31 October 2007
25 October 2007
Everything is okay
I am still fine. No worries yet.
Turkey apparently started shelling and bombing parts of Southeastern Turkey today. It has not been confirmed as to whether they went into Iraq or not, but I am going to go ahead and say they did. This was pretty much to be expected. They say they are exploring every possible diplomatic option, but they also refuse to deal directly with the Kurds...so basically, there is no diplomatic option. And the public is pressuring the government to take action. There are soldiers missing; the PKK claims they have these missing soldiers. The Turkish people will not stand for 12 deaths, 8 soldiers and over a dozen injuries (mostly to civilians). The government has to take action or face forced resignation.
So for now, it is wait and see.
In other news...There's big nasty fires in California. One of the counties hit is San Diego, where my grandfather lives. He got evacuated from his home on Monday, I think. He got moved to some high school and has been living there for a couple days. He may have moved back already. The latest news reports I saw, however, said a bunch of people moved back to San Diego and then the fires turned again and now those people have to leave again. Hopefully he is not one of those people...
More news...There was an earthquake in Western Indonesia today. Preliminary magnitude of 7.1. It was off the coast of Sumatra, one of the Indonesian islands. My sister, however, is on a different island. So I am pretty sure she is safe.
So for all my family back in Richmond, thanks for staying safe ;-) I hear you got rain today, so no more drought, hopefully.
So for now, it is wait and see.
In other news...There's big nasty fires in California. One of the counties hit is San Diego, where my grandfather lives. He got evacuated from his home on Monday, I think. He got moved to some high school and has been living there for a couple days. He may have moved back already. The latest news reports I saw, however, said a bunch of people moved back to San Diego and then the fires turned again and now those people have to leave again. Hopefully he is not one of those people...
More news...There was an earthquake in Western Indonesia today. Preliminary magnitude of 7.1. It was off the coast of Sumatra, one of the Indonesian islands. My sister, however, is on a different island. So I am pretty sure she is safe.
So for all my family back in Richmond, thanks for staying safe ;-) I hear you got rain today, so no more drought, hopefully.
22 October 2007
no immediate attack
check out this article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/21/world/europe/21cnd-turkey.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/21/world/europe/21cnd-turkey.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
breaking news...
just checked the news and this is what was said about the security meeting:
"After an emergency security summit meeting chaired by President Gül and attended by Prime Minister Erdoğan and top commanders, Turkey said Sunday that it was not afraid of "paying the price" to win victory over separatist Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) terrorists based in northern Iraq after a PKK ambush near the Iraqi border left 12 soldiers dead. “Although it respects Iraqi territorial integrity, Turkey will not tolerate that terrorism be aided and abetted and will not be afraid to pay, whatever the price may be, to protect its rights, its indivisible unity and its citizens,” said a statement issued after the meeting."
what that means in terms of what they will be doing, not quite sure...
"After an emergency security summit meeting chaired by President Gül and attended by Prime Minister Erdoğan and top commanders, Turkey said Sunday that it was not afraid of "paying the price" to win victory over separatist Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) terrorists based in northern Iraq after a PKK ambush near the Iraqi border left 12 soldiers dead. “Although it respects Iraqi territorial integrity, Turkey will not tolerate that terrorism be aided and abetted and will not be afraid to pay, whatever the price may be, to protect its rights, its indivisible unity and its citizens,” said a statement issued after the meeting."
what that means in terms of what they will be doing, not quite sure...
21 October 2007
dun dun dun
so...Turkey...about that...
PKK killed another 15 soldiers today. and apparently took hostages. so Turkey is not happy right now. the big heads of the government met tonight at 8 to discuss their response. there's no news as to the results of this meeting yet, so I don't think they are finished. I will let you know asap, though.
today, my friend Kristin and I met up in Kizilay, the main business district of Ankara. Kristin told me about a woman on her bus. she was crying and everyone around her was trying to console her. the woman than turned to Kristin and spoke in Turkish. Kristin told the woman she didn't know Turkish and the woman gave a wave of her hand and basically stuck her nose up at Kristin. we decided this was related to the soldiers who were killed this morning.
so after we met in Kizilay, we headed to Ankamall for a little bit. Ankamall is Ankara's version of the American mall, only twice as big. and today, twice as crowded. after fighting the lack of air conditioning and the amoeba like crowd of Turks, we returned to Kizilay.
