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Category: EU Members

European Council decided to open accession negotiations with Turkey on 17 Dec. 2004

THE TURKS ARE SENDING AWAY THEIR BEST MARATHON SWIMMER TO ENGLISH CHANNEL…

Alper Sunacoglu

THE MAN WHO SWAM ACROSS FROM TURKEY TO CYPRUS IS NOW READY FOR ENGLISH CHANNEL!

Alper Sunacoglu is a sportsman who will make a big splash and will be talked about alot in the sports community around the world soon. He is a legend of his country.

Erdal Acet, who is one of the trainers of Alper, was the man who broke the world record by swimming across English Channel with a record of 9 hours 2 minutes. Since his childhood, Alper who is a committed follower of Erdal Acet, now going to England to show his respect to his trainer and he is also determined to break the world record of Mr. Trent Grimsey, who also broke the record world record as well as Alper’s trainer Erdal’s record .

Now let’s have a look at what Alper has got to share with us 🙂

Who is Alper ? Alper is one of the most famous national swimmers of Turkey who swam the distance of 78 km from Anamur, from Turkey to Cyprus in smashing 26 hours 15 minutes and moreover he did not use the safety cage. He broke this world record by swimming in a perfect high speed on 4th of September 2010. On 23th of April, 2011 He also swam across Istanbul Bosporus top to buttom from Sarıyer to Üsküdar, a distance of 30 km in 2 hours 25 minutes. After all that he swam perpendicular Dardanel Bosporus from one end to another in 7 hours 12 minutes by ignoring the south wind storm blowing at 8 force. Related with above mentioned successes, he had many interviews, commentated on news both nationally and internationally. His records were also confirmed and announced by Wikipedia to all over the world. The record holder swimmer, Alper now has a target to break a world record by swimming English Channel in 6 hours 45 minutes. If he achieves this, he will gain the title of fastest marathon swimmer in the world, then again this will enable him to secure the world record on behalf of Turkey and Turks.

Here is the Exclusive interview with world famous swimmer, Alper Sunacoglu.

EDITOR: Could you please tell us little bit about yourself?

ALPER: Thank you. I was born in Istanbul and originally I’m an Albanian. When I was about five years old when we immigrated to Adana because of my father’s business. My father and my mother is from Istanbul, I’m from Adana due to the simple fact that I lived all my childhood there. J Currently I’m working in a corporate logistics company as a project manager/ coordinator, A degree certified customs broker and work as a consultant.

EDITOR: You undersigned records which requires significant performance and courage. To swim from Mersin to Cyprus in 26 hours, to swim the straits from the whole length even in the winter season, I mean all of these successes and records do not seem logically possible to many people around the world. I would like you to share with us your journey, your adventure starting from your childhood. How was Alper’s childhood? How was his youth? Why and how come you broke all this world records and accomplishments years after years ? We kindly appreciate If you could tell us all these processes.

ALPER: I had a very naughty childhood and youth with full of troubles which caused lots of complaints from our neighbors. One day I was at top of a roof with a cap, toy pistol and slingshot in my hands, another day I was on top of trees and sometimes even had a fight with gangs. Once upon a time, as far as I can remember I climbed on a pine tree and could not get down and had to wait for the fire brigade to come and rescue me. As you can clearly see, I had a childhood full of adventures. I learned and started to swim when I was five year old. I tried variety of sports such as karate, taekwondo, judo, handball, basketball. However due to my fickleness I did not continue all of these sports. Now as it stands, only pentathlon and swimming is an indispensable part of my sport life. I will still perform these two sports until my health, breath and my power enables me to do so. My grandfather had a major effect in my life and he always said that ‘ Your blood and soul is coming from Ottoman Empire and you are a core grandchild of the daughter of Magnificent Suleyman and Sokullu Mehmed Pasha and your forefathers are the people of that you should really feel full proud of ‘I think that those words were so powerful words which effected my unconscious mind’. I have also listened many of these narratives with a big pleasure J . My grades at school were not very good however I was more interested with history lessons. I thought that our forefathers ride on horses to many distant places, conquered so many countries and came back again by travelling over hundreds even thousands of kilometers. This meant to me that, humankind can walk, run and can even swim these distances if they really wish. Thus, this is how my idea of marathon swimming started. My courage comes from my genetic code and my success comes from the faith of the following sentence. ‘If mankind really and honestly wants to walk, run and swim those distances then this can be achieved.’ I’m also a little bit lucky because most of the famous marathon swimmers are from Adana and I had the chance to be inspired by those swimmers. I listened, watched them and prepared myself to do the best. Sanrı Kardesler who is the famous for the contribution to Adana swimming sports and the deceased swimmer Ayhan Karatas had a big efforts on me . In this regard, once more I want to express my gratitude to them.

