turkish diary

CHANGE OF BLOG

2009-05-19T16:23:00.002+03:00

Dear Readers,

Thank you for your support and criticism for the past years. We have moved our blog presentation to our home page of our site. Our blog is updated more frequently now and also has a mirror in Turkish language. Please note that our old articles will still be available here.

You may read the new articles at http://www.turkiye.org

See you all there. Please remember to change your subscriptions tp the new site.

end of a beginning, beginning of an end

2008-02-15T19:56:00.007+02:00

headscarf (n): A scarf worn over or around the head, often folded and tied. (1) Headscarves are scarves covering most or all of the top of a woman's hair and her head. Headscarves may be worn for a variety of purposes, such as fashion or social distinction, religious signifiance, modesty, or other forms of social convention. (2)

turban (n): (hijab) the Arabic term for "cover" (noun), based on the root حجب meaning "to veil, to cover (verb), to screen, to shelter" (3) The term hijab or veil is not used in the Qur'an to refer to an article of clothing for women or men, rather it refers to a spatial curtain that divides or provides privacy. The Qur'an instructs the male believers (Muslims) to talk to wives of Muhammad behind a hijab. This hijab was the responsibility of the men and not the wives of Muhammad. However, in later Muslim societies this instruction specific to the wives of Muhammad was generalized, leading to the segregation of the Muslim men and women. The modesty in Qur'an concerns both men's and women's gaze, gait, garments, and genitalia. The clothing for women involves khumūr over the necklines and jilbab (cloaks) in public so that they may be identified and not harmed. Guidelines for covering of the entire body except for the hands, the feet, and the face, are found in texts of fiqh and hadith that are developed later. (4)

democracy (n) 1. Government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives.
2. A political or social unit that has such a government.
3. The common people, considered as the primary source of political power.
4. Majority rule.
5. The principles of social equality and respect for the individual within a community. (5)

The tide is turning. Chaos is prevailing. It is rather funny to observe an inherently occidental society to find its way through modern western jargon in its search for contractual consistency. Elected government and its leaders quote words like "individual rights", "democracy", "right to express one's political view" on a daily basis in their angered and agitated speeches against minority leaders and opinion think-tanks.

In the Middle Eastern form of electoral government however democracy means majority dictatorship. As long as the ruling party could express their opinion, there is freedom of speech; as long as that party's political ambititons are served, there is "development" in the society. One could, albeit simply by reading unofficial history, see that nothing has changed so far. Since the first modernization attempts of "tanzimat" (reorganization) movement of the mid 19th Century Turkey is in search of an electoral system that can serve the ultimate goal of that peculiar culture; namely the preservation of the state and concurrently saving face vis a vis the widely accepted notions related to the welfare of its citizens. But it's really getting old. Globalism has pressures as no previous global system asserted over its members. Communications and rapid transfer of in-depth information made it impossible for countries like Turkey just to save face for prolonged periods of time.

The parliament has passed on an overwhelmingly yea vote, an ammendment to the constitution that enables girls who wear "headscarves" to enter universities as students. This act was hailed as an important move in civil rights by government communiquees and official media.

The parliament is still negotiating on a bill to improve the conditions of minority (read Christian) foundations whose main function is to take care of religious buildings and management of minority (read Armenian and Greek) schools. These for decades cannot function due to red tape and nationalization of their posessions indiscriminantly. An opposing MP declared that this bill cannot pass because it would be against the Lausanne Agreement since it gives enormous rights to "foreigners". In Turkey today, any foreigner, say a Greek citizen can buy property. But if you are a Turkish citizen belonging to a Christian (read Armenian or Greek) minority, a foundation you establish cannot own or manage property, even if this property is in your posession for centuries, and an MP can call you a "foreigner" without any consequence. Yet girls who are forced by their parents can go to the university. A great act towards civil liberties!

A professor in an university was convicted of acts against the state because in a public speech, he called, Mustafa Kemal, the founder of the Republic, a "man". For my illiterate readers, I may add that he was actually a member of the male gender. He was criticized by "important" public opinion makers in the media. He will now have to go to European Human Rights court. Yet girls who are forced by their big brothers to hide their faces from other humans now can go to the university. What a major democratic development!

It has been made public that many killings of minority leaders, bombings against a major newspaper and the supreme court was organized by a terrorist group formed by likes of a former general, a prominent lawyer and nationalist. The aim of that organization was simply to provoke nationalist feelings to further oppress minorities. But what happens now is a great mystery. Will there be a court trial against those involved, or will there be any consequences for these individuals are still vague questions with vague answers. Yet girls who beat their siblings because they wear mini skirts can go to the university. It should be counted as joy for democracy mongers!

Near future should unveil all major divisions in Turkish social make up. They would come out of their respective closets like no pervert ever did. This is the age of global chaos and Turkey should have her share. The political camps are getting futher away from each other, minimizing the hope for mature discussion or compromise. As history tells us, most of the price will be paid by the minorities in the broad sense. Liberals, extremists and religious minorities are those who shall pay for the turbulances of a nation that takes shelter in extreme nationalism and majority terror during the times of instability, and proud of it.

This shall be the beginning of an end. The end of a national hypocrisy, since during this phase of instability the closets in each dark corner of a state so secretive in her inner thoughts shall be public once and for all.

But for us, now it is time for silence again. For all shrieking voices are to be silenced by the most powerful weapon of all times: fear for loved ones.

(1) American Heritage Dictionary
(2) Wikipedia
(3) Wikipedia
(4) Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World by Macmillan Reference
(5) The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language

hairgrip on the floor

2007-12-31T16:32:00.000+02:00

losing eyes in a hotel room,
for most of the time disconnected
getting blind by the day,
getting drunk by despair
a hairgrip, dropped beneath the bed by chance,
forgotten,
forlorn,
to be found out,
and to be worn forever.

losing faith everyday,
leaping over and over again,
over the rainbow on every chance
that the girl next door points out
on the bleak horizon, the darkest
darkest of the nights to be spend
alone,
in the losing eyes room
of the hotel
that the girl next door
dropped her hairgrip by chance.

(A very happy new year for all my readers, wherever and whomever they are. Hope 2008 would be a better year for us all)

4 the new year

2007-12-30T10:33:00.000+02:00

everybody knows

Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
That's how it goes
Everybody knows

Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died

Everybody talking to their pockets
Everybody wants a box of chocolates
And a long stem rose
Everybody knows

Everybody knows that you love me baby
Everybody knows that you really do
Everybody knows that you've been faithful
Ah give or take a night or two
Everybody knows you've been discreet
But there were so many people you just had to meet
Without your clothes
And everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows
Everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows

And everybody knows that it's now or never
Everybody knows that it's me or you
And everybody knows that you live forever
Ah when you've done a line or two
Everybody knows the deal is rotten
Old Black Joe's still pickin' cotton
For your ribbons and bows
And everybody knows

And everybody knows that the Plague is coming
Everybody knows that it's moving fast
Everybody knows that the naked man and woman
Are just a shining artifact of the past
Everybody knows the scene is dead
But there's gonna be a meter on your bed
That will disclose
What everybody knows

And everybody knows that you're in trouble
Everybody knows what you've been through
From the bloody cross on top of Calvary
To the beach of Malibu

Everybody knows it's coming apart
Take one last look at this Sacred Heart
Before it blows
And everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows
Oh everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows

Leonard Cohen (I'm Your Man)

A Moment In Paradise*

2007-12-09T22:48:00.000+02:00

That May morning that Greek troops were landed on Kordelia on the third decade of last century in Smyrna, vast majority of citizens were there to greet them. They were waiting for that moment for generations. Greek Government ready with its carefully studied Asia Minor Politics, started an integration plan immediately. This plan with its economical and political aspects aimed to integrate Christian. Muslim and Jewish communities of the city under a multi-ethnic consensus about the commercial and social life of the city so distinct in many aspects. The Greek army was introduced as peace keepers and it was made clear to the city council, representing all communities of Smyrna that, immediate replacement with the soon to be formed local police is imminent in a very near future. All members of the army were cautious on their treatment of locals in and the people of surrounding towns of Smyrna. Rumours have spread, even among Muslim population of Asia Minor that this government was among the best they've seen ever. Only within months, an unseen social harmony was achieved, Muslims, Christians and Jews alike went by their daily businesses as if nothing happened. The only problem that the governor was facing was due to the very peculiar way of living habits of the city: drunkenness, tavern brawls and street fights among local hoodlums.

