Stormig

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA6uHf7-9HA

http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/columnists-222200-the-hrant-dink-award.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ANDREW FINKEL The Hrant Dink Award Any regular reader of this column -- or indeed anyone who has read it more than once -- will appreciate that while I sometimes take a stab at being sentimental, it is not really what I do best. So I am at a loss at how to describe the ceremony I attended the other night in İstanbul. It was to bestow the second annual award named after the Turkish-Armenian editor Hrant Dink. “The award is presented to two people from inside and outside Turkey,” or so the rubric runs “who work for a world free of discrimination, racism and violence, take personal risks for their ideals, use the language of peace, and by doing so, inspire and encourage others.” It took place on Sept. 15, the day of Hrant’s birthday, and not Jan. 19, the day that he was slain. This, I take to mean, is that it is designed to commemorate his work and not to mourn his sacrifice. Yet the truth of the matter is that I found the occasion terribly, terribly sad. I am sure I have succumbed in the past to the temptation of claiming a friendship with Hrant and to be affected by his death in order to justify my own opinions. “This is what Hrant thought,” I argued -- and so it has to be so. It is true that I liked him as a person and respected his opinions. I interviewed him once in detail and would phone to ask his view on this or that; but our lives did not intersect all that much and, if pushed, I would have to describe him as a colleague or acquaintance. I did write a public letter once protesting the cruel imbecility of the court sentence he received for insulting Turkishness and I am proud of my reward -- a big bear hug the next time he saw me. This, oddly enough, was at the trial of Orhan Pamuk, where Hrant was baited by the ultranationalist crowd in the street outside. I associate that hug with the one I received from the Armenian patriarch, Mesrob II, at Hrant’s funeral, his body wracked with sobs. That was the last time I saw Mesrob as well. He now suffers from a wasting illness. So perhaps I was being indulgent in feeling maudlin, not uplifted, by the packed auditorium last Wednesday who applauded the modest speech delivered by Hrant’s widow Rakel. She lingered only to thank Tuba Çandar, the author of a new biography of her husband. I enjoyed, but did not sway to the beat of Arto Tunçboyacıyan -- joyous and as much Soweto as Yerevan. In all, it was a well-crafted event: entertaining with no dreary protocol speeches to distract from the purpose of the occasion. Only at the end, with a delightful bit of footage of Hrant tiptoeing back to pick up the award he left on the podium of another international award ceremony, was any sentimentality allowed to creep in that risked triggering the grief so near the surface. It took one of the recipients of the award, the Spanish jurist Baltasar Garzón Real, to mention the elephant in the auditorium -- the recent ruling of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) that mocked the Turkish courts’ willful misreading of Hrant’s own writing that resulted in his conviction and, ultimately, death. The ECtHR has also reprimanded the Turkish state for failing to protect a life they knew was in danger. Real is the Spanish judge who tried to extradite Gen. Augusto Pinochet from Britain and who is now under suspension for exceeding his authority in trying to pursue now pardoned crimes committed under the Franco regime. It is not accidental that the committee chose to award a combatant in the battle against Spain’s deep state. The national winners were the Conscientious Objectors Movement in Turkey -- an organization whose existence, I confess, I was unaware of, but whose “covenant to fight against militarism and speak the language of peace” fit the mood of the evening. “With this award, from now on, we have given a promise to Hrant,” said Mehmet Tarhan who accepted the prize. For many outside the auditorium, it is not so much a case of keeping faith with the memory of Hrant Dink as avoiding the shame and embarrassment his memory evokes. And that is the saddest thing of all. 21.09.2010 Columnists

Hello, long time no see, etc., etc., etc., and getting straight to the point... I was just given the responsibility of interviewing people we might hire on occasion for interpreting jobs. We won't be hiring from agencies because in our field some students do much better. Thing is... I've never interviewed anyone for anything before, and here I will have to set up a qualitative system to evaluate. Has anyone ever done something like this to care and share an opinion, advice, or what have you?

The collective wisdom of the ages, blah blah blah... Isn't that what confines women to the kitchen and the bedroom? Yup, the old way is the way to go...

The unlikely idea: earth sciences. Great fun, and you never know where you end up. I had no idea at the time when I was making my choices that a geologist could have a couple hundred K - or more - in shares in the consulting company he worked for alone. Of course, it depends on whether you are motivated enough to take the risk of metabolic syndrome. Even if not, still it could be great fun, entirely satisfying, depending on what floats your boat.

