x0x Turkish news for week ending 24 February 2007
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x0x Turkish news for week ending 24 February 2007
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A service of the TURKISH RADIO HOUR, producer of:
TURKISH CULTURAL PROGRAM
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Ahmet Toprak edited today's news. Your host is Fuad Tokad
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NEWS
By Fuad Tokad
* Cindy Sheehan, the mother who lost her son in Iraq and has traveled
throughout the U.S. championing an anti-war campaign, arrived in Istanbul
on Friday.
"I am excited to learn more about Turkey and your people," Ms. Sheehan
said at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport, according to the Anatolia News Agency.
"It is a difficult position to be so close to Iraq where my son died. We
must work together to bring peace to the region," said Ms. Sheehan.
Ms. Sheehan stressed that the Iraqi people "are suffering badly and
their country has been destroyed.
"Humans all across the globe must come together for peace and encourage
leaders to make peace," she said. "Only when all of us unite for peace may
we be able to force our leaders not to permit acts that would hurt global
peace."
Ms. Sheehan is in Istanbul to participate in a conference titled
"International Meeting for a Warless World," sponsored by the Global
Coalition for Peace and Justice.
* The Turkish daily Hurriyet reported that some U.S. weapons which have
reportedly gone missing while in Iraq have turned up among the weapons
used in both last spring's attack on the Council of State in the Turkish
capital Ankara and the murder of the Italian priest Andrea Santoro in the
northeastern Turkish Black Sea city of Trabzon.
According to Turkish private channel NTV, these guns have made their way
to northern Iraq and into the hands of the rebel Turkish Kurd organization
Kurdistan Workers' Party.
NTV says that the CIA has issued an alert inthe wake of this discovery.
* The Turkish daily Cumhuriyet reported that the Population Association,
the United Nations Population Fund and the United Nations Development Fund
supported a study called "Dynamics of the Honor Killings in Turkey" in
four Turkish cities.
According to the study, men 18-25 years old in particular who have
emigrated from rural Turkey to cities have very rigid views about divorce
and virginity. Older men are more tolerant.
Women also think that honor is linked to a "woman's sexuality."
However, they think that a single woman can marry without permission
from her family and feel it is not against honor.
The study looked at 115 cases of "honor killing." Some of the people
interviewed felt the killings justified and explained their thesis saying
that "one who opposes traditional ways deserves to die; it is unavoidable
to kill on behalf of honor."
Others did not agree but said they "cannot imagine how they would behave
if they were dishonered."
* Construction of a nuclear plant in Turkey will begin before the Turkish
national elections late this year. All objections raised by the private
sector about building the plant have been addressed at a parliamentary
commission meeting, Turkey's Energy Minister Hilmi Guler said on Thursday
reported the Turkish Daily News.
Speaking at the Energy and Natural Resources Commission meeting, the
Turkish minister said they wanted the private sector to take the lead in
the nuclear power plant project but would not wait forever.
Turkish Atomic Energy Council President Okay Ēakiroglu said during the
meeting, "July 7, 2007 is a good date. The project may start then."
The commission was discussing the legislation that would facilitate the
building of the plant, overriding the objections made by the treasury and
granting guarantees that the electricity produced would definitely be
purchased by the state for the first 15 years.
According to the legislation, a tender will be held among companies
interested in the project.
The Turkish government aims to produce 5,000 Megawatts from this project
and will allow the building of as many plants as possible to reach that
target.
The first plant or plants are planned to be built in Turkey's Black Sea
province of Sinop or Akkuyu on the Mediterranean coast.
* The Turkish daily Sabah reported that a study sponsored by the
Environment and Forestry Ministry on changes in Turkey's climate has been
completed, with the emerging picture being one in which general agreement
is that the temperature is rising across the country.
According to the most pessimistic aspects of the study, there will be an
average rise of 4-6 degrees F across Turkey, with rains decreasing in the
Aegean and Mediterranean regions through the winter, and increasing along
the Black Sea coastline. Forecasts for rainfall in the inner Anatolian
region do not show a great deal of change.
Current climate changes observed in the Environment and Forestry report
note that there is a general trend towards an increase in temperature
across the country, and that this increase is most evident in the southern
regions of Turkey.
