Marking first, Turkish minister visits Armenian school
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Education Minister Ömer Dinçer conducted a historic visit to Mıhitaryan Armenian School in Şişli’s Pangaltı neighborhood, becoming the first minister from the department to visit an Armenian school in the history of the Turkish Republic.
The occasion was in return for a visit last year in which students from the school came to Dinçer’s office to request that hostile references to Armenians be removed from textbooks.
Speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News before Dinçer’s visit, the school’s principal, Karekin Barsamyan, said they were very pleased to host such a historic visit.
“Minorities think they are the only ones who are subjected to problems, but this is not the case,” Dinçer said during the event, which included a cocktail. “In the past, not only the minorities and Alevis, but Sunnis were also victimized by authoritarian rulings and violations of rights and liberties. We aim to spread [practices in accordance with] human rights and liberties. The only way to create a peaceful atmosphere in society is democracy.”
The minister also touched on elective courses on mother tongues that began this school year. “We are taking our actions by considering that each child is an independent individual,” Dinçer said.
The ministry drew reaction after stipulating that such classes would only be opened after 10 students expressed a demand to take the lessons.
Addressing recent discussions over the insertion of religious questions onto the university entrance exam, the minister said: “The subject was unfortunately misrepresented to the public. The lessons have been given and the questions have been asked under the category of ‘Education for Religion and Ethics’ for years. It is not about a specific religion. [Students from] minority schools will be asked other questions in accordance with their curriculum.”
December/21/2012
25 Aralık 2012 Salı
Christians in Syria mark bitter Christmas
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Christians in Syria will mark a bitter Christmas this year as churches and their followers in the country have had their share of the ongoing violence. The places of worship of approximately 2 million Christians in Syria have been the target of attacks in the clashes between the forces of President Bashar al-Assad and the rebels.
“The religious leaders in Syria have declared that the churches will not celebrate Christmas because of the ongoing violence in the country,” Jamil Diarbekirli, a 25-year-old Syrian, told the Hürriyet Daily News in an e-mail interview.
Diarbekirli, who was a law student in Aleppo before the civil war and had been arrested at the beginning of the incidents before being released after a short time, pointed out that sacred spaces had become targets of regime powers.
“When our churches were attacked, our Muslim friends helped us repair them. The Syrian people and the opposition are respectful to God’s house,” said Diarbekirli, adding that if the situation continued in this way, there would not be any living people, not only no Christians. The Western powers are in complete ignorance of “this horrible catastrophe,” said George Gawrieh, a Syrian dentist who recently fled from Hasekeh city of Syria and moved permanently to Istanbul. “The Christians were so worried at the beginning of the revolution because they already knew that whatever the results were in the end, they would pay a higher price than other people and other sects.”
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Christians in Syria will mark a bitter Christmas this year as churches and their followers in the country have had their share of the ongoing violence. The places of worship of approximately 2 million Christians in Syria have been the target of attacks in the clashes between the forces of President Bashar al-Assad and the rebels.
“The religious leaders in Syria have declared that the churches will not celebrate Christmas because of the ongoing violence in the country,” Jamil Diarbekirli, a 25-year-old Syrian, told the Hürriyet Daily News in an e-mail interview.
Diarbekirli, who was a law student in Aleppo before the civil war and had been arrested at the beginning of the incidents before being released after a short time, pointed out that sacred spaces had become targets of regime powers.
“When our churches were attacked, our Muslim friends helped us repair them. The Syrian people and the opposition are respectful to God’s house,” said Diarbekirli, adding that if the situation continued in this way, there would not be any living people, not only no Christians. The Western powers are in complete ignorance of “this horrible catastrophe,” said George Gawrieh, a Syrian dentist who recently fled from Hasekeh city of Syria and moved permanently to Istanbul. “The Christians were so worried at the beginning of the revolution because they already knew that whatever the results were in the end, they would pay a higher price than other people and other sects.”
18 Aralık 2012 Salı
Book lists banned publications
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Ottoman and Turkish authorities have banned 20,000 books in the Turkey since 1834, according to a new book by Emin Karaca, who said censors in the republican era have approached their work with a zeal that was unseen in imperial times.
Titled “Vaaay Kitabın Başına Gelenler!” (Look what happened to these books!), the researcher and writer’s work was introduced at a press conference held in the Turkish Journalists Association’s clubhouse on Dec. 17. According to the book, the most frequently banned books in the Republican period are renowned author Nazım Hikmet’s works and Karl Marx’s “Das Kapital.”
Karaca said he completed the research on banned books over a period of five years. For Karaca, Turkey is a paradise for bans. “The most banned author during the Republican period was Nazım Hikmet, since it was thought that he would introduce socialism to the public,” Karaca said.
Karaca also spoke of the banned books list prepared for schools by the Board of Education and Discipline in 1970. “Almost all of the authors who are on the banned list are Turkish,” he said.
Turkish Publishers’ Union (TYB) chair Metin Celal, meanwhile, said bans had been lifted on 453 books and over 600 publications by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office last week as part of a third judicial reform package.
According to Celal, appeals were made to the police once again for the ban of 67 books and 16 periodicals. “During cases of arrested students, banned books found in their houses were regarded as criminal evidence. The state does not want to abolish the bans,” Celal said. “The Anti-Terror law and the relevant articles in the Turkish Penal Code should be altered as soon as possible.”
Karaca said some books were also banned during the Ottoman period; however, officials in the Republican period have been more severe in implementing bans even when compared to the reign of Sultan Abdülhamid, who was famous for his strict censorship.
“During the Tanzimat period [a re-organization of the empire’s administration that began in 1839], sultans used to ban books by enacting imperial edicts. During the reign of Abdülhamid, there was a censorship institution, which used to determine the bans on books. Even Abdülhamid’s method of censorship was more civilized [than today’s],” Karaca said.
December/19/2012
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Ottoman and Turkish authorities have banned 20,000 books in the Turkey since 1834, according to a new book by Emin Karaca, who said censors in the republican era have approached their work with a zeal that was unseen in imperial times.
Titled “Vaaay Kitabın Başına Gelenler!” (Look what happened to these books!), the researcher and writer’s work was introduced at a press conference held in the Turkish Journalists Association’s clubhouse on Dec. 17. According to the book, the most frequently banned books in the Republican period are renowned author Nazım Hikmet’s works and Karl Marx’s “Das Kapital.”
Karaca said he completed the research on banned books over a period of five years. For Karaca, Turkey is a paradise for bans. “The most banned author during the Republican period was Nazım Hikmet, since it was thought that he would introduce socialism to the public,” Karaca said.
Karaca also spoke of the banned books list prepared for schools by the Board of Education and Discipline in 1970. “Almost all of the authors who are on the banned list are Turkish,” he said.
Turkish Publishers’ Union (TYB) chair Metin Celal, meanwhile, said bans had been lifted on 453 books and over 600 publications by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office last week as part of a third judicial reform package.
According to Celal, appeals were made to the police once again for the ban of 67 books and 16 periodicals. “During cases of arrested students, banned books found in their houses were regarded as criminal evidence. The state does not want to abolish the bans,” Celal said. “The Anti-Terror law and the relevant articles in the Turkish Penal Code should be altered as soon as possible.”
Karaca said some books were also banned during the Ottoman period; however, officials in the Republican period have been more severe in implementing bans even when compared to the reign of Sultan Abdülhamid, who was famous for his strict censorship.
“During the Tanzimat period [a re-organization of the empire’s administration that began in 1839], sultans used to ban books by enacting imperial edicts. During the reign of Abdülhamid, there was a censorship institution, which used to determine the bans on books. Even Abdülhamid’s method of censorship was more civilized [than today’s],” Karaca said.
December/19/2012
Book reveals seized Armenian properties
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
A recent book published by the Hrant Dink Foundation has revealed that almost half of the properties belonging to 53 different Armenian foundations have been confiscated since 1923.
“2012 Beyannamesi: Istanbul Ermeni Vakıflarının El Konulan Mülkleri” (The 2012 Declaration: The Seized Properties of Armenian Foundations in Istanbul) provides data on all the proprties of the Armenian foundations confiscated since 1923.
According to the information provided, 53 Armenian foundations in Istanbul were found to have 1,328 immovable properties. Some 661 of these properties were confiscated, while the fate of another 87 is still unknown. With legal amendments, 143 of the 661 confiscated properties have been returned over the last 10 years.
One of the confiscated properties is the Kalfayan Orphanage located in Istanbul’s Halıcıoğlu district. It was confiscated on the grounds that access roads would be built on its land during the construction of the intercontinental Bosphorus Bridge. The E5 Highway now occupies this land.
Another confiscated foundation is the Surp (Saint) Hagop Armenian Church Foundation located in Istanbul’s Kasımpaşa district. Its ownership was passed to the Foundations Directorate General, after which an apartment block was built on the remains of the historic church walls. A number of shanty houses now occupy a part of the original foundation’s land, for which the Foundations Directorate General pays rent.
The 479-page new book, which opens with an introduction by Professor Hüseyin Hatemi, covers a detailed list of confiscated properties, as well as historical information and photos of the foundation properties.
December/18/2012
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
A recent book published by the Hrant Dink Foundation has revealed that almost half of the properties belonging to 53 different Armenian foundations have been confiscated since 1923.
“2012 Beyannamesi: Istanbul Ermeni Vakıflarının El Konulan Mülkleri” (The 2012 Declaration: The Seized Properties of Armenian Foundations in Istanbul) provides data on all the proprties of the Armenian foundations confiscated since 1923.
According to the information provided, 53 Armenian foundations in Istanbul were found to have 1,328 immovable properties. Some 661 of these properties were confiscated, while the fate of another 87 is still unknown. With legal amendments, 143 of the 661 confiscated properties have been returned over the last 10 years.
One of the confiscated properties is the Kalfayan Orphanage located in Istanbul’s Halıcıoğlu district. It was confiscated on the grounds that access roads would be built on its land during the construction of the intercontinental Bosphorus Bridge. The E5 Highway now occupies this land.
Another confiscated foundation is the Surp (Saint) Hagop Armenian Church Foundation located in Istanbul’s Kasımpaşa district. Its ownership was passed to the Foundations Directorate General, after which an apartment block was built on the remains of the historic church walls. A number of shanty houses now occupy a part of the original foundation’s land, for which the Foundations Directorate General pays rent.
The 479-page new book, which opens with an introduction by Professor Hüseyin Hatemi, covers a detailed list of confiscated properties, as well as historical information and photos of the foundation properties.
December/18/2012
17 Aralık 2012 Pazartesi
Minorities ‘given entire asset rights’
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Turkey’s Foundations Directorate General has organized a seminar on new regulations regarding minority foundations.
Held in Galata Greek School in Istanbul on Dec. 13, the seminar titled “The Legal Condition of the Minority Foundations” was the first of its kind in the Republican period.
Foundations Directorate General’s Chief Inspector Okan Saydam, the foundations’ Istanbul 1st Region deputy head Ebru Günaydın and Laki Vingas, who is in charge of minority foundations in the Directorate, were present at the seminar. Also, representatives of minority communities, including Armenian, Greek, Syriac and Jewish foundations showed a great interest in the seminar.
Saydam spoke to the Hürriyet Daily News about the latest developments the Directorate is working on. He said they cancelled the elective regulation of minority foundations and were working on a new one, which would be announced soon.
“Many law cases were opened to the elective processes of some foundations. Administrators could resist holding an election. Also, voter lists were not organized in an effective way. The new elective regulation we are working on will prevent such problems,” Saydam said.
“From now on, minority foundations will be able to invest in the stock market and they will be able to sell and buy stock certificates as long as they inform the Foundations Directorate General,” Saydam said.
With the new Foundation Law that came into effect in August 2011, a one-year period was given for the minority foundations to receive back their property. According to Vingas, 1,560 appeals were made for property return by Armenian, Greek, Jewish, and Syriac communities within this period. Vingas also remarked on the new elective regulation, saying they hoped the problems on election matters to be solved with the new system. Vingas, who is of Greek origin, also spoke specifically on the problems of Greek community foundations. “The population of the Greek community is very low, so we have problems in terms of administration,” Vingas said.
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Turkey’s Foundations Directorate General has organized a seminar on new regulations regarding minority foundations.
Held in Galata Greek School in Istanbul on Dec. 13, the seminar titled “The Legal Condition of the Minority Foundations” was the first of its kind in the Republican period.
Foundations Directorate General’s Chief Inspector Okan Saydam, the foundations’ Istanbul 1st Region deputy head Ebru Günaydın and Laki Vingas, who is in charge of minority foundations in the Directorate, were present at the seminar. Also, representatives of minority communities, including Armenian, Greek, Syriac and Jewish foundations showed a great interest in the seminar.
Saydam spoke to the Hürriyet Daily News about the latest developments the Directorate is working on. He said they cancelled the elective regulation of minority foundations and were working on a new one, which would be announced soon.
“Many law cases were opened to the elective processes of some foundations. Administrators could resist holding an election. Also, voter lists were not organized in an effective way. The new elective regulation we are working on will prevent such problems,” Saydam said.
“From now on, minority foundations will be able to invest in the stock market and they will be able to sell and buy stock certificates as long as they inform the Foundations Directorate General,” Saydam said.
With the new Foundation Law that came into effect in August 2011, a one-year period was given for the minority foundations to receive back their property. According to Vingas, 1,560 appeals were made for property return by Armenian, Greek, Jewish, and Syriac communities within this period. Vingas also remarked on the new elective regulation, saying they hoped the problems on election matters to be solved with the new system. Vingas, who is of Greek origin, also spoke specifically on the problems of Greek community foundations. “The population of the Greek community is very low, so we have problems in terms of administration,” Vingas said.
13 Aralık 2012 Perşembe
Syriacs want separate refugee camp in Turkey
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Syriac leaders are petitioning Turkish officials to establish a separate camp in southeastern Turkey for those who have fled violence in Syria
Leading Syriac figures say they met with officials from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Foreign Ministry in an effort to establish a separate camp in Mardin for Syriac citizens who are defecting from Syria.
Deputy chair of the Sweden-based Syriac Union Party, Said Malki, Syriac National Council member Bassam Ishak, and head of the Syriac Associations Federation’s management board Evgil Türker, met with AKP deputy chair Numan Kurtulmuş and the Foreign Ministry’s Center for Strategic Research (SAM) deputy chair Mesut Özcan.
No compromise has yet to be reached between the officials on that matter, but negotiations are still ongoing, Malki told the Hürriyet Daily News. “They assured us not to create a problem in the works we are to conduct within the bounds of our means. We want the Syriacs to stay in Turabidin (around the southeastern province of Mardin and Midyat), which is the old residential area of the Syriac community,” Malki said.
The Syriac community is asking for a separate camp to be established for them as they do not want to settle in already founded camps along the border. “Within the current camps there are various people from different segments of society so every kind of problem can arise there. Also, there are many gangs involved in human trafficking in these camps. The Syriacs who cannot comply with the camps leave there and try to migrate to a third country. So some undesired things might occur. Above all they do not want to return their homeland after all this, we are trying to prevent it,” Malki said.
“We firstly want to meet the accommodation needs with the support of diaspora and Turkey’s Syriac associations. But since we have limited facilities we need the support of the state,” Malki said about the expenses of a possible Syriac camp.
Unregistered Syriac immigrants
Thousands of people who fled from Syria found asylum in Turkey or migrated to a third country through Turkey, Malki said. “Only a few [of the refugees] were registered. Many of them stay with their relatives, while some reside in various places they could afford with their own means,” Malki said, indicating they did not want anyone to migrate from their homeland.
“We want them to stay in their residences and struggle. But if there is no chance to struggle, they could temporarily migrate and then return to their homeland after conditions get better. Consequently, we want the migrants to stay in a place where they would not face difficulties and would not need to migrate to a third country and the most appropriate location for that is Turabidin,” Malki said.
December/12/2012
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Syriac leaders are petitioning Turkish officials to establish a separate camp in southeastern Turkey for those who have fled violence in Syria
Leading Syriac figures say they met with officials from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Foreign Ministry in an effort to establish a separate camp in Mardin for Syriac citizens who are defecting from Syria.
Deputy chair of the Sweden-based Syriac Union Party, Said Malki, Syriac National Council member Bassam Ishak, and head of the Syriac Associations Federation’s management board Evgil Türker, met with AKP deputy chair Numan Kurtulmuş and the Foreign Ministry’s Center for Strategic Research (SAM) deputy chair Mesut Özcan.
No compromise has yet to be reached between the officials on that matter, but negotiations are still ongoing, Malki told the Hürriyet Daily News. “They assured us not to create a problem in the works we are to conduct within the bounds of our means. We want the Syriacs to stay in Turabidin (around the southeastern province of Mardin and Midyat), which is the old residential area of the Syriac community,” Malki said.
The Syriac community is asking for a separate camp to be established for them as they do not want to settle in already founded camps along the border. “Within the current camps there are various people from different segments of society so every kind of problem can arise there. Also, there are many gangs involved in human trafficking in these camps. The Syriacs who cannot comply with the camps leave there and try to migrate to a third country. So some undesired things might occur. Above all they do not want to return their homeland after all this, we are trying to prevent it,” Malki said.
“We firstly want to meet the accommodation needs with the support of diaspora and Turkey’s Syriac associations. But since we have limited facilities we need the support of the state,” Malki said about the expenses of a possible Syriac camp.
Unregistered Syriac immigrants
Thousands of people who fled from Syria found asylum in Turkey or migrated to a third country through Turkey, Malki said. “Only a few [of the refugees] were registered. Many of them stay with their relatives, while some reside in various places they could afford with their own means,” Malki said, indicating they did not want anyone to migrate from their homeland.
“We want them to stay in their residences and struggle. But if there is no chance to struggle, they could temporarily migrate and then return to their homeland after conditions get better. Consequently, we want the migrants to stay in a place where they would not face difficulties and would not need to migrate to a third country and the most appropriate location for that is Turabidin,” Malki said.
December/12/2012
Church land rises Syriacs’ reactions
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Share on linkedin Some Syriacs say they delivered the land to Syriac people in order to silence them on the matter of controvesial Mor Gabriel Monastery (above). Hürriyet photo
Syriac intellectuals released an announcement yesterday protesting the allocation of Latin Catholic land for a new Syriac church project in Istanbul.
