Tag: New York

Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States

On the left, Ambassador Y. Halit Çevik, Permanent Representative of Turkey to the United Nations

Statement by Ambassador Y. Halit Çevik, Permanent Representative of Turkey to the United Nations during the Meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States

Mr. Chairman,

Today we are faced with pressing global challenges. World population is expected to go over 9 billion by 2050 creating unprecedented pressure on our resources, especially on water, food and energy. Almost one billion human-beings are still undernourished. Environment is getting polluted. Biodiversity has deteriorated like never before and environmental degradation is unfortunately not getting enoughattention. Climate change is posing threat to our wellbeing, even to human existence in some parts of the World.

While the climate threat to the entire planet goes on virtually unchecked, sea level is rising at an alarming rate due to the negative effects of increasing carbondioxide (CO2)concentration in the atmosphere, thereby posing an immediate and real threat to the survival of those peoples and communities who live on small land either by the sea or surrounded by immense ocean masses. The magnitude of the social and humanitarian threat posed by sea level rise far surpasses any economic consideration; loss of homeland and related identity, relocation, changes in ways of life are its real and potentially devastating consequences.

In the first place, Small Island Developing States are confronted with all the adverse effects of the above, not to mention gravely detrimental consequences of the rising sea levels of unprecedented magnitude. If urgent action is not taken, living conditions in these places will get worse eventually leading to disastrous consequences.

We regard the Declaration of Barbados and theProgramme of Action for the Sustainable Development of SIDS, the Mauritius Declaration and the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of SIDS as UN landmark documents and cornerstones for global action.

The outcome document of the Rio+20 UN Conference constitutes a breakthrough development regarding the need to fully address all issues pertaining to the SIDS.

Turkey welcomes the declaration of 2014 as the International Year of Small Island Developing States. We are confident that Samoa will host the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in a very successful and able manner in September 2014. We attach great importance to the success of this conference. To that effect, Turkey is pleased to extend its financial support to the host country. We would also like to underline the importance of contributions by the interested member states to the SIDS Third International Conference Trust Fund.

Turkey completely shares all the concerns expressed by the SIDS expressed in international fora. We believe that the post-2015 development agenda should properly address the concerns of the SIDS, and the entire UN membership should approach this process with a pragmatic, constructive and forward-looking perspective. Therefore, no effort should be spared during this Conference in order to produce a new development framework for the SIDS which will also be in line with the post-2015 development agenda.

Turkey is committed to assisting and supporting developing countries in their efforts towards sustainable growth and development. Our interest in the vulnerabilities of SIDS should be seen within the broader context of our foreign policy agenda, as a medium-to-long-term and high-priority objective.

Turkey has become increasingly active in sharing its own development experiences and in contributing to international development cooperation efforts as a whole, especially in the SIDS as well as Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs).

With this understanding, we hosted the 4th UN Conference on Least Developed Countries in Istanbul in May 2011, which brought together Governments, parliamentarians, academics, as well as representatives of civil society organizations and the private sector. We also have offered to host the Mid-Term Review Conference of the 4th UN LDC Conference.

Being a developing nation itself, Turkey perceives a special responsibility that our unique location, history and humanitarian tradition bestow upon us to share our development with other nations worldwide. This understanding will guide our continuous engagement with the preparations of the 3rd International Conference on SIDS.

We stand ready to make available the expertise accumulated throughout these processes for the success of development agenda to be designed for the SIDS as well.

In this regard, we also fully support the well-founded request of the SIDS to determine a stand-alone sustainable development goal for oceans in the post-2015 agenda.

Thank you.

In Turkish

New York’taki Türkevi’nde ”Küçük Ada Devletleri Uluslararası Yılı” resepsiyonu

Türkiye’nin BM Daimi Temsilcisi Halit Çevik’in ev sahipliğini yaptığı resepsiyona, Nauru Cumhurbaşkanı Baron Waqa’nın yanı sıra çok sayıda ada devletinin temsilcisi ve üst düzey diplomat katıldı.

NEW YORK (AA) – Gelişmekte olan ”Küçük Ada Devletleri Uluslararası Yılı”nın ilanı nedeniyle New York’taki Türkevi’nde bir resepsiyon verildi.