However in the rest of Anatolia, another kind of fire was burning. Constantinople, once the center of two civilizations, was under occupation, and Turks everywhere were organizing themselves to liberate their homeland of 700 years. Meetings were held in many major cities and local leaders gathered to discuss ways of obtaining International support in forms of diplomacy, weapons and basic needs of the long starving population. A newly found socialist republic was interested in her southerly neigbor's nationalistic aspirations. The relations between Russia and Ottoman Empire was a sour one historically. Two imperialistic neigbors had always a dispute among them, but newly found republic found a opportunity for a new strategic friendship with Turks.

Nationalist movement was not a new concept among Turks. Unity and Advancement Society (Young Turk Movement) with its roots among Turks from Thessaloniki and Constantinopolis even had some government experience in the files and ranks of the old Empire. Dissidents and followers of that society alike found themselves new possibilities in a nationwide movement to start up a new republic based on Turkish identity. However they had a great problem at hand. Asia Minor was more ethnically divided than any geographical area where a nationalist movement had any hint of success in history. In the meetings they held throughout Anatolia, and after hours of brainstorming they came up with a brilliant idea based on the recent events. Just a few years ago, the dying Empire was able to protect its vast Armenian population by succesfully protecting them against their brothers who were in arms with Russian invasion army, and against Turkish bandits that were destroying remote Armenian villages. They based their new vision on this piece of history. They would go about and embrace every little group of people in Anatolia to form a new identity for a new republic purely based on millenium old civilization that existed in Asia Minor: Federal Democracy. No first among equals, but a strong state based on values and traditions of major ethnic groups, namely Turks, Greeks, Armenians, Kurds and Jews. The eyes of their leaders were shining; they have discovered the secret to save all mankind!

Their military movement followed the same path of vision. With the help of armaments sent by Soviet Republic, and the bravery of the people they have won the war, but were careful on the welfare and protection of their future citizens along the way. Finally they took back Smyrna. Again commotion were on the streets. This time there was again a new hope in the air. The city was excited to be a part of that new kind of state. The religious leaders as well as many Italians, Americans and others that were inhabitants of the city back then gathered up with Turkish authorities to form the first modern city council in Asia Minor immediately. The city, once more was an attraction to the people many surrounding towns and islands. Numerous people moved in to increase the population of this new metropolitan magnet to one million people in a matter of few years. In 1923 only 400,000 Greeks were living in Smyrna with 300,000 Turks and 150,000 Armenians. Today the city hosts more than 1,000,000 Greeks, 1,500,000 Turks and second city with biggest Armenian population in the world with over 1,200,000 Armenians.

Yes, this was a dream. Yes this was a description of paradise. But just think about it. Why did it have to happen otherwise? Whose fault is it? Can human kind be so wrong in its every deed? Does it have to be just one single moment in paradise?

(*)Paradise is also the name of a quarter at the turn of the century Smyrna.

The Affair at Agia Triada

2007-12-04T20:18:00.000+02:00

It' a small church in Bahariye quarter of Anatolian Constantinopolis. Well preserved by local supporters and very unlike many churches in Asia Minor that share the common fate of destruction by ignorance.

Anything about it is hardly news. Small community, a young priest and a family of carekeepers. However a recent attack highligted this small church in the hearts of many Christians living in this neck of the woods and abroad.

In almost one month, just after the celebrations of Christmas holidays and Epiphany, it will be January 19th. The first anniversary of Hrant Dink's(1) murder. It has been almost one year since an Agos(2) cartoonist renamed his corner as "I want to go back in time before January 19th". One would expect in one year, since the assasins were caught immediately after the murder, they would be sentenced, and precautions were taken to protect at least minority leaders of the land and the affair would have come to a closure both in courts and public conscience.

Well, just the opposite is what happened. The accused are benefiting from exemplary treatment from authorities, a conviction is still far away although many relatives and friends of the deceased are one way or another convicted of an archaic law code named "301", and both suppression and attacks against minorities are intensified heavily. Many minority middle school kids go to school everyday under the veil of fear, clergymen are afraid of their lives on a daily basis. In fact four of them violently massacred and one recently kidnapped.

Here, I wish to center the attention of my readers to the latest act of vandalism. At Agia Triada, two "drunk men" according to some media(3) "entered the church and started to break windows, kick the furniture around, and one even hurt himself trying to break the windows of the main entrance door. Then carekeeper's wife came upon and asked them to leave, they ignored her and kept doing what they were doing. Then she called the cops and they came and took the attackers to the hospital." (Since one of them was hurt) The story also tells us how one of the attackers followed her to her residencial quarters, and how there were blood stains on its door. And how they -at least- verbally abused the elderly woman.

In Turkey, the existence of Ecumenical Patriarchate fools many outsiders, but the country has very few Greek Orthodox citizens and even less Greek Orthodox churchgoers, and even lesser number of Greek Orthodox churches. In Smyrna for example, despite a small Greek community, there are no ongoing Orthodox services provided for these. And any attack against such a small, socially insignificant, repressed and scared community should be significant sociologically.

And the outcome is in fact sociological reality. One should but notice the deepening hatred in the common man against "the others". In Turkey "the others" could be anybody during a daily confrontation. The Other can be the police if you are driving drunk, or a Kurdish grocer if you are sentimental about terrorist attacks by PKK (Kurdish Liberation Army), or an Armenian journalist, or a Greek father if you are a mainstream Kemalist(4) and so on. But the constant is, there is always "an other" for any Turk living in this country. It would be far fetching to analyze the reasons for that in the scope of this article, but one could easily speculate about the effects of 80 something years of education in this country that promotes the illusion that Turks in the history were always right and righteous while every other nation or ethnic group were wrong or wrongdoers against Turks!

Everyday life is simply determined by that fact. Social anarchy and confrontational behavior is obvious in daily interactions and many live their lives in oblivion. Some see Islam as a way out of this vicious circle and to attain peace, some believe in excessive economical welfare for one's self to fend off the daily disturbances of life, but the vast majority of the population is helpless. Helpless even against themselves.

One should recognize all the facts when exploring political attitude towards a nation, which deserves full attention of all International institutions, since it is one of the largest populations of Eastern Europe and might as well be one of the main braking points of a future conflict in the Middle East.

(1) Hrant Dink was a prominent Armenian-Turkish journalist and writer.
(2) Agos is a weekly newspaper published in Constantinople in Turkish and Armenian, founded by Hrant Dink.
(3) The news of the attack appeared only in marginal or minority media. Mainstream media turns a deaf ear to all atrocities against minorities in Turkey.
(4) Kemalist is a word depicting a person believing in the official doctrin of Turkish Republic and sees everything against the official truth as a threat against the Republic. (After the founder of the Republic, Mustafa Kemal)

The Broken Land

2007-09-17T20:07:00.000+02:00

“That we've broken their statues,
that we've driven them out of their temples,
doesn't mean at all that the gods are dead.
O land of Ionia,
they're still in love with you,
their souls still keep your memory.
When an August dawn wakes over you,
your atmosphere is potent with their life,
and sometimes a young ethereal figure
indistinct, in rapid flight,
wings across your hills”

Constantine P. Cavafy

Today is September 8th, 2007. Eighty five years ago it was the final day of a great dream by Venizelos that was called ‘To megalo idea’ (The big concept). Thousands of people, citizens and refugees from neighboring areas have gathered in my city of Smyrna awaiting their destiny after just a few years of liberty and rejoicing. They did not know what would become of them, but their thoughts were centered on the fact that they were the real owners of this land, that for centuries no force was able to uproot them from Asia Minor. Countless conquering armies including Persians, Temurlenk, Selchuk Turks and Ottomans faced the same reality that in the end these lands were inhabited by Hellenes, and it was their motherland, and they would not leave it regardless of oppression and hardship.

