Today`s Zaman

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2009 WWW.TODAYSZAMAN.COM TL 1.50
06
Yo u r Way o f U n d e r s t a n d ý n g Tu r k e y
AA, HARUN KAYMAZ
page03 At least 13 injured in wolf attacks in Erzincan
17 FOREST FIRES
DESTROY 503
HECTARES IN ONE DAY
Yücel
Çakmaklý
FAMOUS DIRECTOR OF
HIT TURKISH TV SERIES,
MOVIES DIES AT 72
Director, producer and scriptwriter
Yücel Çakmaklý, who directed classic
Turkish television series including “Küçük
Aða” (The Little Agha) and “Bir Adam
Yaratmak” (To Create A Man), died yesterday at Ýstanbul University School of
Medicine Hospital, where he was undergoing treatment. Çakmaklý underwent a bypass operation on July 9 and died yesterday, reportedly due to septic shock caused
by an infection. He will be buried in the
Zincirlikuyu Cemetery today, following
a religious memorial service to be held
at Fatih Mosque in Ýstanbul. CONTINUED ON PAGE 13
PHOTO
A series of forest fires that broke out in 17
areas across Turkey on Sunday, destroying
503 hectares of forest and cultivated land,
had been contained by midnight on Sunday.
Seven of the fires broke out nearly simultaneously, according to the Ministry of
Environment and Forestry, making it more
difficult to control the flames. However,
thanks to an early warning system that enables the containment of fires more quickly, the incidents did not result in any deaths
or damage to residential areas, stated
Environment and Forestry Minister
Veysel Eroðlu on Monday. CONTINUED ON PAGE 03
The concrete details of the government's
new Kurdish initiative are slowly coming to light
following Interior Minister Beþir Atalay's talks
with representatives of political and civil
society organizations
ERCAN YAVUZ, ANKARA
The government has determined 10
items that will be included in its recently announced Kurdish package
and is close to announcing a concrete plan,
sources indicate. The government announced its new Kurdish initiative last
month, saying there will be a change of
course in the government's Kurdish policy
and a new package based on extending
democratic rights and improving freedoms
of Kurds will follow. Interior Minister
Beþir Atalay, who announced the plan last
month, said the government was not offering any immediate remedies, but was
open to suggestions as it formed a road
map to solve the Kurdish question.
Since the day of the announcement,
Interior Minister Atalay has spoken with various civil society representatives, political
party leaders, intellectuals and researchers to
hear their opinions. According to a government representative who spoke to Today's
Zaman on the condition of anonymity, at
least 10 items to be included in the Kurdish
PRICES
ONE BIG MAC COSTS
AVERAGE ÝSTANBULITE
48 MINUTES OF LABOR
According to a recent study by UBS,
the average Ýstanbulite has to work 48
minutes to afford a Big Mac and 56 hours
before being able to purchase an iPod Nano.
The study, titled “Prices and Earnings:
a comparison of purchasing power around
the globe,” drew this conclusion in part by
survey findings which revealed that the average wage earner in Istanbul made a net
hourly wage of just $4.30. Only 11 cities
surveyed scored below. Ýstanbul's mean
wage tied with Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The
report also revealed that Ýstanbulites are
amongst the most overworked, poorly paid
and possibly even most unproductive
laborers in major world cities. CONTINUED ON PAGE 08
National Intelligence Organization (MÝT)
Undersecretary Emre Taner has claimed
that many documents bearing the MÝT letterhead and seized during raids of the houses or
offices of Ergenekon suspects were fake.
Prosecutors carrying out the investigation
into Ergenekon, a shadowy crime network
which has alleged links within the state and is
suspected of plotting to topple the government,
sent two dossiers and five CDs seized during
CONCRETE SUGGESTIONS
FROM THE PACKAGE
Turkey's unitary government will be protected.
Political campaigns in Kurdish will be allowed.
Kurds will learn their native tongue.
Kurdish to be allowed in prisons.
Place names will be restored.
Kurdish institutes will be established.
Children will not be classified as terrorists.
Active Repentance Law will be put into effect.
Hate crimes will be outlawed.
Kurds will be free to express themselves.
package are now certain. The interior minister, who is currently working on the main
features of the road map, will submit a report
for the Cabinet's consideration next month.
There are currently no legal obstacles to
realizing the 10 items that have been included
in the draft report based on suggestions that
were relayed to the minister during his talks.
In other words, no constitutional changes are
needed to take these steps. The government's
Kurdish initiative will include short,
medium and long-term goals. CONTINUED ON PAGE 17
21 REPORTS ON KURDISH PROBLEM PREPARED, BUT NEVER USED PAGE 05
‘Ergenekon produced fake MÝT documents’
SEDAT GÜNEÇ, ANKARA
Detaýls
of Kurdýsh
ýnýtýatýve
emergýng
raids of the residences of Ergenekon suspects
that cite information about MÝT to the agency.
Examining these documents, MÝT discovered
that a confidential document bearing the signature of Taner was among the seized documents. In this document, Taner discussed
MÝT's attempts to unearth the organization.
An investigation into Ergenekon was first
launched on June 12, 2007, after a house full of
ammunition and weapons was discovered in Ýstanbul's Ümraniye district. Taner said a twopage letter, which was sent to MÝT in 2002 by
an unknown source, notified the agency about
the existence of a shady criminal network,
which later turned out to be Ergenekon.
The letter, which was allegedly written by a
police officer, said the shady organization operated within the body of the Turkish Armed Forces
(TSK) in a bid to shape the country's future and
created civilian interest groups around it by using
military members, had close dialogue with Alevi
circles and had contacts with retired Gen. Veli
Küçük, Sedat Peker (an Ergenekon suspect)
and the Naval Forces Command. CONTINUED ON PAGE 17
Emre Taner
Featuring news and articles from
AK Party's Bozdað
calls Kurdish plan a
national project
Baykal says Kurdish
initiative may harm
national unity
Bekir Bozdað, deputy chairman of the
Justice and Development Party (AK
Party) parliamentary group, has stated
that ongoing efforts to settle the longstanding Kurdish question were part
of a national project, asking critics to
contribute to the peace process.
“This is a national project. The military
support that became apparent during
[last Thursday's] National Security
Council [MGK] meeting is a strong
sign of it,” Bozdað said during a press
conference on Monday. CONTINUED ON PAGE 17
The leader of the main opposition
Republican People's Party (CHP), Deniz
Baykal, has once again voiced strong
opposition to the government's plans
to settle the long-standing Kurdish
question, warning efforts to that end
may lead to a division similar to the one
in Iraq. Speaking during a press conference at CHP headquarters in Ankara,
Baykal said: “It has not been one
month since this initiative began; however, it has led to deep debates and
a blow to national unity. CONTINUED ON PAGE 17
T02-25-08-09.qxd
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02 TODAY’S ZAMAN
’
’
F OOD FOR THOUGHT
Q UOTE OF THE DAY
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat
CROSS READER
FATMA DÝÞLÝ ZIBAK
’
PRESS REVIEW
columns
W ORDS OF WISDOM
Stopping settlement activity and resuming
permanent status negotiations are Israeli
obligations and not Palestinian conditions.
I'm willing to bet there won't be peace 16
years from now either, certainly not one
based on the two-state solution.
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman
T U E S D AY, A U G U S T 2 5 , 2 0 0 9
I hold it to be the
inalienable right of anybody
to go to hell in his own way.
Robert Frost
press roundup
AA, MEHMET GÜLDAÞ
[email protected]
A tug-of-words between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdoðan and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader
Devlet Bahçeli has increased tension in the country as
Bahçeli continued to direct strong criticism at the ruling
Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) efforts to
solve Turkey's long-standing Kurdish problem. Even
though the Turkish military voiced its support for the
project at a National Security Council (MGK) meeting
last week, Bahçeli never retreated and stated that the
government's Kurdish initiative was an “American
project” and that everyone supporting it is guilty of
treason. Bahçeli's remarks drew immediate reaction
from Prime Minister Erdoðan, who said Bahçeli and
his kind have “no dignity” if they fail to “prove their
words.” Analysts say the MHP aims to woo nationalist
voters with its opposition to the Kurdish initiative as
well as seeking to damage cooperation between the
government and the military.
“Making successive angry statements, an MHP that
has cut its ties not only with the government but with the
mind of the state has emerged,” says Star's Nasuhi
Güngör, who thinks the Turkish military's support of the
Kurdish initiative has vexed the MHP leader even more.
In his view, the reason behind the MHP's strong opposition to the Kurdish initiative is because it wants to damage the cooperation between the AK Party and the
Turkish military that has been in existence for a while. As
an indication of this, he quotes Bahçeli, who said, “Those
who remain silent before this historic mistake will never
get rid of the heavy cost [of the initiative] and are as responsible as others who support it.” Güngör says
Bahçeli is targeting MGK members with this statement,
particularly the military members of the MGK. “If you
fail to strike a deal [with the military], you spoil the
deal. This is a very dangerous move, and it is very likely
to fail. However, it is obvious that it is causing much
tension in the country,” remarks Güngör.
According to Sabah's Hasan Bülent Kahraman, the
motivation behind the MHP's strong opposition to the
government's initiative to solve the Kurdish problem is
its aim to win the support of nationalist circles. “It is impossible not to see that the MHP wants to be the main
source of a movement that is based on nationalism-militarism and Turkishness,” he says. In Kahraman's view,
the worst aspect of the MHP move is that it is not a new
one, and the MHP wants to garner the political success it
achieved this way in the past. He says the capture of outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah
Öcalan in 1999 and the emotional environment in the
country created by the news of soldiers slain by the PKK
in Turkey's Southeast have helped the MHP win unexpected public support. “Now, the MHP is trying to create
the same emotional environment in the country with the
same discourse. It is so out of control that the MHP has
failed to read political developments and has failed to assess the deep meaning of the MGK support for the
Kurdish initiative and has turned down an invitation from
the president to discuss the issue,” complains Kahraman.
Concerning whether the MHP's opposition to the initiative will hinder its success and spoil the harmony among
state institutions to settle the issue, Kahraman says the
MHP is very unlikely to achieve this goal and is doomed
to remain isolated. “By clashing with the state, the
MHP is trying to act like the state. This is the wrong
way to handle the situation,” Kahraman contends.
PHOTO
Reasons behýnd
MHP opposýtýon
to the Kurdýsh
ýnýtýatýve
ZAMAN ALÝ ÜNAL
One of the biggest mistakes
in approaches to current issues is the assumption that
problems can be solved by introducing new laws without
taking the human factor into
account. But not everything can be handled
with laws alone. The law defines the general
rights and mutual responsibilities that people have in human interactions and determines the consequences when these rights
are violated and responsibilities are neglected. People must live within these boundaries, but these boundaries must be revised.
Today, our problems stem from the fact that
we have turned our back on Islam for several centuries. It is for this reason that we are
strongly in need of learning and building
character in line with its faith, prayer, practices and moral codes. It is because of the
lack of this education that our people and
society are degenerating, our social fabric is
being torn and our private and public lives,
from urban planning to architecture, art to
politics and from traffic to the economy, are
in chaos. An educational effort within the
mentioned framework is also integral to
solving the “Kurdish issue.” The success of
Turkish schools in more than 120 countries
with different religious, belief, ethnic, historical, cultural, social, political and economic structures is proof of this thesis.
Please stop
the nonsense
STAR AHMET KEKEÇ
Some religious authorities appear on television
because of Ramadan. These people (unlike
those who try to prove that Atatürk was an anti-religious leader) are presenting Atatürk's socalled “positive” views on religion as proof that
there is no contradiction between “reasoning“
and “revelation” in Islam. In other words, they
are engaging in some kind of a “scientific undertaking.” But the positivist man is opposing
this. He is saying, “Atatürk's views based on
the era must be separated from his views on
religion.” But there is one point I oppose the
positivist man on; even in the age of information, scholars (including noted religious authorities) feel the need to take Atatürk's views
as a reference. Naturally, this does not stem
from Atatürk's in-depth insight into the debated subjects, but because it is seen as an “obligation.” The positivist man should first become
open to debate the legitimacy of this obligation.
Öcalan phenomenon
Residents of Þanlýurfa try to cool off by putting their feet in a water
fountain in the courtyard of the Hasan Paþa Mosque. Temperatures
in the city reach as high as 40 degrees Celsius, making it difficult for
people who are fasting to make it through the day.
Zaman:
“Tourism sector will have double festival after
Ramadan,” read the headline of a front-page story in the daily
yesterday, which reported that the occupancy rate of Turkish
hotels has already reached 100 percent, with many people
making reservations for vacation after the Eid al-Fitr festival.
The coinciding of the Muslim month of fasting, Ramadan, with
August has caused the sector to decline; however, it appears
reservations for the post-Eid period will make up for this lull
we are now experiencing, the daily said.
Star: “Enough already! Stop the bleeding,” read the
headline of the daily's main story yesterday, which reported that
Interior Minister Beþir Atalay had met with representatives
from five political parties, seven labor unions, 20
nongovernmental organizations, 23 martyrs families'
associations and hundreds of intellectuals over a period of two
weeks in a bid to find a democratic solution to Turkey's longstanding Kurdish problem. The common attitude, the daily
said, has been “Let's solve this problem.” The Democratic Left
Party (DSP) said the Kurdish initiative should be supported
with economic moves while the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society
Party (DTP) said the entire country's sensitivity on the issue
should be taken into consideration. The business world said a
social consensus should be reached for a solution, noting that the
government should not be late in taking democratic steps.
Sabah:
Çetin Aran, the coach of a soccer team to be
established in the eastern province of Tunceli under its former
Kurdish name, “Dersimspor,” told the daily that the offer to
name the soccer team by the province's Kurdish name came from
Tunceli Governor Mustafa Taþkesen. “A group of young people
paid me a visit, asking for my suggestion for the name of a soccer
team. I asked them what name would get the most support. They
said it would be very appropriate to name the team Dersimspor.
I said OK. There is no legal obstacle standing before this. I
think ridiculous bans should be eliminated,” Taþkesen said.
MÝLLÝYET TAHA AKYOL
Abdullah Öcalan stated that if the
government does not negotiate
with him, “40 million Kurds will
revolt” and bloodshed not even
seen in the French and Russian
revolutions will occur. He is saying
that without him, it will be doomsday and millions
will die. The Democratic Society Party's (DTP) base
must also see this sick frame of mind. Nevertheless,
what if the government were to sit down at the
same table as Öcalan? No democratic state could
do that. Professor Vamýk Volkan, a specialist on political psychology, says: “There is one thing I can say
for certain, and that is Öcalan should not be included in the solution process because Öcalan is a person who started a process that created terror and
killed many people. He became a symbol of terror.
To ‘forgive' this symbol will incite major identity
clashes. His path was a destructive path. You can't
take this path and turn it into a constructive one.
Some Kurdish citizens may hold Öcalan in high regard and pay heed to what he has to say, but that's
their business. Including Öcalan in the solution
process will turn everything upside down.”
King and Erdoðan
news from the foreýgn press
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
The Guardýan
Swine flu vaccine plans are up in the air
Even though school resumes across Texas this week,
plans to dole out the H1N1 vaccine to guard against
inevitable back-to-school swine flu outbreaks continue to be hammered out. The vaccine, still under development, is expected to be available by mid-October,
federal health officials said during a recent media
briefing. The government will provide the serum, syringes and associated supplies for the vaccine, but hasn't detailed how providers who inject the shots will be
The mother of our
issues and solutions
paid. Local health departments won't be allowed to
turn away people who can't afford the administration
fee for their H1N1 flu shots. Medicare and Medicaid
patients will be covered, but those with private health
insurance could be asked to make co-payments for an
office visit. Doctors affiliated with UT Physicians, the
medical practice of University of Texas Medical School
at Houston, for example, gave roughly 30,000 seasonal
flu shots from last September through February.
Secret report alleges CIA mock executions
The CIA will come under some of its toughest
scrutiny for years tomorrow with the publication
of a report detailing the agency's use of mock executions, and the possible appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate its detention policy.
The alleged abuses all took place under the Bush
administration but some intelligence officials are
arguing that the pendulum has now swung too
far in the other direction, and congressional pre-
CM Y K
occupation with the CIA's past misdeeds is hindering its current operations. The report was
drawn up in 2004 by the CIA inspector general,
John Helgerson, and kept secret until now.
According to leaks in the US press over the weekend, it will say that CIA interrogators carried out
mock executions to terrorize suspected terrorists
into giving information. Threatening a detainee
with summary execution is a violation of US law.
SABAH NAZLI ILICAK
They are wondering about the content of the
Kurdish package. Isn't the most important thing
to change the mentality at the top of the state?
When Martin Luther King said “I have a
dream” in 1963, he did not offer a concrete project. He said, “I have a dream that one day on
the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves
and the sons of former slave owners will be able
to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.”
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan said
“Ahmed-i Hani” and brought to everyone's
mind Þivan Perwer. He mentioned the “dengbejs,” who sang about brotherhood on the skirts
of the Judi and Munzur mountains. The process
has already started. Aside from the package,
what's more important is that this kind of a climate has emerged. We are going beyond the ordinary, and there is no turning back.
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NATIONAL
TODAY’S ZAMAN 03
T U E S D AY, A U G U S T 2 5 , 2 0 0 9
ÝSTANBUL
ANKARA
ÝZMÝR
ANTALYA
ADANA
ERZURUM
EDÝRNE
TRABZON
KAYSERÝ
28°
31°
32°
34°
33°
28°
31°
24°
29°
KONYA
ÇANAKKALE
DÝYARBAKIR
SAMSUN
BURSA
GAZÝANTEP
ESKÝÞEHÝR
MALATYA
KOCAELÝ
31°
28°
37°
27°
29°
34°
28°
34°
28°
13 injured in wolf
attacks in Erzincan
AA, CÝHAN
17 forest fires destroy
503 hectares in one day
PHOTOS
contýnued from page 1
One fire broke out in Ýzmit's Derince district on Sunday
afternoon, spread by strong winds, and was brought under control at midnight on Sunday, Kocaeli Governor Gökhan
Sözer said. Roughly 170 hectares of land were destroyed in
Kocaeli. Firefighters are still working to put out the blaze. The
cause of the fire has yet to be determined.
A fire that started in an area of dry grass near Yalova's Armutlu
district on Sunday afternoon and then quickly spread to the nearby
Calabrian pine forest due to strong winds has reportedly been put
out completely. The fire affected some 200 hectares, including 150
hectares of Calabrian pine forest. As flames closed in on two vacation villages, the houses were evacuated on Sunday evening, but
the residents returned at midnight after the fire was contained.
One of the villages was reportedly partially destroyed. Firefighting
teams are now working to cool down the area.
Another fire broke out in Denizli's Baþkarcý town on
Sunday afternoon and scorched 20 hectares of forest. The fire
was brought under control before reaching the forestland on
Baþkarcý Mountain. Launching an investigation into the
cause of the fire, gendarmes detained a father and son on
suspicion of arson. Emir Dudu Deðmeci, 70, a homeowner in
the region close to where the fire broke out, reportedly said
his grandson saw two strangers close to the fire area.
Three forest fires broke out in Antalya's Serik, Alanya and
Gazipaþa districts, burning 25 hectares of forest in total. The causes
have yet to be determined. The fire that started in Serik was contained before it reached homes, laying waste to 20 hectares.
Another fire that erupted in Alanya was contained within two
hours. In Gazipaþa, one hectare of Calabrian pine forest and 200
decares of cultivated land were destroyed in a fire fanned by strong
winds, but the fire was eventually put out by firefighters. Gazipaþa
Governor Muhittin Pamuk reported that flames reached three
houses located close to the forest and were completely destroyed.
A fire was sparked in an afforestation area located between
Bursa's Büyükorhan and Balýkesir's Dursunbey districts on Sunday
and spread due to wind. The villages of Kuzköy and Tezlik were
evacuated as a precaution when the flames got close to homes.
The Dursunbey-Harmancýk highway was temporarily closed to
traffic. The fire, which destroyed 30 hectares of forestland, was extinguished. Officials believe that the fire was caused by a spark
from the railroad located near the afforestation area.
In the meantime, another forest fire that began Monday afternoon in Antalya'a Kumluca district was fanned by strong winds.
Efforts to extinguish the fire continue. Ýstanbul Today's Zaman with wires
AA
PHOTO
Number of storks
on decline in Turkey
Professor Mehmet Serez from Çanakkale Onsekiz
Mart University's faculty of agriculture has stated that
the number of storks in Turkey is decreasing every year.
Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Serez said while
there were 900,000 stork couples in Turkey in the 1960s, the
number has decreased to 200,000 couples recently.
Noting that there are various causes for this decline,
Serez said the leading reason is a decrease in houses with
tile roofing and chimneys. “In the past, there used to be a
stork nest on the roof of every house in Turkey.
However, the number of these birds has decreased day
by day. Houses used to be built with tiled roofs, and they
used to have chimneys in the past. There were not electric wires either, and storks were able to make a safe
landing. From the 1960s onwards, these houses started
to decrease in number. More electric wires surrounded
houses, which made it harder for storks to nest,” he said.
Noting that wetlands have shrunk and marshlands
have been drained in Turkey, Serez said: “Such areas are
leading areas where storks obtain their food. Intense chemical disinfection of agricultural areas also caused a decrease
in the number of storks.” Ýstanbul Today's Zaman with wires
British tourist still
missing after 15 days
A series of forest fires, seven of which were simultaneous, broke out in 17 areas across Turkey on Sunday. They were fanned
by the wind and destroyed 503 hectares of forest and cultivated land in the districts of Ýzmit, Yalova, Denizli and Antalya.
30,000 ‘red cranes’ start their Mediterranean journey
Nearly 30,000 flamingos have started their annual migration from Tuz
Gölü (Salt Lake), which seasonally host a colony of flamingos, to other
Mediterranean countries, where they will remain until next summer.
Thirteen people, including several children, were injured in three villages of eastern Erzincan province
when they were attacked by wolves on Sunday. Villagers
were attacked by wolves in the villages of Bahçeyazý,
Çatalarmut and Heybeliköy on Sunday. According to the
Anatolia news agency, the first wolf attack was early on
Sunday in Heybeliköy. A wolf attacked and injured Þükrü
Uludað (63), Melek Uludað (62) and Kibar Bayrak (60).
The victims were taken to Erzincan State Hospital. On
Sunday afternoon, wolves injured Ali Yalçýn (57), Vesile
Bayrak (33), Emre Bayrak (9), Samime Dülger (44), Erol
Polat (44) and Sinem Polat (6) in Bahçeyazý. The six villagers were also taken to Erzincan State Hospital.
Four people in Çatalarmut -- Ekrem Köksal (35),
Sündüz Köksal (31), Mahmure Süslü and Salih Polat
(7) -- were also attacked by wolves and hospitalized.
The Erzurum provincial health director, who visited
the victims in the hospital, said nine of the victims are
being treated at Erzincan State Hospital while four
were transferred to Erzurum Research and Teaching
Hospital. Noting that the victims will all be given rabies vaccinations, he said samples taken from one of
the wolves will be examined, and if rabies is found,
the villages in question will also be examined for
traces of the disease. Ekrem Köksal said a wolf suddenly attacked his family while they were returning
home. He said they tried to escape the wolf by running into their house. Ýstanbul Today's Zaman with wires
After nesting at Tuz Gölü (Salt Lake)
during the summer, nearly 30,000
flamingos have started to migrate back to
other Mediterranean countries for the winter. Speaking to the Anatolia news agency,
the Nature Association's science coordinator, Özge Balkýz, said the natural habitat of
the greater flamingo, known as red cranes
in Turkey, are salty bodies of water.
Noting that flamingos come to Turkey
each year to summer and brood, Balkýz said:
“Flamingos are very selective and brood in
saltwater areas only. Tuz Gölü and the
Gediz Delta host most of the flamingos in
our country. Tuz Gölü is the most important
breeding ground for flamingos in Turkey.”
Noting that the number of flamingos
spending the summer in Turkey changes
according to the water level of Tuz Gölü,
Balkýz added: “Tuz Gölü has been known
as a flamingo colony since the 1970s.
Until the 1990s, tens of thousands of baby
flamingos hatched here. We observed that
the number of flamingos decreased as the
water in the lake decreased. We have followed flamingo colonies in the lake regularly since 2003. While 5,000 flamingos
hatched here in 2005, only 4,000 flamingos hatched in 2007. This number decreased to just 1,000 in 2008. Our research
indicates that the decreasing water level of
Tuz Gölü has caused the decrease in the
number of flamingo chicks.”
Calling 2009 a lucky year for flamingos,
Balkýz said: “As a result of rains in the
winter and spring, the water level of Tuz
CM Y K
Gölü has increased. In the hatching season, 10,000 baby flamingos hatched.”
Noting that flamingos recently started
to leave Tuz Gölü on their migration cycle, Balkýz added: “Including the newly
hatched baby flamingos, nearly 30,000
flamingos have started their migration.
Flamingos in Turkey fly to Greece,
Tunisia, Algeria, France and Mauritania.
We also believe that flamingos in our
country fly down to Iran and Israel.
Stating that this year's rains brought
many flamingos to the lake, Balkýz said
that if nothing is done to save Tuz Gölü,
there will be a serious threat to future
flamingo populations, adding that to
host more flamingos, Tuz Gölü must be
saved. Ýstanbul Today's Zaman with wires
An English tourist who went missing two weeks ago
in Muðla's Ölüdeniz district has not yet been located
despite the efforts of search-and-rescue teams. According
to reports, John Joseph Kirkham, 68, has been missing
since Aug. 10. Kirkham, who came to Turkey to vacation
with his family in Ölüdeniz, left his hotel to walk in the
village of Ovacýk and has not been heard from since. Ölüdeniz gendarmerie teams have joined Likya search-andrescue teams and villagers in an effort to find the man.
Two teams of commandoes from the Muðla Provincial
Gendarmerie Command have joined the search.
Sandra Kirkham, the wife of the missing tourist, told the
Anatolia news agency that her husband had taken his mobile
phone with him while going out for a walk. She said she had
spoken with gendarmerie officials and they told her that
search efforts were continuing. Ýstanbul Today's Zaman with wires
Two Hittite skulls
unearthed in Mersin
Archaeologists have unearthed two skulls from the
Hittite period in the Yumuktepe tumulus, in the southern province of Mersin. The excavation team's head, Italian
Professor Isabella Caneva, told the Anatolia news agency on
Sunday that they found two skulls from the Hittite period and
seals from the neolithic period in the Yumuktepe tumulus -one of the oldest settlement areas of Anatolia. Caneva said
the skulls dated back to 1500 B.C. and the two seals to 6500
B.C. Caneva added that the seals, which are rare in Anatolia,
were among the most important findings unearthed in
Turkey so far. This year's excavation of the Yumuktepe tumulus will be completed on Sept. 3. Ýstanbul Today's Zaman with wires
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T U E S D AY, A U G U S T 2 5 , 2 0 0 9
Pakistan receives ‘full support’ for Malakand project
YONCA POYRAZ DOÐAN ÝSTANBUL
Officials from the foreign ministries of
Pakistan and Turkey have said that Pakistan
has been receiving support for its “Malakand
Pilot Project,” a five-year plan to provide not only
rehabilitation and reconstruction in Malakand
but also to address the root causes of violence in
Pakistan's porous border region that helps the
Taliban fight NATO forces in Afghanistan.
“We are glad that the project has drawn
considerable support from our friends. The important aspect is that all friends agree that the
implementation of this project will be necessary
not only in terms of rebuilding infrastructure but
also in addressing the root causes of violence and
extremism,” an official from the Pakistani foreign
ministry said at a press briefing on the meeting of
the Friends of Democratic Pakistan group
(FoDP), which opened in Ýstanbul yesterday.
Business meetings were under way in parallel to senior officials' meeting on Aug. 24,
with prominent businessmen from Pakistan,
Turkey and other countries representing different sectors. Officials said the morning session
focused on energy projects. An official from the
Turkish Foreign Ministry reminded that a
Turkish company, Zorlu Energy Group, developed the first windmill project in Pakistan.
He also said Güven Sak, director of the
Economic Policy Research Foundation of
Turkey (TEPAV) and professor of economics at
the Ankara-based Union of Chambers and
Commodity Exchanges University of
Economics and Technology (TOBB ETÜ), and
Ambassador Nasir Alihan from the Pakistani
Foreign Ministry will make presentations on
public-private partnership.
Pakistan's defense spending increased more
than 5 percent against the envisaged target of 4.3
percent of the GDP for 2008-2009 due to the military operation in Malakand to drive out militants, Pakistani officials said. “All the members of
the FoDP would like to see the process carried
forward in a robust manner so that tangible results can be achieved for the people of Pakistan,”
said an official from the Turkish Foreign Ministry.
