Turkish Forum

Category: News

  • Geopolitical Diary: How Far Will the Caucasus Conflict Go?

    Geopolitical Diary: How Far Will the Caucasus Conflict Go?

    Stratfor.com
    August 28, 2008

    Russian President Dmitri Medvedev flew to
    Tajikistan on Wednesday for a summit with China
    and four Central Asian countries. The countries
    are members of the Shanghai Cooperation
    Organization, which meets regularly. This meeting
    had been on the schedule for while and has no
    significance, save that it brings the Russians
    into contact with four former members of the
    Soviet Union and ­ as important ­ China.

    Each of the Central Asian countries is obviously
    trying to measure Russia’s long-term intentions.
    The issue will not be Georgia, but what Georgia
    means to them. In other words, how far does
    Russia intend to go in reasserting its sphere of
    influence? Medvedev will give suitable
    reassurances, but the Russian empire and Soviet
    Union both conquered this area in the past.
    Retaking it is possible. That means that the four
    Central Asian countries will be trying very hard
    to retain their independence without irritating
    the Russians. For them, this will be a careful meeting.

    Of greater interest to the world is China’s view
    of the situation. Again, China has no interest in
    Georgia. It does have to have quiet delight over
    a confrontation between the United States and the
    Russians. The more these two countries are
    worried about each other, the less either ­ and
    particularly the United States ­ can worry about
    the Chinese. For China, a U.S.-Islamic
    confrontation coupled with a U.S.-Russian
    confrontation is just what the doctor ordered.
    Certainly the least problem Washington will have
    is whether the yuan floats ­ and, hoping for
    cooperation with China, the United States will
    pull its punches on other issues. That means that
    the Chinese will express sympathy to all parties
    and take part in nothing. There is no current
    threat to Central Asia, so they have no problems
    with the Russians. If one emerges, they can talk.

    In the meantime, in the main crisis, Russian
    Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called attention to
    the Black Sea as a potential flash point in the
    confrontation between Russia and the West. He
    warned that there could be direct confrontations
    between Russian and NATO ships should NATO or its
    member nations increase their presence there.
    According to NATO there are currently four NATO
    ships in the Black Sea for a previously scheduled
    exercise called Active Endeavor. Putin explicitly
    warned, however, that there could be additional
    vessels belonging to NATO countries in the Black
    Sea that are not under NATO command.

    It is hard to get ships into the Black Sea
    unnoticed. The ships have to pass through the
    Bosporus, a fairly narrow strait in Turkey, and
    it is possible to sit in cafes watching the ships
    sail by. Putting a task force into the Black Sea,
    even at night, would be noticed, and the Russians
    would certainly know the ships are there.

    As a complicating factor, there is the Montreaux
    Convention, a treaty that limits access to the
    Black Sea by warships. The deputy chief of the
    Russian general staff very carefully invoked the
    Montreaux Convention, pointing out that Turkey,
    the controlling country, must be notified 15 days
    in advance of any transit of the Bosporus, that
    warships can’t remain in the Black Sea for more
    than 21 days and that only a limited number of
    warships were permitted there at any one time.
    The Russians have been reaching out in multiple
    diplomatic channels to the Turks to make sure
    that they are prepared to play their role in
    upholding the convention. The Turkish position on
    the current crisis is not clear, but becoming
    crucial; both the United States and Russia are
    working on Turkey, which is not a position Turkey
    cares to be in at the moment. Turkey wants this crisis to go away.

    It is not going away. With the Russians holding
    position in Georgia, it is now clear that the
    West will not easily back down. The Russians
    certainly aren’t going to back down. The next
    move is NATO’s, but the alliance is incapable of
    moving, since there is no consensus. Therefore,
    the next move is for Washington to lead another
    coalition of the willing. It is coming down to a
    simple question. Does the United States have the
    appetite for another military confrontation
    (short of war, we would think) in which case it
    will use its remaining asset, the U.S. Navy, to
    sail into the Black Sea? If it does this, will it
    stay awhile and then leave or establish a
    permanent presence (ignoring the Montreaux
    Convention) in support of Ukraine and Georgia,
    with its only real military option being
    blockade? If this happens, will the Russians live
    with it, will they increase their own naval, air
    and land based anti-ship missile capabilities in
    the region, or will they increase pr essure
    elsewhere, in Ukraine or the Baltics?