On September 9th, 1922 Turkish National forces entered Smyrni (today, Izmir in Turkish), occupying it, and after burning down the Armenian and Greek quarters, got rid of the remaining Orthodox Christian people by actually forcing them into the sea. After eighty five years there are just a few remnants of these people who had changed the course of history, the music of a whole nation, the arts and philosophy of the Western Civilization several times over. But today, they are lost in the pages of history books, a few articles and documentaries. This is a short history of Smyrnean Hellenes in the late 20th Century by a Smyrnean Greek who has lived most (if not all) of his life in the city.

The Hellenes of Asia Minor survived. A small Greek population in Smyrni survived with the help of their neighbors, some in the wider Aegean region in remote villages did by the rule of proximity. But then the Lausanne treaty forced most to take part in a population exchange of Muslims of Greece with the Hellenes of Anatolia. Two million Greeks moved to Greece and some 300,000 Muslims moved to Turkey. But again Hellenes of Asia Minor survived mostly in Constantinopolis (today Istanbul), Smyrni and Eastern Thrace. The Christian population of these areas was excluded from the treaty so many families moved to these pockets to prevent exile which meant losing their property and worldly possessions.Giorgos Seferis (1900-1971), a fellow Smyrnean and Nobel Prize Winner in Literature put it the best; “Who will discover the truth? The wrong has been committed. The important thing is who will redeem it?"

There has been a commotion going on the streets for a few days now. Smyrneans are preparing for the great yearly celebrations of September the 9th, the day of ‘liberation’ of Smyrna from ‘the Greek yoke’. The day Turks ‘finally put the Greeks to the sea’ to declare independence in Asia Minor, later founding the Turkish Republic. The day Greek civilization lost its foot in one of the major areas of cultural influence, Ionia, the land of Homer (not Simpson).

At a university meeting, a few years back in Constantinopolis’ Bosphorus University, I was among a bunch of international students, Greeks included. As usual the subject matter danced around the fact that ‘Turks threw Greeks into the sea in Smyrni’, and jokes were made and people exchanged ironical remarks. One of the Greek guys suddenly pulled his pants down, to show he had bathing trunks instead of boxers as he said ‘I am prepared! We Greeks know how to swim. But I wonder what should happen if you guys try to follow us.’ It was really good and ended the discussion. It was also good to see the levelof maturity coming from my fellow countryman.

But how should I explain the joke to descendants of thousands of Greek families of Smyrni? The joke was on them! The celebrations commemorating the birth of a modern nation is based on destruction of the civilian people of the city. Of course, this is a fact that is omitted from school books. They boast the fact that they have dumped the enemy into the ocean, but omit the fact that the very enemy were only the civilians of the city. The Greek army has already deserted the area.

For those who remained, then came the ‘property tax’. After two decades of rebuilding, recuperation and lessons in survival, the so called minorities of Turkey were up against a fascist law of discriminating ‘property tax’ of the forties. Turkization (a term borrowed from Matthew Barrett, or Turkification) of Asia Minor, which began in 1860’s, through the Armenian genocide and uprooting of Pontus Greeks, Assyrians and Kurds, was not able to get rid of all non Turkic elements from the area. In fact together they outnumbered Turks in every aspect. The final blow in that endeavor was to adopt a law that was influenced by National Socialism prevailing in Germany at the times. This law stated that all non-Muslims had to pay a special tax proportional to their property or to face exile to the working camps in Eastern Turkey, with a glitch on the word ‘proportional’. The aim was said to be the dwindling conditions of the state during wartime, but there was no explanation as to why only the minorities had to give a hand to the government who refused to take part in the war officially but covertly supported the Axisforces in every manner.

The glitch on the ratio of the tax was the fact that it was not a percentage; it was a multiplication factor! A non-Muslim who for example owned 1000 lira worth of land had to pay, say 10000 lira (Yes, ten thousand) worth of taxes, or else to the working camp where they had to help build a railroad under harsh conditions of winter in mountainous Eastern Turkey. Many Greek, Armenian and Jewish families sold everything they owned for ludicrous prices and fled the country. The many Armenian craftsman of Istanbul had to bribe the authorities to keep their stores; those who couldn’t had to actually go to the work camps only to die there. It was the final major tragedy that today no one ever talks or writes about. Thousands of craft shops, factories, trading stores changed hands during these years, and again thousands of residential and communal real estate fell into the hands of Turks including even some church buildings.

Finally the majority of the economical forces of Asia Minor were in the hands of Turkish ‘entrepreneurs’, and the only evidence of all that happened were in the memories of Asia Minor Hellenes (Roumoi) and Armenian Diaspora. The tiny and poor Greece to the west was no major threat both in military or political terms. But there was a little pocket of land left where Greeks were living side by side with Turks: Cyprus. (Except maybe Western Thrace where the Muslim population was living-they still do-as Greek citizens with rights to follow their religious ways and to education in their language.)

Then there was the Cyprus crisis. In 1955, the masses in Constantinopolis, already uneasy because of the news from Cyprus, were agitated by the authorities with a lie that the house of birth of Mustafa Kemal, the founder of Turkish Republic, in Thessaloniki was bombed and burned down by Greeks. They immediately formed a mob to destroyed everything they related to a non-Muslim in the city. They burned Churches, apartment buildings, actually every building that did not post a Turkish flag. The official toll was 11 murders, hundreds of wounded, 73 churches, 1 synagogue, 26 schools, 8 fountains, 2 monasteries and 5538 properties destroyed. The authorities gathered up the usual suspects; the communists including four writers. Nobody got any jail time or punishment. A record of Turkish eye witness summarizes the tragedy. Astore owner tells his story:

“I took the Greek kids to their homes and arrived home. Our house was just across from the mosque. My grandma was sitting by the door, trembling and crying. When she saw me she said; ‘My son, please do not touch anybody’s belongings, these are our long time neighbors’, and cried more. Somehow, some time later someone brought a plate stolen from Greeks to our house. My grandma refused to touch it and she said: ‘I won’t let this thing enter my home, we would be done with’. To the last moment we were with Anastas and Niko, the pastry shop owner. We resisted against the demolition of the pastry shop to our capacity. But then a huge crowd arrived, oh, they were too many for us, they finally tore the store down.”
Between 1955 and after the events of the Cyprus conflict in 1963, the majority of Hellenes left the country for Greece and the United States. But that was an exile in reality. They did not want to go. The following personal account tells the story:

“We, most of us, had forgotten the events of 1955. They say, even some Greeks say, that we left after 1955. No, we did not leave after 55, maybe only 50 families (from Istanbul-author’s note) left then. But after 63, Cyprus was on fire, demonstrations, megaphones everywhere, on every wall in Istanbul it was written ‘Death or division!’, ‘Citizens speak Turkish!’, it was impossible for us and that was the fact. We were afraid to even say our names, to admit that we are Greek. We used to tell the kids that they should not speak Greek in public or if they have to, to speak in a low voice. You can immediately see the changes in people’s faces when they recognize you. This is my fatherland. I was born here, I lived here, as did my mother and his as well. How can I go? We are not immigrants; I am not one of these who went to America. I love my fatherland, I also love Greece. Then the immigration started in 64 after 63. We never meant to go. My husband used to say: ‘If we have to, let me be the last.’”

Personal memories fell into this timeframe. My mother being of Circassian origins, and my name Turkified on the books to prevent me from mishaps as my father used to tell me, I had no serious problems growing up in the 60’s in Smyrni. But then there was school. They had copies of my papers and there it was written that I was a Christian.