The first ministerial meeting of the FoDP
was held in Tokyo on April 17, and following
that meeting Pakistan formed various working groups on development, energy, infrastructure, security and trade. Introduced in
Ýstanbul by Pakistan yesterday, the Malakan
project aims at integrating the studies of the
working groups, officials added.
The FoDP was launched in New York in
September 2008, on the sidelines of the United
Nations General Assembly session. Its members
are Pakistan, Australia, Canada, China,
Denmark, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Japan,
the Netherlands, Norway, the Republic of Korea,
Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United
Arab Emirates, the UK, the US, the European
Commission, the European Union, the United
Nations, the Asian Development Bank, the
Islamic Development Bank and the World Bank.
Pakistan had requested assistance worth $2
billion during the current fiscal year 2009-10, but
Pakistani officials said yesterday that they would
welcome any assistance given by governments
while at the same time they would like to have
reconstruction opportunity zones built in the area
so Pakistan's socio-economic development will
be sustainable in the years to come.
As an inducement for investors,
Pakistani officials noted that there are more
than 100 British, more than 120 Chinese and
about 40 US companies working in Pakistan
and making huge profits.
“I don't recall that in the last 10 or 20
years a single multinational company left
Pakistan. After the successful law enforcement
operations in Swat and Malakand, the security
situation has improved a lot. The overall atmosphere is good for foreign investors, and security issues are confined to small pockets in
the north,” a Pakistani official said.
About the specifics of the Malakand project,
officials said they range from infrastructure to
health, education and security issues, including
determining how many hospitals are required
and how many more law enforcement personnel
are needed in how many more police stations.
Turkish officials said the Turkish
Cooperation and Development Agency
(TÝKA) is present in Pakistan together with an
active Turkish Red Crescent branch and several non-governmental organizations training
teachers and building hospitals.
The US special representative to
Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard
Holbrooke, participated in a dinner at the
FoDP meeting last night hosted by Turkish
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoðlu.
Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence
Cannon is also attending the FoDP meeting,
which will end today, in addition to the
Iranian and Swedish foreign ministers.
Turkýsh PRT helps agrýcultural
development ýn Afghanýstan
Turkey's Provincial Reconstruction
Team (PRT) has recently launched a
project to introduce the cultivation of
saffron to the Afghan province of Wardak in a
bid to increase the province's self-sufficiency.
As a start to the project, a model farm
has been established in Maidan Shahr, the
center of the province. Adaptation and
demonstration trials will be conducted on
the farm, with the ultimate aim of promoting saffron as an alternative incomeyielding crop in the province. The results
of the research will be disseminated through
the Wardak Department of Agriculture to
local farmers and entrepreneurs.
In spite of saffron's suitability as a crop
in Afghanistan, the spice is new to the
country and both the production and marketing have had to start almost from scratch.
A handful of Afghan farmers who spent
some time in Iran as refugees were the first to
plant the crop when they came back to their
homes in the western part of Afghanistan. So
far, particularly in the province of Herat, saffron cultivation has been successful.
Cüneyt Yavuzcan, the head of the
Turkish PRT, has argued that saffron
could be a boon to Afghanistan's agricultural export industry if it is properly managed. There is demand for saffron within
Afghanistan, but the market elsewhere is
much greater and export potential is considerable in India, Dubai, Europe and the
United States. Because the product is
light and has a high value per kilo, it can
be transported easily and economically
from villages to towns and then by air to
these destinations, Yavuzcan noted.
Saffron, also called “red gold,” is a
highly priced spice used in cooking for
its color and delicate flavoring. It is seen
as an excellent potential income source
for small- and medium-scale farmers.
“Today the agriculture sector only
accounts for 35.5 percent of
Afghanistan's GDP [gross domestic
product], despite the fact that about 80
percent of the Afghan population is directly or indirectly involved in the agriculture and livestock sectors and lives
mainly in rural areas. Developing the
agricultural sector will improve food se-
tons and 1000 tons respectively. Water
availability and irrigation related projects, such as digging wells and building
water storage facilities, have been implemented. Fruit drying projects are ongoing in the Narh and Chak districts in order to establish a self-sufficient, community-based initiative to dry locally-grown
fruit for export. The PRT has also organized numerous agricultural training
courses, both in Wardak and in Turkey.
A veterinary clinic has been built and
supplied with the necessary equipment
in Maidan Shahr by the PRT as well.
The PRT also led the foundation of the
Wardak Union of Farmers and Gardeners, essentially to help the apple producers in the
province to unite and grow in strength to
overcome the pressing issues facing them,
such as developing better marketing of their
products to increase their incomes.
“Over the long term, the PRT's completed, ongoing and planned projects aim
to help rebuild an economy of Wardak -which is largely dependent on agriculture - increasing agricultural value-adding, reducing the need for the import of food and
linking farmers to markets,” Yavuzcan
said. Wardak/Ankara Today's Zaman
a final strategy concerning Turkey's EU
membership process will be outlined at
that meeting, CNN-Türk said.
In separate remarks Andros Kyprianou,
secretary-general of the ruling Progressive
Party of Working People (AKEL), also referred
to next month's National Council meeting
and suggested that Turkey should not expect
to be treated differently than the other candidates and should understand that it has to respond to all demands by the EU side.
Cyprus joined the EU as a divided is-
Agriculture Vocational High
School in Maidan Shahr
Cold storage in Saydabad
land when Greek Cypriots in the south rejected a UN reunification plan in twin referendums in 2004, even though the Turkish
Cypriots in the north overwhelmingly supported it. The promise made by EU foreign
ministers before the referendums to end the
isolation of the Turkish Cypriots and establish direct trade with Turkish Cyprus remains unfulfilled. The Mediterranean island
of Cyprus has been divided along ethnic
lines since 1974. The two sides launched reunification talks last year. The division is a
CM Y K
[email protected]
Lale Sarýibrahimoðlu is currently on vacation.
Davutoðlu to attend EU's
Gymnich meeting next month
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoðlu will travel to Stockholm
in early September to attend an informal meeting of foreign
ministers of the 27-member European Union.
The 27 EU foreign ministers will meet in Stockholm on Sept. 4-5
during Sweden's term presidency, which commenced as of July 1.
The foreign ministers from candidate countries Croatia, Macedonia
and Turkey will attend the second day of the meeting, which is called
“Gymnich” since the first meeting was held during the German
presidency in 1974 at Gymnich Castle, north of Bonn. Apart from the
regular meeting of the General Affairs and External Relations
Council (GAERC), EU foreign ministers meet once every six months
at an informal meeting in the country holding the presidency.
While in Stockholm, Davutoðlu is expected to have
meetings with his counterparts on the sidelines of the
Gymnich meeting. Although no exact meeting has yet been
scheduled, a conference between Davutoðlu and Swedish
Foreign Minister Carl Bildt is highly likely to take place.
Ahead of his visit to Stockholm, Davutoðlu will pay an
official two-day visit to EU-member Slovenia where he will
have talks with his counterpart, Samuel Zbogar, as well as
with other senior Slovenian officials.
The year 2009 has long been labeled a decisive year for
Turkey's EU membership drive. The EU Council had pledged at a
December 2006 summit to review Turkey's situation, while blocking eight negotiation chapters due to Ankara's refusal to open its
ports and airports to Greek Cypriot traffic. Ankara Today's Zaman
Iranian forces kill 26 members
of PKK-linked group
Bishkek's Manas University
hosts Ottoman symposium
Christofias plays EU veto card against Turkey again
Unless Turkey changes its stance concerning the Cyprus issue, the Greek Cypriot
administration will eventually oppose Turkey's
entry into the European Union, Greek Cypriot
leader Dimitris Christofias has said.
Christofias' remarks were published in
yesterday's Greek Cypriot newspapers,
CNN-Türk reported. According to reports,
Christofias noted that the National
Council, the Greek Cypriot leader's top
advisory body handling the Cyprus problem, will convene on Sept. 14-15 and that
LALE
SARIÝBRAHÝMOÐLU
Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards have killed 26 members of an
outlawed Kurdish group in northwestern Iran, a commander of
the guards was quoted as saying on Sunday by the Fars news agency.
“In an operation to clean up the West Azerbaijan and Kurdistan
provinces of counter-revolutionary and terrorist groups, 26 of the
agents were killed,” Mohammad Pakpoor, who was described by Fars
as the commander of the Revolutionary Guards ground forces, said,
noting that the operation had delivered a “massive blow” to the Party
of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK) and other Kurdish rebel groups.
The outlawed PJAK, an offshoot of the terrorist Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK), is operating in northern Iraq's mountainous areas close to the borders with Turkey and Iran.
The Turkish military conducted a major incursion last year
against the PKK in northern Iraq, and Turkish warplanes have
since carried out regular cross-border bombing raids against
targets in the mountainous region. Turkish Chief of General
Staff Gen. Ýlker Baþbuð said last year that Turkey and Iran were
sharing intelligence and coordinating military operations
against the PKK. The two countries signed a memorandum of
understanding in 2008 to expand their security cooperation.
Iran views PJAK, which seeks autonomy for Kurdish areas in
Iran, as a terrorist group. The United States also branded PJAK a
terrorist organization in February, while the PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by a large majority of the international community, including the United States. Ankara Today's Zaman with wires
Cüneyt Yavuzcan, the head of the Turkish PRT, is seen at a meeting with local farmers.
curity; increase agricultural productivity
and rural employment; improve family
incomes and well-being; reduce pressures on the poor to grow illicit crops;
and increase the export of agricultural
products in Afghanistan. Therefore, a vibrant and growing agriculture sector is
essential to ensure that the benefits of
economic development are spread
throughout the country and reach the
bulk of the Afghan population. The
strategic objective should be to attract
private sector investments to transform
agriculture into a high-value commercial
sector which will be a source for growth
and lead to an expansion in terms of
livelihood. A coordinated agricultural
and rural development program aimed
at poverty reduction and the provision of
alternative livelihoods should be implemented,” Yavuzcan explained.
The Turkish PRT has so far completed many successful agricultural development projects in Wardak. An agricultural
vocational high school was established
last year in Maidan Shahr. The PRT constructed and equipped two cold storage
facilities in the districts of Maidan Shahr
and Saidabad, with capacities of 500
NATIONAL
key obstacle to Turkey's bid to join the EU.
In 2006, while blocking eight chapters of
accession negotiations with Ankara due to its
refusal to open its ports and airports to Greek
Cypriot traffic, the European Council said it
would review the situation by the end of 2009.
The 2006 European Council decision has
been widely considered a strong motive for Greek
Cyprus to postpone reaching a resolution through
ongoing UN-led negotiations between
Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet
Ali Talat by the end of the year. Ankara Today's Zaman
With the opening of an exhibition on the Ottoman Empire's
relations with Central Asia, an international symposium concerning the Ottoman Empire's impact in Central Asia commenced
on Monday at Bishkek's Kyrgyzstan-Turkey Manas University.
The symposium is being held in cooperation with the
International Committee of Pre-Ottoman and Ottoman
Studies (CIEPO). Around 100 scientists from Turkey, the
United States, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Greece,
Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, South
Korea and Japan introduced papers at the symposium.
In May, during an official visit to Bishkek, President
Abdullah Gül also visited Kyrgyzstan-Turkey Manas University.
“Kyrgyzstan is our ancestral homeland. We have felt at
home and in our ancestral homeland while we have been in
Kyrgyzstan,” Gül said. “What matters is not only opening universities, schools. What matters is being competitive in regards
to education with other schools, and everyone should compete
with each other in this competition. It should be a means for
reaching a higher standard of education.” Ankara Today's Zaman with wires
Pro-Kurdish paper closed
for ‘PKK propaganda'
Pro-Kurdish newspaper Günlük has been closed for one
month on the grounds that it publishes propaganda in
support of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Ayhan Bilgen, editor-in-chief of Günlük, said the closing
sabotages the democratic initiative process regarding the
Kurdish issue. The Ýstanbul 13rd Heavy Criminal Court decided
that the newspaper's Aug. 22 edition printed PKK propaganda.
Günlük, founded on Jan. 19, was closed once earlier because of a photograph printed in its June 1 issue.
“It is always a wrong act to close a newspaper. But doing it at
this time means sabotaging the initiative regarding the Kurdish issue,” Bilgen said, referring to government's recent plans to launch a
series of reforms to address grievances of Turkey's Kurdish population and end the PKK's decades-old terrorist campaign. He added
that a solution to the Kurdish problem can only be found by not retreating from democratic rights and freedoms. He also said sabotaging the democratic process is quite possible through judicial interventions, not just by mines and bombs. Emine Dolmacý Ýstanbul
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NATIONAL
TODAY’S ZAMAN 05
T U E S D AY, A U G U S T 2 5 , 2 0 0 9
Doðu Ergil: Kurdish initiative would unite Turkey
Council of State
ruling to contribute
to Kurdish initiative
HAMZA ERDOÐAN ANKARA
ERCAN YAVUZ ANKARA
Political scientist Doðu Ergil who has
prepared reports regarding the Kurdish
issue has said the government's democratic
initiative regarding the country's Kurds
would end terrorism and unite Turkish people as opposed to some theses which state it
would encourage division in Turkey.
“Change always threatens some people.
People who oppose the democratic initiative do it
because they think they would lose their privi-
leged status following a real change,” he said.
Ergil, a political scientist from Ankara
University, prepared his first Kurdish report in
1995 and then wrote two more reports on the
same issue for the Turkish Union of Chambers
and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB). Drawing
harsh reactions from some segments of society
at the time, the reports included suggestions to
recognize the Kurdish state, improved education, removing Kurdish broadcasting limitations
currently imposed on private television stations
and administrative reforms. Some circles treat-
ed Ergil as a “traitor” for his ideas.
He said that having a localized approach
regarding schools and laws does not mean
that the unitary structure of the country is
going to be changed.
“We are talking about a civilian structure
of schools and laws,” he said. “This does not
mean that the country is going to be divided.
He added that first the system is going to be
changed and then the mentality of people.
According to Ergil, the initiative will provide a larger political arena, which will lead to
rooted reforms.
“Enlarging the political arena would mean
increasing political actors and accepting the
equality of all these actors. That also means that
today's dominant political actors would be eliminated. That's why we call this a democratic initiative; an old structure is going to be changed. It
would not be an easy change,” he explained.
Ergil claimed that Turkey has already
been divided as the country's citizens kill
each other and the Turkish military is engaged with fighting within its own borders.
21 reports on Kurdish problem
prepared, but never used
PHOTO
While the public continues to debate the
“democratic initiative” launched by the
government with the aim of solving the
Kurdish problem, dozens of reports prepared on
solving the problem by several institutions in
Turkey in the past have surfaced.
The reports were, however, shelved and never
implemented. Late President Turgut Özal had
made attempts to solve the problem in the 1990s
but his efforts yielded no results.
Now the Justice and Development Party (AK
Party) is working to solve the problem. During his
visit to Diyarbakýr in 2005, Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdoðan said: “The Kurdish problem is not
just a problem for one segment of the nation. It is
everyone's problem; it is my problem as well.”
This statement became an important starting
point. After three years, studies on solving the
problem eventually turned into an “initiative.”
However debates that took place during the
preparation of reports in the past are now back in
play. The Kurdish problem, which for years was
ignored or seen as a “security issue,” is back on
the country's agenda. So far, 21 different reports
have been prepared by various institutions on the
steps that need to be taken to solve the problem.
The first report was written by Ýsmet Ýnönü.
Upon Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's order in 1935,
then-Prime Minister Ýnönü visited every province
and town in east and southeast Turkey and
penned a “top secret” report. It is clear from the
report that the issues debated today are the same
as those that were debated 74 years ago. In the report, Ýnönü writes that it “is an advantage that
Kurds in Aðrý have become civilized and have
found peace” and mentions Karaköse as a
Kurdish city dependant on the government. It also
warns about the possibility of Kurdistan being established if Erzincan becomes a Kurdish center.
“Diyarbakýr is mature enough for us to easily
exercise our precautionary measures to build a
strong center of Turkishness there. There is no
benefit in providing separate education to Turks
and Kurds. They must acquire their primary education together. This will be effective in Turkifying
the Kurds,” the report continues.
In 1936, General Inspector Abidin Özmen
wrote another confidential “Kurdish report.”
Reports were prepared one after another following the start in 1984 of the armed struggle of the
terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Between
1990 and 2002, Social Democratic People's Party
(SHP) prepared two, the Republican People's
Party (CHP) prepared four, Turkish Industrialists
and Businessmen's Association (TÜSÝAD) prepared two and the Turkish Union of Chambers
and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB), the Public
Health Foundation (TOSAV), the Motherland
TODAY’S ZAMAN, ALÝ ÜNAL
EMRULLAH BAYRAK ANKARA
Evacuated villages being rebuilt
The Southeast's age-old poverty problem has not been alleviated despite 21 expert reports with suggestions to improve the region's economy.
Party (then ANAP, now ANAVATAN), Adnan
Kahveci, Businessman Sakýp Sabancý, the
Confederation of Turkish Labor Unions (TürkÝþ), the Confederation of Turkish Real Trade
Unions (Hak-Ýþ), the Ýstanbul Chamber of
Industry (ÝSO), the Ýstanbul Chamber of
Commerce (ÝTO) and the Economic Development
Foundation prepared one report each.
The reports include a range of solutions, from
eliminating the state of emergency and village
guard system to allowing radio and television
broadcasting in Kurdish, from education in the native language to acknowledging the Kurdish identity and culture, and from granting a general
amnesty to adopting the Basque model. The authors of the reports were sometimes accused of inciting separatism and treason and the report prepared by the SHP in 1990 was referred to the State
Security Court (DGM).
The SHP tried to attract public attention to the
problem by publishing reports in 1990 and 1993
and the CHP tried doing the same by publishing
reports in 1993, 1998, 2000 and 2002. Some figures,
starting with late president Turgut Özal and Sakýp
Sabancý and Adnan Kahveci, passed away while
working on solving the Kurdish problem
Main points in reports
Each Kurdish report included similar demands.
The main points in the reports published to date
include the following:
“Prohibiting the native language is a primitive
policy and should be removed. Such a policy was
not even implemented during the single-party system. Education in the native language should be
guaranteed. The official language is Turkish. The
village guard system should be removed, a regional
development plan should be prepared, land should
be distributed equally in the region and departments and institutions should be established to research different cultures and languages.
“The inability to find a solution to terrorism and democratic problems has created a crisis for Turkey; the Kurdish problem can be resolved with a democratic solution, with the
mentality that ‘the state has no ethnicity,' all
citizens should unite under the supra identity of
‘citizens of the Turkish Republic.'
“A ‘Return to the Village' project should be
launched, the number of police and gendarmerie
officers that have received counter-terrorism
training should be twofold the number of PKK
members, special prisons should be built for the
PKK, the public must not be harmed in the
struggle with terrorism, deterring measures
should be taken against countries that support
terrorism, new arrangements allowing citizens of
Kurdish descent to directly express themselves
should be introduced, the regions people do not
have a desire to divide Turkey, human rights
should be improved, EU reforms should be accelerated, legal reforms to prevent torture should
be introduced, the election system should be reformed, political parties should be allowed to
make election alliances, the threshold should be
lowered to a reasonable level, and there is no
clarity in the National Program on broadcasting
and providing education in the native language,
two very important cultural rights.”
CHP’s eastern branches back democratic Kurdish initiative
Republican People's Party's (CHP) members
from east and southeastern provinces, unlike
their leadership in Ankara, stated that the government's steps for a democratic initiative should be
backed by the main opposition party.
“I find the stance of the opposition unhealthy during this democratic initiative
process,” said Remzi Sayýlan, the CHP candidate
for the Diyarbakýr municipality in the last local
elections on March 29, adding that the problem
is not only the Kurdish question but also an economic backwardness and an administrative
problem which badly impact minorities in
Turkey. He also noted that for a resolution to be
reached, the antidemocratic laws should be abolished.
A recent Council of State ruling has facilitated
compensation for losses sustained by a man
who was forced by the state to leave his village in
the East due to the activities of the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers' Party's (PKK).
The ruling will set a precedent for similar cases
and will allow a number of people to return to their
evacuated villages in eastern Turkey.
Turkey is in the middle of discussing a recent
government initiative to settle its decades-long
Kurdish issue, and this Council of State ruling is
likely to contribute to the government's efforts as it
will pave the way for the state settling its accounts
with residents of evacuated villages.
The 13th Chamber of the Council of State
ruled that consequential damage arising from the
inability of the residents of evacuated villages to
access their properties in their villages shall be
paid. A man who used to live in the village of
Yoncalýbayýr in eastern Elazýð province but was
forced to move elsewhere applied to the Elazýð
Governor's Office and demanded compensation
for his loss as he was unable to access his property,
which subsequently became unusable.
The Loss Adjustment Commission of the Elazýð
Governor's Office found that the village was evacuated in 1993 due to terrorist attacks and that some
villagers began to return to the village in 1994. The
commission ruled that the villagers could not access
their property for one year and that TL 1,582 should
be paid to them as a result. The aforementioned villager objected to this decision and filed a suit seeking TL 46,000 in damages. The Elazýð
Administrative Court rejected his case, citing the
same reasons as the Elazýð Governor's Office.
However, the 13th Chamber of the Council of
State ruled that although the village had remained
empty for only one year, many villagers were unable to return to their villages even after a year and
that TL 46,000 in compensations be paid to the villager. The decision is likely to set an example for
similar cases in which 362,335 villagers applied to
authorities seeking indemnity for their losses. Of
these cases only 146,251 have been resolved.
Many of these villagers filed court cases against
the state in the European Court of Human Rights,
which for the most part ruled in favor of the villagers. Twenty-five percent of the cases filed against
the Turkish state in the European court involve villagers seeking damages. The state, which may have
to pay up to $14 billion in total if it loses all the cases
filed against it in the European court, has taken an
initiative to find a solution to these cases through
internal legal processes.
Mehmet Kýlýçarslan, the head of the CHP's
Mardin organization, is among the party members
who believe that the democratic initiative ought to be
supported. “We would support all reforms [regarding
the Kurdish question],” said Kýlýçarslan, underlying
the importance of a consensus between the different
segments of society. “The Kurdish initiative is a positive step. Yet the important thing is the content of the
initiative. We convey the public reactions [in Mardin]
to our head office in Ankara and want to live in a
peaceful environment,” added Kýlýçarslan.
The former CHP Muþ deputy, Mehmet Þerif
Ertuðrul, expressed his discomfort that the CHP
is considered an enemy of the Kurds, saying he
disagrees with the party's leader, Deniz Baykal,
on their policy towards the democratic initiative.
He also advised Baykal to alter his critical style of
harshly opposing the initiative.
Evaluating the stance of the CHP's leader, Halil
Kartal, the chairman of the party's Van branch, noted
that Baykal does not resist a peace project concerning
the Kurdish issue, but he opposes the way the government is implementing it. He also said he does not
agree with the opinion that the country would be divided at the end of the democratic initiative. “We
would back every constructive effort,” he added.
Commenting on the government's democratic initiative attempts, Sinan Yerlikaya, the
CHP deputy of Tunceli, said: “The government
takes a very important step. Leaving aside the
CM Y K
political jargon, I support the initiative as a citizen. This is a state policy, and I find the approach
of the military also well-intentioned. Baykal criticized the government since they have yet to
share the concrete steps of the initiative.”
Recalling his party was tried in State Security
Court (MGK) because of its report on the Kurdish
question, Yerlikaya stated: “We [the CHP] are never irrelative to this issue, but now the public thinks
the CHP does not want a solution. The CHP's
doors are not closed. The Turkish and Kurdish nationalists demand the status quo to remain, but society wants peace. Those who will challenge the
public's peace demand will be guilty in front of history.” Mehmet Gökçe / Yahya Öylek Diyarbakýr / Van
As part of these efforts, the state is promoting its
Back to the Village project, which aims to relocate
people who have had to leave their hometowns
during more than two decades of ethnic conflict.
The project also involves reconstructing evacuated
villages. In 2008, 50 families returned to their village after construction was completed on 30 houses in the village of Ýslamköy and 20 houses in the
village of Tur in Diyarbakýr province. Additionally,
151 families who returned to Diyarbakýr's Saklat
village were provided with financial aid. In
Tunceli, 50 of 90 evacuated villages have been repopulated and 362 houses have been built.
Üskül: ‘Democratic
initiative targets
sources of terror'
The head of Parliament's human rights inspection commission has explained in a recent statement the goals of the government's
democratic initiative and noted that with the
initiative the government is attempting to eliminate the source of terror.
"The democratic initiative is mainly targeting
the sources of terror," said Zafer Üskül, Justice and
Development Party (AK Party) Mersin deputy, in
his party's office in Mersin's Çamlýyayla district,
adding that it is wrong to expect overwhelming
initial results from the initiative "The democratic
initiative is a process, therefore nobody expects
early success from this process. It should be remembered that this process is a gradual study."
Üskül also highlighted the necessity of a new constitution and considers it indispensable for the
democratic initiative to reach success. He also expressed his doubts on the other parties' will to
bring the changes to the Constitutional Court:
"We reiterated the need for a new constitution, but
our attempts were blocked. Some changes ought
to be made, but that is not something that only the
AK Party can achieve, without any support. "
Üskül also underlined the potential economic
gain of Turkey if the terror problem is solved: "We
have spent hundreds of billions dollars on the
struggle with terror. Imagine if this amount of money was used on economic development. If this happens, our national income would be doubled in 10
years," he added. Ýstanbul Today's Zaman with wires
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06 TODAY’S ZAMAN
T U E S D AY, A U G U S T 2 5 , 2 0 0 9
NATIONAL
Alevi search for new
left party continues
Assertive titles
Some of the Turkish films that will be screened in
movie theaters this season include:
“Çýngýraklý Top” (Rattle Ball): The first film
by its director, Egemen Ertürk, it tells the story
of a former soccer player who becomes the
coach of a soccer team of visually impaired players. Featuring Ýlyas Salman, Ýpek Özkök, Zihni
Göktay, Erkan Taþdöðen and Ýlhan Mansýz, the
film will make its debut on Sept. 18.
“Sonsuz” (Eternity): Directed by Cemal Þan,
this film tells the story of three cancer patients.
Featuring Ferhat Gündoðdu, Ýsmail Hacýoðlu,
Þevket Çoruh, Ayça Bingöl, Elif Sönmez, Mehmet
Ali Nuroðlu, Serdar Orçin, Erdal Tosun, Rýza
Kocaoðlu, Nuri Nisa Yýldýrým, Ahmet Mumtaz
Taylan, Necmettin Çobanoðlu, Eray Özbal, Serap
Aksoy, Volga Sorgu and Süleyman Turan, the film
will make its debut on Sept. 18.
“11'e 10 Kala” (When it is 10 to 11): Directed
by Pelin Esmer and featuring Nejat Ýþler, Mithat
Esmer, Tayanç Ayaydýn and Laçin Ceylan, the
film will be distributed by Özen Films and
screened by Sinefilm on Sept. 25. It is about
the struggle fought by Mithat Bey, a passionate collector, to protect his collections when
ot in
lms are sh
‘If more fi is will make
Turkey, th utions to
ib
ble contr
considera ional recognition
at
rn
te
the in
opyrights
untry, ’ C
of our co
Director
al
er
a Gen
and Cinem hman Çelik says
Abdurra
COLLAGE
After recent box office success and awards
at international film festivals, Turkish
films are now preparing to break new
records: During the new season starting this fall,
70 films are set to open -- the highest ever number of Turkish films to debut in a season.
Copyrights and Cinema General Director
Abdurrahman Çelik has said that the 10 films
that earned the highest box office receipts in
the country last season were all Turkish films.
"This is unbelievable in terms of box office
success. This was never the case before, and it
is very gladdening," he said.
Çelik declared that a new record will be
broken in terms of the number of films opening in a season. "About 70 films will open between September and June of next year. This
will be a Turkish record. We will see how successful they will be at the box office; I hope we
will see good results there," he said.
Noting that Parliament recently passed a bill
to foster foreign investment in movie production, Çelik described the bill as a major step toward dealing with the sector's myriad problems.
"Lowering the Value Added Tax rates will come
as some sort of relief to foreign investors. But
this alone will not solve the problem. In addition, some retroactive incentives should be implemented. If this can be done, four or five major films could be shot in Turkey annually," he
said. He stressed that this may make Turkey one
of Hollywood's premier movie location countries some five years in future.