    In short, how far does this go?

  • Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Turkish Straits

    Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Turkish Straits

    The International Straits Commission was abolished, authorising the full
    resumption of Turkish military control over the Straits and the
    refortification of the Dardanelles. Turkey was authorised to close the
    Straits to all foreign warships in wartime or when it was threatened by
    aggression; additionally, it was authorised to refuse transit from
    merchant ships belonging to countries at war with Turkey. A number of
    highly specific restrictions were imposed on what type of warships are
    allowed passage. Non-Turkish warships in the Straits must be under 15,000
    tons. No more than nine non-Turkish warships, with a total aggregate
    tonnage of no more than 30,000 tons, may pass at any one time, and they
    are permitted to stay in the Straits for no longer than three weeks. The
    number of foreign warships permitted in the Straits at any one time is
    restricted to one. Black Sea states are given more leeway, being
    authorised to send capital ships of any tonnage through the Straits (but
    only one at a time and specifically excluding aircraft carriers). They are
    also allowed to send submarines through the Straits, with prior notice, as
    long as the vessels have been constructed, purchased or sent for repair
    outside the Black Sea. The less restrictive rules applicable to Black Sea
    states were agreed as, effectively, a concession to the Soviet Union, the
    only Black Sea state other than Turkey with any significant number of
    capital ships or submarines.[7][8] The passage of civil aircraft between
    the Mediterranean and Black Seas is permitted, but only along routes
    authorised by the Turkish government.[9]

  • Istanbul — through the lens

    Istanbul — through the lens

    Rick Steves finds the camera not only a good way to capture the sites but to meet the people of Istanbul as he shoots another episode for his travel show.

    By Rick Steves
    Tribune Media Services

    ISTANBUL – Staring into a TV camera, I say, “Istanbul is one of the world’s great cities, period. For thousands of years, this point, where East meets West, has been the crossroads of civilizations. Few places on earth have seen more history than this sprawling metropolis on the Bosphorus.”

    It’s the last day of a week devoted to producing a TV show on Istanbul, and we need a grand spot for the show’s opening. We had a reasonable vista from the Galata Bridge, but it just showed charming old fishermen and tour boats. I want to somehow capture both the historic crossroads and contemporary might of this city.

    So far, the site selection has just led to frustrations. Mentally scanning all possible angles, it hits me – we need what filmmakers call a “high-wide,” a wide-angle, almost aerial shot. I want to show the freighter-filled Bosphorus and its Golden Horn inlet, the teeming Galata Bridge with lumbering commuter ferries churning up the port, and a huge mosque in the foreground.

    We go to the spot I envision (above the “New Mosque,” near the famous Spice Market) and survey the zone. A restaurant has a shaded roof terrace – we go there and it is perfect … except no necessary sun is shining on me.

    Next door, a toy company has offices with a small rooftop terrace in the sun. It’s perfect.

    They welcome our crew onto their roof, bring us tea, and – grabbing a calm moment between the gusts – I deliver my lines.

    Then we taxi to Ortakoy, a trendy cafe district at the edge of town. It’s too far away for tourists, but it sits in the shadow of a Baroque mosque and the mighty modern bridge that crosses the Bosphorus.

    I want to get more interaction between the Turks and me and this is perfect – four charming young Turkish men join me to pass around a “nargile” (big water pipe), sip chai, and play backgammon. Whether you’re filming or not, backgammon is the perfect way to create conviviality with new friends. At the neighboring table we film two sisters – one in Western dress and the other wearing a colorful but conservative Muslim head scarf – chatting as they pass the mouthpiece of their big water pipe. (I admit this was part of my agenda: to make both a big water pipe and a scarved Muslim woman less menacing to the more insular of my viewers.)

