Turkish Forum

Category: Culture/Art

  • Poor Richard’ Report

    Poor Richard’ Report

    POOR RICHARD’S REPORT
    THE TRUMPETS ARE ROARING
    Part One
    The cloudless blue sky become a grey and black sky with ominous thunderheads suddenly appearing out of nowhere. Nations are powerless for the coming economic calamity even though intermittent rays of sunshine give false hope of a recovery.
    There is a battle between socialism – the false promise of security through government sponsored entitlements – and democracy. A true democracy has freedom of religion and free movement between the social class infrastructure depending upon one’s ability.
    Socialism breeds an elite upper class of the privilege few to govern the many.
    Two countries stand out. The United States of America which was founded on the principal of freedom of religion. Many immigrants came for the “Pursuit of Happiness”.
    The other country is Turkey whose history is littered with major religious movements with individual freedoms versus a state religion.
    One of the greatest world leaders of the 20th Century was Mustafa Kemal Ataturk who instituted freedom of religion in modern Turkey in 1923. Just compare modern day Turkey with it’s Mideast Neighbors. The average citizen is held in high esteem by the rest of the world.
    Their armed forces based upon the Korean Conflict in 1948-1953 are held in high honor. However , and unfortunately , the political system in Turkey is turning away from democracy and religious freedom. Sadly the USA is trotting down the same path.
    The problem with democracies is when socialist leaders are elected they start instituting entitlement programs to secure reelection. Many of these programs were needed, but over subsequent years have been raided to fund other programs . In the united States The Social Security has been illegally raided. Instead of buying bonds and investing the income for compound interest- the government has been borrowing from it , and in a few years we will have a deficit. Correct actions are always hard to swallow by politicians; since the general population suffers.
    A south American country , namely Argentina, was a very prosperous nation in 1914. The President decided it would be a good idea to share the wealth with the less fortunate, and they kept doing it . At That time the Argentina Peso was equal to the US Dollar. Today it would take a billion Argentina Peso’s to equal one US Dollar.
    Today democracies must keep a constant vigil on socialist countries; especially where they have little respect for human life.
    We need each other to explore the avenues of faith and prosperity. One nation cannot sustain itself anymore. We need each other, but we must play by the same rules and it is the people who must decide.
    The trumpets are roaring……………
    Part 2 Coming—–

  • Turkey’s “Winter Sleep” wins Cannes top Palme d’Or prize

    Turkey’s “Winter Sleep” wins Cannes top Palme d’Or prize

    Turkish film “Winter Sleep” directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan won the top Palme d’Or award for best film on Saturday at the 67th Cannes International Film Festival, the prize jury announced.

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    Ceylan, whose three-hour-plus film explores the huge gap between the powerful and powerless in his country, noted that the award came on the 100th anniversary of Turkish film.

    He dedicated the award to “those who lost their lives during the last year”, adding that he was referring to the youth of his country.

    “Le Meraviglie” (The Wonders) by Italian director Alice Rohrwacher took the second place prize for a coming-of-age story set in the Tuscan countryside as a family tries to eke out a bohemian life making honey.

    Twenty-five-year-old Canadian director Xavier Dolan’s film “Mommy” shared the third-place prize with octogenarian French director Jean-Luc Godard’s “Adieu au Langage” (Goodbye to Language).

    via Turkey’s “Winter Sleep” wins Cannes top Palme d’Or prize | JPost | Israel News.

  • Laughing puts the brain in a meditative state

    Laughing puts the brain in a meditative state

    Buddha

    According to mind unleashed laughing could dramatically improve your health – and be as good for you as a deep state of meditation, researchers have found.

    Studying the effects of the stress hormone cortisol on the brain, the researchers of the Loma Linda University in the U.S. decided to investigate whether laughter could affect its destructive impact on the body.

    They found that laughter reduces the negative effects of cortisol and could be used as a therapy, offering a pleasant solution to the patients with hypertension, diabetes or heart problems.

    “Things are simple: the less stress one has, the better his memory is,” says Dr. Lee Berk, who took part in the study.“Humor reduces the destructive action of hormones associated with stress such as cortisol, which acts on hippocampal neurons responsible for memory function, and reduces the levels of blood pressure, thus improving our mood” explains the researcher.