"If more films are shot in Turkey, this will
make considerable contributions to the international recognition of our country. This will in turn
promote our country, with its natural and cultural
assets. Given the overall economic situation in the
country, it is not easy to introduce incentives. This
is because implementing incentives is an exception. Perhaps we need to take possible losses into
consideration. Of course, there will be greater returns than losses. This issue should be seen from
this perspective. In other words, there will be both
tangible and intangible gains in the form of profits
and the promotion of the country," he said.
Çelik also disclosed that several major US
producers are expected to come to Turkey in
October. "If nothing goes wrong, I believe two big
foreign films will be shot in Turkey in 2010, with a
70 percent likelihood," he added.
TODAY’S ZAMAN, YUNUS EMRE HATUNOÐLU
70 domestýc productýons
to debut thýs season
Nine terrorists released
from military custody
he learns that his building will be
demolished by the municipality.
“Nefes” (Breath): The film tells the
story of 40 soldiers who were assigned the
task of protecting a relay station atop
Karabal Hill, near Turkey's border with
Iraq, and will make its debut on Oct. 16. An
interesting trailer of the film has been circulating for some time now. It is directed by
Levent Semerci.
“Çýlgýn Türkler-Görev Somali” (Crazy
Turks -- Mission Somalia): This comedy film,
directed by Murat Aslan, who is also the
scriptwriter and director of "Maskeli Beþler" (The
Masked Bandits), will make its debut on Nov. 27.
Produced by Avþar Film, the film is among the
most anticipated films of the season.
The ‘Yahþi Batý’ wind
“Yahþi Batý” (Beautiful West): Co-produced by Fida Film and CMYLMZ FikirSanat,
this film is one of the most assertive films of
the season. This Western comedy tells the story of two Ottoman heroes sent by the sultan of
the time to the US on a mission in the late
1800s and will make its debut on Jan. 8, 2010.
Scripted by Cem Yýlmaz and directed by
Ömer Faruk Sorak, the film features Cem Yýlmaz,
Ozan Güven, Demet Evgar, Zafer Algöz, Özkan
Uður, Dilek Çelebi, Ferdi Sancar, Mazlum Çimen,
Tuncay Özinel, Cansu Dere and Uður Polat.
“Ejder Kapaný” (Dragon Trap): Produced by
TMC and scripted by Kubilay Tat, the film is directed by Uður Yücel. A detective and suspense
film, it features Uður Yücel, Kenan Ýmirzalýoðlu,
Nejat Ýþler, Ceyda Düvenci and Berrak Tüzünataç.
Filming started on June 15 in Ýstanbul, and a
French team has come to Turkey to contribute to
this movie. Sponsored by the Ýstanbul Police
Department, the film will make its debut in
Turkey and Europe on Jan. 22, 2010.
“Karanlýktakiler” (Those in the Dark): The
film is written and directed by Çaðan Irmak.
Featuring Þebnem Dilligil, Rýza Akýn, Merih
Atalay, Durul Bazan, Savaþ Akova, Pýnar Töre,
Gülriz Þirinyan, Hilal Özbay, Güner Özkul, Derya
Alabora, Erdem Akakçe and Meral Çetinkaya, the
film tells the story of Egemen, who is still living
with his mother Gülseren although he is over 30
years old, in a seemingly ordinary house which in
a sense conceals "a small hell" inside.
“Eyvah Eyvah” (Alas! Alas!): Produced by
BKM Film, the film will make its debut on Jan. 29,
2010. The main characters of this comedy are
Demet Akbað and Ata Demirer.
‘Neþeli Hayat’ from Yýlmaz Erdoðan
“Neþeli Hayat” (Merry Life): Scripted and directed by Yýlmaz Erdoðan, the film features
Erdoðan and Büþra Pekin in the leading roles.
Also produced by BKM-Mutfak Oyuncularý, the
film tells the story of Rýza, who is trying to make
his life merrier. Ýstanbul Today's Zaman with wires
Ergenekon witness Mahmut Taþdemir missing for over a year
A former deputy chairman of metal sector workers' union Türk Metal has been missing since he
testified to prosecutors conducting the Ergenekon investigation, under which former Türk Metal
Chairman Mustafa Özbek has been apprehended.
Not a word has been heard from Mahmut
Taþdemir, the former deputy chairman of Türk
Metal, in over a year. Özbek is currently standing
trial as a suspected financier of Ergenekon, a clandestine gang charged with plotting to overthrow the
government. He is being charged with using union
money to fund the illegal activities of the group.
According to news reports, Taþdemir has not
been home for over a year. Speaking to a daily
yesterday, his wife, Mahi Taþdemir, said: “My
husband fled in order to protect us. I don't know
where and how he is living. I don't even want to
A campaign launched by the Alevi-Bektaþi
Federation after this year's municipal elections on March 29 calling on Alevi voters -who traditionally vote for the Republican
People's Party (CHP) -- to vote for a new secular political party on the left that would serve as
an alternative to the CHP, is continuing.
The campaign, running under the slogan
“We are no longer bound to the CHP,” has been
gaining more ground. Alevi-Bektaþi Federation
administrators, who held a conference on April
10-11, have emphasized that the country's social
democrat parties are worn out and the movement
too dispersed. The federation has had talks with
Ýstanbul independent deputy Ufuk Uras, who has
also been making an effort to find an “alternative
left party,” the Social Democratic People's Party
(SHP) and the “December 10 movement,” mainly made up of senior Confederation of
Revolutionary Workers' Unions (DÝSK) members.
The Alevi-Bektaþi Federation is now planning to
start a party of its own. It has had meetings across
25 provinces to find a new party that will deal
with Alevi problems and a party line that will address left and social democratic concerns.
The grass roots of the party are “segments of
the society that are victimized due to cultural or
ethnic differences.” The group's steering committee includes Atilla Erden, one of the founding
members of the Alevi-Bektaþi Federation, and
Kazým Genç, the chairman of the federation
against whom an assassination plot by the
Ergenekon organization was recently uncovered.
The group will continue regional meetings it
began on Aug. 15 in Hacýbektaþ. Thee meetings
will take place in Ankara and end on Oct. 11, after
which the group plans to establish a political party. Similar meetings will be held in various
provinces, including Tekirdað, Sivas and
Diyarbakýr. The federation had staunchly opposed
earlier government initiatives such as an iftar for
Alevis and workshops looking for an answer to
the Alevi question, dismissing them as an attempt at assimilation. It has also taken Turkey's
compulsory religion courses to the European
Court of Human Rights. Ýstanbul Today's Zaman
cestors. I am always ready for your
think about this, but I think he
orders even if that might mean my
might even have been killed.” His
death,” Taþdemir wrote.
son Özgür Taþdemir told the same
daily, “We at least want to know
Taþdemir was one of the closwhether he is alive or not.” His
est people to Özbek. However, he
family says he disappeared about
wrote an account titled “The Truth
two months after testifying.
about Türk Metal and Mustafa
Özbek,” in which he outlined inciAs the family's agonizing wait
dents he witnessed in the union
for Mahmut Taþdemir continues, a
between the years 1990 and 2005.
letter he wrote to Özbek in June 2007
After the account went public, he
has been included the third indictMahmut
Taþdemir
was nearly beaten to death by
ment prepared in the Ergenekon
Özbek's men. He survived the
case, which was accepted by an Ýsbeating but required metal implants in his leg and
tanbul court last month. In this letter, Taþdemir and
arm. After the incident, he testified at the Ýzmit
Özbek's close relationship is clearly apparent. “I
Counter-Terrorism Department upon the orders
have never betrayed you or the union, and I never
of Ergenekon prosecutors. He claimed that union
will. I have not been so disloyal as to forget my an-
CM Y K
money was transferred to the bank accounts of
Avrasya Television, a company allegedly established for Özbek's son, and that many meetings
of JÝTEM -- an illegal formation inside the gendarmerie -- had been held at the Türk Metal
headquarters in the capital.
Family members sacked
Family members of Taþdemir, who was a target of
many threats for revealing the links between
Ergenekon and the union, have suffered during this
period. His older son, Halil Ýbrahim Taþdemir, was
fired from his job one year ahead of his retirement.
His younger son, Özgür Taþdemir, was also fired
from the factory where he was employed. Taþdemir's
son-in-law was also fired from his job, causing the
family great financial difficulty. Ýstanbul Today's Zaman
Nine terrorist who left outlawed Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK) camps in northern
Iraq and surrendered to Turkish military authorities have been released in line with laws encouraging PKK militants to abandon their cause.
Last week nine PKK members escaped from
PKK bases located in northern Iraq and entered
Turkey through the Habur border gate, where
they surrendered to Turkish military forces. Their
criminal files were brought to the Diyarbakýr public prosecutor, who ruled that the terrorists must
be released, according to law.
Meanwhile, Duran Kalkan, a senior PKK member, said a cease-fire announced by the organization
would end on Sept. 1 and threatened to start attacks if the Turkish military resumes its operations
in northern Iraq, the Fýrat news agency reported.
“The cease-fire will end on Sept. 1, but some circles
don't seem to be paying attention. They ignored the
problem and act as if there is no issue,” Kalkan said,
adding that the Turkish military should abandon its
operations and discuss the peace process seriously
to create consensus among the public. “The PKK
has pursued a one-sided cease-fire with Turkey for
months, but the Turkish military forces continue
with their operations. The cease-fire should be twosided, a situation possible only when the Turkish
military lays down its arms. If they continue what
they're doing, new conflicts will come to our agenda,” added Kalkan. Ýstanbul Today's Zaman with wires
Match to contribute
to democratic move
As the government prepares a democratic initiative to settle the long-standing Kurdish
problem, a significant step will be taken when
Zakho from Iraq's Division One visits Turkey for a
friendship match with Kahramanmaraþspor, which
plays in the Turkish League Two, fourth division.
The team from Zakho, a city under the
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern
Iraq, will be in Turkey from Aug. 26-30 for
Kahramanmaraþspor's season opening. One of the
architects of the project, lawyer Mustafa Dokumacý,
said, “It is an important step to play a friendship
match with a team from Zakho, a city that is close to
Turkey.” Initially planning a simple game,
Dokumacý said, “It won't be a simple match; there
will be support for brotherhood and peace from
these green fields.” Dokumacý said it is important
that such a step comes from a city like
Kahramanmaraþ, where many cultures live together.
“It makes the visit all the more valuable,” he added.
Saying that Zakho will be in Kahramanmaraþ
on Aug. 26, Kahramanmaraþspor President
Muhammed Günkut said, “That day is the season opening for Kahramanmaraþspor, and they
will have a match with Zakho celebrating
brotherhood.” Furkan Cura Ýstanbul
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BUSINESS
TODAY’S ZAMAN 07
T U E S D AY, A U G U S T 2 5 , 2 0 0 9
Multi-billion dollar Çandarlý port project boosts local land prices
Yorgancýlar predicts that the average price of land in
the nearby Bergama Organized Industrial Zone will
jump from its current price of 18 euros per square
meter to 100 euros after the construction of the port.
The decision to construct a port in Çandarlý
Gulf was made in 1993 as an alternative to Greece's
Port of Piraeus. Its initial estimated cost was $4.5
billion. Large tonnage vessels are unable to berth at
the Port of Ýzmir, so they head to the Port of Piraeus
in Greece to unload. The goods carried by these
large ships are later distributed by small ships to
Turkish markets through ports along the eastern
Mediterranean, Aegean and Black seas.Greece
earned $57 billion in 2008 from the Port of Piraeus .
The feasibility studies, environmental impact
assessment, tender specifications and issues related
to financing the port were all resolved 10 years ago,
but the tender process has still not been initiated.
The Environment and Forestry Ministry submitted
its approval for the construction of the port in
ALÝ RIZA KARASU ÝZMÝR
The projected construction of the Northern
Aegean Container Port, which will be one of
the top 10 largest ports in the world once it is
completed, has increased the value of the
surrounding land up to 15-fold.
The Transportation Ministry will shortly
organize a tender to find a company to
construct the port under the "build-operatetransfer" model. It will have a capacity of
943,000 20-foot equivalent units (TEU).
Zeytindað Mayor Feridun Ergün has advised
locals to be mindful of the increasing value of their
land, which is worth between TL 18 and TL 20 per
square meter nowadays, noting that land
speculators often try to purchase land in such places
for much less than its actual value, capitalizing on
the landowners' lack of knowledge. Aegean Region
Chamber of Industry (EBSO) Chairman Ender
unload cargo. The dock is planned to be two
kilometers in length. If everything goes as planned,
the port will be operational by 2012.
Five large international construction companies
from Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, South Korea
and Sweden were interested in the project before
the ongoing global economic crisis erupted last
year. The 4.5-million-square-meter plot of land on
which the port will be constructed belongs in full to
National Real Estate, the public institution that
holds the real estate assets of the state and markets
and operates them. Ergün, the mayor of Zeytindað,
where the port will be located, says a majority of the
nearby land has changed hands, especially in the
last couple of months. "The owners of this land are
villagers. During my visits to their villages, I
recommend that they hold on to their land if they
don't need money urgently. They usually expect to
sell their land after the completion of the port," he
said in response to Today's Zaman's questions.
March 2005. After this, the Transportation Ministry
first set August 2009 as the date to hold the tender,
but later delayed the tender to an unspecified date
in 2010, expecting to receive a grant loan from the
European Union to finance some preliminary
investments that will cost nearly $600 million. The
delay was especially necessary since the previously
completed feasibility studies, environmental impact
assessment and bid specifications need to be
updated in accordance with EU standards for
holding a tender.
The next step will be the EU's approval of the
loan. The General Directorate of Railway, Port and
Airport Construction (DLH) plans to complete its
work on a breakwater in the sea prior to the start of
construction on the port. The jetty of the port will
be 800 meters long, and the depth of the water
surrounding it will be 40 meters.
Once completed, even ships over 200,000 tons
in weight will be able to dock in the port and
Ziraat’s Greek success
spurs local competition
PHOTO
CÝHAN, MEHMET EMÝN KARAKURT
Following the success of two recently established Ziraat Bankasý branches in Greece, which have
enjoyed unprecedented popularity with Turks in the region, Greek banks have intensified
their quest to hire more Turkish employees
Turkey sees increase
in tourist numbers
in first seven months
The number of tourists visiting Turkey
increased by 1.1 percent in the first seven
months of this year compared to the same period
of 2008, data from the Ministry of Tourism and
Culture has shown.
Some 14.93 million tourists visited Turkey in the
January-July period. The number of tourists visiting
Turkey in July 2009 was 4.34 million, a 6.23 percent
increase over the same month of the preceding year.
Antalya received the highest number of tourists in the
first seven months with 4.47 million, while the number
of tourists visiting Ýstanbul was 4.18 million. Muðla saw
1.45 million tourists in the first seven months, while
688,838 visited the northwestern province of Edirne
and 636,821 entered Turkey via Artvin.
Germany sent the highest number of tourists to
Turkey, with 2.46 million in the January-July period,
while Russia followed with 1.47 million in the same
period. The UK sent 1.27 million tourists to Turkey
in the first seven months of the year; another
766,658 came from Bulgaria.
The number of tourists from African countries
increased by 33.9 percent, the highest increase in
tourist numbers to Turkey in the given period.
Some 244,430 tourists from Africa visited Turkey in
first seven months. African countries sent 48
percent more tourists to Turkey in July than the
same month of 2008. Likewise, the number of
tourists from the US was also on the rise, as the
country sent 78,757 tourists to Turkey in the
January-July period, a 13.8 percent increase over
the same months of 2008.
The majority of tourists who entered Turkey
in the January-July period, some 3.82 million,
preferred flying, while 1.57 million entered the
country via land transportation. A total of 344,257
came via sea transportation, while another 14,083
used rail. Ýstanbul Today's Zaman with wires
TOKÝ to build
Turkey’s CERN
The construction of a center to be established
in Turkey to carry out particle and nuclear
physics research similar to that done at the
European Organization for Nuclear Research
(CERN) facility in Switzerland will be carried out
by the Housing Development Administration of
Turkey (TOKÝ).
Plans for the Turkish accelerator center, to be
established with the support of the State Planning
Organization (DPT), began in 2006. TOKÝ is
expected to receive bids on Sept. 18 for the
center's construction, which is planned to be
finalized in the following two years. When the
center is completed, it will house high-energy
electron and proton accelerators, enabling
advanced technological research in many fields,
particularly in particle and nuclear physics. The
center is expected to produce isotopes that are
used to cure a number of diseases.The project is
also expected to minimize Turkey's dependency
on radiopharmaceuticals, which are used in the
treatment and diagnosis of several diseases and
most of which are currently imported by hospitals
from abroad. Ýstanbul Today's Zaman with wires
Eko Ýnþaat wins tender
for Atatürk Airport
ERCAN BAYSAL ANKARA
Greek banks have intensified their
quest to hire more Turkish employees
following the success of two recently
established Ziraat Bankasý branches in Greece,
which have enjoyed unprecedented popularity
with Turks in the region.
One of Turkey's state-owned banks, Ziraat
Bankasý, opened two offices in Greece in
February, with one in Athens and the other in
Gümülcine (Komotini in Greek) in northeastern
Greece. The majority of Turks living in the
country, particularly in Western Thrace, have
started to switch their banking operations to
Ziraat Bankasý. The size of the bank's total
deposits along with loans they have extended
has reached 20 million euros within only a few
months. Banks in Greece are now positioning
more Turkish employees in their branches,
seeking to retain their Turkish clients by
providing improved services.
Observers note that Ziraat's presence in
Greece has stirred cutthroat competition in the
country's financial sector and that such a
situation will become more obvious if the bank
opens new branches. A similar situation can also
be seen in Bosnia and Herzegovina and
Macedonia, where Ziraat Bankasý also has
branches, as giant European banks are taking
steps to compete with the Turkish bank in these
countries.
A senior official from Ziraat told Today's
Zaman that they were encouraged to open new
branches in the Balkans after witnessing the
remarkable interest, particularly in Gümülcine
and also other places where the bank currently
operates.
Underlining that the mutual trade volume
between Turkey and Greece has been increasing
in the past few years and had reached $3.5
billion by the end of 2008, the Ziraat official said
BÝM logs TL 106.4 mln net profit
Turkish low-cost retailer BÝM
announced on Monday a net profit of
TL 106.4 million for the first six months of
the year.
The figure represents a 57 percent
increase in the group's net profits compared
to the same period in 2008. BÝM's total sales
were up 24 percent in the given period. BÝM,
Turkey's third-largest discount retail chain,
expects to open 350 new stores in Turkey
this year in spite of the ongoing global
financial crisis. Ýstanbul Today's Zaman
they expect to see a further increase in trade with
Greece and plan to open new branches in the
region. “The Turks living in the region have
shown that they would welcome new Ziraat
Bankasý branches, and we will determine our
strategy in line with their message,” the official
noted.
Ziraat applied for permission to open
branches in Greece in 2007 and received the
Greek government's approval the same year.
Some 10 Turkish bank employees from Western
Thrace have received training in Ankara to serve
in the bank's Gümilcine branch. The bank has
invested 1.1 million euros in establishing these
two new branches.
Balkans in the limelight
Operating in 67 branches in 18 countries,
Ziraat has plans to open new branches
abroad, most of them in the Balkans. Ziraat
Bankasý General Manager Can Akýn Çaðlar
recently said they expected to open branches
in countries where Turks live or do business.
The bank plans to open three new branches
in Greece and another five in Bulgaria. In
addition to Ziraat, Aktifbank, Türk Ekonomi
Bankasý (TEB) and the Fiba Group are other
Turkish banks operating in the Balkans.
Ziraat is also planning to open two branches
in Saudi Arabia before the end of this year,
seeking to provide superior services to
thousands of Turkish pilgrims who visit for
hajj every year.
More than 1,700 Turks living in Western
Thrace have deposited funds in the Ziraat
Bankasý Gümülcine branch since it was
established, with the branch's total net
deposits reaching 10 million euros. The
Athens branch, however, was unable to
obtain similar success in deposits, while the
amount of loans extended by Ziraat's Athens
branch has reached 5 million euros.
Deva Holding net sales up 79 pct
Leading Turkish pharmaceutical company
Deva Holding posted a net profit of TL 9.9
million for the first half of the year, according to
figures the company released on Monday.
The holding's net sales increased by 79
percent in the first six months of this year when
CM Y K
compared to the same period of 2008, while its
net assets grew by 23 percent in the same period.
Established in 1958, Deva Holding is a pioneer in
the Turkish pharmaceutical industry. The holding
controls a 4.5 percent of share of the Turkish
pharmaceutical market. Ýstanbul Today's Zaman
Turkish construction company Eko Ýnþaat has
won a tender for renovation and extension of
Ýstanbul Atatürk International Airport's 06/24 runway.
The State Airports Management General
Directorate (DHMÝ) signed a contract with Eko Ýnþaat,
who bid TL 179.4 million for the project, on Monday.
The company will start work on Sept. 15 and is
expected to finish the project within 90 days. The 06/24
runway will be extended by 250 meters, while the
company will also repair cracked areas of the runway.
DHMÝ officials said small planes and
nonscheduled cargo flights will be directed to either
Sabiha Gökçen Airport on the Anatolian side or Çorlu
Airport in the northwestern province of Tekirdað. The
officials noted there would be no delay in scheduled
passenger flights during the renovation. Ýstanbul Today's
Turkey-Iran trade
down 51 percent
Mutual trade between Turkey and Iran contracted
by 51 percent in the first half of this year,
compared to the previous year.
The figure stood at $2.45 billion at the end of the
January-June period of this year. The decline in the
two countries' mutual trade began in September
2008. IRNA, Iran's official news agency, cited the
ongoing global financial crisis and the decline in
natural gas and oil prices in global markets as the
main factors leading to the contraction in mutual
trade. Turkey's energy imports from Iran have
declined in the given period, while exports to this
country were also down. Turkey's trade with Iran
declined to $547 million in June 2009, compared with $1
billion in the same month of 2008. While exports to Iran
were up 21 percent, imports from the country fell by 59
percent in the given month. Ýstanbul Today's Zaman with wires
T08-25-08-09.qxd
24.08.2009
16:44
Page 1
08 TODAY’S ZAMAN
T U E S D AY, A U G U S T 2 5 , 2 0 0 9
One Big Mac costs average Ýstanbulite 48 minutes of labor
purchase an iPod nano, in New York it took just 14
minutes and 9 hours, respectively. The global
average to buy a Big Mac was 37 minutes. The
average wage earner in Mumbai, on the other hand,
had to work approximately 20 days to buy an iPod.
The Big Mac is used, because, according to the
report, it is a “highly uniform product that is
available everywhere in the same quality. … Since
1970, we have used a Big Mac, one kilogram of
bread and one kilogram of rice for this purpose in
our triennial study.” The iPod nano represents the
first non-food item used in the study, which has
been published since 1970, because, according to
the report, “The iPod nano (with eight GB of
storage) is an ideal example of a globally uniform
product.” The reports based wages and purchasing
power on a basket of professions which included
car mechanics, bus drivers, administrative
(PPP) measurements, may not be sufficient to make
a fair comparison, the study used a basket of items
in order to gauge Turkish wage earners' hourly
purchasing power. No surprise, purchasing power
based on hourly wages was highest in Western
European countries and North America. Ýstanbul
had only 33.2 percent of the annual purchasing
power of New York -- the base city. The bottom of
the list featured Jakarta, Manila and Nairobi, where
average hourly wages have only between 15.3 and
18.4 percent of the purchasing power of New York - the leader of the world's cities.
What was in the survey's basket? In addition to
such staple foods as rice and bread, items such as
McDonald's Big Mac and Apple's iPod nano were
also featured. While in Ýstanbul it took the average
wage earner 48 minutes of work to earn enough to
purchase a Big Mac and a whopping 56 hours to
contýnued from page 1
According to the study, which analyzed 14
professions in 73 cities worldwide, people work on
average 1,902 hours per year. Employees in Ýstanbul,
however, work on average 2,152 hours per year,
making it the city with the 12th-highest hours
worked in the survey. The two French cities in the
survey, Lyon and Paris, work the least number of
hours per year -- 1,582 and 1,594 hours, respectively
-- while Cairo, at the bottom of the list, works a
staggering 2,373 hours per year.
But not only do Ýstanbulites rank amongst the
most overworked people amongst major cities
worldwide, the study reveals that their long work
hours are not commensurately compensated. In fact,
net hourly wages in Turkey rank amongst the lowest
in the world, at just $4.30. And while wages alone,
even based on standard purchasing power parity
assistants, engineers and department heads.
Through extrapolation, the study reveals much
about the productivity of a labor force. France for
example, two of whose cities are ranked at the top
of the list of fewest hours worked, according to the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) is the country
with the 16th highest GDP per capita in the world
-- a robust $46,016 per year. This is achieved while
working about 1,453 hours per year -- 16 percent
fewer hours than the average world citizen.
Therefore, their GDP per capita per hour comes
to a whopping $31.67 per hour. In Turkey,
according to the IMF, GDP per capita is just
$10,472. If one were to apply the same ratio to
Turkey, although Ýstanbul and its mean annual
hours worked is not a representative snapshot of
the country, one might be tempted to say that
the Turkish GDP per capita per hour is $4.87.
Wýll antýtrust probe keep
Mýcrosoft, Yahoo apart?
PHOTO
Vendor Patrick Porter works on a laptop marked with the logo for bing, microsoft's recently upgraded search engine, in a cafeteria at microsoft in redmond, wash. The extended reach Microsoft Corp. is gaining with its new partnership with Yahoo Inc. will let it introduce bing to more people.
Microsoft is counting on the Yahoo partnership
to close the wide gap separating the software
maker from Google in search. Under the 10-year
agreement announced last month, Microsoft's
Bing search engine would process all search
requests and steer search-related ads on Yahoo.
Analysts believe the move will free Yahoo to
phase out of the search business so it can focus
on other products. Yahoo would keep 88 percent
of advertising revenue generated by searches on
its site for the first five years of the deal, and as
much as 93 percent in the final five years.
The Microsoft-Yahoo alliance may stand a
better chance of winning antitrust approval than
the Google-Yahoo pact because it would
combine the second and third players in the
search market instead of the top two, said
Melissa Maxman, head of the antitrust practice
group at Baker & Hostetler LLP. In fact, a
combination of Microsoft and Yahoo would still
lag far behind Google.
Google handled 64.7 percent of all US
Web searches in July, while Yahoo processed
19.3 percent and Microsoft 8.9 percent,
according to comScore Inc. The lopsided
competition means neither Yahoo nor
Microsoft has a large enough audience on its
own to lure a significant amount of search
advertising dollars away from Google, argues
Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith.
Yearly
Change (%)
YTD
Change (%)
MCAP
(million TL)
1-Y
Av.Volum
Country
Change
(%)
Level
İMKB-100
47.170
1,3%
10,6%
19,2%
75,6%
274.240
1.374
Hang Seng
H.Kong
-0,64
20.199,0
İMKB-30
60.276
1,4%
10,7%
23,3%
72,2%
222.995
1.103
Nikkei 225
Japan
-1,40
10.238,2
İMKB-IND
33.063
1,0%
10,2%
-2,1%
67,1%
69.128
361
Cac 40
İMKB-BANK
110.465
1,6%
12,5%
43,3%
97,3%
132.416
751
DAX
DJIMT
9,84
1,7%
7,0%
-6,3%
38,6%
-
0,43
FTSE 100
Daily Monthly
Change (%) Change (%)
Close
France
2,83
3.604,4
Germany
2,62
5.450,3
UK
1,88
4.846,1
USA
1,61
9.470,0
Dow
TurkDEX
US$/JP¥
AT A GL
CALENDAR
pected
No data ex
ANCE
EU€/JP¥
NASDAQ
60,800
1,505
S&P
1,76%
-0,59%
BOVESPA
USA
1,23
USA
1,53
1.022,8
Brasil
1,23
57.527,9
”Advertisers want scale,” Smith said in an
interview, “so we need to increase our scale to
offer something compelling to advertisers.”
Already, one large group of advertisers that
opposed the Google deal is supporting the
Microsoft marriage.