    When the sun is low and the chop of the Bosphorus carbonates the scene, I step out onto the ferry landing. Behind me, the frilly mosque softens the harsh lines created by the mighty bridge as it reaches for Asia. Just as a ship enters the frame, I look into the lens and close the show: “Like its bridge, Istanbul brings East and West together. With a complex weave of modern affluence, Western secularism, and traditional Muslim faith, it’s a dynamic and stimulating city, well worth a visit.”

    The next day, I’m sitting in a taxi heading for Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport. Driving along the coast, I scan the Bosphorus. A hundred freighters fill the sea – a commotion of ships reminding me of the size of the D-Day landings. Each is filled with cargo for thriving economies. One by one, they enter this maritime bottleneck.

    In the middle of the strait there’s a construction site – an industrial-strength pontoon island with heavy machinery digging down and then out. Istanbul is well on the way to constructing a tunnel under the Bosphorus. I trace the city’s horizon with its misty minarets spiking up from the old town to the distant skyline where there is a wannabe-Shanghai forest of modern skyscrapers that tourists never visit.

    Reaching the airport, I tip the taxi driver, selfishly holding back just enough local lira for a coffee. Enjoying a rare break with my iPod, I listen to Amy Winehouse while immersed in the sea of traveling people. I find I can appreciate the human drama of a crowded public scene better with music-pumping earphones obliterating the natural sound. An old woman weeps as the security line slowly swallows up her son, who’s holding a reaching grandson in his arms. Water and shoes are okay here – but my watch and belt need to come off. With a thump, my passport is stamped and shortly I’m out of Istanbul.

    Edmonds-based Rick Steves (www.ricksteves.com) writes European travel guidebooks and hosts travel shows on public television and public radio. His syndicated column runs weekly at seattletimes.com/travel

    Source : Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company

  • Oskanian Urges ‘More Public’ Foreign Policy

    Oskanian Urges ‘More Public’ Foreign Policy

     

     

     

     

     

    By Emil Danielyan

    Former Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian signaled his disapproval of Armenia’s low-key stance in the Russian-Georgian conflict on Wednesday, saying that Yerevan should have been more vocal in articulating its neutrality.

    In an interview with RFE/RL, Oskanian also said rising tensions between Russia and the West will make it harder for Armenia to carry on with its long-standing “complementary” foreign policy.

    “Armenia certainly can not choose [between the two warring sides,]” he said. “Nor can it be indifferent. We should be able to find the right balance and I think that can be achieved through an upgraded complementarity.” “That means our foreign policy should be much more public,” he added.

    The Armenian government barely reacted to the August 8 outbreak of fighting in South Ossetia that developed into a full-scale Russian-Georgian war, with President Serzh Sarkisian refusing to cut short his vacation in China despite strong criticism from his political opponents. Sarkisian held a meeting of Armenia’s National Security Council only on his return to Yerevan on August 14. He also discussed the festering crisis in separate phone conversations with the presidents of Russia and Georgia.

    “Saying nothing when the situation is difficult might be a solution,” said Oskanian. “What the authorities have done in connection with the latest developments is understandable. I don’t want to voice any criticism.”

    “But my preference would have been somewhat different,” he said, adding that Yerevan should have displayed a “more public neutrality.”

    “I think that as soon as this problem arose we could have … publicly told Russia and the U.S. that what is happening does not stem from anybody’s interests, is bad for the region and in the global political sense,” continued Oskanian. “Armenia would have had a clearer stance by telling everyone that Armenia is not going to choose between its two allies. Indeed, if Russia is our strategic ally, Georgia is our natural ally.”

    According to Oskanian, the Sarkisian administration’s “silence” could also reflect negatively on Armenia’s negotiating position in the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He said Russia’s decision to unilaterally recognize Abkhazia’s and South Ossetia’s de facto independence from Georgia will erode Western support for the principle of peoples’ self-determination championed by the Armenian side.

