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  • The Ottoman sultans in Amsterdam

    The Ottoman sultans in Amsterdam

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    by Philippa Burton

    15-12-2006

    The exhibition Istanbul: The City and the Sultan is opening in Amsterdam’s De Nieuwe Kerk this weekend. Organized in collaboration with four Turkish museums, it takes visitors on a leisurely walk through the city during its Ottoman period (15th to early 20th century), with stops at the court, the armoury, the harem, the mosque, the library, the hamam or baths, the bazaar and more.

    More than 250 treasures of the sultans, many of them from Topkapi Palace Museum, have been brought to the Netherlands for the exhibition. They include arms, carpets, jewellery, silverware, porcelain, paintings, caftans and turbans, and a nice collection of calligraphy manuscripts and other historical documents.

    The director of De Nieuwe Kerk, Ernst Veen, places the exhibition within the “other countries and cultures” policy of the museum: “By telling the story of the culture and cultural heritage of other countries, we also hope to build a bridge towards greater knowledge and understanding.”

    East and West
    Istanbul is the only city that straddles two continents and also the place which famously proves Rudyard Kipling wrong: here East and West do meet. Founded as Byzantium by Greek colonists in 667 BC, it grew into a metropolis after Constantine the Great selected it as the site for his capital, which he called New Rome, in 330 AD. The name never caught on and the city was renamed Constantinople in his honour. For 1,100 years it was the capital of the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine Empire, before being conquered by the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II in 1453.

    The capture of Constantinople gave great prestige to the Ottoman state, which was seen as an empire from then on. Mehmed the Conqueror, as he was later known, ordered the construction of great works including the sultans’ Topkapi Palace. Constantinople’s Haghia Sofia, the world’s greatest cathedral throughout the Middle Ages, became the Aya Sofia mosque, and the Blue Mosque was also built across from it to rival its beauty. The Ottoman Empire ended with the First World War and the founder of modern Turkey, Kemal Atatürk, renamed the city Istanbul and ordered Aya Sofia turned into a museum.

    Contacts with the Netherlands
    In 1612 the Ottoman Empire became one of the first great powers to recognize the young Dutch Republic. Commercial ties were at first mediated by Jewish bankers and merchants who, the century before, had fled the Spanish inquisition and found refuge in the sultan’s realm. Soon, Dutch traders began dealing directly with the sultan’s court and exchanges multiplied. The famous Dutch tulip was in fact imported from the Ottoman Empire; it is a common motif on the tiles of Topkapi Palace and graces its gardens overlooking the Bosporus to this day.

    An inspired setting
    De Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) is an inspired setting for the exhibition. The contrast between the originally Roman Catholic then Protestant church building and the Islamic art inside will remind anyone who has been there of the interior of Istanbul’s Aya Sofia, that other museum with a mixed religious past, where Christian mosaics and medallions bearing the names of Muhammad and the first caliphs stand side by side.

    The clever play of veils by the exhibition’s architects and designers emphasizes this contrast while also separating the interior of the church into manageable spaces. Visitors should remember to look up often to catch the endless combinations of overlapping Christian architectural details and translucent Islamic motifs. Those in need of a rest can enjoy a Turkish coffee or apple tea, and a piece of lokum – the famed Turkish Delight – in the Turkish coffeehouse that has been set up under the church’s organ.

    Other events
    De Nieuwe Kerk has organized an extensive programme of activities around the exhibition, with weekly lectures (in Dutch) and concerts throughout the months of January, February and March 2007. Amsterdam’s Podium Mozaïek makes the link with the present with its Turkije Nu/Turkey Now theatre and film programme, which investigates the sources of inspiration, dreams and motivations of artists of Turkish origin who live in the Netherlands today.

    For a full programme, see:

    De Nieuwe Kerk
    Podium Mozaïek

  • Volunteering for a slice of Turkish life

    Volunteering for a slice of Turkish life

    turkish lifeKate Fennell was happy to leave behind the chilly winds of Dublin to discover the delights of ‘Wwoofing’ on an organic farm in Turkey

    ‘OH, YOU’RE going Wwoofing?” my friend exclaimed, when I mentioned I was going to Turkey to work as a volunteer on an organic farm. Like most people, the only previous association I’d made with woofing was of the canine kind.

    However, after my month-long stay volunteering on a lush and fecund organic farm in the southwest of Turkey the wonderful world of “Wwoofing” – World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms – was revealed to me. Since then, from speaking to other seasoned Wwoofers and checking the official website, I realise the possibilities of exploring cultures and countries across the globe in this way, without spending much more than the airfare, are endless.

    The seeds of my Wwoofing were sown when I visited Pastoral Vadi, an organic farm in the southwest of Turkey complete with sheep, hens, ducks, dogs, cats, frogs and lizards, as a paying guest a few years ago after a Turkish friend claimed to have discovered the “Garden of Eden” half an hour west of Fethiye and that we had to go there.

