My first trip to Mexico - 1

More than 20 years ago, when I was in my early 'twenties', I took a break and went to family in Southern California, more precisely Mission Viejo and Irvine. I planned to study at one of the most prestigious departments for Movies/Drama at UCI, where I was accepted as one of the 2 places for a person from the Netherlands.
After 2 weeks of talking around, and having fun with my cousins, I decided to make a trip to Mexico DF. Capital of Mexico. But my family told me not to go there! Too dangerous and a long trip.
Yes, by bus it was a long trip; almost 2 1/2 day non-stop. And two drivers who changed every 6 hours. With a 15 minute break each time. And they didn't count the passengers while leaving, so be aware to be on time. So, against the 'will' of my family, I booked a ticked. My trip started south of LA, Laguna Beach.


I took the Greyhound, and as the travel agency told me, it would take me all the way to Mexico City. 2.700 km. But in Tijuana they changed the bus. And now I was stuck in a bus of 'the Tree stars of Gold' by a Mexican bus company. Not very comfortable. But I took precautions: bought a bottle of Vodka! To get me sleepy, sitting around the night! No way that you could pull the chairs down!
A Mexican guy next to me suggested to mix it with some orange juice, but getting some straight shots of vodka in my veins helped me through the first night.
When we departed from Tijuana (see picture above) to Mazatlan (see picture below) -and no, I didn't go to the beach - I was not aware what was waiting for me.

The way from Mazatlan to Guadalajara was better. No bubs and no screaming from people who were in another bus which took off before us: they crashed and found their way in and along the road, or into a ravine.


This is a picture of Guadalajara. Not how it was but how it is now: modern.
When I was there for the first time, everywhere there were the pictures and flags of the PRI, which you can compare with the CHP in Turkey. A party which caused stagnation in Mexico, as the CHP did in Turkey.
But Mexico went under a transformation like Turkey is going now: and for your information; Monterrey in Mexico is seen as the most developed city of Latin America.

The PRI as the CHP, kept the poor people under their thumb.


One year before this trip to Mexico I made a trip to Greece, Egypt and Sudan.
It has been told that the 'flat' pyramids in Mexico are built with the same Pyramid-shaped structures which are built by many ancient civilizations like The Egyptians.
When I crawled through the Great Pyramid in Gizeh, Cairo, I sensed different feeling when seeing these ones. Btw, I have old slides available about Gizeh, but my camera was stolen in Mexico. That's why I use pictures from Internet.

Talking about Mexico DF, Mexico City, after Tokyo, Sao Paolo and NYC the largest city in the world, will take some more postings. And my way to Huehuetenango in Guatamala and back to the USA even more...to be continued...

Last of the Iraqi's

By accident (serendipity) I came across this amazing blog: Last of Iraqi's by Mohammed, a dentist in Baghdad. Especially the story of the 'Jail' is worth reading.
Amazing how people can survive like this. And this blog proves again that Social Media became more and more important than the traditional media.
The blog of Mohammed is without any rhetoric, simple basic facts, and experiences.

This is not Turkish Delight...

Super Hero put a posting with the catchy title: sexual obsession on his blog.
I agree with him on many points, but as long as the the main Turkish press are putting these kind of filthy pictures in their newspapers, what can we expect?
Today, after work, at 5 PM, I did some shopping, and walked home. Suddenly in the middle of the street a guy was screaming and yelling. His eyes were full of hate. And he had something in his hands. The closer I came by, I saw a 'killer knife' in his hand. I stayed relaxed and passed him by on 3 feet.
What I understand was that it was about a woman.
Now looking how mainstream Turkish main newspapers 'cover' the news, I can only say: learn something about media ethics. And bravo Hürriyet to create anger and hatred with the above picture. For sure, you don't like women, and are obsessed with Ms. Hilton...
Sustainable...a word, that the boundary spanners of Turkey still don't understand.
If your secularism is based upon that: stop complaining. You are keeping the stereotypes alive.
And it's time that you show that women are not meat. Yuk!

Bilgi University and Erkan

Went out today to see my friend Erkan, since he is appointed as lecturer at Bilgi University in Istanbul at the communication department.
For people who never met him but are reading his blog, and there are around 1.000 hits he gets on a daily basis from all around the world: he is a nice guy! I met him now in several settings, and this weekend I will let him take the last 'test': I will cook for him an Indonesian dinner at my home, and he can say; Nay or Yay. I will make it hot and tasty, and he will get enough beer, to blush the fire....