The announcement, titled “We do not want a Syriac church over the bones of dead,” referred to an attempt to take the historical Mor Gabriel Monastery from them.
“We think delivering another community’s cemetery land to Syriacs for a church building is a pay-off in the face of the Supreme Court of Appeals’ unjust decision to invade the land belonging to the monastery. After this scandalous decision, the political will tries to brainwash Syriacs and the public in order to create a good impression. Syriacs have the right to found their own church, but we do not want such a solution. The cemetery land allocated [for the Syriac church] must be returned to its owners and other land that would not pose any problems must be granted to the Syriacs,” the announcement read.
The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality granted land to Turkey’s Syriac community on Dec. 10 for the purpose of constructing its first official church in Istanbul, but it became the subject of controversy after Latin Catholics said the land in question legally belongs to them.
Bakırköy deputy mayor Yervant Özuzun told the Hürriyet Daily News on Dec. 10 that a part of the land was delivered to the Syriac community. Özuzun said the land was a protected area with a chapel and graveyards, adding that they received required authorization from the Monuments Board and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.
“Only a part of the cemetery was allocated [to the Syriac community]. And the conditions of protecting the chapel and gathering the graveyards in one specific point were achieved. The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality has possessed the land since 1951,” Özuzun said.
December/12/2012
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Share on linkedin Some Syriacs say they delivered the land to Syriac people in order to silence them on the matter of controvesial Mor Gabriel Monastery (above). Hürriyet photo
Syriac intellectuals released an announcement yesterday protesting the allocation of Latin Catholic land for a new Syriac church project in Istanbul.
The announcement, titled “We do not want a Syriac church over the bones of dead,” referred to an attempt to take the historical Mor Gabriel Monastery from them.
“We think delivering another community’s cemetery land to Syriacs for a church building is a pay-off in the face of the Supreme Court of Appeals’ unjust decision to invade the land belonging to the monastery. After this scandalous decision, the political will tries to brainwash Syriacs and the public in order to create a good impression. Syriacs have the right to found their own church, but we do not want such a solution. The cemetery land allocated [for the Syriac church] must be returned to its owners and other land that would not pose any problems must be granted to the Syriacs,” the announcement read.
The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality granted land to Turkey’s Syriac community on Dec. 10 for the purpose of constructing its first official church in Istanbul, but it became the subject of controversy after Latin Catholics said the land in question legally belongs to them.
Bakırköy deputy mayor Yervant Özuzun told the Hürriyet Daily News on Dec. 10 that a part of the land was delivered to the Syriac community. Özuzun said the land was a protected area with a chapel and graveyards, adding that they received required authorization from the Monuments Board and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.
“Only a part of the cemetery was allocated [to the Syriac community]. And the conditions of protecting the chapel and gathering the graveyards in one specific point were achieved. The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality has possessed the land since 1951,” Özuzun said.
December/12/2012
Exhibit marks Turkey’s first female sculptor
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Turkish and Armenian artists gather works together at an exhibit to commemorate Mari Gerekmezyan, the first female sculptor in Turkish history
The Getronagan Armenian High School in Istanbul’s Galata neighborhood is hosting a special exhibition for pioneering Armenian sculptor Mari Gerekmezyan, the lover of renowned Turkish poet and painter Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu.
The exhibit will run until Dec. 23, and an accompanying booklet will be published after the exhibition.
Only one piece belonging to Gerekmezyan will be showcased at the exhibition because a major portion of her works is missing. Many Turkish and Armenian artists, including photojournalist Ara Güler, gathered their works together to honor the sculptor, who blazed a trail for female sculptors in Turkey.
“Mari Gerekmezyan is the first female sculptor in Turkey,” said Sevengül Sönmez, a professor at Istanbul Bilgi University who contributed to the exhibition and conducted studies on Gerekmezyan’s life, recently told the Hürriyet Daily News. “But she was overshadowed by [her lover] Bedri Rahmi since she was very young and had not yet made her first works during that period. Her relatives and the arts environment preferred to ignore Mari.”
Nonetheless, Sönmez thinks that Mari inspired Bedri Rahmi in his many poems and that she was a devoted woman.
“She fell in love with a married man, and she lost her relatives and friends for that choice. The most important thing that made their love stronger was art. The traces of this love are found in both of their works. They share many things in common such as the view of Anatolia, the image of women and themes of love. If we collected the sculptures of Mari, we can detect the influence of Bedri Rahmi in her works,” Sönmez said.
Her missing works
A major part of Gerekmezyan’s works are missing. According to Sönmez, 15 have been revealed so far but only seven of them have been located. She said even the location of Gerekmezyan’s Yahya Kemal icon, which brought her the winning prize at a State Painting and Sculpture Exhibit in 1945, was unknown.
“We brought her work titled ‘Woman’s Head’ from Surp Yerortutyun Armenian Church in Beyoğlu to the exhibition. When I started studying Gerekmezyan, I only had a few bits of information about her. As the years passed by, I collected data from various books, and I interviewed her students. When I look back, I realize that I made great progress,” Sönmez said.
Sönmez also said Turkish artists’ interactions with their Armenian and Greek counterparts have become an area of study for many researchers in Turkey. “Now we are familiar with many people other than [Turkish-Armenian] Ara Güler. As we continue to work in this field, we are sure to get to know more artists, performers and musicians, as well,” Sönmez said.
Who was Mari Gerekmezyan?
Born in the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri’s Talas district, Mari Gerekmezyan graduated from
Esayan Armenian Girls’ High School in Istanbul’s Beyoğlu neighborhood. During her high school
years, she met the renowned Turkish author Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar, and this acquaintance led her to a philosophy education. She also received education at Fine Arts Academy. She died from tuberculosis at the age of 34 in 1947.
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Turkish and Armenian artists gather works together at an exhibit to commemorate Mari Gerekmezyan, the first female sculptor in Turkish history
The Getronagan Armenian High School in Istanbul’s Galata neighborhood is hosting a special exhibition for pioneering Armenian sculptor Mari Gerekmezyan, the lover of renowned Turkish poet and painter Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu.
The exhibit will run until Dec. 23, and an accompanying booklet will be published after the exhibition.
Only one piece belonging to Gerekmezyan will be showcased at the exhibition because a major portion of her works is missing. Many Turkish and Armenian artists, including photojournalist Ara Güler, gathered their works together to honor the sculptor, who blazed a trail for female sculptors in Turkey.
“Mari Gerekmezyan is the first female sculptor in Turkey,” said Sevengül Sönmez, a professor at Istanbul Bilgi University who contributed to the exhibition and conducted studies on Gerekmezyan’s life, recently told the Hürriyet Daily News. “But she was overshadowed by [her lover] Bedri Rahmi since she was very young and had not yet made her first works during that period. Her relatives and the arts environment preferred to ignore Mari.”
Nonetheless, Sönmez thinks that Mari inspired Bedri Rahmi in his many poems and that she was a devoted woman.
“She fell in love with a married man, and she lost her relatives and friends for that choice. The most important thing that made their love stronger was art. The traces of this love are found in both of their works. They share many things in common such as the view of Anatolia, the image of women and themes of love. If we collected the sculptures of Mari, we can detect the influence of Bedri Rahmi in her works,” Sönmez said.
Her missing works
A major part of Gerekmezyan’s works are missing. According to Sönmez, 15 have been revealed so far but only seven of them have been located. She said even the location of Gerekmezyan’s Yahya Kemal icon, which brought her the winning prize at a State Painting and Sculpture Exhibit in 1945, was unknown.
“We brought her work titled ‘Woman’s Head’ from Surp Yerortutyun Armenian Church in Beyoğlu to the exhibition. When I started studying Gerekmezyan, I only had a few bits of information about her. As the years passed by, I collected data from various books, and I interviewed her students. When I look back, I realize that I made great progress,” Sönmez said.
Sönmez also said Turkish artists’ interactions with their Armenian and Greek counterparts have become an area of study for many researchers in Turkey. “Now we are familiar with many people other than [Turkish-Armenian] Ara Güler. As we continue to work in this field, we are sure to get to know more artists, performers and musicians, as well,” Sönmez said.
Who was Mari Gerekmezyan?
Born in the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri’s Talas district, Mari Gerekmezyan graduated from
Esayan Armenian Girls’ High School in Istanbul’s Beyoğlu neighborhood. During her high school
years, she met the renowned Turkish author Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar, and this acquaintance led her to a philosophy education. She also received education at Fine Arts Academy. She died from tuberculosis at the age of 34 in 1947.
11 Aralık 2012 Salı
Syriacs to build new church in Istanbul
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Turkey’s Syriac community is granted land in Istanbul on which to construct its first official church in the city, but the move has become the subject of controversy after Catholics said the parcel in question legally belongs to them. Father Simonelli says they will take the issue to the court
Latin Catholics are claiming ownership of land recently given to Turkey’s Syriac community for the establishment of their first official church in Istanbul.
The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality fulfilled the Syriac community’s request last week to approve the construction of a new church, for the first time both in its history and in the Republican period.
However, speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News on behalf of the Latin Catholic Church, FatherBruno Gregorio Simonelli said the Latin Catholic community would take legal action against the decision, claiming property rights to the land. “How could they take away our property and hand it to another community?” Simonelli asked.
Latin Catholic Foundation member and lawyer Nail Karakaş said the land was registered in the 1936 Declaration. “Before 1950, Latin Catholics used to bury their dead in this cemetery but the authorities of that time banned burials. After that, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality took over the possession of the land. Last summer, we appealed to the Municipality for the reopening of the cemetery and were expecting a result,” Karakaş said.
Following the Lausanne Treaty, a law was passed in 1936 that recommended the recording of all minority foundations. Apart from the property recorded in the declaration, the foundations were prevented from obtaining new properties.
‘The government tries to silence us’
Leaders of the Syriac community were surprised by the developments, with some arguing that the land was only given in return for the historic Mor Gabriel Monastery in the southeastern province of Mardin, over which there is an ongoing conflict regarding ownership of the land.
Syriac intellectual Sabo Boyacı harshly criticized the government for the latest developments. “I don’t believe the government’s sincerity. They delivered this land to us in order to silence us on the matter of Mor Gabriel Monastery. It is clear that they want to cause conflict between the minority communities. The government simply aims to make a good impression on the European and Turkish public,” Boyacı said.
Syriacs have struggled to obtain land in Istanbul’s Yeşilköy district for three years. The Istanbul Syriac community – amounting to 25,000, according to church records - used to worship in the churches they rented from Latin Catholics.
Bakırköy deputy mayor Yervant Özuzun told the Hürriyet Daily News that a part of the land was delivered to the Syriac community. Özuzun said the land was a protected area with a chapel and graveyards, adding that they received required authorization from the Monuments Board and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.
“Only a part of the cemetery was allocated [to the Syriac community]. And the conditions of protecting the chapel and gathering the graveyards in one specific point were achieved. The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality has possessed the land since 1951,” Özuzun said.
December/11/2012
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Turkey’s Syriac community is granted land in Istanbul on which to construct its first official church in the city, but the move has become the subject of controversy after Catholics said the parcel in question legally belongs to them. Father Simonelli says they will take the issue to the court
Latin Catholics are claiming ownership of land recently given to Turkey’s Syriac community for the establishment of their first official church in Istanbul.
The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality fulfilled the Syriac community’s request last week to approve the construction of a new church, for the first time both in its history and in the Republican period.
However, speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News on behalf of the Latin Catholic Church, FatherBruno Gregorio Simonelli said the Latin Catholic community would take legal action against the decision, claiming property rights to the land. “How could they take away our property and hand it to another community?” Simonelli asked.
Latin Catholic Foundation member and lawyer Nail Karakaş said the land was registered in the 1936 Declaration. “Before 1950, Latin Catholics used to bury their dead in this cemetery but the authorities of that time banned burials. After that, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality took over the possession of the land. Last summer, we appealed to the Municipality for the reopening of the cemetery and were expecting a result,” Karakaş said.
Following the Lausanne Treaty, a law was passed in 1936 that recommended the recording of all minority foundations. Apart from the property recorded in the declaration, the foundations were prevented from obtaining new properties.
‘The government tries to silence us’
Leaders of the Syriac community were surprised by the developments, with some arguing that the land was only given in return for the historic Mor Gabriel Monastery in the southeastern province of Mardin, over which there is an ongoing conflict regarding ownership of the land.
Syriac intellectual Sabo Boyacı harshly criticized the government for the latest developments. “I don’t believe the government’s sincerity. They delivered this land to us in order to silence us on the matter of Mor Gabriel Monastery. It is clear that they want to cause conflict between the minority communities. The government simply aims to make a good impression on the European and Turkish public,” Boyacı said.
Syriacs have struggled to obtain land in Istanbul’s Yeşilköy district for three years. The Istanbul Syriac community – amounting to 25,000, according to church records - used to worship in the churches they rented from Latin Catholics.
Bakırköy deputy mayor Yervant Özuzun told the Hürriyet Daily News that a part of the land was delivered to the Syriac community. Özuzun said the land was a protected area with a chapel and graveyards, adding that they received required authorization from the Monuments Board and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.
“Only a part of the cemetery was allocated [to the Syriac community]. And the conditions of protecting the chapel and gathering the graveyards in one specific point were achieved. The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality has possessed the land since 1951,” Özuzun said.
December/11/2012
10 Aralık 2012 Pazartesi
Counting days with potato skin in captivity in Syria
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
After spending three months in a Syrian prison, abducted Turkish journalist Cüneyt Ünal says he is slowly coming back to his normal pace and has no intention of leaving the profession
Turkish journalist Cüneyt Ünal, who was recently released after spending three months in a Syrian prison, has said he is slowly coming back to his normal pace and has no intention of leaving the profession.
In an interview with the Hürriyet Daily News, he said he counted the days in captivity by sticking pieces of potato skin onto the walls of his five-step-long cell.
Ünal, who works for U.S.-funded broadcaster al-Hurra, went missing with his Jordanian colleague, Kadumi, soon after crossing the Turkish-Syrian border on Aug. 20 to report on the civil war in the country.
“They would bring boiled potatoes and bread in the mornings. I would take a piece of the potato skin every day and paste it to the wall, so that I could count my days,” Ünal said.
He explained that he was exposed to physical and psychological suffering in his cell. “They would give me 15 seconds before and after breakfast to use the toilet. When they did not give me water in the evenings, then there was no toilet. To be at home [now] and to be able to go to the toilet when I wake up in the mornings is a huge luxury,” he said.
Losing hope
When asked if he ever lost his hope of being saved, Ünal said: “In the first week, I motivated myself by saying that I expected to be saved. My photo was then printed on an A4 sheet with a rocket launcher and I was declared a terrorist. I lost my hope at that moment.”
Ünal said the photograph was a pose he had taken before being captured. “I posed for my Japanese colleague with a rocket launcher. His camera was taken from him and they found this photo in his camera. Then they modified the photo and then I was declared a terrorist,” he said.
Ünal also expressed his concern about the situation of his friend, Palestinian journalist Başar Kadumi, who was shot and who was with Ünal when they were both arrested. “When we entered Aleppo, two helicopters were bombing the city. I had served in Libya and Gaza before, but I realized that Syria was in a much worse chaos. Some people came and told us they would take us to a safer street. People around us were running in panic. Then we heard gun shots. We left the camera recording in front of the door and sheltered inside a building. Then we went out to the front of the door and Başar had a small camera in his hand. Somebody in plain clothes hit Başar. Then they covered my head and took me somewhere. While they were torturing, they were speaking in Arabic. I could not understand what they were saying but our prime minister’s name was mentioned,” he said.
‘I thought I was dreaming’
An opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) delegation went to Syria to bring Ünal back, and he returned to Turkey on Nov. 18. “I had lost all hope. They took me out of my cell and brought me to the assistant of [Syrian President Bashar] al-Assad. When I saw the CHP delegation, I knew I was saved. When I went outside for the first time and when I saw the sunshine, I thought I was in a dream. I still think I’m in a dream. When I wake up at night with nightmare, and when I see my wife and my child, I still think I’m in a dream,” he said.
“The voices of torture are still in my ears but my willpower is strong,” said Ünal, adding that his only shortcoming was that he had no training for war reporting and did not have the necessary safety equipment. Nevertheless, he stressed that he had no intention of leaving the profession.
December/10/2012
6 Aralık 2012 Perşembe
71 journalists in prison, union says
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Seventy-one journalists still remain behind bars in Turkish prisons, journalists from the International Press Institute (IPI) and the Turkish Journalists Association (TGC) said, adding they were concerned about the current state of press freedom in the country, during a meeting of the Turkish Journalists Association (TGC) held Dec. 5.
Democratization
Freedom for Journalists Platform (GÖP) speaker Peter Preston said he had been closely following Turkey’s steps in the democratization process for the last 25 years. Preston is also the secretary general of Ankara Journalists Association and a columnist for The Guardian and The Observer. “I think the speed of [Turkey’s] democratization process has slowed down. The things I heard worry me,” Peterson said, adding that they met government authorities and the main opposition Republican Peoples’ Party (CHP) chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in Ankara, demanding the release of the arrested journalists.
According to data gathered by the association, 71 journalists are still in prison, while the trials of those released are ongoing.
TGC deputy chair Turgay Olcayto, IPI’s Turkey Executive Board member Ferai Tunç, Turkish Journalists Syndicate chair Ercan İpekçi were among the meeting’s speakers.
Olcayto commented on the fourth judicial package, which is mainly focused on eliminating the European Court of Human Rights’ (ECHR) rulings that concern the violation of human rights in Turkey and is expected to pass Parliament soon. “Unfortunately, I am not very hopeful about this package,” he said, adding that the Turkish Penal Code and the Anti-Terror Law must be immediately reformed. “Those incidents are a shame for Turkey,” Olcayto said.
December/07/2012
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Seventy-one journalists still remain behind bars in Turkish prisons, journalists from the International Press Institute (IPI) and the Turkish Journalists Association (TGC) said, adding they were concerned about the current state of press freedom in the country, during a meeting of the Turkish Journalists Association (TGC) held Dec. 5.