    “As I said, our silence or low-key stance on the other issue is understandable. But I think that we could lag behind on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue,” warned the man who served as Armenia’s foreign minister and chief Karabakh negotiator from 1998-2008.

    “If we fail to enter these processes and clearly express our position on Karabakh’s self-determination, I’m afraid we will find it harder to achieve results desirable to us,” he said.

    Oskanian went to on to imply that Armenia should draw parallels between the conflicts over Karabakh and Kosovo and exploit Georgia’s botched attempt to win back South Ossetia for stressing the importance of non-use of force in the resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani disputed. He said Yerevan should also go as far as to threaten to formally recognize Karabakh as an independent state if Baku rejects international mediators’ existing peace plan.

    The plan calls for a gradual settlement of the conflict that would enable Karabakh’s predominantly Armenian population to determine the disputed territory’s status in a referendum. It was drawn up by U.S., Russian and French diplomats co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group. The crisis in Georgia and its geopolitical implications have left observers wondering whether Russia and Western powers will continue to work together in trying to have the conflicting parties accept the framework peace deal.

    “This is also a problem,” admitted Oskanian. “Those countries have frequently said that the Karabakh issue unites them and that they have no differences on that issue. I am really concerned that those disagreements [on Georgia] could also manifest themselves in their positions on the Karabakh conflict.”

    Oskanian reiterated in that regard his calls for Russia, the U.S. and the European Union to help create a “regional security pact” comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. In an article published by “The International Herald Tribune” on Monday, he made a case for a “nonaligned Caucasus, free of security memberships and adversarial alliances.”

    When asked by RFE/RL whether that means Armenia should be ready to end its military alliance with Russia, Oskanian said, “That should be discussed by those six players, in the 3 plus 3 format. Other neighbors — and Turkey in particular — should also be involved.”

  • From Skaneateles to Istanbul

    From Skaneateles to Istanbul

    Forty-nine years ago, it’s possible no one involved in this story thought a relationship spanning the Atlantic would still be thriving.

    But friendship can span time and, as is this case, continents.

    The year was 1959, and Ann German Higbee was an American Field Service student from Skaneateles living with the Turkoglu family in Istanbul, Turkey. She spent the summer living with the family – a mother, father, older brother and sister, Selma.

    “While I didn’t choose (to go to Turkey), I was thrilled to be in the first group of AFSer’s to Turkey, truly a little known country in 1959, a country that literally joins Asia and Europe,” Higbee said. “(It was) a place totally foreign to almost anything I knew (or) had heard of at that point in my life.”
    Little would foreshadow the story that unfolded after her time in Istanbul.

    In 1962, Selma Turkoglu Ertuna was awarded a Rotary Club international scholarship to come to the United States as an exchange student to Keuka College. Selma said while she was a student here, she would spend weekends and vacations with Higbee and her family.

    There was love in the air when Selma was on her way back to college, though, and she met a man by the name Ozer Ertuna.

    “I met Ozer on the boat on my way to Keuka College,” she said. “In 1964 we got married. I joined him in Ithaca when he was working for his PhD degree in Cornell University.”

    Now, 49 years later, Ozer and Selma have returned to the U.S. to rekindle long-time friendships and to visit with their exchange relatives. Over the years, the families have been able to visit each other’s homes.

    Like Higbee and Selman, Ozer, too, was an AFS exchange student. He had come to the states 51 years ago as a student in Wells, Minn., for a year-long trip.

    “Our current visit to USA is a nostalgic trip to visit our friends. We started our trip visiting Ann and Jim,” Selma said. “We had a wonderful time with them in Skaneateles meeting the family and their nice friends. We enjoyed every moment of our stay.”

    Following their stay in Skaneateles, Selma and Ozer headed to Ithaca to visit with Ozer’s professors at Cornell University, then they took a flight to Minnesota to visit Wayne Unke and his family. Unke was Ozer’s math teacher and coach during his exchange.