as we came up from the subway station, we saw numerous police officers with riot gear (something that is not too out of the ordinary for us) and a rally tank (something that is a little out of the ordinary). so as we were walking to our friends house, we saw a circle of people holding flags. it was a small group so we weren't disturbed. we reached our friends house and went to his host father's cafe for tea. as we were sitting there, we heard shouts and chants from the group. nothing happened, but we decided this rally was either due to the soldiers or the referendum vote today.
speaking of the referendum, as of right now, with 95% of votes counted, it was approved. so the president will now be elected by the people?
when i got home tonight, my host sister told me she was very angry about the Kurds. she went on facebook and all of her friends had written angry messages about the Kurds. I have seen numerous turkish kids who have changed their profile pictures to that of the turkish flag. so its pretty obvious that a majority of the Turks want something done about this situation. I am sure this will affect the government's decision.
as of right now, no worries. we are just waiting to see what the government decides to do with the PKK and invading Iraq and such. should know whats up tomorrow morning. i will let you know.
PKK killed another 15 soldiers today. and apparently took hostages. so Turkey is not happy right now. the big heads of the government met tonight at 8 to discuss their response. there's no news as to the results of this meeting yet, so I don't think they are finished. I will let you know asap, though.
today, my friend Kristin and I met up in Kizilay, the main business district of Ankara. Kristin told me about a woman on her bus. she was crying and everyone around her was trying to console her. the woman than turned to Kristin and spoke in Turkish. Kristin told the woman she didn't know Turkish and the woman gave a wave of her hand and basically stuck her nose up at Kristin. we decided this was related to the soldiers who were killed this morning.
so after we met in Kizilay, we headed to Ankamall for a little bit. Ankamall is Ankara's version of the American mall, only twice as big. and today, twice as crowded. after fighting the lack of air conditioning and the amoeba like crowd of Turks, we returned to Kizilay.
as we came up from the subway station, we saw numerous police officers with riot gear (something that is not too out of the ordinary for us) and a rally tank (something that is a little out of the ordinary). so as we were walking to our friends house, we saw a circle of people holding flags. it was a small group so we weren't disturbed. we reached our friends house and went to his host father's cafe for tea. as we were sitting there, we heard shouts and chants from the group. nothing happened, but we decided this rally was either due to the soldiers or the referendum vote today.
speaking of the referendum, as of right now, with 95% of votes counted, it was approved. so the president will now be elected by the people?
when i got home tonight, my host sister told me she was very angry about the Kurds. she went on facebook and all of her friends had written angry messages about the Kurds. I have seen numerous turkish kids who have changed their profile pictures to that of the turkish flag. so its pretty obvious that a majority of the Turks want something done about this situation. I am sure this will affect the government's decision.
as of right now, no worries. we are just waiting to see what the government decides to do with the PKK and invading Iraq and such. should know whats up tomorrow morning. i will let you know.
17 October 2007
a few more photos for ya
This is from our cruise down the Bosphorus.
Before going on the trip, my friend Kristin and I went to this store called Real. Its much like Walmart, but a lot cleaner. We got these backpacks for 40 YTL. They work quite nicely.
This is Anzac Beach, at Gallipoli
One of the many monuments at Gallipoli. This is for the Turkish soldiers
View from one of the monuments at Gallipoli
View from the ferry as we were heading back to Chanakale
Yeh, I've been to Troy.
Theres not much to it these days...
If you look at the top of that hill there, thats Pergamom, another ancient city.
Turkish fashion...crazy
For those of you who do not keep up with the news...
Turkey is going crazy. Its the subject of at least the top two news stories on each major news website. Let me give you the breakdown (not in any order of significance):
Story #1:
A committee in the House of Representatives is trying to get a bill pushed through Congress that basically says the Armenian genocide is real, it happened, and Turkey is the horrible country that did it. However you feel on the issue, this is a direct blow to Turkey. Armenia is a subject you do not bring up here. My favorite quote from the news stories is this: "Turkey obviously feels they are getting poked in the eye over something that happened a century ago and maybe this isn't a good time to be doing that." This quote pretty much epitomizes the intelligence of our US Congressmen. The person that said the above, whom shall remain nameless ;-) originally supported the bill, but has since changed his mind. Good call... Turkey's ambassador to the US was recalled for consultation last week and there is talk of shutting down the US base here in Turkey. Thanks Nanci Pelosi!