    Indeed, with such an introduction it was a wonder I wasn’t disappointed when we first went to spend New Year’s Eve there in a gentle sunshine three years ago. In fact, one couldn’t but be struck by the absolute beauty of this expansive green, green valley, lined with row upon row of aromatic lemon, lime, orange, fig, olive and pomegranate trees, hugged on either side by enormous tree-lined mountains which overlook the rushing river Kargi, a much-needed source of irrigation to the fertile soil.

    It was when this autumn’s chilly breeze came blowing once again into Dublin that I realised a return visit to Pastoral Vadi was due and, if memory served me correctly, they accepted volunteers to work on the farm in return for bed and board. Time in the sun and nature without breaking the bank was the dream.

    So, after firing off an e-mail and getting a positive response I found myself a week later sitting on the veranda overlooking the orange groves, shamelessly sipping a gin and tonic after my hard day’s work, listening to the crickets, swatting the mosquitoes, and feeling the stiffness in my muscles subside as I relaxed into the warm evening air, smiling contentedly as I thought of that chilly wind snaking its way through Dublin.

    Over the month, along with the other 10 or so volunteers, I harvested various goodies such as olives, grapes, pomegranates, nuts and figs, we cut hay for the animals, painted signs, collected firewood, prepared the ground for new vegetables and helped the cooks prepare the delicious meals throughout the day.

    A mixum-gatherum of volunteers passed through: there was Sevgi, a fiftysomething Turkish lady who had already been Wwoofing on several farms along the western seaboard from Izmir to Fethiye; Ali, a German/Turkish film-maker who needed a quiet place to work on his film script; Anna and Roberto from Venice, who were starting two years of travelling; Fatush, from Istanbul, who needed a few days break from her husband – just the tonic apparently – and a trickling of foreign backpackers who were exploring Turkey and the Middle East.

    via Volunteering for a slice of Turkish life – The Irish Times – Sat, Dec 18, 2010.

  • Turkish minister says Istanbul needs new airport

    Turkish minister says Istanbul needs new airport

    Turkey’s transportation minister said on Friday that a new airport in the commercial hub of Istanbul was inevitable.

    Friday, 17 December 2010 15:20

    binaliTurkey’s transportation minister said on Friday that a new airport in the commercial hub of Istanbul was inevitable.

    Binali Yildirim said that there will be around 150 million passenger traffic in Istanbul by 2023, and only two airports, including Ataturk and Sabiha Gokcen international airports, could not meet this traffic.

    “Therefore, a new airport is inevitable in Istanbul,” Yildirim said during a meeting in Istanbul on increasing importance of Sabiha Gokcen International Airport in air transportation.

    Sabiha Gokcen Airport suffered financial loss between 2001 and 2004. The total passenger traffic at the airport was 130,217 in 2002 but it reached to 10.2 million by November 2010.

    Istanbul’s second airport Sabiha Gokcen hosted 6.27 million passengers in the first seven months of 2010, up 94 percent from the same period a year earlier.

    The airport almost caught last year’s passenger number of 6.6 million in the first seven months of 2010. 4.2 million of total passengers used domestic flights. The number of domestic passengers rose 92 percent.

    International passengers also increased 98 percent to 1.99 million. In July only, Sabiha Gokcen hosted 1.27 million passengers.

    Sabiha Gokcen International Airport, situated on the Asian side of Istanbul, opened in 2001. In 2007, ISG, a consortium of Malaysia Airports Holdings, India’s GMR Infrastructure and Turkey’s Limak clinched the rights to manage Istanbul’s second airport with a 1.9 billion-euro bid.

    AA

  • Sirkeci Gare – Istanbul’s emblematic train station

    Sirkeci Gare – Istanbul’s emblematic train station

    sirkeci orientOrient Express and Sirkeci Gare are two tightly connected key words. Although the famous luxury train no longer runs all the way to Istanbul, a visit to the station is a worthwhile trip down memory lane. Sirkeci Gare’s main front The pink brick, white stucco and black wrought iron structure is a prime example for late 19th century Ottoman architecture which sought to combine oriental elements with western modern style. The architect of the train station was a German, August Jachmund, who had come to Istanbul to study Ottoman architecture and ended up lecturing at Istanbul’s polytechnic. The building was completed in 1888 and inaugurated in 1890. Side entrance of the train station Approach the station from the street car stop of the same name and admire a gleaming steam engine which is exhibited at the left of the side entrance. The exterior is beautifully maintained whereas the interior serves as a modern day train station which connects Istanbul to the Balkans and Greece. Steam engine outside Sirkeci Gare However, 19 th century nostalgia remains very much in evidence. First is the Orient Express restaurant which serves excellent food and is full of photographs and memorabilia of times gone past. Orient Express restaurant Next to it is a tiny museum.

    Original Source Sirkeci Gare – Istanbul’s emblematic train station

    via Sirkeci Gare – Istanbul’s emblematic train station | TravelDealsReview.net – Best & Great Travel Vacation Deals, Weekend & Holiday Travel Deals.

  • Turkey unsuccessful in promoting health tourism assets, report says

    Turkey unsuccessful in promoting health tourism assets, report says

    ANKARA – Hürriyet Daily News

    The report said the nation-brand had an important effect on health tourism and urged the country to develop a nation-brand strategy.

    turkey can8217t promote its health tourism assets says report 2010 12 15 lTurkey has great potential for health tourism but it has been unable to effectively market its assets and brand due to the lack of an integrated approach, a recent report has said.

