Tag: Istanbul

ANKARA, October 2 (RIA Novosti) – Turkish archaeologists have found artifacts showing that Istanbul, earlier believed to be founded 2,700 years ago by the Greeks as Byzantium, is 8,500 years old, local media said.

The Al-Watan newspaper said the excavations in Istanbul, which have gone on for four years, have uncovered four skeletons, as well as wooden and ceramic pieces, shedding new light on the history of the Turkish city.

The discovery was made two months ago at a depth of six meters below sea level at the site of an ancient settlement. Ismail Karamut, who directs Istanbul’s Archaeological Museum, said the finding would force historians to rewrite the country’s history.

Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city with a population of around 12 million, was the country’s capital until 1923, when the government moved to Ankara. The city, historically known as Constantinople, was given its modern Turkish name in 1930.

Source : RIA Novosti

On September 27 the Turkish navy launched the corvette TCG Heybeliada, the first modern warship to be designed, built, and equipped primarily from local resources.

The TCG Heybeliada is the first in what will eventually be a series of 12 multi-purpose littoral combat warships built under the Milli Gemi (National Ship or MILGEM) program. The Heybeliada has an overall length of 99 meters (325 feet), a maximum beam of 14.4 meters (47 feet), and a displacement of 2,000 metric tons (2,200 tons). In addition to weapons systems, the Heybeliada will have a hangar and platform for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) Sea Hawk helicopters and/or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The vessel has been designed to operate with a crew of 93, including aviation personnel. It is expected to have range of 3,500 nautical miles and a top speed of over 29 knots.

The Turkish navy has traditionally either bought its vessels secondhand, particularly from the United States, or had them built by foreign shipyards. The MILGEM project has its origins in a 1996 plan to have German MEKO A-100 corvettes built in Turkish shipyards. The Turkish navy subsequently shelved the idea and decided to try to build the country’s first entirely indigenous modern warship using Turkish shipyards, universities, and companies. Work on the plans began on March 12, 2004.

TURKEY’S FIRST MILGEM WARSHIP LAUNCHED IN ISTANBUL – Eurasia Daily Monitor.

When I met designer Zeynep Fadillioglu, she was giving instructions to her team of architects on the installation of a cutting-edge water feature.

The design draws heavily on Turkey’s Islamic traditions

The metal sphere created by British designer William Pye will dominate the entrance of the Sakirin Mosque.

The fountain, along with a modern glass chandelier from China made from thousands of individually crafted shards of glass, are central pieces in what is being seen as one of most radical mosque designs in Turkey in generations.

“Designing everything we tried to be contemporary, but not, let’s say, too futuristic or avant garde,” Ms Fadillioglu says.

“We don’t want the public to reject the place. We want the public to feel part of the place, rather than watching it as an incredible art object. I think it should be their own place.”

The internationally renowned interior designer sees herself as a product of Turkey’s secular republic, which was established in 1923, and gave equal rights to men and women.

BBC NEWS | Europe | Istanbul skyline gets woman’s touch

ISTANBUL — I had a conversation over here a few days ago with a friend of mine who also writes for his college paper. His column, whose name is a clever derivative of Sex in The City, talks about his life in Istanbul and focuses primarily on his addictions and their different roles here than in the States. Case in point? He lives right next door to a mosque and will get into tussles with them over his consistent alcohol consumption in view of the worshipers. Alcohol is forbidden by Islam so you could imagine that the fights get a bit messy especially during the holy Islamic month of Ramadan.

I laughed a bit when talking to him about this and thought it took serious guts to write about these things in front of an audience of peers (and maybe even family). I thought to myself that there was no way I’d ever do anything like that. But, being that I came into this experience saying that I’d step out of my comfort zone as much as possible, today I will share with you one of my own addictions and how, in Istanbul, it’s just that much crazier.

Withdrawal: Escaping Istanbul nights for a Jets game, only to find it’s in Danish | The Cornell Daily Sun.

by Anne Szustek

Rising Islamism and nationalism within Turkey are hurting Istanbul’s once robust Orthodox Christian community. Possible EU accession has brought the situation into the limelight.

Istanbul’s Orthodox Patriarchate Fighting for Survival

In 2007, 42 of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee’s 50 members sent Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan a letter pleading on behalf of the Eastern Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate, established in Istanbul in the 4th century. Bartholomew I, the leader of the world’s 300 million members of Eastern Orthodox churches, sits in the Patriarchate’s headquarters in Fener, a blighted neighborhood on Istanbul’s Golden Horn.

Former Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif., then the head of the committee, called the patriarchate “one of the world’s oldest and greatest treasures.”

Tide of Nationalism Threatens Istanbul’s Greek Orthodox Community.