts and police. “Turks do not trust the police and gendarmerie,” Solmaztürk said. “They also do not trust the judiciary, believing justice will not be served there.”

Origin: HurriyetDailyNews.com

Israel Attacks aid convoy..

Israeli naval commandos brutally attacked an international aid convoy intending to bring humanitarian supplies to the long-besieged Gaza city and killed more than a dozen civilians while the convoy was sailing on international waters.

Early Monday morning, as it has threatened several times as the aid flotilla set sail for Gaza, Israel intercepted the convoy of vessels carrying hundreds of activists from around the world and some 10,000 tones of humanitarian aid, possibly causing an irreversible damage to Turkish-Israeli relations, foreign ministry said in a statement released a few hours after the attack.

International community has earlier warned Israel not to engage in an offensive on civilian vessels full of peaceful activists whose aim is to break the three-year-old economic blockade on Gaza which has severely plagued its people.

Hundreds of thousands of protesters gathered in front of the Israeli consulate in İstanbul to show reaction against the violent intervention. Thousands of Gazans who were expecting a helping hand from committed civilians but later learned of the attack also gathered at the port of Gaza, carrying Palestinian flags and banners read “End to Israeli persecution.”

Hrant Dink

The defendants in the Hrant Dink murder trial had connections to six suspects in the ongoing Ergenekon coup plot case, news agencies reported Monday.

In a statement sent by Istanbul police for Monday’s hearing of the Dink trial, authorities said infamous Ergenekon suspects Veli Küçük, Kemal Kerinçsiz, Mustafa Levent Göktaş, Muzaffer Tekin and Erbay Çolakoğlu spoke on the phone to the suspects in Dink’s murder. Dink was a Turkish journalist of Armenian origin.

Küçük and Kerinçsiz were closely linked to a case in which Dink was tried for insulting Turkishness in one of his articles; before his death, the journalist said he had felt threatened by the pair’s presence at the hearings.

Alleged members of the suspected Ergenekon gang are accused of plotting to overthrow Turkey’s government by sowing chaos in society.

Dink’s friends ask for justice

Prior to the start of Monday’s 13th hearing at the Beşiktaş courthouse, friends of the murdered journalist gathered to issue another demand for justice in the long-running case.

Dink was gunned down in broad daylight on Jan. 19, 2007, in front of the offices of his bilingual daily, Agos.

Roughly 200 people gathered Monday in Beşiktaş and held posters saying “For Hrant for Justice,” in Turkish and Armenian. Dink’s wife, Rakel Dink, and his brother, Hosrof Dink, were also present on Monday.

“This case has been taking place for three-and-a-half years now, and we will be here as long as it takes,” said Tülin Özen, reading a press statement on behalf of Dink’s friends.

“Those who protest the public officials involved in Dink’s murder, should know that the number of people who ask for justice will increase in this country,” she said.

Özen said the state could help serve justice by bringing to light the damaged video recordings of security cameras around the crime scene.

“The Internet café the murderer entered turned out to be related to a security company – they can investigate that,” she said. “They can investigate who encouraged the security forces in Samsun that took pictures with the murderer smiling following the killing.”

She also said a special prosecutor for the case should be nominated. “The state officials said ‘this case is an honor case’ at the beginning. We call them to protect their honor.”

The families of others killed in political assassinations were also present to support the Dink family and watch the trial. The families included murdered journalist Uğur Mumcu’s son and daughter, Özgür and Özge Mumcu, murdered Public Prosecutor Doğan Öz’s wife, Sezen Öz, as well as murdered journalist Metin Göktepe’s mother, Fadime Göktepe.

Deniz Baykal

After four decades of involvement in Turkish politics, Deniz Baykal’s career comes to an apparent end as he resigns amid an uproar of criticism for his alleged appearance with a female staffer on a clandestinely recorded video. The CHP leader says it’s a conspiracy and he is not done fighting the claims.

Breaking a three-day silence in the wake of a sex tape that has riveted the nation, Turkey’s main opposition leader Deniz Baykal exited the political stage Monday, announcing his resignation at an Ankara press conference.

After a meeting with his senior party members at the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, headquarters in Ankara, CHP leader Baykal announced his resignation in a dramatic speech, saying he is the victim of a conspiracy and blamed the government for the plot but did not give any names.

“Such private images cannot be taped and such a plot can’t be realized without the knowledge of the government,” Baykal said. “So-called well-intentioned statements from the government can’t conceal this crime. Those who criticize the plot are the real initiators,” Baykal said.

“This violates human rights that are respected by all political regimes and all religions. It was not organized for economic benefit, but for political reasons. The plot targets not an individual, but the CHP’s struggle for democracy,” Baykal said. “If necessary, I am ready to bear responsibility.”

Emphasis on Fethullah Gülen 

Referring to Fethullah Gülen, leader of a religious movement, Baykal also said he received messages of sorrow and support from Pennsylvania – where Gülen currently resides – and that he believed the sincerity of the messages sent from the United States.

Baykal’s remarks have been deemed a response to those who claimed that Gülen or some of his followers were behind the sex tape. 

Noting that it was not a coincidence that the tape was released amid debates over constitutional reform, the CHP leader also said he would never surrender to the organizers of the plot and that his resignation should not be considered a defeat.

“My resignation does not mean running away or giving in,” Baykal said. 

Meanwhile, daily Zaman columnist Hüseyin Gülerce told private news channel CNNTürk on Monday that Baykal and Gülen had held talks about the tape.

Baykal’s resignation spelled the end of a four-decade-long political career.

Meanwhile, in response to Baykal’s allegations against the government, Bekir Bozdağ of the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, denied the claims, saying it was the AKP’s biggest wish for the plotters to be disclosed.

“While making politics, Baykal usually demonstrated an approach that polarized the political sides. Now, it seems he is following the same policy while resigning by accusing the AKP. His resignation is not a situation that we will be happy about,” Bozdağ said.

Reactions swift

Commenting on the dramatic resignation, CHP deputy Mustafa Özyürek said Baykal was being victimized in an ugly conspiracy.

“He talked to everyone, including the public, for four days. He resigned with the truth he expressed. This is a very hard situation for us. Baykal became one with the CHP. It is impossible to separate them from each other. But he said he made a decision on a personal matter, and that from now on the rest would belong to the CHP,” he said.

“We will have a general assembly. Our party will make the necessary evaluations. He will keep fighting in every situation. It is the fight for the survival of democracy, secularism and the principles of modern Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.”

Özyürek said the general assembly process would continue as scheduled. “We all wanted him to take the responsibility [of leading the CHP]. But he announced that he would not participate [in the assembly.] He said the CHP must determine its own path,” Özyürek said.

CHP deputy Mehmet Sevigen said, “Baykal did what suited him; but if called to duty, there is a chance that Baykal will return.”

Former CHP Deputy İnal Batu said: “He made the right choice. Even writers and commentators who support the CHP were saying he should resign.”

Touching on Baykal’s accusations, he said: “But he calls it a conspiracy, and at the same time denies it. It’s a hard situation to understand. He believes the government is behind the conspiracy, then he must have solid evidence.”

Journalist Saygı Öztürk of Hürriyet said: “We need Deniz Baykal. He could be a candidate again at the [CHP’s] general assembly.”

Bengi Yıldız of the Peace and Democracy Party, or BDP, said a party leader involved in such a situation bears responsibility.

“He has shown the respect needed. As in all democratic countries, he has fulfilled his responsibility. We hope that this situation will lead to important advances and a new start in Turkish political history,” Yıldız said. “A party that claims to be a social democrat needs to promise the public an important future – the public must have hope.”

State Minister Zafer Çağlayan, meanwhile, said, “This is Baykal’s own decision, we must respect it.”

Prime minister speaks

Later Monday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gave a statement to the press. “It was not our intention to intervene in such a personal issue, but after the importance given in the press and the ugly and irresponsible remarks made by the opposition party, we felt obliged to intervene. The AKP will not take responsibility for issues that do not pertain to it. We took all the necessary precautions immediately and the opposition must try not to blame us for things it is responsible for,” Erdoğan said. “I wish he [Baykal] could deny these occurances, but in the impossibility to do so, he should not throw his fault onto others.”

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu (L) met with top Iranian officials in Tehran, including his Iranian counterpart, Manouchehr Mottaki.

Turkey and Iran, two major powerhouses in the region with significant clout over Iraqi domestic politics, have been trying to reconcile their differences to bolster post-election Iraqi unity, diplomatic sources have told Today’s Zaman. It may very well have been overshadowed by Iran’s nuclear program, which has topped the international agenda in recent weeks, but the question of what will happen in Iraq after the general elections was the second most important issue on the Turkish foreign minister’s to-do list when he visited Tehran on Tuesday to have a series of talks with the Iranian leadership, including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

“Iraq was the second most important item in our conversations with the Iranian leadership,” Ahmet Davutoğlu told Today’s Zaman after wrapping up his talks with Iranian officials.

In the joint press conference with his counterpart, Manouchehr Mottaki, on Tuesday, Davutoglu said, “The most important development in the region has to do with the elections in Iraq, the post-election status and efforts to form a government in Iraq.”

The message that all political groups in the country need to be engaged in setting up a new government was received well in Tehran’s power circles. Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said Turkey has correctly read what is really happening in Iraq, in a meeting with the Turkish foreign minister on Tuesday, adding, “We believe that all elected groups in the Iraqi parliament [should] be involved [in ruling the country].”

Thanks to Turkey’s persistent policy in engaging all groups in Iraq, the country’s bitter Sunnis have become a part of the political system in Iraq today, paving the way for the withdrawal of US troops. Ankara brought major Sunni opposition figures and US envoys together to ensure Sunni participation in Iraq’s national elections on June 30, 2005. For example, Tariq al-Hashemi, a prominent Sunni leader and vice president of Iraq, has met with former US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in İstanbul in another initiative aimed at involving all groups in the political process.

Al-Hashemi was in Ankara earlier this week, holding talks with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Davutoğlu. Speaking to Today’s Zaman on Tuesday after his talks, al-Hashemi accused Iran of interfering in Iraqi efforts to form a government following the March 7 elections and warned that its attempts to create a Shiite-dominated coalition, backed by the Kurds, would lead to sectarian clashes, similar to those that erupted after Iraq’s 2005 elections.

Officials from the two Shiite-dominated groups — Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s State of Law Alliance and the Iraqi National Alliance — have met with Iranian officials in Tehran in what appears to be an Iranian effort to unite the two parties in a coalition, preferably backed by the Kurdistan Alliance. The visits of the two Shiite blocs to Tehran were on the occasion of Nevruz celebrations, according to official statements.

But al-Hashemi sees the meetings in Tehran as an attempt to create an alternative Shiite alliance to block his al-Iraqiya’s path to government although it won most votes in the election. “These Nevruz meetings seriously disturbed us,” he told Today’s Zaman in İstanbul. “If the scenario debated at those meetings is implemented, that is, if we see a coalition of the State of Law Alliance, the Iraqi National Alliance and the Kurdistan Alliance, the results will be very dangerous. Then we will have a sectarian government,” he added. “We may then return to those days when people were killed because of their sectarian identity.”

Turkish officials worry that protracted negotiations on forming a government in Iraq since the March 7 national parliamentary elections have increased the risk of heightened sectarian violence. Lengthy coalition talks after Iraq’s last election in December 2005 saw the country plunge into a bloody war.

Turkish policy makers believe all three major groups in Iraqi national politics should be able to draw lessons from the outcome of elections.

“Sunnis should come to grips with the fact that they no longer rule the country alone and ought to keep committed to the process of building Iraq. Shiites, though they are the majority in the country, should realize they too can’t govern the country by excluding Sunnis and Kurds. Kurds should shy away from showing huge greed and grand ambitions,” one senior diplomat said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Ankara had in the past privately warned Iranian officials that there was a thin line between helping Iraq to solidify its democratic institution and meddling in the domestic affairs of the country. It is no secret that most Arab countries in the Middle East with large Sunni populations are feeling uneasy over the prospect of Shiite-ruled Iraq and afraid the new Iraq may shift the precarious balance in the region into disarray.

In the press conference with Mottaki, Davutoğlu publicly reiterated that “Iraq’s establishment of internal stability and the support of its neighbors without interfering in Iraq’s domestic issues are crucial for a strong regional atmosphere,” stressing that Iraq is an important friend and neighbor of both Turkey and Iran.

The GYV Award for Exemplary Behavior or Initiatives in the Societal Sphere went to Rakel Dink, the wife of Hrant Dink, the murdered editor-in-chief of the Agos newspaper. Two audiovisual and stage arts awards went to Kalan Music and Mahsun Kırmızıgül for his movie “Güneşi Gördüm” (I Saw the Sun).

Messages of brotherhood and tolerance were delivered at the Journalists and Writers Foundation’s (GYV) Coexistence Awards ceremony on Saturday in İstanbul, stressing the importance of mutual understanding.

The ceremony opened with speeches from poet Hilmi Yavuz, who is also the head of the 11-member selection committee, and GYV Chairman Mustafa Yeşil. Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Şahin, İstanbul Governor Muammer Güler, State Minister for Family and Women’s Affairs Selma Aliye Kavaf and several deputies also participated in the ceremony. In his opening speech Yeşil said since its inception in 1994, the GYV had advocated plurality, peace and the art of living together through organizing countless conferences and panels.

Noting that prejudice and discrimination are not the teachings of the Islamic faith or Turkish culture, Yeşil said that once the people act with the voice of their conscience, they will always accept others the way they are.

The ceremony was then followed by musicians playing individually and then as an orchestra as a sign of coexistence. The awards are delivered to outstanding individuals and institutions contributing to coexistence and social peace in six categories.

The Literature Award went to Elif Şafak, whose book “Aşk” (The Forty Rules of Love) became a bestseller in Turkey last year. Expressing her gratitude for being selected as a recipient, Şafak said special thanks go to the “invisibles”: her readers. The Scientific Research Award went to the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV) for their extraordinary activities to promote coexistence through scientific research. Accepting the award on behalf of the organization, TESEV Chairman Can Paker said everyone at the institution worked round the clock to contribute to Turkey.

The GYV Award for Exemplary Behavior or Initiatives in the Societal Sphere went to Rakel Dink, the wife of Hrant Dink, the murdered editor-in-chief of the Agos newspaper. Two audiovisual and stage arts awards went to Kalan Music and Mahsun Kırmızıgül for his movie “Güneşi Gördüm” (I Saw the Sun).

There were three media awards the first of which was granted to Açık Radio for their extensive coverage of areas related to dialogue and coexistence. Delivering a long speech after accepting his award from Turkish Airlines Chairman Temel Kotil, Açık Radio editor-in-chief Ömer Madra said they worked to present a better life for future generations. “We will not quit in our efforts to make life meaningful,” Madra said. The second media award went to journalist Hasan Cemal, who said he knows that coexistence is a difficult job. “Our country will continue on this path,” Cemal said. The third media award went to the Taraf daily for its courageous coverage of important issues and for unearthing coup plans. “Turkey is changing. This award showed our friends love us,” Yıldıray Oğur, Taraf daily’s general manager, said.

Taraf daily Managing Editor Yıldıray Uğur received a media award at GYV's Coexistence Awards ceremony.

The Award for Exemplary Behavior or Initiatives in the Societal Sphere went to Rakel Dink, the wife of Hrant Dink, the murdered editor-in-chief of the Agos newspaper. Dink was recognized for the noble attitude she displays in public. Two audiovisual and stage arts awards went to Kalan Music and Mahsun Kırmızıgül for his movie “Güneşi Gördüm” (I Saw the Sun), which was lauded across the country for its emphasis on the importance of living together.

Delivered by Orhan Gencebay, the voice of arabesque music in Turkey, Kırmızıgül said after receiving his award that he has always stood by brotherhood throughout his life and in his art. “We devoted the movie to the brotherhood of nations,” Kırmızıgül added. “We have to live together,” Gencebay added to the recipient’s speech.

Two sports awards went to the late Hasan Doğan, the former head of the Turkish Football Federation (TFF), and Bursaspor coach Ertuğrul Sağlam. Doğan’s award was presented to his wife, Aysel, by Kavaf, and Şahin presented the award to Sağlam.

“I congratulate the foundation for awarding those who are successful and honest. This is a responsibility; we will continue to play sport with the understanding that sport means peace and brotherhood,” Sağlam said.

While delivering his closing remarks, Şahin said living together is a basic wish for all. “Let’s serve life through accepting our differences in peace together. I particularly thank the foundation for bringing us together,” he concluded.

European airlines conduct test flights through the volcanic ash that has paralyzed air travel as they press for airspace to reopen and criticize governments for grounding jets. While a KLM pilot says there is nothing but ‘clear blue skies and obviously no dense ash cloud to be seen,’ meteorologists say the situation above Europe is unstable and constantly changing with the varying winds.

Air travel across much of Europe was disrupted for a fourth day on Sunday by a huge cloud of volcanic ash, and airlines companies pressed for an end to the total ban on commercial air traffic. About 30 countries had closed or restricted their airspace by Sunday afternoon, as the cloud of fine mineral dust particles gradually expanded over large swathes of Europe. The aviation industry, already reeling from a punishing economic period, is facing at least $200 million in losses every day, according to the International Air Transport Association.

Aviation officials warned that, although almost invisible to the naked eye, the tiny particles of rock and glass spewed out by the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland could clog airplane engines if pilots attempt to fly through the dust. But some major European airlines have said they have carried out successful test flights through the cloud of ash with one, the Dutch airliner KLM, urging traffic controllers to allow commercial flights to permanently return to the skies.

KLM said test planes of various types flew at normal altitudes above 3,000 meters but did not encounter the thick cloud that has hovered over the continent since Wednesday, apparently indicating the Icelandic dust had thinned or dispersed, reported the Associated Press.

A KLM spokeswoman said four planes completed the short flight from Dusseldorf in western Germany without incident and four more planes were due to return to their home base at Schiphol Airport. The airline had permission from Dutch and European aviation authorities before sending the planes aloft. Engineers immediately took the aircrafts for inspection as they landed.
origin: hurriyetdailynews.com

Steven Verhagen, vice president of the Dutch Airline Pilots’ Association and a Boeing 737 pilot for KLM, said he would have no qualms about flying, and his 4,000-member organization is calling for a resumption of flights. “With the weather we are encountering now: clear blue skies and obviously no dense ash cloud to be seen, in our opinion there is absolutely no reason to worry about resuming flights,” he said.

“We are asking the authorities to really have a good look at the situation, because 100 percent safety does not exist,” Verhagen said. “It’s easy to close down air space, because then it’s perfectly safe. But at some time you have to resume flights.”

But meteorologists have said the situation above Europe is unstable and constantly changing with the varying winds and the unpredictability is compounded by the volcano’s irregular eruptions spitting more ash into the sky. The cloud “won’t be present at all parts of the area at risk at all times. You can see clear area, but it will change. It won’t stand still,” said John Hammond of the British Meteorological Office.

German airlines also conducted flights, Agence France-Presse reported.

Lufthansa flew 10 empty long-haul planes to Frankfurt from Munich at heights between 3,000 and 8,000 meters Saturday under so-called “visual flight rules,” where pilots don’t have to rely on their instruments, spokesman Wolfgang Weber said. He stressed that the flights were not tests, but were merely intended to get the planes to the Frankfurt hub for when restrictions are lifted. “We checked every single aircraft very carefully after the landing in Frankfurt to see whether there was any damage that could have been caused by volcanic ash,” Weber said. “Not the slightest scratch was found on any of the 10 planes.”

German air traffic control said Air Berlin and Condor had carried out similar flights.

“The decision to close the airspace was made exclusively as a result of data from a computer simulation at the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre in London,” Air Berlin Chief Executive Joachim Hunold told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper. “Not one single weather balloon has been sent up to measure how much volcanic ash is in the air.”

Meanwhile, on Sunday Europe ordered a probe into the billions of euros potentially lost during the biggest airspace shutdown since World War II.

