MetaFilter posts tagged with turkey

The Last of the Ottomans

Burhanistan — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 14:21:28 -0800

The "Last of the Ottomans". Ertuğrul Osman, the grandson of Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II, passed away. The Ottoman Caliphate ruled one of the longest and most successful empires in history. With WWI it was finally finished and Ataturk eventually expelled the Sultan's family. "The Rise and Fall of the Ottoman Empire" documentary parts 1 and 2

Sex, bribes and videotape

ryoshu — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:01:17 -0800

FBI whistleblower, Sibel Edmonds, has gone on record with her allegations of government corruption and treason. (previously)

Photographs of the Excitement of Geotechnical Engineering (Failures)

filthy light thief — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:15:26 -0800

Professors Ross W. Boulanger and Dr. James Duncan have put together a Geotechnical Engineering Photo Album, with details of the successes and disasters. The album includes compaction techniques for a highway off-ramp, deep excavation methods, an offshore tank structure, and earthquake hazards of many sorts (mountain landslides, liquefaction damage to ports in Kobe, Japan, surface rupture in Taiwan, and problems with shallow foundations and subsidence in Turkey). (via oi9)

The Ottoman Armenians, a Still-Unfolding History

terranova — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:15:33 -0800

A devastating document is met with silence in Turkey. "According to a long-hidden document that belonged to the interior minister of the Ottoman Empire, 972,000 Ottoman Armenians disappeared from official population records from 1915 through 1916." A View from Many Angles: 1915 reportage by the New York Times about the Armenian massacres France, Great Britain, and Russia Joint Declaration, 1915 BBC News: Q&A Armenian 'genocide.' "Why put genocide in inverted commas?" Armenian National Institute site. An Armenian Myth Babacan Warns Obama Against Recognizing Genocide U.S. Department of State March 9, 2009 Daily Press Briefing (regarding Obama's upcoming visit to Turkey next month): QUESTION: Did Mrs. Clinton discuss the Armenian issues of genocide with the Turks? MR. WOOD: All right, look, that issue certainly was a subject that was discussed, but I’m not going to get into the details of the discussion. Previously

Turkey: A Return to Power at Considerable Cost?

terranova — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 15:33:28 -0800

"Turkey is emerging as the crucial power in the Muslim world." But after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's recent walkout from a Davos panel discussion and his confrontational words to Israeli leader Shimon Peres, some wonder whether Turkey is forfeiting its role as a peace-broker, attempting to smoke-screen its own oppressive actions against press, intellectuals, and ex-military, and possibly hurting its chances for full EU membership.

Does bacon really make everything better?

empath — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:10:03 -0800

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: --- The Turbaconducken.

Though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage...

Ambrosia Voyeur — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:01:17 -0800

Pardon the turkey.
It is unverified that the turkey was ever vetted to be the national bird.

Gobekli Tepe

homunculus — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:30:10 -0800

Gobekli Tepe: The World’s First Temple? "Predating Stonehenge by 6,000 years, Turkey's stunning Gobekli Tepe upends the conventional view of the rise of civilization."

Gallipoli

Kattullus — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 21:21:32 -0800

Gallipoli is one of the most famous battles of World War I. Fought in on a Turkish peninsula in 1915 it was, like most Great War battles, a huge waste of life and largely fruitless. Jul Snelder's site has a wealth of information, the causes, history and aftermath of Gallipoli, the slang of the ANZAC forces, placenames in both English and Turkish, interesting little factoids, how Allied troops used subterfuge to hide their evacuation, the Turkish perspective, pictures of the battlesite today juxtaposed with old photographs, a mini-travel guide to Gallipoli and much more. One of the most famous units at Gallipoli was the Australian 12th Light Horse Regiment. To learn more about this type of unit, responsible for the "last successful great cavalry charge" two years after Gallipoli, I direct you to the excellent website of the Australian Light Horse Association, where you can learn anything you might reasonably want to know about the subject.