Funny thing was: we discovered that through our site, he gets a lot of traffic. Google Analytics shows it clearly...
Keep on doing the good work Erkan!

Mexico

Was planning to write about my bus trip from South California to Mexico DF, and from there to Guatemala and back to Mission Viejo, California. But absolutely no inspiration today. Will do it later this week. Btw, I am sick and tired of the heat...

My friend

Okay, I admit, publishing Sandra's pictures is good for both of us. We both get more attention...
This picture is maybe typical her: tough and rough.



And this is how Bollywood will discover her.

New guy on the Blog: live from Athens

Let me introduce you to Vassilios 'Mike', an Australian/Greek living in Athens.
He works in PR, like me, although his job is distributing EU funds. Exciting or not?!
Vassilios also has his own blog.
And he will act, next to Yasemin as a co author, on this blog. Ready to take off.
He will write about the Greek society and if possible about the Greeks, and how they perceive Modern Turkey. He will introduce himself soon, since he got the key to this blog.
Enjoy.

Poem Six - I Had Loved Further on

ÖTEYE SEVMİŞTİM (I had Loved Further on)

kanatlar diledi lambamdan uçmak için
öteye sevmiştim çok verdim ben de üstüne
gümüş tüyler som kemiklerine

sesini kıstım gökyüzünün, yağmuru boşalttım
yolundan, güneş açtım kocaman:
açık olsun yolculuğu

öteye sevmiştim çünkü kendimden
dokunmasa…dilese yeterdi
açardım çelik kapaklarını denizlerin

başka zamanlar diledi tarihte varmış
benim gibi, ama yabancı uzun saçlı kadınlar
kestim saçımı: boynuma ip

dokunmasa…dilese…biterdi
ne uçabildi ağırlığıyla kamaşan gözlerinin
ne ben denizleri delebildim gidebilsin…


NURDURAN DUMAN

Nurduran is reachable on: nurduman@gmail.com

My friend

Some more pictures from Sandra.
Sandra, here, 20 years old. Already by then a stubborn and independent person living a unique way of life.


But now, 12 years later, with more confidence than ever before!
Men, keep your hands in your pockets. She gives here the right example.


Today, she SMS'd me: "Hans, a Dutch newspaper will give 1.000 Euro for the finder of the donkey of St. Nicolas, so come back..'
Always nice to hear this kind of comments...but...St. Nicolas never had a donkey, he had a White horse..


Up to India, Sandra, this Saturday!!
More pictures and shows to follow. I promised you, 'my Dutch friend'...)

My friend

This is Sandra Singh, a dear friend of mine. Born in the Netherlands.
Actress, model, and friend. And soon working in PR as well. She finally knows what her destination is..))
Scared to death to take a trip from Amsterdam to Istanbul? Why? Paranoid to get kidnapped...
She is Hindu, vegetarian, not into alcohol or smoking, but likes to party (is that compatible? yes, it is)
After her boyfriend, acting and modeling, her favorite activities are: drinking a cup of coffee in Antwerpen or having dinner with me..)
Picture made by Stefan Duursma.

Serendipity

Serendipity is one of the most beautiful words I know. It derives from an old Persian Fairy Tale, the The Three Princes of Serendip.

In the camel story, the Three Princes use trace clues to precisely identify a camel they have never seen (lame; blind in one eye; missing a tooth; carrying a pregnant maiden; bearing honey on one side and butter on the other). This result of abductive reasoning is not what is meant by serendipity (the discovery of something not sought). Because of their cleverness and sagacity, they are accused of stealing the camel and are about to be put to death by Bahram Gur. Suddenly and without anyone seeking him out, a traveler steps forward to say that he has just seen the missing camel wandering in the desert. Bahram spares the lives of the Three Princes, lavishes them with rich rewards and appoints them as advisers. These rewards are the unsought (serendipitous) results of their sagacious insights.

So, in fact it means: finding or discovering something fortunate, while actually looking for something totally different.
As most of us using search machines, browsing the Internet and looking for something in particular ending up with something different but very interesting. Serendipity gets more important due to the digital area we are going through.
But the more interesting thing is: many inventions are made, discoveries done etc. by serendipity: Read here more.

Tango pictures

Beautiful Tango pictures by DayLightPix.com

Coming soon to Turkey...

Click on the ad to read this advertisement..))

A new parliament, new faces

This is the Leader of Great Union Party of Turkey (BBP), and new elected parliamentarian Muhsin Yazicioglu. He is considered to be close to the Grey Wolves organization, and is related to the "Alperen Ocakları" tendency of Alparslan Turkes.