* Iran's Foreign Affairs Minister Mottaki arrived in the Turkish capital
on Tuesday to co-chair a meeting of the joint economic committee with
Turkish state minister Kursad Tuzmen, reported the NTV News Agency.
The Iranian minister will be holding talks with Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan and his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul.
Mr. Mottaki will also meet with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer in
Istanbul.
The main focus of the visit is expected to be the international tension
over Tehran nuclear power and developments in neighbouring Iraq.
Turkey will express once more its desire to find peaceful solution to
the nuclear question.
* The Turkish daily Hürriyet reported on Monday that Greenpeace
Mediterranean has started a campaign for "A Middle East Free of Nukes"
simultaneously in Iran, Israel and Turkey.
"We think 'A Middle East Free of Nukes' will contribute to cooperation
among the region's countries and therefore will also represent another
step toward peace," Greenpeace Mediterranean Disarmament Campaign
coordinator Aslihan Tumer told the daily.
Greenpeace Mediterranean Arab World spokesman Omer Elnaiem pointed out
that many Western countries are giving up on nukes whereas Arab countries
are talking about having nuclear energy. Adding these programs may lead
them to obtaining nuclear weapons. "We need peace in the Middle East not
another security problem," he said.
Hurriyet also underlined that the flagship Rainbow Warrior of Greenpeace
will tour for "A Middle East Free of Nukes" and visit the countries of the
region starting from Iran and ending in Turkey during the campaign.
ARTS AND CULTURE
* Ballet's magic will cast a spell over Istanbul later this week when one
of Russia's most famous ballet troupes will enchant the people of Istanbul
with their performances of the classic Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" and
Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet," says the Turkish daily News
The Russian troop will be performing between Feb. 28 and March 4 at the
Turker Inanoglu Maslak Show Center in Istanbul.
* Turkish labels shone at one of the most exciting and popular fashion
shows in New York. New Turkish fashion labels were a focus of interest
during the fair Feb. 17-19, when a number of Turkish fashion designers
participated in this season's event.
The Train, an international fashion and accessories trade show fair that
has been held since 2004, showcases a selection of the world's most
creative and elegant collections to more than 3,000 visitors.
this season's event promoted the 2007-2008 fall and winter collections
by 100 fashion designers from all around the world.
The "Mouska" line, a new creation by young Turkish fashion designer
Berna Fotocan attracted great interest in the fair.
Having studied business, Ms. Fotocan worked in two of Turkey's foremost
fashion retailer groups, Beymen and Demsa, before moving to the United
States to further her studies. She then studied fashion design at the New
York-based Parsons School of Design, one of the world's leading design
schools, and then decided to create her own label. Fotocan currently lives
in New York.
Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Fotocan said she was quite pleased
that the fair jury chose to display her first collection, "Mouska," as
well as the all the interest it received during the event.
"I enriched a simple design with modern details and tried to establish a
romantic bridge between past and present. I harmonized 18th century
romanticism, like the romantic designs in the film adaptations of Jane
Austen's novels in particular, with today's realism in my designs," she
said, adding that living in New York City, a city full of energy and
dynamism, has been a positive influence on her work.
Among the other Turkish brands were:
- "Tuvana" by Tuvana Buyukcinar and Banu Bora
- "Mezza" by Askin Meric
* The Turkish daily News reports that Palandoken, a popular destination
for Russian and local tourists near Turkey's eastern mountainous city of
Erzurum, is now in the spotlight for European tourists after earning the
right to host the Winter Universiade 2011.
French tourists have already made reservations to see the region. Hotel
Dedeman Palandoken General Manager Mehmet Varol said, "We have so far
carried out promotional work largely in Russia and Ukraine. But after
winning the right to host the Winter Universiade 2011, a group of French
tourists made reservations for March."
* The promotional exhibit of the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry was
chosen as the most attractive stand in the 24th International Linz Tourism
Fair held in Austria's Linz province earlier this month.
The Turkish stand was also selected as the most informative stand for
giving the best and friendliest service during the fair that was held from
Feb. 2-4 in Linz, reported the Anatolia news agency.