Democratization
Freedom for Journalists Platform (GÖP) speaker Peter Preston said he had been closely following Turkey’s steps in the democratization process for the last 25 years. Preston is also the secretary general of Ankara Journalists Association and a columnist for The Guardian and The Observer. “I think the speed of [Turkey’s] democratization process has slowed down. The things I heard worry me,” Peterson said, adding that they met government authorities and the main opposition Republican Peoples’ Party (CHP) chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in Ankara, demanding the release of the arrested journalists.
According to data gathered by the association, 71 journalists are still in prison, while the trials of those released are ongoing.
TGC deputy chair Turgay Olcayto, IPI’s Turkey Executive Board member Ferai Tunç, Turkish Journalists Syndicate chair Ercan İpekçi were among the meeting’s speakers.
Olcayto commented on the fourth judicial package, which is mainly focused on eliminating the European Court of Human Rights’ (ECHR) rulings that concern the violation of human rights in Turkey and is expected to pass Parliament soon. “Unfortunately, I am not very hopeful about this package,” he said, adding that the Turkish Penal Code and the Anti-Terror Law must be immediately reformed. “Those incidents are a shame for Turkey,” Olcayto said.
December/07/2012
Marriages help Turkish- Russian ties
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News
Russian Culture Association Chair Rimma Rizayeva says a new generation of children emerging from Turkish-Russian marriages would act as a cultural bridge between the two nations in the future
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Share on linkedin The children of Turkish-Russian couples will bring the two nations together, says Russian Cultural Center chair.
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Marriages between Turks and Russians, which have increased a great degree over the last 20 years, have been helping boost relations between the two countries, according to a Russian cultural official.
Russian Education, Culture and Cooperation Association Executive Chair Rimma Rizayeva told the Hürriyet Daily News that a new generation of children emerging from Turkish-Russian marriages would act as a cultural bridge between the two nations in the future.
Established seven years ago, the Russian Cultural Center provides legal support to Russian women in Turkey who are going through a divorce or have other kinds of problems, with the help of Russian lawyer Alona Smirnova, who graduated from a Turkish university.
When asked about the divorce rate between Turkish and Russian couples, Rizayeva said: “The first marriages made 20 years ago were more problematic since they married before getting to know each other’s cultures and thus resulted in disappointments. But now the people who have received a higher education consciously marry each other. Of course, divorces may happen, but it could happen in every relationship.”
Rizayeva also said children from these marriages needed an education comprised of both Turkish and Russian cultural aspects. “Schools [that offer such subjects] will form a bridge between the two countries.”
Tatiana Uzunay, a Russian woman who graduated from St. Petersburg University and recently married a Turkish businessman, said she was irritated by prejudices that had caused some troubles in her social life.
“The wife of my husband’s best friend does not want to see us merely because I am Russian; this is very irritating. I want to change the bad reputation of Russian women,” she said.
“I am happy to be married to a Turk,” she said. “I would like to say that neither Turks nor Russians know each other well. Russians only see Turkey as a cheap country to have a vacation, but Turkey has much more than that; I want to be a cultural envoy.”
Russians living in Turkey largely demand their own schools and churches in cities such as Istanbul, Antalya and Alanya.
The association’s deputy head, Karani Çakır, said they negotiated with authorities in Ankara and the Turkish-Russian Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group with regard to building a school.
After the countries of the Eastern bloc collapsed at the beginning of the 1990s, women from Russia started shuttle-trading in Turkey; some of them were involved in prostitution. Thereafter, Russian women began being called “Natasha” among Turks, which came to mean “prostitute” in colloquial language. “In our hard times, our women came to Turkey and engaged in the shuttle trade, and there were also prostitutes among them. But it is very offensive to name all Russian women as ‘Natashas,’” she said.
December/06/2012
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News
Russian Culture Association Chair Rimma Rizayeva says a new generation of children emerging from Turkish-Russian marriages would act as a cultural bridge between the two nations in the future
Send to friend »
Share on linkedin The children of Turkish-Russian couples will bring the two nations together, says Russian Cultural Center chair.
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Marriages between Turks and Russians, which have increased a great degree over the last 20 years, have been helping boost relations between the two countries, according to a Russian cultural official.
Russian Education, Culture and Cooperation Association Executive Chair Rimma Rizayeva told the Hürriyet Daily News that a new generation of children emerging from Turkish-Russian marriages would act as a cultural bridge between the two nations in the future.
Established seven years ago, the Russian Cultural Center provides legal support to Russian women in Turkey who are going through a divorce or have other kinds of problems, with the help of Russian lawyer Alona Smirnova, who graduated from a Turkish university.
When asked about the divorce rate between Turkish and Russian couples, Rizayeva said: “The first marriages made 20 years ago were more problematic since they married before getting to know each other’s cultures and thus resulted in disappointments. But now the people who have received a higher education consciously marry each other. Of course, divorces may happen, but it could happen in every relationship.”
Rizayeva also said children from these marriages needed an education comprised of both Turkish and Russian cultural aspects. “Schools [that offer such subjects] will form a bridge between the two countries.”
Tatiana Uzunay, a Russian woman who graduated from St. Petersburg University and recently married a Turkish businessman, said she was irritated by prejudices that had caused some troubles in her social life.
“The wife of my husband’s best friend does not want to see us merely because I am Russian; this is very irritating. I want to change the bad reputation of Russian women,” she said.
“I am happy to be married to a Turk,” she said. “I would like to say that neither Turks nor Russians know each other well. Russians only see Turkey as a cheap country to have a vacation, but Turkey has much more than that; I want to be a cultural envoy.”
Russians living in Turkey largely demand their own schools and churches in cities such as Istanbul, Antalya and Alanya.
The association’s deputy head, Karani Çakır, said they negotiated with authorities in Ankara and the Turkish-Russian Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group with regard to building a school.
After the countries of the Eastern bloc collapsed at the beginning of the 1990s, women from Russia started shuttle-trading in Turkey; some of them were involved in prostitution. Thereafter, Russian women began being called “Natasha” among Turks, which came to mean “prostitute” in colloquial language. “In our hard times, our women came to Turkey and engaged in the shuttle trade, and there were also prostitutes among them. But it is very offensive to name all Russian women as ‘Natashas,’” she said.
December/06/2012
4 Aralık 2012 Salı
Davutpaşa Mid 3 to represent the pain of 1980 coup
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Turkish photojournalist, Ahmet Sel, renowned for his works on documentary photography, has published the stories of 42 of his friends who were imprisoned following the Sept. 12, 1980 military coup along with their photographs in a new memoir titled “Davutpaşa Orta Üç” (Davutpaşa Mid 3).
An exhibition with the same name, hosted by Tütün Deposu (Tobacco Depot) in Istanbul’s Tophane district from Nov. 23 and Dec. 23, will feature the book’s photography, drawing attention to the torture and suffering experienced by prisoners in the aftermath of the 1980 military coup.
“My 42 friends served their prison sentence in the same ward. I wanted to do something about myself. Even though I managed to go abroad [at the time], I still shared the same fate as my friends,” Sel said regarding his inspiration to organize the exhibition in an interview with the Hürriyet Daily News.
“One of those friends, Fahrettin Arslan, said we experienced the coup in three different ways: those imprisoned and exposed to torture, those continuing their struggle within the groups they belong to, and those who fled abroad,” Sel said.
Aslan said those who were imprisoned as he was were the ones who managed to survive the post-coup years in the best way, because they were imprisoned and able to carry on with their lives after being released.
“However, I was forbidden to enter this country for 26 years. When I returned, I was like an alien in my hometown, even though I knew its language, customs and traditions,” said Sel. “My 42 friends were exposed to severe tortures in the Davutpaşa barracks. And many of them were not yet in their twenties then,” Sel said.
According to Sel, those imprisoned in the Mid 3 were able to find strength through friendships in the face of torture and hardship. “They resisted in the same ward for years. They said they experienced the greatest friendships in this ward and Davutpaşa was like a kind of school for them,” Sel said. When asked about the meaning of “Mid 3,” Sel explained that the Davutpaşa barracks was a three-storey building with many wards. Sel’s friends lived in the middle ward, which is called Davutpaşa Mid 3.
Sel’s memoir was released recently by Aras Publishing.
Place of torture turns into university campus
Davutpaşa barracks, where the victims of the coup were once exposed to torture, now serves as the Fine Arts Faculty of Yıldız Technical University. In an ironic twist, the son of one of Sel’s friends now receives an education in the same ward his father was once tortured in. “When taking the photographs, we visited [the barracks] and music was coming from the corridors. My friend got very happy when he saw younger generations receiving an education there,” Sel said.
Sel formed the scenes of his book according to the people he photographed. “The photograph on the book cover shows Sefer Atalay. [For the photograph] he took a walk on the hills of Dragos and I took a photograph of him while he was there. I supported the photos with my stories. This book will be an important mediator today since the late history is being questioned,” Sel said.
Story of a neurology professor
Sabahattin Sahip, a member of the Greek Communist Party, came from Komotini to Istanbul in order to study medicine. He was arrested and tortured after the coup. After he was released, he maintained his education with great difficulties. He was attempted to be exiled, but he managed to become a Turkish citizen. Now, he is a professor of neurology.
The journalist Aydın Engin was the editor-in-chief of Politika Gazetesi (Journal of Politics), he used to write a column titled “Tırmık.” And he was ordered to be arrested for one of his columns.
“On the day I was released, the charge against me was finalized. I was going to stay in prison 7.5 years more,” Engin said in the book. “On the day I was released, I fled to Dusseldorf with the first plane. The document of my final charge arrived in Davutpaşa next day,” he said.
The objects that were made by the prisoners during their imprisonment and their photographs from those times can also be seen in the exhibition. The book Davutpaşa Mid 3 will be available for purchase at the opening.
About the Mid 3 ward
“Davutpaşa Mid 3” presents the portraits of 42 human beings with a shared fate in the Mid 3 ward of Davutpaşa Military Prison in the lead-up to and aftermath of the Sept. 12, 1980 military coup d’état, that left an indelible mark on the recent history of Turkey.
In his book Sel treats the old inmates as if they were in a time tunnel, on a stage constructed somewhere between the past and the future. The places where the photographs have been taken not only contain details regarding the past and presents of the people in the portraits, but also feature clues that point toward the world beyond that field, for instance, toward Turkey’s transformation. Thus, a family album striving to exist in memory begins to exist in the reality of the present as a document that has been handed down from the past.
The Mid 3 ward, now used as an art studio by a university (Şahin Arslan); the asphalt road that has taken the place of teahouses along the shore and the coastline that gradually moves further away (Mustafa Taluğ); the hills of Dragos, once a place to visit to find solitude in the years after coming out of prison, but now covered with kitsch villas of the wealthy classes (Sefer Atalay); a five-storey building in Sefaköy, erected in place of a police department once used as a torture house (Kemal Işık); and memories revived at the side of one’s mother, who also signs of the passing of troublesome times (Kazım Rençberoğlu). The photograph of Erhan Tüskan, who after long years spent in prison settled in the Netherlands and felt alienated to his own city, was taken at the edge of a city, in an area that was once covered with fields, but is now filled with skyscrapers!
The portraits in these constructed places are an opportunity to face-off, both for the viewer and the person who has been photographed. “Which traces of youth remain?” is one question that comes to mind. The shadow of an old code of conduct - the way the legs have been crossed, the tesbih [worry beads] in one hand, the challenging manner of a certain slant, or the weathered look emanating from a crestfallen glance? The people in the portraits are left facing their own reality, their present condition and their own mortality in these photographs. Even the negatives on which the portraits are recorded on, the paper they are printed on, and the wood of their frames will last longer than these lives enriched with dedication and complexity.
December/04/2012
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Turkish photojournalist, Ahmet Sel, renowned for his works on documentary photography, has published the stories of 42 of his friends who were imprisoned following the Sept. 12, 1980 military coup along with their photographs in a new memoir titled “Davutpaşa Orta Üç” (Davutpaşa Mid 3).
An exhibition with the same name, hosted by Tütün Deposu (Tobacco Depot) in Istanbul’s Tophane district from Nov. 23 and Dec. 23, will feature the book’s photography, drawing attention to the torture and suffering experienced by prisoners in the aftermath of the 1980 military coup.
“My 42 friends served their prison sentence in the same ward. I wanted to do something about myself. Even though I managed to go abroad [at the time], I still shared the same fate as my friends,” Sel said regarding his inspiration to organize the exhibition in an interview with the Hürriyet Daily News.
“One of those friends, Fahrettin Arslan, said we experienced the coup in three different ways: those imprisoned and exposed to torture, those continuing their struggle within the groups they belong to, and those who fled abroad,” Sel said.
Aslan said those who were imprisoned as he was were the ones who managed to survive the post-coup years in the best way, because they were imprisoned and able to carry on with their lives after being released.
“However, I was forbidden to enter this country for 26 years. When I returned, I was like an alien in my hometown, even though I knew its language, customs and traditions,” said Sel. “My 42 friends were exposed to severe tortures in the Davutpaşa barracks. And many of them were not yet in their twenties then,” Sel said.
According to Sel, those imprisoned in the Mid 3 were able to find strength through friendships in the face of torture and hardship. “They resisted in the same ward for years. They said they experienced the greatest friendships in this ward and Davutpaşa was like a kind of school for them,” Sel said. When asked about the meaning of “Mid 3,” Sel explained that the Davutpaşa barracks was a three-storey building with many wards. Sel’s friends lived in the middle ward, which is called Davutpaşa Mid 3.
Sel’s memoir was released recently by Aras Publishing.
Place of torture turns into university campus
Davutpaşa barracks, where the victims of the coup were once exposed to torture, now serves as the Fine Arts Faculty of Yıldız Technical University. In an ironic twist, the son of one of Sel’s friends now receives an education in the same ward his father was once tortured in. “When taking the photographs, we visited [the barracks] and music was coming from the corridors. My friend got very happy when he saw younger generations receiving an education there,” Sel said.
Sel formed the scenes of his book according to the people he photographed. “The photograph on the book cover shows Sefer Atalay. [For the photograph] he took a walk on the hills of Dragos and I took a photograph of him while he was there. I supported the photos with my stories. This book will be an important mediator today since the late history is being questioned,” Sel said.
Story of a neurology professor
Sabahattin Sahip, a member of the Greek Communist Party, came from Komotini to Istanbul in order to study medicine. He was arrested and tortured after the coup. After he was released, he maintained his education with great difficulties. He was attempted to be exiled, but he managed to become a Turkish citizen. Now, he is a professor of neurology.
The journalist Aydın Engin was the editor-in-chief of Politika Gazetesi (Journal of Politics), he used to write a column titled “Tırmık.” And he was ordered to be arrested for one of his columns.
“On the day I was released, the charge against me was finalized. I was going to stay in prison 7.5 years more,” Engin said in the book. “On the day I was released, I fled to Dusseldorf with the first plane. The document of my final charge arrived in Davutpaşa next day,” he said.
The objects that were made by the prisoners during their imprisonment and their photographs from those times can also be seen in the exhibition. The book Davutpaşa Mid 3 will be available for purchase at the opening.
About the Mid 3 ward
“Davutpaşa Mid 3” presents the portraits of 42 human beings with a shared fate in the Mid 3 ward of Davutpaşa Military Prison in the lead-up to and aftermath of the Sept. 12, 1980 military coup d’état, that left an indelible mark on the recent history of Turkey.
In his book Sel treats the old inmates as if they were in a time tunnel, on a stage constructed somewhere between the past and the future. The places where the photographs have been taken not only contain details regarding the past and presents of the people in the portraits, but also feature clues that point toward the world beyond that field, for instance, toward Turkey’s transformation. Thus, a family album striving to exist in memory begins to exist in the reality of the present as a document that has been handed down from the past.
The Mid 3 ward, now used as an art studio by a university (Şahin Arslan); the asphalt road that has taken the place of teahouses along the shore and the coastline that gradually moves further away (Mustafa Taluğ); the hills of Dragos, once a place to visit to find solitude in the years after coming out of prison, but now covered with kitsch villas of the wealthy classes (Sefer Atalay); a five-storey building in Sefaköy, erected in place of a police department once used as a torture house (Kemal Işık); and memories revived at the side of one’s mother, who also signs of the passing of troublesome times (Kazım Rençberoğlu). The photograph of Erhan Tüskan, who after long years spent in prison settled in the Netherlands and felt alienated to his own city, was taken at the edge of a city, in an area that was once covered with fields, but is now filled with skyscrapers!
The portraits in these constructed places are an opportunity to face-off, both for the viewer and the person who has been photographed. “Which traces of youth remain?” is one question that comes to mind. The shadow of an old code of conduct - the way the legs have been crossed, the tesbih [worry beads] in one hand, the challenging manner of a certain slant, or the weathered look emanating from a crestfallen glance? The people in the portraits are left facing their own reality, their present condition and their own mortality in these photographs. Even the negatives on which the portraits are recorded on, the paper they are printed on, and the wood of their frames will last longer than these lives enriched with dedication and complexity.
December/04/2012
28 Kasım 2012 Çarşamba
Van-Yerevan flights to commence soon
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Over two years of efforts by Van businessmen to start flights between their hometown and Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, have yielded results that may shift shuttle trade from Istanbul to the eastern province as well as boost local tourism revenues.
Round-trip flights between the two cities will kick off in two weeks, Ayhan Fidan, a businessman and member of the Van Industry and Trade Chamber (VATSO), told the Daily News.
VATSO has completed legal procedures regarding aviation regulations and a plane will be rented from the local Bora Jet firm. “The land border between Turkey and Armenia is closed, despite the fact that air entrances and exits are free. This is a clear contrast. We want the border gates to open,” said Fidan.
The Turkish border has been closed since 1993, when a war broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan. However, there are regular flights from Istanbul to Armenia twice a week in the winter and from the southern province of Antalya and western tourist resort of Bodrum in the summer. There are also regular bus services.
“The land distance between Van and Yerevan is 230 kilometers. It is possible to cover this distance by car if the border was open. Now you have to fly this [short] distance. It will take 25 minutes for a plane to take off in Van and to land in Yerevan. The total trip will take one hour at the most. Isn’t that a contradiction in itself?” said Fidan.