Jose Manuel Barroso, the head of the European Union’s executive branch, asked three of his top lieutenants to assess the damage to the troubled airline industry – pegged already at one billion euros by one London analyst – and the wider costs to Europe’s economy, Agence France-Presse reported.

European Commission transport boss Siim Kallas, competition regulator Joaquin Almunia and economic affairs supreme Olli Rehn will together “fully assess the impact of the situation created by the volcanic ash cloud on the economy, and the air travel industry in particular,” a statement from Brussels said.

The EU’s current Spanish chair later added that an emergency meeting by video-conference of the bloc’s 27 transport ministers was envisaged for Monday, with possible aid for carriers whose cash flow is already being squeezed by the recession and by rising fuel prices.

The International Air Transport Association has warned that the travel mayhem is costing airlines more than 230 million euros a day, prompting anger over safety testing mechanisms and over suggestions that companies might require aid from the state.

European air traffic control and safety agency Eurocontrol said by the end of Sunday, “we expect that more than 63,000 flights in total will have been cancelled since Thursday.”

Derviş Eroğlu was elected the new president of Turkish Cyprus after a heated election on Sunday.

Eroğlu received 50.3 percent of the votes in Sunday’s vote while incumbent president Mehmet Ali Talat received 42.84 percent.

Critics of the newly-elected feared that he would halt the ongoing peace talks on the island. However, in his victory speech after the election Eroğlu assured Cypriots that he “would not be the side to walk away from the negotiation table.”

Approximately 160,000 voters reportedly went to the ballot booths Sunday and observers said there was a strong turnout compared to five years ago. Some 2,000 officials began counting votes immediately after the closing of the polls.

European hotels, still recovering from last year’s recession, may get a temporary boost from the plume of volcanic ash spreading across Europe.

“It’s tremendous good news for the main players involved,” said Guillaume Rascoussier, an analyst at Oddo & Cie in Paris. He cited Whitbread, Accor and Rezidor Hotel Group as the main beneficiaries.

Ash from the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano drifted southeast, shutting airports across the continent over the weekend. As many as 6 million passengers may be affected if the closures continue, according to the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. While that means many can’t get to their destinations, some are finding themselves stuck and in need of accommodation.

David Benson, an information technology consultant, had planned to return to Barcelona from London last week, and instead has rebooked for this week. He estimates the delay will set him back about 500 pounds ($771).

“I’d rather not be up there with the ash about,” said Benson, 45, in the lobby of the Travelodge near Liverpool Street station. “They can’t really predict it just yet.”

European occupancy rates dropped to 61.1 percent in 2009 from 65.1 percent in 2008, with clients paying 11 percent less per night for an average rate of 94.23 euros ($127.05), according to STR Global.

Hotels are scrambling to add concierge services to help guests find ways home, while operating at full capacity.

InterContinental Hotels Group had “a significant rise” in bookings at its Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn airport hotels in the U.K. on Friday, said Kirk Kinsell, the hotelier’s president for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Still, a prolonged period without air travel may end up doing hoteliers more harm than good, according to Ian Gamse, a director at Otus & Company Advisory in London, whichprovides advisory services to the industry.

“The longer the disruption goes on, the worse it is,” Gamse said. “If it’s just a couple of days, the industry as a whole could actually see a net positive effect.”

Patient guests:

Most travelers were taking the natural emergency in stride. “This is clearly an exceptional situation for the airlines, the guests and for us,” said Patrick Bonnaure, director of Hotel Novotel Zurich Airport Messe, which got 500 additional stranded guests at the end of the week. “We can’t take anyone more. The guests are very patient, no one is panicking.”

Some hotels are having to send guests to other cities and chains to find accommodation.

Rezidor’s Radisson Blu Hotel Amsterdam Airport on Friday directed people to Hotel Haarlem-Zuid in Haarlem, a city some 15 miles west of Amsterdam, said Tom Verheul, the airport hotel’s revenue manager. Haarlem-Zuid is not a Rezidor hotel.

“We were flooded with phone calls,” said Verheul, whose hotel has 279 rooms and was fully booked before the volcano erupted. The hotel is not altering rates and is allowing people to cancel rooms without charge, he said.

Hotels with vacancies last weekend benefited from the unexpected event. Hilton Hotels’ two Zurich hotels had more than 100 rooms available, which the company expects to fill with stranded passengers, said Christoph Glaser, Hilton’s director of operations for Zurich Hotels.

Nicola Lafleur, 29, a curriculum developer for Apollo Group, came a day short of not needing accommodation. She cleared out her London apartment last week after a two-month stint for work and was supposed to return to Phoenix last week. Instead, she’s sleeping at the Travelodge London Liverpool Street.

“We’re here, happy to get a room,” said Lafleur. “We’ll probably go to see St. Paul’s Cathedral; we wouldn’t have seen it otherwise.”

The longer the volcanic disruption occurs, the more costly it may prove to hotels which lose new conference business and face cancellations. Three days of disruptions could cost the aviation industry $1 billion in lost revenue, according to the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation.

“The situation is what it is and we are letting people cancel as long as they call us to tell us they can’t make it,” said Marcus Majewski, the managing director of Clarion Hotel Stockholm. “We’re not getting richer because of the volcano cloud, but we may well be getting poorer.”

Ertugrul Saglam

Bursaspor dropped five points its last three league games and saw its lead cut down to a single point, but the team’s coach is confident that the team will be the champion.

The Turkcell Super League leader hosts Gaziantepspor on Friday night at a sold-out stadium and must win to gain an advantage ahead of Sunday’s derby game between Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş.

Bursaspor coach Ertuğrul Sağlam acknowledges that Gaziantepspor game will be tough, but his side should win to stay on track for the title.

“Our supporters, as they have always done, will be supporting us and we will together celebrate the victory after the game,” Sağlam told a press conference Wednesday in Bursa.

Sağlam noted that Bursaspor tops the league ahead of big spenders like Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray and Beşiktaş and the team is determined to become the second team out of Istanbul to clinch the Turkish league title.

Bursaspor was held to a goalless draw at Gençlerbirliği last Sunday and Sağlam said after the game that the one point would be enough to carry his team to the title. The young coach stands by his comments.

“I have never said anything I do not believe in, and I totally believe when I say Bursaspor will be the champions,” he said. “The level of play my players performed in the second half of Gençlerbirliği match and their determination make me believe in the title more. Bursaspor will be the champion. I can sincerely say that thanks to my players and our supporters.”

With five games to go, only five points separate the top for teams, and the media have been speculating on all kinds of mathematical calculations to predict the champion. Sağlam has his own way of calculating.

“We have 62 points, if we beat Gaziantepspor it will be 65 and with the three points we will be awarded for the Ankaraspor game 68,” he said. “That is my mathematics, as long as we win our games, it doesn’t matter what results our opponents get.”

When asked how many points will be enough to clinch the tile, Sağlam said five victories for Bursaspor will mean a total of 77 points for the club, and it will be enough.

A major concern among Bursaspor supporters is that the club’s title will be blocked by “off-the-pitch forces” who do not want a tiny club to become the Turkish champion. Sağlam has no concerns.

“Refereeing errors is a part of football and we have had our share of them,” he said. “We should have been awarded a penalty against Gençlerbirliği but we did not complain, because we know that complaining does not do any good.”

In addition to its fans’ support, Bursaspor’s home form this season also favors the club against Gaziantepspor. The leader has won five of its home games in the second half of the Turkcell super League and drew one, against Trabzonspor on Feb. 15.

Despite the statistics, Gaziantepspor, which sits in the 10th place in the league, also has eyes on a victory.

“We are not concerned about Bursaspor’s title challenge, but I know that the game will be played in an amazing atmosphere,” said Gaziantepspor coach Jose Couceiro.

“Our team is used to playing such games and we will try to show our own potential in the match.”

Couceiro said Bursaspor would not feel more pressure than Gaziantepspor. “The real pressure is on Sivasspor and Diyarbakırspor, which are fighting against relegation,” he said.

The Portuguese said Bursaspor is a very good team that can play both sides of the game very well and has many fast players.

“We can beat Bursaspor in Bursa, all we have to do is to play better than them,” he said.

The match kicks off at 8 p.m. and will be covered live by Lig TV

Derin Ural

After bad experiences of sexism at higher-level education institutions in the United States, Derin Ural now holds the title of vice president for Istanbul Technical University. Her experience suggests that sexist discrimination is not as bad in Turkey as it appears in recent studies

Despite lagging behind the U.N.’s millennium development goals for gender equality, the vice president of Istanbul Technical University, or ITU, has said Turkey provided for her an escape from sexual discrimination in the United States.

Professor Derin Ural said she was subjected to sexual discrimination from the start of her higher education career in the U.S. when a professor refused to share with the class that Ural had received the highest grade of the year. This, she said, merely because he was not expecting a woman to succeed so highly.

Ural, who was studying to be a civil engineer, said her gender was used to judge her performance as much as her academic potential.

“At the beginning of the year, my professor told the class that whoever received the highest grade of the year would be exempt from taking an examination, but when I won he refused to tell the class. When I asked why he said he did not expect a female student to have done so well,” Ural told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.

Ural said her professor had become so accustomed to teaching male students he did not see men and women as equals in the civil engineering industry.

“I did not let this incident shatter my confidence. I knew I wanted to be a civil engineer and so I went on to apply to some of the best schools in the country for my PhD, but unfortunately I faced the same issues there, too,” Ural said.

Ural received an offer from MIT but turned it down after visiting the school, fearing she would not have a social life because of the intensity of the courses.

Eventually she took an offer from Princeton University. But there, she said she encountered even greater sexual discrimination than before.

“Half the students in my class at Princeton were female and the other half were male. However, in our first set of exams, every single girl in the class received a fail[ing grade],” Ural told the Daily News.

Ural said the event caused a scandal at the school that was picked up by local newspapers. “Even the male members of the class were uncomfortable. Everyone knew what the issue was: We had no female members among our faculty staff.”

Despite the set backs, Ural completed her PHD and decided to pursue her career as an earthquake engineer. “I initially decided to move back to Turkey because of my family and friends, but it also became a great career move,” Ural said.

Ural said in Turkey she was given opportunities to utilize all the skills she had acquired abroad. “I became an earthquake engineer at the Middle East Technical University and was given the opportunity to train local officials in disaster management. No one acted any differently with me because I am a woman,” she said.

The day Ural became a professor at ITU in Istanbul she was summoned by the university’s rector and asked if she wanted to become the vice president. “I was shocked because after three years I had only just become a professor, and as a single mother of two children I realized it would be a difficult position,” Ural Said.

Ural said when women come to a certain position in their careers, they are often made to choose between work and family. Ural said she had to explain to the rector that she would have to think about it because she had two young children and needed to be home as early as 5 p.m.

“Following this conversation I went home to find a stream of emails from faculty members wishing their congratulations on my new position. I was shocked and so appreciative that the rector believed in me so much to give me the flexibility I needed,” Ural said.

Turkey has recently been criticized for falling short of meeting targets in the area of gender equality under the U.N.’s millennium development goals. Ural recently participated in an international females rectors’ conference to discuss strategies to diminish gender inequality and promote and empower women in higher education.

The focus of the “Beyond the Glass Ceiling” conference was women and leadership in higher learning and overcoming barriers that prevent women from reaching their goals. The conference was held at ITU and hosted 42 rectors from across Europe

Fenerbahce VS Besiktas

This means most of the action will be on the pitch — rather than off it — when the Fenerbahçe Yellow Canaries meet the Beşiktaş Black Eagles in their Turkcell Super League week 30 derby at the FB Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium in İstanbul this evening.

The Canaries are placed second in the 17-strong league with 62 points from 29 matches, while the Beşiktaş Black Eagles are a distant fourth with 57. And so the general consensus is that the Eagles, though playing away, will come out with all guns blazing against the Canaries in a desperate bid to win and stay in touch with the frontrunners.

The Fener Canaries were “idle” last weekend but nonetheless won a morale-boosting 3-0 victory and three precious points by default because of their match-up against relegated Ankaraspor. The Black Eagles could only manage a 0-0 draw at home with the Trabzonspor Black Sea Storm, a result which not only dented their championship aspirations but also sent them tumbling to fourth place.

Daum: Vengeance is mine

Fenerbahçe German coach Christoph Daum believes his Yellow Canaries can leapfrog leader Bursaspor if they win all their remaining five matches, including today’s game.

Daum is not only hoping for victory but also revenge against the Black Eagles who walloped them 3-0 when the two met at İnonü Stadium, the home of Beşiktaş, in the season’s first half. Daum avoided making statements to the sports media but rather spent the week plotting his revenge strategy.

They say Fener captain-playmaker Alex de Souza is equal to over half of the Fenerbahçe team. So if Alex plays well, the entire team also plays well and vice versa. Alex will be ever present this evening, acting as the link between the midfield and forward line with his precise passes.

Spain striker Dani Gonzalez Güiza, preferred by Daum over Turkey striker Semih Şentürk, is sure to make the starting XI this evening.

There are reports that Semih, who has been benched all season long and whose contract expires in June, is angry and does not want to renew his contract with the Canaries. He instead wants to join Galatasaray as a free agent next season, according to reports.

“We all know the importance of the Beşiktaş match,” Güiza said this week. “Me, as a goal scorer, I have to continue what I have been doing all along — and that is banging in the goals.”

Title still ajar for Eagles?

Under-fire Beşiktaş coach Mustafa Denizli believes that the league title door is still ajar, that front-running Bursaspor and Fenerbahçe as well as Galatasaray will “definitely” drop points along the way and that they will be the 2009-10 champions come May if they sweep all of their remaining matches — including this evening’s derby.

The Eagles trained under the watchful eyes of Denizli at the BJK Nevzat Demir facilities on Friday. Strikers Filip Holosko and Mert Nobre, who are nursing various injuries at the club’s infirmary, missed Friday’s training. Also absent were 30-something attacking midfielder Yusuf Şimşek and Mardin-born left back Ekrem Dağ.

If these players do not recover before match time, then coach Denizli will have a hard time forming a team.

The silver-haired coach says they have good reserves in their arsenal, and any player fielded on the Beşiktaş squad this evening will do his best, his whole best and nothing but his best.

“We already know very well — and therefore do not want to be told — it is the team that wins all the remaining matches that will be crowned champion. And we want to be that team,” he added.

Things easier said than done

Daum is a pentagenarian, and Denizli a sexagenarian. So the two veteran coaches have seen it all before and therefore know that things are easier said than done in Turkish football.

Bursaspor wants to win this season’s title, so do Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray and Beşiktaş. The plain truth, though, is that there will only be one champion that will emerge from one of these four teams, but who will that be?

That is a million-dollar question and only serves to authenticate the truism that the final weeks of the Turkcell Super League championship race are always an uncomfortable and painful experience — both for the coaches and the players as well.

The synopsis

After last Saturday’s semi-debacle at home with Trabzonspor, the Eagles have to pull themselves together this season if they do not want to wind up winning nothing at all. For the Eagles, already eliminated from all European competitions this season as well as the Turkish Cup, which they won last season, the league remains the only chance of saving an almost lost season. But that is a tall order indeed.

The Canaries are Turkish Cup finalists — having eliminated Manisaspor 3-1 on aggregate on Tuesday — and will be playing Trabzon in the one-leg final on May 5. So Fenerbahçe’s hopes of winning a rare league and cup double will either fizzle or be boosted, depending on the outcome of this evening’s encounter against the Eagles.

For once, football might be a meritocracy today. The more determined team that chases every ball, dominates play in midfield and has more ball possession will most likely emerge as the winner. But the team that plays at a pedestrian pace or resorts to negative football will be a goner, and its title hopes will evaporate into thin air.

Kickoff is at 8 p.m., and the referee will be Hüseyin Göçek.

On Friday night undisputed leader Bursaspor shut out visiting Gaziantepspor 2-0 at the Atatürk Stadium to cement its Turkcell Super League pole position. Bursaspor now has 65 points and leads second-placed Fener by four.

About 30 countries have now closed or restricted their airspace, with the cloud of fine mineral dust particles from Iceland now extending from the Arctic Circle in the north to the French Mediterranean coast in the south and from Spain into Russia.

Some countries, such as the Netherlands, started carrying out test flights to see if jets could safely fly however.  Dutch carrier KLM said initial inspections afterward showed no damage or irregularities from the ash in the air that has led to a ban on air travel over much of Europe since Friday.

The airline says it now plans to return seven airplanes without passengers to Amsterdam from Duesseldorf Sunday.

“We hope to receive permission as soon as possible after that to start up our operation and to transport our passengers to their destinations,” said Chief Executive Peter Hartman, who was aboard Saturday’s flight.

Britain extended its ban on flights in its airspace until late Sunday and British Airways cancelled all flights in and out of London for the whole day.

Germany and most Scandinavian and central European countries also kept the flight ban in place, extending the biggest airspace shutdown since World War II.

With the blanket spreading, Italy and Spain said they would not allow flights into the northern parts of their countries. The cloud is now heading toward Greece and into Russia, weather experts said.

With hundreds of thousands of travelers now stranded around the globe, prevailing winds blowing the massive cloud from Iceland toward Europe could go on until the middle of the week, Iceland’s Meteorological Office has warned.

“The ash will continue to be directed towards Britain and Scandinavia,” Teitur Arason, a meteorologist at the Icelandic Meteorological Office, told Agence France-Presse.

Poland shut its airspace until further notice.

Some governments, such as France, have set up emergency services to work out how to get stranded nationals home.

Some 17,000 flights in European airspace on Saturday were cancelled due to the cloud, said Eurocontrol, which coordinates air traffic control in 38 nations.

Only about 5,000 out of 22,000 flights in Europe were able to operate, the agency said.

And out of 337 scheduled flights by US carriers to and from Europe, 282 were cancelled Saturday, the Air Transport Association of America said.

The impact of the shutdown is likely to exceed the airspace shutdown after the September 11, 2001 attacks, the International Civil Aviation Organisation said.

Stranded passengers seek alternatives

Stranded holidaymakers and business travelers sought any means possible to get home – or contented themselves with just staying put.

“EasyJet has assured us that we will be reimbursed for accommodation until Wednesday” when the next flight is due out, said British holidaymaker Karen Apple at Faro airport in Portugal’s Algarve region, the Correio da Manha newspaper reported.

British businessman Tom Noble said he had to buy a women’s bicycle to board a ferry home from France as the operator had no foot passenger tickets left and would only allow him on if he was a genuine cyclist.

Iceland’s Eyjafjoell volcano erupted on Wednesday, sending ash drifting towards Europe at an altitude of about 6,000 to 9,000 meters.

Europe’s three biggest airports – Heathrow, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Frankfurt – were closed Saturday, leaving passengers stranded across the world as a global flight backlog built up.

Australia’s Qantas Airways meanwhile said Sunday flights to Europe would be cancelled for a third day.

The Eurostar Channel tunnel rail service reported thousands more passengers than normal were set to travel on its trains between London and continental Europe on Saturday.

In the past 20 years, there have been 80 recorded encounters between aircraft and volcanic clouds, causing the near-loss of two Boeing 747s with almost 500 people on board and damage to 20 other planes, experts said.

The International Air Transport Association estimated the shutdown was costing airlines more than $200 million dollars (230 million euros) a day.

origin: hurriyetdailynews.com

Torrents of rain stampeding across northwestern Turkey strike up flash floods and leave chaos in their wake. At least nine people are left dead and many more are still missing. Collapsed bridges, road closures and overflowing waterways bring Istanbul to a crawl.

Heavy rains in the northwestern region of Marmara that started late Monday intensified yesterday, directly causing the deaths of nine people and wreaking havoc on the traffic.

Four people from the same family were found dead, and one other member was still missing, in the Saray region of the Tekirdağ province, the Anatolia news agency reported late Tuesday. In Istanbul’s Silivri region, an elderly disabled man drowned after floods inundated his house. Also, a woman who tried to cross rail tracks after the underpass was flooded on the Pendik-Kartal line on Istanbul’s Asian side was hit by a train and died, the Doğan news agency reported Tuesday.