Story #2:
Parliament just passed a measure that allows the military to go into Iraq in order to take out the Kurds there. Everyone says no action will be taken immediately, but the measure gives the military up to a years time to invade Iraq. (so its going to happen while I am here) Not only will the invasion possibly destabilize northern Iraq (one of the few stabilized areas of that country), but Iraq feels Turkey's invasion will cause other countries in the area to deem it necessary to invade as well. Syria apparently said Turkey has a right to chase the Kurds due to all the killings. The PKK (Kurdish group) is considered a terrorist group, which Turkey is using as its main reason for going after them. They complain about the lack of support from the US and other terrorism fighting super powers, but I am pretty sure the US likes the Kurds in northern Iraq. Yet another strain on US-Turkey relations.
Story #3:
Parliament is voting on a big referendum on Sunday. A lot of the amendments deal with the presidency. You can read about it here:
http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=86092
Story #4:
Theres no such thing as fall here... Its cold.
So story #4 isn't really a story, but it is quite frigid here.
Don't worry too much about the news. Most of Congress is now taking back their support of that bill and it would be silly for Turkey to invade Iraq right now. So no worries. :)
Sorry for the lack of pictures - blogger site is messed up currently.
Story #1:
A committee in the House of Representatives is trying to get a bill pushed through Congress that basically says the Armenian genocide is real, it happened, and Turkey is the horrible country that did it. However you feel on the issue, this is a direct blow to Turkey. Armenia is a subject you do not bring up here. My favorite quote from the news stories is this: "Turkey obviously feels they are getting poked in the eye over something that happened a century ago and maybe this isn't a good time to be doing that." This quote pretty much epitomizes the intelligence of our US Congressmen. The person that said the above, whom shall remain nameless ;-) originally supported the bill, but has since changed his mind. Good call... Turkey's ambassador to the US was recalled for consultation last week and there is talk of shutting down the US base here in Turkey. Thanks Nanci Pelosi!
Story #2:
Parliament just passed a measure that allows the military to go into Iraq in order to take out the Kurds there. Everyone says no action will be taken immediately, but the measure gives the military up to a years time to invade Iraq. (so its going to happen while I am here) Not only will the invasion possibly destabilize northern Iraq (one of the few stabilized areas of that country), but Iraq feels Turkey's invasion will cause other countries in the area to deem it necessary to invade as well. Syria apparently said Turkey has a right to chase the Kurds due to all the killings. The PKK (Kurdish group) is considered a terrorist group, which Turkey is using as its main reason for going after them. They complain about the lack of support from the US and other terrorism fighting super powers, but I am pretty sure the US likes the Kurds in northern Iraq. Yet another strain on US-Turkey relations.
Story #3:
Parliament is voting on a big referendum on Sunday. A lot of the amendments deal with the presidency. You can read about it here:
http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=86092
Story #4:
Theres no such thing as fall here... Its cold.
So story #4 isn't really a story, but it is quite frigid here.
Don't worry too much about the news. Most of Congress is now taking back their support of that bill and it would be silly for Turkey to invade Iraq right now. So no worries. :)
Sorry for the lack of pictures - blogger site is messed up currently.
16 October 2007
Hello all. I am finally back in Ankara after my tour of Western Turkey. I have way too many pictures to even try and post them all on here, so here is a selection. All of these photos are actually from Istanbul, where we spent our first four days.
I took all these pictures before the camera broke, though.
We went to the Egyptian spice bazaar for a few minutes. It was a very colorful experience. We also went to the Grand Bazaar, but we only had enough time to explore one part of it. I got a pair of Pumas for 30 lira (maybe 25$). They are bright orange. :)
This is the Blue Mosque. Its a block away from Aya Sofya:
Its pretty intense to sit in between the Blue Mosque and the Aya Sofya, especially during Ramadan.
Probably one of the stranger experiences we had on this trip was meeting a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves team at Aya Sofya. The T-wolves were playing the Turkish team, Efes Pilsen (sp?), as part of the European world tour. I never found out who won.
After visiting the Aya Sofya, we went to Topkapi Palace and Dolmabahce Palaces. The bed above is from the Dolmabahce Palace. Its Ataturk's death bed.
After Istanbul, we went to a place called Canakkale. We visited Gallipoli, then headed to Ayvalik. We got to go swimming in the Aegean Sea at Ayvalik. Then we visited Troy. Next, we headed to Pergamom. We spent the night in Selcuk then visited Efes and a small town called Sirince. We left the next day at 7am and got back to Ankara around 4pm.
It was a long, jampacked tour, but definitely worth it. Stay tuned for more pictures.
Now I actually have to start doing work for class...
It was a pretty interesting trip. We got to see a lot of historic sites.
And some not so historic sites... This gun shop was one of many in entrance to the tramway.
