Turkey-Iraq Crisis

Turkish troops head towards the Iraqi border in Silopi, southeast Turkey, yesterday. The Turkish government said it would 'pay whatever price is needed' to crush Kurdish rebels.

Baghdad announced to shut offices of Kurdish terrorists: Is it going to be enough? I think it's late now, Turkish army has to do something about it and they have to do it with professional troops, not with soldiers that are trained only for 6 months. Otherwise we will lose more of our own young lives.
Just to mention: most of the newspapers and TV stations pronounce PKK as rebels or freedom fighters which isn't true, because anybody who kills innocent people over night in the villages and do human shield bombs in middle of the civilized cities are called terrorist groups.
Turkish government’s aim isn’t invading Kurdistan region and they have no eye within Iraq at all, for many centuries they always had great relations with Iraqi people, they want to put an end to PKK terrorists.

Sirnak, Turkey: Dozens of Turkish military vehicles loaded with soldiers and heavy weapons rumbled towards the Iraqi border yesterday after an ambush by rebel Kurds that left eight soldiers missing and 12 dead.

Turkey's foreign minister said his country will pursue diplomacy before it sends troops across the rugged frontier. The military said it had had no contact with the eight soldiers after Sunday's clash. A pro-Kurdish news agency said the eight were captured.

Turkish-Syrian Ties Get a Fillip

By Marwan Kabalan, Special to Gulf News Published: October 18, 2007, 23:33
Last Tuesday, Syrian President Bashar Al Assad paid his second visit to the capital of Turkey in less than four years. The visit signals mutual interests to further improve relations between two neighbours facing serious regional challenges and bad relations with the US. It came after the mysterious Israeli raid inside Syria; during which Israeli warplanes, many believe, may have used Turkish aerospace to reach deep inside the Syrian desert. The visit was also planed amidst rising tension between Damascus and Washington. Syria, under pressure from the US concerning Lebanon, Iraq and the Arab-Israeli conflict and calls for domestic reform, is looking for allies beyond the Arab world to alleviate its security dilemma and improve its economic ties with increasingly prosperous Turkey. To continue.

Messages of Mercy

An advertising agency in Saudi Arabia plans to air public service commercials to promote kinder treatment of domestic helpers in a country where reports of abuse of foreign workers are rife. The ads will air on Arab satellite television stations after the holy month of Ramadan said Kaswara al-Khatib, founder and chief creative director of Full Stop Advertising. Continue reading here.

The three ads cost around $100,000 (dhs367,000) and were financed by a non-profit subsidiary of construction giant Saudi Bin Ladin Group, the family-run business which was set up by the father of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. "We deal with helpers as if they are not humans and have no feelings", said the 37-year-old former electrical engineer.

Everybody in the region knows how badly Saudi people are treating their maid/domestic helpers. Hope this awareness campaign creates not only attention for them during the holy month of Ramadan, but for a long time. There were couple of cases here as well, one Middle Eastern couple struggled their Filipino maid at their home, and locked her up in the house. Some kind of revenge like what American soldiers are doing in Iraq. The maid found a way to run away and went to the police station with bruised body and blood marks on her. Sad really:(((

Turkey does not belong in Europe: Sarkozy

French President Nicolas Sarkozy reaffirmed on Thursday he did not believe Turkey should be admitted to the European Union, while calling for a "true partnership" with the mainly-Muslim nation.

"I do not believe that Turkey belongs in Europe, and for a simple reason, which is that it is in Asia minor," Sarkozy said in a prime-time interview on TF1 and France 2 television.
Continue reading here.

On the way to Silk Road Bukhara and Samarkand

The armies of many of the great conquerors of the ancient and medieval world passed through these oasis cities: Cyrus the Great, Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Timur (sometimes called Tamerlane). Transoxiana, as it was known, the land beyond the Oxus River, was the crossroads of the world. Its cities — Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva, and others, also my name Abu Derya River located within Uzbekistan — have been ruled and fought over by Sogdians, Zoroastrian Turks, Arabs, Samanids, and Mongols.

Me On the way to Silk Road

Merchants and travelers following the Silk Road between the Mediterranean, China, and India in the first millennium also sought food, water, and shelter in Transoxiana.

Samarkand

Timur's capital of Samarkand, which he intended to be the capital of the world, was built on the labor of tens of thousands of captured architects and craftsmen. The majolica-tiled mosques and schools they built, and the later buildings modeled on them, are among the most gloriously decorated buildings ever constructed.

The Guest House that we stayed in, Bukhara

Timur's immediate descendants, the Timurid rulers, were also enthusiastic builders. His grandson especially, the learned scientist-ruler Ulugh Beg, undertook many extravagant urban projects, building mosques, madrasas (seminaries), caravansaries, and khanagas (guest houses) in Samarkand, Bukhara, and elsewhere.

Turquoise Domes, Samarkand

When you admire the famed turquoise domes, the elaborately constructed minarets, the madrases blooming with stars and edged with Kufic inscriptions, give a thought to the resilience of these ancient cities. Among those nurtured here were the philosopher- scientist Ibn Sina and the poets Firdausi and Rudaki - figures with stature in the Persian Islamic world that, for example, Newton or Shakespeare enjoyed in the West .

Registan, Bukhara

The majority of sights lie scattered around the old town (shakhristan) and are thus most easily reached on foot. The following itinerary starts at Registan and proceeds through the heart of the old bazaar quarter to the area around the Lyazi Hauz square .

The Kalyan Minaret, Bukhara

The dominant feature in Bukhara is the Great Minaret. It was a beacon to the caravans. It dates back 800 years. The Bolsheviks, stupidly, bombed it in 1920 when they came into Bukhara. It was fixed a few years later with stone of a color which didn't exactly match.