    “Our country is an important center of attraction for health tourism with healthcare facilities, trained human resources, technological infrastructure and accumulation of experience,” said the report, titled “Turkish and Global Perspective: Heath Tourism 2010” and published by the Health Foundation of Turkey. The country, however, could explore its real potential through stronger coordination between the government, civil society and the private sector as well as through more powerful international promotion and marketing strategies, the report added.

    Turkey ranks among the top 10 countries in terms of tourism income. The country has great potential for health tourism, taking into consideration its geographical location, natural and historical wonders, climate and current healthcare infrastructure, the report said.

    Citing expert views, the report said the nation-brand had an important effect on health tourism and urged the country to develop a nation-brand strategy that could be clearly expressed and promoted.

    According to Yılmaz Argüden, an academic who teaches strategy at Boğaziçi and Koç universities, the brand needs to be perceived not just as an instrument of promotion but as part of a strategy.

    “We need to build the brand of Turkey on values that really exist. Turkey is a multidimensional country and it is not possible to promote all aspects of it. We need to select some of these dimensions and really focus on them,” he said.

    Argüden said the selected aspects should be distinctive for Turkey.

    Advantages, disadvantages

    Assistant Professor İpek Altınbaşak of Bahçesehir Üniversity’s Faculty of Business Administration said Turkey should rid itself of the “cheap country” label and highlight its diversity and lifestyle to draw more tourists.

    Turkey’s promising health tourism facilities are also reflected in the statistics, as the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey, or DEİK’s, 2009 comparative prices analysis revealed Turkey as the most attractive country for major medical operations compared to other tourism destinations, including the United States.

    The average price for a heart valve replacement in Turkey, for instance, is $16,950 while it costs $58,250 in the U.S., $25,000 in England and $47,794 in Switzerland, according to the report.

    According to data provided by the Turkish Statistics Institute and the Central Bank, 103,400 foreign patients came to Turkey for treatment in 2003, spending $91 million, while the figure was 162,480 at $282 million in 2008 and 132,680 at $225 million in 2009.

    The report cites the high-quality infrastructure of hospitals, comparative price advantages, geographical location, suitable climactic conditions and tourism facilities at high standards in addition to well-trained staff with a command of foreign languages as advantages for health tourism in Turkey.

    The lack of cooperation between the state, nongovernmental organizations and the private sector, the lack of a sufficient number of experts including doctors and nurses trained in the area of health tourism and a lack of legislation are mentioned as the basic disadvantages of Turkey in terms of health tourism in the report.

  • Bodrum, Turkey – Small Tourist Guide

    Bodrum, Turkey – Small Tourist Guide

    Bodrum is one of many Turkish ports on the Aegean Sea. With a great ancient history and host to one of the Ancient Wonders of the World, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, today this city is one of the top places to visit if you travel to Turkey.

    The ancient name of the town is Halicarnassus and the renowned ancient wonder, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, was built in the year 353 by King Mausolous. The Mausoleum used to be about 150 feet tall and was an architectural and engineering wonder at the time. Crusaders then arrived and demolished it using the building materials to strengthen one of their forts. Today a museum tells the history of this amazing site which you can visit each day from 8 o’clock in the morning to 6 o’clock in the afternoon.

    Even today water sports and water activities are quite popular among locals and tourists. You can visit the Kos Island by taking one of many boat rides, thus allowing yourself a small trip to Greece and back. You will need to dedicate an entire day to this trip as the journey by boat and visiting the island can take many hours. The island is a small paradise for tourists that features ancient Greek ruins, orthodox churches and beautiful beaches.

    While in Turkey do not hesitate to visit one of the local Turkish Baths, an excellent mix of steam rooms and saunas that will work wonders on your skin and muscles. Both refreshing and rejuvenating, Turkish baths are known to cleanse the body from toxins while relaxing your muscles in the same time. This is the perfect opportunity to have a local traditional experience and to start your holiday in a relaxing and comforting environment.

    Bodrum features many traditional Turkish baths, so make sure to visit them at least once.

    Bodrum is also a water sport hub. Rent a yacht and take a small cruise to the nearby Greek islands or go for an exciting scuba diving experience. You can also try out wind surfing. All of these activities are great ways to have hours of fun by the sea. Make the best of the water and sun during the daytime and relax so that you can properly enjoy the city life during the night.

    This location offers great nightlife with plenty of all-night bars and discos located in the center of the city. Book a guest room in one of the secluded hotels for a more relaxing night with the entire family or check in one of the large central hotels if you intend to relax more in the daytime and keep your nights busy with clubbing and partying.

    From Bodrum you can make short trips to the salt terraces of Pamukkale, visit the ancient ruins of the Aphrodite’s city of Aphrodisias, or take a health trip to the thermal baths of Hierapolis. All of these tourist destinations are close to Bodrum, so make sure to check with the local travel agencies and book a trip to at least one of them.

    Article Source:

    via Bodrum, Turkey – Small Tourist Guide.