Ev sahipliğini Türkiye’nin BM Daimi Temsilcisi Büyükelçi Halit Çevik, ada devleti Nauru Daimi Temsilcisi Marlene Moses ve BM Ekonomik ve Sosyal İşler Genel Sekreter Yardımcısı Wu Hongbo’nun yaptığı resepsiyona Nauru Cumhurbaşkanı Baron Waqa’nın yanı sıra Samoa Başbakanı, Barbados ve Morityus Dışişleri Bakanları katıldı.

Resepsiyonda bir konuşma yapan Büyükelçi Halit Çevik, insan hayatı için çevre ve su kaynaklarının önemine değinerek, iklim değişikliğinin tüm insanlığı tehdit ettiğini söyledi. Küresel sorunlara hiç kimsenin gözünü kapatamayacağını vurgulayan Çevik, Türkiye olarak ada devletlerinin gelişmesi için her türlü desteği vermeye hazır olduklarını söyledi.

Çevik, 1-4 Eylül tarihleri arasında Samoa’nın Apia kentinde yapılacak 3. Uluslararası Küçük Ada Devletleri Konferansı Hazırlık Komitesi toplantısının bugün başladığını belirterek, toplantının başarılı geçmesi için çalışmaya devam edeceklerini söyledi.

Nauru Cumhurbaşkanı Baron Waqa ise konuşmasında küresel ısınma ve iklim değişikliği ile mücadelede birlikte hareket etmenin önemine vurgu yaparak, Türkiye’nin ada devletlerine gösterdiği yakın ilgiye teşekkür etti.

Resepsiyonda Türk mutfağından çeşitli örnekler misafirlere ikram edilirken, ada devletlerinden gelen müzik gruplarının sergilediği performanla bazı misafirler dans etti.

February 25, 2014
Istanbul Takes New York: A Look at 4 Fall Shows From Turkey’s Surging Art Scene

Courtesy the Artist and Leila Heller Gallery

Gulay Semercioglu’s “Green Apple,” 2011, wire, screws, wood

by Rachel Corbett

Published: October 24, 2012

A still from Ali Kazma’s “Absence,” 2011, 2 channel video, endless loop / Courtesy C24

In recent years, art analysts have alternately described the rise of the Turkish market as both a bubble and a long-brewing boom. Whichever turns out to be true in the long run, there’s no denying its explosion. Sotheby’s London launched its first auction dedicated to modern and contemporary Turkish art in 2009, bringing in $1.3 million during the inaugural edition. The next year, sales nearly doubled.

Galleries appear to have taken note. While the prices at the Sotheby’s sale in April cooled a bit, dealers in New York have organized a crop of shows devoted to Turkish artists this fall. From galleries specializing in the Middle East, like Chelsea’s Leila Heller, to the more Euro-centric Sperone Westwater, here’s a look at where to spot the group of trendy Turks in the months to come:

Kutlug Ataman, “Mesopotamian Dramaturgies,” at Sperone Westwater, November 1-December 22

Newly represented by Sperone Westwater, Ataman is making something of a comeback in the west after showing predominantly in the Middle East and Europe for nearly a decade. The series of four video installations that comprise “Mesopotamian Dramaturgies” is firmly rooted in his native landscape, however, often highlighting the tensions of modernization in Turkey. At the start of the Arab Spring, for instance, Ataman filmed a formation of rushing waterfalls and projected the images onto multiple screens, reminding viewers that destruction and purification can occur simultaneously.

Gulay Semercioglu, “Variations on Line,” Leila Heller Gallery, October 11-November 12

Istanbul-based painter Gulay Semercioglu makes her U.S. solo debut at Leila Heller with a collection of architectural abstractions woven from razor-thin metal wires and mounted into wooden frames. The work draws upon the history of her hometown, Gaziantep, which was known for its wire-woven textiles. “My grandfather, when he was bored or unhappy, used to resort to weaving,” she explained in a statement. “My grandmother used to win prizes for her embroidery and jewelry. It’s in my genes and in the process.”

Yigit Yazici, “Nobody’s Business but the Turk’s,” Tally Beck, November 14-January 6

A fixture on the Istanbul pop art scene, Yazici brings 12 fluorescent paintings to the Lower East Side’s contemporary Asian gallery Tally Beck next month. Yazici tarts up everyday imagery, such as motorcycles and furniture, with maze-like layers of neon paint. Earlier this year, in consistently Warholian fashion, Yazici designed an Absolut Istanbul label with a cartoonish tableau of the Galata Tower on the Bosphorous. He will return to the U.S. in December to attend Art Asia Miami with Tally Beck.