Floods covered a large part of the region overnight in Saray, where a family of five was swept away. Emergency personnel found the bodies of the three children and the mother yesterday. The father is still missing. The bodies of an elderly couple, aged 81 and 79, were also found yesterday.

Zeki Kaya, a local administrator in Saray, said some 25 houses were damaged and 50 animals were lost in the flood. Two of the bridges in the Saray district have collapsed due to the flooding.

Istanbul was also affected badly by the heavy rainfall that began Monday night and continued throughout yesterday. Two of the city’s main traffic arteries, TEM and E5, were shut down temporarily due to the floods.

Istanbul Governor Muammer Güler said Tuesday that one person had died in the province and a child had gone missing due to the floods.

The Silivri, Çatalca, Küçükçekmece and Avcılar districts on the city’s European side and the Kartal, Pendik and Tuzla districts on its Anatolian side were all badly affected by the heavy rainfall.

Private channel CNNTürk reported that police closed the road connecting the province of Edirne to Istanbul due to accidents on the road.

Feridun Donat told CNNTürk on Tuesday that his brother went missing at 11 a.m. in the Çatalca district of Istanbul and that rescue teams were still searching for him four hours later. “There are other people looking for their relatives in the Çatalca River. This place looks like a mess,” said Donat.

Architect Mücella Yapıcı told CNNTürk that the lack of a proper urbanization plan causes rains to turn into floods and creates havoc in modern cities.

According to Yapıcı, rivers normally carry rainfall to the sea, but in Istanbul, many riverbeds have been opened to construction and are now full of residential neighborhoods.

More than 100 buildings in the Marmara region were flooded, including a hospital in the Çatalca district, where the village of Göçeali lost all roads connecting it to the outside world, reports said Tuesday.

Çatalca Mayor Cem Kara said they had opened a crisis-management desk and were using all the resources they had, but still could not control the flood completely. The mayor said they were seeking help from neighboring districts.

A fire started at the top of a five-story building located in the Pendik region when it was struck by lightning. Firemen extinguished the blaze before it spread to nearby buildings.

Many people were stuck inside their houses or in their cars on the highways, as emergency and military personnel were dispatched to rescue them.

Mustafa Yıldırım, the director of the Istanbul Meteorology Department, said they expected the rain to continue until Saturday, adding that the rains will be heavier Wednesday.

The rain will lessen, but continue Thursday and Friday in the Marmara region, Yıldırım said, warning people about floods and lightning.

Due to strong winds, ferries between Gökçeada and Kabatepe and Bozcaada and Geyikli, connecting the islands in the Marmara Sea to the mainland, were cancelled Tuesday.

The roof of a court building in Silivri collapsed due to the strong rain and wind, causing the court to delay the proceedings in the controversial Ergenekon case, in which an alleged gang is charged with trying to topple the government. Some parts of the court building were flooded and the building’s alarm system went off due to the heavy rainfall. Chief judge Köksal Şengün ordered the suspension of the proceedings until Sept. 14.

Twenty-five foreign and local freight ships are currently anchored at a harbor on the coast of Tekirdağ, waiting for the rains and the storm to subside, the Doğan news agency reported.

Origin: Hurriyet Daily News

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.

The father’s body is still missing. The 38 animals the family was taking care of also died in the flood. İstanbul was also affected by downpours. While many houses and workplaces were flooded, people trapped in buildings were rescued by firefighting teams. One person reportedly died in the Silivri district due to the flood.In İstanbul, more than 100 houses and workplaces were flooded in the districts of Silivri, Çatalca, Küçükçekmece, Avcılar, Kartal, Pendik and Tuzla. Those who were stuck in the buildings were rescued by firefighting teams and the İstanbul Waterworks Authority (İSKİ).

A fire broke out in a house in Pendik district after the attic of a five-story building was struck by lightning. Firefighting teams extinguished the fire before the flames could jump to other buildings.

Çatalca State Hospital’s polyclinics were flooded, and teams from firefighting and forestry regional directorates were trying to drain the water. A total of 208 people who had been trapped in buildings in the district were reportedly saved, while a military helicopter was sent to save 10 firefighters who got stuck in buildings while trying to rescue people from the floodwater, which reached a height of nearly four meters. The İzzettin and Kestanelik bridges were also under floodwater in the district.

Çatalca Mayor Cem Kara told the Anatolia news agency that they were using all of their resources to deal with rain-related problems in the district, yet they were having a difficult time because the district is large and disorganized. “We mobilized all our means; however, we cannot cope with the rain. We have asked for help from neighboring districts,” he added.

The traffic around İstanbul’s Silivri district reportedly came to a standstill yesterday afternoon due to the rain, and teams from the highway authority attempted to ease the congestion and improve the flow of traffic.

State Meteorological Service İstanbul regional head Mustafa Yıldırım announced that the storms will ease today and temperatures will be lower than seasonal norms, while rainfall will continue until this weekend. He further noted that the temperatures will return to normal from the weekend on.

The İzmir governorship warned its residents about the expected downpour and possible floods and lightning, issuing a written statement, while meteorology authorities warned people about a possible downpour in the western parts of the Black Sea Region.

Rainfall leaves enough water for 4 days in İstanbul
Rainfall has increased the water levels in dams enough to supply İstanbul four days. While the water levels at İstanbul dams were at 74.36 percent capacity on Sept. 7, they increased to 75.13 percent yesterday.

The storm affected water transportation in the Sea of Marmara, too. Seventeen local and foreign ships at a harbor on the Şarköy coast in Tekirdağ could not sail from the harbor due to the storm, which included winds of up to 80 kilometers per hour. Ferry travel between Kabatepe and Gökçeada Island in Çanakkale was cancelled yesterday due to the strong northeast winds.

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.

High-value plant

The plant’s importance derives from its position as energy supplier to the Bursa Industrial Zone and its correspondingly wide range of customers. Some 12 percent of the energy generated in the plant is distributed to partners inside the zone. The remaining 88 percent is distributed between the Turkish Electricity Transmission Company, or TEİAŞ, and the Turkish Electricity Distribution Company, or TEDAŞ. The plant also provides electricity for 50 companies located close to the zone, which are considered to be “free consumers,” meaning that they have a right to choose their supplier.

The plant sells 3.5 billion kilowatt hours of electricity annually. The plant’s projected income for 2010 is 560 million Turkish Liras.

Gazprom, from which Turkey purchases 60 percent of its natural-gas imports, has shown great interest in the country’s energy market. The Russian firm is getting ready to participate in natural-gas distribution tenders, which will be held in Ankara and Istanbul, with its partner, the Aksa Group. The Turkish government is planning to auction Ankara’s Başkent Doğalgaz and Istanbul’s İGDAŞ. Gazprom is also expected to become Aksa’s partner in its Antalya plant. The energy giant also has plans to establish a liquefied-natural-gas plant in Turkey.

History Maker İlhan !

He already made history by becoming the first Turkish tennis player in 46 years to play in a Grand Slam, but Marsel İlhan seems unwilling just to make an appearance.

İlhan was through to the second round after beating Belgian veteran Christophe Rochus 3-2 after a thrilling battle on Monday.

The 22-year-old Turk needed a late rally to come back from trailing 2-1 after the third set. He chalked up a win by scoring 7-5 in the last two sets, overcoming his opponent’s experience with his youthful energy.

İlhan will meet home favorite John Isner in the second round on Wednesday. Also on Monday, Isner defeated 28th-seeded Victor Hanescu of Romania, 6-1, 7-6, (14), 7-6, (5).

İlhan made it to the U.S. Open, the fourth Grand Slam of the season, by winning three qualifying-round matches to advance to the first round.

İlhan, who is ranked 230 in the world among men’s tennis players, has become not only the first Turk to earn a berth in the U.S. Open, but the first to win a main-draw event at a Grand Slam tournament.

Turkish tennis pioneer Nazmi Bari played in the U.S. Open in 1963, although the fact that Bari competed after being invited makes İlhan’s achievement all the more significant.

The Isner-İlhan game will be played on Wednesday after 9 p.m., depending on the duration of other matches. It will be shown live on Eurosport.

Meanwhile, world number one Roger Federer began his quest for a sixth-consecutive U.S. Open title and 16th Grand Slam singles crown on Monday by overpowering U.S. teen wild card Devin Britton 6-1, 6-3, 7-5, Agence France-Presse reported.

The Swiss star, who completed a career Grand Slam by winning the French Open and set a career record with his 15th Slam title at Wimbledon, became the first player to crack 50 million dollars in career prize money with the victory.

Federer, seeking his 62nd career title, advanced to a second-round match with 65th-rated German Simon Greul, who ousted 182nd-ranked Ecuadoran qualifier Giovanni Lapentti 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 6-0, 7-6 (9).

“It was a good start,” Federer said. “Tricky match for me, playing a guy who’s got absolutely nothing to lose.”

Britton, the 1,370th-ranked U.S. college champion who lost his only prior top-level match, was outclassed from the start at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“Everything he does is unbelievable. He’s the best. No weakness,” Britton said. “I mean, I didn’t know what to do. It was a little overwhelming.”

Top-seed Federer, a semifinalist or better in the past 21 Grand Slams, improved to 48-7 in 2009 with his 36th consecutive U.S. Open match victory, including one walkover.

Federer, who has not lost on the Flushing Meadows hardcourts since David Nalbandian beat him in the round of 16 in 2003, seeks to match U.S. 1920s-star Bill Tilden’s modern Grand Slam and tournament record of six titles in a row.

“It’s amazing. That’s what I’m here for, trying to equal Bill Tilden’s record,” Federer said. “It’s fantastic to be compared to someone who played such a long time ago.”

After reclaiming the top ranking from Rafael Nadal with his Wimbledon title, Federer can keep the spot by reaching the U.S. Open’s fourth round. An earlier exit opens the door for Nadal or Britain’s Andy Murray to become number one.

Federer won 12 of the first 13 points over Britton, holding serve twice on his way to a 3-0 lead after only five minutes and cruising even after falling behind by a break in the second and third sets.

“He had some very good spells and I had to make sure from my side that I stayed with him and come back because I was down a break in the second and in the third, so it was good to still get through in three sets,” Federer said.

Britton, 18, dropped the first set in 18 minutes but broke for a 3-1 lead in the second, only to have Federer break back immediately.

“I was thinking, ‘I’m up a break. This is exciting,’” Britton said. “It was fun for that 10 or 15 seconds until he broke me at love. It was probably the best seconds of my life.”

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.

Forty-year-old Recep Mersin, who was paralyzed from the waist down after being shot five years ago, said it was impossible for him to use the Şirinevler stop near the Istanbul Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Hospital.

“No matter how disabled-friendly the buses are, once one cannot use the stops, the rest is meaningless,” said Mersin.

He said it was his legal right to demand that the municipality address his concerns.

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.

Apparently, Sgt. Şakir Akçan discovered Pvt. Öztürk sleeping during his night watch. He took Öztürk’s hand grenade while he was asleep and gave it to Lt. Tümer as evidence that the young private was sleeping on duty.

Early the next day, Lt. Tümer called Öztürk to ask where his hand grenade was. When Öztürk could not find his grenade, the lieutenant showed him the explosive, saying it was taken by Sgt. Akçan when he was sleeping during his night watch. The lieutenant then pulled out the pin of the grenade and gave it to Öztürk, saying he would not die if he held the primer of the explosive tightly.

“Öztürk begged the lieutenant to give him back the pin. He said he was just 25 years old and had 75 days left to complete his military service. ‘You will kill me,’ he told Lt. Tümer,” Sgt. Yiğit Acar stated during his testimony.

Acar also stated that Tümer told noncommissioned officers in the military facility that he had given Öztürk a live hand grenade to teach him a good lesson.

Sgt. Akçan told military prosecutors that the explosion occurred about 15 or 20 minutes after Lt. Tümer pulled the pin out of the grenade and gave it to the private. “While I was supervising soldiers during the night watch, I saw Öztürk sleeping. I took his hand grenade and gave it to Lt. Tümer. The lieutenant called Öztürk up and gave him the activated grenade. He told him to wait till he gave back the pin. Fifteen or 20 minutes later, the explosion took place,” the sergeant stated.

Pvt. Recep Koyuncu claimed that Öztürk asked the lieutenant several times to return the pin, saying: “Lt. Tümer told Öztürk to return to his position and wait for him. A few minutes later, Öztürk asked the lieutenant for the pin. Lt. Tümer declined his request. The blast occurred moments after.”

During his testimony, Lt. Tümer admitted giving a live hand grenade to Öztürk. “Öztürk asked me to give him the pin. I told him to return to his position and that I would place the pin into the grenade soon. It was around 11 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. I don’t remember exactly when. We heard an explosion. When I turned back, I saw Öztürk falling face down,” stated the lieutenant. He also claimed that he punished the private in line with the military’s training procedures.

Öztürk was reportedly asking his friends for a pin when the hand grenade exploded. The four fallen soldiers were buried on Aug. 18.

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.

The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government has for the past several weeks been pondering ways to settle the long-standing Kurdish question, which has resulted in the deaths of around 40,000 citizens since the matter turned violent 25 years ago. The government has not offered details as to the content of the initiative so far, but it has hinted that it would broaden the cultural rights of Kurdish citizens.

Both Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the interior minister have for the past week been having talks with representatives from various nongovernmental organizations and associations to ask for their contribution to the peace process.

Erdoğan called on everyone yesterday to keep watching the government about its efforts to solve Turkey’s long-standing Kurdish problem. “Everything is on track. Continue to watch us,” Erdoğan said. His remarks came during a handover ceremony at the Air Forces on Tuesday which was also attended by President Abdullah Gül and Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ. He also said he would make a more detailed statement on the government’s Kurdish initiative during his national address, which is to be released on Thursday.

Naval Forces Commander Aydoğan Babaoğlu handed over his post to Hasan Aksay. In a speech he delivered after assuming his new post, Aksay said Turkey’s fight against terrorism will continue until the last terrorist is killed, stressing that Turkey should also continue to make economic, cultural and social initiatives to solve its terrorism problem.

In addition, President Gül told the families of members of the security forces killed in the line of duty that their pain will not be ignored and assured them that the state will find the best solution for the settlement of the Kurdish issue at a fast-breaking dinner he hosted on Tuesday.

“I would like to express with all my heart that you are our most valued citizens because you sacrificed your sons, your husbands, your relatives, your loved ones for this country. May they all rest in peace,” Gül said. He also asked families to deliver their demands to him and share their problems with him through representatives who sat with the guests at every table.

Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül had requested previously that there should be a prime ministerial directorship to deal closely with the problems of the veterans and martyrs. The families of the martyrs have long been demanding such a department.

Hamit Köse from the Association of Social Solidarity for Families of Martyrs and Victims of Terror said they would be glad if such a department was established since they have been demanding it.

“We would like to see a father of a martyr and a father of a veteran serving in that department,” he said, adding that Turkey does not have a Kurdish problem but a terrorism problem and that no ethnicity is above another.

“The situation is the creation of foreign powers. Those who say that there is a problem and try to solve it will fail. The government should stop pleasing the terrorist organization and its associates,” he said.

The government is planning to present a bill to Parliament, which will resume on Oct. 1, in regards to establishing a special directorship for the war veterans and families of slain soldiers.

According to a study carried out at the Ministry of Defense, a similar department exists in such countries as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Australia, Lebanon, Jordan, Iran, Albania, Syria, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Indonesia and Poland.

So far 5,716 members of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) were lost in the war against terrorism. The number of TSK members who have become war veterans in that fight is 3,616. Previously, in the Korean War, TSK losses amounted to 720 and the number of war veterans to 21,158. In Turkey’s intervention in Cyprus in 1974, 346 TSK members were killed and 31,765 became war veterans.

The Turkish government already provides social security not only for war veterans but also for their families and the families of slain soldiers. There are thousands of people who are entitled to a monthly salary but the amount falls even below the minimum wage. A war veteran is paid a monthly salary of TL 327.80.

Aksaray Families of Martyrs Social Solidarity Association head Mehmet Tıpırdamaz said the government gives enough to families of killed soldiers in terms of monetary compensation but that the families also need moral support.

“Money is not everything. Families who have given their sons for the state should be supported morally. That is why we have been demanding that an agency be formed,” he said and added that the interior minister had told them their demand would be evaluated.

Tıpırdamaz also said the 269 separate associations of martyrs’ families and war veterans should be brought under an umbrella organization.

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. Marxism was the popular idea of the time. Under such circumstances, Yücel Ağabey [older brother] shot the movie ‘Birleşen Yollar’ [Joining Roads] in 1970, featuring the most important stars of the time. The movie attracted much attention, and it served as the start of the National Cinema movement. It was a cornerstone. The movie was the best reflection of the revolt against the twisted Westernization movement in the Turkish movie industry. Without understanding the [Turkish National Cinema] movement, let alone understanding Turkish cinema history, it is impossible to understand Turkey’s political and social history,” he said.

 Uçakan further stressed that Çakmaklı never changed his attitude and lifestyle, unlike many intellectuals who change their lives when they achieve fame and material success. “He never lived in luxury. He did not have pretentious mansions, cars and bodyguards. Even on the last days of his life, he told me he had financial difficulty with his retirement salary,” he said.

 Noting that there are both supporters and opponents of Çakmaklı’s work in Turkey’s artistic and intellectual circles, Uçakan highlighted that the public has always stood by Çakmaklı, adding: “The new generation is growing up with a different discourse. A different cinema language is being formed. The ideological polarization and fights through which we struggled are not present now. There are some among these young people who share the ideology of Yücel Ağabey. But if it were not for Yücel Ağabey, I do not think today’s youth would work as comfortably as they do now.”

 Osman Sınav, one of the most popular directors in Turkey, expressed his grief over the death of Çakmaklı. Describing Çakmaklı’s work as “a cinema integrated with its public,” Sınav said Çakmaklı was an important figure in cinema during his era, adding: “He became the leader of numerous things. He highlighted the concept of nationalism in cinema. He worked meticulously on his projects. He always tried to reflect the common sense and culture of Turkish people. He created variety in Turkish cinema.”

 Sınav further said the television series directed by Çakmaklı cannot be compared to shows on television today in terms of their quality since Çakmaklı’s works were made with more care and have survived until today.

 Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Antalya deputy Tunca Toskay, who was general manager of the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) when Çakmaklı was working there, recalled a television series Çakmaklı directed titled “Kuruluş” (Foundation) and argued that the series was the greatest production ever to emerge from the Turkish entertainment industry. Toskay said, “Having a good grasp of our culture, he produced very successful historical works.”

Çakmaklı was yesterday buried in the Zincirlikuyu Cemetery, following a religious memorial service held at Fatih Mosque in İstanbul.

Serena

Serena Williams is prepared to go without another victory this year, as long as she mounts a successful title defence at next week’s US Open.

“I have to stay focused and consistent and, most importantly, hungry,” the American told Reuters in an interview ahead of the season’s final major which starts on Aug. 31.
Williams, who took her haul of grand slam crowns to 11 by winning the Australian Open and Wimbledon earlier this year, said she would not be satisfied with two majors in 2009. “If I crashed out at the Open for no reason I’d have to win everything else the rest of the year,” she said in an interview arranged by WTA Tour sponsors Sony Ericsson.

“I’d win zero tournaments in order to win the Open again.” Williams has had a mediocre year outside of the grand slams, reaching only one other final, at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami in April when she lost to Belarussian Victoria Azarenka.

After beating her sister Venus to land a third Wimbledon title in July, world number two Serena had a chance to grab top spot from Russia’s Dinara Safina ahead of the US Open. She failed to take her opportunity, though, losing in the quarterfinals of the Stanford Classic in California, in the third round of the Cincinnati Open and again in the semifinals of last week’s Toronto Cup.