EDITOR : Don’t you get bored and get hungry at sea over many hours of swimming and are you not really afraid of sharks? Did you ever face any dangerous circumstances at sea?

ALPER: Of course I did, while I was swimming long distances, I got bored , it is hard sometimes, I had a terrible headaches, sometimes toothache and sometimes I became semi conscious. So, you have different stages, the sportsmen who swim marathon know that after you swim three hours, you face up different stages both in your body and in your mind. If you have decayed tooth , first this starts to ache then headache starts and after that semi conscious and insobriety takes place. If you can not concentrate well enough then you will be defeated to the water and give up the marathon. However, I visit the place of where I will dive into the water and prepare my unconscious mind to the marathon by saying myself that ‘ I will enter to the water from this place and will rise across the seaside’ Unless any unexpected weather conditions occur or totally unexpected accident occurs, I never think to return back or dismiss the trial of record. You asked me whether if I get hungry at sea, and of course, I get hungry, there is a boat and team members that escorts me and my trainers calculate at what time I need to eat, they throw me liquid food bottle to the sea accordingly. When it comes to sharks they are the ruler of sea, so I am afraid of them and they are also stronger than me in the sea. But I never come up against such a life threatening danger up to now except some minor incidents.

EDITOR: Have you got any sponsorship?

ALPER: I had a lots of sponsorship up until now. Adana City Council, IHH Charitable Foundation of Humankind aid, Sisli Council and Mayor of Sisli – Mr. Mustafa Sarı Gul , Ünsped Gümrük Müşavirliği A.S – customs broker company and precious businessman Yusuf Bulut ÖZTÜRK are my sponsors from time to time.

EDITOR: So, what are your new projects that are coming soon?

ALPER: The first project is to swim across the English Channel in less than 7 hours and break the world record. Now the last world record on this belongs to Mr. Trent Grimsey.

Secondly, swimming Naples -Capri Marathon in Italy and swimming across from Izmir to Athens are my latest upcoming projects.

EDITOR: You were on headline news on many occasions but why are you not as famous as you could imagine expected from a person at your caliber?

ALPER: I have only tried to keep everything to myself, all trial of records, projects and I did not intend to become famous up to this date. I have never had focus on and an aim or dream to be famously recognized. Actually to become famous in Turkey is very simple fact if you are on news related to your private life with a model or with a girl who is famous, then you are on, now you’re famous. But this does not suit me, my style and I do not prefer this kind of life. On any given day, if people of my country would know me, I prefer to be remembered by what I have done, with my achievements, successes and my records. And as such all news about myself has been done by valuable media members like yourselves by investigating the real truth of the news in the world by providing access me with an interview. To summarize it all, I have the opinion that if a decent media group supports me that is more than enough for me.

EDİTÖR: A personal question comes to you. Is there a time for love in this busy life. You are a healthy person and why are you not married ?

ALPER: As you say I’m really busy. I always live in a rush between business life and sports life. I can not spare a time to my private life as much as I want. So the relationship is really difficult for me and even more difficult for the other side. In addition to that, I also got married and got divorced when I was very young. At least unless I fulfill my upcoming projects, I do not consider about marriage as for now. But still it is all about destiny in the end.

EDITOR : Why don’t you have a support from government authorities although you have a good relationship with them and sincere photos with a lot of political leaders? Is this related with the social messages that you give?

ALPER: Yes, actually your question has got the answer in it. Unfortunately, I could not get any support of government administration. If they have supported me, I would like to swim from Egypt to Gaza and protest the embargo. If they support me, I can represent my country at open water races hold in different countries. Maybe Turkey is the only country which do not participate in these races. Myself and Swimming Federation delivered our messages about this issue on several occasions to the related ministry but we could not get any reply at all.