Ali Kazma, “In It,” at C24 Gallery, November 7-December 22

Video artist Ali Kazma has been busy: he recently closed a solo show at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C., and will be representing Turkey in the 2013 Venice Biennale. In the meantime, he is bringing a series of new and old works to Chelsea’s C24 Gallery for his first solo show in New York. Curated by French critic Paul Ardenne, the multi-screened videos are being shown together to create a new environment that explores time and energy. Kazma also had a video in the inaugural exhibition at C24, a gallery launched last year by a group of Turkish collectors and a New York attorney.

via Istanbul Takes New York: A Look at 4 Fall Shows From Turkey’s Surging Art Scene | Artinfo.

October 25, 2012
Deconstructed Istanbul like a page of a Klingon Book

New York City’s Blocks Arranged by Size

Jesus Diaz

French artist Armelle Caron had a very clever idea: take out all the elements from a city grid and line them up, sorted by size. The results are both intriguing and pretty. They also tells a lot about each city. Take New York above and compare it to Istanbul below:

Clearly, two entirely different civilizations and times. Istanbul deconstructed looks like a page of a Klingon book. New York is almost like a computer motherboard. [Armelle Caron via NPR]

via New York City’s Blocks Arranged by Size.

September 19, 2012
FBI Says NYPD Muslim Surveillance Is Breaking The Islamic Community’s Trust

By Jason Grant

Religion News Service

NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 29: New York University (NYU) students attend a town hall to discuss the NYPD’s surveillance of Muslim communities on February 29, 2012 in New York City. The Justice Department is beginning a review on a possible investigation of civil rights violations due to the surveillance, which allegedly included NYU students. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

NEWARK, N.J. (RNS) As friction over the New York Police Department’s spying on New Jersey Muslims continues to grow, the state’s top FBI officer said the uproar is damaging his agency’s ability to gather important counterterrorism intelligence.

“What we have now is (Muslim communities) … that they’re not sure they trust law enforcement in general, they’re fearing being watched, they’re starting to withdraw their activities,” Michael Ward, director of the FBI’s Newark division, said Tuesday (March 6).

“And the impact of that sinking tide of cooperation means that we don’t have our finger on the pulse of what’s going on in the community as well — we’re less knowledgeable, we have blind spots, and there’s more risk.”

In his first public comments on the deepening controversy, Ward said the FBI has spent the years after 9/11 opening lines of communication with New Jersey’s Muslim communities.

“Now that trust is being challenged, those relationships are being strained,” he said, his voice rising with emphasis. “And it’s the trust and those relationships that provide the true security against terrorism.”

In a rare public criticism of another agency, Ward also questioned the effectiveness of the NYPD’s 2007 surveillance as plainclothes officers charted mosques and other places frequented by Muslims.

“There’s a difference between effective intel and intel that’s not effective,” he said. “If the NYPD intel could come over (to New Jersey) and identify hot spots of al-Qaida sympathizers, or if they could identify individuals being radicalized over the Internet, then that would have a direct correlation to counterterrorism efforts and that would be something that we could use, that would be useful intelligence.

“But (the NYPD) coming out and just basically mapping out houses of worship and minority-owned businesses, there’s no correlation between the location of houses of worship and minority-owned businesses and counterterrorism” work.

Ward also said there should be “an articulable factual basis” for domestic intelligence collection, such as a “specific reason why we’re looking at this location, this person.”

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne responded in an e-mail that plainclothes officers of the NYPD who operated in other states, such as New Jersey, “were not conducting blanket ongoing surveillance of communities.”

Plainclothes officers would go into neighborhoods with heavy concentrations of populations from the “countries of interest,” and observe the individuals in the public establishments.

“This is an important point — only public locations were visited. This was perfectly within the purview of the NYPD,” Browne said.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly have staunchly defended the need for and legality of the NYPD operating beyond New York, while New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Newark Mayor Cory Booker have criticized the undercover operation.

Ultimately, Ward said, speaking broadly of the Muslim and other communities’ view of law enforcement, “Reputations are built by many deeds and ruined by one.”