Longer break

Williams acknowledged that maybe she should have taken a longer break after Wimbledon. “Everything has taken a toll on me,” she said. Serena will face stiff competition in New York, especially from Venus. Twelve months ago Serena scraped through their all-Williams quarterfinal 7-6 7-6 before picking up the trophy by beating Serb Jelena Jankovic in the final.

The two sisters have won five of the last 10 US Opens, Serena capturing the title in 1999, 2002 and 2008 and Venus doing likewise in 2000 and 2001. Serena’s next major crown would draw her level with fellow American Billie Jean King in sixth place on the list of all-time women’s grand slam singles winners.

“I probably should have won (last week’s semifinal against Russian Elena Dementieva) but I didn’t,” she said. “I can’t say I was especially feeling the fire but obviously I wanted to do well. I really hope to have another go at her at the US Open.”

Yerabatan Sarnici

Set inside an ancient cistern dating back to the fifth century, it’s a self-contained and almost absurdly quaint place in which houses peep out from amid the luxuriant foliage growing out of crumbling antique walls. Could such a place ever have existed? Well, actually it did well into the 1970s when, in “Strolling Through İstanbul,” John Freely and Hilary Sumner-Boyd described it as a “very picturesque little farm village whose housetops barely reach to the level of the surrounding streets.”
They were describing the Cistern of Aspar, a giant hole in the ground in front of the mosque of Sultan Selim I as you approach it from Fatih and Çarşamba. But what on earth was this cistern, and what role did it play in city life?

Way back in 1978, I remember being taken by a Turkish friend to visit the Yerebatan Sarnıcı (Underground Cistern) close to the Aya Sofya in Sultanahmet. At that time, it was not officially open to the public, and we stood at the edge of a dark space that seemed to stretch back into infinity, peering at the dim shapes of 336 soaring pillars topped off with elaborate Byzantine capitals; a steady sound of dripping provided the soundtrack to our visit. It was a sixth century cistern, my friend told me, although at the time that meant absolutely nothing to me. Now, of course, the Yerebatan Sarnıcı is one of the city’s main attractions, kitted out with walkways, suitably evocative lighting and the haunting sound of the ney (reed flute), and always crowded with visitors who gaze in awe at the sea of columns and at the fish swimming in the water beneath them, before trekking along the walkways to inspect the upside-down head of the Gorgon Medusa adorning the base of a column at the rear. However, probably not one person in a hundred really appreciates the part that the cistern played in ensuring that first Byzantium, then Constantinople and finally İstanbul were kept supplied with water.

Most of the water had to be collected either from the Belgrade Forest or from densely wooded parts of Trakya (Thrace) beyond the city walls, and Yerebatan is just the best-known piece in a complicated jigsaw of cisterns, aqueducts, water towers and reservoirs that kept it flowing. This water supply system was surveyed by the British Leverhulme Trust between 2000 and 2005, and their report concluded that it was “one of the greatest achievements of hydraulic engineering known from antiquity,” and this in spite of the fact that large parts of it still lie unmapped in the woods of Trakya.

The most conspicuous monument to the system is the Aqueduct of Valens that straddles busy Atatürk Bulvarı as it runs up from the Golden Horn to Fatih. Dating back to 375, the aqueduct, a double-tier of arches, still runs for almost a kilometer and would originally have been attached to a network of pipes that conveyed water from beyond Edirnekapı, along the ridges of the Sixth, Fifth and Fourth Hills, then on to Beyazıt Meydanı. It continued in use right through until the 19th century, which accounts for its astonishing state of preservation.

Yerebatan Sarnıcı

The Aqueduct of Valens is the only such structure to survive inside the walled city, but if you head out to the Belgrade Forest, you will find several more examples, including the Eğrikemer (Crooked Aqueduct) and the Uzunkemer (Long Aqueduct), both of them designed by Mimar Sinan, the architect more famous for his beautiful mosques, during the reign of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent. Sinan is also believed to have rebuilt the Maglova Kemeri (Maglova Aqueduct) that dated back to the time of the Emperor Justinian. Also buried in the forest are a series of beautiful historic “bends” (reservoirs) that still store water for the city.

The aqueducts left an unmissable mark on the horizon, as did the extraordinary “su terazı,” stone towers that helped drag water up gradients. One of these still stands in Sultanahmet, very close to the Milyon monument and the entrance to the Yerebatan Sarnıcı, but there are many others dotted about the city: a cluster of three, for example, in Kilyos, and another one beside the Karacaahmet Cemetery in Haydarpaşa.

Also conspicuous were the buildings used to disperse the water around each neighborhood, the most famous of these being the “taksim” (water distribution point) that gave its name to Taksim. Recently opened to the public, this consisted of the long stone building that closes off Taksim Square where water used to be stored, plus the small octagonal building nearby to which it was piped for distribution around the area. Of course, the final pieces in this network were the ubiquitous çeşmes (fountains) which can be found in every neighborhood of the old city, sometimes still with brick storage tanks attached to them. Some of the fountains were truly magnificent structures: viz., the Sultan Ahmet III Fountain that stands in front of Topkapı Palace, the Tophane Fountain, the Hekimoğlu Ali Paşa fountain at Kabataş and the Saliha Valide Hatun fountain in Azapkapı. Increasingly, the fountains are being restored to their original splendor, often by modern water-selling companies. Paired with the çeşmes were the sebils, small kiosks enclosed with grilles that were usually to be found attached to the outer wall of a mosque and from which water was dispensed to thirsty passers-by.

In contrast to the aqueducts, towers and fountains, the network of cisterns in which the water was stored kept a low profile, their very existence forgotten as the city’s population contracted and the need for water reduced. Hard though it is to imagine it now, even the Yerebatan Sarnıcı was forgotten for centuries, the first Western visitor to learn of it being a 16th century Frenchman called Petrus Gyllius, who left a lyrical description of how he was taken fishing in a boat there by a man who had tunneled into it just as some unscrupulous locals dig wells beneath their city-center properties today.

The success of Yerebatan as a tourist drawcard has generated greater interest in the many other cisterns dotted about the old city. For example, the Binbirdirek Sarnıcı just off Divan Yolu, which in spite of its name (1,001 Pillars Cistern) boasts a measly 224 columns, has now been turned into an entertainment center, while the Theodosius Sarnıcı, behind what was the Eminönü Belediyesi building, is being readied to open to the public. On pretty little Söğükçeşme Sokak, which runs between Aya Sofya and the outer wall of the Topkapı Sarayı, the Sarnıç Restaurant is housed inside an ancient cistern, as is the Sultan Sarnıç restaurant in Çarşamba. Another cistern with especially lovely Byzantine capitals lurks beneath the Nakkas carpet shop in Cankurtaran.

So where does the Cistern of Aspar fit into the picture? Actually, there is some uncertainty about the part that the city’s open-air cisterns played in the water distribution system. Some argue that the water collected in these vast cisterns was left open to the air to be purified. It seems far more likely, however, that they were simply large reservoirs from which water could be drawn to irrigate nearby fields. Four such cisterns are known. Called generically “çukurbostan” (sunken gardens), three of them — the Cisterns of Aspar, Aetios and Mocius — have now been fitted out with gardens and sports facilities. The fourth, the striking Fildamı (Elephant Stables) out in Bakırköy, stands empty.

Ersin Özince

Becoming a holding company would be “beneficial” for İş Bankası, according to İş Bankası General Manager Ersin Özince, who announced that the executive committee of the bank has already launched a study to examine the issue in detail.

Speaking to the Anatolia news agency yesterday to share his views on a number of issues pertaining to the bank on the 85th anniversary of its foundation, Özince said that if the stakeholders of the bank approve taking an initiative to convert the bank into a holding company, the bank would sustain no negative effects.

He noted, however, that gathering the bank and its subsidiaries under a single roof as a holding would not be possible this year or the next. “We, too, assessed this possibility by analyzing numerous previous companies that underwent similar restructuring processes. We have examined this issue with consultancy companies,” he asserted, adding that although the administration has full confidence that becoming a holding would bring about many advantages, the final decision still belongs to the shareholders of the bank.

Özince said the most crucial factor in becoming a holding company is having adequate capital to fuel a new company’s operations. “The bank may quite easily continue good performance in its balance sheet when it uses its paid-up capital. Almost all companies abroad that underwent similar transformations were successful in the end,” he noted.

Özince also shared his views on the bank’s targets for the period ahead. He said the bank would continue investing despite harsh market conditions amid the ongoing global economic crisis without dragging its feet in the fierce race among commercial banks to increase their domestic market share.

He stated that profitability is not a valid criterion by which to measure the success of a bank, adding: “Turkish banks, specifically İş Bankası, are managing the risks and the changing conditions very well. We have been monitoring developments in the current economic crisis since 2007 and have developed various assessments about it. It was quite clear by 2007 that a serious contraction would come about in the global economy and, by 2008, a major problem would rock the financial systems of developed economies. İş Bankası was able to perceive these dangers on time and avoided taking any risks, which caused our growth rate to slow down a bit.”

The general manager, who also heads the Turkish Banks Association (TBB), said the most important dimension of profitability is carrying on with investments and increasing employment accordingly, even during the crisis. “We are not in a struggle to grow imprudently, and we are not in a race with anyone to grow,” he said. The bank plans to have 1,300 branches by the end of 2011 by opening 100 new branches each year. It will also employ 1,000 new employees to run these newly opened branches. Özince said the bank’s current investments are worth nearly TL 300 million and the momentum to invest more will continue in the coming periods.

As Pakistani officials seek support from the international community to rehabilitate the Malakand and Swat regions — which had been used by the Taliban to fight NATO forces in Afghanistan — at the border, Turkey aims to facilitate international aid to Pakistan with the help of an international forum.

“I am hopeful that the İstanbul meetings will help carry the Friends of Democratic Pakistan [FoDP] process forward in a robust, concerted and concrete manner so that tangible results can be achieved to benefit of the people of Pakistan,” said Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu during his opening speech yesterday at the ministerial meeting of the FoDP.

At the conference there are delegates from 20 countries as well as the UN, the European Commission, the EU and other international institutions such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank. Among those attending were the foreign ministers of Iran, Canada, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates and Richard Holbrooke, the US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Holbrooke, who recently visited the two countries, pledged US assistance to Pakistan to help tackle an energy crisis leaving millions of Pakistanis without power each day. He said resolving the energy shortfall and improving Pakistan’s economy was vital to ensure long-term stability. Pakistan has been trying to pull support also for its “Malakand Pilot Project,” a five-year plan to provide not only rehabilitation and reconstruction in Malakand but also to address the root causes of violence in Pakistan.

“Not long ago, terrorists and extremists sought to take Swat — one of Pakistan’s most attractive tourist destinations, a place of breathtaking natural beauty and the abode of a hospitable and tolerant people — hostage,” said Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, co-chair of the ministerial meeting. An army offensive dislodged Taliban fighters in Malakand and the adjacent Swat region after the Taliban advanced to within 60 miles ( 100 kilometers ) of the capital, Islamabad.

The FoDP group was launched a year ago under the auspices of the United Nations and held a ministerial-level meeting in Tokyo on the sidelines of a donor conference in April. The group has promised to help build dams, power stations, schools and clinics. Pakistan secured $5.7 billion in aid in April in response to a humanitarian crisis created by fighting between government forces and Taliban fighters, but only a small portion of funds has arrived.

As an incentive for investors, Pakistani officials noted that there are more than 100 British, more than 120 Chinese and about 40 US companies working in Pakistan and making huge profits.

Turkish officials said the Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency (TİKA) is present in Pakistan together with an active Turkish Red Crescent branch and several non-governmental organizations training teachers and building hospitals. Foreign ministry sources said Turkey promised $100 million to Pakistan at the Tokyo meeting and gave $10 million of it in cash.

Business meetings were under way parallel to senior officials’ meeting on Aug. 24, with prominent businessmen from Pakistan, Turkey and other countries representing different sectors. Both Davutoğlu and Qureshi emphasized the importance of public-private partnerships to help Pakistan’s democratic development.

Qureshi told Reuters that Pakistan has so far received $300 million for around 2.3 million internally dislocated people, adding that more than 90 percent had returned home. Qureshi also said the successful army offensive against the Taliban in Swat as well as the death of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud had created confidence in the Pakistani people. Mehsud led the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan movement.

“Since the news of his death, there has been disarray in their ranks, and there has been confusion. We are getting reports of serious infighting, which shows they do not have in their ranks a personality tall enough to replace Mehsud,” said Qureshi quoted by Reuters.

During yesterday’s ministerial meeting Qureshi said they look forward to the holding of the first FoDP summit, which US President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari will jointly host on Sept. 24 in New York.

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.

The abandoned building is currently registered to the Silivri Municipality as a “derelict church,” and according to the law it is a first-degree historical site that needs to be protected.

The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality has already started to restore the church as a mosque and the provincial historical sites’ protection board has approved the building of a new minaret next to it. The process began after former Silivri Mayor Hüseyin Turan, from the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, asked the metropolitan mayor from the same party, Kadir Topbaş, for help in restoring the building as a mosque.

Topbaş promised his support and the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Construction Department was given the duty of restoring it. In this year’s March 29 local elections, the opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, won the mayoral post in Silivri.

The restoration project was submitted to the provincial Cultural and Natural Resources Protection Board and was approved in 2008 as the “Ortaköy mosque restoration” despite the fact that the building was historically a church and does not look like a mosque. The same board also approved the additional project of constructing a minaret next to the building in June of this year.

In its report approving the project, the board said it had not been determined how the building was registered.

The project came to light only a week after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, accompanied by Topbaş, met with Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew and leaders of the Jewish, Armenian and Syriac communities on Büyükada, one of the Princes’ Islands off the coast of Istanbul, to listen to their concerns about the situation for minorities in Turkey.

Under the 1923 Lausanne Treaty, which established the modern Turkish Republic, Christian and Jewish communities in Turkey are recognized as official minorities, while members of Muslim communities distinct from the Turkish Sunni majority are not.

At the meeting, Erdoğan said concerns voiced by community leaders would be addressed based on democratic reforms.

Patriarchate not surprised

The Marmara village of Ortaköy had two churches when it was home to 280 Greek Orthodox households, said Dositheos Anagnostopulos, the spokesman for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate based in Istanbul.

“The church should definitely be registered somewhere, but we need to find it,” Anagnostopulos said, adding that many land documents went missing during the population transfer.

The spokesman said it was impossible for a mosque to be converted into a church in Turkey. “This has been a fact since the Ottoman times,” he said. “However, I know of no legal obstacle in Ottoman or Turkish laws to converting a church into a mosque.”

Anagnostopulos said decisions to convert churches into mosques were up to local municipal assemblies, but noted that this is prohibited under the Lausanne Treaty in certain regions, including Kadıköy and the Princes’ Islands.

Meanwhile, Culture Minister Ertuğrul Günay on Tuesday said the ministry will await a court decision regarding the conversion of the mosque. He also said perhaps the site would be used as a church in the future.

Unethical, unscientific

Oktay Ekinci, the former president of the Chamber of Architects and a professor at the Istanbul Mimar Sinan University Faculty of Fine Arts, has described the project as “unethical and unscientific.”

“Despite the fact that the building was used as a mosque in the past, it is a church. Its reuse as a mosque necessitates the approval of the Culture Ministry,” he said. “The Cultural and Natural Resources Protection Board needs to be asked to review its decision.”

According to Ekinci, the board must suspend all work on the building until the review has taken place.

“To propose, let alone approve, the addition of the minaret after consenting to a restoration without it is in violation of the principles of protecting monuments and architecture,” he said.

Fatih Terim

Turkish national team coach Fatih Terim will have a chance to take a closer look at his players’ early-season forms at the Ukraine game Wednesday.

The match in Kiev is a friendly one, but it offers a crucial final look at how the team performs at this stage, before rolling on to the final games at the World Cup qualifiers.

With the Turkcell Super League starting last weekend, most of the players are only halfway to their top forms, but Terim does not have much time to wait.

In early September, the Turkish side will play two crucial matches in Group 5 of the World Cup qualifying rounds. It will welcome Estonia on the first of September, and then will take on Bosnia and Herzegovina three days later.

Turkey is fighting for the second spot and is four points behind Bosnia and Herzegovina, so anything except six points in these two games will most likely mean Terim’s boys will have to watch next summer’s World Cup games on television.

Spain is almost guaranteed to win the group with 18 points. Bosnia and Herzegovina is second with 12 points, Turkey is third with eight and Belgium sits fourth with seven.

The Ukraine game will be Turkey’s last chance to get into form before the key September matches.

The Turkish squad is not far from the team’s regular composition, barring a couple of minor changes. Fenerbahçe’s Emre Belözoğlu and Beşiktaş veteran Yusuf Şimşek were left out of the squad, making way for Trabzonspor youngster Ceyhun Gülselam. Beşiktaş’ 18-year-old left back İsmail Köybaşı will make his first appearance for Turkey if he is used against Ukraine.

Though there are no major changes in goalkeeping and defense, the striking position looks a bit understaffed, with only Schalke 04’s Halil Altıntop, Beşiktaş forward Nihat Kahveci and Bursaspor wonder boy Sercan Yıldırım being called up.

On the Ukrainian squad, star players Anatoliy Tymoschuk and Andriy Shevchenko pose possible threats to Turkey.

The Ukraine-Turkey match kicks off at 9 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live on TRT 1.

Meanwhile, Estonia is relishing the prospect of playing against Brazil in a friendly match Wednesday.

“Brazil only has two friendlies this year. They played the first one with Italy in February and now they’re playing Estonia. We feel very proud that we’ve got the world’s absolute kings of football in Tallinn,” Estonian federation spokesman Mihkel Uiboleht told Agence France-Presse.

“Having Brazil here is like 11 Madonnas visiting Estonia, all at the same time,” Uiboleht added, referring to last week’s headline-grabbing concert in Tallinn by the eponymous Queen of Pop.

But Estonia is not blinded by the stars, even though the game has all the makings of a serious mismatch: Brazil tops the 203-team rankings established by the world football governing body, FIFA, while Estonia is 112th.

“No doubt, if you look at the statistics, Brazil is the strongest team Estonia has ever faced. But at the same time, when I watched Brazil on TV playing at the Confederations Cup this summer, I realized they are just ordinary people who also get into trouble sometimes,” coach Tarmo Ruutli told reporters Monday.

Estonia has five points from six games, and its 7-0 drubbing away in Bosnia last September contrasts with holding Turkey 0-0 at home the following month.

Estonia’s players may not be global names like the Brazilians, but Uiboleht singled out a trio on whom the team is counting: midfielder Ragnar Klavan, who plays for Dutch top-flight side Alkmaar, center-back Raio Piiroja, of Norway’s Fredrikstad, and goalkeeper Sergei Pareiko, of Russian club Tomsk.

The Brazil game is also a festival marking the 100th anniversary of competitive football in Estonia, where two local clubs first played one another in June 1909. Estonia’s international presence in football dates back to 1921, after the country emerged from the embers of Tsarist Russia.

İlber Ortaylı

Topkapı Palace was the sultan’s residence for more than 400 years and public visits were extremely restricted. Today, the whole complex is a museum and welcomes more than 2 million visitors each year. It is also now host to the office of the museum director, İlber Ortaylı.

Topkapı Palace, which Ortaylı has been in charge of since 2004, houses a great collection of private objects belonging to the sultans. “This palace is beauty without luxury, the symbol of a powerful military establishment.” Ortaylı said.

The museum enjoys the largest Muslim collection of sacred relics, brought to Istanbul after the conquest of Mamluk’s Egypt in 1517. The mantle of the Prophet, his hair and footprint along with the rod of Abraham and the swords of the first three caliphs are among the collection. But still they are perhaps not enough to strike the incredible mass of tourists that flood into the museum everyday. “It is sufficient to take a look at the superficiality with which the tourists visit the museum to understand things are not moving in the righteous direction,” Ortaylı said.