A total of 30 tourism firms based in Van have created package tours that will support air travel between the two cities, he said. “We aim for 79 percent occupancy rates in the flights,” Fidan said, adding that tickets prices would be 120 Turkish Liras. The shuttle trade in Istanbul may shift to Van as a result of the flights, thanks to its lower transportation costs, Fidan said.
Van is a significant destination for Armenians both from Armenia and the Diaspora, due to the once-a-year church service at the Armenian Cathedral of the Holy Cross on Lake Van’s Akdamar Island.
Flights are very important for economic relations to improve as well as for entrepreneurs in Van, Bitlis and Kars, the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Armenia President Arsen Ghazaryan said, according to the news portal Panarmenian.net. The flights will receive substantial interest in Armenia and contribute to regional tourism, Ghazaryan said.
November/28/2012
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Over two years of efforts by Van businessmen to start flights between their hometown and Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, have yielded results that may shift shuttle trade from Istanbul to the eastern province as well as boost local tourism revenues.
Round-trip flights between the two cities will kick off in two weeks, Ayhan Fidan, a businessman and member of the Van Industry and Trade Chamber (VATSO), told the Daily News.
VATSO has completed legal procedures regarding aviation regulations and a plane will be rented from the local Bora Jet firm. “The land border between Turkey and Armenia is closed, despite the fact that air entrances and exits are free. This is a clear contrast. We want the border gates to open,” said Fidan.
The Turkish border has been closed since 1993, when a war broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan. However, there are regular flights from Istanbul to Armenia twice a week in the winter and from the southern province of Antalya and western tourist resort of Bodrum in the summer. There are also regular bus services.
“The land distance between Van and Yerevan is 230 kilometers. It is possible to cover this distance by car if the border was open. Now you have to fly this [short] distance. It will take 25 minutes for a plane to take off in Van and to land in Yerevan. The total trip will take one hour at the most. Isn’t that a contradiction in itself?” said Fidan.
A total of 30 tourism firms based in Van have created package tours that will support air travel between the two cities, he said. “We aim for 79 percent occupancy rates in the flights,” Fidan said, adding that tickets prices would be 120 Turkish Liras. The shuttle trade in Istanbul may shift to Van as a result of the flights, thanks to its lower transportation costs, Fidan said.
Van is a significant destination for Armenians both from Armenia and the Diaspora, due to the once-a-year church service at the Armenian Cathedral of the Holy Cross on Lake Van’s Akdamar Island.
Flights are very important for economic relations to improve as well as for entrepreneurs in Van, Bitlis and Kars, the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Armenia President Arsen Ghazaryan said, according to the news portal Panarmenian.net. The flights will receive substantial interest in Armenia and contribute to regional tourism, Ghazaryan said.
November/28/2012
27 Kasım 2012 Salı
‘Last Ottoman’ disputes PM Erdoğan on TV series
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s recent remarks criticizing a popular television series on the life of an Ottoman sultan have drawn a reaction from one of the last surviving members of the Ottoman dynasty.
Osman Selaheddin Osmanoğlu, son of the last Şehzade (prince) in the Ottoman Palace, told the Hürriyet Daily News that even though he did not appreciate the way his ancestors were represented in the highly-rated Turkish soap opera, Muhteşem Yüzyıl (Magnificent Century), which portrays the life of Ottoman Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent, he did not take it seriously as it was only a fictional work.
“I am following the series, but I don’t take it seriously since it is only a soap opera. Still, on the other hand, portraying Süleyman the Magnificent while cutting jewelry or involved in intrigues is not a decent thing,” Osmanoğlu said about the popular series.
When reminded of Erdoğan’s harsh criticism of the series during his recent speech in Kütahya, Osmanoğlu said: “I didn’t listen to the prime minister’s remarks. However, the prime minister’s ancestors are our grandfathers, as well. Of course, we also don’t appreciate the way our ancestors are represented,” Osmanoğlu said.
Erdoğan said in his speech on Nov. 25 that the series portrayed “a Süleyman that I don’t know about ... We have alerted the authorities about this and we await a judicial decision on it. Those who toy with these values should be taught a lesson within the premises of law.”
Muhteşem Yüzyıl is a popular T.V. show in Turkey and abroad, which follows the lives of the Ottoman ruler Süleyman and his love Hürrem Sultan. The show focuses particularly on Süleyman’s personal and palace life, portraying characters from the harem as well as from the royal family.
A book
The popularity of Muhteşem Yüzyıl and similar T.V. shows has inspired a renewed interest in the Ottoman Empire in Turkey.
Not only soap operas and films, but also new books written on the empire are arousing a new curiosity. Osmanoğlu’s memoir, “Bir Şehzadenin Hâtırâtı Vatan ve Menfâda Gördüklerim ve İşittiklerim” (Memoires of a Şehzade – What I Saw and Heard at Home and in Exile), which was recently published by Yapı Kredi Publishing, is among these titles. There are also plans to translate the book into English.
In the memoir, Osmanoğlu narrates the story of his father Ali Vâsıb Efendi, who was the last Şehzade in the Ottoman Palace. He witnessed the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
Osmanoğlu said only his mother had read the notes Ali Vâsıb Efendi had taken before his death.
“With the help of Seyit Ali Kahraman from Ottoman archives, the notes written in the Arabic alphabet were transcribed into the Latin alphabet. John Dyson from Cambridge University provided great support for the works,” he said.
Feridun Emecen:
Saying Süleyman the Magnificent spent all his life on a horse is a symbolic approach. He had 13 large expeditions. He traveled and fought between 1521 and 1548. It is not necessary to say 10, 20 or 30 years to define this time. History has already shown that he was on expedition most of the time. In the series, we see a different [sultan] that has nothing to do with the reality. This is only fiction and should be perceived as fiction.
Vahdettin Ergin:
Of course, the real [sultan] and the [sultan] in the series are very different from each other. On the other hand, we do not have enough information on the [court] life of that era. People staying at the [court] are a part of the palace and they are among the servants of the [court]. It is impossible that [the sultan] spent his whole life [plotting] conspiracies. The prime minster said 30, but it was only 10 to 15 years of that [the sultan] spent on horseback at war. We cannot learn history from the series.
Nurhan Atasoy
Süleyman the Magnificent is a sultan that was noted for his military genius only, but he also did exceptional things in terms of culture and the arts. Nobody talks about this side of him, and this is unfair to him. This TV series shows the [court] all the time. Of course, this is not a documentary, but a fiction. But there are many mistakes. It misinforms people.
Cemal Kafadar:
There is no doubt that he had a life both in the [court] and at war. I think that this is an unnecessary discussion. This issue should not be discussed politically because, willingly or unwillingly, the statements of politicians exert pressure on those who will write new books or make TV series about this issue. This discussion should be left for the masters of arts and culture.
Who was Sultan Süleyman?
Süleyman I was the 10th and longest-reigning Emperor, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1520 to his death in 1566. He is known in the West as Süleyman the Magnificent and in the East, as “The Lawgiver” (Kanuni), for his complete reconstruction of the Ottoman legal system. Süleyman became a prominent monarch of 16th century Europe, presiding over the apex of the Ottoman Empire’s military, political and economic power. He personally led Ottoman armies to conquer the Christian strongholds of Belgrade, Rhodes, and most of Hungary before his conquests was checked at the Siege of Vienna in 1529. Under his rule, the Ottoman fleet dominated the seas from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. At the helm of an expanding empire, Süleyman personally instituted legislative changes relating to society, education, taxation, and criminal law.
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s recent remarks criticizing a popular television series on the life of an Ottoman sultan have drawn a reaction from one of the last surviving members of the Ottoman dynasty.
Osman Selaheddin Osmanoğlu, son of the last Şehzade (prince) in the Ottoman Palace, told the Hürriyet Daily News that even though he did not appreciate the way his ancestors were represented in the highly-rated Turkish soap opera, Muhteşem Yüzyıl (Magnificent Century), which portrays the life of Ottoman Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent, he did not take it seriously as it was only a fictional work.
“I am following the series, but I don’t take it seriously since it is only a soap opera. Still, on the other hand, portraying Süleyman the Magnificent while cutting jewelry or involved in intrigues is not a decent thing,” Osmanoğlu said about the popular series.
When reminded of Erdoğan’s harsh criticism of the series during his recent speech in Kütahya, Osmanoğlu said: “I didn’t listen to the prime minister’s remarks. However, the prime minister’s ancestors are our grandfathers, as well. Of course, we also don’t appreciate the way our ancestors are represented,” Osmanoğlu said.
Erdoğan said in his speech on Nov. 25 that the series portrayed “a Süleyman that I don’t know about ... We have alerted the authorities about this and we await a judicial decision on it. Those who toy with these values should be taught a lesson within the premises of law.”
Muhteşem Yüzyıl is a popular T.V. show in Turkey and abroad, which follows the lives of the Ottoman ruler Süleyman and his love Hürrem Sultan. The show focuses particularly on Süleyman’s personal and palace life, portraying characters from the harem as well as from the royal family.
A book
The popularity of Muhteşem Yüzyıl and similar T.V. shows has inspired a renewed interest in the Ottoman Empire in Turkey.
Not only soap operas and films, but also new books written on the empire are arousing a new curiosity. Osmanoğlu’s memoir, “Bir Şehzadenin Hâtırâtı Vatan ve Menfâda Gördüklerim ve İşittiklerim” (Memoires of a Şehzade – What I Saw and Heard at Home and in Exile), which was recently published by Yapı Kredi Publishing, is among these titles. There are also plans to translate the book into English.
In the memoir, Osmanoğlu narrates the story of his father Ali Vâsıb Efendi, who was the last Şehzade in the Ottoman Palace. He witnessed the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
Osmanoğlu said only his mother had read the notes Ali Vâsıb Efendi had taken before his death.
“With the help of Seyit Ali Kahraman from Ottoman archives, the notes written in the Arabic alphabet were transcribed into the Latin alphabet. John Dyson from Cambridge University provided great support for the works,” he said.
Feridun Emecen:
Saying Süleyman the Magnificent spent all his life on a horse is a symbolic approach. He had 13 large expeditions. He traveled and fought between 1521 and 1548. It is not necessary to say 10, 20 or 30 years to define this time. History has already shown that he was on expedition most of the time. In the series, we see a different [sultan] that has nothing to do with the reality. This is only fiction and should be perceived as fiction.
Vahdettin Ergin:
Of course, the real [sultan] and the [sultan] in the series are very different from each other. On the other hand, we do not have enough information on the [court] life of that era. People staying at the [court] are a part of the palace and they are among the servants of the [court]. It is impossible that [the sultan] spent his whole life [plotting] conspiracies. The prime minster said 30, but it was only 10 to 15 years of that [the sultan] spent on horseback at war. We cannot learn history from the series.
Nurhan Atasoy
Süleyman the Magnificent is a sultan that was noted for his military genius only, but he also did exceptional things in terms of culture and the arts. Nobody talks about this side of him, and this is unfair to him. This TV series shows the [court] all the time. Of course, this is not a documentary, but a fiction. But there are many mistakes. It misinforms people.
Cemal Kafadar:
There is no doubt that he had a life both in the [court] and at war. I think that this is an unnecessary discussion. This issue should not be discussed politically because, willingly or unwillingly, the statements of politicians exert pressure on those who will write new books or make TV series about this issue. This discussion should be left for the masters of arts and culture.
Who was Sultan Süleyman?
Süleyman I was the 10th and longest-reigning Emperor, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1520 to his death in 1566. He is known in the West as Süleyman the Magnificent and in the East, as “The Lawgiver” (Kanuni), for his complete reconstruction of the Ottoman legal system. Süleyman became a prominent monarch of 16th century Europe, presiding over the apex of the Ottoman Empire’s military, political and economic power. He personally led Ottoman armies to conquer the Christian strongholds of Belgrade, Rhodes, and most of Hungary before his conquests was checked at the Siege of Vienna in 1529. Under his rule, the Ottoman fleet dominated the seas from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. At the helm of an expanding empire, Süleyman personally instituted legislative changes relating to society, education, taxation, and criminal law.
25 Kasım 2012 Pazar
Syrian refugee children at camps face trauma
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News-Vercihan Ziflioğlu
Thousands of Syrian children staying at camps in Turkey after fleeing their country face major psychological problems and get very little help, according to a research by Bahçeşehir University
Syrian children living in refugee camps in Turkey face severe psychological problems, according to research made public Nov. 23.
According to official records, the number of Syrian refugees arriving in Turkey has reached 125,000, while 60,000 of them are children under the age of 18.
A group from Bahçeşehir University’s Psychology Department observed the psychological conditions of 300 children in Gaziantep’s Islahiye Camp for three months and issued a report titled “Syrian Children and Families” based on their observations.
According to the report, prepared after face-to-face interviews were conducted with 300 children, the children have spent on average eight months in Turkey, coming mainly from Aleppo and Idlib.
The education level of the refugee families is generally on the level of secondary school.
Fifty-three percent of the children replied positively to the question, “Did your family face a serious problem last year?” while 31 percent left their families without their consent and 74 percent lost at least one family member.
Also, 59 percent of the children positively replied to the question “Have you ever witnessed a physical or armed attack against someone in your life?” The mental conditions of the children, on the other hand, are thought-provoking. Serap Özer from Bahçeşehir University and Dr. Selçuk Şirin from New York University, who joined the fieldwork, spoke to the Hürriyet Daily News about the research.
Researchers implemented a method used in clinical psychology during the fieldwork, asking the children to draw pictures with themes of war and peace, Özer said.
“They drew dead children, babies drenched in blood, families and war crafts. Boys are more aggressive, while girls mostly reflect the sorrow of immigration and death. In the peace pictures, on the other hand, there are non-destroyed houses and green parks,” Özer said.
“We observed severe psychological disorders; this is threatening for the children’s future,” Özer said.
Girls under more pressure.
Şirin said there are 1,110 children in Gaziantep’s Islahiye Camp and they observed 300 children within three months, adding that the majority of them were from Sunni Muslim families, while the rest were of Shiite or Catholic origins.
Özer also indicated that the refugees’ education was at a secondary school level. “Only 4 percent of them answered positively to the question of whether they had need to visit a doctor due to psychological problems since they came to Turkey,” Özer said. “When asked if their children were diagnosed to have some psychological disorder, only 2.6 percent of the childrens’ parents said yes,” Özer said, adding that these numbers are also quite thought-provoking.
“In conservative families, girls are under more pressure when compared to boys, so feelings of melancholy and loss prevail among girls,” Özer said, adding that they would share this research with the international public. “These children are the future of the Middle East. Their traumas must be immediately cured and our works will continue [in that regard],” Özer said.
November/24/2012
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News-Vercihan Ziflioğlu
Thousands of Syrian children staying at camps in Turkey after fleeing their country face major psychological problems and get very little help, according to a research by Bahçeşehir University
Syrian children living in refugee camps in Turkey face severe psychological problems, according to research made public Nov. 23.
According to official records, the number of Syrian refugees arriving in Turkey has reached 125,000, while 60,000 of them are children under the age of 18.
A group from Bahçeşehir University’s Psychology Department observed the psychological conditions of 300 children in Gaziantep’s Islahiye Camp for three months and issued a report titled “Syrian Children and Families” based on their observations.
According to the report, prepared after face-to-face interviews were conducted with 300 children, the children have spent on average eight months in Turkey, coming mainly from Aleppo and Idlib.
The education level of the refugee families is generally on the level of secondary school.
Fifty-three percent of the children replied positively to the question, “Did your family face a serious problem last year?” while 31 percent left their families without their consent and 74 percent lost at least one family member.
Also, 59 percent of the children positively replied to the question “Have you ever witnessed a physical or armed attack against someone in your life?” The mental conditions of the children, on the other hand, are thought-provoking. Serap Özer from Bahçeşehir University and Dr. Selçuk Şirin from New York University, who joined the fieldwork, spoke to the Hürriyet Daily News about the research.
Researchers implemented a method used in clinical psychology during the fieldwork, asking the children to draw pictures with themes of war and peace, Özer said.
“They drew dead children, babies drenched in blood, families and war crafts. Boys are more aggressive, while girls mostly reflect the sorrow of immigration and death. In the peace pictures, on the other hand, there are non-destroyed houses and green parks,” Özer said.
“We observed severe psychological disorders; this is threatening for the children’s future,” Özer said.
Girls under more pressure.
Şirin said there are 1,110 children in Gaziantep’s Islahiye Camp and they observed 300 children within three months, adding that the majority of them were from Sunni Muslim families, while the rest were of Shiite or Catholic origins.
Özer also indicated that the refugees’ education was at a secondary school level. “Only 4 percent of them answered positively to the question of whether they had need to visit a doctor due to psychological problems since they came to Turkey,” Özer said. “When asked if their children were diagnosed to have some psychological disorder, only 2.6 percent of the childrens’ parents said yes,” Özer said, adding that these numbers are also quite thought-provoking.
“In conservative families, girls are under more pressure when compared to boys, so feelings of melancholy and loss prevail among girls,” Özer said, adding that they would share this research with the international public. “These children are the future of the Middle East. Their traumas must be immediately cured and our works will continue [in that regard],” Özer said.
November/24/2012
22 Kasım 2012 Perşembe
Istanbul’s fountains victim of projects for urbanization
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Historical fountains, once commonplace in many Istanbul districts, have fallen victim to the disputed urban development projects, neglect and ill-treatment.
One of these historical fountains had belonged to the Yeridz Mangants Church Foundation, and was built during the reign of Sultan Murad II in the Ottoman Period. It was regarded as unclaimed in 1936 because it was not registered in the 1936 Declaration, then the municipality took possession.
The head of the foundation, Nazareth Özsahakyan, told the Hürriyet Daily News they could not take any action for bureaucratic reasons and the fountain had been severely damaged.
The fountains are in a miserable condition, according to Aydın University Architecture and Restoration Department head Dr. Fatma Sedes, who has conducted comprehensive research on historical fountains.