There were questions and sighs among peers and innuendos in the non-obligatory religious classes. Then again, there was Sofia F. (Now happily married and lives in Switzerland) In the sixties, independent of your sex, if you were a Hellene, a kid and in Smyrni you’ve got to know how to take a good beating. One of my friends (a Turk, now living in Belgium) was deeply in love with Sofia. And Turkish kids used to make fun of her, intimidate and try to beat her during breaks. My friend who was in love was so scared he couldn’t go and fight for her. But I was always there to save his pride. My mom never understood why I came home from school everyday beaten up and mud on every inch of my clothes. Questions directed to fellow kids were always unanswered. Teachers never got wind of it. I never told, and nobody ever, ever was able to touch Sofia! (If only anyone could, sofia in Greek means virtue)

There was one school, one curriculum, one language, one nation, one truth. We were severely assimilated and most families did not intervene. Tacit memories of the near past were haunting our parents. They were in a way losing their identity as Hellenes but not as Smyrneans. Simply, they did not want to leave the city. They’ve had many chances and they have said ‘Ohi’. (Many Minor Asiatic Hellenes of my generation do not speak Greek, most of the kids in Smyrni now are only half Greek and Greek is no longer their mother tongue)

The official history books in Turkey will tell you that when Ottoman Empire was weak due to ill-management of the Sultans during 1800’s, Armenians revolted in eastern Turkey and the army had to deal with them. All Armenian casualties were a result of this insurrection and hence were casualties of war. There is never a mention offorced immigration.

The Ottoman Empire sided with Germans due to its long term friendship with them during WW1, and although the Turks defended the Dardanelles heroically, they finally had to accept defeat not because they were defeated, but because their allies were defeated. After the war the triumphant Western European countries decided to divide the country into Greek, French, Italian and British zones and made the Greeks invade Western Asia Minor. (No mention of again Armenia and Kurdistan which were the integral part of the Sevres Agreement which instituted no Greek, French, Italian or British zones but the foundation of Armenia and Kurdistan and annexation of Aegean Asia Minor and Thrace to Greece) Then, Mustafa Kemal organized a National movement against invasion and won the liberation war by defeating the invasion forces and by chasing them back to the sea in Smyrni. Then afterwards, all the above forces who once tried to invade Turkey, now tried to overthrow Mustafa Kemal and his new republic continuously through assassination attempts, terrorism, a non-fact they called the Kurdish problem, Armenian problem and of course Hellenism and Zionism among the leading perils.
Well, the above paragraph was not a joke. If you ask anybody in Turkey to write one short paragraph about 20th Century history of their country that’s what you’ll get. (Except for the facts mentioned in parentheses and puns of course) History books stop at 1940’s, just after Mustafa Kemal’s death and in those books everything just happens, there are neither why’s nor how’s.

In the 70’s the only American high school in the city was for girls only. Therefore I attended a special government school, taken over from a Levantine (meaning predominantly Catholic people of Italian and French origins in Asia Minor as Roumoi means Hellenes living under Turkish rule) family under the promise that the language of education would be English and they should not mess the curriculum up and keep certain principles that gives kids freedom not heard of at the time. It was an interesting experience. I had some excellent English, American and Australian teachers as well as some great Turkish ones. But the 70’s were turbulent in Turkey. The cold war influence on the country resulted in radicalization of politics and anarchy and terrorism were everywhere. People were being killed, jailed and disappeared. In this environment, the school provided a safe and secluded haven as well as a source for independent and rational thinking. I trace back all my successes or failures to those years.

Actually, the country was so divided on political views; no one really cared about ethnic origins. They had plenty of reasons to kill each other, to jail each other, to blame each other, or hurt one another’s feelings, so this forever long list of reasons never came down to ethnic differences. During these years the only ethnicity people talked about was Kurds, but not in ethnic terms but of them all being communist separatists. It was a real catastrophe as the great Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink who was recently assassinated in Constantinopolis once said that these turbulent years were the only times he forgot about being an Armenian and started feeling like a citizen, a political human being.

Then I escaped to Paris. I thought I had had it! After two years of training in drama and TV production in Paris and drinking and going to Israel at the height of Arab-Israeli war to shoot a documentary and some more drinking and traveling around Europe and some more serious drinking, falling in and out of love every week or so and some more more serious drinking, my father made me (physically) come home and attend a prominent American university in Constantinopolis to be educated in Business Administration. Although I squeezed a Political Science double major in, yes, I did graduate from there finally.

My education in Paris was my access to what I used to call ‘real books’ for the first time. I was able to read everything that was illegal in Turkey at the time, and moreover I was able to meet people like Armenians, Greeks and Turks who had long ago fled the country. We used to read Nazim Hikmet (one of the great Turkish poets who died in exile in Russia) in secret in Turkey. There I was attending a conference by his wife Vera and actually was able to talk to her. I had the chance to listen to first hand stories of people who had to leave Turkey for either ethnic or political reasons, about their trials and tribulations. But most importantly their craving for their motherland. I learned that there’s no cure for this illness and it’s fatal. But more later on this.

The 80’s were a dictatorship. All the dissidents of the community were either forced out of country (and I don’t mean just non-Muslims), or jailed, or disappeared. Everybody who thinks or at least thought about something was converted to non-thinking, apolitical human being of today’s Turkey by force or assimilation. (You couldn’t even get a job if you were suspected of your ideas and if there was a file about you with the police.) Universities were brought under one organization that fed them with a uniform curriculum and all free research was banned. (It still is today) The authorities made it impossible for the minority (non-Muslim) foundations to own or repair property. This caused havoc at first but due to international indifference nothing came out of it except many monasteries, churches and other buildings belonging to these foundations became obsolete over time, only to be demolished and apartment buildings built in their places. Here some blame should also go to Hellenic and Armenian religious authorities in Turkey as well. Although they serve (and have served throughout the ages) a necessary and irreplaceable function to cement their respective communities and provide leadership, at that time they were admittedly scared by the military government and the influence of the military afterwards. They did but little to influence the international public opinion to change this fate until very recently. For Hellenes it took a major religious university and monastery in Princess Islands to be closed, and for Armenians, the assassination of a major journalist in Istanbul.
I fled again. Now to the United States. I was married to a Cretan, and we were thinking about a baby. I lived in the US most of the 90’s and there is only one story I’d like to tell about these years. It is the story of Mr. Ian. (I am not using his real name and some private facts are distorted out of respect to his beloved family)

I met him in California in 1996 when he was well over 80 years old. I was strolling along downtown San Jose when I saw his store, an antique shop full of real interesting stuff such such as old 78 rpm record players, tens of radio receivers from 20’s and 30’s, all kinds of electrical junk for a junky geek in San Jose. I went in to his store and started to ask about the stuff, prices and alike. He was not chatty at first but he noticed my accent and asked where I was from. When I answered, he was talkative instantly and in perfect Turkish for that matter. I gasped and asked who he was. Instead he asked me if I liked rembetika and Turkish music while he showed me the way to his inner sanctum of the shop. I said, but why yes, of course! Then it was heaven on earth. On the shelves were hundreds and hundreds of 78 rpm records of Smyrnean music and Turkish music from the beginnings of the Century we were about to end, and all in mint condition. Ian was from Constantinopolis, his father was a rich businessman who died in 1916, not of natural causes. His father’s small collection of 78 rpm’s got larger until his family moved to the States in the early 30’s and these were almost their only possession that they carried over the ocean. When our conversation got deep and after we exchanged experiences (his of course outweighing mine) and thoughts, Ian smelled me, and said I smelled like the motherland. That was impossible I said. I was in the States for more than 5 years without even visiting back but he insisted. We wept.