Ortaylı speaks of himself as being “born in history,” of which he eventually became a lecturer. Born in Austria, he was soon brought to Turkey. Going back and forth from Istanbul to Ankara and Vienna, Ortaylı learned one language after another and currently speaks several. “Languages are like theater, you look at the world from different angles,” he said. He is currently a member of the Macedoina Academy of Sciences and the Rome-based Societa Iranologica and vice president of the Comité International des Etudes Otoman.

Among the locations of universities he attended, first as student and then as a professor, he names Istanbul, Ankara, Chicago and Moscow. Among all, he seems to have special sentiment toward his current location. “Istanbul is magical,” Ortaylı told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review, adding that the city has changed a lot in recent decades. “You don’t breath the same atmosphere anymore. Perhaps it gained on other facets,” Ortaylı said. From the windows of his office he enjoys the same view that Mehmet the Conqueror and Suleiman I enjoyed: the palace’s park, the Bosphorus Strait and the Golden Horn.

Ortaylı is an author of more than twenty books and the public may know him through his television appearances, especially on various history programs. As a director of one of the most important museums in Istanbul, Ortaylı also has an opportunity to meet important people visiting the city, such as Pope Benedict XVI, whose picture on the wall confirms his visit.

Not hiding his disdain for journalists, Ortaylı explained with resentment how after World War II a general intellectual decadence has hit Europe and its educational system. Turkey is not rescued from the list. “Socialists,” he said, “Of course education must be guaranteed to all, but there needs to be differentiation. Classical education is not for everyone, the level has dramatically dropped.” He also fiercely attacked the globalization of cultures, seeking for differentiations in education. “We need an Indian education, a German education and an Italian one,” he says.

Ortaylı does not seem to be enthusiastic about the direction that the current affairs are taking from a cultural point of view. “The world has passed from an oral tradition to a written one. And now we are moving toward a visual tradition.” Still he recognizes that in Turkey, and especially Istanbul, people are becoming more interested in the history of their birthplaces. But according to him it is not enough. “We don’t need small changes, but a big revolution,” he says.

Ortaylı commented with irony on being a director at Topkapı Palace. He said he did not choose the position but was appointed by the government for his military service. “Of course I am learning much from this experience,” he said.

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.

“At the moment, 85 percent of tourists to Istanbul do not come to Büyükdere Avenue at all to see modern life, but visit only the old parts of the city. Once the scenic terrace of Sapphire and its shopping center opens, I believe the situation will be reversed,” Kiler told reporters in Istanbul on Tuesday. “Sapphire will become the fourth main attraction of Istanbul after Hagia Sophia, Topkapı Palace and Sultanahmet. Tour operators are already waiting for the completion of the project with great enthusiasm.”

The skyscraper will be connected to the 4.Levent metro station by an underground passage, conveniently linking it to the Beyoğlu and Taksim neighborhoods further south, said Avi Alkaş, country chairman of Jones Lang Lasalle Turkey, which manages retail-space rentals at Sapphire.

‘The place’ for Turkish design

Many of the shops will be allocated to Turkish designers and products, project architect Murat Tabanlıoğlu said. “Until now, there has been no place where the work of Turkish fashion designers like Hüseyin Çağlayan and Atıl Kutoğlu has been gathered under one roof,” he said. “The entry floor of Sapphire Çarşı will host boutiques like in Milan and Paris or Nişantaşı.”

The design of the shopping center will largely utilize authentic motifs from Istanbul architecture, including patterns from the Galata Bridge and Hagia Sophia, İznik tiles and traditional wooden materials. Parts of the complex will be named after historical shopping areas of Istanbul, including the Çiçek Pasajı (Flower Passage) and Mısır Çarşısı (Spice Bazaar).

“Istanbul itself has largely inspired the concept of the new shopping complex. There are some 218 shopping centers in Turkey today, and 5 million square meters of shopping space, so there was a need to create a unique concept,” Tabanlıoğlu added.

4,000 visitors each weekend

Alkaş of Jones Lang Lasalle estimates that some 4,000 visitors will visit Sapphire each weekend once the complex opens. “This is our calculation based on the visitor numbers to the Galata Tower in Beyoğlu, which actually has a very compact terrace” compared to the one planned for Sapphire, he said.

Istanbul needs more shopping tourism, and not only from Arab countries, Alkaş added. “Arab tourists to Turkey helped a lot during the financial crisis of 1994. But we also need shopping tourists from Iran and the Balkans, where we have arrived too late,” he said. “We should also work to attract Russian tourists to northern Turkey too, not just Antalya.”

Rents at the complex will be calculated on an individual basis, Alkaş said, adding: “We don’t have a price list, but will evaluate each retail tenant individually and see how they match the concept.”

Cristiano Ronaldo

World soccer giants spend millions on transfers despite global crisis

The ongoing global financial crisis has caused thousands of firms around the world financial difficulty, with the US, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and many other economic behemoths receiving the hardest hits from the liquidity crisis, but soccer clubs do not seem to be affected by it at all.

Many international corporations have reduced their expenditures in order to mitigate the effects of the crisis, but leading soccer teams Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Manchester United, Manchester City, Olympique Lyon, Milan, Chelsea and Liverpool have allocated about 1 billion euros to transfers this season. Shelling out 257 million euros, Spanish soccer giant Real Madrid made the greatest transfer moves of the crisis. On the Turkish front, Fenerbahçe secured the big spender slot by spending 72 million euros on transfers.

Despite deeply felt effects throughout Europe, which have caused many businesses to close and millions of people to become unemployed, the global crisis does not seem to have had any effect on soccer giants. While many firms have postponed their plans and investments because of the crisis, soccer clubs have invested millions of euros in young and promising players. No doubt, Real Madrid is the star of the world transfer market, as Real Madrid’s boss, Florentino Perez, paid 257.4 million euros (about TL 539.7 million) to transfer Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United, Kaka from Milan, Xabi Alonso from Liverpool and Karim Benzema from Lyon.

The Spanish giant is followed by Manchester City, whose chairman, United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mansur bin Zayid, has paid about 111.8 million euros (about TL 234.8 million) to acquire leading star players of the British Premier League such as Carlos Tevez, Stuart Taylor, Roque Santa Cruz, Gareth Barry, Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure. The flashiest transfer of Barcelona, which managed to grab the cup in the Champions League, was Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Spanish giant spent 86.5 million euros for its transfers, thereby getting the third slot in the European transfer market. Barcelona is followed by Inter Milan with 86.5 million euros and Lyon with 72.5 million euros.

In the European transfer market, the highest returns from transfers were obtained by Inter Milan, which earned 104 million euros (about TL 218.4 million) from the trade of players. The Italian club was followed by Manchester United with 103.1 million euros, AC Milan with 80 million euros, Porto with 65.8 million euros and FC Genua with 52.5 million euros. On the players’ front, the most expensive transfer of the season was Ronaldo, who was transferred from Manchester United to Real Madrid in return for 94 million euros (about TL 190 million). He is followed by Kaka with 65 million euros (about TL 130 million), Benzema with 35 million euros (about TL 73 million) and Tevez with 29 million euros.

Elano Blumer

According to a survey by transfermarkt.de, Portugal club Porto earned the highest income from the trade of players during the last four years, corresponding to 300 million euros. A similar trend in the transfer policies of Turkish soccer clubs is observable during the economic crisis. Fenerbahçe paid 72.2 million euros for its transfers while Galatasaray, Beşiktaş and Trabzonspor spent 51.1, 45.2 and 15.8 million euros, respectively. The rate of increase in clubs’ transfer spending is as follows: 44.4 percent for Fenerbahçe, 240 percent for Galatasaray and 96.5 percent for Beşiktaş. Trabzonspor, on the other hand, managed to secure a 45.4 percent decrease in its transfer expenditures. The most expensive player transferred by Turkish clubs this season was Brazilian player Elano at 19 million euros. According to a survey by transfermarkt.de, the Turkish Super League has a deficit of 33 million euros in the transfer market.

Baghdad

A double truck bombing tore through the village of a small Shiite ethnic minority near the northern city of Mosul, while blasts in Baghdad Monday also targeted Shiites in a wave of violence that killed at least 45 people and wounded more than 200, Iraqi officials said.

The attacks provided a grim example of US military warnings that insurgents are targeting Shiites in an effort to re-ignite the kind of sectarian violence that nearly tore the country apart in 2006 and 2007.

A double truck bombing tore through the village of a small Shiite ethnic minority near the northern city of Mosul, while blasts in Baghdad Monday also targeted Shiites in a wave of violence that killed at least 45 people and wounded more than 200, Iraqi officials said.

The attacks provided a grim example of US military warnings that insurgents are targeting Shiites in an effort to re-ignite the kind of sectarian violence that nearly tore the country apart in 2006 and 2007. The US military has stressed that despite the rise in attacks, the Shiites are showing restraint and not retaliating as they did more than two years ago when a similar series of attacks and bombings provoked a Shiite backlash that degenerated into a sectarian slaughter claiming tens of thousands of lives.

The deadliest blast on Monday was a double truck bombing in Khazna village, just east of Mosul, home of the Shabak, a small Shiite ethnic group in the north. The Shabak who have their own distinct language and belief system are part of the mosaic of ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq’s north that include Yazidis, Assyrian Christians, Turkomen Shiites and Kurds — all of whom have been targeted in the past by Sunni Arab insurgents.

The two explosives-laden trucks went off nearly simultaneously and less than 500 yards apart, killing at least 28 people and wounding 138, said police and hospital officials. The US military confirmed at least 25 were killed.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but it bore the hallmarks of al-Qaeda in Iraq and other Sunni insurgents who remain active in Mosul and surrounding areas. Witnesses described a chaotic scene of rescuers searching through the rubble of at least 15 houses that were destroyed. Many of the dead and wounded were sleeping on their roofs because of the summer heat.

The explosions left a 7-foot (2 meter) crater and reduced the neighborhood to piles of bricks, twisted metal and smoking debris. Family members pulled the wounded from the debris and carried them to safety, as ambulances wailed through the neighborhood.

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Women sat on mounds of rubble crying and the men sifted through the debris trying to recover what belongings they could. Mahmoud Hussein, 28, said he was asleep on a roof, about 150 yards (140 meters) away from the truck bombs, when then explosion flattened his house.

”If we had slept inside, we would have been killed,” said Hussein, who received a head wound from flying debris. Qusay Abbas, who represents the Shabak minority as a member of the Ninevah provincial council, blamed security forces for failing to secure the area on the eastern outskirts of Mosul, which the US has called the last stronghold of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

“I blame everyone who wants to divide Iraq, and every sectarian official shoulders responsibility for this crime,” Abbas said. The village was a relatively easy target because it lacked many of the security measures prevalent in larger cities. A similar attack by a suicide truck bomber against a small Turkomen Shiite village on Friday flattened a mosque and killed 44.

Saudi mufti calls swine flu deaths 'martyrdom'

Saudi mufti calls swine flu deaths ‘martyrdom’

The legal adviser in the Saudi ministry of justice has reassured Muslims that whoever dies of swine flu will get the reward of a ‘martyr’.

In an interview with the Okaz daily, Sheikh Muhsin al-Ubaikan said the spread of swine flu as a pandemic is tantamount to plague.

The senior Saudi legal scholar referred to what he said was a saying by the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) that can be explained to mean that plague victims are martyrs.

Seven people have died of swine flu in Saudi Arabia so far and the epidemic has caused some Muslim countries to abstain from sending pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for hajj.

Meanwhile, Muslim clerics do not approve the Saudi verdict calling it irrational, “Anyone considering himself a martyr for dying while performing Hajj is a fool,” said Abdul Moati Bayoumi, a member of the Islamic Research Centre, an influential arm of al-Azhar, which is the Sunni Muslim world’s most prestigious religious institution.

“Islam prohibits its followers from putting themselves at risk,” Bayoumi commented.

H1N1 swine flu has swept around the world in weeks, infecting millions and killing more than 800 by official counts. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that the pandemic could worsen as temperatures cool in the Northern Hemisphere.

There is a war between rich and poor

There is a war between rich and poor

As Leonard Cohen sang live to a lucky few Wednesday, a few unlucky fans battled to hear the Canadian crooner from beyond the walls of the concert hall and became living proof of the singer’s own words: “There is a war between the rich and poor.”

It was a group of fans that Leonard Cohen was not able to see: The free riders who could not afford the high ticket prices but still did not want to miss the Canadian artist’s first performance in Turkey.

They had only one choice – to wait outside the Cemil Topuzlu Concert Hall on Wednesday and listen to Cohen’s music through the walls.

On the way of the concert, some people stopped others and asked for an extra ticket, which was more like “waiting for the miracle,” as one of Cohen’s famous songs suggested.

The ticket prices were between 102 and 275 Turkish Liras, and the cheap seats were already sold out. The lucky ones, who had tickets in their hands, stood in a long queue at the entrance.

Just when everything seemed normal, a group of 20 protesters suddenly gathered at the entrance and started shouting slogans, demanding that Cohen not perform in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Cohen became the center of the activist group’s criticism because he is scheduled to play a concert Sept. 24 and refused to take part in the Cultural Boycott of Israel campaign. Now, Turkish activists were taking their part in protests.

One said, “Everybody knows Israel is a killer,” referring to lyrics from Cohen’s famous song, “Everybody knows,” while another one yelled, “Do as Bono and Roger Waters did, remember Gaza, don’t play Israel.” Some of the audience criticized protesters as they said, “No politics in art,” forgetting Cohen’s lyrics, songs and attitude.

The protesters said, “Go to Ramallah, not Tel Aviv,” but this time forgetting the ticket prices. Could Palestinians attend the concert? “Everybody knows” they could not.

When the clocks struck nine, only protesters and a handful of people were left behind. Cohen fans without tickets gathered in front of the door and found a place for themselves on the low walls, sitting on the stairs. Then Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review reporters joined them and asked a few questions about their uncomfortable but free-of-charge concert night.

“I have known about Cohen for two years, and I love his music. But we do not have tickets because they are really expensive,” Ziya Çavumirza, 29, said. “If it were around 40-50 liras, I could buy one.”

He said he would try his chance once more on Thursday for the last of his back-to-back shows in Istanbul.

“It is Cohen’s first time here in Turkey,” Çavumirza said. “I do not think he will ever come again.”

A few steps away, another group of friends said they spent their money at another festival.

Murat Arda, editor of the Web-based magazine Deli Kasap, was one of the outsiders. “He will be on stage for two nights,” he said. “In spite of that, the tickets are really expensive.”

Unlike Çayumirza, Arda was not planning to go on the second day “because we cannot hear anything from here.”

For 31-year-old Zeynep Arat, it was not only a matter of having 100 liras to spend.

“If I paid that much money for a ticket, I could not have fun thinking whether those songs were worth it,” Arat said.

Another fan, who declined to give his name, disagreed that prices were high.

‘There is a war between rich and poor’

“It is not worth asking this question even if a single person buys one ticket and if almost all of the tickets are sold,” he said, adding that it was more fun outside the concert hall.

The people gathered outside had poor sound and no vision of Cohen, but the weather and the stars were on their side. It was one of Istanbul’s best summer nights, with a light breeze blowing and the full moon offering a scene while listening to the music.

But it all went sour when the sound from the concert, which was already weak, became totally inaudible after an upscale restaurant next door began playing music.

Just before the first half of the concert ended, security guards tried to evacuate the area saying, “This place belongs to the Harbiye Municipality, and we have the right to get you out of here.” As some “free-riders” refused to leave the place, one security guy said, “If you wanted to listen, you should have bought tickets.”

As people still refused to leave, the security claimed that the staff gave them instructions and that they were “only following orders.”

When the second half of the concert began, a few of the audience left for different reasons. Some of them said they had something important to do but still came for the first hour since they did not want to miss Cohen’s live performance. The ones who gave tens of liras for just an hour and the ones who tried to listen to Cohen through the walls reflected what Cohen wrote in “There Is a War”: “There is a war between rich and poor.”

Espanyol captain Daniel Jarque died of heart failure..

Espanyol skipper dies of heat failure at age 26

Espanyol captain Daniel Jarque died of heart failure Saturday in his team’s hotel on the eve of a friendly against Bologna in Italy.

Bologna said the 26-year-old central defender was found unconscious in his hotel room in the evening and was taken to a hospital, but “it was not possible to save his life.”

Espanyol said on its Web site that Jarque failed to respond to several attempts to resuscitate him.

“The doctor carried out CPR on the player and used a defibrillator, which showed that the arrest was non-responsive,” Espanyol said. “After a few minutes, the first ambulance arrived from the Florence emergency services, who tried again with the defibrillator they carried.

“The medical services continued carrying out CPR, administering adrenaline and atropine for an hour. But the player’s heart did not react, so finally that determined his death.”

Italian sports daily Gazzetta dello Sport said Jarque was on the phone with his girlfriend when he suddenly fell silent and the woman then alerted club officials.

Espanyol is on a preseason training camp and had earlier held a practice session in Coverciano, a suburb of Florence. Sunday’s match against Bologna has been canceled and the team will fly back to Barcelona.

Arsenal and Valencia held a minute’s silence in the middle of their preseason friendly at Mestalla stadium Saturday night.

Jarque joined Espanyol at the age of 12, making his debut in 2002 and being part of the team that won the Copa del Rey in 2006. Last month, Jarque was given the club captaincy. He also helped Spain win the European under-19 championship in 2003.

Barcelona and Real Madrid, both on tour in the United States, sent their respect.

“That such a young man, a great professional and sportsman, has suffered this has left us very upset. From here, our sincerest condolences,” Raul told sports daily Marca.

Barcelona will wear black armbands in its match Sunday against Chivas in San Francisco.

“We are greatly dismayed by this tragic event and we deeply regret it,” Barcelona president Joan Laporta said.

There have been other players who have died of heart failure during their careers.

Cameroon midfielder Marc-Vivien Foe died during a 2003 Confederations Cup semifinal against Colombia at age 28. He was later discovered to have had a heart condition.

Sevilla midfielder Antonio Puerta collapsed during a 2007 league game against Getafe and died three days later following a prolonged cardiac arrest at age 22.

Motherwell midfielder Phil O’Donnell died after collapsing during a 2007 match against Dundee United in the Scottish league at the age of 35. An autopsy revealed he had died of heart failure.

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.

The two groups represented, respectively, the families of soldiers who have been killed and wounded in the line of duty and the families of dead PKK militants. Mothers from the Mesopotamia Families group gave white headscarves to those who came from Ankara as a symbol of peace. There were also gazis present at the meeting.

According to tradition in the southeast and east of the country, if, during a clash between two men, the mother or a close female relative of one of the men takes off her white headscarf and throws it between the combatants, it means the argument is over and the two sides need to make up.

Müslüm Öztürk, the head of the Ankara-based organization, said at a press conference that the group had come to extend its condolences to those mothers “who lost their loved ones in this war between brothers.”

“One thing is certain. Blood cannot wipe away blood. These mothers have paid the ultimate price. We don’t want anyone else to feel the pain they felt,” said Öztürk.

Kurds and Turks who have shared the land for a thousand years are obliged to share their grief too, Öztürk said, adding: “Why should we share blood and tears when we could share happiness?”

He said the duty of members of both groups was to ensure their children grow up to share a beautiful and peaceful future.

“Diyarbakır is hosting this historic gathering. This meeting is the greatest act for peace,” said Hasan Kesmeci, the head of the Diyarbakır-based organization.

The meeting was attended by 20 mothers who had lost sons during the clashes between the military and the outlawed PKK. Among them were Hayriye Doğan and Sakine Arat, each of whom had lost three sons. All six men were PKK members.

Peace patrol

Meanwhile, a group of women around the country met over the weekend to attend a “peace patrol” on the Berçalan Plateau, in the southeastern province of Hakkari, under the slogan, “We have something to say and we have the power to bring peace.”

The group of around 100 women, including members of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, or DTP, and the Green Party, as well as journalists, academics and members of the Peace Initiative Movement, will erect tents on the plateau and stay there for two days, until Tuesday.

“We, as the women of Turkey, aim to ensure the Kurdish issue is resolved in a democratic and peaceful way,” said Tuğçe Tütekçi, speaking for the group.