This is a view of the Bukhara old town. If you look closely, you may be able to see Prince Charles; he was visiting Bukhara the same day as us! It is being said, that he is an expert in Islamic architecture.

UAE Upholds Press Freedom

Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum,
Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE
and Ruler of Dubai.

Abu Dhabi/Dubai: In a victory for freedom of the press in the UAE, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, yesterday issued instructions that journalists in the country will not be jailed for doing their work.

The announcement was made by Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister and Chairman of the National Media Council (NMC). For rest of news.

Well rest story is open to discussions. We do not really hear any bad crimes/burglary here in UAE. We are sure; there are lots of things that are going on but we don't hear about them. Time will tell whether UAE law will be practiced or not. Still can't talk bad about the country in the public, we do not know what we will be faced to.

Not too much to talk about or scare of anyway, as His Highness Shaikh Maktoum can walk around the Shopping Malls without security bodyguard, or just pop in to my husband's hotel for a lunch :)

The Queen Elizabeth 2

The Queen Elizabeth 2, which drew massive crowds when it visited Sydney harbor this February, will be retired to Dubai, where it will be refurbished as a floating hotel in the booming Gulf state. Reuters

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Dubai-owned company announced on Monday, Jun 18, 2007 that it bought the Queen Elizabeth 2, a giant ocean liner launched in 1967, for $100 million.
State-owned Istithmar said it plans to turn the passenger ship into a first-class floating hotel, retail and entertainment destination, berthed off Dubai's manmade Palm Jumeirah island.

The aging vessel, bought from the Cunard Line division of Miami-based Carnival Corp., will end its days as a tourist attraction, scheduled to open to the public at the beginning of 2009, Istithmar said in an e-mailed statement. Istithmar is a division of Dubai World, a government-owned holding company that also owns Nakheel, the developer of Palm Jumeirah. For more info.

Also Queen Elizabeth Hotel anchors in Kemer :))

Queen Elizabeth Elite Suite & Spa, a 325-room hotel designed and named after the world's one of the most famous ocean liners Queen Elizabeth, was inaugurated on Sunday at a ceremony in the western resort of Kemer, Antalya.

The hotel, which cost some 50 million USD, is expected to draw mainly British tourists.

The hotel's bed capacity is 1250.

Dubai from the sky

The Wold and Jebel Ali Palm Island.



Dubai Palm Jumeirah and more.



Dubai Marina. For more pictures click here.



Dubai Creek. More pictures.

Piece Together Cyprus

Explore


There can be few mosques in the world with a setting more beautiful than that of Hala Sultan Tekkesi. The building is surrounded by dozens of date palms and cypress and olive trees, while in front sits a huge salt lake, a bright white sheet with occasional patches of water.

And behind it, in the distance, sit the multicoloured hills and mountains of central Cyprus. It is, quite simply, breathtaking. What makes it all the more remarkable is that the mosque, located in the south-east of Cyprus, is just a half-hour walk from the island's busiest airport.

First things first

Hala Sultan Tekkesi was built in 674 after Umm Haram, said to be the aunt of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), fell from her mule and died. Her tomb lies in an annexe next to the mosque, which is open to non-Muslims and is the first thing most people see when they arrive on that Mediterranean island.

While Cyprus is popular with package holidaymakers keen to spend a couple of weeks lying in the sun and partying, there is more to the island than the beaches and nightclubs it is famous for.

Continue reading here.

Desert Safari

I thought that my first post should be related to the region where I am living!

If you come to Dubai for a holiday or for any other reason, you shouldn't leave without doing a Safari :) With a licensed driver and a specially made Toyota Cruiser 4x4 with capacity for 7 persons, you will be taken to a place where you might think you are on Mars or something, or in one of those Indiana Jones movie screen shots :-)


Most of the hotels' concierge would help you with your Safari reservation; 180Dhr (49$) per person including food and drinks for a full 7 hours trip. I suggest not to fill your stomach too much, in case :) Generally around 15:00 hours, you will be picked up from your hotel lobby and taken to Oman-Hatta road. Before the Safari can start, they stop for taking the air out of the car wheels.

After riding up and down like on a slide at a theme park, but with a bit more fun (which is called 'Safari Bashing'), you will stop on top of the mountain to watch the sunset... Think that you may not see those mountains or valleys again tomorrow..

Afterwards you will be taken to a desert camp in the middle of nowhere, and if you want, you can ride a camel and get your photo taken...


Or you can dress up like a local emir with a disdas for men and black abaya for women ...
Or you can get a henna tattoo within 2 seconds on your leg, arm or back, wherever you like, made by an Indian woman. After eating a selection of Arabic food and drinks, come the belly dancer and a bit of Arabic music. Then you will be taken back to your hotel by 9:30pm.



You will definitely enjoy it for sure :)

With Love from Dubai

I have been following 'Internations Musings' for a while now. Hans has the greatest interesting subjects on his blog and we do not only get to know many people through his blog but also get informed as well. Well, when Hans asked me that humble question to join as co-author I said 'Yes'!

I have been asked to describe myself: I am Turkish, with full Turkish mother and Cypriot Turkish father, educated with hotel and tourism management background. As you understand from my surname, I am married with a British/German, well more like world-man really, as he has been out of his country since 20 years. We have 2 daughters, Isabella Aleyna 9, and Victoria Asya 7. We have been around the world due to working for international hotel company; 8 countries and 12 cities within 14 years, yes, it is time to slow down and settle down a little bit for the sake of the kids' schooling.

Have a lovely day, greetings from hot, sunny and humid Dubai!

Derya Lount