It was good to get out of Ankara. Istanbul is huge. We only managed to visit a few districts. But it was pretty cool to go from Europe to Asia by walking across a bridge.
We took a cruise on the Bosphorus at sunset. At one point on the cruise, I put my camera in my back pocket so I could take a picture for a friend. I was standing kind of awkwardly and the boat floor was wet. My feet slipped out from under me and I fell onto a bench, breaking the LCD screen on my camera (which acts as my viewfinder). So for the rest of the trip, I had to hope I was taking a picture of what I wanted...
I took all these pictures before the camera broke, though.
We went to the Egyptian spice bazaar for a few minutes. It was a very colorful experience. We also went to the Grand Bazaar, but we only had enough time to explore one part of it. I got a pair of Pumas for 30 lira (maybe 25$). They are bright orange. :)
This is the Blue Mosque. Its a block away from Aya Sofya:
Its pretty intense to sit in between the Blue Mosque and the Aya Sofya, especially during Ramadan.
Probably one of the stranger experiences we had on this trip was meeting a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves team at Aya Sofya. The T-wolves were playing the Turkish team, Efes Pilsen (sp?), as part of the European world tour. I never found out who won.
After visiting the Aya Sofya, we went to Topkapi Palace and Dolmabahce Palaces. The bed above is from the Dolmabahce Palace. Its Ataturk's death bed.
After Istanbul, we went to a place called Canakkale. We visited Gallipoli, then headed to Ayvalik. We got to go swimming in the Aegean Sea at Ayvalik. Then we visited Troy. Next, we headed to Pergamom. We spent the night in Selcuk then visited Efes and a small town called Sirince. We left the next day at 7am and got back to Ankara around 4pm.
It was a long, jampacked tour, but definitely worth it. Stay tuned for more pictures.
Now I actually have to start doing work for class...
05 October 2007
good news
my camera works half of the time now, so i will be able to take pictures :)
so I got my itinerary:
Today:
heading to Istanbul
staying in I-House, a hostel in Beyoglu
Saturday:
Tour of the major sites: Hippodrome, Yerebatan, Saray, Sultanahmet Camii, Aya Sofya, Topkapi Sarayi
Sunday:
Tour of Dolmabahce Sarayi
Bus to Emnonu
Cruise on the Bosphorus
Monday:
Bus to Fener
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate
Eyup Camii
Tuesday:
Bus to Canakkale
Staying in Akol Hotel
Wedsnesday:
Tour of Gallipoli
Thursday:
Troy and Assos
Head to Ayvalik for the night - staying at Ayvalik Beach Hotel
Friday:
Bergama (Pergamom)
Head to Selcuk for the night - staying in Cenka Hotel
Saturday:
Efes
Sunday:
Return to Ankara?
Some of us are thinking about sticking around another day or two since we dont have class till wedsnesday - so I will be back sometime that week :)
I am not taking my computer with me so dont expect posts.
Hope you have a good work week back there in the states (or wherever you are) :-p
so I got my itinerary:
Today:
heading to Istanbul
staying in I-House, a hostel in Beyoglu
Saturday:
Tour of the major sites: Hippodrome, Yerebatan, Saray, Sultanahmet Camii, Aya Sofya, Topkapi Sarayi
Sunday:
Tour of Dolmabahce Sarayi
Bus to Emnonu
Cruise on the Bosphorus
Monday:
Bus to Fener
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate
Eyup Camii
Tuesday:
Bus to Canakkale
Staying in Akol Hotel
Wedsnesday:
Tour of Gallipoli
Thursday:
Troy and Assos
Head to Ayvalik for the night - staying at Ayvalik Beach Hotel
Friday:
Bergama (Pergamom)
Head to Selcuk for the night - staying in Cenka Hotel
Saturday:
Efes
Sunday:
Return to Ankara?
Some of us are thinking about sticking around another day or two since we dont have class till wedsnesday - so I will be back sometime that week :)
I am not taking my computer with me so dont expect posts.
Hope you have a good work week back there in the states (or wherever you are) :-p
04 October 2007
bad news
my camera broke :( two days before my awesome trip to Istanbul...
i have to know calculus for my microeconomic theory class :(
im going to go eat some delicious food because I am still waiting for stupid VCU people to call me...and considering the fact that it is half past 5 there, i dont think i will be getting a response. sweet
i have to know calculus for my microeconomic theory class :(
im going to go eat some delicious food because I am still waiting for stupid VCU people to call me...and considering the fact that it is half past 5 there, i dont think i will be getting a response. sweet
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