Ogün Samast, the teen Turkish ultra-nationalist who assassinated Hrant Dink, is said to have links to this political party through its youth organization Alperen Ocakları.

Alparslan Türkeş, a late Turkish politician considered by many to have fascist views, said:

'Those that have torn down this nation are Greek, Armenian and Jew traitors, and Kurdish, Bosnian and Albanians… How can you, as a Turk, tolerate these dirty minorities. Remove from within the Armenians and Kurds and all Turkish enemies'.

It will be interesting to see how he (Muhsin Yazicioglu) will co-op with the 20 Kurdish parliamentarians of the DTP.

Orthodox Church: business as usual

When I wrote that the Greek Orthodox Church is dominant in both Greece and Greek Cyprus as well, I received a lot of angry reactions. For me religion is one of the main problems on Cyprus.
Yesterday, Archbishop Chrysostomos II announced that his Church will go into solar energy.
Read it here. There is nothing wrong with that but don't deny that the Greek Orthodox Church is pretty involved in politics as well.

Gay Pride Amsterdam

These are the last pictures of Gay Pride Amsterdam 2007. And as you can see, a lot of women feel more safe among gays than among heterosexual men...

The Pink Police at work.


Here is an article in the International Herald Tribune.

Street festival on the Amstelveld, Amsterdam.

Muslim extremist as a consultant for Dutch Government

Mrs. Vogelaar, Dutch minister of Integration keeps on talking with an extremist Muslim!

A head piece of the fundamentalist Muslim brotherhood appears recently as an official speaker with the Dutch government. Yahia Bouyafa, a 45 year old person who was born in Morocco, has been recently appointed as President of the contact group Islam (CGI the Netherlands) as a continuation of the Germany imam swerved Abdullah Haselhoef. Bouyafa emerge in studies of information services into branches of the Muslim brotherhood. The movement strives for Islamic world predominance.
The anti-immigration party PVV and the moderate liberal party VVD sent questions to the parliament.

As Emre praised her in his post, he might not be amused with this news.

The End of Tolerance in Amsterdam

Immigrants from Turkey or the former Dutch colony of Suriname are not the ones that keep the Dutch police on their toes. The "problem" immigrants in Slotervaart (Amsterdam) come from Morocco, not from major cities but from villages in the High Atlas and Rif Mountains. They live here in their own world, eating couscous with lamb's brain salad, watching Al-Jazeera and attending the mosque on Fridays. There is little pressure to conform to Dutch customs and lifestyles.

Read the full article here.

Robert Fisk and some delicate questions...

Sometimes I read the Independent. So also today and read about Robert Fisk, for many Europeans and Americans a highly controversial journalist, especially in Britain. Fisk is a consistent critic of what he perceives as hypocrisy in British government's foreign policy. And then suddenly the names of Taner Akcam, Fatma Müge Göçek, Ahmet Insel and many other Turks appear.
Also, an article of Robert Fisk pops up: You're talking nonsense Mr. Ambassador.

And when I read this highly illogical site (the heading: 'The other side of the falsified genocide' is already illogical) I became irritated. The same as with many Armenian diaspora sites, which promote hate and anger.
The whole discussion about the Armenian democide and massacres of Turks, due to failure of the Turkish military in the War of Independence (that's my stance) is far too politicized.

Also Raphael Lemkin's views are interesting. And Elif Safak.

Now my question to Turkish people: what do you think about the above mentioned Turks?

And for the Armenians, reading this blog: your government is corrupt, but is not genuine in their efforts to establish good relations with Turkey, why? Is reconciliation not the best direction? The future is on the ground, just one step in front of you. This can not go on forever!

Corruption Perception Index 2006

Click on the picture to enlarge. Dark blue is the least corruptive, red the most.*
More info here.

*Now we know why Dinc moved to Moscow..)

Send them back - Campaign Greenpeace Turkey

Anybody aware of this ad campaign?

How dangerous is it to keep 90 nuclear bombs at the Incirlik Base?

Got this from Houtlust.

'Schnitzel-Stephan' jailed

This is Stephan S., German's most notorious food-pirate...He will spend the next 1 1/2 years in jail. Last year already prosecuted but not convicted of eating in restaurants without paying. Since then, he did it again; precisely 64 times eating in restaurants without paying...
His life quote is: "Ick ess allet - und zahl nüscht." (I eat everything - and I pay nothing)
When he got the bill he simply walked away or used to say, while showing his wallet:
Ick hab nüscht." (I don't have anything)
I did it once, after waiting for a bill for 15 minutes. I simply walked away..)

