Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

Eighty five years ago today, the Republic of Turkey was proclaimed from the capital in Ankara. From the corner of my balcony on the Asian side of Istanbul I awoke to scores of red flags  hanging from apartment windows, poles, shops and even draped across the backs of people walking down the street…the air is simply swirling with national pride.

Tonight Bagdat Caddesi will be closed to vehicular traffic from 7pm and an energy packed celebration will take place up and down the Asian sides most trendy boulevard. If you want to see Turk nationalism at its best…this is the place to be.

All great things must come to an end…and so Turkey bows out of the Euro 2008 gracefully and proudly. I decided last night that I would stay above the fray and wouldn’t mention, or even hint at the disgraceful conduct of the officiating team in their refusal to call fouls against Germany. So if you are looking for someone to agree with you and say that there was an obvious bias against Turkey, you won’t find me giving it any airtime…even though your thoughts are well developed, perfectly justified and deserve to be heard. I simply won’t lower myself to the level of the officiating team. Now, if you were to press the point and force me to express my thoughts on this, of course I would agree with you, in fact, I couldn’t agree with you more than I already  do. However,  I am determined to stay far above that type of base Monday-morning “quarterbacking” and simply accept this for what it is…a great run to the semi-finals by the finest team in Europe or Asia.
As one of my dear Turk brothers said….S’tan, it is enough that we made it to the semi-finals…let’s thank Allah for that. What a graceful answer to a disappointing event.
I will bow to Ernest Thayer and his great words to bring closure to this years amazing, but disappointing run.

Casey at the Bat

The Outlook wasn’t brilliant for the Mudville nine that day:
The score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play.
And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,
A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game.

A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The rest
Clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast;
They thought, if only Casey could get but a whack at that -
We’d put up even money, now, with Casey at the bat.

But Flynn preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake,
And the former was a lulu and the latter was a cake;
So upon that stricken multitude grim melancholy sat,
For there seemed but little chance of Casey’s getting to the bat.

But Flynn let drive a single, to the wonderment of all,
And Blake, the much despis-ed, tore the cover off the ball;
And when the dust had lifted, and the men saw what had occurred,
There was Jimmy safe at second and Flynn a-hugging third.

Then from 5,000 throats and more there rose a lusty yell;
It rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;
It knocked upon the mountain and recoiled upon the flat,
For Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.

There was ease in Casey’s manner as he stepped into his place;
There was pride in Casey’s bearing and a smile on Casey’s face.
And when, responding to the cheers, he lightly doffed his hat,
No stranger in the crowd could doubt ’twas Casey at the bat.

Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt;
Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt.
Then while the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip,
Defiance gleamed in Casey’s eye, a sneer curled Casey’s lip.

And now the leather-covered sphere came hurtling through the air,
And Casey stood a-watching it in haughty grandeur there.
Close by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded sped-
“That ain’t my style,” said Casey. “Strike one,” the umpire said.

From the benches, black with people, there went up a muffled roar,
Like the beating of the storm-waves on a stern and distant shore.
“Kill him! Kill the umpire!” shouted someone on the stand;
And its likely they’d a-killed him had not Casey raised his hand.

With a smile of Christian charity great Casey’s visage shone;
He stilled the rising tumult; he bade the game go on;
He signaled to the pitcher, and once more the spheroid flew;
But Casey still ignored it, and the umpire said, “Strike two.”

“Fraud!” cried the maddened thousands, and echo answered fraud;
But one scornful look from Casey and the audience was awed.
They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain,
And they knew that Casey wouldn’t let that ball go by again.

The sneer is gone from Casey’s lip, his teeth are clenched in hate;
He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate.
And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go,
And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey’s blow.

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville – mighty Casey has struck out.

“Phin” Ernest Thayer

Turks Celebrate in Kadikoy

Over the last few weeks Turkey has ridden a roller coaster of emotions as they have fought their way into the quarter finals and then tonight the semi-finals of the Euro 2008. Beating Croatia back from victory in the last minute of overtime to tie it up, Turkey outscored Croatia 4 -2 to win their seat in the semi-finals against Germany.
In the last two matches Turkey had not scored until the last few minutes of each game, somewhere in Istanbul tonight the Fat Lady Sang for the people she loves!

May 19th is a big deal in Turkey commemorating the start of the War for Independence. I find that ironic, because today is another “May 19th” that is going to be remembered for a long time…this one for restricting a freedom that many Turks have enjoyed without restraint.  That of lighting up a smoke whenever and wherever the mood hit.

Starting today public smoking is being frowned upon in this great nation of nicotine loving Turks.  Already banned in airports and large offices today the ban sweeps into its purview the small shops, parks, entertainment venues and extends even to the ferries and taxis that troll throughout the metropolis. An estimated 15 million packs of cigarettes (300 million smokes) are  inhaled each day in Turkey.

Being a non-smoker it took some time to get used to the second hand smoke I was inhaling when we first landed here a few years ago.  Now when returning to Istanbul from abroad there is nothing that makes me feel more  “at home”  than the smell of cigarettes as soon as we step out of the airport.

I know…its bad for me, bad for you,  bad for all of us. I get it. I am not advocating smoking. However, when I see things that have been culturally endeared to me pass away there is an element of grief I experience. I cannot count the times that a Fiat-wielding taxi driver has held out a pack of smokes to me as he weaved and dodged through Istanbul’’s infamous traffic, before lighting up himself. The scent of tobacco has become synonymous with the Turkish hospitality that has courted and overwhelmed us during our time in Asia Minor.