He had left Constantinopolis one April evening on a boat that took his family to Marseille. From there they decided to stay on the ship that took them to New York. He worked at a factory in Queens as a handyman, and later with help from his elder brother he opened his first record store in Astoria. Retiring years later in San Jose he turned his store into an antique shop. Ian died in 2006. For the four years I lived in the United States after we met, I tried to visit him every holiday even though we lived thousands of miles apart. We would talk about the fate of people that came from our neck of the woods. We would listen to Sotiria Bellou, Roza Eskenazi and Aghapikos Tomboulis for hours. I would bring him ouzo, he would share kopiks his daughters cooked for him with me. Or we would spend hours just staring at the walls of his store. We would do nothing but share existence in the same environment. Sometimes, maybe wishful thinking on my part, I would think I provided him with a sense of continuity, and an oasis in his desert of solitude. Ian died and with him he took with him my heritage that I never even knew before I met him. I am sure now, he is listening to Bellou live.

Here in Smyrna life is stagnant now. Decades of wrong economical decisions, negligence of the government, hostility of current administration toward anything western or civilized left Smyrni like a rusty chain on the dock. (the Prime Minister even called Smyrni ‘Ghavour Izmir’ meaning Izmir the Infidel because people here still drink in Ramadan, the holy month of fasting.) It looks like a small town with 2 million people wandering the streets every day aimlessly. The industrial boom in nearby Magnesia helped a little and fueled exports in one of the largest ports in the Aegean in Smyrni, but that was not enough to feed more than two million people.

Traditionally the area was known for its culinary exports. But these were under the supervision of or traded by the so called minorities and since they are long gone and since we now live under Global Economy, Smyrni is not in very good shape and the future does not look bright either.
I am no crazed nationalist. I just tried to paint a human portrait the best way I can. Finally, I have to mention one crucial fact most reviewers neglect when dealing with matters Turkish. Since the Ottoman times, rulers in Turkey never valued human life, be it Muslim, Christian or Jew. (I cannot say for sure if this has anything to do with religious culture) Muslim people were called ‘taba’ and were ‘kul’ (slaves) of the Sultan. As long as they served and fought for the state they were fed. Non-muslims were given the right of living under severe restrictions provided that they paid taxes in the form of money, goods and children. I always wanted to provide myself with a rational explanation as to why people are capable of performing such atrocities against their neighbors who they have lived together with for centuries. Crete is a good example, Smyrni is another, Pontus is a totally amazing story. Constantinopolis was the first metropolis of its time with such diverse ethnicities living peacefully together. And after just100 years it’s all gone. Neighbors kicked neighbors out.

In the place of the whole Armenian quarter in Smyrni sits a park. The trees on it rot from their roots and fall apart, so that they have to replant them often. The merry days of my childhood when Los Paraguayos, Enrico Macias and Dario Moreno sang in tavernas of the Kordelia are gone. I think maybe it had something to do with the way we value human life in our neck of the woods.

By Efstratios Moraitis

September 8, 2007

...

2007-05-22T00:14:00.000+03:00

Don’t really know who sent me
To raise my voice and say:
May the lights in The Land of Plenty
Shine on the truth some day.

I don’t know why I come here,
Knowing as I do,
What you really think of me,
What I really think of you.

For the millions in a prison,
That wealth has set apart –
For the Christ who has not risen,
From the caverns of the heart –

For the innermost decision,
That we cannot but obey -
For what’s left of our religion,
I lift my voice and pray:
May the lights in
The Land of Plenty
Shine on the truth some day.

I know I said I’d meet you,
I’d meet you at the store,
But I can’t buy it, baby.
I can’t buy it anymore.

And I don’t really know who sent me,
To raise my voice and say:
May the lights in
The Land of Plenty
Shine on the truth some day.

I don’t know why
I come here, knowing as I do,
what you really think of me,
what I really think of you.

For the innermost decision
That we cannot but obey
For what’s left of our religion
I lift my voice and pray:
May the lights in
The Land of Plenty
Shine on the truth some day.

Leonard Cohen, "The Land of Plenty", Ten New Songs

chaos

2007-02-11T18:21:00.000+02:00

it's difficult to write under the circumstances. professonalism contradicts with feelings. most of the public opinion makers are directing the hatred towards new targets. anyone who has an opinion against the common ideology is threatened by chief editors and op-eds of major dailies. pictures and videos depicting so called public servants with murderers are being debated.
nobel prize winner writer left the country. he is teaching at columbia, but how about the spring break.
everything, everybody and all thoughts are being supressed,and one wakes up in the morning with an unbearable painin the heart.
identity criris is mounting in a country of seventy plus millions of people.
it is difficult to write under the circumstances.

convoluted

2007-01-26T17:10:00.000+02:00

today I walked. I walked the streets where thousands walked on tuesday. I was out of town that day. I no longer live in istanbul. I followed their footsteps in reverse direction. I stopped and paid my respects, even uttered a prayer at the doorstep of Agos. A newsancor approached me and asked what are my thoughts. thoughts? what can one think but murder!

I cannot cry out loud. there is something stuck in me. it does not work since last week.

its's so convoluted. I read the first issue of Agos after Mr. Dink's death. every thought very idea born by his death apperead there. one prominent turkish writer said Turks, who consider themselves a part of the 'state' but not really a part of the 'people' since the birth of the republic must recognize that 'the state' is responsible for the genocide and the murder of Mr. Dink, not 'the people'.

it's so convoluted. My conscious could not spare anyone off the guilt of the death of a man who was so pro-peace, so sentimental, so human. I am guilty. who did not act, who did not protest, who did not throw himself between the bullet and the man is guilty.

but mourning shall end at one point. there is his legacy. we must all do our share albeit too late. is it too late? it never is.

I call upon everybody around the world who is Armenian, American, Greek, Turk, everyone WHO IS HUMAN to support his ideals. we can start by subscribing to his legacy, to his ideal, Agos Weekly and make sure that his opinion will continue to be represented in Turkey.

Subscription is easy. in Turkey, send YTL 96 to Garanti Bank Harbiye Branch A/C No:6200720-8 and fax the receipt of transfer to fax no: +90 212 247 55 19 for a yearly subscription. In Europe, it's €55 and in the USA and Australia $180.

Support the voice of equality and fight against all kind of suppression.

ps. this author is not related to Agos newspaper or Turkish Armenian community.

heute bin ich ein Armenien

2007-01-23T11:42:00.000+02:00

as I write these, hrant dink's body is being carried through the streets of istanbul to his final resting place. followed by thousands, and lead by his widow Rakel who in her letter to her decesased husband told the crowds that he has left everyone he knew but his land.

today I am a different man. today I carry on my shoulders hundreds of years of discrimination, neglect and murder. today I became an Armenian. today I am an Armenian. today I became a grown-up man. Today I understand my elders who always told me 'Turks never change'. Indeed they don't.

in the personality of Mr. Dink, the latest Armenian martyr (I am afraid not the last), I cry for the millions massacred and I beseech the world opinion to stop it. to stop it by acknowledging ignorance, to stop it by acknowledging genocides and mass murders and discrimination, and ignorance, and neglect. this is the only way to light a candle for Mr. Dink, and all the millions scattered around the world that are represented in his name.

today, I am an Armenian, even for one day I am proud of it.

he was under influence of the internet

2007-01-21T13:06:00.000+02:00

the guy that allegedly murdered Hrant Dink said (as I predicted yesterday) he acted alone and was under influence of the web sites that propagated against Hrant Dink in his early deposition. he is a minor. he will be prosecuted as a minor. the feeble government already blaming 'outside forces'. spineless politicians already arguing this act was against Turkey, one conspiracy theory after another.

this is no conspiracy theory. a wonderful person, a fighter for freedom of speech, a fighter for liberty is slained. and this is a casual event in Turkish standards. but this also is a beginning of a different road that this country has to cope with. this is the end of a century long denial.

today is sunday. let our prayers be with Mr. Dink, his family, his friends and Armenians of Turkey at large. let us pray for his soul and let us hope his death shall be a beginning, him a martyr of a long road to freedom and fight against oppression.
Amen.

they caught the guy

2007-01-20T23:33:00.000+02:00

Media reports the authorities have caught the guy who pulled the trigger based on a pilot picture taken by a security camera on 23:00 hours local time.