'Caviare to the general'

'Caviare to the general' is a quotation of Shakespeare, which means 'not to the taste of the general public'. You can use the word general in two ways when it comes to Turkey...

I see more and more people saying that Minister of Foreign Affairs A. Gül might be a good president but he is not the taste of the Turkish people in general.
I agree with this. It would be a disaster for Turkey if both the President and Prime minister are from the same party. The President must be someone completely independent. All the changes Turkey currently went through, is maybe too quick, and hard to digest. And with Mr. Gül as president, the same tensions will occur as in April of this year.
And, there are external problems which have to be solved, with neighboring countries for example (I include the USA in this..))

Forever Brothers

Forever brothers..))

Austria never learned from its past

Yes, Vienna is well organized and beautiful. Its New Year's Concert is widely known. But politically, it never learned from its past.
After the 'welcomed Anschluß' in 1938 (Hitler was Austrian born), anti-Semitism never disappeared in the country of Strauss and Mozart. And it seems that now Turkey and the Turkish people are their targets.
As Emre put on his blog how Austria undermined Interpol's activities, it did the same with the EU in 2000 when it was diplomaticly isolated when Mr. Haider, a far right politician who won more than 25% of the popular vote in Austrians' 2000 elections, and created a turmoil in the EU. Parties who are flirting with fascism and racism are not welcome (be aware MHP).
In 2006 Austria took over the presidency of the EU. I never saw any positive contribution to the EU since they joined the club in 1995.
This article is symptomatic for Austria. And here is an observation of the EU-Austrian crisis in 2000.
Conclusion: Austria has problems with 'foreigners'. When I worked in Czech Republic (1999/2000), now an EU member as well, there were so tough restrictions for Czech people to cross the border with Austria. And in fact, nothing changed: Hungarians, Slovakians and Czechs are still not allowed to work there.
Racism is still a part of Austrian society.

The Wall

While some Turkish people are still glorifying being a conqueror of parts of Central Asia and South East and Central Europe, the same people neglect what they inherited.
I was clear in my column of March the 15th 2007 about this.

When the Ottoman Empire was at its peak, the Ming Dynasty was that as well. The Great Wall is still standing. And the Japanese were building their own Empire which lasted until 1945, and the Dutch were ruling the seas in the 16/17th century for more than 100 years.
The Great Wall, being built against intruders, and the Delta Works of the Netherlands, are still the only sites, built by mankind, which you can see from the Moon.

Shockvertising

Fake ad of Sisley (Benetton).
Read here their statement.

Paying for your residency

When you are staying longer than 3 months in Turkey, without traveling abroad, you need a residence permit. I used my residence book only in 2004/2005. Since I traveled a lot, it was easier for me to buy a visa every three months. Costs: 10 Euros.
A residence permit costs a Dutch 220 Euros for 6 months. For 5 years: 1.100 Euros.
An Italian can buy one for 60 Euros, valid for 5 years. A big difference.
Next to me there was a guy from Greece, he didn't know this. I am curious what he had to pay.
It's not always easy for Turks to get a visa for Europe, but at least you don't pay.

Praying for Rain

This is the famous Blue Mosque.
Today, the Directorate of Religious Affairs told reporters that this Friday prayers will be dedicated to people who are suffering of the drought. People have to pray for rain...
I am sure that when 10.000 people pray for rain in the Blue Mosque, Turkey will be saved...
A country which pretend to be an energy hub, but which can not even provide its own citizens with water and I am not going into details about electricity...has to think twice before making bold statements about their power in the energy trade..
Each country needs its dreams and fantasies, like we Dutch have St. Nikolas....


This looks great for me..))

Not wise

Before even the new Turkish Parliament is installed, the Turkish army made a new threat.
In my opinion: not wise.
If now someone else than Gül will be candidate, then everybody will think: 'because of the army'.
Anyway lets see. In my opinion a strict neutral person must be president. I don't like the principle of 'the winner takes it all'.

Here the statement:

Top general: President must be secular -- Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt renewed Monday evening his call for the next president to be a committed secularist, reviving a debate with the Islamist-rooted ruling party over their candidate. “The views of the Turkish Armed Forces do not vary from day to day,” General Büyükanıt told reporters at a reception marking the Turkish Cypriot Armed Forces Day. “We are fully behind what we said on April 12,” he added, referring to a keynote address in which he said the next president must “adhere in earnest, and not just in words, to... the ideal of a secular, democratic state.” “We said what we said with conviction,” the top general told reporters when asked whether he stood behind his comments on April 12 insisting that the next president have genuine secular credentials.