    The couple’s trip also includes a drive to Grinnell College in Iowa where their grandson is studying. Like his grandparents, the Ertuna’s grandson came to the U.S. as an exchange student to Kansas through AFS.

    “We are happy that our grandson is studying in the USA. He is having the similar experiences that we have had,” Selma said. “We are sure that this opportunity will broaden his vision of the world.”
    Higbee and the Ertunas each have a deep understanding of the importance of organizations like Rotary and AFS. They enable people to understand one another despite cultural differences.
    “AFS was and is an incredibly powerful organization that has been bringing people from around the world since post WWII. Founded by Stephen Galatti, an ambulance driver during the war, its vision has always been to join people from all points on the globe into a harmony based on living side-by-side … coming to understand each other in their respective cultures,” Higbee said. “It does not have a political agenda. Its only agenda is to build bonds of friendship and understanding that may contribute to world peace.”

    According to Selma, the organizations need increased support in order to expand their activities. The Ertunas would also like to see new organizations that promote friendship among people.
    “It is wonderful to have so close relations with friends in a distant part of the world,” Selma said. “If more people had the same experience we are sure that we would have a better world. And, we hope more people will have similar experience.”

    Ozer said the couple’s journey across the U.S. will come to a end on Sept. 5 when they fly to Turkey. Once they reach their destination, Istanbul, Ozer will resume teaching at Okan University.

    “It was pure joy to have Selma and Ozer back with us in Skaneateles and to share the pleasure of (re)igniting memories that will, hopefully, contribute to building even stronger bonds between our families/countries as we head into yet a new generation of friendship,” Higbee said.

    Source :

  • East, West, Istanbul’s best

    East, West, Istanbul’s best

    A seasoned traveler shares secrets about one of the most amazing destinations on earth.

    Marcus Brewster
    26 August 2008 01:18

    Istanbul

    Byzantium, Constantinople, Istanbul. If you like your travel redolent of exoticism, with the romance of history and the patina of nostalgia, Istanbul beckons. The Turkish city is no longer the capital (that honour was bestowed on Ankara in Central Anatolia in the earlier part of the 20th century), but straddling Europe and Asia, it’s still a mega metropolis of some 11 million people.   Effectively three land masses separated by a trio of evocative bodies of water – The Sea of Marmara, the Golden Horn, the Bosphorous – Istanbul is easy to love as a destination.   Here are my top ten tips of where to go and what to see.

    1. City Tour – it may sound counter-intuitive to consider a group outing as an Istanbul secret, but don’t let your snobbery around mass tourism deflect you.   For those on a time-tight itinerary, it makes sense to do a half day city tour as an introduction to Istanbul. Many of the city’s showpiece sights are in the old Sultanahmet precinct so it’s entirely practical to clock them and decide whether you wish to return later under own steam to explore further: Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia (cf below), Topkapi Palace (cf below), Grand Bazaar and the Hippodrome.

    2. Sometimes referred to as St Sofia or Aya Sofia, this former church cum mosque and now a museum (since 1932) is the can’t miss landmark experience of Istanbul. Even if you have no interest in religion or history (the structure dates back through 1500 years of crusaders and conquerors, Emperors and Sultans), you cannot but be awed by the scale, size and sheer magnificence of the dome. To see the dull golden gloom of the interior creased by shafts of sunlight is one of this traveller’s most memorable experiences. On this, your second visit, you’ll want to take the time to go upstairs to the gallery for a closer inspection of the marvelous mosaics and, incandescent with belief, to touch the sweating pillar whose moisture has healing powers.