(Jason Grant writes for The Star-Ledger in Newark, N.J.)

via FBI Says NYPD Muslim Surveillance Is Breaking The Islamic Community’s Trust.

March 8, 2012
United Airlines to introduce daily New York – Istanbul service

United Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of United Continental Holdings, Inc, today announced plans to launch daily, nonstop flights between its New York hub, Newark Liberty International Airport, and Istanbul, effective July 1, 2012, subject to government approval. Westbound service from Istanbul begins July 2.

Istanbul will be the 76th international destination that United serves from New York/Newark and the 37th city in United’s trans-Atlantic route network. With service to points in the Americas, Europe and Asia, United offers more flights from the New York area to more destinations worldwide than any other airline.

“We are excited to add Istanbul to our global route network,” said Jim Compton, United’s executive vice president and chief revenue officer. “This new service will provide customers throughout the United States, Canada and Latin America direct access to one of the most important cities in the region.”

Convenient Schedules

United flight 904 will depart New York/Newark daily at 7:27 p.m. and arrive in Istanbul at 12:20 p.m. the next day. Flight 905 will depart Istanbul’s Ataturk International Airport daily at 1:55 p.m. and arrive at New York/Newark at 6:02 p.m. the same day.

The airline will initially operate the services with three-cabin Boeing 767-300 aircraft with 183 seats – six in United Global First, 26 in United BusinessFirst and 151 in United Economy, including 67 Economy Plus seats with added legroom. Effective Aug. 28, the airline will operate the service with two-cabin Boeing 767-300 aircraft with 214 seats – 30 in BusinessFirst and 184 in Economy, including 46 Economy Plus seats. Both United Global First and United BusinessFirst feature flat-bed seats, along with a wide range of premium-cabin services and amenities.

via United Airlines to introduce daily New York – Istanbul service | News | Breaking Travel News.

February 22, 2012
New York’s Metropolitan Museum names two galleries after Koç family

New York’s prestigious Metropolitan Museum of Art named two of its 15 renovated galleries in its Islamic Art section after Turkey’s Koç family, the owners of the İstanbul-based Koç Holding, Turkish news agencies reported this week.

The Koç family, who own several of Turkey’s biggest corporations, are also known for their efforts in sponsoring major art events and investing in the cultural field through the Koç Foundation. One of the family’s best known enterprises in that field is the Rahmi M. Koç Museum in İstanbul, one of Turkey’s rare industrial museums, dedicated to the history of transport, industry and communications. They also run a similarly themed museum in Ankara, the Çengelhan Rahmi M. Koç Museum.

More than 1,000 pieces from the Met’s comprehensive collection of Islamic Art return to view in the renovated and expanded suite of 15 galleries. The galleries, re-organized in accordance with geographical area, emphasize the diversity of the Islamic world, over a span of 1,300 years, underscoring the many distinct cultures within its fold, the museum announced on its website, www.metmuseum.org.

The new Galleries for the Art of the Arab lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia and Later South Asia will reopen on Nov. 1 as part of the Met’s permanent installations. Koç Holding Honorary Chairman Rahmi Koç and his sister, Semahat Arsel, the president of the holding’s executive board, were in attendance at a special opening for the galleries earlier this week at the Met.

Koç told the Anatolia news agency during the opening that he was extremely pleased with the project. “This is a huge step for [the worldwide promotion of] Turkey and one that carries the Koç Foundation to an international platform. Six million people [a year] visit this museum,” he added.

The Koç galleries, renovated with support from the Koç Foundation, host a rich collection that features various artifacts from the Ottoman period along with historic handcrafts from the era such as carpets and textiles as well as weapons.

“The opening of these extraordinary new galleries underscores our mission as an encyclopedic museum and provides a unique opportunity to convey the grandeur and complexity of Islamic art and culture at a pivotal moment in world history,” said Thomas P. Campbell, the director of the Metropolitan Museum, in a statement posted on the museum’s website.

“These 15 new galleries now trace the full course of Islamic civilization, over a span of 14 centuries, from the Middle East to North Africa, Europe, and Central and South Asia,” Campbell added. “This geographic emphasis signals the revised perspective we have on this important collection, recognizing that the monumentality of Islam did not create a single, monolithic artistic expression, but instead connected a vast cultural expanse through centuries of change and influence,” he said.

via New York’s Metropolitan Museum names two galleries after Koç family.

October 27, 2011