Debate or making statements

Today I read Ali KÜLEBİ's column. And as usual, he did it again: a pathetic, whining and full of accusations column, in the 'good old Stalinist style'. Even the Russians don't fall in this trap anymore. But it worries me that he speaks about foreigners as enemies of Turkey...
A new witch hunt?

More surprising was the announcement that the EUD European Universities Debating Championships will be hosted by Turkey's Koç University Istanbul. Surprised because there is no debate culture in Turkey; all communication is top-down as I stated here once.

You can read the article about the five-day event here.

I try to attend a session. This is good for Turkey in general and Turkey's educational system in particular.

Hitting the road...

It is vacation time here in Italy and me and my family will also follow the trend. Tomorrow we will pack our car with our luggage, baby's diapers, kids' toys, refrigerating bag full of baby food and cold water and leave... This year our destination is France, mainly Provence. We have no particular plan for the travel when it comes to the locations to visit, hotels to stay at, the length of travel etc. We will just go with the wind ;-) This means that I won't be able to post anything here until September. The main problem is, however, that I won't be able to edit the posts of Hans. So let me apologize on behalf of him for any grammatical mistakes, formatting errors and typos that he might (and most probably will) make during my absence.. :-) I promise to take care of all of these when I am back.

Wishing you all a beautiful August wherever you are..

Showing Love

Every match must start with a European Kiss..))
Click on the picture to enlarge it.

Shocking

I met a lot of people of Iran in the Netherlands, and one my best friends is from Iran actually. But I don't get it that Turkey created 'warm relations' with this regime which is, more or less, the same as the Nazi regime of Germany between 1933-1945.
But we, the world, are more civilized these days, or not? For sure Iran is not.
Below you will find a link on how in Iran they are 'hanging' their own people. Often without a decent trial.
It's a shocking clip, be aware!!

But Turkey is maybe the only country which can have influence on this 'Mullah' regime.
And are we calling the last 28 years of the Iranian 'top down' revolution genocide? Yes.
I watched this clip with tears in my eyes. But the crowd had fun, as you can hear. And it reminds me of the cheers when Devlet Bahçeli threw a rope during an election rally in the crowd, to hang the PKK leader Ocalan. So here we go:
Here...but be aware, it's shocking.

Among the believers, an Islamic journey

During the Cold war which ended de facto in 1985, everybody was focused on the clash between American capitalism and Russian communism. But in 1981, V.S. Naipaul (Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul) published his book 'Among the Believers, an Islamic Journey'.

I was quite surprised reading his book and since then I am convinced that fundamentalist Islam is the real threat to world peace, as we can see today. Naipaul's writings deal with the cultural confusion of the Third World and the problem of an outsider, a feature of his own experience as an Indian in the West Indies, a West Indian in England, and a nomadic intellectual in a post colonial world.

"Islam sanctified rage - rage about the faith, political rage: one could be like the other. And more than once on this journey I had met sensitive men who were ready to contemplate great convulsions", is a quote from his book.

In 1998 he published Beyond Belief: Islamic Excursions among the Converted peoples (the link is a must-read for CHP and AKP fans))

This second travel book brought him (like in Among the Believers) to the non-Arab Islamic countries of Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, and Malaysia.

"There probably has been no imperialism like that of Islam and the Arabs," he writes. In Iran he meets war veterans, who express their disillusionment and their sense of being manipulated by the mullahs, and in Indonesia he meets his former friend, who opposed the Suharto regime, and later became an establishment figure, an advocate of an Islamistic future.



In 2001, he was awarded the Nobel Price for Literature. To everybody interested in Turkey and Islam, I would recommend these books.

One step too much?

If you look at the mainstream and dominant parties in Turkey's politics, the secularists became a minority.
The Third way, an independent movement didn't get ground in Turkey yet. Not only the old fashion socialists' way of thinking is over, but also that of the conservative liberals.
In Turkey there is a social liberal party. A party with an interesting point of view.
I am fine with the current AKP, but I don't think they can control their 'mullahs' on local level.
Knowing the Turks, who were forced to convert to Islam, I only hope that they can resist this threat. But as long as the Turkish macro economy is doing well, there are no points to make for the opposition. Especially not under D. Baykal's rigid regime.
Exciting times in Turkey!

My Candidates for the Turkish Presidency..)