    “Laughter stimulates the release of endorphins and dopamine in the brain, giving us a sense of satisfaction and reward. These beneficial neurochemical changes, in turn, make the immune system work better,” says Dr. Berk

    As shown by the results of the study, laughter causes changes in the brain waves, specifically, gamma waves, which seems to boost memory retrieval processes.

    “Laughter leads to the production of brainwave frequencies similar to those observed in people in a meditative state,” adds Dr. Berk.

    As part of their study, the scientists showed funny videos lasting 20 minutes to a group of healthy elderly people and a group of elderly diabetic patients. Then they asked the volunteers to complete a questionnaire to assess their skills towards learning, memory retrieval and visual recognition. Finally, the results were compared to those of a control group who had the same age but did not watch the videos.

    The researchers went on to measure the levels of cortisol both at the beginning and at the end of the experiment. As a result, they detected a significant reduction in levels of the stress hormone in both groups who had watched the videos and showed improvement in the ability to recall their memories compared to the control group.

    Specifically, the largest decline in the levels of cortisol was detected in the case of the group of patients with diabetes, while the members of the group of healthy volunteers showed the highest score in the memory test.

    “The findings of our study provide potential clinical benefits that could find application in particular in the case of older people,” says study author Dr. Gurinder Singh Bains.

    “Despite the fact that elderly people experience memory problems related to their advanced age, pleasant complementary humor therapy could further help these patients,” concludes the expert.

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    Anna LeMind of www.learning-mind.com – Staff Writer For The Mind Unleashed

    Hi, I like learning new things and sharing my knowledge with others! I post science, psychology, self improvement and other related topics. Add me to your circles on Google Plus or follow me on Twitter to stay updated on my new articles.

    Sources:

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk

    Time Magazine

  • Farewell Letter by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

    Farewell Letter by Gabriel Garcia Marquez


    TC Sili Ozerdim‎ Turkish Forum
    Farewell Letter by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

     

    For reasons of health, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Colombia’s illustrious Nobel Laureate for literature, has declared his retirement from public life. He has terminal cancer and sends this letter of farewell to friends and lovers of literature.

    If God, for a second, forgot what I have become and granted me a little bit more of life, I would use it to the best of my ability.
    I wouldn’t, possibly, say everything that is in my mind, but I would be more thoughtful l of all I say.
    I would give merit to things not for what they are worth, but for what they mean to express.
    I would sleep little, I would dream more, because I know that for every minute that we close our eyes, we waste 60 seconds of light.
    I would walk while others stop; I would awake while others sleep.
    If God would give me a little bit more of life, I would dress in a simple manner, I would place myself in front of the sun, leaving not only my body, but my soul naked at its mercy.
    To all men, I would say how mistaken they are when they think that they stop falling in love when they grow old, without knowing that they grow old when they stop falling in love.
    I would give wings to children, but I would leave it to them to learn how to fly by themselves.
    To old people I would say that death doesn’t arrive when they grow old, but with forgetfulness.
    I have learned so much with you all, I have learned that everybody wants to live on top of the mountain, without knowing that true happiness is obtained in the journey taken & the form used to reach the top of the hill.
    I have learned that when a newborn baby holds, with its little hand, his father’s finger, it has trapped him for the rest of his life.
    I have learned that a man has the right and obligation to look down at another man, only when that man needs help to get up from the ground.
    Say always what you feel, not what you think. If I knew that today is the last time that that I am going to see you asleep, I would hug you with all my strength and I would pray to the Lord to let me be the guardian angel of your soul.
    If I knew that these are the last moments to see you, I would say “I love you.”
    There is always tomorrow, and life gives us another opportunity to do things right, but in case I am wrong, and today is all that is left to me, I would love to tell you how much I love you & that I will never forget you.
    Tomorrow is never guaranteed to anyone, young or old. Today could be the last time to see your loved ones, which is why you mustn’t wait; do it today, in case tomorrow never arrives. I am sure you will be sorry you wasted the opportunity today to give a smile, a hug, a kiss, and that you were too busy to grant them their last wish.
    Keep your loved ones near you; tell them in their ears and to their faces how much you need them and love them. Love them and treat them well; take your time to tell them “I am sorry,” “forgive me, “please,” “thank you,” and all those loving words you know.
    Nobody will know you for your secret thought. Ask the Lord for wisdom and strength to express them.
    Show your friends and loved ones how important they are to you.
    Send this letter to those you love. If you don’t do it today…tomorrow will be like yesterday, and if you never do it, it doesn’t matter either, the moment to do it is now.
    For you, with much love,
    Your Friend,
    Gabriel Gar

  • Come to My Voice (Were Dengê Min/Sesime Gel): Istanbul Review – The Hollywood Reporter

    Come to My Voice (Were Dengê Min/Sesime Gel): Istanbul Review – The Hollywood Reporter

    by Clarence Tsui

    Istanbul International Film Festival

    The Bottom Line

    Accessible narrative and beautiful visuals belies a fiery account of political suppression of Turkey’s Kurdish minority.