Sedes said only monumental fountains and the ones located in squares have been restored. “They are restored, but some fountains sustained more damage during restoration,” Sedes said. The remaining fountains‘ pools have been drained and their inscriptions, lead plates and taps have been stolen, she said. “What is more, unfortunately, some fountains disappear under the foundations of huge construction projects,” Sedes said.
November/22/2012
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Historical fountains, once commonplace in many Istanbul districts, have fallen victim to the disputed urban development projects, neglect and ill-treatment.
One of these historical fountains had belonged to the Yeridz Mangants Church Foundation, and was built during the reign of Sultan Murad II in the Ottoman Period. It was regarded as unclaimed in 1936 because it was not registered in the 1936 Declaration, then the municipality took possession.
The head of the foundation, Nazareth Özsahakyan, told the Hürriyet Daily News they could not take any action for bureaucratic reasons and the fountain had been severely damaged.
The fountains are in a miserable condition, according to Aydın University Architecture and Restoration Department head Dr. Fatma Sedes, who has conducted comprehensive research on historical fountains.
Sedes said only monumental fountains and the ones located in squares have been restored. “They are restored, but some fountains sustained more damage during restoration,” Sedes said. The remaining fountains‘ pools have been drained and their inscriptions, lead plates and taps have been stolen, she said. “What is more, unfortunately, some fountains disappear under the foundations of huge construction projects,” Sedes said.
November/22/2012
21 Kasım 2012 Çarşamba
Armenians to build school in Istanbul
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
The Armenian community in Turkey has received authorization to build its first school in Istanbul’s Bakırköy district, to be completed to house the historical Armenian Dadyan School within two years.
The community will build the school with their own funding in addition to monetary aid from the Bakırköy Municipality. The school, which is expected to cost 4.5 billion Turkish Liras, will be constructed on 1,750 square meters of land. The foundation of the school was laid on Nov. 18.
Speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News, Bakırköy Surp Asdvazsazsin Church Foundation Executive Board Chair Mesut Özdemir said they were very pleased to have obtained the proper authorization after 10 years of attempts.
“During the period of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, many steps have been taken in support of us. Now we can build a school,” Özdemir said.
Istanbul has an official Armenian population of 50,000, with 12 Armenian schools. Özdemir said another school was necessary. “We received some criticisms over it; however, the current school building is 166 years old and it is quite small. We have 400 students there and we want them to receive a modern education in a building that complies with today’s standards. More importantly, since the school building is historical, restoration is strictly forbidden. So we could not build additional classrooms there.
Consequently, we needed a new building.”
Even though the title of the land on which they would build the new school belonged to the Armenian community, it has been used by the municipality for years. “We could not claim the land as it was being used by the municipality as a green area but now they returned it to us,” Özdemir said, adding that the new building would be completed within two years and would serve as the new building of the Dadyan School. Some projects have been developed to preserve the old building as well.
The historical Dadyan School was built by the order of Sultan Selim III during the Ottoman period. Nubar Manavyan, who is planning the new building project, said, “We developed a plan taking the structure of the historical school building into consideration. It will be a modern school occupying over 1,750 square meters of land. It will have 16 classrooms, a kindergarten, an indoor sports hall, a library and a conference hall with 220-person capacity, which will meet the requirements of the new educational system.”
November/21/2012
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
The Armenian community in Turkey has received authorization to build its first school in Istanbul’s Bakırköy district, to be completed to house the historical Armenian Dadyan School within two years.
The community will build the school with their own funding in addition to monetary aid from the Bakırköy Municipality. The school, which is expected to cost 4.5 billion Turkish Liras, will be constructed on 1,750 square meters of land. The foundation of the school was laid on Nov. 18.
Speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News, Bakırköy Surp Asdvazsazsin Church Foundation Executive Board Chair Mesut Özdemir said they were very pleased to have obtained the proper authorization after 10 years of attempts.
“During the period of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, many steps have been taken in support of us. Now we can build a school,” Özdemir said.
Istanbul has an official Armenian population of 50,000, with 12 Armenian schools. Özdemir said another school was necessary. “We received some criticisms over it; however, the current school building is 166 years old and it is quite small. We have 400 students there and we want them to receive a modern education in a building that complies with today’s standards. More importantly, since the school building is historical, restoration is strictly forbidden. So we could not build additional classrooms there.
Consequently, we needed a new building.”
Even though the title of the land on which they would build the new school belonged to the Armenian community, it has been used by the municipality for years. “We could not claim the land as it was being used by the municipality as a green area but now they returned it to us,” Özdemir said, adding that the new building would be completed within two years and would serve as the new building of the Dadyan School. Some projects have been developed to preserve the old building as well.
The historical Dadyan School was built by the order of Sultan Selim III during the Ottoman period. Nubar Manavyan, who is planning the new building project, said, “We developed a plan taking the structure of the historical school building into consideration. It will be a modern school occupying over 1,750 square meters of land. It will have 16 classrooms, a kindergarten, an indoor sports hall, a library and a conference hall with 220-person capacity, which will meet the requirements of the new educational system.”
November/21/2012
19 Kasım 2012 Pazartesi
Istanbul Book Fair looks to turn a new page in literature
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
The International Istanbul Book Fair will be held this year amid an atmosphere of rising political tension, leading to many crucial subjects such as hunger strikes, imprisoned journalists and tried authors to be discussed in a variety of panels and meetings during the event.
The theme of the 31st International Istanbul Book Fair, organized by the TÜYAP Fair and Exhibition Organization, will be “My Childhood Is My Homeland – Children’s and Youth Literature.” The fair will host a series of distinguished writers and illustrators within this theme at the TÜYAP Fair and Convention Center in Büyükçekmece between Nov. 17 and 25.
Gülten Dayıoğlu, a Turkish children and youth literature author, was chosen as the fair’s Honorary Writer, while the Country of Honor will be Netherlands. The fair will host more than 600 domestic and foreign publishers, non-governmental organizations, and copyright agencies.
Organizers said they’ve reached the point they had strived for when first launching the fair years ago. “We reached the point we desired, but Turkey has not reached a desired position yet. There was an overt pressure during the period after the Sept 12, 1980 military coup, since a fascist military dictatorship was in power. Though the current government is civilian, the same atmosphere of fear still prevails,” TÜYAP Culture Fairs General Coordinator Deniz Kavukçuoğlu said.
“Authors, journalists, students, and scientists are being tried. Even investigations are being launched against caricatures. They talk about judicial independence, but actually there is no such thing. When a musician criticized Islam a law case was opened against him, but such an action is not carried out for Christianity or Judaism The cult piece of Guillaume Apollinaire [Les Onze Mille Verges], which is a milestone in the world literature, was found ‘erotic’ and a law case was filed [for prohibition of the book]. The world follows all these incidents. Turkey’s progress in human rights and other cultural issues is a matter of interest,” Kavukçuoğlu said.
TÜYAP is closely following book fairs held in Europe, according to Kavukçuoğlu. “In European book fairs, the themes are generally issues such as women rights, nature, and environmental concerns. They left behind the issues we are currently discussing in Turkey. They do not need to talk about the subjects like human rights anymore, since these rights are already guaranteed,” he said.
In this year’s fair, a workshop titled ‘digital publishing’ will be opened for the first time in the fair’s history. Kavukçuoğlu said they wanted to follow the latest developments, adding that they were proud of being the biggest fair in Europe.
“The European fairs that we admired in the past now stay behind our book fair. They are organized in smaller areas and their numbers of visitors are less [than ours]. Recently, we went to the Barcelona Book Fair and it could be only compared to the Diyarbakır Book Fair in terms of its scale.”
Turkish literature
Kavukçuoğlu also mentioned the demand for Turkish literature abroad. “In the past you would never see a Turkish author on bookshelves [abroad], but now there are works by Orhan Pamuk, Elif Şafak and Yaşar Kemal.”
For Kavukçuoğlu, even though this picture is pleasing, it is necessary to beware of the fact that some Turkish authors trigger an Orientalist perspective on Turkey with their work. Kavukçuoğlu said there was a great increase in number and variety of the books published in Turkey when compared to the past, and Turkey comes in the second place after France in this respect, he said.
November/17/2012
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
The International Istanbul Book Fair will be held this year amid an atmosphere of rising political tension, leading to many crucial subjects such as hunger strikes, imprisoned journalists and tried authors to be discussed in a variety of panels and meetings during the event.
The theme of the 31st International Istanbul Book Fair, organized by the TÜYAP Fair and Exhibition Organization, will be “My Childhood Is My Homeland – Children’s and Youth Literature.” The fair will host a series of distinguished writers and illustrators within this theme at the TÜYAP Fair and Convention Center in Büyükçekmece between Nov. 17 and 25.
Gülten Dayıoğlu, a Turkish children and youth literature author, was chosen as the fair’s Honorary Writer, while the Country of Honor will be Netherlands. The fair will host more than 600 domestic and foreign publishers, non-governmental organizations, and copyright agencies.
Organizers said they’ve reached the point they had strived for when first launching the fair years ago. “We reached the point we desired, but Turkey has not reached a desired position yet. There was an overt pressure during the period after the Sept 12, 1980 military coup, since a fascist military dictatorship was in power. Though the current government is civilian, the same atmosphere of fear still prevails,” TÜYAP Culture Fairs General Coordinator Deniz Kavukçuoğlu said.
“Authors, journalists, students, and scientists are being tried. Even investigations are being launched against caricatures. They talk about judicial independence, but actually there is no such thing. When a musician criticized Islam a law case was opened against him, but such an action is not carried out for Christianity or Judaism The cult piece of Guillaume Apollinaire [Les Onze Mille Verges], which is a milestone in the world literature, was found ‘erotic’ and a law case was filed [for prohibition of the book]. The world follows all these incidents. Turkey’s progress in human rights and other cultural issues is a matter of interest,” Kavukçuoğlu said.
TÜYAP is closely following book fairs held in Europe, according to Kavukçuoğlu. “In European book fairs, the themes are generally issues such as women rights, nature, and environmental concerns. They left behind the issues we are currently discussing in Turkey. They do not need to talk about the subjects like human rights anymore, since these rights are already guaranteed,” he said.
In this year’s fair, a workshop titled ‘digital publishing’ will be opened for the first time in the fair’s history. Kavukçuoğlu said they wanted to follow the latest developments, adding that they were proud of being the biggest fair in Europe.
“The European fairs that we admired in the past now stay behind our book fair. They are organized in smaller areas and their numbers of visitors are less [than ours]. Recently, we went to the Barcelona Book Fair and it could be only compared to the Diyarbakır Book Fair in terms of its scale.”
Turkish literature
Kavukçuoğlu also mentioned the demand for Turkish literature abroad. “In the past you would never see a Turkish author on bookshelves [abroad], but now there are works by Orhan Pamuk, Elif Şafak and Yaşar Kemal.”
For Kavukçuoğlu, even though this picture is pleasing, it is necessary to beware of the fact that some Turkish authors trigger an Orientalist perspective on Turkey with their work. Kavukçuoğlu said there was a great increase in number and variety of the books published in Turkey when compared to the past, and Turkey comes in the second place after France in this respect, he said.
November/17/2012
Minorities support right to defense in mother tongue
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
The debate over legal defense in Kurdish, currently one of the most controversial issues in Turkey, is spreading to include mother toungue defense for other ethnic communities.
Speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News, Caucasian Associations Federation Head Vacid Kadıoğlu said, “The right to defense and education in [one’s] mother tongue is everyone’s right. Manipulating this right for politics, as is done with Kurdish, is a wrong deed.”
“They made us forget our own mother tongue, the Circassian language. So we cannot bring the right to defense in mother tongue to the agenda,” Kadıoğlu said.
“First of all, we demand the return of our right to receive education in [our] mother tongue. The government put into force the law of elective mother tongue and dialect lessons, but also enacted a 10-person quota condition. They are not sincere,” Kadıoğlu said.
Mother tongue ‘a right’
The head of the Laz Culture Association, lawyer Mehmet Ali Beşli, touched upon a different aspect of the issue. “Mother tongue is a right, and the ability to defend [oneself] in one’s mother tongue, which one can speak most efficiently, has a crucial role. People must make their defense in the language through which they can express themselves the best,” Beşli said.“The state initiated elective mother tongue lessons in schools and opened a television channel [in Kurdish languages]; however, they do not approve mother tongue defense in courts. This is not understandable.”
If the right to mother tongue defense enters into force, translators will be assigned twice to those who cannot speak Turkish. Those who speak Turkish but demand to make their defense in their mother tongues will have to bring their translators with them. Referring to this decision, Beşli asked, “How will the court determine a person’s skills in Turkish grammar; how could it be measured?”
He added, “Mother tongue rights should not be shaped only through Kurds”
The founder of Anatolian Culture and Research Association (AKADER), Altan Açıkdilli, who presented a file titled “Research on Peoples’ Constitution,” to Ankara a few months ago, said they gave full support to the right to defense in mother tongue.
Açıkdilli also commented on the translator condition for those demanding to make defense in their mother tongue.
“This is a clear representation of a bargaining mentality. Freedom has no condition. A person makes defense in mother tongue or does not,” he said. Açıkdilli also said some technical problems might occur if the right to defense in mother tongue enters into force, adding that some measures should be taken against that.
“Translation of different dialects requires expertise. And there is a crucial point here; legal terms do not have equivalencies in some dialects, so a short-term training will be required for translators,” Açıkdilli said. Açıkdilli also touched upon the fact that the debates with regard to mother tongue are made only through Kurds. “The public is having the wrong debate; the government represents the rights regarding mother tongue as something only given to Kurds. However, various communities from different ethnicities live in this country,” Açıkdilli said.
“The rights of these communities should not be shaped through the policies implemented with regard to Kurds,” Açıkdilli said.
Hadig Hemşin Culture Sustenance Association head Hikmet Akçiçek also expressed the same concern. “When it comes to rights, a perspective covering all the communities within the country is required. Mother tongue defense and education are everyone’s right.”
November/19/2012
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
The debate over legal defense in Kurdish, currently one of the most controversial issues in Turkey, is spreading to include mother toungue defense for other ethnic communities.
Speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News, Caucasian Associations Federation Head Vacid Kadıoğlu said, “The right to defense and education in [one’s] mother tongue is everyone’s right. Manipulating this right for politics, as is done with Kurdish, is a wrong deed.”
“They made us forget our own mother tongue, the Circassian language. So we cannot bring the right to defense in mother tongue to the agenda,” Kadıoğlu said.
“First of all, we demand the return of our right to receive education in [our] mother tongue. The government put into force the law of elective mother tongue and dialect lessons, but also enacted a 10-person quota condition. They are not sincere,” Kadıoğlu said.
Mother tongue ‘a right’
The head of the Laz Culture Association, lawyer Mehmet Ali Beşli, touched upon a different aspect of the issue. “Mother tongue is a right, and the ability to defend [oneself] in one’s mother tongue, which one can speak most efficiently, has a crucial role. People must make their defense in the language through which they can express themselves the best,” Beşli said.“The state initiated elective mother tongue lessons in schools and opened a television channel [in Kurdish languages]; however, they do not approve mother tongue defense in courts. This is not understandable.”
If the right to mother tongue defense enters into force, translators will be assigned twice to those who cannot speak Turkish. Those who speak Turkish but demand to make their defense in their mother tongues will have to bring their translators with them. Referring to this decision, Beşli asked, “How will the court determine a person’s skills in Turkish grammar; how could it be measured?”
He added, “Mother tongue rights should not be shaped only through Kurds”
The founder of Anatolian Culture and Research Association (AKADER), Altan Açıkdilli, who presented a file titled “Research on Peoples’ Constitution,” to Ankara a few months ago, said they gave full support to the right to defense in mother tongue.
Açıkdilli also commented on the translator condition for those demanding to make defense in their mother tongue.
“This is a clear representation of a bargaining mentality. Freedom has no condition. A person makes defense in mother tongue or does not,” he said. Açıkdilli also said some technical problems might occur if the right to defense in mother tongue enters into force, adding that some measures should be taken against that.
“Translation of different dialects requires expertise. And there is a crucial point here; legal terms do not have equivalencies in some dialects, so a short-term training will be required for translators,” Açıkdilli said. Açıkdilli also touched upon the fact that the debates with regard to mother tongue are made only through Kurds. “The public is having the wrong debate; the government represents the rights regarding mother tongue as something only given to Kurds. However, various communities from different ethnicities live in this country,” Açıkdilli said.
“The rights of these communities should not be shaped through the policies implemented with regard to Kurds,” Açıkdilli said.
Hadig Hemşin Culture Sustenance Association head Hikmet Akçiçek also expressed the same concern. “When it comes to rights, a perspective covering all the communities within the country is required. Mother tongue defense and education are everyone’s right.”
November/19/2012
15 Kasım 2012 Perşembe
RIGHTS > Death penalty brings memoirs from past
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s recent comments in support of reinstating capital punishment have reopened painful wounds for relatives of prisoners that were executed during Turkey’s darkest years.
“There should be no executions in Turkey, this is not the solution,” said Şahin Kambur, who was 12 when his brother Mehmet Kambur was executed by the junta that came to power in the Sept. 12, 1980 coup on accusations of being a member of an illegal leftist organization.
Şahin Kambur told the Hürriyet Daily News that he was only 12 when his 29-year-old brother was executed, adding that this incident affected a major part of his life.
“They were talking about it at home. I felt that something would happen, but I didn’t know what execution meant then,” Kambur said. Kambur said his brother’s body was not delivered to the family after the execution and that no religious ceremony was held for him, thereby causing great suffering to the family.
“Execution is not a disciplinary punishment; it is only a power play. Nobody should be executed whatever the reason is, it is a political murder,” he said. “The recent discussions on the death penalty have stirred the memories of my childhood. I don’t want to believe the prime minister’s statements. How can one who abolished the death penalty bring it back into force? I guess he is trying to threaten [outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader] Abdullah Öcalan.”
In a speech delivered at the Bali Democracy Forum in Indonesia on Nov. 9, Erdoğan said capital punishment “is legitimate in certain situations.” Implicitly noting that Turkey had abolished the death penalty as part of its drive to join the European Union, Erdoğan said capital punishment existed in a number of countries around the world.