Last year, the Association of National
Advertisers feared Google would gain too
much pricing leverage over advertisers
through a Yahoo alliance. But Microsoft still
won't be in the driver's seat if it teams with
Yahoo, said Bob Liodice, president of the trade
group. Its members include such big marketers
as Procter & Gamble Co., Johnson & Johnson
and General Motors Corp. Washington AP
47.51
34.15
20.5
9.3
8.4
1.634,0
Native
Native
Foreign
Number of Shares
M.cap
Daily
Change (%)
Foreign
Number of Shares
Monthly
Change (%)
Yearly
Change (%)
M.cap
Price
Daily Change (%)
Ticker
Volumes
US$/JP¥
94,53
CIMSA
5,45
8,57%
GRUND
0,52
-7,14%
GARAN
172,4
5,9
126,92
TL / €
2,120
0,3%
EU/JP¥
135,17
VESTL
1,93
7,82%
TAVHL
4,22
-4,52%
TTKOM
136,4
4,6
46,77
TL / $
1,482
-0,2%
EU/US$
1,4296
111,0
6,2
71,71
Ticker
Price (TL) Daily Change (%)
Ticker
Price (TL) Yearly Change (%)
TEBNK
1,89
7,39%
FENER
57,00
-4,20%
ISCTR
TUPRS
22,60
7,11%
BIMAS
55,50
-3,48%
KCHOL
94,9
3,8
73,13
ENKAI
6,10
7,02%
AEFES
16,20
-2,99%
SAHOL
81,9
5,6
71,75
ÝMKB 100
ÝMKB 30
ÝMKB IND
Cement
NUHCM
BUCIM
AKCNS
--
--
6.038,1
4.212
953
90
783
14,5x
13,9x
11,1x
219,8x
58,5x
-70,5x
14,3x
-21,0x
P/E 2007/06t
10,4x
10,0x
8,4x
272,3x
52,2x
-401,6x
5,6x
-10,8x
P/E 2007/09t
EV/EBITDA 2006/12*
9,9x
6,7x
9,7x
5,5x
8,3x
7,7x
297,4x
26,6x
46,5x
39,2x
-153,0x
11,6x
4,7x
5,7x
EV/EBITDA 2007/03t*
7,4x
6,1x
7,6x
27,9x
36,5x
13,9x
5,2x
75,4x
EV/EBITDA 2007/06t*
7,1x
5,9x
7,7x
25,5x
34,6x
14,4x
4,6x
36,0x
Mcap TL
--
P/E 2006/12
CIMSA
-9,4x
41,9x
CM Y K
Close
Price ($)
Light C. Oil
Gold
Copper
74,28
941,50
284,10
Way
Change (%)
1,3%
-0,2%
3,6%
High
74,97
941,50
285,35
The Energy Market Regulatory Agency (EPDK) is
expected to decide today whether to extend the
term of price ceilings for the petroleum market, which
expires today, in a meeting with sector representatives.
The ceilings were introduced on June 25 and were to
remain in effect for two months. Now that the twomonth period has come to an end, the oil market
watchdog will have to decide what to do next. EPDK
President Hasan Köktaþ and council members will meet
representatives of the Turkish oil market, including
officials from the Turkish Petroleum Refineries
Corporation (TÜPRAÞ), the Turkish Union of Chambers
and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) and the Petroleum
Industry Association (PETDER). The board is expected to
make an announcement later in the day, following the
meeting with sector representatives. Citing the current
volatile atmosphere in global oil markets, some suggest
the price ceilings will remain in effect for another two
months. However, petroleum product dealers demand
their removal, saying they have experienced a remarkable
decline in profits following their implementation. Since
June 25 the price of 95-octane fuel has risen from TL 3.05
to TL 3.28 while the price of diesel fuel increased from TL
2.49 to TL 2.69 per liter. The new method of calculation is
indexed to the price of a barrel of oil. If the price of oil
decreases in international markets, prices in Turkey
decrease at the same rate. Ýstanbul Today's Zaman with wires
Taiwan's High Tech Computer Corp. signed a memorandum Monday with China Mobile Ltd., the world's
largest mobile carrier, to jointly develop smartphones and
tap the mainland's rapidly growing telecoms market.
Wang Jianzhou, China Mobile's chairman, said the Chinese carrier will invest 47 million yuan ($6.9 million) in the
joint project and expects to develop at least seven models by
2010. HTC, as the Taiwanese company is known, will design and develop the models, while China Mobile will provide customer service and support, Wang said. State-owned
China Mobile has called its smartphones OPhone, an apparent attempt to compete with Apple Inc.'s hugely popular
iPhone. China Mobile has for years purchased cell phones
made by HTC to run with its second-generation network,
and the new models will be for the cutting-edge third generation network, Wang said. China is the world's most
populous mobile phone market while Taiwan is a leading
supplier of computers and semiconductors. China Mobile
has tapped into the nascent 3G phone market using the
homegrown TD-SCDMA standard. The cooperation
might benefit both sides, given China's vast market. But
China Mobile must keep its smartphone prices down in
order to attract more 3G users and that would cut into
HTC's profit margin, said Vincent Chen, an analyst with
Taiwan's Yuanta Core Pacific Securities Inc. Taipei Taiwan AP
Britain's recession over,
accountants say
Britain is likely to move out of recession and post
growth of 0.5 percent this quarter, a business
survey by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in
England and Wales (ICAEW) showed on Sunday.
Posting its biggest-ever rise, ICAEW's Business
Confidence Monitor (BCM) has moved to positive
territory for the first time in two years.
"This quarter's BCM suggests that the UK recession
is at an end," said Michael Izza, chief executive of the
ICAEW, predicting half a percent of growth in gross
domestic product (GDP) after five quarters of declining
output. The British economy shrank a much bigger than
expected 0.8 percent in Q2 but finance minister Alistair
Darling said last week the economy was on track to start
growing again by the end of the year.Investors will
watch for the second reading of Q2 growth this week,
due on August 28."While there is no doubt that the UK
economy is on its way to recovery, we shouldn't
underestimate the challenges ahead for businesses,"
ICAEW's Izza said. When asked, 41 percent of the
1,000 senior business professionals surveyed were more
confident about economic prospects for their business
in the next year, the BCM showed. London Reuters
Russia emerging from
recession, official says
65.85
52.49
39.5
EPDK to decide on price
ceilings application today
China Mobile to develop
smartphones with Taiwan
AP, ELAINE THOMPSON
Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp. hope
that by joining forces, they can tilt the
balance of power in Internet search
away from Google Inc. First, however, Yahoo and
Microsoft have to convince regulators that their
plan won't hurt online advertisers and
consumers.
As the US Justice Department reviews the
proposed partnership, approval figures to hinge
on this question: Will the online ad market be
healthier if Google's dominance is challenged by
a single, more muscular rival instead of two
scrawnier foes?
The first step toward getting an answer came
this month when Microsoft and Yahoo filed
paperwork with federal regulators to comply with
the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, an antitrust law
governing mergers and alliances between
competitors. The Justice Department has until
early September to approve the agreement or -as is likely in this case -- request additional
information.
European regulators are also expected to
review the deal. Microsoft and Yahoo are bracing
for the probes to extend into early next year, and
the outcome is far from certain.
Just nine months ago, Google abandoned its
own proposed partnership with Yahoo to avoid a
showdown with the government, which had
concluded that Google was already too powerful
in the lucrative market for selling ads alongside
search results. Google had hoped to extend its
reach even further by selling ads next to some of
Yahoo's search results, and in the process, keep
Yahoo out of Microsoft's clutches. Microsoft
aggressively lobbied against the partnership.
With the Google-Yahoo inquiry behind
them, US antitrust regulators are likely to
enter this examination with a clearer
definition of the Internet search landscape
and a better understanding of how it affects
the steadily growing online advertising
market. Justice Department spokeswoman
Gina Talamona would not comment on the
antitrust review, whose existence was
confirmed by Microsoft and Yahoo.
BUSINESS
Low
72,65
941,50
270,75
P/E: Share price divided by earnings per share is a measure of the price paid for a share relative to
the income or profit earned by the firm per share.
EV/EBITDA: Enterprise value divided by earnings before interest, tax and amortization; “t” stands for
trailer and means the data over the last four quarters.
(*) Yesterday's closing (**) Updated at 6 p.m. by GMT+2
Disclaimer: The information in this report has been prepared by BMD, Bizim Securities from sources
believed to be reliable. All the information, interpretations and recommendations covered herein
relating to investment actions are not within the scope of investment consultancy. Therefore
investment decisions based only on the information covered herein may not bring expected results.
Russia is likely emerging from its deep recession, a
top governmental official said Monday, noting an
improvement in the latest economic output figures for
July. Gross domestic product rose 0.5 percent in July
from the previous month and was down 9.3 percent
compared with the same month in 2008, according to
Deputy Economic Minister Andrei Klepach.
The yearly rate is a smaller decline than the 10.1 percent
drop recorded in June and the 11.5 percent in May. "We
can say with a degree of certainty that the recession is
generally over, and the economy is moving to recover,”
Klepach said, according to the state news agency RIA
Novosti. Russia is weathering its biggest recession in a
decade. Its economy has already contracted by over 10
percent this year and is running a 7.5 percent budget deficit
-- its first in a decade. It has been the hardest hit of the
major developing economies as oil prices plunged from last
year and demand for metals dropped off. President Dmitry
Medvedev said this month that Russia has been hit harder
than expected because of its overdependence on oil
exports. He warned that Russia's economy will have “no
future” unless it diversifies more thoroughly. Moscow AP
T09-25-08-09.qxd
24.08.2009
15:11
Page 1
Suhoor and Iftar times
CITY
ADANA
ANKARA
BURSA
DÝYARBAKIR
ESKÝÞEHÝR
IÐDIR
ÝSTANBUL
ÝZMÝR
KAYSERÝ
ZONGULDAK
FAJR
SUNRISE DHUHR
4:29
4:30
4:44
4:07
4:40
3:45
4:42
4:58
4:23
4:29
5:57
6:03
6:17
5:36
6:12
5:18
6:17
6:27
5:54
6:05
12:48
12:58
13:13
12:28
13:07
12:13
13:13
13:21
12:47
13:02
ASR MAGHRIB
16:27
16:41
16:55
16:08
16:49
15:55
16:56
17:01
16:28
16:45
19:27
19:41
19:56
19:09
19:50
18:56
19:58
20:01
19:29
19:47
Tarawih prayer a means of forgiveness for sins
ISHA
Tarawih is a night prayer performed during
Ramadan. It is performed after the isha (night)
prayer. It can be performed at home, alone or in
congregation or at a mosque. It is prayed in pairs
of two and can be prayed in any amount of rak'ah
(units of prayer), although eight or 20 raka'ahs are
what Muslims usually pray. Prophet Muhammad
regarded the tarawih prayer as a means of forgiveness of sins. He said, "The one who observes the
20:47
21:05
21:21
20.30
21:14
20:21
21:25
21:24
20:51
21:14
*One may have suhoor till fajr and break his fast at maghrib.
SULTANAHMET SET TO BECOME
ÝSTANBUL’S RAMADAN FEASTING CENTER
Surrou nded by the spiritua l
atmosphere of the holy month of
Ramadan, the historic Sultanahmet
for
Square will become a center of feasting
of the
Ýstanbul, reviving the old traditions
said
Demir
Mustafa
holy month. Fatih Mayor
colorful
the square will be the city's most
nment.
center of traditional Ramadan entertai
the
under
run
will
Events at the square
met.”
theme “Hello to Ramadan in Sultanah
music
Sufi
Among the events will be
shadow
performances, Karagöz and Hacývat
and
puppet shows for children, storytelling
Hodja
in
Nasredd
plays relating the tales of
n
Ottoma
an
by
ances
perform
to
addition
in
janissary band.
n
Ramada
t
differen
361
“We will offer
holy
programs to our visitors during the
more
be
month. This year's Ramadan will
t from
colorful and almost totally differen
those in past years,” the mayor stated.
is a
Square
hmet
The historic Sultana
during
meetin g point for Ýstanbu lites
from
Ramadan where many spend their time
until
time of iftar (fast-br eaking dinner)
is the
suhoor (pre-dawn meal). “Sultanahmet
g
offerin
visible face of Ýstanbu l. When
not
will
we
month,
a
for
s
program
Ramadan
On the
harm the tourism potential of the city.
for
contrary, we wish to contribute to efforts
cultural
and
l
historica
the
of
ion
promot
the
values of Ýstanbul,” Demir said.
The festivit ies at the square begin
and a
with recitations from the Quran,
the
concer t of Sufi music is held after
prayer
g
evenin
an
,
prayer
tarawi h
the
perform ed during Ramad an after
onal
regula r night prayer . The traditi
this
hmet
Sultana
in
up
set
be
will
bazaar
dozens
year as well, which will comprise
gifts
,
cuisine
Turkish
g
of stalls featurin
and traditional crafts.
the
“We plan to set up around 100 stalls at
finished
bazaar. Our preparations are almost
people
for an amphitheatre that will host 600
after
at a time. Our progra ms will start
days of
20
first
the
during
prayer
evening
will start
Ramadan. During the remaining 10, we
said.
them after the night prayer,” the mayor
The programs will also feature a number
pianists
of famous artists, including singers,
will be
and show-m en. Among them
Ahmet
Turkish classic al music singer
and
Özhan, well-known classical pianist
t
composer Tuluyhan Uðurlu and Mehme
Quran
Özcan Güneþdoðdu, who has won
y
recitation contests. An Ottoman janissar
s in
band will also enchan t visitor
re.
Sultanahmet with a magnificent repertoi
ted
comple
The Fatih Municipality has
into an
district
the
turn
to
tions
prepara
an.
enterta inment center during Ramad
and
Ýstanbu lites will be offered a visual
the end
until
evening
every
feast
cultural
of the holy month.
Ramadan a time to remember
the poor, needy
of
Aware of the fact that the holy month
eating
Ramadan is about more than just not
l
Ýstanbu
in
and drinking, municipal officials
a
have rolled up their sleeves to extend
helping hand to those in need.
of
The most prominent charitable activity
up
the holy month is, undoubtedly, setting
have
iftar tents in which thousands of people
tents
the opportunity to break their fast. Iftar
fill their
are not only places where people
together
bring
stomachs, but also spots which
those
the rich and the poor. The helpers and
The historic
Sultanahmet Square is a
meeting point for
Ýstanbulites during
Ramadan where many
go from the time of
iftar until suhoor. The
festivities at the square
begin with recitations
from the Quran, and a
concert of Sufi music is
held after the tarawih
prayer, an evening
prayer performed
during Ramadan after
the regular night prayer
and
helped sit at the same table in these tents
helped.
feel the joy of helping and being
odate
accomm
will
city
Tents all across the
thousands of people during Ramadan.
The Esenler Municipality will both pitch
to those
iftar tents and deliver iftar dinners
ality
unable to come to the tents. The municip
and
poor
the
to
plans to deliver iftar dinners
tents.
iftar
the
to
go
to
unable
are
sick who
has
The Zeytin burnu Munici pality
tents
chosen a historic spot to set up its iftar
re of
to provid e fasters with the pleasu
ere.
breaking their fast in a historic atmosph
in the
Two tents pitched by the municipality
aking
Merkezefendi area will offer fast-bre
day.
dinners to around 2,500 people every
other
the
on
ality,
Municip
Sarýyer
The
to be
hand, has prepare d food aid packs
packs
special
The
delivered to the needy.
tea,
contain sunflow er oil, flour, sugar,
and
tomato sauce, beans, rice, pasta, olives
also
will
ality
municip
The
ffs.
other foodstu
and
organi ze Sufi music perform ances
puppe t
Karagö z and Hacýva t shadow
in the
dinners
aking
fast-bre
during
shows
areas in
iftar tents to be set up in various
the district. Ýstanbul Today's Zaman with wires
PHOTO
TODAY’S ZAMAN
Tour agencies are complaining that
demand for the umra pilgrimage has
decreased considerably in Turkey during
the holy month of Ramadan due to the
spread of swine flu throughout the world.
Believers used to show high interest in
tours for umra, a pilgrimage to Mecca, in
past years, especially during Ramadan. But
this year the demand has almost reduced by
half due to the risk of catching swine flu.
“We used to see a roughly 20 percent
increase in demand for umra tours during
the holy month. But this year, demand has
reduced by half,” travel agency owners
complain. The umra can be performed at
any time, but is popular during Ramadan.
Some travel agencies associate the
drop in umra pilgrimage sales to the
ongoing global financial crisis. “Hotels in
Saudi Arabia have increased their fees. We
have to reflect this increase in our tour
fees. Our customers are upset, as we
cannot offer them a discount,” said Hilmi
Karaduman from Ýspa Tour Agency.
Karaduman also said financial
difficulties are forcing people to reduce
their budgets for umra. “We organize
tours which last for one week, which is
preferred by people residing in western
provinces. People from central provinces,
on the other hand, prefer to spend more
time in the holy lands, around one
month,” Karaduman added.
Sinan Tunç, from Surre Tour Agency,
said the fear of swine flu has caused people
to postpone their plans for umra
pilgrimages. “Saudi Arabia did not allow
some planes from foreign countries to enter
its air space because of the risk of swine flu.
People are now concerned about the
disease and prefer to postpone their plans
for umra to a later date,” he remarked.
Travel agencies also have one-day tours
to Mecca and Medina, for businessmen in
particular, who do not have the chance to
spend more time in the holy lands due to
their over-occupied schedules. “We take
businessmen to Mecca and Medina. There
they experience the Friday prayers at the
Kaba and return to Turkey,” Tunç added.
One should be prepared to pay
between 1,200 and 3,450 euros for an
umra pilgrimage during the holy month of
Ramadan. Ýstanbul Today's Zaman
TODAY’S ZAMAN
Demand for umra
tours decreases as
swine flu spreads
PAGE 9 RAMADAN 5, 1430
PHOTO
TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2009
tarawih prayer at night during Ramadan with complete faith and devotion only for the sake of the recompense of the hereafter will have all of his previous sins forgiven by God." Sunni Muslims believe tarawih is a sunnah (a deed of the Prophet
Muhammad) and may be performed at home if
one is unable to attend a mosque. Shiite
Muslims do not perform the tarawih, deeming it
a practice instituted by Omar, the second caliph.
Dieticians warn against malnutrition, dehydration during Ramadan
With hot days making it even more
difficult for fasters, dieticians have
warned against malnutrition and dehydration
during the holy month of Ramadan.
Sedat Demir, a doctor at the Bursa Research
and Teaching Hospital, has said it would be
beneficial for believers to fast provided that they
protect themselves against harmful side effects.
“We should not forget that fasting is prescribed for
those who are healthy. If you are suffering from a
health problem or expecting a baby, I would advise
you to consult a doctor before deciding to fast. As
Ramadan has coincided with hot summer days this
year, believers should be more careful,” Demir noted.
Demir warned that the lack of liquids and food for
long hours may result in an imbalance in blood sugar,
adding that patients with diabetes and high blood
pressure should protect themselves against
dehydration. “These patients should be more careful if
they intend to fast. In general we recommend that
patients with diabetes not fast because low blood sugar
levels may result in fatal problems. It is very risky for
a patient to suffer from a low blood sugar level during
the period he fasts and then to suffer from a high
blood sugar level after he breaks his fast. Similarly,
the lack of water in the body is risky, especially for
patients with renal failure,” the doctor stated.
Demir also noted that it was essential for fasters
CM Y K
not to skip suhoor, a pre-dawn meal. Recalling that
fasting without having suhoor creates imbalances in
the body, Demir said: “At suhoor, choose foods
like eggs and cheese that are rich in protein and
that take a long time to digest. Also, complex
carbohydrates during suhoor take longer to
digest, making you less hungry during the day.
Dates are an excellent source of sugar, fiber,
carbohydrates, potassium and magnesium. Avoid
foods like honey, molasses or jam, which will make
you thirsty during the day. Equally important, do
not go to bed immediately after suhoor. If
possible, try to walk around the house a little
before sleeping.” Ýstanbul Today's Zaman with wires
T10-25-08-09.qxd
24.08.2009
16:46
Page 1
10 TODAY’S ZAMAN
S. Korea seeks 4-year
term for stem cell fraud
South Korean prosecutors told a Seoul court on
Monday they wanted a four year prison term for disgraced scientist Hwang Woo-suk, whose research
team has been linked to major fraud in its once-celebrated stem cell studies. Hwang, once a scientist with
rock-star like status in South Korea for his research
that brought the country to the forefront of stem cell
studies, is facing trial on charges of fraud, misusing
state funds and violating bioethics laws. Prosecutors
said Hwang brought shame to the country and harm
to scientific research in South Korea. Hwang's trial at
a nondescript Seoul court has been going on for
about three years, and could stretch into a fourth, legal experts said. It has been bogged down in the
technical testimony from scores of scientists about
the research done by his team. Hwang's team was
thought to have made two major breakthroughs in
the field by cloning stem cells and tailoring them to a
specific patient, which raised hopes of generating genetically specific tissue to repair damaged
organs or treat diseases such as Alzheimer's.
Stem cells are the body's master cells, giving rise
to all the tissues, organs and blood. Seoul Reuters
Major Shiite groups have formed a new
alliance that will exclude the Iraqi prime
minister, lawmakers said Monday, a move
likely to stoke fears of increasing Iranian influence and shake up the political landscape
ahead of January parliamentary elections.
The coalition will include the largest Shiite party, the Iranian-backed Supreme Iraqi Islamic
Council and anti-US cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's bloc,
which could give Tehran deeper influence in Iraq
just as US forces begin to withdraw.
The last American soldier is scheduled to
leave Iraq by the end of 2011.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Dawa
Party was left out because of disagreement over
who would lead the alliance, senior SIIC member Reda Jawad Taqi told The Associated Press.
He said a last-minute meeting held on Sunday
in a bid to bring Dawa into the coalition had
failed to overcome the differences.
Key figures in the alliance said efforts continued to try to reach agreement with Dawa.
“We are hoping for their participation and the
door will be left open for them,” ex-Prime Minister
Ibrahim al-Jaafari said. The announcement was a
new setback for al-Maliki, whose efforts to portray
himself as a champion of security has been battered
by a series of devastating bombings in Baghdad and
in northern Iraq in recent weeks. The most recent of
these struck the foreign and finance ministries on
Wednesday, killing about 100 people and wounding some 500. The uptick in violence has heightened fears that Iraqi security forces aren't ready to
protect the people nearly two months after most
US troops pulled back from urban areas.
Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi,
PHOTOs
DEADLOCK
Netanyahu sees talks
with Palestinians soon
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expects
no breakthroughs in a meeting this week with a US
peace envoy, though he hopes talks with the
Palestinians can resume within two months, a
spokesman said on Monday. Netanyahu, a rightwinger in power since March, has resisted Western
pressure to freeze Jewish settlements on occupied
land where Palestinians seek statehood. The dispute
has opened a rare rift between Israel and its top ally,
the United States. Speaking ahead of a European visit during which Netanyahu was scheduled to meet
US envoy George Mitchell, spokesman Nir Hefetz
told reporters: "The prime minister expects there to
be a certain degree of progress, but no breakthrough
is expected." Hefetz said Netanyahu, who will also
meet British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, would make
clear that Israel would "attend to the normal needs"
of its settlers "alongside a political process that is to be
launched in about two months' time." Tel Aviv Reuters
GOODWILL
Saudi king orders release
of 17 political prisoners
Saudi Arabia will this week free 17 political prisoners
from the Ismaili community, sources said on Monday,
in a new sign of easing tensions with the minority
group living near the border with Yemen. King
Abdullah has ordered the release of the predominantly
young Ismailis about six months before the end of their
10-year jail sentence as part of a broader royal pardon
for hundreds of inmates in the kingdom at the start of
the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, the sources
said. "The order to release the 17 Ismailis came on
Sunday ... They are expected to be released this week,"
a source at the governorate of the southern Najran
province told Reuters. An Interior Ministry spokesman
said any comment should come from the royal court.
Reuters could not reach any officials at the court.
Mohammad al-Askar, a leading Ismaili activist,
said the decision put an end to "one of the most
sensitive issues" that had been irritating the minority group. "One of the 17 inmates called me
early this morning to say that he and the other 16
were asked by prison authorities to sign a pledge
not to participate again in protests and unrest before they get released," Askar said. Riyahd Reuters
NUKES
Iran says it's cooperating
with IAEA, West skeptical
Iran will continue to cooperate with the UN nuclear
watchdog, the Foreign Ministry said on Monday, apparently confirming Tehran had given inspectors access to a reactor under construction after barring visits
for a year. The International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) is due to release a report on Iran's disputed
nuclear program this week. Last week diplomats accredited to the Vienna-based agency said Iran had allowed the IAEA to inspect the Arak heavy water reactor site. The UN agency had urged Iran to grant access so that it could verify that the site under construction was for peaceful uses only. The diplomats
also said Iran had recently allowed an upgrade of
monitoring at the Natanz uranium enrichment plant.
The changes were greeted with skepticism by the
West, which suspects Iran is trying to build nuclear
bombs. Tehran says its nuclear work is to generate
electricity. Uranium enrichment can have both civilian and military uses. Asked about the reported Arak
visit and whether there had been a change or improvement in Iran's relations with the IAEA, Foreign
Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi told reporters: “All our nuclear activities have been within the framework of the agency and the NPT
[Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty].” Tehran Reuters
WORLD
Shiite groups announce new alliance minus Iraqi PM
AP, PETROS GIANNAKOURIS
CHEATING
T U E S D AY, A U G U S T 2 5 , 2 0 0 9
Greek firefighters use a hose to try and extinguish a fire in Dioni, 40 kilometers east of Athens, on Monday.
Fýre crews scramble to
tame Greek fýres, save nuns
Six major fires were burning Monday across Greece, including blazes on the islands of Evia
and Skyros in the Aegean Sea and Zakynthos in the west. But the most dangerous was the fire
near Athens, which started north of the Marathon plain and spread over Mount Penteli
Fire crews outside Athens
scrambled Monday to exploit a lull in high winds,
but the flames spread further and a
dozen nuns had to be rescued from
a convent threatened by one blaze.
Six major fires were burning
Monday across Greece, including
blazes on the islands of Evia and
Skyros in the Aegean Sea and
Zakynthos in the west. But the
most dangerous was the fire near
Athens, which started north of the
Marathon plain and spread over
Mount Penteli on the northern
edge of the Greek capital.
The massive wildfires broke
out on Friday and have razed about
58 square miles (37,000 acres or
15,000 hectares) of forest and
brush, damaged or destroyed
scores of homes and forced thousands to flee outlying areas of
Athens. At first light on Monday,
17 water-dropping planes and helicopters swooped over flames near
populated areas, trying to knock
down the fire before the stronger
winds expected later in the day. At
least five people were being treated
for burns and several dozen had
reported breathing problems,
but no injuries were serious,
Health Ministry officials said.
“There are some signs of optimism but no letting up of the
firefighting effort. We have a
chance to contain this nightmare
that has burned the city's main
forest area,” Athens regional governor Yiannis Sgouros said. “After
this, we will assess the extent of
this catastrophe -- how many
homes were destroyed, and how
much damage was done.”
Prime Minister Costas
Karamanlis toured the affected
area on Sunday, amid criticism of
his government's response to the
emergency. The mayor of
Marathon, Spyros Zagaris, was
among several local leaders who
accused the government of having
no coherent plan to fight the fire.
The Greek government also faced
severe criticism for its fire-fighting abilities in 2007, when fires
ravaged southern areas of the
country, killing 76 people.
Thousands of people fled the
fire-striken areas over the weekend, many on foot because fires
closed nearby roads. But government spokesman Evangelos
Antonaros said the number of people involved in state-organized
evacuations was “limited” and
most have now returned to their
homes. Antonaros on Monday defended the government's response.
“A massive effort is underway to contain these fires,”
Antonaros said. “From the first
moment, [we had] the presence
of personnel on a large scale.”
Up to 2,000 firefighters, soldiers and volunteers are involved
in fighting fires stretching more
than 30 miles (50 kilometers)
northeast of Athens. Aircraft have
been sent from France, Italy and
Greek Cyprus, with more help expected from other countries.
Fires raged, meanwhile, at the
coastal town of Nea Makri and
nearby Marathon _ site of one of
ancient history's most famous
battlegrounds -- to the northeast of the capital, and at Vilia
to the northwest. Athens AP
CM Y K
A man wipes his eyes in front of his home as fire rages nearby in Dioni, east of Athens.
Ankara offers help to fire-hit Greece
Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoðlu called his Greek
counterpart, Dora Bakoyannis,
late on Sunday to offer assistance in fighting the wildfires
that have swept through
homes and huge swaths of
forestland near Athens.
Expressing his sadness at
the destruction, Davutoðlu also
underlined that the issue was
being closely followed by Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan,
the Anatolia news agency reported on Monday. Turkey is ready to
offer all necessary assistance to
Greece, Davutoðlu told
Bakoyannis. In response,
Bakoyannis said they would be
glad to maintain close contact
between the civil defense organizations of the two countries and
added that they needed fire-fighting planes. Turkey has started
preparations to send a fire-fighting plane to neighboring Greece,
Anatolia said. As of Monday,
the fourth day of the fire, a
dozen Greek, Italian and
French fire-fighting planes battled flames fanned by strong
early morning winds. The operation is testing state resources, as well as a conservative government facing
the threat of an early election by March.