EDITOR: You wanted to swim to Imrali Island by jumping from Istanbul Bosphorus Bridge and wanted to give a message that Single State, Single Flag and Single Nation aiming to curse of the terrorism. Even Ayşe Arman – journalist had mentioned about you and many discussions have taken place in the public. Is this project on stand still? Are you really going to jump from the Istanbul Bosporus Bridge?

ALPER: Let me ask you. Do you think, is it really necessary to give this message and make this attempt when you think about the position of Turkey now. As of now, there is no terror so I do not need to curse it 🙂 anymore. In the end, to swim to Imrali is cancelled, I won’t swim. But in coming days may be I can jump from the Bosporus Bridge to give a different message. You will also hear from me for sure 🙂

EDITOR: You’re recognized by your support to disabled children and children with down syndrome. Do you have a plan or dream for them ?

ALPER : I like children and especially girls. Disabled children or children with a down syndrome is very special for me. My biggest dream is to build an Olympic pool and activity rooms for them if I have the suitable support and financial back up accordingly.

EDITOR: Let’s say “Insallah”. I hope that someone sensitive could hear your message so that they could support you to enable yourselves to break the world records and help you to realize your dreams. I hereby wish you a real success and may I also take this opportunity thank you for your sincere answers to the questions which included your personal life.

May 15, 2013
AFP: Turkey FM: German neo-Nazi murders must not go unpunished

(AFP) – 12 hours ago

BERLIN — Turkey’s foreign minister said Saturday that a killing spree of mainly Turkish immigrants in Germany between 2000 and 2007 was “a racist attack that should not go unpunished,” as he visited victims’ families in Berlin.

At a closed-door meeting with families, Ahmet Davutoglu vowed that Turkey would keep a close eye on the high-profile case that has shocked and shamed Germany, according to a foreign ministry official.

On Monday, the hotly anticipated trial opened of 38-year-old Beate Zschaepe, accused of being at the heart of the murderous neo-Nazi cell that called itself the National Socialist Underground (NSU).

Zschaepe denies the charge of complicity in the murders of eight ethnic Turks, a Greek immigrant and a German policewoman.

via AFP: Turkey FM: German neo-Nazi murders must not go unpunished.

May 12, 2013
Turkey’s media has a watchful eye on NSU trial

Turkey’s media has a watchful eye on NSU trial

Turkish media closely watched the opening of the NSU trial in Munich on Monday. Newspapers describe the feelings of the victims’ families and the main defendant’s attitude in court.

Beate Zschäpe’s appearance in room A 101 of the Munich court on Monday was the main topic in many Turkish newspapers a day later.

“Nazi-bride in a Hitler pose,” the paper Habertürk headlined, showing a photo of Zschäpe with folded arms next to an image of Adolf Hitler in a similar pose.

Other Turkish papers also commented on the main defendant’s attitude on the first day of the trial. On its front page, Hürriyet calls Zschäpe an “impudent Nazi”, emphasizing that the 38-year-old turned her back on the court and the relatives of the eight Turkish NSU victims. The day in court, the paper continues, was a stage for the defendant’s “show.”

Air of defiance

The papers report Zschäpe’s appearance in the courtroom deeply affected the relatives of the NSU victims present for the trial. Sabah and other papers quote Dilek Özcan, the daughter of Ismail Yasar – shot dead in 2006 in Nuremberg – as saying she “shivered when she saw Zschäpe and felt deep hatred.” A tearful Özcan is reported to have added she was certain Zschäpe would get her just punishment.

Semiya Simsek wants to know why her father was singled out

Other relatives focused on the many open questions in the trial. Enver Simsek’s daughter Semiya says she wanted to know why neo-Nazis singled out her father of all people as a victim. According to the Vatan daily, she says her trust in the Federal Republic of Germany has been destroyed by the murders.

Offended by a crucifix

The Turkish media are particularly interested in the court’s shedding light on the bungled investigation. The Milliyet daily terms the trial “Germany’s Nazi check.” However, even ahead of the trial, commentators doubted the German judiciary was up to the task. Speaking to Turkish reporters before proceedings began in Munich, Ayhan Sefer Üstün, chairman of the human rights committee in the Turkish parliament, expressed hopes for a just verdict, despite the defense’s obvious delaying tactics. “That is what we expect and we will continue to keep a close eye on developments,” he said.