No doubt we will all be much healthier and able to worry about whatever great health risk becomes popular in the future. For now though I am not too worried, once I see the ashtrays on the treadmills at the local sports salon go…I will know that the restrictions are here to stay.

The non-profit festival for youth NGOs, GePGeNc (Youthful) FeSTiVaL will be held the second time between April, 11-16th 2008 in santralistanbul. Theme for GePGeNc, is “being neighbours”. The festival that will wellcome international participants will involve many many activities,Workshops initiated by young peopleCultural activities and art performances Best Practice Conference on youth work Youth Organizations fair
Forum for youth organizations,and more…

İ s t a n b u l A r a ş t ı r m a l a r ı

Kent Çalışmaları Bahar Dönemi Sohbet Programı

santralistanbul kampüsü

12 Mart — (14.00 – 15.30 / E4 – 305) Erol Balkan (Hamilton College, NY/Sabancı Üniv.) “Sınıfın yeniden üretimi: İstanbul’da neoliberal politikalar, eğitim ve orta sınıf”

2 Nisan — (17.00 – 18.30 / E2 – 303) Murat Güvenç/Eda Yücesoy, “1990 ve 2000 nüfus sayımlarına göre İstanbul’a göç, İstanbul’dan göç”

16 Nisan – (17.00 – 18.30 / E2 – 303) Mimarlık Programı, “İstanbul Karanfilköy için kentsel dönüşüm senaryoları”

14 Mayıs – (17.00 – 18.30 / E2 – 303) Murat Güvenç/Eda Yücesoy- “20. yüzyılın başında Pera’nın sosyal coğrafyası”

28 Mayıs – (17.00 – 18.30 / E2 – 303) Sosyoloji Bölümü (F.Kentel/A. Duben) – “İşçi sınıfından kültürel cemaatlere: 1960-2008, Eyüp’ten Kağıthane’ye”

If you were faced with someone holding a microphone at you so sweetly, trust me, you wouldn’t be able to resist either.

Turkey is such a trendy country right now, what with the political mess going on and all the European Union talks so it’s no surprise when our journalist friends from America and Europe want to fly over here and join in on the fun. We were contacted by Alex Gallafent from the BBC who is a producer on their TheWorld show and when he asked us to have a little chat with him, how could we refuse? (especially since Erkan and I are total blabber mouths)

When meeting up with journalists, there’s always a little moment of total awkwardness which is generally overcome by getting on with the interview but this time, things happened a little differently.
Whilst waiting for our good friend Erkan, Alex and I had a very nice chat on what he does and the places he traveled to for the show. Once he finally joined us, we then went on to chat and chat and chat about the current situation in Turkey from a more cultural point of view (even though it’s hard to stop Erkan once we start on politics ;) )

Once we were all done with Alex’s questions, we decided to show him around Istiklal even though the wind was so strong it took us twice as long as it generally would, what with trying to walk forward instead of being blown back to the start of the street. Before long, we found ourselves hiding in the fish market (where there is more meat than fish) and I had the displeasure of explaining to Alex what kokorec is. After trying some fried mossels and forcing me to walk till Karakoy at gunpoint, we said our goodbyes and promised to meet up again for another touristic tour before he leaves for Boston.
It’s funny to see the reaction people in the street have when they see a foreigner walking around with a microphone in his hand. You could see dozens of curious eyes glaring at us trying to understand why this crazy looking lady (me, obviously) was pointing at cooking meat and trying to explain what it was while speaking in the big black mic.

“1923 – Turkey becomes a republic following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire.”

Today, people all over Istanbul and Turkey celebrate freedom from oppression. They celebrate a republic that gave them the opportunity to build lives under a democratic regime.

These celebrations are tainted by the PKK attacks on our country but we will not let anyone tarnish this day for us. We’re proud of every single young man that goes to the front to defend their country. Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of the victims of these horrible attacks towards our nation but stay strong in wanting to defend what is ours.

Flags are hanging from many houses and business to celebrate and show solidarity towards our soldiers. It’s hard to be happy today knowing that so many families won’t have their sons to celebrate this bayram with them.
There will be a lot of protests and peaceful walks today in Istanbul, tv stations warned everyone to not use their cars because traffic would be awful.

The adorable Amar, putting up with our endless banter and nagging on politics.

Of course, we were more than eager to comply and make our merry way to go and meet him this Sunday morning. I was charged with putting together a small group of people who would share their views, like I advertised earlier on on our Metblogs page. Being a complete Starbucks junkie and knowing the SB in Bebek is a sight for sore eyes, I arranged for everyone to meet there bright and early.

Erkan, Melih (returning Metblogs author), Ilgin (our newly acquired and already adored lifestyle blogger) and I sat around a table full of coffee and breakfast delights and gave Amar a piece of our minds. (in the nicest way possible, obviously)

Oh look, it’s Erkan!

The opinions expressed by each and every one of our lovely authors we’re very interesting and you can read up more about them on the article that Amar will be publishing on his Washington Post blog regarding all that was said this morning at our little meeting. The pictures enclosed are there to give you a chance to meet the authors who pester you with their entries on Istanbul @ Metblogs. (these are not here for your favorite dart board)

Saving the world, one opinion at a time.

Amar C. Bakshi’s blog at the Washington Post