The fire broke out late on
Friday in the village of
Grammatiko, about 40 kilometers northeast of the Greek capital, and quickly spread to
neighboring villages. The fires
had retreated from Athens suburbs late on Sunday, when authorities used loudspeakers to
urge thousands to leave their
communities. Flames were
mainly burning forestland, but
strong winds were creating other flare-ups, authorities said.
Ankara Today's Zaman
a top SIIC member, also reached out to
Dawa, saying it was important to present a
strong united front that can face the overwhelming challenges facing the country.
“Forming the alliance is the first step and
the second step will be broadening it and
inviting political parties and national figures to
join in order to achieve unity,” he said.
Monday's announcement was a major
shift in Shiite politics, which have long been
dominated by the Supreme Council and alMaliki's Dawa Party. Baghdad AP
Report says over
200 to go on trial
after Xinjiang riots
More than 200 people are expected
to go on trial this week for their involvement in sectarian riots last month
that killed nearly 200 people in China's
western region of Xinjiang, a state-run
newspaper reported on Monday.
The trials will take place in Urumqi, the
capital of Xinjiang and the site of China's
worst ethnic violence in decades, in which another 1,700 people were injured, the China
Daily reported. The rioting pitted indigenous
Turkic-speaking Muslim Uighurs against
members of China's dominant Han ethnic
group, who have migrated to the region in
large numbers over recent decades.
Tensions in the city remain high,
with security forces keeping a wary eye
out for renewed violence.
China Daily said security will be further
increased around the time of the trials to
prevent revenge attacks or assaults by
Uighur separatists, whom Beijing blames
for carrying out a low-level insurgency
against Chinese rule in the region. Officials
have offered little direct information about
the investigation into the riots that broke
out July 5 after police stopped an initially
peaceful protest by Uighur youths. Uighurs
then smashed windows, burned cars and
attacked Han. Two days later, the Han took
to the streets and staged retaliatory attacks.
A total of 197 people were killed in the riot, most of them believed to be Han Chinese.
Details about the resulting crackdown have filtered out mainly through
the official media, which has offered
fractured and sometimes contradictory
information about numbers of arrests
and preparations for trials Beijing AP
China renovates
former palace home
of Dalai Lamas
China has completed a seven-year renovation of Tibet's Potala Palace -- home
to the Dalai Lamas until the region's current
spiritual leader fled during an aborted uprising
against Communist rule 50 years ago.
China says the project is part of its
plan to promote Tibetan culture and language in the region as it develops its
economy, of which tourism forms a major
part. The renovation, which also repaired
the Norbu Lingka, a summer palace for
the Dalai Lamas, cost 300 million yuan
($43.9 million), according to a report
Monday from the state-run news agency.
But many Tibetan exiles say the
Himalayan region's cultural heritage
has been threatened by Beijing's restrictions on the native Buddhist religion
and the Tibetan language as well as a
government-orchestrated mass migration of Han Chinese in the last three
decades. A large number of monasteries
and other artifacts also were destroyed
during China's Cultural Revolution,
from 1966 to 1976, although the Potala
was spared in the violence.
In March 2008, riots erupted in Lhasa, the
Tibetan capital, to protest Chinese rule. In response, Beijing poured troops into Tibetan areas and intensified its vilification of the Dalai
Lama, accusing him of instigating the unrest.
The spiritual leader, who fled China in
1959 and now lives in exile in India, has said
that restrictions on Tibet's religious practices
have resulted in a “cultural genocide.”
A ceremony was held Sunday on the
square in front of the Potala -- whose
facade looms over the city of Lhasa -according to the Xinhua News Agency.
“The repairs to the three key cultural relics
are an important part in the conservation of
the Tibetan culture,” said Liu Yandong, a
member of the Communist Party's Politburo
who attended the ceremony. Beijing AP
Page 1
TODAY’S ZAMAN 11
T U E S D AY, AUGUST 2 5 , 2 0 0 9
Hamas takes
on the radýcals
OPINION
By Mkhaimar Abusada*
TODAY’S ZAMAN
CAMBRIDGE -- The recent shoot-out in a Gaza
mosque between Hamas security officers and militants from the radical jihadi group the Warriors of
God brought to the surface the deep tensions that
divide Palestinian Islamists. Twenty-two people
died, including the Warriors of God's leader, Abdel
Latif Moussa. But Palestinian security officials doubt
that these will be the last casualties.
With Hamas in control for more than two years, the
Gaza Strip has long been considered much more traditional and conservative than the West Bank.
Nevertheless, in Gaza's political milieu, Hamas is a
moderate Islamic group that opposes al-Qaeda-style
extremism. But such extremist Islamic groups have
been gaining support in Gaza, and Hamas has noticed.
The shoot-out in the mosque shows that Hamas will be
ruthless in taking them on.
Various Salafi extremist groups have been operating
in Gaza for years. Salafis, whose name is derived from
the Arabic phrase for “righteous ancestors,” known as
“Salaf al-Salih,” insist on a return to what they consider
the purity of the practices of the first Muslims.
Hamas has, in the past, cooperated with some of the
Salafis, assuming they would stand behind Hamas's
leadership. The Army of Islam joined in the raid that abducted the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in June 2006. The
group also took responsibility for the 2007 kidnapping of
the BBC's Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston, who was
later released after negotiations led by Hamas.
The Warriors of God is one of a handful of radical,
al-Qaeda-inspired groups to have appeared in the Gaza
Strip in recent months, first coming to public attention
in June after claiming responsibility for a failed horseback attack on Israel from Gaza. Their Web site shares
images, language, and music with al-Qaeda and
other jihadi groups. In a recent declaration, the
group made favorable mention of al-Qaeda leaders
Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri.
The Warriors of God demands a pure form of Islamic
practice throughout the Gaza Strip, including the implementation of Sharia religious law and a rejection of
democracy. Indeed, the confrontation at the mosque followed the declaration of an Islamic Caliphate in Gaza, a
flagrant rejection of Hamas's authority.
Many young men in Gaza have become increasingly radicalized. Pakistani-style dress has become
common, as is the long hair that is thought to resemble the style of the Prophet Mohammad. At the
same time, violence against “law-breakers” is on the
rise. Internet cafes have been bombed, institutions
with Christian affiliations burned down, foreign
schools attacked, and wedding parties assaulted.
There are substantial ideological differences between Gaza's Salafi al-Qaeda affiliates and Hamas.
As a ruling party, Hamas has insisted that its sole
concern is the Palestinian people, not a global
Islamic revolution. Hamas has not imposed Islamic
law in the Gaza Strip.
The Salafi groups, however, appear increasingly
influenced by the growth of radical al-Qaeda-style
extremism in Pakistan, Iraq, and Afghanistan. While
traditional Salafi movements have stayed away from
politics, the younger groups see activism and violence as the best means of realizing their goals.
But Hamas's failure to establish and implement
Islamic law is not the only issue that rankles. One of
the reasons for these groups' increased appeal is the
de facto cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, which
has led some in Gaza to charge that Hamas has
been neutralized as a resistance force. With the border closed under Israeli blockade for more than two
years, levels of poverty, unemployment, and despair
have grown, with young men increasingly interested
in joining the global jihad as it comes to Gaza.
Indeed, Hamas' confrontation with Salafi groups
comes as Israel is charging that dozens of foreign
terrorists have crossed into Gaza from the Sinai
Desert to join the violent underground. Hamas's
crackdown thus highlights its desire to maintain
control over its conflict with Israel.
The threat of Salafi extremism in Gaza is far from
over. Salafis have threatened to retaliate against
Hamas, particularly the security brigades that led the
counter-attack on the mosque. A new Salafi group
called the Brigade of Swords of Righteousness has
declared its obedience to the Warriors of God, and
has warned Gazans to stay away from government
buildings, security headquarters, mosques attended
by Hamas leaders, and other official buildings. The
group now considers these legitimate targets.
With hundreds of tunnels connecting the Gaza Strip and
Sinai, it is very difficult to control the flow of arms, ammunition, and possibly foreign fighters. Hamas's battle with these
radicals, who detonated suicide bombs and killed six Hamas
security men during the mosque fight, is just beginning.
Residents are afraid that Gaza could become another Iraq,
with bombings and mass killings a daily occurrence.
Hamas will use all means necessary to protect its
power, and to break the jihadi groups now spreading
in Gaza. In the process, Hamas hopes to win the international legitimacy that it has long sought.
*Mkhaimar Abusada is professor of Political Science at AlAzhar University in Gaza. © Project Syndicate, 2009
US Justice Department advises pursuing CIA abuses
AP, HARRY HAMBURG
WORLD
PHOTO
16:05
US Attorney General Eric Holder
The US Justice Department has recommended
reopening nearly a dozen prisoner-abuse cases,
which could expose CIA employees and contractors to
prosecution for their treatment of terrorism suspects,
The New York Times reported on Monday.
The recommendation, reversing the Bush
administration, came from the Justice
Department's ethics office and has been presented to US Attorney General Eric Holder.
The development threatens to engulf
Washington politics at a time when President
Barack Obama is pushing to overhaul healthcare
and climate change policy. Obama has said he
seeks to look forward rather than launch timeconsuming investigations into past events.
The Justice Department is due to disclose
details on Monday of prisoner abuse that were
gathered in 2004 by the CIA's inspector general but have never been released, according to
the Times report, which cited an unnamed
person officially briefed on the matter.
When the CIA first referred its inspector general's findings, it decided that none of the cases merited prosecution. But when Holder took office as
attorney general this year under Obama and saw
the allegations included deaths of people in
custody and other cases of physical or mental
torment, he reconsidered, the newspaper said.
"With the release of the details on Monday and
the formal advice that at least some cases be reopened,
it now seems all but certain that the appointment of a
prosecutor or other concrete steps will follow, posing
significant new problems for the CIA," the Times said.
The recommendation to review the cases
centers mainly on allegations of detainee
abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In some examples of abuse made public at the
weekend, the CIA report describes how its officers carried out mock executions and threatened at least
one prisoner with a gun and a power drill -possible violations of a federal torture statute.
The Times quoted a CIA spokesman, Paul
Gimigliano, as saying that the Justice Department
recommendation to open the closed cases had
not been sent to the intelligence agency.
"Decisions on whether or not to pursue action in
court were made after careful consideration by career
prosecutors at the Justice Department. The CIA
itself brought these matters -- facts and allegations alike -- to the department's attention," he
was quoted as saying. Washington, D.C. Reuters
PRESIDENT OBAMA NEEDS NEW
HEALTH PLAN SALES TACTIC
President Barack Obama still may push through a
thoroughgoing overhaul of the American health
care system, but political indicators point to a
needed overhaul of his own tactics for selling reform.
Barely eight months in office, Obama is trapped in a
tightening vice. On one side, Republicans refuse to countenance further government involvement in health care; on the
other, liberal Democrats insist Obama keep his campaign
pledge to make sure the estimated 50 million Americans who
are without coverage can afford health insurance.
“The people don't have sufficient information, and I'm surprised the administration and others backing reform haven't done
much more to educate the public,” said Robin Lauermann, professor of politics at Messiah College in Grantham, Pennsylvania.
As he struggles against a powerful wave of opposition to reforming the system, his poll numbers are slipping significantly.
A Washington Post-ABC News survey found that fewer
than half of Americans -- 49 percent -- say they believe the
president will make the right decisions for the country. That's
down from 60 percent at the 100-day mark in his presidency.
The poll shows Obama's overall approval is 57 percent, 12
points lower than it was at its peak in April. Fifty-three percent
disapprove of the way he's handling the budget deficit and his
approval on health care continues to deteriorate.
A look at other bare numbers -- significant Democratic majori-
ties in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate -doesn't explain the overwhelming complexity of bringing the
United States in line with the world's other wealthy democracies
that guarantee health care to everyone.
Mixed into that equation are the so-called Blue Dog Democrats
-- a conservative wing of the party that in many ways shares reform
reservations with Republicans. The Blue Dogs oppose Obama's call
for a government-run insurance option. Their
votes against the Obama plan could
negate the overall Democratic majority.
The president argues that a
public option would embrace
those now without coverage, give
others a choice beyond private insurance and, in theory, bring
down the cost for everyone
through competition from nonprofit government program.
REUTERS, LARRY DOWNING
24.08.2009
PHOTO
T11-25-08-09.qxd
As the health care argument swirls through the nation during the August congressional recess, Americans have witnessed
ugly and offensive attacks on the motives driving Obama and
those who support changing the system. This despite the fact
that uncovered medical costs have been a major contributor to
personal bankruptcies in the world's No. 1 economy.
A multitude of factors are responsible.
First, many Americans are deeply suspicious of federal-government involvement in their lives -- even some in the nation's
aging population who are dependent on Social Security and
Medicare, the government programs that serve as a national
pension system and pay for medical treatment for every
American over age 65. “Endemic in the American political
culture is a fear of big government, the fear of socialism,”
says Andrea Hatcher, political science professor at The
University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee.
Second, that fear of government involvement in
Americans' private lives, finds expression in a Republican Party
philosophy that maintains the private sector -- motivated by
profit and free market pressures -- always works better than a
government bureaucracy. Republicans hold to that argument even though America spends more on
health care for a lesser result than countries with government-run systems.
And Obama has allowed
Congress to write the specifics of new
health care legislation with minimal
demands from the White House. He
has said he wants assurances that any
plan does not increase the soaring national debt. What's more, the president said he prefers a public option,
although recent remarks by administration officials suggest he might
back away from that preference.
The White House explains it
took the more hands-off approach
after studying former President Bill
Clinton failure to push through a reform package. He sent Congress a fully written plan and saw
his fellow Democrats, the majority, revolt because
they had no role in shaping policy changes.
Leaving the specifics to Congress has allowed
debate to drag on, with three-potential bills heading this fall to the House floor. In the Senate, the finance committee has been trying to write a bill, but
US President Barack
has left the negotiating to six members -- three
Obama holds up a piece of
Republicans and three Democrats. In today's
fruit after biting into it after
highly charged and deeply partisan climate, there
a town hall meeting on
is little chance Obama will get what he wants
healthcare at a Virginia
from the Senate process. Washington, D.C. AP
supermarket on July 29.
Malaysia delays woman’s caning
for alcohol until after Ramadan
Aged but fit-looking Castro
appears on Cuban television
Malaysia abruptly granted a
Ramadan reprieve to the first Muslim
Malay woman to be sentenced to caning
for drinking beer, but insisted Monday
the thrashing would still take place after
the Islamic holy month of fasting.
Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, a 32-yearold mother of two, had been en route to a
women's prison for the caning when
Islamic officials who took her into custody
drove her back home and released her.
Mohamad Sahfri Abdul Aziz, a state legislator in charge of religious affairs, later said the
Attorney General's office advised that the caning should be delayed for compassionate reasons until after the Muslim fasting month of
Ramadan, which began Saturday.
Fit-looking former leader Fidel
Castro appeared on Cuban television
for the first time since June 2008 and his
photograph was published in an official
newspaper on Sunday in a signal that his
once-failing health has improved.
Castro, 83, looked aged but in good condition as he spoke with a group of Venezuelan
students in a three-hour meeting that took
place on Saturday. He told them he was worried about the future of the planet, under
threat from global warming. "Even the
Pentagon has gotten involved," Castro said.
"It has included the climate among things that
threaten the security of the United States."
The 83-year-old bearded rebel, who took
power in a 1959 revolution and held on to it for
“The sentence is not being canceled,”
Mohamad Sahfri told The Associated Press.
Kartika was arrested in a raid for drinking
beer at a hotel lounge in December 2007 and accused of breaching Malaysia's Shariah law,
which forbids Muslims from consuming alcohol.
The law provides for a three-year
prison term and caning for Muslims
caught drinking, but most offenders are
fined. Drinking is legal for non-Muslims.
Kartika was sentenced to six strokes of a
rattan cane by the Shariah court in July in
what was considered a warning to other
Muslims to abide by religious laws.
In an interview with the AP last week,
Kartika said she wanted to be caned because “I
want to respect the law.” Karai, Malaysia AP
49 years, resigned the presidency last year and
was replaced by his brother Raul Castro, 78.
Castro has not been seen in public since July
2006, when he underwent intestinal surgery for a
still-undisclosed ailment. His health is considered a state secret.The photograph of Castro
showed him standing and wearing a white,
short-sleeved shirt in his meeting with Correa,
who began a private visit to Cuba a few days ago.
A brief official note said Castro and Correa
spoke for a number of hours on Friday about
recent developments in their respective countries, Latin America and the world.
It was the first photo of Fidel Castro
published inside the country by state media
since Feb. 17, when he met Chilean
President Michelle Bachelet. Havana Reuters
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12 TODAY’S ZAMAN
T U E S D AY, A U G U S T 2 5 , 2 0 0 9
EXPAT ZONE
Hollywood wýthout the magýc
The new Forum shopping center that is going to take the place of
the old Nevþehir bus station is shaping up nicely. When the recession first hit, I wondered briefly if the work would stop, but so
far it seems to be proceeding -- as, come to that, does work on
the replacement bus station (or rather the replacement for the replacement as we already have a temporary new bus station), albeit so far out into the countryside that they might as well rename it Acýgöl bus station and be done.
My great hope is that the new shopping complex will incorporate a cinema. There's nothing on the sign to suggest that that
will be the case, but other Forums around the country have them,
so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. You see, I'm really a very big
film fan, and although Digitürk does its best to keep me happy,
there's really nothing to compare with the sense of occasion that
comes from sitting down in front of a full-size screen to appreciate a film in all its glory with no distracting phones ringing,
knockers banging or, worse still, power outages.
Of course, we can always shlep over to Kayseri for a night out at
the movies, but let's face it folks, that means a bit more of an occasion than even I have the heart for. Otherwise the local options are
somewhat disheartening: a cinema in Nevþehir that I've been advised against frequenting and a sort of cinema-cum-theater-cumanything else you care to mention place over in Ürgüp.
Actually, that was the setting for one of the more unexpected episodes in my life in Cappadocia. Harry Potter had come to
town, and I wanted to take my neighbors' kids along to see it
since they had never been to a cinema. The fly in the ointment
was that one of the Gulf states had banned the film on suspi-
CAVE LIFE
PAT YALE
cion of I can't quite remember what. I had also read that it included some very scary scenes, and not wanting to cause upset
by taking him to something inappropriate, I suggested to my
neighbor that I shouldn't take her youngest, then only 7, along.
Shortly afterwards, there was a bang on the gate, and there
was her eldest in a bit of a stew since his brother was crying and
his mother had now said that if he couldn't go, then nor could
anyone else. Irritated by such blatant emotional blackmail, I
nevertheless caved in, not wanting to be the one to have raised
expectations only to dash them again.
By evening, our party had grown to around 10 plus a dog, and
we borrowed a pension minibus for the excursion. The air was filled
with a sense of anticipation which lasted for a full 10 minutes into
the film. The youngest was glued to his seat, terrified of incurring my
wrath if he so much as whimpered. His bigger brother, though, was
already out of his and was whispering “Will it finish soon?” to me.
Somehow we got through to the end, although I'm sure that at
least six of the party would happily have left at the interval. There's
never been any mention of further cinema outings since then.
Pat Yale lives in restored cave-house in Göreme in Cappadocia.
TODAY’S ZAMAN, MÜHENNA KAHVECÝ
The sýmple
thýngs ýn lýfe
PHOTO
KATHY HAMILTON ÝSTANBUL
Proponents argue that the new bridge will alleviate current traffic problems and that measures will be taken to ensure natural resources are protected.
CARS, BRIDGES AND QUALITY OF LIFE
life issues should guide the way an economy
is allowed to expand. Unfortunately, the current lack of transparency about a third bridge
suggests that economic interests may outweigh quality of life concerns.
Proponents claim that the new bridge
will alleviate current traffic problems and
that measures will be taken to ensure that
natural resources are protected. But opponents declare that both of these claims are
false. The public, left in the dark about the
details of the plan, can hardly debate the
issue in an informed way. A huge project
with such massive implications for the
city's future deserves public scrutiny, robust debate and genuine consensus. Not
only would public debate enable citizens
to take part in shaping the future of their
city, it would also help city planners and
national transportation authorities define
commercial and private transportation
needs more accurately and identify the
best of several alternative solutions for
moving goods and people about the city.
As it stands, the final route for the third
bridge has yet to be announced, but
Transportation Minister Binalý Yýldýrým has
already indicated that the bidding process
will open in September. This leaves scant
opportunity to evaluate the economic and
environmental impact of the final proposal.
Two examples illustrate the need for more
careful evaluation of road projects and their
impact on quality of life.
First, the access roads to the recently
completed tunnel between Piyale Paþa (in
Beyoðlu) and Kâðýthane are extremely dangerous for pedestrians. On the Beyoðlu side,
the sidewalks are too narrow for two people
to walk side by side. On the Kâðýthane side,
the interchange between the tunnel and surface streets and highway lack proper pedestrian crossings (there are no wheelchair
ramps and no traffic lights to protect pedestrians; blind corners make it difficult to see a
break in the flow of traffic). There are, howTODAY’S ZAMAN, SELMAN EÞTÜRKLER
As Turkey's middle class expands and more people have
time and money for leisure activities, sports and physical recreation are
likely to grow in popularity.
Economic growth alone, however, is
not enough to push Turkey's sports culture
forward. Public recreational facilities are
crucial: People need a place to play,
whether their “game” is a team sport like
soccer, volleyball or basketball or an individual sport like running, walking, biking
or swimming. Fortunately, Ýstanbul is becoming more “sports friendly.” Not only
has the city improved park facilities along
its waterfronts, but it is also building new
parks and sports facilities, like the Cebeci
Sports Complex and the new recreational
park on the edge of Gazi Mahallesi, both in
the newly formed district of Sultangazi.
These parks and pathways make Ýstanbul a healthier, happier place to live by
making it easy for anyone to become physically active. What is more, the ongoing improvement of waterfront parks and neighborhood playgrounds points to a network
of paths that could link “land-locked”
neighborhoods with the Marmara Sea, the
Golden Horn or the Bosporus. Eventually,
existing waterfront paths could be extended
into the Belgrade Forest by way of Gazi
Mahallesi, Kemerburgaz and Bahçeköy.
While it is easy to imagine how redevelopment along the Kâðýthane and Alibeyköy
rivers could facilitate non-motorized traffic
between the Golden Horn and the forest,
it is more difficult to assess the impact a
third bridge across the Bosporus would
have on the city's quality of life.
Ideally, quality of life should improve
with economic development, and quality of
PHOTO
JOHN CROFOOT*
ever, wide sidewalks leading up to these
crossings, so it is obvious that planners have
anticipated the presence of pedestrians but
have not provided a safe way to cross the interchange. This disregard for pedestrian safety is inconsistent with recent efforts to renovate the historic park between the center of
Kâðýthane and the Golden Horn.
The new IKEA shopping center in
Bayrampaþa is another example of poor
planning born of favoritism toward cars.
Builders filled a large, empty area with
stores and parking garages, but they focused solely on cars in designing access
from the street. Pedestrians approach
along narrow pathways sandwiched between high concrete walls and wide streets.
This pattern recurs all over Ýstanbul.
In a city where the great majority of people rely on public transportation, the repeated and ongoing disregard for pedestrian
convenience and safety is confounding.
The fundamental conflict in the third
bridge controversy is not between economic development and quality of life but between competing modes of transportation,
between private cars and public transportation. Ýstanbul's efficient public transportation system serves the city well, but improvements in comfort, frequency and ease
of access would attract more riders. Bicycles
could also play an important role in the
city's transportation strategy, provided the
city expands pathways and bike lanes. Cars
will always be important, but there is no
reason to favor their use to the detriment of
less costly modes of transport. Ýstanbul deserves a holistic transportation strategy that
humanizes the roads and makes the city a
good place to work and play.
*John Crofoot is a runner and freelance writer in
Ýstanbul, [email protected].
NOTE: Today's Zaman intends to provide a lively forum for expatriates living in Turkey. We encourage you to contact us at [email protected] and share your experiences, questions and problems in all walks of life for publication in Today's Zaman.
CM Y K
Sometimes the simple things in life can change your attitude and your outlook for the day. I work from home
most of the time, thanks to the Internet and editors who trust
me to get my work done without having to hover over me. A
down side, though, to working at home is that I can go for a
day or two without setting foot outside my apartment.
Groceries are delivered to my doorstep, my son's service bus
for summer school picks him up and drops him off right outside our building and fresh bread and fruit vendors meander
their way up and down our street regularly.
Last week, as I worked long hours to meet deadlines, I
discovered I had to go to the bank early one morning to take
care of some business. Feeling a little snippy at having to
take the time to walk down the hill to the bank, I set out
from home, not pleased at losing precious work time while I
ran an errand. At the bottom of the hill, our local tailor
smiled and greeted me warmly. Stopping to kiss cheeks, we
caught each other up on our family news for a moment before I moved on. As I turned the corner, a former neighbor
who I had not seen in a year or more waved me over. She
and I also exchanged kisses and news of our families.
Promising to see each other soon, we parted and continued
on our separate ways to get the morning errands run.
The local barber waved a greeting, and the shoe repairman paused while opening his tiny shop to wish me a good
day. I found my mood was definitely lifting as I returned
greetings. Halfway to the bank, I saw our neighborhood photographer standing in the street, obviously looking worried.
As he saw me approach, his face lit up and he excitedly greeted me and asked if I had a moment to help him with his computer. “I was hoping you would come by this morning because I need your help. I turned the computer on this morning and a message was flashing in English. I don't know what
it says, and I don't know what to do,” he fretted. “I need the
computer for my work!” Smiling, I nodded and entered his
store and looked at the computer. There was, indeed, an error
message in English. I did the best I could to figure out the
problem and start his system but to no avail. “I'm so sorry,” I
told him, “but you need a computer repairman. I think it is a
minor problem, but I don't know how to fix it.” Thanking me
profusely for spending time trying to help him, he said that
he would call the repairman immediately. I wished him good
luck with his computer problem and continued on my way.
Finally arriving at the bank, I took a number and waited just a few minutes until it was my turn. The teller asked
me how my son was and if he was enjoying his summer
holiday. I commented on her newly acquired tan and asked
her about her recent vacation. The new teller at the desk
next to her listened in, apparently surprised to have a foreign customer who was a regular at the small local branch
office. My banking concluded, I wished both the tellers a
good day and started homeward.
Passing the local kebab restaurant that was getting ready
for the day's business, the owners waved to me as I passed,
calling out greetings to me and my family. A few steps further,
I stopped in at one of the local bakeries to purchase a fresh loaf
of bread. “Good morning abla [older sister],” the baker said
with a smile. “You're in luck. We just took the bread you like
out of the oven. Here is one, hot and ready for your breakfast.”
With a flourish, he handed over the freshly baked bread. We
paused to exchange pleasantries before I left and began the
trek up the hill to my apartment and my waiting work.
Outside the apartment door, I saw two of the neighbors
who were heading down the hill to do their daily grocery
shopping. As I settled down at my computer with a fresh cup
of coffee and warm bread, I smiled, realizing that after a brief
walk through my neighborhood, my attitude had done a
complete turnaround. Even though I am a foreigner living
here, I am an established member of my little corner of the
city. There is a true feeling of community among us.
Neighbors may sometimes annoy each other, or disagree, but
we all are a part of this particular quarter of the city.
When friends from my homeland ask me why I choose
to live in Ýstanbul, I tell them about my days here. Neighbors
keep track of each other, which can be unwelcome at times,
but when help is needed, they will be there to pitch in.
Advice will be freely given, but I have learned over the years
that it is meant to be helpful, not critical. It is the days when
I am a little blue, stressed with work deadlines or feeling a
little homesick that I take a walk through our narrow winding streets. It only takes a block or two before I am feeling
better, smiling back at neighbors and asking after their families, as they ask about mine. In many ways, I am reminded
of the rural neighborhood where I grew up and where
everyone knew everyone else. We all looked after each other
in times of need. It is comforting to know that that attitude
can be found within a metropolis the size of Ýstanbul. It is also reassuring to know that I am a part of the community.
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TODAY’S ZAMAN 13
T U E S D AY, A U G U S T 2 5 , 2 0 0 9
PHOTO
TODAY’S ZAMAN, BAHAR MANDAN
CULTURE&ARTS
Erdoðan, Günay
express their
condolences
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan and Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuðrul Günay have expressed their condolences over the
death of Çakmaklý. Noting that Çakmaklý left his mark on Turkish cinema through his personal contributions and by leading the Turkish
National Cinema movement, Erdoðan said in a statement that Çakmaklý, one of the unique directors in Turkish cinema, will always be
commemorated with respect and admiration. In a statement he issued, Günay also highlighted Çakmaklý's importance for Turkish cinema.