* The ceramic artist Ibrahim Kuslu's ceramic tile exhibition, featuring
replicas of 13th Century Seljuk, early-Ottoman and mid-Ottoman era tiles,
opened with a well-attended ceremony on Friday at the Turkish House in New
York.
The exhibition showcases 100 replicas of 13th Century Seljuk bath tiles
of the Kubadabad Palace, the summer residence of Seljuk Sultan Alaeddin
Keykubad, as well as tiles belonging to the early Ottoman period and the
era after the conquest of Istanbul in 1453.
Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Mr. Kuslu said he prepares all of
the tiles' ingredients from an original clay mixture in his Bursa
workshop. He gets many orders from people requesting replicas of original
tiles they saw in museums because the tiles he produces are so similar to
the originals. "People in the United States are especially interested in
this art and are always asking me questions about how the tiles are
created." Kuslu has so far opened four exhibitions in Istanbul, Bodrum,
Canada and New York.
* Turkish director Ozer Kiziltan's first feature length movie "Takva" ("A
Man's Fear of God") was awarded the International Federation of Film
Critics Prize in the Panorama category of the 57th Berlin International
Film Festival on Saturday.
Onder Ēakar wrote "Takva," which portrays the life of a devout Muslim
man, played by actor Erkan Can. Among its producers is the famous
Turkish-born movie director Fatih Akin.
The film, which won a special award for cultural innovation at the
Toronto International Film Festival in September, also collected eight
trophies including best actor, best screenplay, best art director, best
cinematography, best soundtrack, best costume, best makeup design and best
lab at the 43rd Golden Orange Film Festival in Antalya, Turkey. It was
also awarded a Dr. Avni Tolunay Jury's Special Prize at the Golden Orange.
Can won the second Golden Orange trophy of his career for his role in
"Takva."
* A book about Turkey's wild flowers by Erdogan Tekin was nominated for
the Annual Literature Award given by a leading professional organization
in the field of botanical and horticultural information services.
The book offers a delightful and remarkable trip through Turkey's
colorful yet seldom seen world of flora.
"The Most Beautiful Wild Flowers of Turkey," which was prepared both in
Turkish and English, features the photographs of 1,500 types of wild
flowers throughout Turkey and is the culmination of a 25-year effort by
Mr. Tekin, a retired professor of metallurgy from the Middle East
Technical University in Turkey's capital Ankara.
Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Mr. Tekin said his interest in
nature began during his childhood thanks to the boat trips he made
together with Cevat Sakir Kabaagacli, the Turkish author also known as the
"Fisherman of Halicarnassus," who used to visit his father's pharmacy in
izmir.
Mr. Tekin has photographed around 1,500 types of wild flowers in Turkey
by traveling around the country for some 25 years, accumulating about
30,000 slides in his archive.
* Turkey is already riding the global trend wave of health tourism, but
this month, for the first time ever, the Culture and Tourism Ministry
combined its promotion of Turkey's famous therapeutic springs with that of
its historic religious sites as part of a massive Americas-wide campaign,
reports the Turkish daily News.
The ministry first caught wind of the rising trend, particularly among
Americans, to visit Turkey for what might be termed "religious tourism"
when Pope Benedict visited Turkey last November. Thus a multimedia
campaign has been prepared to promote religion and health tourism not only
oriented toward the United States and Canada, but also to countries such
as Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Chile and Venezuela.
A 48-page guide produced as part of the campaign contains information on
over 2,000 thermal springs, Turkey's natural alternative medicine centers,
as well as details of many of its historic churches, synagogues and
archaeological sites.
In addition to the booklet, TV commercials prepared by the Turkish
Ministry will be aired on CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox during breaks in
high-profile shows such as "Lost," "House," "Desperate Housewives," "CSI:
Miami," and "Law and Order." Meanwhile, printed advertisements will also
appear in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and
over 30 travel and lifestyle magazines.
Mr. Hasan Zongur, Turkey's New York culture and promotion attaché,
underlined the importance of the $5.6 million campaign, noting that while
tourists from the Americas currently represented 5 percent of the total
visitors to the country, they spend "double what a European tourist does."