Opened and adjourned

Not all Turkish observers were as open-minded, however. Mahmut Tanal of the opposition CHP party and a member in Üstün’s delegation, called for the removal of a crucifix from the courtroom. He argued the Christian symbol is a “threat” to all non-Christians that contradicts the principles of a secular constitutional state.

Anti-democratic forces

The court’s upcoming assessment reminds some Turkish observers of the situation in their country. The Star newspaper compares the NSU trial with proceedings against the nationalist killer of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. Zschäpe, the prime suspect in the German case, presented herself with as much defiance as Dink’s murderer, Ogün Samast – who, according to Dink’s lawyers, had willing supporters from within the Turkish state.

Erdal Safak, chief editor of Sabah – the Turkish paper whose German subsidiary successfully complained to Germany’s highest court about the allocation of seats for foreign media at the trial – also draws a comparison with Turkey.

The Munich trial is about Germany’s “deep state,” Safak says, referring to the Turkish term for an interdependence of rightwing forces in the state and violent criminals.

The Turkish government regards members of the alleged ultra-nationalist underground network Ergenekon, currently on trial in Turkey, as representatives of the “deep state” that planned to seize power from elected politicians. That is why Turkish organizations must continue to keep a close eye on the NSU trial, Safak says: after all, the “German Ergenekon” is on trial in Munich.

via Turkey’s media has a watchful eye on NSU trial | Germany | DW.DE | 07.05.2013.

May 8, 2013
German-Turks Leaving Germany For Turkey

When a majority of fellow citizens believe that the religion you follow is incompatible with their nation then you may be inspired to move elsewhere.

When you are less likely to get a job that you are as qualified as anyone else to perform because of the way your name sounds that may inspire you to want to leave.

It appears that after years of being treated as second-class citizens a large number of Turks are going back to Turkey. No doubt Islamophobes will be partying, but who will they scapegoat now?

The euro crisis and Islamophobia are making Turkey more appealing to the descendants of Turkish immigrants who have been living in Germany.

In 1961, desperate to increase its labor force, West Germany signed an employment agreement with Turkey and launched a wave of immigration that continues to have repercussions today.

Now, after years of being treated as second-class citizens in Europe’s economic powerhouse, large numbers of Turks — descendants of the first wave of immigrants — are returning to Turkey.

In A Strange Land

Yucel Yolcu, 44, has a good life in Istanbul. He likes his job as a film director; his sunny apartment on a hill above the Bosphorus is alive with the sounds of guests and pets.

But when he thinks back to his early childhood in Germany, he’s amazed things worked out this way. His early memories are of being left on his own at age 5 while his parents went off to work in a German factory.

“It was a backyard of an old Berlin building, and I saw there were other black-haired kids like me … staying all the day in the backyard, and we didn’t know what we are doing there,” he says. “And there were other kids, blond, looking a little bit different, and we couldn’t understand each other.”

Some would argue that Germans and their growing Turkish minority never learned to understand each other.

Reasons To Leave

At first, the Turks believed they would soon be returning home with the wealth to start a better life. But as Turkey’s political situation was roiled by violent unrest and military coups, more and more Turks opted to stay in Germany.

Semra Guzel-Korver with the European Broadcasting Union has made two documentaries on Turks in Germany. She’s not surprised that a growing number of them are leaving Germany, now that Turkey’s economy is robust and growing.

“A lot of Turkish, especially young generation, come back to Istanbul and other Turkish cities, because … they cannot find jobs anymore in Germany,” she says.

“They finished the university, they know three or four languages, everything is perfect — but their name is Turkish,” Guzel-Korver adds.

She says the euro crisis has increased racism and Islamophobia.

Resorting To Gangs

Racism and Islamophobia are what drove some Turks in Germany to make a stand. They watched in dismay as a recession in the 1980s and the reunification of Germany after 1989 brought a rise in neo-Nazi violence against immigrants.

As the neo-Nazi attacks spiked in the early ’90s, young Turkish immigrants began to form street gangs and confront them. Al Jazeera’s English channel aired a documentary about the most famous of the Turkish gangs, known as “36 Boys.” In the film, former gang member Soner Arslan said organizing was a matter of survival.