TODAY’S ZAMAN, CELÝL KIRNAPÇI
Turkey’s ‘national director’ dies at 72
PHOTO
contýnued from page 1
Çakmaklý, also known as Turkey's “national director” since he led the
Turkish National Cinema movement, addressing the national issues of Turkey and making
movies based on classic Turkish literary works,
received the Order of Merit award from
Parliament in July 2008 and an award for his contributions to Turkish culture from the Ministry of
Culture and Tourism in October 2008.
The prominent director was born in
Bolvadin, Afyonkarahisar province, in 1937. His
father died when he was 7, after which he began living in an orphanage. While there, he
completed primary and secondary school. In
numerous newspaper and magazine interviews,
Çakmaklý said he spent his vacations with his
grandfather, who was an imam, and noted: “My
grandfather was around 80 years old then. He
had a preaching program during Ramadan. He
narrated short religious stories. These stories
had an impact on me. I reflected this impact best
in the television series ‘Kuruluþ' [Foundation]
and learned how to convey messages through
narrating stories. I took the national content of
my works from my grandfather.”
Çakmaklý became interested in cinema when
he worked as an usher and ticket seller at a movie
theater. Enchanted by cinema, he moved to Ýstanbul, where he continued working as a ticket seller
Yusuf Çakmaklý died yesterday at the age of 72 at The Ýstanbul University School of Medicine Hospital.
at a movie theater, for college. Watching movies
helped him improve his knowledge of cinema
culture. Later he began to study at Ýstanbul
University's school of journalism. After serving in
the military, Çakmaklý began to write cinema articles at the Yeni Ýstanbul newspaper on pages edited by Tarýk Buðra, a prominent Turkish novelist
and story writer, while concurrently working as
an assistant director at the Erman Film Studios.
By 1968 he had worked on 50 movies, assisting such directors as Alþevir Alýnak, Osman
Seden and Orhan Aksoy, and got offers to direct
his own movies, too. However, Çakmaklý rejected
all the offers since they were not compatible with
his movie style. The film company he was working offered him the opportunity to establish his
own company, promising to help him in distribution. Çakmaklý then established Elif Film in 1969,
CONCERT
EXHIBITION
Pop singer Nil to be
on Bodrum stage
Exhibition at Evin Art
Gallery ends on Saturday
Turkish pop singer and songwriter Nil
Karaibrahimgil, who is well-known in Turkey for
songs such as “Seviyorum Sevmiyorum” (I Love,
I Don't Love) and “Tek Taþýmý Kendim Aldým” (I
Bought My Diamond Myself) as well as for the
jingles she composes, will be on stage in Bodrum
on Aug. 28. Nil's lively stage show at Babylon
Alaçatý will begin at 11:30 p.m., and tickets,
priced at TL 39, can be purchased at Biletix.
The exhibition in which items from the permanent collection of the Evin Art Gallery, an important center for Turkish plastic arts, have been
showcased since June 25 ends on Saturday. The
exhibition at the gallery in Ýstanbul's Bebek
neighborhood includes works by such artists as
Nuri Ýyem, Naile Akýncý, Neþ'e Erdok, Nedred
Sekbani Temür Köran, Ýrfan Okan, Hakan
Gürsoytrak, Emin Turan and Setenay Alpsoy.
PARTY
Ajda Pekkan fans
gather at Studio Live A
Ajda Pekkan fans will gather at a traditional
“Forever Ajda” party at Studio Live A, featuring the best songs of the Turkish pop diva,
who has been on stage for nearly five decades
and released over 20 albums. Olcay Tanberken
and Vedat Gürtan will be the DJs for the
night. The party, which will also feature a special multimedia show, is set to take place on
Aug. 20, and tickets are priced at TL 10.
directed his first film, which was a documentary
named “Kabe Yollarý” (The Roads to the Kaaba),
and made movies in accordance with the Turkish
National Cinema movement in the 1970s.
Later, he worked for the Turkish Radio and
Television Corporation (TRT) from 1975 to 1990
and made television movies and series. The
Küçük Aða (The Little Agha) and Osmancýk television series are among his most praised works
from his time with TRT. He also supported other Turkish movie directors who later became
well known, including Mesut Uçakan, Salih
Diriklilik, Ýsmail Güneþ and Osman Sýnav.
Upon leaving TRT, Çakmaklý returned to
shooting movies and adapted Hekimoðlu Ýsmail's
novel “Minyeli Abdullah” (Abdullah from
Minya), which tells the story of a man who grew
up in Minya, Egypt, and struggles with his religious beliefs, into a motion picture. The movie
broke box office records in Turkey, attracting the
largest audience in Turkey at the time with
500,000 viewers. Following this, Çakmaklý continued directing movies and television series.
Among his most popular were “Birleþen
Yollar” (Joining Roads) in 1970, “Zehra” in
1972, “Oðlum Osman” (Osman, My Son) in
1973 and “Memleketim” (My Country) in
1974, as well his television movies “Denizin
Kaný” (The Blood of the Sea) and “Kuruluþ”
(Foundation). Ýstanbul Today's Zaman with wires
RUMEYSA KIGER ÝSTANBUL
“Karaburun is one of the westernmost districts of Turkey and does not have any artwork except sculptures of Atatürk,” says Cemal
Demir, the art coordinator of the Bozköy Art
Project, which will hold an art symposium along
with many artistic events starting tomorrow.
“So we, artists, decided to bring some art to
the place,” he explains in an interview with
Today's Zaman, adding that the first experience of
this kind was initiated by artist Mustafa Horasan
last year with the placing of paintings on the jetty
on the port side of the village, which inspired the
idea of organizing a symposium on visual arts.
Karaburun has a very rich mythological and
historical past. According to Greek mythology,
Mimas, one of the giant sons of Gaia, lived and
died in the region. In the Ottoman period, the village was evacuated after all of the supporters of
the rebellious Sheikh Bedrettin were executed.
And, during the republican era, the village's Greek
inhabitants, who made up a majority of the residents there, were forced to emigrate as part of the
population exchange between Turkey and Greece.
Today, due to Turkey's economic dynamics,
the young population of the village is living in
urban areas and mostly only elderly residents reside there now. Thus, the theme of the symposium was chosen to be “Lonely Giants,” aiming
to discuss the problems of loneliness through art.
The event, organized by the Ýzmir
Development Agency, will bring together
artists such as Reyhan Abacýoðlu, Seyhan
Boztepe, Antonio Cosentino, Tülay Çelikel,
Demir, Horasan, Selahattin Kara, Burcu
Pelvanoðlu, Selahattin Yýldýrým and Erdoðan
Zümrütoðlu. Throughout the 21-day event,
these artists will produce artwork, lead workshops and discuss the symposium's theme in
various panels. The artwork produced during
the event will subsequently be showcased as an
open-air exhibition. There will also be festivals
and field trips as part of the symposium.
Demir explains that Bozköy is a lonely village because the elderly population cannot
make its voice heard. “Even though it is only
one-and-a-half hours away from Ýzmir, the village is moving backward both socially and economically. Due to the lack of agricultural land
and job opportunities, the young population is
migrating to the cities. The only way for the
residents to support themselves is to grow daffodils and hyacinths, which only bring in revenue for two months each year,” he says,
adding that more and more elderly residents
are dying every year because they have to work
on wet fields during the winter.
Still, it is possible to revive this village
through a public institution that initiates cultural
and artistic events, Demir emphasizes. The
Bozköy Cultural and Social Development
Foundation was founded to conduct the Bozköy
Art Project, and it is hoped that it will contribute to
the lives of the residents of this village through art.
Keyboard artist Larry
Knechtel dead at 69
Larry Knechtel, a Grammy award-winning keyboard artist who accompanied
musicians such as Elvis Presley, Ray Charles
and Neil Diamond, is dead at 69.
Knechtel died Thursday at Yakima Valley
Memorial Hospital of an apparent heart attack. His death was confirmed by a
spokesman for Valley Hills Funeral Home.
Knechtel performed live and in studio
recordings with a wide range of artists, who also
included Randy Newman, The Beach Boys, The
Doors, Hank Williams Jr. and Elvis Costello.
He earned a Grammy award for his arrangement of Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over
Troubled Water" and played keyboard on the
Dixie Chicks' Grammy award-winning album
"Taking the Long Way." Washington AP
Centuries-old works
of calligraphy on view
THEATER
‘The Marriage of Figaro'
at Yýldýz Sarayý
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's well-known comic
opera is set to be staged by Turkish thespians at
Yýldýz Sarayý Mabeyn Köþkü in Ýstanbul's Beþiktaþ
on Thursday. The opera, satirizing aristocracy, is directed by Hakan Altýner and features such thespians as Nedim Saban, Füsun Önal, Atýlgan Gümüþ,
Yasemin Alýç and Tarýk Papuççuoðlu. Tickets,
priced at between TL 35 and 45, can be purchased
through Biletix or the entrance of the theater.
CM Y K
Symposium to bring
art to Karaburun's
‘lonely giants'
Ýstanbul's Bakýrköy Airport Outlet Center
is home to a collection of traditional works
of calligraphy and ebru (paper marbling) by
renowned artists.
The “Mixed Turkish Handicrafts” exhibition opens today at the center. Works of art
by more than 10 artists in such styles as calligraphy and ebru are offered in the exhibition. Among the artists are Ömer Vasfi, Fuat
Baþar, Levent Karaduman, Yüksel Yaþar,
Ömer Faruk Eratlý, Mustafa Düzgünman,
Alparslan Babaoðlu, Mahmut Peþteli, Zait
Edremit and Hayrettin Yangöz.
A handwritten Quran, loincloths dating back
to Sultan Mahmut II of the Ottoman Empire and
prayer beads made of ivory, jet and silver will also be on display at the exhibition. Persian artist
Þiran Askar will also show his works of art at the
exhibition. Ýstanbul Today's Zaman with wires
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14 TODAY’S ZAMAN
TUESDAY, A U G U S T 25, 2009
Turkýsh-Kurdýsh
conflýct through
a woman’s lens
Does cývýl socýety have
a Kurdýsh openýng?
PHOTO
When I came to Diyarbakýr as the
Zaman daily's regional coordinator after working at the Zaman daily for 15
years, I met with a different side of the problem
that has done great harm to the city, as well as
the whole of Turkey, for more than three
decades. For about a month, I have been watching Diyarbakýr, a city of ancient civilizations and
home of different nations and peoples throughout history. Above all, unlike contrary views held
by many living in western Turkey, Diyarbakýr is
not a dark a city. This is not a place that suffers
from terrorist attacks and activities on a daily basis. People do not go their homes shortly after
sunset. This is not a city without any social life.
In contrast to this pessimistic image, I met with a
fairly bright city. People walk through the streets
of the city late at night and they feel no threat. I
realized that the media has been unfair to
Diyarbakýr for years; most media reports portrayed Diyarbakir in a brutal manner, showing
the city as a place of horror and terror. Similar
events may be observed in Ýstanbul; but the media does not show the same reaction. For some
reason, it is alluring to exaggerate this kind of
events as long as they occur in Diyarbakýr.
Politicization weakens
the culture of tolerance
Diyarbakýr has three faces; in the last 10 years, a
whole new Diyarbakýr has been created along
the road to Þanlýurfa. The compound called
Diclekent is quite modern. Nice buildings and
shopping malls constitute an impressive view.
Rich people live in this place, whereas
Huzurevleri, Yeniþehir and Þehitlik host families
with moderate incomes. Regions like Baðlar and
Suriçi are places where the poor try to survive.
The population of the city tripled in 10 years;
450,000 live in the Baðlar region alone.
According to recent research, 10 percent of these
people have no income at all, whereas 25 percent try to survive with small monthly income of
TL 250-400. Three generations live in one-room
homes in this part of the city: Husbands and
wives with their parents and their children.
Turkey, which is currently dealing with the
Kurdish problem, actually ignores one dimension of the issue which is far more important
than any theoretical discussions. The environment of conflict which has affected the local
people for years has created trauma within society. Because of forced migration, thousands of
people had to leave their homes and towns.
People who were familiar with agriculture and
livestock production but nothing else migrated
to the nearest town. The state did nothing to
help resettle these people; they were not able to
sell their homes or land. Imagine that you have
no money and you are on the street with your
family. Besides, complaining about this situation
and reacting to this unfair treatment was forbidden. You were further asked to respect those
who treated you like this. Otherwise, you would
be labeled pro-Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
The region needs love and compassion.
Rapid politicization eliminates the culture of tolerance among the people. Good faith is being
replaced by bad faith. The three-decade-long
conflict has affected all families. Some have sons
and some nephews in the mountains serving as
In Diyarbakýr’s Suriçi region, 10 percent of the people have no income at all, whereas 25 percent try to survive on a small monthly income of TL 250-400.
PKK militants. Thousands of people had to
watch as their sons were beaten by the gendarmerie, they had to hear insulting remarks,
but they were considered luckier than those who
were taken to “headquarters” in “white Toros”
cars; there are hundreds of people whose
whereabouts still remain a mystery after they
were taken into custody. Some of the families
decided to become village guards out of fear of
the PKK and at the request of the state. They
had to live with the growing fear of murder and
sudden raids. Hundreds of them died in the
clashes and many were injured. Some of the village guards acted brutally towards the locals because of the state power that backed and legitimized their actions. The list of causes of the anguish and pain in the Southeast is not limited to
this. The list includes those who died in PKK
raids, those killed during their military service,
those whose homes were destroyed and burnt
down, those who were unable to get a job because of security investigations and those who
lost their pregnant wives because of a lack of
medical care. This pain and suffering has made
the distance between the people and the state
even greater. The state itself served the agenda
of the terror organization for years.
More recently, the way individuals behave has started to change. There are unusual
scenes in the region whose people have been
keen to preserve their honor and decency.
Children and women are at the forefronts of
the anti-government demonstrations; normally, women are kept away from public life; this
is a strategy which puts the security forces in a
difficult position; but the issue is not that simple, the television channels also made a report
of it; a company attracted a great deal of audi-
ence and attention when it announced it
would be selling shoes at reasonable prices on
its opening day. In the crush of people that
showed up for cheap shoes, some people
barely survived in the crowd; most of those
present were women and kids. Women are
everywhere: they are trying to get aid to ensure their survival; they can be found at social
aid institutions, cookhouses and municipalities. Men are nowhere; it is the women who
make a living. There is another striking observation: theft is the most commonly committed
offense in Diyarbakýr. The police have been
mobilized to deal with theft in the city.
‘Brother, do you have TL 1?’
Some additional measures are needed to make
sure that the city will have a bright future. The
Southeast needs brotherhood and compassion.
The civil society organizations have the biggest
responsibility in this regard because any action
taken by the state is labeled as being against
the interest of Turkey by some certain circles.
The activities of the civil organizations are more
influential. Leading holdings and corporations
in Turkey may develop social responsibility
projects to encourage prosperity the region and
facilitate the resolution of the problem. The
children asking for one lira on the streets
should be sent to schools. Reading houses,
whose number has been on rise in the region
in recent times, offer great opportunities for the
children to discover a new world. Classes and
courses teaching employable skills are essential
for girls and boys suffering from extensive unemployment. If corporations sponsor such initiatives, employment opportunities will flourish. In addition, there are a lot the civil society
*Aziz Mahmut Ýstegün is Zaman daily's Diyarbakýr
regional coordinator.
*Fatima Abushanab is a research assistant with the
Southeast Europe Project at the Woodrow Wilson
International Center for Scholars. This article was written
for the Common Ground News Service.
[email protected]
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ALÝ AKBULUT
Chief Executive Officer
EKREM DUMANLI
Editor-in-Chief
BÜLENT KENEÞ
Managing Editors
organizations can do with respect to health,
sports and intra-family communication. These
organizations should take immediate action
without expecting too much from the state.
It could be said that Diyarbakýr now has a
chance, considering the profile of the state
representatives and local administrators in the
city. Governor Hüseyin Avni Mutlu is a very
successful and experienced bureaucrat. The
top administration of the police department
includes highly successful and intelligent figures. In the new era, the police will embrace
the people. It has become apparent that the
police will be more constructive and lenient
during public demonstrations and rely on violence and coercion less often. The police will
focus on who organizes the demonstrations
rather than the masses. Undoubtedly, this will
contribute a great deal to the safety and security of the city. One observation of new Police
Chief Mustafa Saðlam, who pays great attention to building constructive ties with the people, is pretty important. Saðlam gets the impression that the people will respond tenfold
to their constructive overtures. The gap between the state and the people may be narrowed in a very short time if the civil society
organizations take effective steps.
Being part of different ethnic groups is not
an occurrence that should give rise to quarrels
and clashes; it should foster greater brotherhood
and the creation of wise societies. There will be
no difference between us when the horn is
blown on Judgment Day. Diyarbakýr does not
expect charity; it misses its brothers and sisters.
ÞIRNAK-- Both looked pale, reserved and distant.
With somber looks on their faces, Zeynep Yalçýn
and Kumri Bilgi embraced one another before the
flashing lights of cameras.
These women are two mothers from “opposite sides,”
representing the grim reality of the Turkish-Kurdish divide,
which shattered many lives over the past 30 years. Almost
identical with their white headscarves and floral printed cotton dresses, both women are from the city of Diyarbakýr in
southeast Turkey, but live lives that seem worlds apart.
On Aug. 8, thanks to the efforts of the Þýrnak City
Council and the local nongovernmental organizations,
they were brought together to show that they, who endured the worst possible pain -- the loss of a child -could find the strength to move forward together. And if
they could, then what about the major political players?
The women hugged one another and mourned for their
sons: One lost his life in the name of the Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK), the other for the Turkish government's war
against the PKK. Is this symbol of the two mothers' reality
what Turkey was waiting for all along?
Perhaps. And it appears that Turkey's ruling Justice
and Development Party (AK Party) is building upon this
reality by opening up discussion on the Kurdish issue, having both the Turks and the Kurds embrace each other.
The minister of internal affairs, Beþir Atalay, announced the
initiative three weeks ago. He spoke about the urgency to end
the ongoing saga that has been eating the country from the inside out for decades. Nonetheless, he shied away from giving the
details of how exactly he thought this was going to be possible.
He said only that his government was in contact with all stakeholders and Kurdish factions, that some constructive steps would
soon be taken and that the solution could be a permanent one.
Bringing the two women together had more than a symbolic
value within this context. Yalçýn and Bilgi together, in one picture, represent the reconciliation efforts made through the core
units of society: families. This is why it will be crucial for Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan's government to further involve
women in the peace process: Women who are either actors in
the conflict or affected by others' actions must be included at
the negotiation table as well as in the negotiations agenda.
One step toward including women in the negotiation
process would be for the AK Party government to first bolster the
socioeconomic conditions of Kurdish women and assure them
that they can enjoy their full citizenship rights, not just on paper,
but in reality as well. According to the Turkish Constitution, all
citizens are entitled to inalienable rights. But is this really the
case? If women are scared of speaking Kurdish, which was
banned by the Turkish government for years, it will be difficult for
them to fully contribute to their communities and their country.
Furthermore, the Turkish government must fight the
rampant illiteracy in Turkey's southeast region, where the
core of the Turkish population of Kurdish origin lives.
According to the 2003 report of the Turkish Statistics
Institute (TurkStat), the illiteracy rate for women in southeast Turkey is a staggering 44.6 percent compared to a
20.4 percent national rate for women. The government
must establish rigorous literacy campaigns both for
Kurdish and Turkish speaking populations and focus
specifically on women affected by the conflict.
A study conducted by KONDA, an Ýstanbul-based research and consultancy firm, shows that Kurds comprise 23.8
percent of the population with the lowest income. Improving
the Kurdish populations' standards of living with measures as
simple as providing running water, sanitation, basic health
care and proper infrastructure would easily translate into better lives for women and hence for their families.
If the government can significantly improve the lives of
women in the region, it might very well lower the number
of disenfranchised sons who might, otherwise, become
part of the conflict. But this is only a first step. To build on
it, we must remember Yalçýn and Bilgi: Actively bringing
people together from across the divide could have a profound effect on the next generation of Turks and Kurds.
Daðýstan Çetinkaya
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COLUMNS
TODAY’S ZAMAN 15
T U E S D AY, A U G U S T 2 5 , 2 0 0 9
Turkey and the passýve transýt country problem
The Russian Federation's search for more reliable and stable transit routes
as a response to the European Union's use of the Russia-Ukraine and
Belarusian routes for natural gas pipelines, as well as the Black Sea sliding
toward the Europe-Atlantic world, brought two opposing forces, the
Russian Federation and the EU, to Turkey in the summer of 2009.
However, the consolidation of Turkey's position as a transit country
brought with it debates on it becoming a “passive transit country.”
The subject of energy pipelines and transit transportation
stems from the fact that supplier countries in the South and East
are too far from the main consumer countries located in the Far
East and West and therefore need to transport their energy products to consumer countries via other countries.
In transit pipeline projects, risks related to the transit country tend to
emerge. The transit country may not allow the construction of pipelines
in the country, may demand high transit fees, may withhold crude oil or
natural gas passing through the pipeline for its own use or only allow
use of resources according to its own supplier interests.
While the main goal of the buyer is to get cheap, stable and reliable
ANDREW
FINKEL
HASAN
KANBOLAT
[email protected] om
energy resources, the main goal of the seller is to enter a market where it
can directly sell its resources to buyers. In both cases, transit countries appear to be an obstacle. It is for this reason that both buyer and seller countries want to create a regime that will eliminate transit countries to the
greatest extent possible and allow them to reach their own goals.
The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) is the first international
agreement that deals with issues of transit in the energy sector
and seeks to establish a balance between the control rights of
states and the international trade rights of other states.
The Draft Transit Protocol, which was designed to supplement
the ECT, handles the issue in detail and grants new transit rights.
While the parties that signed the agreement were still debating the
Transit Protocol, Switzerland made a change proposal to article five
of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) during the
Doha negotiations. This change proposal, which seeks to include
products transported via pipelines and other fixed facilities into the
scope of transit, made the issue regain importance.
On the other hand, there are efforts to expand the scope of the principle related to transit. There are efforts to expand the scope of Article 5 of
the seven-article GATT to 23 sub items. In the event that the proposal is
approved, rights in addition to the rights envisioned in the Draft Transit
Protocol will be valid with respect to pipeline and transit transportation.
A closer analysis of these mentioned arrangements reveal that there is
an effort to create a regime that does not sufficiently consider the position
and problems of transit countries but closely takes into account the interests of buyers and sellers as well as an effort to impose this regime onto
transit countries. It is believed that practices that lack looking at issues
from the perspective of transit countries will not be beneficial and have
negative effects on international trade in the long run.
No Comment
USA, AP
[email protected]
ALÝ
BULAÇ
[email protected]
The Kurdýsh
ýnýtýatýve
The Turkýsh
economy and
lýfe on Mars
A columnist from Mars landing unexpectedly beside a
newspaper kiosk in Ankara's Tandoðan Square would
be scratching his many heads in surprise. Back home,
the rule of thumb translates roughly as “it's the economy, stupid.” On this exotic Turkish terrain, public
opinion seems to march to a different tune. Buried
somewhere on the inside pages of the newspapers is
the astonishing figure that the economy contracted
during the first quarter of this year by 14 percent, a figure more terrifying than the worst quarter of the 2001
economic crisis (9.8 percent in the fourth quarter).
While the expectation is that things are getting better
(the overall decline in the gross domestic product
[GDP] is projected at 5.5 percent compared to 5.7 percent in 2001), there can be little doubt that the global
crisis is causing a great deal of domestic pain.
In 2001, the sight of overnight interest rates soaring
into four figures and of an economy out of control
brought about the massacre of an entire political generation. Not a single party elected to Parliament in the
1999 general elections was re-elected in 2002. (It was
Deniz Baykal's good and bad fortune to score less than
10 percent of the vote in 1999, which encouraged voters
to give him yet another chance). Yet nowadays, opposition parties hardly mention the economy at all. Devlet
Bahçeli (whose Nationalist Movement Party (MHP)
had to wait until 2007 to get re-elected to Parliament)
has promised not to yield an inch in resisting recognition of Kurdish rights. He seems to be exploiting a
mood of discontent among Turkey's growing army of
unemployed rather than putting his finger on the real
issue -- how to produce more jobs.
The government must be blessing their luck. So far
they have rightly pointed to the epicenter of the crisis
not in their own lack of policies but in the systematic
imprudence of big foreign banks. They also point to the
measures which Turkey took after 2001 to get its own
finances and financial sector into order. They wave this
as an amulet to suggest that once the recovery comes,
Turkey will be first in the queue. There is now some evidence that huge rescue packages mounted in the developed world have at last succeeded in breaking the fall.
Of course, we don't know what shape the bounce back
will take. Optimists hope for a “V,” but there are plenty
of commentators warning of a “W” and that things
could soon take a dip for the worse as the markets begin to unpack more bad news.
The US and part of Europe have managed to
spend their way out of the worst of the recession. In
America, the deficit is expected to reach 14 percent of
GDP. In Turkey, a surplus has now turned into an
expected 5 percent deficit -- although that figure may
be larger. This may be all the profligacy it can afford.
The problem is that Ankara has a long history of ignoring structural problems -- which is why the economy hit the wall in 2001. If its starts running up an
even larger deficit, the international community will
begin asking when and how it will ever make the adjustment to get public finances back under control.
The government has not made things easier for itself
by playing a “will she, won't she” game of flirtation
with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), so far
refusing to sign a stand-by agreement. With a general election on the horizon (by 2011, at the latest), it is
clearly hoping to avoid austerity measures or any
other IMF limitations on its freedom of action.
So our visiting Martian shrugs his many shoulders
as he revs up the saucer to begin the journey home. So
far things are running the Turkish government's way. It
has been able to reduce interest rates without affecting
the value of the currency, relying on the global deflationary trend. Yet there could still be dangerous times
ahead. Should the market suspect the economy is beginning to wobble out of control, we will begin to see
inflation creep back up and the government forced to
borrow at higher rates to pay back its debt, all at the expense of the real economy. We wouldn't be back in
2001, but we would be entering a period of stagnation.
Legal regimes that don't take into consideration the problems of transit countries and that don't want to give them any share of the profit from
the transaction between the buyer and seller will eventually make transit
countries unwilling to build pipelines. While supplier and consumer
countries try to maximize their own interests, they need to also contemplate whether they can develop a model that pays regard to the concerns
of transit countries and protects international trade in the long run by removing transit country-related risks.
With regards to principles of allowing and preventing transit
passage and prohibiting discrimination, international agreements
on energy transit grant certain protections to the buyer, seller and
even to the operator of the pipeline. In this way there is an effort to
create a regime in which transit countries cannot benefit from the
pipeline in any way and can only charge a reasonable transit fee for
services. When we take into consideration the historical developments on energy transit transportation, we see that by setting up a
regime that maximizes the interests of supplier and buyer countries, there is an effort to create a passive transit country model.
Half full or half empty?
NICOLE
POPE
[email protected]
As the world awaits the result of last week's elections in
Afghanistan, amid claims and counter-claims of electoral fraud on
a grand scale, the picture that emerges is one of great confusion.
Depending on whose assessment you hear, the recent elections,
although imperfect, at least allowed Afghans to make their choices
known. An alternative view suggests, on the contrary, that the electoral process was so flawed that the results are all but irrelevant.
Optimistic Western commentators choose to highlight recent research showing that school attendance has increased, for
boys as well as for girls, despite a growing number of incidents
involving resurgent Taliban forces seeking to intimidate pupils
and their parents. A recent UN report, on the other hand, suggests that the situation of women, which had improved somewhat when the Taliban fell, is backsliding again. UNICEF also
points to 5 million children still not registered in school.
What is not in dispute is that Afghanistan remains one of the
poorest nations on earth. More than three-quarters of the population have no access to clean water. The level of literacy is one of
the lowest in the world and 70 percent of the population lives in
poverty. No wonder Afghans want change.
US President Barack Obama praised the voters who courageously
turned up at the polls despite the threats issued by fundamentalist
groups. The question is: Will their vote really make a difference?
If you see the glass half full, the fact that elections were held
at all is in itself a sign that democracy is slowly and painfully
taking roots. But President Hamid Karzai, once seen as a dashing figure and the darling of the West, is now widely acknowledged as a weak and ineffectual leader, presiding over a corrupt
government composed of warlords, several of them involved in
drug trafficking. It is not clear how much progress can be expected under his leadership. The country is fractured along ethnic lines and each warlord presides over his own fiefdom.
President Obama, who launched a surge in Afghanistan,
has declared this war one of necessity, but public support for US
involvement is decreasing. In Britain too, as British casualties -now at more than 200 -- continue to mount, Gordon Brown is
finding it harder to defend his country's involvement. Western
leaders are struggling to come up with a coherent strategy and a
clear definition of success, albeit limited.
Immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks, the aim was to capture
Osama Bin Laden and to oust the Taliban government. Fast forward a few years, and the former is all but forgotten while
Western governments are now expected to negotiate with the
latter, or at least the less radical among them. Inevitably, this will
entail compromise on issues such as women's rights.
For the NATO-led forces, Afghanistan is a major headache.
The goalpost is constantly being moved. Although international
organizations and NGOs are investing human and financial resources into lifting the country out of poverty, their efforts are undermined by clashes with the Taliban. The lack of security has already driven out several major NGOs.
Talk of democracy and well-meaning aid efforts are further
diluted by drone bombings that occasionally hit their militant targets but also cause many civilian casualties and do little to win
the hearts and minds of Afghans.
Will the elections mark a milestone in Afghanistan's slow reconstruction? At this stage it appears unlikely. “Democracy will
never come to Afghanistan through the barrel of a gun, or from
the cluster bombs dropped by foreign forces,” recently wrote
Malalai Joya, the youngest female member of the Afghan parliament. “The struggle will be long and difficult, but the values of
real democracy, human rights and women's rights will only be
won by the Afghan people themselves.”
CM Y K
It can be said that two factors play a role in the Kurdish initiative launched by the government. First is the message US
President Barack Obama gave during his address to the Turkish
Parliament on April 6. In his speech, Obama had stressed the
need for handling the Kurdish issue and improving relations
with Armenia and the issue of reopening the Halki Seminary.
It seems that the US is attaching special importance to the
Kurdish issue. The fact that the US is pulling out from Iraq,
the potential problems that the regional Kurdish government
in northern Iraq might face and the possible role that Turkey
may play as a strategic ally of the US are adding more urgency
to the Kurdish issue. New developments have increased
Turkey's role. At this point, it is vital to the US that no damage
is done to northern Iraq. The US does not want the Kurds to
develop feelings of being betrayed once again, and it is trying
to make sure that a federation as its own political model is
successfully implemented in Iraq. Concerning this point, the
US believes Turkey may play a critical role. Turkey may protect the regional Kurdish government in northern Iraq and increase its political influence on Arabs so as to counterbalance
the regional patronage of the Shiite population and Iran.
While sorting out its business in the region, the US is shifting
its focus to the Afghan and Pakistani zone.
The other factor is having realized that things will change
in this process, Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader
Abdullah Öcalan has declared that he would announce a
roadmap for settlement and that he has been in touch with
various columnists, authors, leading figures and nongovernmental organization via his lawyers within this framework.
In a pre-emptive move, the state has launched an initiative
and conducted various talks with similar figures. The method
Öcalan is following in drawing up his roadmap is the same
as the method the government is currently employing. It is
as if the government and Öcalan are competing with each
other to discredit one another's road map.
Now everyone wonders what sort of improvements the
initiative will introduce in the settlement of the issue. It
seems that the initiative will progress within the framework
laid down by Chief of General Staff Gen. Ýlker Baþbuð on
April 14, 2009. Baþbuð is stressing the concepts of nationstate, the unitary structure of the state and individual freedoms, still under the influence of the official paradigm.
However, we need a more comprehensive solution that
goes beyond the established liberal or nationalist perspectives. This issue entails that we resort to another set of values, i.e., that of Islamic values. The intellectual and political
basis that will help us settle this issue consists of the main
Islamic resources and our historical experience. The state,
the government, the PKK and the pro-Kurdish Democratic
Society Party (DTP) are miles away from these resources.
There are also difficulties other than those imposed by
the paradigm: Even if, as the prime minister said, some partial improvements are made, we need a basic set of constitutional amendments. Currently, the ruling Justice and
Development Party (AK Party) can make neither constitutional amendments nor a new constitution. The seats it commands in Parliament are not sufficient. Moreover, in the past,
the Constitutional Court held that it committed an offense
against secularism by amending Articles 10 and 42 of the
Constitution and penalized it in this respect. We can expect
no support from the Republican People's Party (CHP) and
the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) concerning the constitutional amendments. The support from the DTP will not
be sufficient, and even if it suffices, the Constitutional Court
will still cancel those amendments. However, we should not
ignore a small possibility: if this is a state project backed by
the military, then the CHP might be forced to lend support,
and in that case, even if the amendments are reviewed by the
Constitutional Court, they will not be canceled. Whether this
will be the case, we will see in the near future.
Even though a basic set of constitutional amendments cannot be made, some symbolic steps might be taken. These steps
include reverting to local names, bringing the majority of the
people in Makhmour camp in northern Iraq back to Turkey, the
establishment of a Kurdology institute at Artuklu University in
Mardin, the transformation of the Diyarbakýr prison -- which is
among the top five biggest torture houses in the world -- into
an educational complex and possibly introducing Kurdish as an
elective language course in schools. As a matter of fact, the
prime minister says they do not intend to engage in difficult
tasks such as amending the Constitution.
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LEISURE
tv guýde
Gregorian Calendar: 25 August 2009 C.E. Hijri Calendar: 05 Ramadan 1430 A.H. 1430 A.H. Hebrew Calendar: 045 Elul 5769
[email protected]
TNT
movýe guýde
On this day in 1900, Friedrich Nietzsche
(b. 1844) died. Nietzsche was one of the
most famous German philosophers and philologists of the 19th century. He wrote critical texts
on religion, morality, contemporary culture, philosophy and science, using a distinctive style of
German language and displaying a fondness for
aphorisms. Nietzsche's influence remains substantial within and beyond philosophy, notably
in existentialism and postmodernism. Though
he wrote several books of criticism of long held
values and morality in the West, his book
"Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and
None" became his best-known work and the
one he considered the most important.
Today is the anniversary of the start
of the Belgian Revolution, which came
as a result of a conflict that led to the secession of the southern provinces of the
United Kingdom of the Netherlands and
the foundation of an independent
Kingdom of Belgium. Although the
London Conference of major European
powers recognized Belgian independence, the Dutch did not accept the decisions of the conference and did not rec-
06:00 Skunk Fu
06:30 Johnny Bravo
07:00 Kids Next Door
07:30 Ben 10
08:00 Looney Tunes
08:30 Dexter's Laboratory
09:00 Fraiser
09:30 Less Than Perfect
10:00 Northern Exposure
11:00 Diagnosis Murder
12:00 Days of our Lives
13:00 The Guardian
14:00 Judging Amy
15:00 Catherine Jackson
16:00 Skunk Fu
16:30 Ben 10
16:50 Powerpuff Girls
17:10 Tom & Jerry
17:30 Juniper Lee
18:00 Fraiser
18:45 Northern Exposure
20:00 Lost
21:15 Brewster's Millions
23:30 The Riches
00:30 Macgyver
Constitution and not its last. The Constitution
was once again amended on June 20, 1992.
Today is the anniversary of the liberation of
Paris from German occupation in 1944. On this
day, the men of the 2nd French Armored
Division entered Paris, ending the long German
occupation of the "City of Light." In the afternoon, Gen. Charles de Gaulle led a parade
down the Champs Elysées. Though Hitler had
ordered the destruction of Paris, German occupying officer Gen. Dietrich von Choltitz refused to follow that order and instead surrendered to French Maj. Gen. Jacques Le Clerc.
ognize Belgian independence until 1835.
Today is Independence Day in Uruguay.
On this day in 1825, Uruguay declared its
independence from Brazil, although its independence was only actually recognized in
August 1828. The Uruguayan zeal for independence was sparked as early as 1811 and
actual warfare for independence turned into
a regional war that affected Brazil,
Argentina, Portugal and Uruguay.
Today is Paraguay's Constitution Day, commemorating the revised Constitution adopted
on this day in 1967. This was the country's fifth
‘Vertige’
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
REUTERS, FABRIZIO BENSCH
PHOTO
US director Quentin Tarantino (right) and cast member US actor Brad Pitt pose during a
photocall to promote their film "Inglourious Basterds" in Berlin on July 28, 2009.
Weinstein Co., which co-financed it with
international distributor Universal Pictures,
a unit of General Electric Co.
Women targeted
Company principals Bob and Harvey
Weinstein have released all of
Tarantino's films, beginning in 1992 with
"Reservoir Dogs" when they ran
Miramax Films. But since launching their
new firm in 2005, the Weinsteins have
failed to make much of an impact either
at the box office or the Academy Awards.
Harvey Weinstein told Reuters that the
early strength of "Inglourious Basterds" was
due in part to a last-minute marketing blitz
aimed at women and urban audiences.
Female-skewing promos downplayed
the violence and highlighted the key roles
played by actresses Diane Kruger and
Melanie Laurent. The strategy, which he
said cost over $5 million, seemed to work.
Exit surveys showed women accounted for
42 percent of the audience, a high proportion for a film with a high body count.
Additionally Samuel L. Jackson, one
of the stars of Tarantino's 1994 smash
"Pulp Fiction," cut a spot aimed at black
moviegoers. "Pulp Fiction" remains
Tarantino's biggest film overall with a
domestic haul of $107 million.
Last weekend's top film in North
America, TriStar Pictures sci-fi thriller
"District 9," slipped to No. 2 with $18.9
million. After 10 days, the Peter
Jackson-produced film has earned $73.5
million. TriStar is a unit of Sony Corp.
Paramount Pictures' "G.I. Joe: The
Rise of Cobra," was also down one to
No. 3, with $12.5 million. The threeweek haul for the action movie stands
at $120.5 million. Paramount is a unit
of Viacom Inc. Los Angeles Reuters
CNBC-E
18:15 Without a Trace
19:30 My Name is Earl
20:00 The Big Bang Theory
20:30 The New Adventures Of Old
Christine
21:00 Desperate Housewives
22:00 Eve Dönüþ
00:00 The Closer
01:00 Desperate Housewives
02:00 Eve Dönüþ
04:00 The Closer
05:00 My Name is Earl
05:30 The New Adventures Of Old
Christine
06:10 Without a Trace
Goldmax
08:05 Juno
09:45 Close Encounters Of The
Third Kind (Director's Cut)
12:05 It's A Free World
13:45 Guarding Tess
15:20 Once Upon A Time In The
West (C'era una volta il west)
18:10 Kalifornia
20:15 The First Wives Club
22:00 Crazy / Beautiful
23:40 Easy Rider
01:20 Sunshine State
04:00 We Don't Live Here Anymore
05:40 California
Movýemax
Cem Kýzýltuð
Mr. DýploMAT!
[email protected]
866
Crossword
Nazis and Quentin Tarantino proved
a lethal combination at the worldwide
box office as the bad-boy director
topped the weekend charts with his violent
World War II movie "Inglourious Basterds."
According to studio estimates issued on
Sunday, the film sold a total of $65.1 million worth of tickets in North America and
22 foreign territories, a promising start after
the disappointment of Tarantino's previous
effort, "Death Proof," two years ago.
In the United States and Canada,
the $37.6 million tally surpassed his
previous best opening of $25.1 million
for "Kill Bill Vol. 2" in 2004.
The foreign contribution of $27.5 million
was led by No. 1 openings in such countries as
France ($6.1 million), Britain ($5.8 million),
Germany ($4.3 million) and Australia ($2.7
million). It will roll out across the rest of the
world over the next three months.
Brad Pitt stars as the leader of a group of
Jewish-Americans who carry out violent
wartime acts of retribution across Europe.
Pundits had forecast a North American
opening in the $25 million range.
The film, which reportedly cost $70 million to make, also provides a much-needed
boost for the struggling independent studio
10:20 Open Season
11:45 Urban Justice
13:30 If I Didn't Care (Blue Blood)
14:55 Mystery Men
17:00 The Benchwarmers
18:35 Nothing But The Truth
20:35 RV
22:30 Assassination Of Jesse
James By The Coward Robert Ford
01:20 Speed Racer
03:45 Death Tunnel
05:50 Stomp The Yard
MGM Movýes
07:05 Top Gun
08:20 Go Tell The Spartans
10:15 Smile
12:10 Outlaw's Son
13:40 Girl With Green Eyes
15:15 War Party
16:55 A Thousand Clowns
18:55 Running Scared
20:45 Impromptu
22:35 Hannah And Her Sister
00:25 Blame It On Rio
02:45 A Thousand Clowns
05:00 Hannah And Her Sister
radýo guýde
TRT Tourýsm Radýo
Sudoku
EASY
HARD
4
2
5
6
6
6
7
5
2
4
4
5
5
9
1
1
9
5
1
3
3
5
2
1 4 2 6 8 9 5 3 7
3 8 6 7 1 5 9 2 4
5 9 7 2 3 4 6 8 1
7 2 5 8 9 1 4 6 3
6 3 9 4 5 7 8 1 2
4 1 8 3 6 2 7 9 5
6
1
6
6
8
3
3 9 2 1 4 6 8 7 5
7 4 6 3 8 5 1 2 9
1 5 8 2 7 9 4 3 6
5 8 1 7 3 4 9 6 2
2 6 4 9 5 8 7 1 3
9 7 3 6 2 1 5 8 4
7
9
8 7 3 1 4 6 2 5 9
9 6 4 5 2 3 1 7 8
2 5 1 9 7 8 3 4 6
9
2
2
8
8
3
7
5
2
9
9
6
5
7
HARD
ÝSTANBUL: Bakýrköy Cinebonus
Capacity 11:30 13:30 15:30 17:30 19:30
21:30 Fri/Sat: 23:30 Levent Cinebonus
Kanyon 11:30 13:30 15:30 17:30 19:30
21:30 Fri/Sat: 23:30 Þiþli Megaplex
Cevahir 11:45 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:30
22:15 Kadýköy Cinebonus Nautilus 11:15
13:15 15:15 17:15 19:15 21:15 Fri/Sat:
23:15 Maltepe AFM Carrefour Park
12:45 15:00 17:15 19:30 21:45
08:00 Desperate Housewives
09:00 The Rachael Ray Show
10:00 The Martha Stewart Show
11:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show
12:00 The Rachael Ray Show
13:00 Desperate Housewives
14:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show
15:00 The Martha Stewart Show
16:00 The Rachael Ray Show
17:00 Desperate Housewives
18:00 The Tonight Show With
Conan O'Brien
19:00 Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
20:00 CSI: NY
21:00 The Simpsons
22:15 Breaking Bad
23:00 The Tonight Show with Conan
O'Brien
24:00 Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
01:00 Breaking Bad
02:00 The Simpsons
03:00 Desperate Housewives
04:00 Nip/Tuck
05:00 Breaking Bad
‘Inglourýous Basterds’ earns
$65.1 mýllýon worldwýde
EASY
VERTIGE
E2
5
2
6 2 9 5 1 7 3 4 8
4 3 7 8 9 2 6 5 1
8 1 5 4 6 3 2 9 7
00:00 Identification and
Programming
00:25 Music
07:25 Identification and
Programming
07:30 Music
08:30 News (English, French,
German)
08:40 Live Broadcast (English,
German, Russian)
10:30 News (English, French,
German, Greek, Russian)
10:45 Live Broadcast (English,
German, Russian)
12:30 News (English, French,
German, Greek, Russian)
12.45 Live Broadcast (English,
German, Russian)
15:00 News (English, French,
German, Greek, Russian)
15:15 Live Broadcast (English,
German, Russian)
18:30 News (English, French,
German, Greek, Russian)
18:45 Live Broadcast (English,
French)
21:30 News (English, French,
German, Greek, Russian)
21:45 Live Broadcast (English,
Greek)
23:58 Identification
Broadcast Areas:
HOW TO PLAY? : The objective of the game is to fill all the blank squares in a game with
the correct numbers. There are three very simple constraints to follow. In a 9 by 9
square Sudoku game:
travelers’
s.o.s
ÝSTANBUL: Bakýrköy Cinebonus Capacity
11:00 12:15 14:00 15:15 17:15 18:30 20:30
21:45 Fri/Sat: 23:45 Beyoðlu AFM Fitaþ
12:00 15:15 18:30 21:45 Fri/Sat: 23:50
Esentepe Cinebonus Astoria 11:00 12:15
13:30 14:15 15:30 16:45 17:30 18:45 20:00
20:45 22:00 Levent Cinebonus Kanyon
11:00 12:00 14:00 15:00 17:15 18:15 20:30
21:30 Fri/Sat: 23:45 24:45 Caddebostan
AFM 11:30 13:10 14:50 16:30 18:10 19:50
21:30 Fri/Sat: 23:10 Kadýköy Atlantis 12:00
13:30 15:00 16:30 18:00 19:30 21:00
Kadýköy Rexx 11:00 12:30 14:00 15:30 17:00
18:30 20:30 Þaþkýnbakkal Megaplex M&S
11:15 12:45 14:15 15:45 17:15 18:45 20:15
21:45 Kozyataðý Cinebonus Palladium
11:00 12:30 14:00 15:30 17:00 18:30 20:00
21:30 Fri/Sat: 23:00 Ümraniye Cinebonus
Meydan 11:00 12:30 14:00 15:45 17:15
18:45 20:30 22:00 Fri/Sat: 23:45 ANKARA:
Bilkent Cinebonus 11:00 14:15 17:30 19:05
21:30 Fri/Sat: 24:00 Ata On Tower 12:00
13:30 15:00 16:30 18:15 20:15 21:30 Fri/Sat:
23:00 Cinebonus Panora 11:00 12:15 14:00
15:30 17:15 18:45 20:30 22:00 Fri/Sat: 23:45
Cinebonus Arcadium 11:00 12:00 14:15
15:15 17:30 18:30 21:00 22:00 Fri/Sat: 23:45
ÝZMÝR: Cinebonus Balçova Kipa 12:00
14:00 15:00 17:15 18:15 20:30 21:30 Fri/Sat:
24:15 AFM Bornova Forum 11:50 13:25
15:00 16:35 18:10 19:45 21:20 Fri/Sat: 23:00
Cinebonus Konak Pier 11:45 15:00 16:45
18:15 20:00 21:30 Fri/Sat: 23:45 ANTALYA:
Cinebonus Migros 11:15 12:45 14:15 15:45
17:15 18:45 20:15 21:45 Fri/Sat: 24:00
Antalya Plaza 11:30 14:15 17:30 20:15
Every row of 9 numbers must include all digits 1 through 9 in any order
Every column of 9 numbers must include all digits 1 through 9 in any order
Every 3 by 3 subsection of the 9 by 9 square must include all digits 1 through 9
Ambulance: 112 Fire: 110 171 Police: 155 156 Maritime: 158 Unknown numbers: 118 Turkish Airlines: 444 0 849 U.S. Embassy: 0312 455 5555 U.S.
Consulate: 0212 2513602-3-4 Russian Embassy: 0312 439 2122 Russian Consulate: 0212 244 1693-2610 British Embassy: 0312 455 3344 British Consulate:
0212 293 7540 German Embassy. 0312 455 5100 German Consulate: 0212 334 61 00 French Embassy: 0312 455 4545 French Consulate: 0212 292 4810-11
Indian Embassy: 0312 438 2195 Pakistani Embassy: 0312 427 1410 Austrian Embassy: 0312 419 0431-33 Austrian Consulate: 0212 262 9315 Belgian
Embassy: 0312 446 8247 Belgian Consulate: 0212 243 3300 Egyptian Embassy: 0312 426 1026 Egyptian Consulate: 0212 263 6038 Israeli Embassy: 0312 446 3605
Alanya FM 94.4
Ankara FM 100.3
Antalya FM 92.1
Ayvalýk FM 101.1
Bodrum FM 97.4
Fethiye FM 103.1
Ýstanbul FM 101.6
Ýzmir FM 101.6
Kalkan FM 105.9
Kapadokya FM 103.0
Kuþadasý FM 101.9
Marmaris FM 101.0
Pamukkale FM 101.0
Trabzon FM 101.5
T17-25-08-09.qxd
24.08.2009
17:13
Page 1
CONTINUATION
TODAY’S ZAMAN 17
T U E S D AY, A U G U S T 2 5 , 2 0 0 9
AK Party's Bozdað says Kurdish plan a national project
contýnued from page 1
He also stated that critics of the
Kurdish initiative should stop accusing
the government of treason and
contribute to plans to find a way out of
the decades-old question.
“They should stop looking for
foreigners behind the plan. You should
come with a plan for a solution instead of
opposing efforts and claiming that our
project is a project of treason. You should
display a new stance,” Bozdað stated
yesterday. He was directly referring to
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader
Devlet Bahçeli, who claimed last week that
the Kurdish initiative is an “American
project” and that everyone supporting it is
guilty of treason.
“The real American project was to
save [Abdullah] Öcalan [the jailed leader
of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)]
from execution. Look what happened.
Öcalan was sentenced to death, and his
file was sent to the Justice Ministry. The
file was later transferred to the Prime
Ministry. Who prevented the execution
there? The MHP. They had a seven-hour
deliberation then. They decided to
suspend the decision at the Prime
Ministry. Now Bahçeli says he does not
have a signature on the decision. Here is
his signature,” Bozdað stated, pointing
to a document bearing the signature of
the MHP leader.
The MHP was a signatory to the law
abolishing the death penalty in Turkey,
passed shortly after the terrorist leader
was captured in Kenya and brought to
Turkey. Öcalan's death sentence was
commuted to life imprisonment after the
death penalty was abolished.
Bozdað lashed out at MHP claims
that the ruling party was seeing the PKK
as a participant in the solution of the
Kurdish problem.
“It is the MHP who saw the PKK as
an interlocutor for the first and last time. In
an official document, the MHP said they
would execute Öcalan if the PKK staged a
terrorist attack. Is this not seeing the PKK
as an interlocutor?” he asked.
He also said plans to settle the
Kurdish question was part of a
democratization package, which stands as
a national project for the government. “We
are not in search of an interlocutor. Our
interlocutor is the Turkish nation. Our aim
is to include everyone in the solution
process,” Bozdað added.
On the other hand, Ahmet Reyiz
Yýlmaz, who is a candidate to become the
new MHP leader, claimed that Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan was
continuing with the Kurdish initiative
under the guidance of Israel.
“It is surprising that policies under
the name of the so-called Kurdish
initiative are being carried on perfectly
under the guidance of Israel. I am
watching our submission and
weakness in surprise,” Yýlmaz said on
Saturday. Hamza Erdoðan Ankara
contýnued from page 1
Bekir Bozdað
PHOTO
AA, DÝLEK MERMER
Specs of Kurdish initiative
roadmap emerging
contýnued from page 1
Constitutional changes are considered
a medium or long-term goal.
Here are the 10 items currently on the
agenda of the Kurdish initiative:
1- Turkey's unitary form of
government to be protected
All political parties including the proKurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), civil
society groups and academics have expressed
their opinion that the Kurdish question must
be settled within Turkey's unitary structure,
with a few marginal exceptions. The solution
will be found inside a unitary structure.
2- Political campaigns in Kurdish to be
allowed
As part of the package, the 81st Article of
the Political Parties Law on the Prevention of
Formation of Minorities, which limits the use
of non-Turkish languages in political
demonstrations, campaign slogans, signs,
brochures and other materials, will be
changed, allowing the use of Kurdish.
3- Opportunities for Kurds to learn
native tongue
A provision that doesn't allow language
centers that teach Kurdish to teach other
languages will be changed to prevent these
language centers from going out of business.
However, no consensus has yet been reached
regarding the use of Kurdish in public
education. Suggestions include adding
Kurdish as an optional language course in
schools and offering Kurdish language classes
at public education centers. A common
demand voiced by all parties Atalay talked to
was lifting limitations on Kurdish broadcasts
by private television stations.
Over the past two weeks, Interior Minister Beþir Atalay (C) met with representatives
of business groups to discuss the Kurdish initiative. Among these groups was KAMUSEN, which expressed its support for the initiative.
4- Kurdish to be allowed in prisons
The current ban on speaking Kurdish in
prisons and detention centers will be lifted.
5- Place names to be restored
The former names of thousands of towns
and villages in the East and the Southeast that
were replaced with Turkish names during the
republican era will be restored. As a first step,
the Kýrkpýnar area in Diyarbakýr -- part of the
province's Kayapýnar district -- will be
changed to its Kurdish name, Çelkaniya. The
decision has been approved by the Diyarbakýr
Governor's Office and is pending approval at
the Interior Ministry.
6- Kurdish institutes to be established
The government will ensure that Kurdish
language and literature departments and
Kurdology institutes are established at the
Mardin Artuklu and Diyarbakýr Dicle
universities.
7- Children are not terrorists
Children from Kurdish families who stone
police officers during demonstrations in the
East and Southeast have been facing trial in
high criminal courts under the CounterTerrorism Law. The government will put an
end to this by changing Article 9 of the
Counter-Terrorism Law, which will prevent
courts from handing down adult sentences for
these children. The government will also make
the utmost effort to prevent children from
becoming involved in demonstrations.
8- Active repentance law to be put into
effect
The partial amnesty law stipulated under
Article 220 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) -known as the “active repentance law” -- will
be made effective. This was also a common
demand voiced by all parties spoken with. The
first person to voice this demand was Chief of
Gen. Staff Gen. Ýlker Baþbuð. Giving back this
law an effective status will bring more
militants who joined the terrorist Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK) back home.
9- Hate crimes will not be allowed
The scope of freedom of expression will be
expanded with changes to Article 216 of the
TCK. At the same time, the government will
take measures to ensure that there are no gaps
in the law that allow hate speech or hate crimes.
10- Freedom to Kurdish intellectuals
An important demand raised by most of the
individuals and organizations Atalay met with
was returning citizenship to thousands of Kurds
residing in Turkey. This will be most useful for
Kurdish intellectuals who reside in Turkey. The
citizenship of Kurds who have not participated
in any terrorist attacks will be restored.
Atalay met with large number of organizations for Kurdish plan
Interior Minister Beþir Atalay met with various political
parties and civil society organizations; however, the
opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and Nationalist
Movement Party (MHP) declined to schedule an appointment with the minister. The CHP clarified that it was not permanently closing the door to the government's Kurdish initiative, shortly after a National Security Council (MGK) meeting that indicated the military's support for the initiative.
Atalay met with five political parties, as well as trade
and employee unions including the Turkish Industrialists
and Businessmen's Association (TÜSÝAD), the
Independent Industrialists and Businessmen's
Association (MÜSÝAD), the Confederation of Revolutionary
Workers' Unions (DÝSK), the Confederation of Public
Sector Trade Unions (KESK), the Confederation of Civil
Servants Trade Unions (MEMUR-SEN) and the Turkish
Public Workers' Labor Union (KAMU-SEN). All of these organizations expressed their support for the initiative.
In all these meetings, the minister emphasized that the
correct addressee of the Kurdish question is the
Parliament, noting that the democratic initiative project
would eventually become a state policy.
Proposals from various groups
All in all, the minister has so far talked to five political par-
ties, six unions, 43 civil society organizations and 18 intellectuals -- foreign and domestic alike. The draft report the
Interior Ministry has completed includes summaries of the
views expressed by all these groups and individuals.
During the meeting, TÜSÝAD called for changes to the
political parties' law and the election law, highlighting that
the ultimate settlement should be found within Turkey's unitary form of government. TÜSÝAD also called for judicial reform and projects that would spur economic, social and cultural development in the area. The organization also stated
that the widest consensus possible should be achieved to
back the package. The Turkish Union of Chambers and
Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) called for a complete guarantee of freedom of expression, religion, conscience and entrepreneurship. MÜSÝAD said it would support every step
that would expand democratic rights and freedoms as long
as Turkey's unitary structure is preserved.
Political parties and unions
During its meeting with Atalay, the Democratic Society Party
(DTP) emphasized its willingness to support any step that
might help end bloodshed in the Southeast, noting that it
supports a settlement within the country's structure as a
unitary state. However, the DTP also demanded some serious changes to the Constitution. The Democratic Left Party
(DSP) also expressed support, noting that it was important
to make investments and carry out projects that would support economic freedom in the Southeast and the East. The
Felicity Party (SP) said the military should stop military operations against the PKK, which should also lay down arms.
The Democrat Party (DP) also emphasized the importance
of preserving Turkey's unitary structure and the need for
drafting a more democratic constitution that would be
formed by securing the wide consensus of all political parties and segments of society. The Grand Unity Party (BBP)
supports the initiative and expansion of individual rights and
freedoms as long as the principle of “one language, one
country, one flag” is preserved.
DÝSK also favors a settlement within Turkey's unitary structure, urging an amnesty for members of the
terrorist organization. It also believes it is important to
strengthen local governments, particularly those of the
Southeast and the East.
The Turkish Tradesmen's and Artisans'
Confederation (TESK) argued for initiatives such as
making Kurdish language courses available in Turkish
schools. MEMUR-SEN called for constitutional changes
that would allow recognition of Kurdish identity. KESK
also called for a new Constitution that would have extensive support and general amnesty for PKK members.