    3. The grounds of the Topkapi Palace are so extensive that one is obliged to spend at least half a day to even attempt to do it justice. A series of four courts and the famed harem annex, the Topkapi Sarayi is as much a monument to wealth and power as it is inevitably to decadence and excess. If your senses aren’t overwhelmed by Courts One and Two, brace yourself for passing through the Gate of Felicity into the Third Courtyard which houses the Imperial Treasury.  It’s here you’ll see the Spoonmaker’s Diamond (all 86 carats of it) and the magnificent Topkapi Dagger with its three emeralds the size of pigeons eggs. It’s fortunate that the pleasures of the fourth and final court are all natural since the Palace was built on the highest part of a promontory separating the Sea of Marmara from the waterway known as the Golden Horn. When all the visual overkill of Suleyman the Magnificent’s imperial lodgings has dulled your senses, nature’s own showcase is a welcome respite.   

    4. The Archaeology Museum. Actually part of the palace grounds and all easily walkable, the Archaeology Museum complex of buildings is almost never flagged for tourist visitation and is thus all the more impactful because of the contemplative silence which its halls encourages.   Considering that Turkey has more archaeological sites than Greece and Italy combined, the treasures here rival those of the British Museum. Although they may not be as postcard-famous as their London cousins, these artifacts lack for nothing when it comes to artistry and grace. The Alexander Sarcophagus is as moving to the human spirit as anything in marble.

    5. The Restaurant at the Orient Express Station. Although you won’t find it listed as a sight in any guide book, the old train station has the most marvelous restaurant. Located at the pier where the tram ends its line, just downhill from the Topkapi Palace and the Archaeology Museum, this is a flashback to the golden age of travel. With silver service from the waistcoated staff, you would expect this to be a big blowout for grand occasions. We decided to treat ourselves one evening but found it so inexpensive – and the food so interesting – that we ate there two nights in a row.

    6. The Princes Islands. Possibly because it’s a three quarter day excursion, only locals seem to take the ferry out to the Princes Islands which is a shame as they are absolutely delightful.  Dotted in the Bosphorous, they are a series of tiny hamlets where cars are not permitted and visitors explore by foot, by bicycle or by horse-drawn fayton. If you can imagine a world such as Lawrence Durrell might have described – all pine-scented forests with crumbling villas and cypresses – then you have a vision of their discreet charms. 

    7. The Chora Church. If you do your city tour on a Monday when Hagia Sofia is closed, they substitute it with Kariye Camii.  If ever the understudy deserved its own starring role, this is it.    Scintillating with the best-preserved collection of Byzantine mosaics, every inch of this bijou little church glitters with gold-leaf tile. Unusually for a religious building in an Islamic culture, the art is representational so you can see Jesus, Mary and various saints, including St Kosmos the Poet, the patron deity of writers.

    8. Dolmabache Palace. Owing more to Versailles than is strictly speaking healthy, Dolmabache has been described as “an impressive study in the aesthetics of excess”. Built in the mid 1840’s and mixing French Baroque, Neo-Classical and Rococo architecture, the furnishings of this royal pied-a-terre are simply staggering. Whereas you catch your breath at the austere dimensions of the Hagia Sofia dome, you literally gasp in disbelief at the augmented ostentation of the palace’s throne room where its gilded dome supports a 3 500 kg Waterford chandelier, a gift from Queen Victoria.

    9. Pera Palace. Every stop on the grand tour had its grand hotel and the Pera Palace was literally the last and the grandest stop on the Orient Express line. If you ask, you will be shown room 411, kept as a museum suite to honour Agatha Christie who wrote the over-rated “Murder on the Orient Express” whilst staying there.   But every bold face name since, including Jacqueline Kennedy, has been cosseted in the hotel’s velvet lined walls. The Pera has willfully kept its dark period furnishings and remains a haven for the nostalgia buff. Don’t buy the golf shirts in the gift shop – the fit is poor and the fabric mix synthetic.

    10. Underground Cistern. With gloomily ambient lighting and the echo of classical music, the Yerebatan Sabay is as close to being on the set of Tomb Raider as you are likely to get. This vast underground cavern with its soaring columns (all 336 of them) used to supply the city’s water and even fish were tapped in its depths. Walkways used to lead to the Topkapi palace itself but these have been blocked off to curb the legendary traffic in stolen goods and abducted women.

    Source :