Thus the ministry's new strategy "aims to attract upscale tourists who
have a higher potential for spending."
"An American visiting Turkey generally tends to come back a year later
bringing more tourists," added Zongur. He also stressed the importance for
the campaign's success of Turkey's creating an impression of a modern,
democratic, secular country and emphasizing its European Union candidacy.
Last year witnessed a general decrease in the number of tourists
visiting Turkey, attributed to several bomb attacks -- mostly thought to
be the work of the Kurdistan Workers' Party in popular resorts and to the
bird flu outbreak early in 2006.
However, during the same year a total of 532,481 tourists visited Turkey
from the Americas, representing an increase of 22.45 percent on 2005's
figures. In order to nurture this rising trend, the Culture and Tourism
Ministry raised the budget for the promotion in of Turkey in the Americas
by $4 million this year.
* An Ankara-based artists' association is readying to mark its 37th
anniversary with an exhibition featuring over 500 pieces by 133 artists in
the Turkish capital. The exhibit will showcase a rich collection ranging
from painting to ceramics and from sculpture to glasswork by 133 artists
from all over Turkey. The exhibit, which opens on Feb. 27 at the Ēankaya
Municipality Contemporary Arts Center, will run through March 14.
A series of side events are also scheduled as part of the exhibit's
activities, including panel discussions such as, "Local Administrations
and Culture-Art," "Art History and Facilities in Ankara" and "Culture and
Art in Political Parties' Agenda."
* Turkish Curator Beral Madra, who is also a member of the European
Cultural Association and Cultural Consciousness Development Foundation,
will hold an international exhibition in Istanbul to mark the
establishment of the Ars Aevi Contemporary Arts Museum to be founded in
Sarajevo Bosnia by Enver Haciomer Sipahic.
The featured pieces will be donated to the museum's collection. "Europe
supported the project to expiate its sins," said Ms. Madra.
An exhibition titled "Neighbors - Dialogues" will also be held in
Istanbul with the support of the Istanbul Municipality, the European
Cultural Foundation and the Prince Claus Foundation to mark the
establishment of the Ars Aevi Contemporary Arts Museum in Sarajevo.
* Allocating nearly $28 million for 150 restoration projects across Turkey
in 2007, the Culture and Tourism Ministry will give momentum to the
reconstruction and preservation work of Turkey's cultural heritage sites
via a series of projects.
Most of the funds will go to 105 projects under five main categories.
The restoration of a Roman bath and the Temple of Augustus in Ankara is
among the 2007 projects and works will also be carried out in Gumushane's
Kov Castle, Ankara's Kalecik Castle, Rize's Zilkale, the Gaziantep Castle,
Sinop Castle and Diyarbakir's city walls as part of the restoration of
castle and city walls project.
Restoration of the congress building in Sivas as well as Ataturk Houses
in Tokat and Sakarya as part of restoration and exhibition of Ataturk
Houses project.
A series of restoration and landscape projects have been scheduled for
Turkey's cultural assets abroad as part of the project on restoration. The
efforts will be focused on the maintenance and reconstruction of old
Turkish cultural heritage sites abroad.
Works on the Sultan Fatih Mosque in Albania's Durrės province, on the
Gulbaba Tomb in Hungary; on the Suleymans,ah Tomb in Syria and on the
I.brahim Pasha Mosque in Bulgaria are some of the projects scheduled for
this year.
* A youth group based in the center of Turkish city of Konay has launched
a European Union-funded project to increase awareness of the 13th century
Turkish philosopher Mevlana Jelaladdin Rumi and their country to their
European peers.
The 15-member group, dubbed the " Tolerance", aged between 18 and 30,
was formed last year with the aim of promoting Turkey in the international
arena. Inspired by Mevlana's philosophy, they will share his works and
their country with young people from Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Spain.
Activities for visitors will include trips to the Mevlana Museum as well
as other historical places near Konya, including the Neolithic settlement
of Catalhoyuk and the ancient city of Kilistra.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
declared 2007 the Year of Mevlana, this year also marks the 800th
anniversary of his birth.
