MetaFilter posts tagged with turkey

From the Ottoman military to the Balkan Roma

sleepy pete — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 10:44:24 -0800

The Mehterhane or Mehter, as they are often known, are thought to be the oldest military marching band in the world. Starting around the 13th century, the band accompanied the Ottoman empire troops (Janissaries, or yeniçeri, roughly meaning "new troops" and were comprised mostly of young men from the Balkans) into battle, spreading their music along the way and influencing western classical composers like Mozart and Beethoven. Mehter also seems to have influenced the style of music and dance known among Serbian Roma as čoček (Macedonian chochek or чочек; Bulgarian kyuchek or kyutchek--кючек). Čoček as a dance is related to the Karşılama ("face-to-face") style of dance. The rhythm of traditional čoček music is 9/16, but has been modified into 4/4 and 7/8 as well. Here are some examples in costume and in the street. The music is brass heavy as played by modern bands like Kocani (or Kochani) Orkestar, Boban Marcovic, Fanfare Ciocarlia, or Goran Bregovic's compositions for movies like Underground and Time of the Gypsies (here's an interesting article on the use of Balkan as a metaphor, utilizing Time of the Gypsies). The music can be stripped down to guitar and flute or violins and clarinet, and has been utilized by American groups like A Hawk and a Hacksaw (featuring Neutral Milk alum Jeremy Barnes on accordion/drums/bell hat). Due to proximity of origin, the music shares some traits with klezmer as well (but that's a whole other research topic). Interestingly, the terms čoček and кючек seemed to have derived from the Ottomans as well. The word köçek (related to küçük meaning "little or small," but, as one very nice language loving mefite pointed out to me, also means "foal [of a camel]" and by most accounts seems a direct antecedent to the Bulgarian term кючек) was used for men and boy dancers dressed as women. There are arguments as to whether the köçekler were seen as sexualized beings (music plays on first link) or just burlesque, but the practice continues into modern times.

The Top Public Intellectuals

vacapinta — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:17:16 -0800

Prospect/Foreign Policy release their list of the world's top public intellectuals(full list). Number 1? The Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen.

The rest of the top 10? The microfinancier Muhammad Yunus, the cleric Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, the writer Orhan Pamuk, the politician Aitzaz Ahsan, the evangelist Amr Khaled, the philosopher Abdolkarim Soroush, the philosopher Tariq Ramadan, the cultural theorist Mahmood Mamdani and activist Shirin Ebadi. Sense a theme? Yes, all Muslims.
This is a striking turnabout from the 2005 poll topped by Chomsky, Eco and Dawkins.
What happened? Prospect Magazine explains. The Turkish newspaper Zaman weighs in. The UK's Independent is outraged. Fethulah Gulen defends himself .

Anyone in the mood for a bit of Yal1 Güre_?

hadjiboy — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:52:37 -0800

Every culture has its own way of expressing its masculinity. It so happens that in Turkey this involves a lot of oil, bare chests, physical contact, and putting your hands down your opponents kisbet. So, who wants to play??? C'mon guys--what're you--chicken!?

Turkish Literary Delights

Wolfdog — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 08:52:25 -0800

A Mid-summer Night's Story - one of hundreds of novels, poems, and tales in English translation at Suat Karantay's Contemporary Turkish Literature pages. Also: Turkish Poetry in Translation (the side-by-side translations of Dağlarca are particularly well-done), and selected stories of childhood & youth from Turkish authors in the mid 20th century.

Just like any mother

adamvasco — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 07:03:41 -0800

A Turkish Celebrity, Bulent Ersoy; a popular singer of Ottoman classical music, has gone on trial charged with attempting to turn the public against military service. What makes this a bit different is that Bulent is a 56 year old transexual. It has been suggested in local daily news that this is the Revenge of the oppressed sexual identity. Here is Bulent Ersoy performing as a man and as a woman. Turkey and Free Speech have a history of not getting on very well. (previous + related )

Erkin Koray, Turkey's psychedelic minstrel.

flapjax at midnite — Tue, 27 May 2008 06:54:31 -0800

Erkin Koray's long career as a major rock star in his native Turkey has seen him cover all sorts of musical territory. His songs are often a curious (some might say bizarre) hodgepodge of musical influences, and one thing's for sure: you couldn't call the man unadventurous! Here's a sampling of some of his psych-Turk-rock from decades past: Krallar - Gel Bak Ne Söylicem - Cemalim - Allahaşkına - Aşka Inanmıyorum - Yanlizlar rihtimi - Gönül Salıncağı - Anma Arkadaş - Aşk Oyunu - Gün Doğmuyor - There are two MySpace Music pages for Erkin Koray. At this one you can hear snippets (not whole tunes, unfortunately) but I recommend listening to them simply to get a further idea of the breadth of his output. Some great Turkish psychedelia to whet your appetite here. And at this one there are three tunes you can hear in their entirety.

Deep in the shade

adamvasco — Mon, 05 May 2008 02:00:28 -0800

The Ergenekon Affair: - The Killer Elite that fuels unrest in Turkey. On 22 January, Turkish police arrested 33 individuals, some connected with the military, in the largest concerted action against the "deep state" , which is heavily involved in Corporate Crime. This might resonate with some US observers.

The Divisions of Cyprus

Kattullus — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:59:07 -0800

Labour, which had started the disasters of Cyprus by denying it any decolonisation after 1945, had now completed them, abandoning it to trucidation [by doing nothing when Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974]. London was quite prepared to yield Cyprus to Greece in 1915, in exchange for Greek entry into the war on its side. Had it done so, all subsequent suffering might have been avoided. It is enough to compare the fate of Rhodes, still closer to Turkey and with a comparable Turkish minority, which in 1945 peacefully reverted to Greece, because it was an Italian not a British colony. In the modern history of the Empire, the peculiar malignity of the British record in Cyprus stands apart.

The Divisions of Cyprus, an article in The London Review of Books by historian Perry Anderson, is an excellent history of Cyprus from 1878 to the modern day as well as a polemic against the way that outside powers have treated the island. 1964 Canadian interview with Cypriot Archbishop and President Makarios.

Salih Korkut Peker, strings man from Turkey.

flapjax at midnite — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 05:56:05 -0800

Whether on fretless electric guitar or fretless Turkish banjo, mister Salih Korkut Peker sounds mighty fine. And here he is again on banjo, getting down on some Turkish grooves with percussionist Gencer Savaş. Sweet! [note: see hoverovers for link descriptions] And just for good measure (and, you know, to give the drummer some...), here's percussionist Gencer Savaş again, with three other folks (in funny hats!) in a charming rendition of "Sazendeler". Straight outta Turkey!

Don't stop talking.

adamvasco — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 11:17:48 -0800

Qantara (meaning bridge in arabic) is a German based website looking to have dialogue with the Islamic world. Turkey is carrying out a radical revision of Islamic texts trying to define modern Islam. Through dossiers and dialogue and slideshows Qantara is helping this debate.