One Ogun Samast, a native of northern town of Samsun, close to where a catholic priest was murdered last year was taken into custody by security forces supposedly coming out of a bus that took him from Istanbul, the city where he allegedly killed Mr. Hrant Dink.

He is said to carry all artifacts that can put him to the place of murder and can be seen on the pilot picture. He is said to be a worker in a northern town municipality.

This author still believes that all will be blamed to this guy and to this guy only and they will claim that he was acting alone and is solely responsible from this murder.

It is this author's view that, every Turkish citizen who turns his head against injustice, double standards and ignorance, who thinks that minorities are not citizens but foreigners, and they should be deprived off all human rights is the murderer, is the real murderers' accomplice.

But that is a matter of tomorrow. Today is the day for respect and mourning.

As I was writing these sentences, on TV the mayor of Istanbul was thanking the security forces for acting so quickly to take the alleged murderer into custody. I protest this hypocrisy. People whose job is to protect citizens cannot boast on catching some criminals. Shame on them, shame on all politicians right or left who fuelled these double standards and ignorance for 90 years now.

the ‘dove skittishness’ of my soul

2007-01-20T17:44:00.000+02:00

by Hrant Dink
Published in Agos (Jan 19th, 2007)

In the beginning I was not concerned about the investigation initiated by Şişli Public Prosecutor under the pretext “insulting Turkish identity”. This was not for the first time. I was familiar with a similar case from Urfa. I was being prosecuted since three years because of my statement at a conference in Urfa in 2002 where I said that “I was not Turk but an Armenian and a citizen of Turkey” and there was again the accusation of “insulting Turkish identity”. I was completely unaware of the trials, I was not interested at all. Some of my lawyer friends from Urfa were dealing with the case in my absence.
I was completely indifferent too when I gave my interrogation to Public Prosecutor in Şişli. In the end I was trusting to my article and my good will. If Public Prosecutor evaluated the whole of the series of my articles and not this single sentence which alone did not make any sense at all, then he would easily understand that I had not an intention of “insulting Turkish identity” and this comedy would end, I thought.I was completely sure that after the interrogation I would be not be sued at all.

I was sure of myself. But to my surprise, the case came up in court. Still I didn’t lose my optimism. So I even told to lawyer Kerinçsiz who accused me during a live Tv program that “he should not be so eager that I would not be punished due to this case and that in case of punishment I would leave the country.” I was sure of myself, I really did not have the will or intention to “insult the Turkish identity”. Everyone reading the whole of the series of my articles would understand this.
And indeed the committee of three academicians from Istanbul University who were appointed as experts submitted a report to the court revealing this understanding. I had no reason to be concerned, in this or that stage of the case this mistake would be erased.
While remaining patient. But it wasn’t erased. The Public Prosecutor wanted to penalize me despite the positive report of the expert committee. Then the judge gave me six months imprisonment.
When I first heard the verdict I found myself under the bitter pressure of my hope that I kept during all the months of trial. I was stupefied... I was hurt and the feeling of rebellion reached its climax. “Let’s wait the verdict, let them prove me not-guilty, then you will regret all that you talked and written about” I had told myself for months just to hold on. During each hearing of the court there were statements published in the news and columns of the newspapers and broadcast in the TV-programs claiming that I said “Turkish blood is poisonous.” Each time I got more popular as an “enemy of the Turk”. At the corridors of the Law Courts fascists were attacking me with racist curses. They were humiliating me with pancards. Hunderds of threats via e-mail, phone calls an letters were pouring down and they were incresing day by day in number.
I was bearing all this and remainig patient with the expectation of verdict of not-guilty.
When the verdict was declared, the reality would be understood and all these people would be ashamed.

My only weapon is my sincerity
But now the verdict was there and all my hopes were lost. From that time on, I was in the most embarrassing situation a man can experience. The judge gave the decision in the name of “Turkish people” and legally registered that I had “insulted Turkish identity”.
I could bear everything but not this. In my view, to humiliate people who we live together on the basis of an ethnic or religious difference is called racism and this is something unforgivable.
Just under the influence of such a psychology, I told to the members of the press who were waiting for me at the door to check “whether I would leave the country or not” the following statement:
“I will consult my lawyers. I will go to the Court of Appeal for cassation and if necessary I will also apply to European Court of Human Rights. If I am not acquitted at any stage, then I will leave my country. Because in my understanding a person sentenced to punishment with such an accusation does not have the right to live with other citizens whom he has humiliated.”
As I said this all, I was emotional as always. My only weapon was my sinceretiy.

A bad joke

But the deep force determinant as it was to alienate me and to turn me to an open target found again a pretext to my statement and this time sued me stating that I was trying to effect the jurisdiction. This explanation was published and broadcast in all means of media but only the one in Agos drew their attention. This time responsibles of Agos and I began to be sued under the pretext of effecting the jurisdiction. It should be a bad joke.
I am a defendant. Who else should have more right to effect the jurisdiction rather than a defendant? But look at the comedy, that this time the defendant is once again sued as to effect the juridiction.

‘In the name of Turkish State’

I have to admit that my confidence to the “justice system” and to the concept of “law” was shaken to a large extent. It meant that the jurisiction was not independent as many state officers and politicians dared to say. Jurisdiction did not defend the rights of the citizen but the State.
In fact I was totally sure that even if it was said that the decision was taken in the name of the people, it was actually taken in the name of the State. My lawyers would apply to Court of Appeal but who could guarantee that deep forces would not be effective there again as determinant as they were to make me down? And were all the decisions of the Court of Appeal right indeed? Was it not the same Court of Appeal having signed the unjust decisions confiscating the real estates of the Minority Foundations?

Despite the efforts of the Attorney General

We applied indeed but did it make sense at all? The Attorney General of Court of Appeal, like the experts stated that there was no element of guilt and demanded my acquittal but the Court of Appeal found me guilty again. To the extent I was sure of my article so was The Attorney General of Court of Appeal of his decision that he objected the verdict and brought the case to the General Council.
But the great force which was just there to make me down and which let its existence be felt at all stages of the case with methods unknown to me, was again behind the curtain. As a result at the General Council again by majority of votes, it was declared that I insulted Turkish identity.

Like a dove

It is obvious that those wishing to alienate me and make me weak and defenceless reached their goal. Right now they have brought about a significant circle of people who are not low in number and who regard me as someone “insulting Turkish identity” due to the dirty and wrong information. The diary and memory of my computer is full of messages from citizens of this circle full of rage and threats. (Let me note that I regarded one among them posted from Bursa as a close threat and submitted it to Public Prosecutor’s office in Şişli but got no result.) To what extent are these threats real and to what extent unreal? In fact it is impossible for me to know this. What is the real threat and what is unbearable for me is the psychological torture of myself.
What I have always in my mind is the following question: “What do these people now think of me?” Unfortunately I am more popular nowadays and feel the look of the people telling each other: “Look, isn’t it that Armenian?”
And just as a reflexaction, I start to torture myself.
One side of this torture is curiousity, the other uneasiness.
One side is caution the other side is skittishness.
I am like a dove...
Like a dove I have my eyes everywhere, in front of me, at the back, on the left, on the right.
My head is as moving as the one of a dove... And fast enough to turn in an instance.

Just look at the price... This is the price

What did Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullah Gül say? What did Minister of Justice Cemil Çiçek say? “The issue of Article 301 should not be exagerrated. Is there someone found guilty and sent to prison?” As if paying a price always means going to prison... Just look at the price... This is the price...Do you know Ministers what a price it is to imprison someone to the skittishness of a dove?.. Do you know it?.. Don’t you look at the doves at all?...

The thing they call “life and death”

What I all experienced was not an easy process... Neither for me nor for my family. There were times when I seriously thought about leaving the country. Especially at moments when the threats focused the ones close to me... At that point I always remained helpless.
What they call “life and death” should be such a thing actually. I could be the warrior of my own will but I had no right of exposing the life of near relations to danger. I could be my own hero but I had no right to reveal courage at the expense of another person let alone a kin.
Just at these helpless moments I found shelter around my family and children. I found the greatest support from them. They were trusting me. There would be together with me wherever I went. They would come when I said “Let’s go” and stay when I said “Let’s stay.”