She said the women would share their experiences about the violence-filled decades, during which emergency rule was imposed on much of the southeast in the 1990s, and try to better understand each other.

Mosque

From church to mosque: İstanbul’s forgotten Byzantine heritage

Is it a church? Is it a mosque? Is it a museum? Aya Sofya (Hagia Sophia, the Church of Divine Wisdom) may be one of İstanbul’s most famous buildings, but it’s also one that suffers from an acute identity crisis, having started life as the great sixth century church of the Emperor Justinian, before becoming a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453 and then a museum in 1935 after Mustafa Kemal Atatürk declared the Turkish Republic.

Something similar happened to Chora, near Edirnekapı, which also kicked off as a church before becoming the Kariye Camii (mosque) in the early 16th century. It too is now a museum and makes a wonderful showcase for the mosaics and frescoes of 14th century Byzantium.

Aya Sofya and the Chora Museum feature on most tourist itineraries. Visitors to Topkapı Sarayı will also walk past Hagia Eirene, the Church of Divine Peace, which was built in 537 at about the same time as Hagia Sophia. This church is used as an atmospheric concert hall during İstanbul music festivals but is not otherwise open to the public, which is a great shame. However, dotted about the historic peninsula of Old İstanbul, there are several other buildings that started life as Byzantine churches before acquiring a new Islamic identity after the conquest. Fascinating places, they are at the same time living features of the city as it is now and poignant reminders of what it was in the past, and once you know what you’re looking for, it’s not hard to pick them out since most look pretty similar: their central domes standing proud above red brick walls with at least one apse indicating where the altar would once have stood.

For most visitors, the easiest to find of the other church-mosques is the one known as Küçük Aya Sofya (Little Aya Sofya), which is just a short walk downhill from the Blue Mosque. Küçük Aya Sofya started life as the church of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus and was commissioned by the Emperor Justinian in 527, five years before work began on the much larger Hagia Sophia. Its rather plain outside gives no hint at the beauty of the interior where a two-story colonnade runs round an octagonal hall beneath an exquisite dome. The columns still retain their beautifully carved Byzantine capitals, some of them still showing off the initials of Justinian and his wife Theodora. Sergius and Bacchus, Roman soldiers who had been martyred for espousing Christianity, were said to have appeared to the Emperor Anastasius in a dream, pleading for Justinian, who faced execution for plotting against him, hence his enthusiasm for building a church in their honor as soon as he succeeded to the throne.

Church of Sts. Sergius, Bacchus

In the 16th century, the Church of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus was converted into a mosque and acquired not just a minaret but also a courtyard with cells opening off it which now serve as craft workshops. Recently the mosque was comprehensively restored. Opinions vary as to the end result.

Küçük Aya Sofya still functions as a mosque, but another of the city’s great Byzantine churches, the Theotokos Pammakaristos, better known as the Fethiye Cami, has been subdivided so that one side can be used for mosque services while the other is a museum. This gem of a building deserves to receive many more visitors than currently cross its threshold. It appears to have started life in the 12th century as the Church of the Joyous Mother of God but had a side chapel added in the 14th century. This was embellished with mosaics that are only less impressive than those in the Chora Museum because there are fewer of them; the Pantocrator in the dome, for example, is breathtakingly beautiful and completely intact. To find it, you need walk only a short distance from the Chora Museum. What’s more, you pay just a third of the Chora admission fee to view it.

Of the other church-mosques dotted about Old İstanbul, the most important must be what is now the Zeyrek Camii but which started life as the Church of the Pantocrator in the early 12th century. Zeyrek Camii has a magnificent location on a bluff overlooking the Golden Horn. However, until recently it stood in a very poor neighborhood and was in an advanced state of dereliction, its magnificent mosaic floor hidden away beneath shabby carpets. All that is about to change, though, as the entire complex of two churches and a chapel is currently undergoing restoration. Once the covers come off, hopefully by the start of next year, the Zeyrek Camii is likely to scoop up far more visitors.

Neglected structures

The city’s other church-mosques tend to be more neglected. Take the Church of Constantine Lips (otherwise known as Fenari İsa Camii), for example. Dating back in part to the 10th century, this is one of the oldest religious structures to survive in the city, and stands right beside busy Vatan Caddesi, but how many people ever pause to look at it and wonder at its complicated history, let alone hang around until prayer time in the hope of sneaking a look inside? The cute little Church of the Myrelaion (a.k.a. Bodrum Camii) also dates back to the 10th century and can be found tucked away in the back streets of Laleli amid the cheap clothing emporia. Most people walk straight past it without giving it a second glance.

You’ll need to hunt a bit harder to track down the Gül Camii (Rose Mosque) in Cibali. This probably started life in the 10th century as the Church of St. Theodosia whose feast day was May 29, the very day on which it became obvious that Constantinople would not be able to hold out against the forces of Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror. In their fear, the city’s inhabitants flocked to the church and filled it with roses as they prayed to the saint for salvation. When the Ottomans rode up to the church, they found the flowers still in place, hence the name they gave to the building when they converted it into a mosque.

A short walk deeper into the Zeyrek backstreets should bring you to the slightly smaller 11th century Church of St. Savior Pantepotes (Christ the All Seeing). This was used as a soup kitchen during the years when Fatih Cami was being built, hence its name, the Eski İmaret Camii (the Old Soup Kitchen Mosque). If you press on into Vefa, you should be able to find a mosque that actually acknowledges its heritage in its name; the Kilise Camii (Church Mosque) seems to have started life between the 10th and 12th centuries as the Church of St. Theodore, but probably acquired the mosaics in its narthex during the 14th century since they bear some resemblance to those in the Chora Museum. The façade of the building incorporates many fragments of Byzantine marble, which makes it well worth a look even if you don’t manage to get inside. Finally, if you continue walking into the Süleymaniye area, you should eventually stumble upon, right up against the old aqueduct, the late 12th century Church of the Theotokas Kyriotissa (Holy Mother of God), which went on to become the Kalenderhane Camii, its name commemorating the fact that it was used as a tekke (lodge) by Kalender dervishes. The walls of the church were once covered with frescoes showing the life of St. Francis of Assisi. These have, however, been removed to the Archeological Museum, where sadly they are not currently on display.

Origin: Today’s Zaman

Deniz Baykal

Military reaction to Kurdish initiative falls short of opposition expectations

The preference of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) to remain silent on the government’s most recent Kurdish initiative has become a source of disappointment for Turkey’s opposition parties, which were expecting the military to demonstrate a strong reaction against the initiative.

Leaders of the opposition parties — the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) -– believe the military’s silence on government plans to settle the long-standing Kurdish question means indirect support of the initiative.

The government has recently been working on a comprehensive plan to solve the decades-old Kurdish question. Interior Minister Beşir Atalay, also the coordinator of the initiative, did not offer much detail on the plan but just said it would enable Kurdish citizens to enjoy broader cultural rights.

The opposition has, however, expressed disapproval of the efforts being made toward a solution. The MHP said it would never be a party to ongoing efforts to that end, adding that it would consider every person who contributes to the Kurdish initiative a “traitor.”

The CHP criticized Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for meeting with representatives from the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), claiming that the prime minister held talks with an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).Since there has been a lack of comments or reactions from the TSK against the Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) efforts to prepare the necessary atmosphere for the solution to the Kurdish question, the CHP believes the military is maintaining its silence due to pressure from the United States. The MHP, on the other hand, believes the ongoing probe into Ergenekon — a clandestine terrorist organization accused of plotting to overthrow the government – is forcing the TSK to refrain from expressing its opinion on the Kurdish initiative.

During a reception he attended on Aug. 2, Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ said the Turkish military would give a message on the Kurdish initiative if it feels the need for it.

According to analysts, the military’s silence, so far, on the Kurdish initiative is a strong sign that the TSK has finally understood that methods used until now will no longer help fight terrorism and will not solve the Kurdish problem.

“Thus, the TSK prefers to allow the political authorities to settle the problem. The military remains silent on the initiative because it does not wish to accept the Democratic Society Party [DTP] or the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party [PKK] as an interlocutor in the solution. If the ruling party becomes successful and settles the problem, then army members will act as if they supported the initiative by keeping silent. If the ruling party fails, then they will back opposition parties in their reaction against the government plan on the Kurdish question,” analysts stated.

Eye-catching change in the military’s stance

The military has recently seen a considerable change in its position against Kurdish citizens.

Army chief Başbuğ stressed during a press conference on April 15, 2009 that the Republic of Turkey was founded by the “public of Turkey.” Dwelling on this definition, he recalled a quote by the founder of the republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who once said, “The public who established the Republic of Turkey is called the public of Turkey.”

Başbuğ also called on the state to make necessary amendments to the law to enable PKK members to lay down arms and leave the mountains. “A terrorist is also a human,” he said.

The TSK’s “humanistic” attitude toward Kurds was followed in late July by a visit by three gendarmerie officers who conveyed their condolences to the families of two DTP members who were found dead.

All this pointed to an eye-catching change in the position of the military toward Kurdish citizens. In the past, TSK members did not attend receptions given in Parliament as DTP officials were in attendance.

CHP contradicts its past Kurdish initiative

A staunch opposition by CHP leader Deniz Baykal toward the government’s efforts to settle the Kurdish question contradicts his party’s past similar initiatives.

In a December 2007 speech, Baykal underlined that Turkey’s relations with northern Iraq should not be deemed restricted to terrorism. He called on the government to devise plans for the upcoming decades concerning northern Iraq in the fields of economy and trade. He also asked government officials to bring Kurdish youths from northern Iraq to Turkey for them to receive education in Turkish universities.

Similarly, during his visit to southeastern Şanlıurfa ahead of the March 29, 2009 local elections, the CHP leader said he welcomed the presence of all ethnicities in Turkey.

“We have Arabs, Albanians, Kurds and Caucasians. People’s different ethnicities inflict no damage on our state. Everyone should be allowed to learn their mother tongue and have TV stations and newspapers in their own language. Ethnicities are a source of honor for the state,” he said.

The main opposition party has, however, recently removed a democratization and human rights report created in 1999 from its Web site.

The CHP’s democratization report, which has been on the party’s Web site since the day the site went live, includes the stipulation that Turkey needs a new and more democratic constitution to replace the 1982 Constitution, usually regarded as a remnant of the Sept. 12, 1980 coup d’etat.

MHP believes Ergenekon probe behind military’s silence

According to the MHP, the TSK is silent in the face of the government’s plans to settle the Kurdish question because of the ongoing Ergenekon investigation.

Currently several members of the military, including retired generals, are in jail pending trial on charges of planning a coup d’etat against the government.

MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli accused the government of trying to break down and divide the country. Bahçeli claimed that his party and supporters were ready to go to the mountains for 50 years to prevent the separation of the country.

“If you want to let those who have been in the mountains for 25 years divide the country, there is the MHP, which is ready to live in the mountains for 50 years to prevent it,” he said.

The DTP, on the other hand, believes that Turkey would not reach a full solution to the Kurdish question unless efforts to that end are supported by the CHP and the MHP.

“If the Kurdish question is to be discussed and solved on a political platform, then the contributions of the CHP and the MHP are of the utmost importance. This is a period of discussion, and we all need to approach it with good will. We should keep this discussion going [until the solution],” stated Selahattin Demirtaş, the DTP’s parliamentary group chairman.

Origin: Today’s Zaman

Fenerbahce S.K. Turkey Super Cup Final Win..

The Turkish Super Cup will be back on home soil this year when last season’s league champion and cup finalist clash Sunday night at Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul.

The cup final has been played in Germany since it was re-launched three years ago following an eight-year break. The move was an attempt to promote the Turkish league among Turks in Europe, and officials must think that purpose has been accomplished.

In this year’s game, Turkcell Super League champion Beşiktaş will take on cup finalist Fenerbahçe, as Beşiktaş also won the Fortis Turkish Cup last season against its archrival. The game will be played at 9 p.m. in Istanbul’s Atatürk Olympic Stadium, a venue not so popular among football fans due to the difficulty of transportation access.

The two team’s fans will be brought to the stadium by public buses on two different routes. Fenerbahçe fans will be picked up from the Salı Pazarı, or Tuesday Market, in Kadıköy and in Yenibosna on the city’s Asian side, while Beşiktaş supporters will meet in Levent and Dolmabahçe on the European side.

Fenerbahçe will try to further its good performance against Hungarian Honmved in the Europa League. The Istanbul side won 5-1 in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League’s third qualifying round at Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium on Thursday night, as silent striker Daniel Güiza scored his first hat trick for the winning side. Brazilian Roberto Carlos, who was substituted due to injury at the 13th minute, and Alex de Souza added one each.

Coach Cristoph Daum said he was delighted with the Spaniard’s performance. “We have all seen what kind of striker Daniel is,” he told a post-game press conference. “As the Spanish would say, he is our ‘goaliator.’”

There has been much speculation about Güiza’s future since the end of the season, but he seems to be settling in, at least for now. “I’m very happy here,” he said after the game. “I have three more years on my contract, and I will be staying until the end of it. Everybody, including coach Daum, has confidence in me; I have no intention of leaving.”

The Turkish Super Cup survived the risk of being postponed. Had Beşiktaş won against Portugal’s Porto on Wednesday night in the Peace Cup, a friendly pre-season tournament, it would have booked a place in Friday’s semifinal, delaying its return to Turkey. But after a goalless draw, the team is back in Istanbul and is gearing up for success against its archrival.

Beşiktaş has been silent in the post-season except for its competition with Fenerbahçe to sign Kayserispor’s Mehmet Topuz. The player, who first announced that had had agreed to join Beşiktaş and signed an initial contract, later signed with Fenerbahçe. If he finds a place in the Fenerbahçe squad Sunday night, Beşiktaş supporters will surely protest his presence.

The happiest piece of news this off-season for Beşiktaş is the return of forward Nihat Kahveci from Villareal. After spending seven years in the Spanish Premier League, five seasons at Real Sociedad and two with Villareal, the Turkish international decided to come back to his former club, where he started playing football. Beşiktaş coach Mustafa Denizli will want to make best use of the prominent player if he wants to succeed against Fenerbahçe.

Tickets for the game are available from Biletix for 20 to 40 Turkish Liras.

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.

Admiral Metin Atac, the Commander of the Turkish Naval Forces, will retire and be replaced by Admiral Esref Ugur Yigit on August 30. General Aydogan Babaoglu, the Commander of the Turkish Air Force, will also retire and be replaced by General Hasan Aksay.

The YAS will end its meeting on August 4. The YAS decisions will be presented to the approval of President Abdullah Gul and then be made public.

Analysts say one of the most critical topics in the meeting is expected to be the situation of a controversial navy colonel.

Dursun Çiçek came under spotlight recently when a Turkish newspaper published a document which claimed to be aiming to finish off the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, and one of its supporters, a religious sect headed by Fethullah Gülen.

The army concluded in an investigation that the document is fake. Çiçek is set to be promoted in this year’s YAS meeting.

Origin: hurriyetdailynews

Akparti

Despite problems, AK Party would win if vote held today

The results of a July survey suggest that had polls been held in that month, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) would still be the top party, with 42.7 percent of the national vote.

According to a report in the Habertürk daily, a survey conducted by the Consensus Research Consultancy Company showed only three parties managing  to pass the 10 percent threshold to enter Parliament: the incumbent AK Party with 42.7 percent of the vote, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) with 24.3 percent and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) with 15.9 percent. For the AK Party, this symbolizes a 4 percent increase in support in the four months since the March 29 local elections earlier this year in which the party garnered 38.4 percent of the vote.

According to the report, despite concerns over unemployment, the cost of living, terrorism, justice and relations with the European Union, the AK Party administration has maintained its popularity. According to the survey voters think that the AK Party has regressed in its EU bid: 63.8 percent of participants said Turkey had poor relations with the EU, 19.3 percent said the relations were good and 19.9 percent said there had been no change since the AK Party’s first term in office, when it aggressively pursued the EU target.

As for terrorism, 55.1 percent of respondents said the problem of terrorism was getting worse, while 23.7 percent said it was improving and 21.2 percent said the problem remained static. Most respondents don’t think the developments in Turkey’s justice system indicate a positive trend, with 48.6 percent saying the system is worsening, 29.8 percent saying there have been some positive developments and 22.2 percent saying there has been no change.

Two topics on which the AK Party didn’t fail with survey participants were Turkey’s health system and democracy. Sixty-four percent said the health system has improved over the course of the last two years, while 24 percent said it had worsened and 13.8 percent said they had observed no change. On the subject of Turkey’s difficulty with the process of democratization, 35.3 percent said they had seen an improvement, 33.4 percent had observed a decline and 31.3 percent said they had seen no change.

A full 73.8 percent of survey respondents said that the unemployment problem in Turkey had worsened, with 12.5 percent observing an improvement and 13.8 percent saying there had been no change. As for the cost of living, 68.4 percent said things were getting excessively expensive, 12 percent said things were becoming more affordable and 19.6 percent said there had been no change. When it came to the economy as a whole, 63.8 percent said things had taken a turn for the worse, while 19.3 percent cited an improvement and 19.9 percent said there had been no change. On the topic of fairness in income distribution, 63.3 percent said there had been a worsening, 15.4 percent said there had been an improvement and 21.4 percent said things had remained the same for the past two years.

Origin: Today’s Zaman

In the wake of increasing calls from the United Nations and the European Union, Turkey has decided to lift geographical limitations to its Refugee Convention, a system which has been criticized for discriminating against asylum seekers based on their country of origin, Today's Zaman has learned.

In the wake of increasing calls from the United Nations and the European Union, Turkey has decided to lift geographical limitations to its Refugee Convention, a system which has been criticized for discriminating against asylum seekers based on their country of origin, Today’s Zaman has learned.

Turkey was among the drafters and original signatories of the 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees; however, it is one of the few countries that continue to maintain a “geographical limitation” to the applicability of the convention. Hence, Turkey is not obligated to apply the convention to refugees coming from outside Europe. The EU is pressuring Turkey to lift the limitation as one of the many preconditions that Turkey must meet during the pre-accession period for EU membership. Turkey has also been bitterly criticized by refugee advocacy groups as well as human rights groups for clinging to this limitation.

Turkey drew strong criticism for its asylum procedure in reports prepared on the occasion of June 20, World Refugee Day, which prompted Turkish authorities to revise the country’s asylum procedure. In line with Turkey’s bid to harmonize its legislation regarding asylum and immigration with that of the EU, the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government has prepared an action plan and submitted it to the EU which foresees revision of the status of refugees. The government plans to put this plan into action by 2010, and the last phase of this plan foresees the elimination of geographical limitations by the year 2012

In line with the action plan, the government plans to build seven shelters for refugees, pass and implement an immigration law and establish an asylum and immigration directorate in the body of the Interior Ministry by 2010. Despite its earlier pledges to the EU to build 13 shelters for refugees, Turkey has failed to keep that promise. İstanbul (two shelters), Antalya, Van, Ankara, Çanakkale and Edirne are planned to be the sites of the seven new shelters the government plans to build for the refugees.

Geographical limitation to be lifted in 2012
Turkey is concerned that it will draw a huge number of refugees from the Middle East, Africa and Asia, where many suffer from wars and instability, if it lifts the geographical limitation; however, the EU and the UN find Turkey’s concerns unfounded because the number of refugees who travel through Turkey and apply for asylum in third countries does not exceed 5,000 in a year, according to UN data. The EU also wants Turkey to not mix up its illegal immigration issue with the refugee issue. So, Turkey has pledged that it will lift its Additional Protocol, signed in 1967 and adding a geographical limitation to its Geneva Convention responsibilities, in the last phase of its action plan, in 2012.

Turkey has been a main actor on the Eurasian migration scene, first as a country of origin and then as one of destination and transit.

According to Turkey, the EU is pursuing a discriminatory policy in its treatment of refugees, as EU countries such as Greece, Italy and Spain accept refugees who have the workforce potential necessary for the EU but unqualified asylum seekers are deported.