* The 6th Turkish-Greek Friendship Festival, which has been held in a
different Turkish and Greek city each year for the last five years, will
be held in Antalya and Rhodes this year, reported the Anatolia news
agency.
Supported by the Antalya Metropolitan Municipality and the Golden Orange
Culture and Art Foundation, the first stage of the festival will take
place on June 9-10 in Antalya. During the festival, the Kaleici and the
Suna-I.nan Kirac Museum will be visited, panels on museum management will
be organized, there will be a photography exhibition, tours will be
organized for the ancient cities of Perge and Aspendos and a concert will
be performed by Greek Aliki Kayalog(lu and Turkish Arif Sag( in the city
center,
the second stage of the festival would be held June 11-12 in Rhodes.
During this phase of the festival the old town of Rhodes will be visited,
a photography exhibition will be opened, a panel titled "The Other One"
will be held and a dance show will be performed.
The most important event of the festival would be a Turkish-Greek
photography competition open to amateur and professional photographers
from both countries, adding that they planned to make the competition a
traditional event.
The deadline of the competition, whose jury members will include famous
Turkish and Greek photographers, is April. At the end of the competition,
three photographs will be selected from each country and their owners
awarded with the "Golden Daphne" prize. The winners will also be invited
to the festival.
SPORTS
* Soccer
Turkcell Super League 2006/2007
ResultsFixtures
TrabzonSp. 3 - 2 Besiktas
Ankaragucu 2 - 1 GaziantepSp.
ErciyesSp. 1 - 0 ManisaSp.
G.saray 1 - 1 DenizliSp.
Fenerbahce 1 - 0 SakaryaSp.
DenizliSp. 3 - 4 TrabzonSp.
AnkaraSp. 1 - 2 GenclerB
KayseriSp. 1 - 0 ErciyesSp.
ManisaSp. 0 - 1 Ankaragucu
SivasSp. 0 - 1 AntalyaSp.
League tableWide tableForm table
Team Overall
GP W D L P GS GA
1. Fenerbahce 21 13 5 3 44 40 19
2. Galatasaray 22 10 8 4 38 39 22
3. Besiktas 22 10 6 6 36 31 22
4. KayseriSp. 21 9 7 5 34 27 20
5. GenēlerB 21 10 3 8 33 24 22
6. KonyaSp. 21 8 7 6 31 27 24
7. SivasSp. 21 9 4 8 31 22 24
8. TrabzonSp. 22 8 6 8 30 29 26
9. Manisaspor 22 8 5 9 29 33 32
10. Ankaragucu 22 7 8 7 29 24 23
11. BursaSp. 21 8 5 8 29 23 23
12. G.antepSp. 22 7 6 9 27 22 29
13. AnkaraSp. 21 5 11 5 26 23 23
14. AntalyaSp. 21 6 8 7 26 21 22
15. RizeSp. 21 7 3 11 24 17 23
16. DenizliSp. 22 4 8 10 20 18 29
17. ErciyesSp. 22 4 7 11 19 18 40
18. SakaryaSp. 21 3 7 11 16 12 27
EXCHANGE RATE
EXCHANGE RATE for the U.S. dollar in New Turkish Liras: 1.38
WEATHER
High and Low Temperatures in Degrees F, Weather
Ankara, in central Turkey----------: 43/16 Partly Cloudy
Antalya, on the Mediterranean------: 68/43 Mostly Sunny
Istanbul, in northwestern Turkey---: 41/36 Mostly Sunny
Izmir, on the Aegean---------------: 54/34 Mostly Sunny
Trabzon, on the Black Sea----------: 45/32 Rainy
Snow depths at skiing locations:
Erciyes, in Kayseri, Central Turkey 24 inches
Ilgaz, in Kastamonu, North Central Turkey 28 inches
Kartalkaya, in Bolu, Western Turkey 98 inches
Palandoken, in Erzurum, Eastern Turkey 20 inches
Saklikent, in Antalya, Southern Turkey 28 inches
Sarikamis, in Kars, Eastern Turkey 7 inches
Uludag, in Bursa, Western Turkey 35 inches
*** ANNOUNCEMENTS
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underwritten today's program. TAAC is a non-profit
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understanding between Americans and Turks.
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