...more coming soon...

More paintings by Iman Maleki

A touchy painting!


The reality these days for so many people.

Women, always women...

This billboard caused a public outcry in the Netherlands. Not because of religious reasons, but for Dutch, this kind of advertisement is an insult to our national IQ and how we see women. And keep in mind, the Netherlands is the only country in the world which has a Union for Prostitutes...so beware, you can be sued by them for various reasons...)) To keep them as friends, make a donation through their web site..))
Lately there was a similar outcry in Turkey about billboards with women in bikini. And that the AK party wants to introduce sharia in Turkey...
Now you see that we Dutch are far more conservative than the Turks..))

Anyway, below some well dressed women on billboards...in Lebanon, made by a fellow Dutch blogger over there.

I go for the Blue car...


She....she scares me..))


No time to look carefully, since it's put near a highway...

A different view at the latest Turkish elections

While surfing in blogosphere I came across an interesting article written by a Dutch journalist stationed in Beirut, Lebanon, Harald Doornbos. He is trying to draw a parallel between the outcome of the Turkish elections and the birth rate observed in secular and Islamist families in Turkey. Since I believe in looking at different aspects of every happening I would like to take your attention to his post:

BYE BYE TO THE GREATEST TURK EVER...

So it is official now - Over 46 percent of Turks voted for the Islamists. Call it a farewell to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk - the greatest Turk ever. The end of Secularism. The beginning of the end. Death to the president, long live the sultan!

Turkey might have been an example for millions of oppressed progressive Muslims in Islamic countries - but no longer. One of the few truly secular Muslim countries (together with Bosnia and Albania) chooses - voluntarily - for mixing politics with God. Give me one example of a successful country where politics and religion aren't separated? Afghanistan, Iran, Somalia, Pakistan, The Sudan, Lebanon? Good luck Turkey.

And isn't democracy a great system?!

Especially if it works like this:

Progressive secular Turkish families (Mostly city people) all have one or two children. Logically - because if you are progressive, not terribly religious and you care about a future for yourself and your children, it is rather obvious that you don't want 20 children.

Now here comes the countryside: Schooling is wanky, future not that rosy, conservative village mentality, religion very important and the result of this all is: Large families.

You can read the whole article here. See for yourself if he is convincing enough in his theory ;-)

Turkish journalism

My friend Erkan put today some interesting facts about Turkish journalism on his blog. I agree with what is written. Especially in Today's Zaman.
But being in PR for a long time now, I see how Turkish journalists are struggling. And are being underpaid or overpaid, which makes them not independent at all. And the latter is in the end not in their or their readers' benefit.
Also, the self censorship is still more common than an exception...
I prefer Radikal, Dünya and Turkish Daily News.

Water management

In an interview with Willem Alexander (Dutch Crown Prince) in 1996, while having a life as a bachelor, the interviewer asked him what his major interest was. His answer was straight: 'water management'. People asked themselves: 'What the heck he is talking about?' For your information, the Dutch are fighting with water for ages. We don't have a shortage of that (neither of natural gas, read: Slochteren).

Two years later he was appointed as honorary member of the World Commission on Water for the 21st Century and patron of the Global Water Partnership, a body established by the World Bank, the UN, and the Swedish Ministry of Development. And he was appointed as the Chairperson of the United Nations Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation on December 12th, 2006.
As of today, we see flooding in the UK and shortage of water in SE Europe. And what about Africa, Central Asia and the Far East?
Water is precious. And I must say, no water-cuts lately in Istanbul. Turkey is doing a good job.
I think he gave, in his various unofficial and official visits to Turkey, some good advice to some responsible people ..)) He loves Turkey!

More paintings of Imam Maleki

Untitled



Untitled



Memory of that house

You can find more about Imam Maleki and his work here.

AKP party and Turkish future

Derya, who was 2 weeks ago in Istanbul (and who I was supposed to meet but due to not feeling well, could not meet her) put on her blog today an interesting story about the future of Turkey. You can read the article here.
Derya lives in Dubai, with her husband Martin, and is well travelled.

The Iranian way of dressing and oppressing...

In my post of July 23, I mentioned that the rules how to dress (read: how women have to dress themselves) in the country of the Mullahs - who rule it like a state prison - became more restricted, whilst it's already restricted. Also, police like to beat up women as you can see above. Look at the hate in the faces of these two 'officers'.


Here an interesting article, which is published by Turkish Daily news of today.

Is this what the AK party in Turkey wants? I don't think so.