Turkey needs to sign readmission agreements with 24 countries
In line with its action plan, Turkey needs to sign readmission agreements with its neighbors. A readmission agreement Turkey signed with Romania is not yet in practice, and Turkey is still continuing talks with the Russian Federation, Uzbekistan, Hungary, Belarus, Ukraine, Lebanon, Macedonia, Egypt and Libya in a bid to sign readmission agreements. However, before these are completed Turkey wants to sign readmission agreements with countries which are the main sources of its illegal immigrants, such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, India, China, Tunisia, Mongolia, Israel, Georgia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Algeria, Morocco, Nigeria and Kazakhstan. Turkey has not been able to conclude talks with any of these countries so far.

According to a report released by Amnesty International (AI) on June 20, there are currently 18,000 asylum seekers in Turkey. AI accuses Turkey of collecting an asylum fee of nearly TL 250 from asylum seekers and preventing those who fail to pay this amount from settling in a safe country. Turkey made no promises to the EU to remove the asylum fee.

The action plan Turkey submitted to the EU regarding its asylum procedure also makes assessments about the situation of asylum seekers worldwide. The report, which was prepared in line with data from AI, shows that 42 million people around the world had to leave their homes by the end of 2008; 15.2 million of these people were refugees, 827,000 of them were asylum seekers and 26,000 were displaced people. One of the things Turkey pointed out in its report was the instability in neighboring countries. Claiming that developed countries do not act sincerely on refugees and asylum seekers, Turkey, referring to data from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said the most sensitive countries about refugees were developing countries.

The report also said developing countries host around 85 percent of the refugees and asylum seekers in the world, with Pakistan, which is the country sending the most asylum seekers to Turkey, hosting 1.8 million asylum seekers, Iran hosting 1 million asylum seekers and Syria hosting 1.2 million asylum seekers. The report asks the EU to not ignore the fact that the countries which send the most asylum seekers to the world are neighbors to Turkey.

In the report, the government claims that developed countries place the responsibility on the shoulders of the developing or less-developed countries regarding the problems of the refugees and that the refugee problems can only be resolved with the initiative of the developed countries. Due to their limited financial means, it is impossible for developing nations to solve the refugee problems alone; hence, developed nations should extend financial aid to them to tackle the problem.

origin: today’s zaman

Car Bomb In Spain

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Investigators walk through debris and damaged vehicles outside a Civil Guard barracks in the northern Spanish city of Burgos on Wednesday after a car bomb explosion that wounded at least 60 people.

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The attack was blamed on the Basque separatist group ETA. ETA did not phone in a warning as it typically does before most attacks, so authorities had no time to evacuate the 14-story building in Burgos, police said. There were around 120 people in the barracks and surrounding buildings, a third of them children, when the explosion went off at 4 a.m. on Wednesday.

Most of the injuries were from flying glass, and 38 of the wounded were treated in a hospital, the Interior Ministry said.

Officials expressed surprise no one was killed in the blast, which blew off much of the barracks’ facade. Nearby residential dwellings had their windows and some walls blown in by the force of the explosion.

The bomb left a crater that filled with water from broken underground pipes and hurled the van that carried it about 230 feet (70 meters) away.

ETA has killed more than 825 people since it launched a campaign in 1968 for an independent homeland in Basque region of northern Spain.

Burgos, a regional capital, contains a historic city center and major tourist attractions in a province bordering the Basque region. It was ETA’s eighth attack this year, further proof the militant group is still an active force despite major police crackdowns in Spain and France. Spain’s government claims after each ETA arrest, including those of many leaders, that the group has been decapitated, but the attacks have continued.

Members of Spain’s paramilitary Civil Guard police force often live in barracks with their spouses and children. The force is chiefly in charge of policing rural areas and guarding official buildings.

Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba rushed to the scene and condemned the bombing.

“The attack aimed to cause deaths,” he told reporters. “Forty-one girls and boys were sleeping and could simply have been killed in what was a major car bomb.

“This wasn’t just directed at those that work in the Civil Guard, which is detestable in itself, but it was aimed at hurting their families, giving it an added repulsive aspect.” He said all of the injured had been discharged from the hospital by midday.

The minister said the van had used false license plates and had probably been stolen in France. He said no warning call had been received, but said this was not so unusual for ETA when it attacked the Civil Guard. Rubalcaba said it was too early to give details on the size of the bomb. News reports cited police investigators as saying it contained up to 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of explosive.

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

Since its inception, NATO has regularly reviewed its tasks and objectives in view of the evolution of the strategic environment. Allies decided at a summit last spring to replace the current strategic concept that was endorsed in 1999.

They asked the secretary-general to convene and lead a broad-based group of qualified experts, who in close consultation with all allies will lay the ground for the secretary-general to develop a new strategic concept and submit proposals for its implementation for approval at next year’s summit.

The Turkish government has nominated Pamir, a veteran diplomat, to work on the committee. While the official decision will be made public Monday, the Daily News has learned that Pamir was picked to work in the committee that is expected to be headed by a former U.S. secretary of state. The committee will table proposals on how the alliance could better address current threats ranging from energy security to proliferation, cyber defense and terrorism.

Prominent diplomat:

Pamir is one of the most prominent diplomats in the Turkish foreign ministry. He is very familiar with NATO issues as he was last posted to NATO’s headquarters in Brussels as the Turkish representative, before he went into retirement. He also worked at the U.N. headquarters in New York as a Turkish representative and took an active role in the talks in the Swiss town of Bürgenstock, where negotiations between relevant parties took place to finalize the so-called “Annan Plan” on the Cyprus dispute. He also served as the Turkish ambassador to Athens. In his new mission, Pamir will not represent Turkey but will work on behalf of NATO’s secretary-general.

While Turkey apprehends the importance of preparing NATO for current challenges, it does not want its conventional missions to be diluted. In this sense, Turkey gives special importance to Article 5 of the charter, which lays out collective defense.

“While it is important to deal with out-of-area threats like Afghanistan that stay outside the initial theater in which NATO used to function, we believe the Alliance’s initial objective, that is, the defense of its members, should not be undermined,” said a Turkish official on condition of anonymity.

Elano

Elano heads to Turkey

Galatasaray announce signing of City schemer..

Galatasaray have announced the signing of Brazilian schemer Elano on a four-year contract from Manchester City.

Elano’s future at the City of Manchester Stadium had been uncertain after he found himself in and out of Mark Hughes’ side last season.

He admitted earlier in the summer that he could be on the move if City received a suitable offer and he had been linked with several clubs in Italy.

Juventus were mooted as admirers of the 28-year-old, while city rivals AC Milan and Inter Milan had recently been credited with an interest.

However, Elano has accepted a surprise move to Turkey after Galatasaray confirmed he had signed a contract until 2013.

Reports have put the fee in the region of £8million – the figure City paid to sign Elano from Ukrainian outfit Shakhtar Donetsk two years ago.

During his time at City, Elano scored 18 goals in 80 appearances in all competitions, but has been squeezed out by the raft of big-name signings at the club over the summer.

Turkish Museum

Many visitors to İstanbul manage to make it to the Archeological Museums to gasp in wonder at the beautiful Alexander Sarcophagus and the recent finds from the Marmaray excavations that uncovered the city’s medieval port and an incredible cache of 35 wooden boats complete with their cargoes.

Others manage to squeeze in a trip to the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts to admire the room-sized Uşak carpets and the reminders of a nomadic way of life now gone the way of the camel trains, or to the Rahmi Koç Museum, which is crammed full with reminders of past modes of transport. The Pera Museum does well at attracting visitors in part because of its popular temporary exhibitions as does the Sabancı Museum, up the Bosporus in Emirgan. A few brave souls also venture as far as Büyükdere on the Bosporus to visit the Sadberk Hanım Museum and its fine archeological and ethnographical collections.

    But the city also plays host to a large number of smaller museums which receive pitifully few visitors, especially from abroad. This is a shame because not only do some of them boast interesting collections and/or settings, but most are also blissfully free of admission charges, an important consideration in these recession-hit times. The following are just some of the possibilities. There are plenty of others — for example, the Florence Nightingale Museum in Haydarpaşa was closed for restoration at the time of writing but is due to reopen any day now.

    Aşiyan: If ever there was a delightful place to live, Aşiyan (the Nest) must be it. Set on the hillside at Rumeli Hisarı as you approach the castle from Bebek, it was the home of the poet and anti-government rebel Tevfik Fikret (1867-1915), who had been a professor of Turkish literature at nearby Robert College and who retired here to compose in peace and quiet. Later he was reburied in the garden after initial interment at Eyüp. The museum’s finest possession is a superb painting called “Sis” (Mist), which was painted by Abdülmecid Efendi, the last caliph, but took its inspiration from a Fikret poem that is reproduced beside it. The views across the Bosporus to Küçüksu Palace and the twin streams that used to form the Sweet Waters of Asia are nothing short of breathtaking. Admission free. Closed Sunday and Monday.

    Museum of Humor and Cartoons: Housed in the late 16th-century Gazanfer Ağa Medrese just in front of the Valens Aqueduct, this museum houses a collection of cartoons dating back to 1871. You might think they would be difficult to appreciate if you don’t read Turkish, but if you can remember that “barış” means peace and “savaş” means war, that will go a long way to aid understanding. In any case many of them are obviously hilarious even without a word of Turkish. It’s almost worth popping in just to see the lovely rose garden at the heart of the medrese (theological school). Admission free. Closed Sunday and Monday.

    Jewish Museum: Easy to miss in Meydanı Perçemli Sokak, a narrow side street near the Karaköy entrance to the Tünel funicular. This small museum is housed inside the old Zülfaris Synagogue. The building itself is worth seeing because it was paid for by the wealthy Kamondo family in 1890 (who also paid for the nearby Kamondo Steps) and gives a good idea of what İstanbul’s synagogues looked liked at the end of the 19th century. The synagogue itself contains a history of the Jews in İstanbul as well as a collection of artifacts gathered from elsewhere. In the gallery you can find out more about the Kamondos, while in the basement you can admire costumes worn at weddings and circumcision ceremonies. Admission: TL 5. Closed Saturday.

    Toy Museum: İstanbul’s delightful Toy Museum is housed in Dr. Zeki Zeren Sokak, off Ömerpaşa Caddesi, in the backstreets of Göztepe but well signposted from Bağdat Caddesi. You can hardly miss it once you get there since the lampposts outside come in the shape of giraffes and the courtyard contains outsize models of famous funny man Nasreddin Hoca on his donkey and of Keloğlan, the rather less well-known bald boy of Turkish fairy stories. Author-owner Sunay Akın has assembled a collection of around 5,000 toys from all around the world, which are displayed on the three floors of a lovely wooden house whose toilets are housed in a replica submarine in the basement. Parents will love the café. Admission: TL 8. Closed Monday.

    Türkiye İş Bankası Museum: In the backstreets of busy Eminönü stands a fine late 19th-century building that started life as a post office but became a branch of Türkiye Iş Bankası. Today it houses an unexpectedly state-of-the-art museum which gives visitors a chance to admire its beautifully restored interior. The main displays on banking history are of fairly specialist interest, but children will love the basement, where you pass through huge metal doors and go inside the bank vaults. Here streams of numbers flow like water down the corridor and the private cashboxes are open-sided to let visitors peep in on what individuals valued highly enough to pay to protect. Admission free. Closed Monday.

    Sirkeci Station Museum: Before rushing to board a train, it’s worth popping your head inside the small museum on the forecourt of the station which formed the terminus for the famous Orient Express from London and Paris. Here you’ll find photos and souvenirs from the days when travel was the preserve of those with big money and meals in the restaurant car were served on bone china. Admission free. Closed Sunday and Monday.

    Orhan Kemal Museum: The 20th-century Turkish author Orhan Kemal’s book “The Idle Years” has just been republished in English, so now might be a good time to drop in on the museum in Akarsu Yokuşu in Cihangir, which comes attached to a replica of the İkbal Kahvesi, once a popular literary hangout in Nuruosmaniye near the Kapalı Çarşı that has since been torn down. It contains a complete set of first editions of his books and a mock-up of the room in which he used to work as well as some interesting photographs of Kemal with other literary greats, including Nazım Hikmet, with whom he spent time in prison in Bursa. Admission free. Open whenever the İkbal’s doors are.

    Rezan Has Museum: Those with a particular interest in local archeology may want to supplement a visit to the main archeological museum with a tour of this small but well presented museum of finds from the Neolithic to the Selçuk periods housed in the remains of an 11th-century cistern and a 17th-century hamam inside Kadir Has University in Cibali. Admission free. Open daily. Bring your passport to gain entry.

    PTT Museum: The contents of this museum may be of rather specialist interest (philatelists will love it), but the Büyük Postane in Sirkeci is a remarkable building designed by Vedat Tek, one of the masters of the First National school of architecture, and a visit to the small museum inside it gives you a chance to appreciate the wonderful stairwells and ceilings that were once designed for official buildings. Admission free. Closed Saturday and Sunday.

    Ottoman Bank Museum: If you’ve already visited the Türkiye İş Bankası Museum you may well feel that you’ve already overdosed on banking history. However, the building that houses the Ottoman Bank Museum on Voyvoda Caddesi (better known as Bankalar Caddesi) in Karaköy played an important role in keeping the Ottoman Empire financially afloat, so you may want to take a quick look at the museum in the basement. The upstairs gallery hosts a series of temporary exhibitions which rarely have anything to do with banking; to find out what’s on, see the Time Out İstanbul magazine. Admission free. Open daily.

CHARLOTTE MCPHERSON

Plenty has been in the news about the Ergenekon trials lately and plenty more will be said. Let’s exit from that aspect and look briefly at the literary side  the Ergenekon epic.

We usually think of roads leading us to somewhere — for many, it is a way of escape and safety. However, some may lose their way.
Throughout the history of civilization, roadways have been crucial: Their primary purpose was military; but gradually roads were developed and became of great commercial importance. Roads connected distant provinces with the empire’s capital.

I recently came across a lovely book of photographs about Turkey’s roads, published by Eczacıbaşı. Roadways in Turkey take on all kinds of shapes and forms.

In fact, while traveling in the States recently, I could not help but giggle when I saw a sign along the side of the road warning me of a “bump.” Often the bump I was warned about seem nothing like any bump on the roads of İstanbul.

We understand that thousands of centuries ago, only rough pathways were used by animals and humans. These trails were considered roads and they led somewhere. Eventually, some of these were cobbled and became main roads leading to cities. Later, bricks were used to pave roads.

History reveals that around 500 B.C. Darius the Great built an extensive road system for Persia which was one of the finest for its time. It was known as the Royal Road. The Roman Empire is known for its straight, long roads. You can spot some of them in Turkey. It seems the Romans understood well how vital it was to have good roadways and built thousands and thousands of kilometers of them.

I have heard it said that it is a common belief among Turkic peoples spread across west and central Asia that Nevruz, celebrated on March 21, is considered the day when the Göktürk tribe departed from the plains of Ergenekon and became independent.

Ebulgazi Bahadır Han’s famous work “Şecere-i Türk” (The Genealogy of Turks) explains one Ergenekon epic in which the ancestors of Turks, confined in a valley, drilled an escape route through the mountain and escaped to freedom. Another epic you can read about is that of Oğuz Kağan Destanı in 13th century East Turkistan (Uighur) literary manuscripts. Some other great epics to explore about the nomadic Turks are the Manas epic, a Kyrgyz hero, and Dede Korkut. The latter is a compilation of oral traditions of Turkic epics. You can learn what life was like — it provides a good sense of life on the steppe and is interesting as well as often funny.

In an interview with the Anatolia news agency, Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay defined Nevruz as a festival which made people abandon wars, which brought people together and which made people feel their longing for peace, solidarity and brotherhood. “Nevruz, the world’s oldest festival celebrated by festivities under various names in many communities, is being celebrated in the Turkish world as ‘the exit of Turks from Ergenekon’ and ‘the beginning of the new year in the 5,000-year-old Turkish calendar, which has 12 zodiac divisions represented by animals’,” Günay said.

He also noted that some accept this day as the day God created Earth and others as the day Prophet Noah stepped on Earth after the flood.

Some accepts it as the day the first human being was created and others as the messenger of spring.

If you’re interested in festivals such as Nevruz or spiritual pursuits, take the road to Hacıbektaş, a typical central Anatolian town near Nevşehir where the population explodes around Aug. 16-18. The town is named after the Sufi saint Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli, who is believed to have lived around the 14th century and is one of the most prominent figures for Alevis. A few years ago I had the privilege of observing the many thousands of participants who traveled there to show their respect to the founder of the Bektaşi order of dervishes.

Roadways bring exploration and discovery and power. Here are a couple of quotes to ponder:

“A roadway not traveled with knowledge leads to darkness.” — Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli

“Remember what Bilbo used to say: It’s dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” — J.R.R. Tolkien

CHARLOTTE MCPHERSON 
c.mcpherson@todayszaman.com
Origin: Today’s Zaman

Jennifer Love

Jennifer Love Hewitt Creates Comic Book Series

ET has the latest on Jennifer Love Hewitt’s ten-issue, thrilling comic book series.

Jennifer Love Hewitt’s The Music Box details a mystifying music box that creates bizarre occurrences for those that possess it. Each story from the anthology is a standalone tale.

“The chance to create my very own comic, and a horror/thriller at that, is like a very fun nightmare come true,” said Hewitt. “I’ve always been fascinated by the notion that an inanimate object can hold as much malevolent energy as a human being can. And when the two meet, or are at cross purposes, very bad things can happen. I’m so proud of The Music Box and can’t wait for people to read it… with the lights on, of course!”

The first issue of Jennifer Love Hewitt’s The Music Box debuts in November 2009.

Check back with ETonline for more coverage from Comic-Con…

Erol Evgin

Imagine a room full of people of all ages.

A quick look around makes it clear that there are people from at least five different generations in attendance.

Kids clapping their tiny hands to the rhythm of the music bouncing off the walls; the slightly older crowd singing along with a man standing right in the middle of the room.

That is the kind of atmosphere that a few people gathered at the Harbiye open-air theater got to experience. Standing in the center of the stage was Erol Evgin, an icon of Turkish pop music, celebrating the 40th anniversary of his career as a singer-songwriter. The older crowd finds him charismatic, the younger crowd thinks he is sweet. Among the few lucky listeners were Eyüp Can, news coordinator of Hürriyet, an award-winning writer of Turkish descent and the best-selling female author in Turkey and Zeki Alasya, a famous Turkish Actor and old friend of Erol Evgin.

Stage presence

It’s no wonder many women, who were heading into their teenage years in the late 80s early 90s, refer to this man as the love of their lives. This funny, loving, charming and almost a statue-like performer does not have to do much to sweep a woman off of her feet. As soon as his calm, comfortable, yet very strong voice fills up the arena not that many people can take their eyes off this enchanting man.

Unfortunately the number of participants was less than an Erol Evgin fan would have expected. One cannot help but blame the high ticket prices in this environment, where Turkey just like many other countries was feeling the deep impact of the global economic crisis.

Following this quick run of thoughts, it was time to get back to the music… Kids’ voices mix in the air. It doesn’t take long for the older crowd to get all emotional. Sad to have grown up – but proud to say they have been able to tell their children of their experiences – the older crowd begins to get lost in their own childhood memories.

Celebrating his many years on stage, Erol Evgin chose to share his most favored songs with those he likes to call “friends.” Via Erol Evgin’s song’s hundreds of people sitting in the arena took a long walk from the 70s to today treating their ears to the many sensible, romantic and maybe hopeless love songs.

Memories from long country tours, to anecdotes, to memories of some of Evgin’s best friends, who have long since died were told. The stories related to many famous, much adored names such as Adile Naşit, a great actress; Cem Karaca, father of Turkish rock and roll music; Melih Kibar and Çiğdem Talu, both accomplished songwriters.