    Venue

    Press screening, Istanbul International Film Festival (National Competition), Apr. 14, 2014

    Director

    Hüseyin Karabey

    Cast

    Feride Gezer, Melek Ülger, Tuncay Akdemir, Muhsin Tokcu

    sesimegel_stillHüseyin Karabey’s road-movie follows a Kurdish child and her grandmother’s desperate task to find a gun, which could buy their loved one free.

    Compared to his festival-garlanded 2008 feature film debut My Marlon and Brando– in which a Turkish actress braves war and all to find her Kurdish lover in northern Iraq– Hüseyin Karabey’s second outing seemingly offers a less solemn and more crowd-pleasing premise. Revolving around a girl and her grandmother’s travels and travails to find a much-needed item– in this case, the very masculine symbol of a gun– Come to My Voice could easily play well with more mainstream audiences who, years before, have propelled similar lost-and-found films like Children of Heaven or The White Balloon to wider prominence.

    After its world premiere at the Berlinale’s teen-oriented Generation 14plus section in February, Come to My Voice has just scooped the audience-voted People’s Choice award at the Istanbul International Film Festival, in addition to a jury-determined Best Music prize. While boasting Feride Gezer’s measured performance as a stoic matriarch and Melek Ülger’s vibrant turn as the wide-eyed and inquisitive child, the film also provides DP Anne Misselwitz’s vivid visual showcase of sweeping rural landscapes, awe-inducing mountains and plains very much dwarfing the protagonists and most of their much-suppressed Kurdish compatriots.

    While the dynamism renders Come to My Voice accessible to all ages alike, it also belies the film’s sharper political edge than Karabey’s previous film. The fury shown on the director’s non-feature projects during the past five years– the murdered Istanbul-based Armenian journalist Hrant Dink (No Darkness Will Make Us Forget, 2011), the portmanteau about solitary-confined prisoners in Turkey (F-Type Film, 2012)– is manifested full-blown here as Berfe (Gezer) and Jiyan (Ülger) contends with brutal Turkish military commanders and their corrupt underlings, and also crooked village headmen, callous militiamen on their own Kurdish side.

    In fact, it’s an unholy alliance between bad elements from both sides that kickstarted Berfe and Jiyan’s ordeal. Raiding a Kurdish village after a tip-off, a Turkish military unit fails to find the weapons suggested by the informer; enraged, the captain (Nazmi Sinan Milici) orders all male villagers to be taken away for detention and questioning at the barracks, and told the remaining folk – elderly and children mostly – they would have to hand over 15 rifles and 20 guns within a week in exchange for the release of the men.

    As Berfe’s initial attempts to get her son Temo (Tuncay Akdemir) flounders (the old musket she brought in was angrily dismissed by the captain) and Jiyan more than eager to contribute to her father’s freedom (she runs around collecting toy guns, sometimes even in the face of Turkish soldiers), the pair begin their long journey to look for a firearm to submit to the army. Living up to the folktale being told in installments throughout the film – about a fox’s long-winded efforts to repair his beautiful but broken tail – Berfe and Jiyan’s struggle is drawn-out, as requests for help are repeatedly rebuffed by the community chieftain, smugglers and finally even relatives living in town.

    In the meantime, nearly every one strays beyond the pale to protect themselves or capitalize on the crisis; a sergeant (Savas Emrah Özdemir) offers to sell guns to villagers through a middle man, both of which skimming quite a bit off these deals. Past woes are revealed through details of Berfe’s struggling life of poverty, persecution and being rendered a pariah by a village leader whose advances she spurned. And then there are those who are supposedly “our boys”: As Berfe and Jiyan make their way through rebel-held territory, slacking gunmen just sit in the shade as they tease the women that they are sure “Temo is being beaten in prison– everyday”.