To stay and resist

But if we go, where then? To Armenia?
But to what extent could a person like me tolarete the injustice as intolerant as I am at this issue? Wouldn’t I find myself in greater troubles there?
To go and live in European countries wasn’t my style either. I know myself. After three days abroad, I miss my country. What should I do there? Ease makes me uneasy! To leave “boiling hells” and go to “ready heavens” was against my understanding. We were sort of people desiring to turn hell to heaven. To stay and live in Turkey was our real wish and and also a must of respect towards all of our known and unknown friends giving the struggle of democracy in Turkey and supporting us.
We would stay and resist.
However if someday we had to go, then we would go like in 1915... like our ancestors... Without knowing where to go.... Walking on the roads they had walked.... Feeling their pain and agony...
With such a reproach we would leave our country. And we would not go to the place of our heart but where our feet went. To whatever place it was.

Frightened and Free

I hope that we are never obliged to experience such an abandonment. We have enough hope and reasons not to live such a thing. Now I am applying to European Court of Human Rights. I don’t know how many years this case will take. What I know and what relieves me to some extent is the fact that at least I will continue to live in Turkey until this case comes to an end.
When a positive verdict is declared I will surely be happier and then this will mean that I will never have to leave my country.
Probably the year 2007 will be a more difficult year for me. Trials will continue, new cases will came up in court. Who knows which kind of injustice I will encounter. But while this all will happen, I will regard the following fact as my guarantee.
Yes, I can feel myself as restless as a dove but I know that in this country people do not touch and disturb the doves.
The doves continue their lives in the middle of the cities.
Yes indeed a bit frightened but at the same time free.

from the press on mr. dink 1

2007-01-20T14:45:00.000+02:00

Armenian anger at Turkish murder

From BBC.co.uk- The Armenian government has condemned the murder in Istanbul of a prominent Turkish journalist of Armenian descent.
The speaker of Armenia's parliament said the murder showed that Turkey should not even dream about joining the European Union.

Hrant Dink's murder on Friday sparked a protest by thousands of people where he was shot near his newspaper's offices.

He had written extensively about the massacre of Armenians during the final days of the Ottoman Empire in 1915.

Armenian President Robert Kocharian said: "The killing of this well-known Armenian journalist in Turkey raises numerous questions and deserves the strongest condemnation.
"We hope that the Turkish authorities will do everything possible to find and punish the culprit strictly in accordance with the law".

The speaker of Armenia's parliament, Tigran Torosyan went even further.
"Following the murder, Turkey should not even dream about joining the European Union," the Armenian news agency Arminfo quoted him as saying.
Journalists and politicians in Turkey have expressed outrage at the killing, which many described as a political assassination, while the US, EU, France, and several human rights groups also voiced shock and condemnation.
Police said Hrant Dink was shot twice. Late on Friday, Turkish media quoted Istanbul's governor as saying three people were in custody over the killing.

Hrant Dink was found guilty in October 2005 of insulting Turkish identity after he wrote an article which addressed the mass killings of Ottoman Armenians nine decades ago.
Dink was one of Turkey's most prominent Armenian voices and despite threats on his life, he refused to stay silent.
The killings of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by the Ottoman Turks is a sensitive subject in both Armenia and Turkey. Many Armenians have campaigned for the killings to be recognised internationally as genocide. Turkey denies any genocide, saying the deaths were a part of World War I.
The two countries still have no official relations since Armenia gained independence after the break up of the Soviet Union in 1991.

liberty defeated

2007-01-20T12:43:00.000+02:00

first apologies are in order. for a long 15 days I couldn't write anything. literally. there are a lot of personal reasons but there are no excuses.

but the wake up call came yesterday. in the form of a tragic event of the kind that dwellers of this country are all so familiar with , but the global public might get schocked. the prominent (and tha accent is on the 'the') Armenian journalist in Turkey was massacred yesterday in front of his newspaper's door, daytime, in front of hundreds of onlookers. he wrote several times that his life was being threatened, by letters, e-mail and even by a deputy governor of istanbul during a meeting in the governor's palace. no precautions were taken. despite the crocodiles' tears on media today his blood stays in the hands of every authority and public opinion maker in this country. at a time he was getting ready to bring issues about problems about freedom of speech in Turkey to the human rights court of Europe, this author thinks the action is another ring in the chain of suppressive events by Turkey at large against its Christian minorities.

I personally wish to condemn all hypocrites of this country and leave the rest of my space to a press realease by his Agos Newspaper staff and his short biography. more I shall write later. May he rest in peace and God bless his soul.

PRESS RELEASE
Our dearest friend , our brother , the editor in chief of AGOS newspaper Hrant Dink has been assasinated ruthlessly.There are no words to explain our pain.

Our deepest condolences for those who can still feel themselves as human beings.

AGOS Members

Hrant Dink was born in Malatya on 15.9.1954.
At the age of seven, he migrated to İstanbul together with his family.
He got his primary and secondary education in Armenian schools. Immediately after lyceum, he got married.
He graduated from Zoology Department of İstanbul University's ScienceFaculty. Then he continued his education at Philosophy Department of the same universities Literature Faculty for a while.
Since 1996 he works as the columnist and editor-in chief of AGOS weekly newspaper which can be regarded as the voice of Armenian community.
He tries to make this newspaper a democrat and oppositional voice of Turkey and also to share the injustices done to Armenian community with public opinion.
One of the major aims of the newspaper is to contribute to dialogue between Turkish and Armenian nations and also between Turkey and Armenia.
He takes part in various democratic platforms and civil society organizations.

PS. The web site of AGOS Newspaper could be reached through this link.

on turkish accession to eu

2007-01-05T21:22:00.000+02:00

again, no comment;

from a speech by mr. olli rehn, member of european commission, responsible from enlargement, on turkish accession to eu, on march 8th, 2005 in istanbul:

"It is fair to say that the European public opinion is divided on the prospect of the accession of Turkey into the EU. However, the reality is more complex – as always – and some elements are worth noting.
One of them is the attitude of the younger generations which, according to recent surveys conducted in several EU Member States, is as a general pattern more open to the idea of Turkey’s accession than the older ones. This is pertinent food for thought for European political leaders.
The European project is geared towards the future. It is therefore the legitimate right and duty of the political leaders of the younger generations, of my generation, to look towards the future. We do not live any more in the Cold War Europe, but in the Europe of the 21st century, which is deeply aware that the relationship with the Muslim world is one of its major challenges.
If Turkey succeeds in its reform process and thus fulfils the criteria for membership after negotiations, it will become the crossroads of two civilisations. This represents a great opportunity for Europe and especially for the younger generations of Europe. I want to make sure that this opportunity is not missed.
In the accession negotiations the process is as important as the outcome. In other words, the process of reforms in Turkey - which will make the country fully respect the European values of the rule of law, human rights and democracy in all spheres of life and in all the corners of the country – paves the way for membership, and is as such as important as membership itself. As Prime Minister Erdogan has said, the Copenhagen criteria could actually be called the Ankara criteria, since they are, in the first instance, made for the benefit of Turkey’s citizens and not to please, say, some EU officials.
To convince the European public and governments, I cannot be a salesman of Turkey – but I can plead for fair, serious and determined negotiations, aimed at leading Turkey to EU membership.
My role in this process, and that of the Commission, is that of a referee and a manager. The referee must assess whether Turkey meets the criteria of membership and ensures that Turkey has a fair chance of proving its European credentials. The manager is there to support your efforts in meeting the criteria both financially and politically.
It is finally up to the Turkish people to take action. I am sure that winning this crucial match is worth it for Turkey and for the Turks, as well as for Europe."

"oh brother, where art thou?"