Erol Evgin, between songs, added a dash of humor to his act, as he imitated one of his idols the king of rock and roll Elvis Priestley. Impersonating Elvis alone would not have been enough to fill the room with the sighs of many people digging deep into their memory, So Evgin moves to songs from Dario Moreno and Adamo. Then comes the impersonation of Cem Karaca singing “I have been jailed, too many people give advice. If I gathered all their advice it would have been a road all the way to my town. Mother, father, sister brother would become strangers in tough days.” Then lyrics of Ruhi Su, a musician who used to sing Turkish folk music, spill out of Evgin’s lips in the format of poem: “Living like a tree, alone and free… and in a brotherly manner just like a forest.”

Many other songs from unforgettable artists followed these. The crowed became one as it sang along to all of them on Thursday night. Nostalgia took over as Evgin starts to sing: “remember all that was not lived. Forget about the rest.”

And melancholy:

“I have been through the pain just like bundling a bobble

A lock in my heart, an iron door

I am in a place where no birds fly, no caravan passes by

Many what you call love must be unreachable

I have been created for the impossible loves.

I don’t know how to reunite, nor forget

I have been lost in the obscure corner of loneliness

I have been through the blindest of all loves.”

As people start to find their ways from their childhoods, through their teenage years back toward adulthood, embodying the mixed feelings of happiness and blues, the concert nears its end. Some of the kids have already fallen asleep on mothers’ laps. The night is almost over. And probably the best way to end this review lies in Erol Evgin’s own lyrics:

“Everyone took something from me,

Some took my hopes

Some took my beliefs

Some took my beautiful feelings

Don’t ever be like them

Always stay like this

Always stay so warm-hearted

Don’t ever be like them

Always stay like this

Always close to me…”

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.

The changing face of Iran brings both opportunities and risks for Turkey. As the country slowly opens its doors up to the world, investment opportunities create a new market for Turkish companies. But Iran’s attempts to draw Turkish companies with attractive incentives may divert investments there, as some Turkish firms contemplate moving to Iran altogether.

A 30-hour road trip that passes through Tokat, Erzurum, Erzincan and Ağrı takes a Turkish traveler from Istanbul into Iran through the Gürbulak border gate.

The change in Iran can be observed in figures: since 2002, the country has drawn $35 billion in foreign investment, attracting it mainly through incentives and changes to the law. The government has put great emphasis on foreign investments in the oil, natural gas and petrochemical sectors, among others, insures those who receive foreign-capital licenses so that an investor whose plant is shut down in an extraordinary situation such as a war would be paid back the amount of its investment.

In Iran, the cost per worker stands at around $510. There is no tax on earning up to $440, while costs above this figure incur a 10 percent tax. Taxes taken from foreign companies are down to 20 percent, from around 60 percent just a few years ago. Depending on the investment area, tax exemptions of five to 10 years are in place. Machinery and equipment imports are also exempt of customs tax.

If an investment is made with an Iranian partner, banks can provide low-interest, long-term credit, which may reach up to 80 percent of the total investment.

Considering that natural gas is 80 percent cheaper and electricity is 75 percent cheaper than in Turkey, it is easy to see why Iran’s investment zones are receiving attention.

Industrial backbone

Tabriz, one of Iran’s key industrial cities, hosts more than 8,000 factories, along with the country’s first and only “Free Foreign Investor Zone,” which holds nearly 100 factories operated by companies from 23 countries. An organized industrial zone opened four years ago has been developing rapidly.

Turkish businesspeople have made 38 investments in the city, two of which were founded with 100 percent Turkish capital. Many cars with Ankara and Istanbul license plates are visible.

Mohammed Reza Zafarani, the managing director of Tabriz’s foreign investor zone, told daily Referans that Iran has close relations with both Central Asia and Turkey. “The union in language and religion opens new doors and opportunities,” Zafarani said. “We have created many advantages, cutting down costs for investors.”

In its first phase, the foreign investor zone was established on 267 hectares of land. Subsequently, 4,000 hectares have been added, with the investment zone growing 15-fold due to the rising interest. “In other industrial zones, average investments stands at $600,000, but here it is $2.8 million,” notes Zafarani, who said that zone businesses employ an average 65 workers, compared to 23 elsewhere, and have an average investment area of 11,000 square meters, compared to 4,000 square meters in other areas. “Energy consumption is also four times higher,” he added.

The zone is divided into three areas: The first for companies that export 85 percent or more of their products; the second for those that produce for the Iranian market; and the last for high-tech companies. Turkish companies are generally located in the first area.

Coming out of its shell

“Iran needs investments in tourism, energy, banking and telecommunications,” said Ali Osman Ulusoy, the president of the Foreign Economic Relations Board’s Iran Business Council. “We do not know much about Iran. But slowly, it is doing great things. They know much about trade. Consumption items are changing. Electricity and rents are very cheap. Iran is coming out of its shell.”

Ahmet Ortatepe, the president of the Productive Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association, or ÜSİAD, was not so positive about the change. “In fact, Iran is a danger for Turkey,” said Ortatepe, who recently went to Tabriz as the head of a delegation of 50 businesspeople. “If things go like this, Turkey will not be able to keep its small- and medium-sized enterprises. Recently, we held talks with executives of a bankrupt company that produced zippers in Turkey. They wanted to sell their $300,000 facility here and go to Iran.”

Still, there are disadvantages for foreign investors in Iran, too. Yavuz Erdoğan, the owner of the Turkish firm Plasmod, is currently owed $100,000 by Iranian businesspeople. “Due to the [political] events of the past month, cash flows stopped,” he said. “Iranian businessmen generally say they cannot make money due to the situation and do not wish to pay.”

The Asia to Europe route on the bridge in Istanbul was closed for thirty minutes for what was probably the first-ever intercontinental table tennis match. Two top-ranked players, Austria’s Werner Schlager and Ko Lai Chak from Hong Kong showed their skills around the table, which was placed right in the middle, laying half on the Asian side and half on the European.

The event symbolically preceded the Asia-Euro Cup, a table tennis tournament that will bring together five players from both continents. First in the two-leg event will be in August in China, one of the strongholds of the sport, and the other will be in Turkey, in November.

European Table Tennis Union Chairman Stefano Bosi highlighted the importance of Istanbul as the host city of the event.

“This is a magic place,” said Bosi. “This is Istanbul, the city between two continents, the dream came true and I am so happy to share it with you at this special moment.”

He also credited Turkey’s Table Tennis Federation Chairman Oktay Çimen and local authorities for making the exhibition game possible.

“To close the connection between two important areas in a city of more than 18 millions inhabitants is something special,” explained the chairman. “You can also understand how much work lay behind this project. How much effort our friends and partners, Turkey’s federation, Istanbul Municipality and Istanbul Governorship had done.”

Çimen said: “This organization was important for the promotion of the country.”

The competitors, on the other hand, were happy that they were promoting the sport.

“Football, tennis… These sports are constantly in the limelight, and I hope that table tennis will find the way to gain a better position in the hierarchy,” said Ko. “The events like the promotion on the Bosphorus Bridge are very important and they can do very much for the future.”

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.

“We are at the closest point to a solution. I am very hopeful,” Democratic Society Party, or DTP, Şırnak deputy Hasip Kaplan, Öcalan’s former lawyer, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review in an interview.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently announced the Interior Ministry was conducting a study regarding the Kurdish issue. The study reviews many facets of the issue, including the consideration of more radical solutions, the Daily News has learned.

The government position

Discussions in government circles regarding the new Kurdish plan are ongoing. Topics being debated include the abolishment of the PKK; a general amnesty for members of the outlawed group; cultural, economic and political transformations; the integration into society of PKK members based in northern Iraq; Kurdish-language education; the reinstatement of banned Kurdish names in southeastern Anatolia towns; the removal of sayings such as “Happy is he who calls himself a Turk” that are deemed to pose psychological barriers; local economic measures to decrease unemployment; and cooperation between civil-society groups and universities in the area. The necessary legal groundwork to implement these types of changes is being reviewed.

Another topic of discussion is whether Article 221 of the Turkish Penal Code, which deals with repentance, will be carried out more effectively or not. In this context, additional regulations that ease coming down from the mountains, where PKK forces are based, are being pondered even if no general amnesty is declared.

Other laws being examined involve Article 5 of the anti-terror law, which has been used to imprison children under the age of 18 for throwing stones. The law is reportedly being reviewed and a formula being discussed that would keep it from applying to children.

Öcalan’s position

PKK leader Öcalan’s road map is expected to be announced Aug. 15 and to include suggestions to sustain a “no-clash environment” and initiate a “dialogue period.”

The interlocutor problem is also expected to be resolved, in that Öcalan could be directly taken as an interlocutor or dialogue could be established through the DTP. A dialogue period could also be developed with the contributions of intellectuals such as author Yaşar Kemal.

A general amnesty and the removal of obstacles keeping PKK members from engaging in politics; constitutional citizenship; strengthening of local administrations and giving them more autonomous status; the prohibition of the village-guard system; and education and instruction in the Kurdish language are also said to be among Öcalan’s suggestions.

A group headed by Ömer Güneş, one of Öcalan’s lawyers, has been meeting with civil society groups, journalists and intellectuals to solicit their contributions to the dialogue environment and the road map.

The DTP position

The DTP’s expectations are not very different from Öcalan’s road map. Members of the party have also emphasized a “no-clash environment,” a declaration of general amnesty, local autonomy, Kurdish education, a constitutional guarantee and cultural rights.

DTP co-chair Emine Ayna wants Öcalan to be accepted as an interlocutor. The party shares this view, saying that a solution that doesn’t involve the PKK or Öcalan is not possible.

Kaplan: Öcalan will offer a solid solution

Speaking to the Daily News, the DTP’s Kaplan said he believed Öcalan would present “a solid solution.” He added that Öcalan has a big influence on the DTP and the Kurdish population and said, “The road map that he suggests will be considered and reviewed as significant.”

According to Kaplan, topics such as constitutional reform and the safeguarding of fundamental rights – which the DTP has long advocated – might appear in the road map. “The roadmap will feature short-term and medium-term solutions. I believe that it will offer more rational solutions than the parties in Parliament in Ankara,” Kaplan said. “I believe that it will be a solid solution that will eradicate the conflict.”

‘Öcalan to suggest no conflict’

The most important part of the solution plan is disarmament, Kaplan said. “The dialogue period should be initiated and the interlocutor problem should be resolved. The DTP is ready to contribute to the resolution of this problem. Öcalan could be negotiated with directly or indirectly,” he added. “The important thing is to get past this and focus on the solution. This process is directly related to democratization.”

When asked if he was hopeful, Kaplan said: “I am hopeful this time, I do not want to think about the opposite case. We are in the most suitable and opportune period for the resolution of the problem.”

Common-sense call to political parties

Kaplan called on all the political parties to act responsibly, saying: “We have shown a great effort in Parliament for a long time but the ruling and opposition parties have not fulfilled their responsibilities. They have not produced any project.”

“The PKK made a unilateral ‘no action’ decision and as a result, 2009 is progressing with much fewer losses than previous years,” he added. “The current climate especially the developments in the Middle East show that the circumstances are closer to a solution than they have ever been. Political parties should well understand this process, contribute to the solution and act with common sense.”

Jermain Jenas

Well that’s about your lot from another busy Saturday of transfer news and speculation. Remember to keep watching Sky Sports News and logging on to skysports.com throughout the summer for all the latest breaking transfer news.

• 22.47 Harry Redknapp claims Inter Milan midfielder Patrick Vieira wants to join him at Tottenham.
• 22.37 Jermaine Jenas has poured cold water on reports which have suggested he could be heading for the White Hart Lane exit door.
• 22.08 Getafe have confirmed the signing of midfielder Dani Parejo from neighbours Real Madrid.
• 21.23 Bradford City have completed the signing of Simon Eastwood from Huddersfield.
• 21.00 Zlatan Ibrahimovic could be presented as a Barcelona player on Monday if no late complications arise over his switch from Inter Milan, the Primera Division club confirmed on Saturday night.
• 20.27 Hull City boss Phil Brown has elected against handing trialist Jerome Thomas a contract, despite the winger impressing in pre-season.

• 20.00 Fiorentina coach Cesare Prandelli would love to have Arsenal right-back Emmanuel Eboue among his squad for next season.
• 19.43 Bulgarian cup winners Litex Lovech have agreed to sell defender Stanislav Manolev to Dutch club PSV Eindhoven, the Lovech-based team said on Saturday.
• 19.34 Middlesbrough have accepted a bid from an unnamed club for wantaway striker Mido.
• 19.00 Manchester City boss Mark Hughes does not intend to settle for second best in his bid to sign defenders if moves for John Terry and Joleon Lescott do not come off.
• 18.35 Portsmouth boss Paul Hart is hopeful defender Sylvain Distin will sign a new deal with the club.
• 18.11 Fernando Morientes is keen on securing a move to Marseille, according to the player’s agent.
• 17.58 Exeter have completed the signing of teenage striker James Norwood in a deal funded by the club’s supporters.
• 17.37 David Trezeguet’s agent has spoken in glowing terms about a possible switch to AC Milan for the Juventus
  

  Trezeguet

  striker.

• 17.19 Hertha Berlin have signed defender Nemanja Pejcinovic on a season-long loan from Serbian side Rad Belgrade.
• 17.09 Bolton are closing in on the £2.1 million capture of South Korean winger Lee Chung-Yong on a three-year deal.
• 17.02 Oldham Athletic have handed non-league star Philip Ojapah his first chance in League football by offering him a 12-month professional contract.
• 17.01 Exeter have completed the signing of teenage striker James Norwood in a deal funded by the clubs supporters.
• 16.30 Hearts chief Csaba Laszlo has conceded defeat in his bid to sign Slovakian striker Adam Nemec.
• 15.49 David Trezeguet’s agent claims the Juventus striker is ready to take a pay cut in order to join AC Milan.
• 15.13 Grimsby have signed former Swansea striker Chris Jones on a three-year deal.
• 14.33 According to reports in Portugal, Fiorentina have struck a £7.5m deal for Benfica centre-back Luisao.
• 13.46 Sedan full-back Paul Baysse claims he has held talks with Sunderland manager Steve Bruce in England.
• 13.02 Reports from Italy suggest Roma are ready to sell Alberto Aquilani, who has been linked with Arsenal and Liverpool.
• 12.33 Aldershot have signed defender Ben Herd on a two-year deal after he was released by Shrewsbury.
• 12.02 Rangers midfielder Lee McCulloch has announced he will be staying at Ibrox.
• 11.37 Swansea’s pursuit of Ipswich striker Pablo Counago looks to have come to an end after the striker rejected a move to the Liberty Stadium.
• 11.13 Arsenal defender Gael Clichy has hinted that he believes former team-mate Emmanuel Adebayor joined Manchester City for the money, and has warned other players against following the striker’s lead.
• 10.56 Napoli have confirmed they are in talks with Liverpool over a £6million move for Italy left back Andrea Dossena.
• 10.34 Inter Milan manager Jose Mourinho does not believe fans at the Giuseppe Meazza will be ‘crying’ about Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s impending move to Barcelona as Samuel Eto’o will be a more than adequate replacement.
• 10.27 Bolton have completed the signings of Zat Knight and Sam Ricketts from Aston Villa and Hull City respectively. Both players have agreed three-year contracts at the Reebok Stadium.
• 

  Nilmar

  10.21 Villarreal are close to completing the signing of Brazil international striker Nilmar on a five-year contract, the Primera Liga club have confirmed.

• 10.02 Hull City have offered Fulham striker Bobby Zamora a take-it-or-leave-it deal to move to the KC Stadium as they attempt to capture striking reinforcements.
• 9.41 Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has held talks with Xabi Alonso and has told the midfielder that he should snub a move to Real Madrid because he is loved by fans at Anfield.
• 9.22 Former Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor has urged new club Manchester City to stage another raid on Emirates Stadium in order to sign Kolo Toure.
• 9.10 Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill has described star winger Ashley Young as ‘priceless’ amidst rumours of a move to Liverpool or Tottenham.
• 9.00 Liverpool full-back Alvaro Arbeloa could make a move to Real Madrid in the next few days after the Spain international’s agent revealed discussions are ongoing and that he expects a conclusion.

Orijin: skysport

Ersan Ilyasova

Bucks agree to bring Ersan Ilyasova back..

The Milwaukee Bucks agreed to contract terms with Turkish forward Ersan İlyasova on Thursday, potentially bringing him back to the NBA after two seasons overseas

The Bucks took Ilyasova in the second round of the 2005 draft, and he appeared in 66 games for Milwaukee in the 2006-07 season before playing the past two seasons with Barcelona. According to the Bucks, the deal with Ilyasova was subject to a clearance letter from Barcelona. Terms were undisclosed. The 2.09-meter (6-foot-10) Ilyasova averaged 6.1 points and 2.9 rebounds.

Michael Jackson

Officials probe Jackson’s doctors in pop star’s death
Investigators looking into the death of pop star Michael Jackson have seized new information to analyze as they narrow their focus in what could become a criminal investigation.
  Almost one month after the King of Pop died, federal and local agents on Wednesday raided the Houston clinic of Conrad Murray, the personal physician Jackson hired in May to look after him as he prepared for a series of comeback concerts in London.

Among the items seized were files copied from an office hard drive and 21 documents. Murray’s lawyer, Edward Chernoff, said authorities believed the evidence “constituted evidence of the offense of manslaughter.” He did not provide further details, and police said they do not consider Murray to be a suspect. Authorities are investigating several doctors who associated with Jackson to see if they inappropriately provided him with prescription drugs.

In the weeks since he died, rumors about what killed him have been rife. Several members of Jackson’s family have said they suspect foul play. Investigators appear to be focusing on a powerful anesthetic, propofol. The drug was found in the Beverly Hills mansion Jackson was renting, according to a person with knowledge of the investigation who is not authorized to speak publicly.

Suzan Sabancı

Akbank chairwoman joins Chatham board

Akbank’s Chairwoman and Executive Director Suzan Sabancı Dinçer has become a member of the board of trustees of the world-renowned think tank Chatham House, which has been the home of the Royal Institute of International Affairs for over eight decades.

A statement from Akbank yesterday announced that Sabancı Dinçer’s tenure at Chatham House will give her a chance to share her personal views and experiences on a wide variety of issues ranging from Turkey’s politics to its relations with neighboring countries, its economy and its role in globalization.

Meanwhile, Chatham House has announced the launch of the “Turkey Project,” sponsored by Akbank. The project envisages the preparation of assessment reports on strategic issues stemming from Turkey’s geopolitical and geo-economic position and analysis of the impact of these issues on the economies and foreign policies of Turkey, the US and Europe.

origin: Today’s Zaman

Somalian Pirates

The Turkish navy frigate TCG Gediz has launched an operation against Somali pirates, who were feared to be preparing to seize another ship off the coast of Somalia, capturing five of the pirates.

In a weekly press conference yesterday, Metin Gürak, chief of the communications department of the General Staff, stated that the Gediz rendered the band of Somali pirates ineffective as a result of the operation. “Five pirates were captured after our frigate was informed about their preparations to seize another ship off the Somali coast. Our frigate was assisted by a helicopter from the TCG Gaziantep,” stated Gürak.

A Turkish ship was seized last week by Somali pirates with 23 crew members aboard. Pirates are still in negotiations with the ship owners over ransom. Aysun Akbay, a female captain, was also among crew members.

Akbay, 24, has been working for the company that owns the Horizon I for two months and had been assigned as the fourth officer on the hijacked ship.

The TCG Gediz last month set sail from Turkey to Somalia as part of a UN-led force to prevent pirates from hijacking foreign ships off the Somali coast and was the second Turkish ship sent to the region. The Gediz is in the region for a one-year mission and has been part of the Combined Task Force (CTF) 151, a multinational counter-piracy task force established in January with a specific mandate to counter piracy operations in and around the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. Another Turkish frigate, the Giresun, was sent to the region in February on a four-month mission. As of May, Turkey has taken over the command of CTF-151, which is one of four international naval forces operating in the region.

Newstime24

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