    The only kind and kindred souls the pair would eventually run into are three blind storytellers (played by real-life “dengbej” Muhsin Tokcu, Ali Tekbas and Kadir Ilter), whose willingness to play foil at checkpoints– where they are still hassled by Turkish officers for being “guerilla propagandists”–  would prove to be crucial to Berfe and Jiyan’s passage back home. It’s perhaps not coincidental that storytellers– Berfe, the three wise men, and other elderly villages offering their own recollections of life– are central to Come to My Voice: The oral tradition has always been the key to resistance against oppressors who could burn manuscripts but not erase memories. Among Kurds, passed-down parables are political in itself; with his beautifully-rendered  film, Karabey has joined in this ever-louder chorus articulating the anguish of a suppressed minority.

    Venue: Press screening, Istanbul International Film Festival (National Competition), Apr. 14, 2014

    Production Company: Asi Film, Neue Mediopolis Filmproduktion, EZ Films

    Director: Hüseyin Karabey

    Cast: Feride Gezer, Melek Ülger, Tuncay Akdemir, Muhsin Tokcu

    Producer: Huseyin Karabey, Emre Yeksan

    Screenwriter: Huseyin Karabey, Abidin Parilti

    Director of Photography: Anne Misselwitz

    Editor: Baptiste Gacoin

    Music: Ali Tekbas, Serhat Bostanci, A. Imran Erin

    International Sales: EZ Films

    In Kurdish and Turkish

    105 minutes

    via Come to My Voice (Were Dengê Min/Sesime Gel): Istanbul Review – The Hollywood Reporter.

  • ERMENI YALANLARINA SON VERMEK SIZIN KATILIMINIZLA BUYUK KAMPANYA BASLADI

    ERMENI YALANLARINA SON VERMEK SIZIN KATILIMINIZLA BUYUK KAMPANYA BASLADI

    LOGO

     

    ERMENI YALANLARINA ve bu yalanlari ABD de kanunlastirma cabalarina son vermekicin Amerikada koklesmis Turk Kuruluslari senelerdir kendilerini mudafaa edecek kampanyalar uretmektedirler .. Ve her kampanyanin sonunda Amerikan Ermeni lobisi, dunya capindaki diasporasindan destek alarak yeni bir karsi kampanya ile ve daha saglam bir sekilde harekete gecmektedir.
    Buna sozde soykirimin 100 uncu yili gelmeden bir son vermek icin Turkish Forum seri halinda kampanyalar duzenlemisdir .. bunlar kismen ABD capinda ve kismende Eyalet capinda harekete gecirilmisdir ve bir gurupda en uygun zamanda baslatilacakdir .
    Zamanlama muhimdir bu kampanyalarda, fakat en muhimi duydugunuz anda sizin katiliminizdir .
    Turk tezini Kabul ettirecek ve dunyaya hakikati bir kere daha haykiracak , Ermenilerin 1915 de katlettigi ve kemikleri bulunmus 600 bin Turkun ve Karabagda sehit olan kardeslerimizin , irzina gecilip oldurulen Turk hanimlarinin, dogmadan oldurulen bebeklerin , sizden bekledigi bir gorevdir bu kampanyalara katilim. Bu sizin onlara olan seref ve yasam borcunuzdur. Bu sizin cocuklarinizin alinlarinin acik yurumeleri icin yapacaginiz en kutsal gorevdir.
    Kampanyanin neticeleri Amerikan senatosuna tasinarak , Ermeni lobisinin baslattigi kanun tasarisi senatoda yok edilecekdir .. sayet 5 Mayisdan once 100 bini askin imzaya erisirsek.. LUTFEN BUGUNUN BU ISINI YARINA BIRAKMAYIN .. ASAGIDAKI ADRESDEN KAMPANYAYA ISIMINIZI VE KISA ADRESINIZI YAZARAK KATILIN ..

    Bununlada yetinmeyin bu yaziyi ve bu adresi, adres listenizde olan tum adreslere katilmalari icin iletiniz .. 5 Mayisa kadar ve bir kac defa mumkunse .
    Bu kampanyanin metni ingilizcedir , ve olaylari özet olarak ve tum ciplakligi ile ABD Senatosuna aciklamaktadir , daha cok batinin kendi kaynaklarini kullanarak.
    Hakkin hakli ile olmasi , Sehitlerimizin mezarlarinda rahat uyumalari , ve bizden Gelecek neslin alni acik olarak yetismesi dileklerimle

    Dr. Kayaalp Buyukataman, Baskan
    Turkish Forum.. Dunya Turkleri Birligi