Reaching for the Heavens

adamvasco — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 12:38:19 -0800

Mimar Sinan; 16th century Ottoman Architect Mimar Sinan born a Christian in Anatolia, from either a Greek or Armenian background, was conscripted into Ottoman service in 1511, and converted to Islam. He was the chief Ottoman architect to four sultans. Sinan worked in seismic, as well as political, fault zones, and his buildings are famous for their earthquake resistance. His extraordinary output included 146 mosques. The "Apprentice Work": - The Sehzade mosque. The "Qualification Work" : - The Suleymaniye Mosque, Istanbul's greatest, covers almost 25 acres and includes in addition to the large mosque (basilica plan), four schools (medreses), a hospice, public baths (hamam), a hospital & dispensary, bookshops, a library, the Sultans’ tomb (turbe) and the worlds first teaching asylum (bimarhane). The Solaris. The decorative inscriptions on the dome are by the famous callgrapher Ahmet Karahisari . Round window with glasswork by Ibrahim the drunkard. The "Masterpiece" : - The Selimiye Mosque in Edirne. wiki Sinan Legacy of Suleymaniye the Magnificent: I, who am Sultan of the Sultans of East and West, fortunate lord of the domains of the Romans, Persians, and Arabs, Hero of creation, Neriman of the earth and time, Padishah and Sultan of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, of the extolled Kaab a and Medina the illustrious and Jerusalem of the noble, of the throne of Egypt and the province of Yemen, Aden, and San'a, of Baghdad and Basra and Lhasa and Ctesiphon, of the lands of Algiers and Azerbaijan, of the region of the Kipshaks and the lands o f the Tartars, of Kurdistan and Luristan and all Rumelia, Anatolia and Karaman, of Wallachia and Moldavia and Hungary and many kingdoms and lands besides; the Sultan Suleyman Khan, son of the Sultan Selim Khan.. Related .

Turkish folktales

Kattullus — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 07:40:40 -0800

The Uysal - Walker Archive of Turkish Oral Narrative is an immense repository of folktales from modern Anatolia. The full list of stories but luckily there's a search function. But that's not all, oh no, there's also a music section, with downloadable mp3s and a whole nother section with more stories and Turkish literature and mp3s. Here's a somewhat random selection of stories to get you started (all links pdf): Nasreddin Hoca's Brilliant Donkey, A Saint Urinates in Public, The Girl Disguised as a Monk and the Padishah's Youngest Son, Behlül Dane Discourses with the Dung Heap and finally, Elia Kazan in Kayseri (yes, that Elia Kazan).

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 Yağlı Güreş?

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.

I'll have the ham

Chrysostom — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 12:56:37 -0800

"It serves 125, takes eight hours to cook and is stuffed with 12 different birds..." [via Cynical-C]

Thanks for the Laughs

wendell — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 11:38:20 -0800

Since the passing of Art Buchwald (previously on MeFi), we're looking for something to replace his traditional Thanksgiving Humor Piece (seen here), with varying success. MeFi's Own rstevens has a collection of LOLGRIMS, MeFi's own Lore offers some catering services for the 21st Century (featuring the next step in Turducken evolution). Formerly MeFi's Own Lileks has a cheap video on how to make a cheap Thanksgiving dinner. A faux-conservative blogger (who's no Colbert) suggests renaming the holiday. The "Creatures in My Head" guy has his own disturbing version of a turkey. A video game site has games that (kinda) fit the holiday. A semi-NSFW site for dudes has the Worst Thanksgiving Dishes (not sexist, but PETA-ist and NPR-ist) But the most obvious Thanksgiving tradition (via YouTube) is the WKRP Turkey Drop (and aftermath). Also, 23 Things That Sound Dirty At Thanksgiving, But Aren't ("It's Cool Whip time!"), The Naughty American (NSFW) suggests substituting "envy" for "thanks", and a Thanksgiving Horror Story that may or may not be a piece of really dark humor. Funny Thanksgiving crafts include a knit turkey hat and a centerpiece made from tampons. Better-than-most comics about cranberries, stuffing and stuffing again. And for the convenience of commenters in this thread, Thanksgiving ASCII Art! (with obnoxious MIDI sound, no surprise).

Chew On This

forallmankind — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 07:50:00 -0800

Chew On This. Take a deep breath, swallow hard, and follow the food you eat on its day-long journey through the digestive system.

Preparing a turkey the MANLY way

spock — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 07:00:50 -0800

Preparing a turkey the MANLY way. Naturally, one of them involves a lot of bacon.