CM Y K
Baykal says Kurdish
initiative may harm
national unity
Everyone has started to be a party in tension. Artists
have started to divide into camps. People from all segments of
society have been negatively affected by this process.”
According to Baykal, ongoing efforts to solve the Kurdish
question would lead to a division similar to that in Iraq or the
former Yugoslavia. “At the end of this initiative, we will be
faced with what Iraq and former Yugoslavia faced. We will be
faced with disappointment. Terrorism cannot divide us, but
languages can. … This is a grave project. I have no doubt that
this project will totally damage our national unity and the
political identity of the Republic of Turkey,” he stated.
Asked a question over whether he was satisfied with the
outcome of last week's National Security Council (MGK), the CHP
leader said the meeting did not eliminate his party's concerns.
“The emphasis on national unity in the MGK statement
is of high importance. However, the meeting did not
eliminate our concerns. It is wrong to contribute to this
process without knowing what is under way. Does the MGK
know the content of the initiative? It is not certain where the
process will take the country,” Baykal remarked.
Following a seven-hour-meeting of the MGK last
Thursday, a statement it released underscored that it
recommends efforts being made under the supervision of the
interior minister should continue in order to provide for the
happiness, peace and welfare of the society.
Baykal also claimed that recent meetings between Interior
Minister Beþir Atalay and civil society groups and business
associations to discuss the scope of the Kurdish plan are a
strong sign of negotiation over the plan.
“The government is engaged in a negotiation
process. We said it at the very beginning that the
Democratic Society Party [DTP] would not come up
with different demands from Ýmralý [the island prison
where PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan is jailed]. DTP
officials keep pointing to Ýmralý as the interlocutor of the
process. There is cooperation between the DTP and
Ýmralý,” he said. Ýstanbul Today's Zaman with wires
MÝT head says
Ergenekon produced
fake MÝT documents
contýnued from page 1
The letter also said that the organization intended to undermine the constitutional order in the country and was active in the Turkic republics.
Pointing to Adil Serdar Saçan, the former organized
crime unit director, Taner complained that the Security
Directorate had failed to provide information to MÝT about an
ongoing investigation into this crime network in 2002. Since
no information was shared about this investigation with MÝT
by the Security Directorate, the scope of MÝT's investigation
into the crime organization remained limited.
Taner said MÝT received numerous warnings about the
existence of a crime organization, which was later dubbed
“Ergenekon,” from various sources, but that some contradicted each other; hence it prepared a report on the organization
in 2002 which was sent to the Prime Ministry and the General
Staff. The warnings all said that the organization was aiming
to destroy the regime in the country, Taner added.
Taner said that some documents which were seized during raids of the residences and offices of Ergenekon suspects
and bore the MÝT letterhead were fake, as was mentioned in
the indictment of the Ergenekon case. He said MÝT had taken
legal action over these fake documents in the past.
Taner also said that Ergenekon's Karargah houses, secret
meeting places of officers and War Academy cadets known as
command centers which were allegedly established by the
Workers' Party (ÝP), were deemed “big dangers” by MÝT.
He said MÝT sent an urgent note to the General Staff
about these houses on March 29, 2007, in addition to two
other extensive reports sent to the Prime Ministry and the
General Staff about the structure of Ergenekon.
Lawyers afraid to
defend me, says
Ergenekon suspect
One of the suspects in the Council of State shooting case,
which earlier this month was merged with the trial of
Ergenekon, a shadowy network which has alleged links within
the state and is suspected of plotting to topple the government,
has said lawyers are now afraid to defend him in court. The
Ergenekon trial continued yesterday, with the attendance of
the suspects in the 2006 Council of State shooting case, in
which a senior judge was killed. Some 33 Ergenekon
suspects, including Council of State shooting suspects
attended yesterday's hearing.
When head judge Köksal Þengün asked Yýldýrým, who
paved the way for the merger of the Ergenekon case with the
Council of State shooting case with his testimony, why he did
not have a lawyer, he said he couldn't find a lawyer because
nobody wanted to defend him out of fear. “Lawyers are not
afraid; Ahmet Doðan has written a filing on your behalf.
There are other lawyers' names as well. Did you grant power
of attorney to him? Is [Doðan] your lawyer?” asked Þengün.
In return, Yýldýrým said: “I do not have a lawyer. I do not want
one, either.” Upon this, Þengün said it was not up to Yýldýrým
whether or not to have a lawyer, as the law and the charges
directed against him require a lawyer. Büþra Erdal Ýstanbul
T18-25-08-09.qxd
24.08.2009
14:38
Page 1
SPORTS
Dementieva denies Sharapova in Toronto
Russian fourth seed Elena Dementieva picked up her third title of the year
and denied compatriot Maria Sharapova a comeback win with a 6-4, 6-3
victory in the final of the Toronto Cup. Dementieva's victory was just the
third in nine meetings against Sharapova, who was playing for a title
for the first time since Amelia Island in April 2008. Toronto, Reuters
TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2009
Controversial sumo champion Asashoryu is in
hot water again after skipping training because he did not want to risk catching the
H1N1 flu on a bus. The Mongolian “yokozuna” told Monday's Japanese media he would
take the matter up with the wrestlers' union
after being reprimanded for a morning noshow at the weekend. "[The infected
wrestlers] were on the same bus which was a
reason," said Asashoryu, adding that the
Japan Sumo Association (JSA) had done little
to protect wrestlers from infection. "What
they say and what they do are two different
things. I want them to think hard to come up
with a way to protect us [from risk]." Around
30 wrestlers and sumo officials have caught
the flu over the past 10 days. Wrestlers and
sumo fans have been wearing flu masks as a
precaution against the outbreak. "Our livelihoods are at stake here," fumed the 28-yearold Asashoryu. "I'll be taking it up with the
union." The JSA declined to give immediate
comment. Asashoryu was criticized for skipping morning training ahead of a major
tournament in Nagoya recently amid the
break-up of his marriage. Tokyo Reuters
Melis Mey clinches only medal for Turkey at worlds
Turkish athlete Karin Melis Mey won a
bronze medal on Sunday in the women's
long jump at the 12th World Athletics
Championship with a leap of 6.80 meters,
Turkey's only medal of the competition.
American Brittney Reese won the gold
medal with 7.10 meters, while her Russian rival Tatyana Lebedeva won the silver medal
with 6.97 meters.
Melis Mey reached 6.76 meters in her first
attempt. While her second attempt was unsuccessful, Melis Mey reached 6.80 meters in
her third attempt. After her fourth and fifth
attempts were null, Melis Mey made a 6.49meter leap in her sixth attempt. Reese's 7.10meter leap was the best score of the season.
After winning bronze in the women's
long jump, Melis Mey said her aim is to exceed seven meters. Noting that she felt happy
and was proud to win a medal for Turkey,
Melis Mey said she will aim to advance to the
finals in all competitions she enters from now
Smith's season-high
31 lifts Shock to win
REUTERS, DOMINIC EBENBICHLER
On a frantic final day of competition in the Olympic Stadium,
Kenenisa Bekele underlined his
place as one of the all-time greats of
distance running when he added the
world 5,000-meter title to Monday's
10,000 gold. The unprecedented world
championship double comes after he
won both events at the Olympics last
year, while he is also the world record
holder at both distances.
Yusuf Saad Kamel's bid to match him
with a middle distance double failed as
the 1,500-meter champion finished third
in the 800 after a front-running win for
South African Mbulaeni Mulaudzi.
Maryam Yusuf Jamal crossed the
line second in the women's 1,500 meters but retained the title after race winner Spaniard Natalia Rodriguez was
disqualified for pushing over Ethiopian
favourite Gelete Burka.
Brittney Reese of the United States
won the women's long jump with a
7.10m leap while Norway's Andreas
Thorkildsen won the men's javelin with
an 89.59 throw. China's Bai Xue, 20, won
the women's marathon in the morning in
2:25:15, ahead of Japan's Yoshimi Ozaki
and Aselefech Mergia of Ethiopia.
The United States, which failed to
get either team into Saturday's sprint
relay finals after changeover errors, finished on a high by winning both
4x400m relays in emphatic style.
That ensured they finished top of the
medals table with 10 golds and 22 medals
in all, ahead of Jamaica, which had seven
golds and a total of 13. Kenya and Russia
both claimed four golds with a host of
countries taking two.
Ethiopia was one of them, and both
came courtesy of Bekele.
Katie Smith scored a season-high 31 points to
help the Detroit Shock to a key 99-84 win on
Sunday over the San Antonio Silver Stars. The
game was a rematch of last year's WNBA finals, but both teams are struggling just to
reach the postseason. Detroit (11-14) won for
the second night in a row to get within a
game of the final Eastern Conference spot,
while San Antonio (11-16) dropped its third
straight and now trails Minnesota by a game.
Alexis Hornbuckle added 14 points for
Detroit. Sophia Young led San Antonio with
19 points and Ann Wauters scored 18. At
Atlanta, Candace Parker scored 23 points and
grabbed eight rebounds in the Sparks' 9187
victory over the Dream. Auburn Hills, Mich. AP
AUTO RACING
Franchitti wins
Sonoma Grand Prix
Dario Franchitti led from start to finish to capture his first Sonoma Grand Prix on Sunday in
the final road course race of the year.
Franchitti took the pole and led all 75 laps,
beating runner-up and new points leader
Ryan Briscoe on the way to his fourth victory
of the year. Franchitti and Briscoe avoided a
multiple-car crash early in Lap 1 on the tough
12-turn, 2.303-mile road course. Scott Dixon,
the points leader coming in and Franchitti's
teammate with Target Chip Ganassi Racing,
finished a disappointing 13th after stalling in
the wreck. He fell into third place in the points
race. At least seven cars crashed in an accident
heading into Turn 2 of the race, including '07
Sonoma champion Dixon after he started
10th. There's a quick elevation gain from the
starting line to Turn 2. Sonoma, Calif. AP
Karin Melis Mey
The unprecedented world championship double comes after he won both the 5,000 and 10,000
events at the Olympics last year. He is also the world record holder at both distances
PHOTO
BASKETBALL
athletes held a placard saying “See you in
Daegu, 2011.”
Speaking to the Anatolia news agency,
Turkish Athletics Federation head Mehmet
Terzi said, “Athletes on the Turkish national
team performed well below their general level
at the 12th World Athletics Championship.”
Terzi added that they could see better results
if athletes would exert more effort.
Terzi said that they expected medals from
Elvan Abeylegesse in the 5-kilometer and 10kilometer running competitions, similarly they
expected medals from Ercüment Olgundeniz
in the discus throw and from Fatih Avan in the
javelin throw. “We are sad for the scores we
got. However, Karin Melis Mey's bronze
medal in the long jump made us happy on the
last day of the championship,” Terzi added.
Terzi also noted that they could have more
athletes participating in the championship, but
Halil Akkaþ, Selim Bayrak and Türkan Eriþmiþ
were disabled. Ýstanbul Today's Zaman
Kenenisa Bekele completes
world distance double
CRICKET
Aussies want changes
after Ashes test loss
Dump the captain, fire the coach, demanded the
detractors. And make the selectors pay for obvious bad choices. Australia's Ashes loss to
England in the fifth cricket test Monday wore
heavily on the psyche of many Australians, as it
will for the next 18 months until the teams meet
again Down Under. As it was, most Australians
were sleeping overnight Sunday when the end
came. It was 2:48 a.m. local time Monday on the
east coast when Michael Hussey was finally out
to complete a 197-run defeat at The Oval in
London, sealing England's 2-1 win in the fivematch series. Ricky Ponting now has the dubious
distinction of being only the second Australian
captain -- and the first since Billy Murdoch
more than a century ago (1884 and 1890) -- to
lose the Ashes twice in England. Brisbane AP
on. Speaking after the medal ceremony, Melis
Mey said getting a medal was a big surprise
for her and that in her last attempts, she
prayed not to be outjumped by other players.
While she spoke in English for most of her
speech, Melis Mey said, “Thank you, Turkey!”
in Turkish at the end.
The 12th World Athletics Championship
ended in Berlin on Sunday. Melis Mey's bronze
medal is the only medal Turkey won during
the championship. Turkey sent nine athletes to
the championship: three men and six women.
A farewell ceremony was held after the
games. Thousands of people gathered on the
stadium field with the athletes. There were
1,984 athletes from 201 countries, which is a
new record for the World Athletics
Championship. Another record came from
the ticket sales, which reached 400,000 this
year. During the closing ceremony, while
German athletes wore T-shirts saying “Thank
you, Berlin, you were great,” South Korean
AA, HAKKI AKDUMAN
Asashoryu refuses to
take bus amid flu scare
PHOTO
SUMO
Mighty double
Kenenisa Bekele (L) of Ethiopia celebrates after winning ahead of Bernard Lagat of the US in the men's
5,000-meter final at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin, which came to an end early on Monday.
CM Y K
A week ago he matched Haile
Gebrselassie by winning his fourth successive 10,000 title and on Sunday did
something not even his great compatriot
managed by also taking the 5,000 title.
The 27-year-old hit the front with
two laps to go but for once did not have
things all his own way.
A nervous glance over his shoulder
showed he had concerns but though
American defending champion Bernard
Lagat briefly drew level on the home
straight, Bekele forged clear again to
win in 13:17.09. "I'll never forget this
race," Bekele said. "I won double gold
and I am so happy."
Mulaudzi, 2004 Olympic silver medallist, took the 800 by the scruff of the neck
and though he almost blew it when he
stumbled at the finish, he stayed upright
just long enough to win in 1:45.29.
Defending champion Alfred Yego of
Kenya was second and Kamel third, both
given the same time of 1:45.35.
Mulaudzi's win gave South Africa
an 800m double after teenager Caster
Semenya won the women's race earlier
in the week hours after the IAAF announced she was undergoing gender
verification tests.
The women's 1,500 was a physical
race from the start but Rodriguez took
it a step too far when she tried to
squeeze past Burka on the inside and
sent her sprawling.
The Spaniard went on to win but
must have suspected her glory would
be short-lived as she barely celebrated
and instead tried to console the tearful Ethiopian.
After she was duly disqualified,
Jamal was promoted to the gold medal
position, Britain's Lisa Dobriskey
moved up to second, with American
Shannon Rowbury awarded bronze.
The US women won the 4x400m relay by a street as individual champion
Sanya Richards brought them home in
3:17.83, more than three seconds clear of
Jamaica and third-place Russia.
For the eighth time in the last nine
championships, the curtain was
brought down by the Americans winning the men's 4x400.
Angelo Taylor, Jeremy Wariner,
Kerron Clement and LaShawn Merritt,
all individual Olympic or world champions in the 400 or 400 hurdles in their
careers, came home in 2:57.86, well
clear of Britain and surprise bronze
medallists Australia.
"Putting the best quarter-milers and the
best 400m hurdlers in the world out there,
we expect greatness," said Wariner. "And
that is what we did today." Berlin Reuters
T19-25-08-09.qxd
24.08.2009
15:06
Page 1
SPORTS
TODAY’S ZAMAN 19
PHOTO
PHOTO
AP, MIKE GROLL
AP, ALBERTO SAIZ
T U E S D AY, A U G U S T 2 5 , 2 0 0 9
Brawn GP Formula One driver Rubens Barrichello
of Brazil poses for photographers with the trophy.
Barrichello
thanks Massa for
helpful hints
Brazilian Rubens Barrichello thanked injured
compatriot Felipe Massa for the hints that
helped him end a wait of nearly five years for victory on Sunday. Ferrari's Massa won the inaugural race in Valencia for Ferrari last season but was
seriously injured when he was hit on the head
by a spring that fell off his friend Barrichello's
car in qualifying in Hungary last month.
Barrichello, whose European Grand Prix win
was the 100th by a Brazilian driver in Formula
One, raced with a come back soon message for
Massa on his helmet. The 37-year-old Brawn driver revealed that last year's championship runnerup had also given him some useful advice.
"I spent a whole afternoon with him and he
has such a good memory," he said. "He said
something about [racing] lines at this race here
and for sure they did help because he was superb
here last year and so I watched the race after we'd
spoken. "It was great that his colours were with
me, that he was telling me some of the good lines
that he had last year, so it was [his] win too."
Barrichello's 10th career victory, and first since
he was with Michael Schumacher at Ferrari in 2004,
united the sport in celebration for a popular figure
who has started more races than anyone else. The
veteran, whose career looked to be at an end when
Brawn's predecessors Honda pulled out in
December, sobbed over the team radio as he crossed
the line in a moment he wished could last for ever.
"I have worked with almost 80 percent of the
paddock," he said before being drenched in champagne and tossed in the air by his team mates. "All
my wins seem to be so emotional. They [the other
teams] are part of it as well, all the teams that I
worked with. It has been a fantastic day. "A lot
went through my mind. I have learnt in the 17
years [since his debut in 1993] how to be not emotional. I can freeze all my thoughts and just drive
and I have been doing that very well," he added.
"Some mistakes at the beginning of my
career were because of these emotional
thoughts and so on, but today was good. I was
concentrated and so on but the last 10 laps
everything came up in my mind. "You hear all
the noises. You hear everything and you can
see people in the grandstands. Valencia Reuters
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Team USA poses with the Solheim Cup after the golf tournament at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill. The American team won 16-12 to retain the trophy.
US retains Solheim Cup
with sparkling singles display
Needing 14 points to
keep possession of the
prestigious trophy, the
home team secured
the decisive point
when Morgan Pressel
beat Swede Anna
Nordqvist 3-and-2 in
the penultimate match
at a sun-baked Rich
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United States maintained their unbeaten
record on American soil by clinching the
Solheim Cup for a third consecutive time on
Sunday, beating Europe 16-12 with a sparkling display in the last-day singles. Needing 14 points to keep
possession of the prestigious trophy, the home team
secured the decisive point when Morgan Pressel
beat Swede Anna Nordqvist 3-and-2 in the penultimate match at a sun-baked Rich Harvest Farms.
Pressel never trailed in her encounter and sealed
victory when Nordqvist was unable to get up and
down to save par from greenside rough at the 171yard 16th. "I am still speechless," a tearful Pressel,
21, said in a greenside interview as chants of ‘USA,
all the way' echoed across the par-73 layout. "It's
very emotional. "It's been a long week, we played
great and I'm so proud of my team. They set me up
to be able to win on that hole. It's a great feeling."
Europe, who have now lost eight times in 11 edi-
tions of the competition, held their own earlier in the
day, leading in five and trailing in just three matches
at one point. Midway through the afternoon, they led
in six of the 12 singles encounters. "I just can't even
believe they've done this because for a while it really
didn't look like it was going to be possible," US captain Beth Daniel told reporters. "Through [holes] 12,
13 and 14 today, they just turned it around."
European captain Alison Nicholas said: "The
girls tried to keep up with them but they [the
US] just holed a few more putts than us. It's
tough to come over here and win, and to be
honest with you, we were huge underdogs to
start the week." The Americans, tied 8-8 with
Europe overnight, won the first point of the day
when Angela Stanford crushed Britain's Becky
Brewerton 5-and-4 in the second match out.
Stanford never trailed after winning the opening
hole with a birdie three and she wrapped up victory
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CM Y K
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by knocking in a six-foot birdie putt at the par-four
14th. Soon after, world number four Paula Creamer
earned the Americans their 10th point with a commanding 3-and-2 win over sixth-ranked Norwegian
Suzann Pettersen in the top match.
Creamer, who had been one down after five
holes, drained a 30-foot birdie putt at the parfour 10 to take the lead for the first time before
tightening her grip. "It was a great match,"
Creamer said after extending her perfect record
in Cup singles matches to 3-0. "I played really
well and I put the pressure on her all day long."
Cup rookie Michelle Wie followed suit with a
one-up victory over veteran Helen Alfredsson after a
fluctuating battle. Wie eagled the par-five second and
was three up on Alfredsson after seven holes before
the Swede levelled the match on the 11th green.
Wie, however, fought back to seal the win with a
two-putt birdie at the last. Sugar Grove, Ill. Reuters/AP
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T20-25-08-09.qxd
24.08.2009
14:52
Page 1
Police probe burglary at Lohan’s LA home
Police were called for the second time in three months to the Hollywood Hills
home of actress Lindsay Lohan on Sunday to investigate a burglary there. No one
was home during the break-in, which Lohan discovered after the fact, according to
an officer at the Los Angeles Police Department's Hollywood station. LA, Reuters
WWW.TODAYSZAMAN.COM TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2009
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF LIFE GROWS,
GIVES CLUES ON AGING, PESTS
US attention drug
emergencies soar
Moth pest
The moth, Cameraria ohridella, "is now more or
less throughout Europe and poses a threat to
ecosystems in Southeast Asia, North America and
elsewhere -- wherever the beautiful horse chestnut trees occur," said David Lees of the Natural
History Museum in London and French agricultural research group INRA. The EOL said it would
help "public recognition and awareness of such
invasive species through detailed descriptions and
maps, helping to slow their global spread and
enable more rapid and effective remedial measures." And the EOL was trying to help researchers
find out how global warming may affect species,
such as by making them move to cooler habitats.
A problem for many biologists is that
they often study just one species so do not
know if their findings apply more widely,
said James Hanken, director of the Harvard
Museum of Comparative Zoology and chair
of the EOL Steering Committee. Oslo Reuters
PHOTOS
An online encyclopedia aiming to
describe every type of animal and plant
on the planet has reached 170,000 entries
and is helping research into ageing, climate
change and even the spread of insect pests. The
"Encyclopedia of Life" (eol.org), a project likely
to cost $100 million launched in 2007, says it
wants to describe all the 1.8 million known
species from apples to zebras within a decade.
"We're picking up speed," James Edwards,
EOL Executive Director based at the Smithsonian
Institution in Washington, said on Sunday of the
170,000 entries with content in a common format
vetted by experts. A year ago, it had 30,000 entries.
He said everyone from scientists to schoolchildren
could use the EOL as a "field guide" or contribute a photograph or an observation of an animal in an area where it was not found before, in
some cases a sign of a changing climate.
The Encyclopedia was aiding scientists
who look at human ageing, for instance, by
examining the widely differing lifespans of
related species. A Latin American bat,
Tadarida brasiliensis, lives far longer than mice
relatives of a similar size, perhaps because its
body has a mechanism that limits damage to
protein in its cells. And some butterflies that
feed on fruit live longer than related species.
"It's working really nicely, the community of
scientists working on ageing have adopted the
EOL," Edwards told Reuters. And the
Encyclopedia was seeking to help combat pests
such as moth from the Balkans that has spread
fast across Europe in the past two decades. It
attacks the leaves of horse chestnut trees and
makes them brown by mid-summer.
TODAY’S ZAMAN, REUTERS,AP
An online project aiming to describe every type of animal and plant on the planet within a decade has reached
170,000 entries since its 2007 launch and is helping research into aging, climate change and even the spread of insect
pests. There are 1.8 million known species on the planet, so the encyclopedia team has its work cut out for it
Calls to poison control centers for US
teenagers who have overdosed on
attention deficit drugs rose 76 percent over
eight years, researchers reported on Monday.
This is nearly the same as the 80 percent rise
in prescriptions for such drugs, Dr. Jennifer
Setlik and colleagues at Cincinnati Children's
Hospital Medical Center reported.
They took data from the American Association
of Poison Control Centers for 1998 to 2005 for all
cases of ADHD drug misuse involving 13- to 19year-olds. In 1988, these call centers only logged
about 317 calls, but by 2005 they were getting 581
calls a year, they reported in the journal Pediatrics.
"Clearly, we are seeing a rising problem
with the abuse of these medications," Setlik
said in a statement. "The findings suggest that
more teens are abusing and misusing
stimulant ADHD medications because they
have access to those medications, not because
a higher percentage of those treated have
turned to abusing their medication."
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is
marked by restlessness, impulsiveness, inattention
and distractibility that can interfere with a child's
ability to pay attention in school and maintain social
relationships. Amphetamines or methylphenidate
drugs can calm and focus the brain. Prescriptions
of amphetamines rose 133 percent from 1998 to
2003, and abuse of these drugs rose, too, the
researchers found. Washington, D.C. Reuters
Stolen dogs found in
Peru medical school lab
At least two stolen dogs were found in an
operating room used for dissections at the
medical school of South America's oldest
university, but its dean denied relying on
dognappers to collect specimens for classes. The
University of San Marcos does not have access to
enough human cadavers for its students, so they
sometimes cut open dogs instead.
Carmen Valverde's dog Tomas was stolen
by two men while she was walking in the
working-class Brena district of Lima, and a
friend who works at the school's teaching
hospital spotted him by chance in a surgery
room where dogs are dissected. Valverde
donned a lab coat and snuck into the hospital to
rescue Tomas. Video her friend shot a week
ago, aired on local television, shows him
sedated, splayed, and strapped to a stainless
steel table -- just moments away from the knife.
After local newspapers published the
story, other people missing dogs rushed to the
hospital's door and one owner found her dog
Chico. "The University of San Marcos still
hasn't apologized for what it has done,"
Valverde told Reuters Thursday.
Ricardo Rubios, dean of the medical school,
acknowledged that stolen dogs had wound up in
the surgery room, but said the school only uses
strays for classes. "I assure you we would have
returned the dog. All our experimental surgeries
are done to dogs that don't have owners,"
Rubios told Reuters. Romila Briones, a member
of ASPPA, a Peruvian animal rights group, said
the law does not protect strays. Lima Reuters
A year ago, the online encyclopedia had 30,000 entries; today it
has 170,000. The figure is still a
cry from the goal of cataloguing
the world’s estimated 1.8 million
species within a decade, but
already the Web site is in use as
a “field guide” for everyone from
scientists to schoolchildren. The
entries feature content in a common format vetted by experts.
Woman sues zoo
over splashing dolphins
PHOTO
REUTERS, YURIKO NAKAO
Japanese politicians may ditch handshakes on flu fears
Katsuhito Yokokume, a candidate for the main opposition Democratic
Party, shakes hands with a woman in Yokosuka on Aug. 11.
They may want votes, but some
Japanese election candidates have been
cutting back on handshakes on the campaign trail as the new flu virus reaches epidemic proportions in Japan. The country has
confirmed three deaths from the H1N1
influenza virus, and the health minister said
Wednesday a rise in cases meant the new flu
had spread more than expected this summer.
With little more than a week to go until
the Aug. 30 election that his opposition
Democratic Party looks likely to win, candidate Denny Tamaki is playing it safe.
"Shaking hands during an election campaign is key, so this is pretty troubling,"
Tamaki told the Yomiuri Shimbun.
"It would be bad if I get infected
myself and then pass it on to older people with weaker immune systems," said
Tamaki, whose home island of
Okinawa has been hit hard by the flu.
Fellow Democratic Party candidate
Katsuhito Yokokume, locked in a tough
fight against popular ex-premier
Junichiro Koizumi's son, took a break
from campaigning a few days ago after
showing flu symptoms, media reported.
When he resumed, he made a
rather unusual campaign pledge. "We'll
make sure not to give speeches so close
that the audience might get hit with
spittle," Yomiuri quoted one of his
campaigners as saying. Makiko Fujino,
a ruling party candidate in the city of
Nagoya, where an 81-year-old woman
died from the new flu, brought disinfectant along to her rallies. "I watched the
news and thought some people might
be worried, so I quickly brought some
along," she told the newspaper.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo
Kawamura urged people to wash their
hands but said there were no plans to limit
public gatherings. The new H1N1 influenza
virus has caused the first pandemic of the
21st century, according to the World Health
Organization. When the northern hemisphere's autumn weather sets in, it is
expected to worsen. Most cases are mild to
moderate, with H1N1 appearing to be
about as deadly as seasonal flu. Tokyo Reuters
A woman is suing a Chicago-area zoo for a
2008 fall near a dolphin exhibit, accusing
zookeepers of encouraging the mammals to splash
water and then failing to protect spectators from
wet surfaces, local media reported on Thursday. In
her suit filed earlier this week, Allecyn Edwards said
she was injured while walking near an exhibit at
Brookfield Zoo, where a group of Atlantic
bottlenose dolphins were performing, media said.
Officials "recklessly and willfully trained and
encouraged the dolphins to throw water at the
spectators in the stands, making the floor wet and
slippery," but failed to post warning signs or lay
down protective mats or strips, the suit said,
according to the reports. Edwards is demanding
more than $50,000 for lost wages, medical expenses
and emotional trauma from the Chicago Zoological
Society and the Forest Preserve District of Cook
County, which operate the zoo in Chicago's
southwest suburbs. The suit was filed in Illinois'
Circuit Court of Cook County. Chicago Reuters