2007-01-04T11:00:00.000+02:00

oh really where at thou? new year is here,but where art thou? they say foreigners are buying turkish land as in gold rush. they say that's the reason why ottoman empire was disintegrated. they blame the very existence of israel to this politics of ottoman empire. they say reciprocity is the key for such politics and since turks are very poor to buy land overseas, the foreigners shouldn't be able to buy land. since the greeks are number one foreign investors on land, oh brother where art thou?

and the answer is blowing in the wind.

again on the news, mr. turkish prime minister blamed u.s.a. for giving weapons to kurdish guerilla groups. he said "they carry american weapons, and we cannot watch while that happens, we cannot act as spectators towards the events in iraq". he said "we must follow up the events closely". well that is the very definition of being a spectator mr. minister. you are very affectionate but still one spactator. oh brother where art thou?

on the news yesterday, many students at a prestigious high school cought inhaling dangerous substances in school bathroom. according to the news, there is nothing wrong about teenagers using drugs, but what is shocking is the fact that these were rich kids with good backgrounds attending a $10,000/year high school. duh! the poor kids cannot afford drugs brother, they inhale glue on the streets, only the rich ones can afford real drugs.

a writer whose book about abused kids that was banned by the authorities (?!?) is on the news with a story of an abused 14 years old whose land lady abused her with a dildo. and the punch line is by this kid herself:
"please don't tell anyone, because if they learn they will kick us out of the house"

well, really oh brother where art thou?

the answer my friend is blowing in the wind.

the twelve days of christmas

2007-01-02T12:36:00.000+02:00

no comment:

on resolutions

2007-01-01T11:41:00.000+02:00

Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account.
Oscar Wilde Irish dramatist, novelist, & poet (1854 - 1900)

Some men look at constitutions with sanctimonious reverence, and deem them like the ark of the covenant, too sacred to be touched.
Thomas Jefferson, Resolutions, 1803 3rd president of US (1743 - 1826)

new years celebrations

2006-12-29T16:39:00.000+02:00

stuffed turkey with rice dinner for six (take away) $120
night out at an average restaurant per person $130
night out at a luxury restaurant per person $200
minimum wage $200

turkey, the land of controversies, turns and turbulances is getting ready for a new year. imagine a country where riches are temporary, the only permenant thing is poverty. riches change hands everyday where almost 70% of the economy is illegal (meaning trade is done off-the-record, without incurring any taxes). life is impossible for almost anybody who wishes to keep his(her) decency, pride or character. one must bribe for almost anything.

when there is no sense of tomorrow, the national motto should be something like "carpe ibidem". among all this mess turkish media and masses are getting ready to get drunk, have fun like there is no tomorrow and spend the last few liras available in their charge limits.

the media are publishing one belle du jour after another to exxagerate the event. although the reality shall set in on thursday (after a lenghty muslim holiday that coincides with the new year's eve this year), let us join the bandwagon with one of their beauties of the days.

Happy New Year everybody. I will be off until Monday unless....

on government and politics

2006-12-28T12:02:00.000+02:00

"A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. "

George Bernard Shaw, Everybody's Political What's What? (1944) ch. 30
Irish dramatist & socialist (1856 - 1950)

"Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions. "

"Yes, we have to divide up our time like that, between our politics and our equations. But to me our equations are far more important, for politics are only a matter of present concern. A mathematical equation stands forever. "
Albert Einstein US (German-born) physicist (1879 - 1955)

newsscope

2006-12-28T09:53:00.000+02:00

on national dailies in turkey, sometimes I come across to many weird news, I'd like to share some with you. Weird ones and common sense ones alike...

Gerald Ford dies at 93. Noone to be direct witness of Nixon era, no more.
arrested for allegedly downloading images of child pornography from child porn websites whilst working as the head of the languages department at a famous school, Claude Joel Fortin was eventually sentenced to 10 months imprisonment for having drugs in his home. the court postponed Fortin’s sentence due to there not being any previous cautions on his record. the original case put forward against Fortin was for up to 24 years imprisonment for having and spreading 12,110 pornographic photographs and video clips on his computer of which 491 consisted of child pornography.

a guy cought with 7 rape and abuse videos recorded live on his cellphone including youngsters and boys. he allegedly introduced himself to young girls as a man with superpowers and then drugged them and raped them and videoed his acts.
another guy beat and strangled his wife because she prepared the breakfast late. their son of 2 years was a witness to the act. there is no evidence apart from what he said to the police. but what's next?
a young counselor commited suicide after sending her son to school. papers claim that it was because of her arguments with her husband.

in the last three "news" articles one common factor is the journalist "knew" who, where, when and why. there are no news of this kind in turkish media that claims the reasons are unknown. the papers always "know" why it happened. and it is not a matter of rhetoric. There is no hint of the narrative to be about "allegations". they just "know" what happened.

many iraquies are applying to be the executioner of Saddam. even little children are applying. this is a long and mysterious road I guess, where a martyr would be created out of an old and weary dictator. and he is quoted as saying: "I am sacrificing myself. If Allah permits, I will find myself next to true heroes and men in heaven. The enemies of our country, the invaders and the Farsis, have constructed a barrier between you and those who would lead you. And for this reason, they are trying to plant the seeds of hatred between you. My faithful people, I bid you farewell as my soul rises to the great Allah. Long live Iraq. Long live Iraq. Long live Palestine. Long live the jihad and the fighters for the jihad. Allahuekber."

in a very heated session in the national assembly, opposition leader baykal said referring to a previous speech by prime minister: "He was part of a pathetic, painful tableau. He is the one who has started this entire 'harem' argument. And yesterday he reflected the problems deriving from having started up this controversy." Baykal yesterday again asserted that Erdogan was not a suitable choice for president of Turkey, reflecting on the tension which has risen in Ankara following his own statement that "headscarves may cover hair, but not the sins of spouses," a statement apparently interpreted by Erdogan and his close circle to be a jab at the AKP.

do send in your comments and ideas using the comments link below.

on turkey

2006-12-26T11:32:00.000+02:00

a nice advertorial on Turkey I came across in YouTube

yet another one with more visuals;

Ani (Kars) revisited

2006-12-25T22:03:00.000+02:00

this note was waiting to be published for the longest time.I have visited the ancient city of Ani (Kars) in eastern Turkey a few weeks ago. it was said the city of dreams by many friends and authors that have visited the city before. seeing it the first time, I say they were right.

it was winter by climate but there were no snow, very unlike Ani they say in december. but aside from that fact, the city was really up to its fame, a crossroads of many cultures: armenian by origin, ornamented by greek, russian and shiite tradition, Ani was full of history and pictures of today's poverty.

large streets and mansions built in the recent russian era dating back to early 20th century. large streets full of ghosts. ghosts of a long forgotten past, when big banquets were shining on the nights of their hosts, rich tradesman benefiting from their location on the silk road. russian era highlighted the city as a trade and resort town.

but the tragic era of the town is just before that. when with the armenians, structures like St. Apostle's Church went into the dark corners of history. The church dating back to late 10th century was an early architectural gem of near east.

today, in the long streches of solitudes we may call streets, one may witness the bitterness of history, how bitter it treated the city-dwellers of today, how it reminds them eveyday the deeds of their ancestors. vast emptiness and rude winds play hide and seek around the thin coats of children playing on the streets for they have nothing else to turn to.

the russian tradition lingers on though. today's Kars is the only city in the area where one can still find a pub open to have a beer every night, have a friendly chat and talk endlessly about politics, economics and failure. today's population of turks, kurds and azeri's, mostly people moved in from neighboring regions as the turkish population moved out to metropolitan turkey, live in basic harmony with spontanous unrest among them due to religious or political preferences.

but one has to wait for snow in Ani. without it it bears no anchor to reality. one has to go back. one has to wait for snow to clean it all.

ps. for those who wants to be informed on the subject and a vast collection of pictures, visit Virtual Ani or for a modern reference; Kars in Wikipedia; Kars in All About Turkey