November/15/2012
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s recent comments in support of reinstating capital punishment have reopened painful wounds for relatives of prisoners that were executed during Turkey’s darkest years.
“There should be no executions in Turkey, this is not the solution,” said Şahin Kambur, who was 12 when his brother Mehmet Kambur was executed by the junta that came to power in the Sept. 12, 1980 coup on accusations of being a member of an illegal leftist organization.
Şahin Kambur told the Hürriyet Daily News that he was only 12 when his 29-year-old brother was executed, adding that this incident affected a major part of his life.
“They were talking about it at home. I felt that something would happen, but I didn’t know what execution meant then,” Kambur said. Kambur said his brother’s body was not delivered to the family after the execution and that no religious ceremony was held for him, thereby causing great suffering to the family.
“Execution is not a disciplinary punishment; it is only a power play. Nobody should be executed whatever the reason is, it is a political murder,” he said. “The recent discussions on the death penalty have stirred the memories of my childhood. I don’t want to believe the prime minister’s statements. How can one who abolished the death penalty bring it back into force? I guess he is trying to threaten [outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader] Abdullah Öcalan.”
In a speech delivered at the Bali Democracy Forum in Indonesia on Nov. 9, Erdoğan said capital punishment “is legitimate in certain situations.” Implicitly noting that Turkey had abolished the death penalty as part of its drive to join the European Union, Erdoğan said capital punishment existed in a number of countries around the world.
November/15/2012
9 Kasım 2012 Cuma
Syrian children need education ‘urgently’
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News-Vercihan Ziflioğlu
Recent reports that a school for Syrian students has been opened in Istanbul are untrue, a senior member of a Syrian NGO has said but added that many refugee children in Turkey were in desperate need of education.
“There are 1,500 families in Mersin alone, think of how many children there are if each family has one child. When we consider all the Syrian children across Turkey, this makes a huge number. These children lack education and they shouldn’t pay the price for these difficulties,” said the vice president of the Syria Solidarity Institution, Maher Isa.
Recently it was reported that a Syrian school providing primary and high school education to Syrian students living in Turkey was opened in Istanbul’s Esenler district. However, Isa said they applied to the governor’s office for a course, not a school.
According to information obtained from Esenler Municipality officials, the governor's office did not give approval for the education of Syrian children, adding that providing books that were compatible with the Syrian curriculum was not permitted.
The governor's office and the Istanbul Education Directorate have not commented on the issue.
November/09/2012
7 Kasım 2012 Çarşamba
Historic school returned
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
An Armenian foundation has received back an Istanbul school building, following a court case that lasted 30 years.
The historic Bomonti Mıhitaryan School in Istanbul’s Bomonti neighborhood, which belonged to the Surp Ğazar Armenian Catholic Mıhitarist Monastery and School Foundation but was not registered in the 1936 Declaration, was returned to the foundation after a trial held on Nov. 1.
‘Justice has been served’
“Justice has been served,” the foundation’s head, Rita Nurnur, told the Hürriyet Daily News, adding that the Director General of Foundations, Adnan Ertem, had first advised them to open a law case on the issue.
“When the foundation law entered into force, we filed two appeals with the Foundations Directorate General, but both of them were rejected. The esteemed Ertem then advised to us to open up a new case against the Directorate. Legally, the procedures should have progressed in that way originally,” Nurnur said.
Turkey’s minorities were obliged to declare their properties in 1936 upon a government request. However, many of the properties did not remain registered under the names of the minority foundations and many were even sold to third parties in subsequent years.
November/07/2012
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
An Armenian foundation has received back an Istanbul school building, following a court case that lasted 30 years.
The historic Bomonti Mıhitaryan School in Istanbul’s Bomonti neighborhood, which belonged to the Surp Ğazar Armenian Catholic Mıhitarist Monastery and School Foundation but was not registered in the 1936 Declaration, was returned to the foundation after a trial held on Nov. 1.
‘Justice has been served’
“Justice has been served,” the foundation’s head, Rita Nurnur, told the Hürriyet Daily News, adding that the Director General of Foundations, Adnan Ertem, had first advised them to open a law case on the issue.
“When the foundation law entered into force, we filed two appeals with the Foundations Directorate General, but both of them were rejected. The esteemed Ertem then advised to us to open up a new case against the Directorate. Legally, the procedures should have progressed in that way originally,” Nurnur said.
Turkey’s minorities were obliged to declare their properties in 1936 upon a government request. However, many of the properties did not remain registered under the names of the minority foundations and many were even sold to third parties in subsequent years.
November/07/2012
After film, new book sheds light on Dersim Operation
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
The film-making couple behind the ground-breaking documentary film on the Dersim Operation, “Dersim’in Kayıp Kızları: İki Tutam Saç” (Lost Girls of Dersim: Two Strands of Hair) have recently published a historic book titled “Dersim’in Kayıp Kızları-Tertele Çeneku” (Massacred Girls).
Nezahat and Kazım Gündoğan’s book includes 150 different stories and historic documents detailing the experiences of soldiers and their families who adopted girls from Dersim.
“We are narrating the state’s Turkification and Islamification policies implemented in Dersim between 1926 and the 1950s with documents. We met the relatives of ranked soldiers’ families who took the girls away from their families in Dersim during the massacre period. They are now feeling a great sorrow since they felt responsible for their predecessor’s acts,” Gündoğan said in an interview with the Hürriyet Daily News.
Gündoğan said many girls between ages of 5 and 10 were removed from their families by force and adopted by other families. “It is impossible for these children to forget the traumas they suffered. There are broken lives, lack of memory, rootlessness and the inability to speak there. We had great difficulty unveiling the stories,” Gündoğan said, adding that this book would fill a considerable gap. “We will be very pleased if we contributed even in a small degree to unveiling a bleeding wound, which is buried in the darkness of history,” he said.
In Dersim, now known as Tunceli province in eastern Turkey, Turkish Armed Forces launched an operation in 1938 in which over 13,000 people were killed, many people were exiled and numerous girls were taken away from their families by force.
The Gündoğans’ book was published by İletişim Publishing.
A man in search of his lost sister
In an exert from “Lost Girls of Dersim: Two Strands of Hair” Hıdır İlter tells the story of his search for his missing sister.
“My sister was 2 or 3 then. Her name was Xece, or Hacer. They collected us in Ovacık and were carrying us to Elazığ through Hozat in groups. There were hundreds, maybe thousands of people. They were all wounded, thirsty and hungry; in miserable conditions. I was 13 then and I remember everything as if it happened only yesterday. The military officers wanted to take beautiful girls with them and my sister was very beautiful. One officer forcibly attempted to take my sister from my mother, but my mother resisted and did not give her up. When we reached Pertek Bridge we stopped to take a break. The same officer came again and managed to take my sister from my mom by force despite my mom’s resistance and tears. The officer said “I will adopt and raise her” and gave his address to my mom, adding “you can come and see her.” But my mom tore the address paper into pieces out of helplessness and anger. There was a wound on my sister’s groin. The scar of that wound would hardly disappear. We could recognize her by that scar if we found her now.”
November/07/2012
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
The film-making couple behind the ground-breaking documentary film on the Dersim Operation, “Dersim’in Kayıp Kızları: İki Tutam Saç” (Lost Girls of Dersim: Two Strands of Hair) have recently published a historic book titled “Dersim’in Kayıp Kızları-Tertele Çeneku” (Massacred Girls).
Nezahat and Kazım Gündoğan’s book includes 150 different stories and historic documents detailing the experiences of soldiers and their families who adopted girls from Dersim.
“We are narrating the state’s Turkification and Islamification policies implemented in Dersim between 1926 and the 1950s with documents. We met the relatives of ranked soldiers’ families who took the girls away from their families in Dersim during the massacre period. They are now feeling a great sorrow since they felt responsible for their predecessor’s acts,” Gündoğan said in an interview with the Hürriyet Daily News.
Gündoğan said many girls between ages of 5 and 10 were removed from their families by force and adopted by other families. “It is impossible for these children to forget the traumas they suffered. There are broken lives, lack of memory, rootlessness and the inability to speak there. We had great difficulty unveiling the stories,” Gündoğan said, adding that this book would fill a considerable gap. “We will be very pleased if we contributed even in a small degree to unveiling a bleeding wound, which is buried in the darkness of history,” he said.
In Dersim, now known as Tunceli province in eastern Turkey, Turkish Armed Forces launched an operation in 1938 in which over 13,000 people were killed, many people were exiled and numerous girls were taken away from their families by force.
The Gündoğans’ book was published by İletişim Publishing.
A man in search of his lost sister
In an exert from “Lost Girls of Dersim: Two Strands of Hair” Hıdır İlter tells the story of his search for his missing sister.
“My sister was 2 or 3 then. Her name was Xece, or Hacer. They collected us in Ovacık and were carrying us to Elazığ through Hozat in groups. There were hundreds, maybe thousands of people. They were all wounded, thirsty and hungry; in miserable conditions. I was 13 then and I remember everything as if it happened only yesterday. The military officers wanted to take beautiful girls with them and my sister was very beautiful. One officer forcibly attempted to take my sister from my mother, but my mother resisted and did not give her up. When we reached Pertek Bridge we stopped to take a break. The same officer came again and managed to take my sister from my mom by force despite my mom’s resistance and tears. The officer said “I will adopt and raise her” and gave his address to my mom, adding “you can come and see her.” But my mom tore the address paper into pieces out of helplessness and anger. There was a wound on my sister’s groin. The scar of that wound would hardly disappear. We could recognize her by that scar if we found her now.”
November/07/2012
6 Kasım 2012 Salı
Schools in east face safety woes amid extra guard promise
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily New
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Teachers stationed in eastern and southeastern Turkey have expressed fears for their safety amid increasing attacks against schools by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) while noting their reluctance to abandon their posts.
Speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News on the condition that their last names not be printed, three schoolteachers in the eastern province of Van said they were not being given enough protection.
Selim, a teacher who has been serving in Van for five years, said he had considered requesting a transfer to a western province due to the increasing attacks before abandoning the idea.
“Due to our worries, I considered demanding a reassignment to another province, like many of my friends. Then I decided to stay here since [the PKK] aims [to make us leave here],” Selim said.
“Teachers are never appreciated in this country. So, the effects of terror are reflected on us; [the state] does not protect us,” Selim said.
Selim said the PKK wanted the people in the region to remain ignorant since they knew ignorance triggered “terrorism.”
“We, as teachers, are following our path by giving priority to education and brotherhood. Most of the students are of Kurdish origin, and each one is like my own child. We do not side with separatism. We can only win over these children by not committing any discrimination. They are all brilliant kids, we need to protect them,” Selim said.
More security measures needed
Selim also said they were naturally worried about recent abductions, adding that they often traveled to neighboring villages during the day to guard against kidnappings.
Ekrem, another teacher who has been working in Van for three years, demanded the immediate increase of security measures.
Ekrem said most of his students were the children of Kurdish families that were victims of last year’s powerful earthquake.
“Some of them lost their families after last year’s earthquake. And they are now living in containers. Despite all the difficulties, they are all brilliant and successful. Terrorism aims to deprive these children of education, and we will never let this happen,” Ekrem said.
Another teacher, Reşat, who has been teaching in Van for two years, also said he was worried about security measures.
“Abduction cases have increased. I doubt whether the security measures taken are sufficient,” Reşat said.
Suspected members of the PKK have been abducting teachers and firebombing schools ostensibly as part of a campaign to demand Kurdish-language education.
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily New
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Teachers stationed in eastern and southeastern Turkey have expressed fears for their safety amid increasing attacks against schools by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) while noting their reluctance to abandon their posts.
Speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News on the condition that their last names not be printed, three schoolteachers in the eastern province of Van said they were not being given enough protection.
Selim, a teacher who has been serving in Van for five years, said he had considered requesting a transfer to a western province due to the increasing attacks before abandoning the idea.
“Due to our worries, I considered demanding a reassignment to another province, like many of my friends. Then I decided to stay here since [the PKK] aims [to make us leave here],” Selim said.
“Teachers are never appreciated in this country. So, the effects of terror are reflected on us; [the state] does not protect us,” Selim said.
Selim said the PKK wanted the people in the region to remain ignorant since they knew ignorance triggered “terrorism.”
“We, as teachers, are following our path by giving priority to education and brotherhood. Most of the students are of Kurdish origin, and each one is like my own child. We do not side with separatism. We can only win over these children by not committing any discrimination. They are all brilliant kids, we need to protect them,” Selim said.
More security measures needed
Selim also said they were naturally worried about recent abductions, adding that they often traveled to neighboring villages during the day to guard against kidnappings.
Ekrem, another teacher who has been working in Van for three years, demanded the immediate increase of security measures.
Ekrem said most of his students were the children of Kurdish families that were victims of last year’s powerful earthquake.
“Some of them lost their families after last year’s earthquake. And they are now living in containers. Despite all the difficulties, they are all brilliant and successful. Terrorism aims to deprive these children of education, and we will never let this happen,” Ekrem said.
Another teacher, Reşat, who has been teaching in Van for two years, also said he was worried about security measures.
“Abduction cases have increased. I doubt whether the security measures taken are sufficient,” Reşat said.
Suspected members of the PKK have been abducting teachers and firebombing schools ostensibly as part of a campaign to demand Kurdish-language education.
4 Kasım 2012 Pazar
RIGHTS > Human rights activists seek ways to prison protests
ISTANBUL-Vercihan Ziflioğlu
Human rights activists, intellectuals and representatives of minority groups came together at a meeting on Nov. 2 in Istanbul in order to draw a road map to deal with the ongoing hunger strikes in prisons.
The attendants of the meeting, including lawyer Kezban Hatemi, the former chairman of the Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee Joost Lagendijk, a former head of the Turkish Medical Association Gençay Gürsoy, businessman İbrahim Betil, and southeastern province of Diyarbakır’s Sur district mayor Abdullah Demirbaş, together called on Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to find a way to put an end to the hunger strikes.
Demirbaş said this was the third wave of hunger strikes in recent Turkish history, referring to the two other hunger strikes that took place in 1996 and 2000.
“The mentality of different governments has remained the same in this country during these three waves,” he told the Hürriyet Daily News on Nov. 2.
If hunger strikes end in mass deaths, “affective breaks” will occur between Turkish and Kurdish people, said Demirbaş. “There is no doubt that the co-existence will decrease in Turkey. The supposedly democratic government would obviously be showing its dictatorial face,” he said.
Lawyer Kezban Hatemi, on the other hand, said she had faith in Erdoğan’ conscience.
“Our religious values emphasize the value of human life. Prime Minister Erdoğan’s position has importance, he must take the initiative.”
However, Joost Lagendijk said he opposed the method and added that other options should be adopted instead of hunger striking. This position contradicted with Professor Gencay Gürsoy, who said the inmates had no other option but to go on hunger strike.
“Some suspects have not stood on trial for five years. What else they could do to raise their voice,” he said.
Gencay also said the hunger strikes had reached a critical point as of yesterday, as previous strikes had only been held in a couple of prisons, but this time it was much more widespread. Some 683 inmates in 66 jails are currently on hunger strike.
Ezidi, Keldani and Syriac community representatives in the meeting also expressed their concerns about the strikes.
Yılmaz Demiray, from the Diyarbakır Ezidi Association, said their desire was for all inmates to stay healthy.
November/03/2012
ISTANBUL-Vercihan Ziflioğlu
Human rights activists, intellectuals and representatives of minority groups came together at a meeting on Nov. 2 in Istanbul in order to draw a road map to deal with the ongoing hunger strikes in prisons.
The attendants of the meeting, including lawyer Kezban Hatemi, the former chairman of the Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee Joost Lagendijk, a former head of the Turkish Medical Association Gençay Gürsoy, businessman İbrahim Betil, and southeastern province of Diyarbakır’s Sur district mayor Abdullah Demirbaş, together called on Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to find a way to put an end to the hunger strikes.
Demirbaş said this was the third wave of hunger strikes in recent Turkish history, referring to the two other hunger strikes that took place in 1996 and 2000.
“The mentality of different governments has remained the same in this country during these three waves,” he told the Hürriyet Daily News on Nov. 2.
If hunger strikes end in mass deaths, “affective breaks” will occur between Turkish and Kurdish people, said Demirbaş. “There is no doubt that the co-existence will decrease in Turkey. The supposedly democratic government would obviously be showing its dictatorial face,” he said.
Lawyer Kezban Hatemi, on the other hand, said she had faith in Erdoğan’ conscience.
“Our religious values emphasize the value of human life. Prime Minister Erdoğan’s position has importance, he must take the initiative.”
However, Joost Lagendijk said he opposed the method and added that other options should be adopted instead of hunger striking. This position contradicted with Professor Gencay Gürsoy, who said the inmates had no other option but to go on hunger strike.
“Some suspects have not stood on trial for five years. What else they could do to raise their voice,” he said.
Gencay also said the hunger strikes had reached a critical point as of yesterday, as previous strikes had only been held in a couple of prisons, but this time it was much more widespread. Some 683 inmates in 66 jails are currently on hunger strike.
Ezidi, Keldani and Syriac community representatives in the meeting also expressed their concerns about the strikes.
Yılmaz Demiray, from the Diyarbakır Ezidi Association, said their desire was for all inmates to stay healthy.
November/03/2012
2 Kasım 2012 Cuma
BDP MPs to join strikers as calls growing for end
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News/Vercihan Ziflioğlu
The BDP lawmakers are considering to join hunger strikers around Turkey while calls led by high-profile intellectuals are growing
A group of intellectuals gather in Istanbul’s Taksim Square to call for a dialogue to end the hunger strikes.
Turkish luminaries have demanded government action to end ongoing hunger strikes in the country’s jails amid suggestions by the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) that it could soon bring the strike to Parliament.
If the government finds no formula to end the hundreds of ongoing prisoner hunger strikes by Nov. 5, Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) deputies may join the strike in Parliament Nov. 6.
The final decision will be made at a joint meeting of BDP deputies and Party Assembly (PM) members on Nov. 5.
“Yes, it is true. We will gather on Nov. 5, make an assessment of the issue and will accordingly make a decision,” BDP deputy parliamentary group chair Pervin Buldan said Nov. 1.
BDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş had already announced on Oct. 31 that, “as a party, we have been prepared for radical action.”
Buldan also said that as of Nov. 1, 683 prisoners in 66 prisons have been on indefinite hunger strikes, adding that the hunger strikes, which began on Sept. 12, entered their 51st day on Nov. 1 – a critical turning point. The first 63 inmates began their strike on Sept. 12 and dozens have gradually joined since then.
Intellectuals protest
A group of intellectuals gathered in Istanbul’s Taksim square to draw attention to the strikes yesterday.
Turkey’s government must immediately change its attitude to the widespread hunger strikes and death fasts in the country’s prisons before it is too late, a collection of intellectuals said yesterday, the 50th day of the action.
“Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan, you must change your language and listen to the demands; otherwise, you will be responsible for the deaths,” author and musician Zülfü Livaneli said at a press conference at Istanbul’s Taksim Hill Hotel.
Turkish author Yaşar Kemal, who witnessed the previous experiences, remarked on the death fasts in 1996, saying: “They tortured those staging hunger strikes then. Some of them died, and the state was responsible for these deaths, as it always is.”
Also, Members of Parliament’s Human Rights Commission’s Prisons Sub-commission visited the Black Sea province of Bolu yesterday to meet 25 convicts who are staging a hunger strike in Bolu F-type and T-type prisons.
The Human Rights Commission head and the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) Sakarya deputy Ayhan Sefer Üstün said they would listen to the 25 striking convicts and check the state of their health.
On a separate development, Health Minister Recep Akdağ yesterday noted that every inmate staging a hunger strike is being visited by doctors on a daily basis. However, some prisoners accept medical examination while others do not. “It’s up to inmates to accept or decline the medical examination, we cannot force them to accept,” Akdağ said yesterday speaking in a televised interview on private news channel NTV.
November/02/2012
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News/Vercihan Ziflioğlu
The BDP lawmakers are considering to join hunger strikers around Turkey while calls led by high-profile intellectuals are growing
A group of intellectuals gather in Istanbul’s Taksim Square to call for a dialogue to end the hunger strikes.
Turkish luminaries have demanded government action to end ongoing hunger strikes in the country’s jails amid suggestions by the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) that it could soon bring the strike to Parliament.
If the government finds no formula to end the hundreds of ongoing prisoner hunger strikes by Nov. 5, Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) deputies may join the strike in Parliament Nov. 6.
The final decision will be made at a joint meeting of BDP deputies and Party Assembly (PM) members on Nov. 5.
“Yes, it is true. We will gather on Nov. 5, make an assessment of the issue and will accordingly make a decision,” BDP deputy parliamentary group chair Pervin Buldan said Nov. 1.
BDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş had already announced on Oct. 31 that, “as a party, we have been prepared for radical action.”
Buldan also said that as of Nov. 1, 683 prisoners in 66 prisons have been on indefinite hunger strikes, adding that the hunger strikes, which began on Sept. 12, entered their 51st day on Nov. 1 – a critical turning point. The first 63 inmates began their strike on Sept. 12 and dozens have gradually joined since then.
Intellectuals protest
A group of intellectuals gathered in Istanbul’s Taksim square to draw attention to the strikes yesterday.
Turkey’s government must immediately change its attitude to the widespread hunger strikes and death fasts in the country’s prisons before it is too late, a collection of intellectuals said yesterday, the 50th day of the action.
“Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan, you must change your language and listen to the demands; otherwise, you will be responsible for the deaths,” author and musician Zülfü Livaneli said at a press conference at Istanbul’s Taksim Hill Hotel.
Turkish author Yaşar Kemal, who witnessed the previous experiences, remarked on the death fasts in 1996, saying: “They tortured those staging hunger strikes then. Some of them died, and the state was responsible for these deaths, as it always is.”
Also, Members of Parliament’s Human Rights Commission’s Prisons Sub-commission visited the Black Sea province of Bolu yesterday to meet 25 convicts who are staging a hunger strike in Bolu F-type and T-type prisons.
The Human Rights Commission head and the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) Sakarya deputy Ayhan Sefer Üstün said they would listen to the 25 striking convicts and check the state of their health.
On a separate development, Health Minister Recep Akdağ yesterday noted that every inmate staging a hunger strike is being visited by doctors on a daily basis. However, some prisoners accept medical examination while others do not. “It’s up to inmates to accept or decline the medical examination, we cannot force them to accept,” Akdağ said yesterday speaking in a televised interview on private news channel NTV.
November/02/2012
Assyriska, Anatolians in Swedish football
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News/Vercihan Ziflioğlu
The chairman of “Sweden’s Anatolian football team” Assyriska, Nail Yoken, has expressed his desire that a similar team of Assyrians could be formed in Turkey.
Founded by ethnic refugees from Turkey in 1971, Assyriska, which is currently in the Superettan - the second-tier division in Swedish football - is seen by many as the national team of Assyrians and Syriacs worldwide. Yoken said a similar club had originally been formed in the southeastern Turkish province of Mardin, under the name Midsan, but added that it could only survive for six years.
“The 1980s were turbulent years for Turkey in terms of politics,” Yoken told the Hürriyet Daily News. “We were struggling for our existence in eastern Turkey with our Assyrian identity and struggled to stay as a unit. In the end the team disbanded.”
Yoken moved to Sweden and quickly became a part of the Södertalje-based Assyriska, one of the two teams sharing a similar fate in Turkey, along with Syrianska.
“The Swedish Football Federation gave us all opportunities, but one still asks why we could not do that in our own country,” Yoken said. “How I wish Assyriska could play in Midyat.”
He said the team boasted 500 athletes in its youth system, with the majority of them coming from Assyrian families that migrated from Turkey, Syria and Iraq. The rest of the players consist of Turks, Kurds, Arabs and Swedes.
“We are an Anatolian team in Sweden. The communication between our players is very good,” Yoken said.
The team has trained a number of important players for Swedish football, including former Ajax and Twente ace Kennedy Bakırcıoğlu, a player born to a family that migrated from Turkey in early 1970s, as well as FC Köln forward Mikael Ishak, who was signed by the German club earlier this year.
“We aim to raise more talented players,” Yoken said.
During his four-year spell as club chairman, Assyriska has come to Turkey on a number of occasions for training camps, but when asked whether Assyriska or another team with the same idea could be formed in Turkey, Yoken is not positive.
“I cannot stay away from Turkey. But we were forced to leave Turkey back then. Of course we would like to return, but not under the current conditions,” he said.
November/01/2012
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News/Vercihan Ziflioğlu
The chairman of “Sweden’s Anatolian football team” Assyriska, Nail Yoken, has expressed his desire that a similar team of Assyrians could be formed in Turkey.
Founded by ethnic refugees from Turkey in 1971, Assyriska, which is currently in the Superettan - the second-tier division in Swedish football - is seen by many as the national team of Assyrians and Syriacs worldwide. Yoken said a similar club had originally been formed in the southeastern Turkish province of Mardin, under the name Midsan, but added that it could only survive for six years.
“The 1980s were turbulent years for Turkey in terms of politics,” Yoken told the Hürriyet Daily News. “We were struggling for our existence in eastern Turkey with our Assyrian identity and struggled to stay as a unit. In the end the team disbanded.”
Yoken moved to Sweden and quickly became a part of the Södertalje-based Assyriska, one of the two teams sharing a similar fate in Turkey, along with Syrianska.
“The Swedish Football Federation gave us all opportunities, but one still asks why we could not do that in our own country,” Yoken said. “How I wish Assyriska could play in Midyat.”
He said the team boasted 500 athletes in its youth system, with the majority of them coming from Assyrian families that migrated from Turkey, Syria and Iraq. The rest of the players consist of Turks, Kurds, Arabs and Swedes.
“We are an Anatolian team in Sweden. The communication between our players is very good,” Yoken said.
The team has trained a number of important players for Swedish football, including former Ajax and Twente ace Kennedy Bakırcıoğlu, a player born to a family that migrated from Turkey in early 1970s, as well as FC Köln forward Mikael Ishak, who was signed by the German club earlier this year.
“We aim to raise more talented players,” Yoken said.
During his four-year spell as club chairman, Assyriska has come to Turkey on a number of occasions for training camps, but when asked whether Assyriska or another team with the same idea could be formed in Turkey, Yoken is not positive.
“I cannot stay away from Turkey. But we were forced to leave Turkey back then. Of course we would like to return, but not under the current conditions,” he said.
November/01/2012
31 Ekim 2012 Çarşamba
Strikers’ families ‘concerned’
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News/Vercihan Ziflioğlu
Families of two hunger strikers who have been protesting for the past 50 days said they were concerned for the lives of their children.
Mothers and relatives of hunger strikers Nazmi Doğan, 20, and Şeymus Öncer, 23, both of whom are under arrest at Kandıra F-type Prison near Istanbul as part of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) investigation, expressed worry to the Hürriyet Daily News.
Doğan’s mother, Elif Doğan, is concerned about the life of her son. Doğan has been held in prison for two years and has been on a hunger strike for 49 days, she said, adding that they have been worried because they are unable to receive any news on his condition.
She called on the prime minister’s wife for help. “If Tayyip Erdoğan does not hear us, you should be able to hear our voices Emine Erdoğan. You are also a mother. Find a solution to our misery. I am hurting inside. I want peace. It is not enough that mothers have cried so much.”
Şeyhmus Öncer’s mother, Nuriye Öncer, has not heard from her son, who has been held for one and a half years, for 49 days. She also wants the hunger strike to end as soon as possible.
“It is not even precisely known what my son is being charged with,” Nuriye Öncer said. She talked to her son on the phone a short while before the hunger strikes began.
“Even then he was too weak to talk. I wonder how he is now after 49 days.”
October/31/2012
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News/Vercihan Ziflioğlu
Families of two hunger strikers who have been protesting for the past 50 days said they were concerned for the lives of their children.
Mothers and relatives of hunger strikers Nazmi Doğan, 20, and Şeymus Öncer, 23, both of whom are under arrest at Kandıra F-type Prison near Istanbul as part of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) investigation, expressed worry to the Hürriyet Daily News.
Doğan’s mother, Elif Doğan, is concerned about the life of her son. Doğan has been held in prison for two years and has been on a hunger strike for 49 days, she said, adding that they have been worried because they are unable to receive any news on his condition.
She called on the prime minister’s wife for help. “If Tayyip Erdoğan does not hear us, you should be able to hear our voices Emine Erdoğan. You are also a mother. Find a solution to our misery. I am hurting inside. I want peace. It is not enough that mothers have cried so much.”
Şeyhmus Öncer’s mother, Nuriye Öncer, has not heard from her son, who has been held for one and a half years, for 49 days. She also wants the hunger strike to end as soon as possible.
“It is not even precisely known what my son is being charged with,” Nuriye Öncer said. She talked to her son on the phone a short while before the hunger strikes began.
“Even then he was too weak to talk. I wonder how he is now after 49 days.”
October/31/2012
30 Ekim 2012 Salı
Novel written in Greek released after 50 years
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News/Vercihan Ziflioğlu
A publishing house set up by a group of Anatolian Greeks has begun publishing in the Greek language in Turkey again after a 50-year interval. “Ertelemeler ve Yokuşlar” (Delays and Slopes), written by a priest and the spokesman of the Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, Dositheos Anağnostopulos, is one of the Istos Publishing House’s first releases.
Anağnostopulos told the Hürriyet Daily News he was proud to release a book written in Greek after the 50-year hiatus.
Born in Istanbul, Anağnostopulos said he had to leave the city he loves very much and move to Germany in 1968.
“I didn’t want to live in Istanbul as a minority. I hate the word ‘minority.’ I didn’t want to raise my children as a minority in need of tolerance. Fifty years ago, the Greek population in Istanbul was above 100,000,” Anağnostopulos said.
“The community’s cultural life was censored then. It was very difficult for them to publish books, release journals and periodicals and write articles. For the known reasons, the majority of Greeks had to leave Istanbul and thus cultural activities came to an end,” Anağnostopulos said.
Anağnostopulos said the young founders of Istos Publishing House proved that the culture and traditions of Istanbul Greeks are still alive. “I feel pride rather than sorrow. It is not the past, but the future hopes that make life livable.”
‘Written with an Istanbul theme’
Asked if he thought he had fulfilled a historical responsibility by releasing this novel, Anağnostopulos said, “Time will show this. I only feel pleasure for now.” He said “Ertelemeler ve Yokuşlar” was one of four novels he had written with an Istanbul theme. “I love writing, it is a kind of therapy.”
Speaking about the years he spent in Germany, Anağnostopulos said he found himself walking on the streets of Istanbul while writing his novels. He said he felt Istanbul and was saddened by this feeling when writing.
“Sadness is normal in such conditions. But apart from sadness, there are questions such as why and how all this happened. No one, especially politicians, has the right to play with fates of people. If politics moves away from virtue, it may turn into a disaster,” Anağnostopulos said.
Anağnostopulos said he began to think about Istanbul more often after he was retired, and he finally decided to return to the city.
“I was thinking if I could make any contribution to my community and to the city where I was born and grew up. I never cut my ties with Istanbul.” Anağnostopulos said he was blessed as a priest along with his duty at Fener Greek Patriarchate. “Those duties made a clean break in my life.” When asked what today’s Istanbul meant for him when compared to the past, Anağnostopulos said even though Istanbul had a unique beauty, it was not the same as the ‘60s today. “Only a few of my friends remained. My duty in the church makes it all bearable,” Anağnostopulos said.
October/30/2012
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News/Vercihan Ziflioğlu
A publishing house set up by a group of Anatolian Greeks has begun publishing in the Greek language in Turkey again after a 50-year interval. “Ertelemeler ve Yokuşlar” (Delays and Slopes), written by a priest and the spokesman of the Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, Dositheos Anağnostopulos, is one of the Istos Publishing House’s first releases.
Anağnostopulos told the Hürriyet Daily News he was proud to release a book written in Greek after the 50-year hiatus.
Born in Istanbul, Anağnostopulos said he had to leave the city he loves very much and move to Germany in 1968.
“I didn’t want to live in Istanbul as a minority. I hate the word ‘minority.’ I didn’t want to raise my children as a minority in need of tolerance. Fifty years ago, the Greek population in Istanbul was above 100,000,” Anağnostopulos said.
“The community’s cultural life was censored then. It was very difficult for them to publish books, release journals and periodicals and write articles. For the known reasons, the majority of Greeks had to leave Istanbul and thus cultural activities came to an end,” Anağnostopulos said.
Anağnostopulos said the young founders of Istos Publishing House proved that the culture and traditions of Istanbul Greeks are still alive. “I feel pride rather than sorrow. It is not the past, but the future hopes that make life livable.”
‘Written with an Istanbul theme’
Asked if he thought he had fulfilled a historical responsibility by releasing this novel, Anağnostopulos said, “Time will show this. I only feel pleasure for now.” He said “Ertelemeler ve Yokuşlar” was one of four novels he had written with an Istanbul theme. “I love writing, it is a kind of therapy.”
Speaking about the years he spent in Germany, Anağnostopulos said he found himself walking on the streets of Istanbul while writing his novels. He said he felt Istanbul and was saddened by this feeling when writing.
“Sadness is normal in such conditions. But apart from sadness, there are questions such as why and how all this happened. No one, especially politicians, has the right to play with fates of people. If politics moves away from virtue, it may turn into a disaster,” Anağnostopulos said.
Anağnostopulos said he began to think about Istanbul more often after he was retired, and he finally decided to return to the city.
“I was thinking if I could make any contribution to my community and to the city where I was born and grew up. I never cut my ties with Istanbul.” Anağnostopulos said he was blessed as a priest along with his duty at Fener Greek Patriarchate. “Those duties made a clean break in my life.” When asked what today’s Istanbul meant for him when compared to the past, Anağnostopulos said even though Istanbul had a unique beauty, it was not the same as the ‘60s today. “Only a few of my friends remained. My duty in the church makes it all bearable,” Anağnostopulos said.
October/30/2012
EUROPE > Kurds, Ezidis to rally in Berlin against Erdoğan
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News/Vercihan Ziflioğlu
A large group of Kurds, Ezidis, Armenians, Alawites and Syriacs from Europe are prepared to hold a protest against Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to Germany today.
Around 10,000 people from almost 50 organizations are expected to attend the rally in Berlin. Ezidis in particular are angry with Erdoğan’s recent remarks in which he used the term “Yezidi” instead of “Ezidi.” They believe that the word “Yezidi” holds negative connotations in Turkey.
Aziz Alkış, head of the Ezidi Associations Federation in Berlin said the “prime minister looked down on Ezidi citizens” with his remarks. He said they would call on Erdoğan to end his policy in Syria, as well as halt pressures on minorities and ethnic groups in Turkey. Noting that the Ezidi religion is not recognized on national ID cards and signified by an “X,” Alkış said it made their faith seem anti-Islamic.
‘Recognition of genocide’
Azad Ordughanyan, head of the Germany Armenians Center, said they would call on Turkey to recognize Armenian genocide allegations. “Turkey is still denying genocide. We will renew our call for recognition of the genocide.”
The head of the Alawite Unions Federation in Cologne, Hüseyin Mat, said the Turkish government has a policy of assimilation rather than accepting all differences. “Erdoğan will tell Europe that Turkey is a democratic country here. We will tell that this is not true.”
October/30/2012
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News/Vercihan Ziflioğlu
A large group of Kurds, Ezidis, Armenians, Alawites and Syriacs from Europe are prepared to hold a protest against Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to Germany today.
Around 10,000 people from almost 50 organizations are expected to attend the rally in Berlin. Ezidis in particular are angry with Erdoğan’s recent remarks in which he used the term “Yezidi” instead of “Ezidi.” They believe that the word “Yezidi” holds negative connotations in Turkey.
Aziz Alkış, head of the Ezidi Associations Federation in Berlin said the “prime minister looked down on Ezidi citizens” with his remarks. He said they would call on Erdoğan to end his policy in Syria, as well as halt pressures on minorities and ethnic groups in Turkey. Noting that the Ezidi religion is not recognized on national ID cards and signified by an “X,” Alkış said it made their faith seem anti-Islamic.