“The 36 Boys, people think we’re dangerous and beat people up all the time, but the reality wasn’t like that,” he said. “We had a war here, and we had to protect ourselves. They wanted to kill us, and the German police and politicians did nothing about it.”

Coming ‘Home’

For decades, the Turks kept coming, but now the flow is reversing. One recent study concludes that some 193,000 Turks left Germany to come home between 2007 and 2011. The most commonly cited reasons were better job prospects in Turkey and discrimination in Germany.

Yolcu was a member of the 36 Boys gang (named after the postal code of a tough Berlin neighborhood where many of them grew up). But one day, he decided that he was never going to get work in films if he stayed in a drug- and violence-prone gang.

“I have to make a new start. I felt like I have to earn money with art, and all my friends were dealers. I mean, they are still dealing,” he says.

Yolcu wound up in Istanbul, sleeping on a friend’s couch and trying to break into the film business. It was around that time that he began a new, unexpected process of adjustment. For all his efforts to cling to a Turkish identity while in Germany, he now found that in some ways these Turks were utter foreigners to him.

He was surprised to find a Germanic desire for order welling up in him one day while walking down Istanbul’s teeming downtown thoroughfare, with masses of people jostling this way and that.

“You know, I can’t understand why all the people are walking like this! And one day I was nearly to cry, ‘Stop! You go right and you go left!’ ” he says. “I mean, I couldn’t understand why there is no people who says, ‘It’s too much people here! You don’t see it?’ ”

Over time, Yolcu grew to embrace the relative chaos of Turkey and now feels at home here. He also keeps an eye out for his fellow Almancis, or German-Turks, because he knows what it’s like to feel like a stranger in your homeland.

via German-Turks Leaving Germany For Turkey | loonwatch.com.

May 7, 2013
Turkey’s steps on Kurdish issues help EU integration efforts

ANKARA, Turkey, May 6 (UPI) — Addressing outstanding Kurdish issues will support Turkey’s effort to join the European Union, the EU envoy to Turkey said.

Members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, known by its Kurdish initials PKK, are to begin a phased withdrawal from Turkish territory this week.

More than 4,000 people have died in fighting between the separatist PKK and the Turkish military since the 1980s.

EU Ambassador to Turkey Jean-Maurice Ripert told Turkish newspaper Hurriyet the measure would help with Kurdish cultural and political issues in addition to easing security strains.

“So an agreement by all the citizens of this country on the structure of the state, on identity, language rights and the fight against all kinds of discrimination, is key for the future of this country, and this will tremendously help the accession process of Turkey to the EU,” he said.

The withdrawal follows a series of discussions between Turkish government officials and jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.

Pro-Kurdish leaders said they were concerned about the lack of security guarantees for withdrawing fighters.

The European Union lists the PKK as a terrorist organization.

via Turkey’s steps on Kurdish issues help EU integration efforts – UPI.com.

May 7, 2013
Istanbul΄s Greeks want citizenship back

The Greek population of Istanbul, which was rather forced to leave Turkey because of the sociopolitical situation, is now asking for its citizenship rights΄ restoration, daily Sunday΄s Zaman reported. Greeks in Istanbul, known as Rums (Turkey΄s Greeks), are finally given the chance to actually voice their demands thanks to recent improvements relating the minorities΄ rights.

Talks have been carried out with government officials through the Istanbul Rums Universal Federation, established in 2005. The federation, after sending a letter to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan addressing their problems and demands, also sent a written statement to the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of EU Affairs in September, 2012.

The federation΄s head, Nikolaos Uzunoglu, presented a number of suggestions, among which were granting quick Turkish citizenship to people who would like to return, giving them orientation classes in order to help them open up small businesses and learn Turkish.

In the beginning of March, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc highlighted to his government members the importance of improving the lives of minorities in Turkey by expanding their rights, while calling minorities to return to Turkey.

According to Sunday΄s Zaman΄s, Uzunoglu also underlined that it is highly important for young Greeks to return to Turkey in order to keep their culture alive.

via Istanbul΄s Greeks want citizenship back- Capital.gr.

April 24, 2013