‘Recognition of genocide’
Azad Ordughanyan, head of the Germany Armenians Center, said they would call on Turkey to recognize Armenian genocide allegations. “Turkey is still denying genocide. We will renew our call for recognition of the genocide.”
The head of the Alawite Unions Federation in Cologne, Hüseyin Mat, said the Turkish government has a policy of assimilation rather than accepting all differences. “Erdoğan will tell Europe that Turkey is a democratic country here. We will tell that this is not true.”
October/30/2012
Youth from east and west tell their stories
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News/Vercihan Ziflioğlu
A recent oral history project involving young people from Turkey’s eastern province of Diyarbakır and western province of Muğla shows how the country’s youth from different regions see each other.
Conducted by anthropologist Leyla Neyzi from Sabancı University’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, the project involved some 100 young people from Dicle and Muğla universities.
“We found young people in Diyarbakır who were willing to speak. They really do want to have their voices heard. They wanted to address in particular the ‘west,’ which is a non-Kurdish population, whom they say did not experience the war in the southeast or its aftermath. They strongly feel that this difference in collective memory and these differences in experience result in a lack of understanding and lack of empathy concerning the Kurdish experience,” Neyzi said.For young people in Muğla, the past is about economic deprivation and a lack of modernity, Neyzi added.
“They speak of their parents and grandparents. The young people we spoke to came of age at a time when advancements in tourism transformed particularly the coastal regions.”
Defining history
Neyzi said two sets of interviews were conducted with some 100 young people between the ages of 15 and 35. “Oral history is conventionally associated with the elderly. In this case, we were interested in how young people constructed a past they did not necessarily experience directly. How do young people in Turkey define history? Through what sources do they learn about the past?”
Project curator Önder Özengi said, “We have noticed in this project that regardless of where they are from, from the west or the east, young people nurture a concern for the future in terms of economic standing. Even though for some young people from Diyarbakır a political dimension emerges as a priority to some extent, again, economic problems and concerns for the future are intense.”
Hüseyin from Muğla, 23, was born in Silvan, an eastern province of Turkey at the heart of the Kurdish issue. “One thinks at one point, who will pay for what I had to go through?” Hüseyin said. “Silvan, during and after the ‘90s, was horrible; I can never forget the sound of gunshots. Silvan was an intensely political place; it was a place caught in the triangle of Hizbullah, the PKK and the state. I became aware of what was going on around my junior high school years.”
Ali from Diyarbakır, 35, said of his experiences: “When my classes were finished at school, just like the rest of my friends, I would sell simit and börek to make money. I used to listen to a cassette by Şivan Oerver [a Kurdish singer]. My mother would tell me, ‘Dearest, please do not turn the volume up. Don’t turn it up. Nobody should hear it.’ There was a lot of fear in the air.”
The project was supported by the Open Society Foundation (Açık Toplum), the Henrich Böll Stiftung Foundation and the Istanbul Policy Center. More details on the project can be found on their website: http://www.gencleranlatiyor.org. An exhibition containing the stories collected will open at Hamursuz Fırını’s Kuledibi Şair Ziya Yokuşu on Oct. 30. It will continue until Dec. 29.
October/30/2012
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News/Vercihan Ziflioğlu
A recent oral history project involving young people from Turkey’s eastern province of Diyarbakır and western province of Muğla shows how the country’s youth from different regions see each other.
Conducted by anthropologist Leyla Neyzi from Sabancı University’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, the project involved some 100 young people from Dicle and Muğla universities.
“We found young people in Diyarbakır who were willing to speak. They really do want to have their voices heard. They wanted to address in particular the ‘west,’ which is a non-Kurdish population, whom they say did not experience the war in the southeast or its aftermath. They strongly feel that this difference in collective memory and these differences in experience result in a lack of understanding and lack of empathy concerning the Kurdish experience,” Neyzi said.For young people in Muğla, the past is about economic deprivation and a lack of modernity, Neyzi added.
“They speak of their parents and grandparents. The young people we spoke to came of age at a time when advancements in tourism transformed particularly the coastal regions.”
Defining history
Neyzi said two sets of interviews were conducted with some 100 young people between the ages of 15 and 35. “Oral history is conventionally associated with the elderly. In this case, we were interested in how young people constructed a past they did not necessarily experience directly. How do young people in Turkey define history? Through what sources do they learn about the past?”
Project curator Önder Özengi said, “We have noticed in this project that regardless of where they are from, from the west or the east, young people nurture a concern for the future in terms of economic standing. Even though for some young people from Diyarbakır a political dimension emerges as a priority to some extent, again, economic problems and concerns for the future are intense.”
Hüseyin from Muğla, 23, was born in Silvan, an eastern province of Turkey at the heart of the Kurdish issue. “One thinks at one point, who will pay for what I had to go through?” Hüseyin said. “Silvan, during and after the ‘90s, was horrible; I can never forget the sound of gunshots. Silvan was an intensely political place; it was a place caught in the triangle of Hizbullah, the PKK and the state. I became aware of what was going on around my junior high school years.”
Ali from Diyarbakır, 35, said of his experiences: “When my classes were finished at school, just like the rest of my friends, I would sell simit and börek to make money. I used to listen to a cassette by Şivan Oerver [a Kurdish singer]. My mother would tell me, ‘Dearest, please do not turn the volume up. Don’t turn it up. Nobody should hear it.’ There was a lot of fear in the air.”
The project was supported by the Open Society Foundation (Açık Toplum), the Henrich Böll Stiftung Foundation and the Istanbul Policy Center. More details on the project can be found on their website: http://www.gencleranlatiyor.org. An exhibition containing the stories collected will open at Hamursuz Fırını’s Kuledibi Şair Ziya Yokuşu on Oct. 30. It will continue until Dec. 29.
October/30/2012
18 Ekim 2012 Perşembe
Bell to toll once more at Diyarbakır church
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News/Vercihan Ziflioğlu
A century after its establishment, the historical Surp Giragos Armenian Church in Diyarbakır reopened for worship last year. Now, the church is set to completely return to its former glory with the installation of a new bell on Nov 4. The new bell, which weighs 100 kilograms, was produced in Moscow
Canadian artist Raffi Bedrosyan, who contributed to the restoration of the church, poses with the new bell.
One of Diyarbakır’s most important churches, Surp (St.) Giragos Armenian Church, will unveil its new bell at a ceremony early next month following restoration on the historical house of worship last year.
“The new bell, which weighs 100 kilograms, was produced in Moscow and presented as a gift from the Russian Armenian community to the Surp Giragos Church. It’s already been delivered to Diyarbakır and presented to the public,” Istanbul-based Canadian artist Raffi Bedrosyan, who contributed to the restoration of the church, recently told the Hürriyet Daily News ahead of the Nov. 4 ceremony for the new bell.
The tower was destroyed by cannon fire in 1915 on the grounds that it was taller than the minarets of mosques. The new bell has been crafted in a style similar to the original by Russian Armenians in Moscow.
“This church, the greatest Armenian Church in the Middle East, is a clear evidence of Armenian influence in Anatolia before 1915 and now it has become a pilgrimage place for all Armenians from Turkey, Armenia and the diaspora,” Bedrosyan said.
Church reopened last year
The church was used as a command center by German officers during World War I, and later used as an apparel depot by the state-owned Sümerbank until 1950. It was finally returned to the Armenian community following a lengthy legal struggle. The church reopened for worship last year, a century after its construction.
Bedrosyan also hopes to restore the historical Varagavank Monastery located in the eastern province of Van. “Both Ankara and Van agreed to launch the restoration project, but social and natural obstacles delayed the process. We wish to restore this church with the cooperative efforts of both Turkish and Armenian experts,” Bedrosyan said.
October/18/2012
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News/Vercihan Ziflioğlu
A century after its establishment, the historical Surp Giragos Armenian Church in Diyarbakır reopened for worship last year. Now, the church is set to completely return to its former glory with the installation of a new bell on Nov 4. The new bell, which weighs 100 kilograms, was produced in Moscow
Canadian artist Raffi Bedrosyan, who contributed to the restoration of the church, poses with the new bell.
One of Diyarbakır’s most important churches, Surp (St.) Giragos Armenian Church, will unveil its new bell at a ceremony early next month following restoration on the historical house of worship last year.
“The new bell, which weighs 100 kilograms, was produced in Moscow and presented as a gift from the Russian Armenian community to the Surp Giragos Church. It’s already been delivered to Diyarbakır and presented to the public,” Istanbul-based Canadian artist Raffi Bedrosyan, who contributed to the restoration of the church, recently told the Hürriyet Daily News ahead of the Nov. 4 ceremony for the new bell.
The tower was destroyed by cannon fire in 1915 on the grounds that it was taller than the minarets of mosques. The new bell has been crafted in a style similar to the original by Russian Armenians in Moscow.
“This church, the greatest Armenian Church in the Middle East, is a clear evidence of Armenian influence in Anatolia before 1915 and now it has become a pilgrimage place for all Armenians from Turkey, Armenia and the diaspora,” Bedrosyan said.
Church reopened last year
The church was used as a command center by German officers during World War I, and later used as an apparel depot by the state-owned Sümerbank until 1950. It was finally returned to the Armenian community following a lengthy legal struggle. The church reopened for worship last year, a century after its construction.
Bedrosyan also hopes to restore the historical Varagavank Monastery located in the eastern province of Van. “Both Ankara and Van agreed to launch the restoration project, but social and natural obstacles delayed the process. We wish to restore this church with the cooperative efforts of both Turkish and Armenian experts,” Bedrosyan said.
October/18/2012
15 Ekim 2012 Pazartesi
Armenia establishes school for Syria kids
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News/Vercihan Ziflioğlu
In order to prevent problems stemming from the differences between the two dialects of Armenian, books for the school books were purchased from Syria.
The Cilician School, which provides education in the western Armenian dialect, has been established in Yerevan to serve school-age children whose families have migrated to Armenia from Syria due to the increasing tension and conflict there.
Syrian Armenian children had been facing problems with education in Armenian schools due to differences between the eastern and western dialects of the Armenian language. Eastern Armenian is spoken in Armenia and Iran, while western Armenian developed in Istanbul during the 19th century and is currently spoken by the Armenian Diaspora.
The school was established with contributions from and thanks to collaboration between the Cilicia Benevolent Foundation, Armenia’s Diaspora Ministry, the Armenian National Education Ministry and Yerevan Municipality, the school’s principal, Nora Pilibosyan, told Hürriyet Daily News in a telephone interview, adding that the school currently plans to provide education only for one year. “We hope the problems in Syria will end soon and the Syrian families will be able to return to their homeland,” Pilibosyan said.
“Our goal is to prevent these children from being deprived of education. It is too early to talk about the future, we will wait and see,” Pilibosyan said, when asked if the school could remain open longer in the event the situation in Syria does not improve within one year.
In order to prevent problems stemming from the differences between the western and eastern dialects of Armenian, books for the school books were purchased from Armenian schools in Syria, Pilibosyan said, adding that 250 children are currently attending the school.
4,000 Syrian Armenians currently in Armenia
After meeting with a group of 30 immigrants from Syria in late September, Diaspora Minister Hranush Hagopyan officially announced to the Armenian press that 4,000 Syrian Armenians had migrated to Armenia.
Armenia was caught off guard by the migration of Syrian Armenians, and Armenian citizens have opened their houses to the immigrants and helped them with private means. Some of the Syrian Armenians who have fled to Armenia have later headed to other countries where they have family, while some have settled in Armenia. A considerable number of them plan to return to Syria soon after the clashes there end.
October/16/2012
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News/Vercihan Ziflioğlu
In order to prevent problems stemming from the differences between the two dialects of Armenian, books for the school books were purchased from Syria.
The Cilician School, which provides education in the western Armenian dialect, has been established in Yerevan to serve school-age children whose families have migrated to Armenia from Syria due to the increasing tension and conflict there.
Syrian Armenian children had been facing problems with education in Armenian schools due to differences between the eastern and western dialects of the Armenian language. Eastern Armenian is spoken in Armenia and Iran, while western Armenian developed in Istanbul during the 19th century and is currently spoken by the Armenian Diaspora.
The school was established with contributions from and thanks to collaboration between the Cilicia Benevolent Foundation, Armenia’s Diaspora Ministry, the Armenian National Education Ministry and Yerevan Municipality, the school’s principal, Nora Pilibosyan, told Hürriyet Daily News in a telephone interview, adding that the school currently plans to provide education only for one year. “We hope the problems in Syria will end soon and the Syrian families will be able to return to their homeland,” Pilibosyan said.
“Our goal is to prevent these children from being deprived of education. It is too early to talk about the future, we will wait and see,” Pilibosyan said, when asked if the school could remain open longer in the event the situation in Syria does not improve within one year.
In order to prevent problems stemming from the differences between the western and eastern dialects of Armenian, books for the school books were purchased from Armenian schools in Syria, Pilibosyan said, adding that 250 children are currently attending the school.
4,000 Syrian Armenians currently in Armenia
After meeting with a group of 30 immigrants from Syria in late September, Diaspora Minister Hranush Hagopyan officially announced to the Armenian press that 4,000 Syrian Armenians had migrated to Armenia.
Armenia was caught off guard by the migration of Syrian Armenians, and Armenian citizens have opened their houses to the immigrants and helped them with private means. Some of the Syrian Armenians who have fled to Armenia have later headed to other countries where they have family, while some have settled in Armenia. A considerable number of them plan to return to Syria soon after the clashes there end.
October/16/2012
tos depict seminal events in İzmir’s past at an exhibition
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News/Vercihan Ziflioğlu
The exhibition, featuring photos from the Orlando Carlo Calumeno Collection, is on display at Galatasaray’s Cezayir Restaurant.
Birzamanlar Publishing is hosting a new event designed to refresh memories about İzmir at the beginning of the Turkish Republic through the exhibition of historical postcards and photos from the Orlando Carlo Calumeno Collection.
The exhibition, which opened Oct. 12 at Galatasaray’s Cezayir Restaurant Meeting Hall, is titled “Once upon Time in İzmir: Postcards from Orlando Carlo Calumeno’s Collection” and consists of 60 historical photos. The exhibition will continue until Oct. 29.
“In this exhibition we would like people to stay alone with their thoughts,” Birzamanlar Publishing editor and exhibition curator Osman Köker told the Hürriyet Daily News. “I want viewers to be alone with the postcards and photographs, as they will refresh their memories about İzmir.”
Exhibitions of Orlando Carlo collection
Köker has conducted a number of exhibitions of the Orlando Carlo Calumeno Collection, including one that was titled “My Dear Brother,” which attracted a total of 10,000 people in Armenia, the United States and Europe with its depictions of Armenian life before 1915 that were drawn from the large collection of postcards owned by Calumeno.
“These exhibitions help Armenian people remember their countries,” said Köker. “With this exhibition, Turkish-Armenian dialogue improved.”
Köker said the new exhibition would exhibit the history of İzmir, as well as the important incidents that occurred in the Aegean city, including the Great Smyrna Fire.
“We will not only exhibit the Great Fire of Smyrna, but we will also make viewers refresh their memories about events in İzmir,” Köker said.
Explaining the beginnings of the fire, Köker said, “Turkish forces regained control of the city [from retreating Greek forces during the War of Independence] on Sept. 9, 1922. After that, the great fire started in the city.”
The fire, also known as the “Catastrophe of Smyrna” destroyed a large portion of İzmir, including its port.
The photographs in the exhibition ultimately depict the lives of non-Muslim people in Anatolia, he said, adding that they showed that there have been always Syriac Christians, Greeks and Armenians across the region.
Köker said his publishing house has previously published two books about İzmir, including Hervé Georgelin’s “The End of Smyrna” and “Once Upon a Time in İzmir: Postcards from Orlando Carlo Calumeno’s Collection,” which forms the basis of the present exhibition.
October/13/2012
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News/Vercihan Ziflioğlu
The exhibition, featuring photos from the Orlando Carlo Calumeno Collection, is on display at Galatasaray’s Cezayir Restaurant.
Birzamanlar Publishing is hosting a new event designed to refresh memories about İzmir at the beginning of the Turkish Republic through the exhibition of historical postcards and photos from the Orlando Carlo Calumeno Collection.
The exhibition, which opened Oct. 12 at Galatasaray’s Cezayir Restaurant Meeting Hall, is titled “Once upon Time in İzmir: Postcards from Orlando Carlo Calumeno’s Collection” and consists of 60 historical photos. The exhibition will continue until Oct. 29.
“In this exhibition we would like people to stay alone with their thoughts,” Birzamanlar Publishing editor and exhibition curator Osman Köker told the Hürriyet Daily News. “I want viewers to be alone with the postcards and photographs, as they will refresh their memories about İzmir.”
Exhibitions of Orlando Carlo collection
Köker has conducted a number of exhibitions of the Orlando Carlo Calumeno Collection, including one that was titled “My Dear Brother,” which attracted a total of 10,000 people in Armenia, the United States and Europe with its depictions of Armenian life before 1915 that were drawn from the large collection of postcards owned by Calumeno.
“These exhibitions help Armenian people remember their countries,” said Köker. “With this exhibition, Turkish-Armenian dialogue improved.”
Köker said the new exhibition would exhibit the history of İzmir, as well as the important incidents that occurred in the Aegean city, including the Great Smyrna Fire.
“We will not only exhibit the Great Fire of Smyrna, but we will also make viewers refresh their memories about events in İzmir,” Köker said.
Explaining the beginnings of the fire, Köker said, “Turkish forces regained control of the city [from retreating Greek forces during the War of Independence] on Sept. 9, 1922. After that, the great fire started in the city.”
The fire, also known as the “Catastrophe of Smyrna” destroyed a large portion of İzmir, including its port.
The photographs in the exhibition ultimately depict the lives of non-Muslim people in Anatolia, he said, adding that they showed that there have been always Syriac Christians, Greeks and Armenians across the region.
Köker said his publishing house has previously published two books about İzmir, including Hervé Georgelin’s “The End of Smyrna” and “Once Upon a Time in İzmir: Postcards from Orlando Carlo Calumeno’s Collection,” which forms the basis of the present exhibition.
October/13/2012
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