So which is it? Is it the politicians, historians, lame-arse Turkish academicians, or - oh, get this latest one - students that decide? Enh???

Not just cultural and ethnic but also species. Homosexuality exists in the rest of the animal kingdom as well, whether in the wild or in captivity. It doesn't get much more "natural" than that. It exists in their classical literature, for goodness' sakes...

Actually, I quite enjoy soft porn/erotica with F+F...

My goodness. So when you have sex, it's like having sex with your parent?

Sip had just said they don't advocate homosexuality but the acceptance. Are you, like, some illiterate Turk?

[don Gregory House tone]Yeah, that definitely IS the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.[/tone]

Thanks. My "bad" was excluding the "ec" in "sec" and limiting myself to m/s.

Am I a moron? Why can I not find an average value for the permeability of concrete online so I don't have to look up dusty books? I'm all Googled out. Oh, hi, all.

Goodness, you are histrionic.

This one made my day.

I rest my case.

Right, the Turks got it only when they interacted with Armenians. In fact, it was the Armenians who gave them their name, after the bird. In case you missed it, there is an English version of the translation/entry on the same link - cuff is perhaps the right word and not "sleeve"... Still, there's quite a bit of anatomical distance between the tail or thigh and lower parts of limbs: http://seslisozluk.com/?word=pa%E7a&go...k_search=Search 1. lower part of the trouser leg. trotter. calves-foot. neat's foot. cuff. 2. lower part of the trouser leg, trotter, calves foot, neat's foot, cuff. "lower part of the trouser leg; (hayvanda) trotters; dish made from trotters". 3. trotter (especially that of a sheep). 4. jellied trotter. Howevermuch truth there is to all that, all pun intended - Arpa, is P.N. Oak your bedside read?

I can't take credit for that piece, for it is not mine.

I was joking.

Well, "patcha" does mean "sleeve," you know. http://seslisozluk.com/?word=pa%E7a&go...k_search=Search BTW, a good piece of reading for the gastrointestinal nationalists: http://attilapelit.blogspot.com/2007/01/ga...ationalism.html 1/27/07 Gastrointestinal nationalism Do you ever wonder about the national origins of the delicious food you eat while you’re here, who invented it first, and where? Neither do I, and here’s why… There are few things more pathetic to witness than grown and educated men debating the nationality of food. Turks, Greeks, Arabs, Israelis, Bulgarians, etc., will all argue heatedly over the nationality of things like cheese, coffee, pastry desserts and kebabs, as if their whole existence depended on it. “Coffee is Greek,” will say Spiro, and Memo will counter “No, it’s Turkish!” Seriously, I’ve heard this being said. They were arguing so ferociously over the national honor of their warm beverage that they forgot to drink it. So it went cold, and when they did have a lull and took a sip of their cold, hardened, [insert-whatever-nationality-you-believe-it-to-be-here] coffee, they both nearly spat it out and put it down with bitter expressions on their faces. You know nationalism has gone too far when you can’t even enjoy your coffee without having to listen to a pseudo-historical lecture on its glorious racial roots. We all know nationalism is stupid enough as it is without bringing food and drinks into the equation. Go out in public and you’ll find that 95 percent of the people you share a national identity with will annoy the living shit out of you – especially if they happen to be in close proximity. In fact, just looking around, you’ll find that everyone is annoyed with everyone all the time. Walk into a restaurant and it’s guaranteed that half the people in there are talking dirt about people at other tables. Get in a queue and everyone starts sighing and complaining and puffing their cheeks and looking around like they would rather be anywhere else than stuck with each other. Get on a bus and everyone treats each other like they’re lepers. But tell us baklava is Greek, and we’ll suddenly become proud nationalists, thumping tables, pointing fingers, and using phrases like “When our ancestors first came to Anatolia…” or “[so-and-so] is a Turkish word!” Tell me the best feta cheese is from Bulgaria and me and my nation of 70 million Turks will stand united to defy you to the end – even though we’d rather not have to stand in the same bus stop together. Of course, food and drink nationalism isn’t just a Turkish trait, but nowhere in the world is it as ridiculous as in the Balkans and the Middle East where insecurities and complexes about national identity are more extreme than anywhere else in the world. Recently, Turkish baklava-makers countered Greek Cypriot allegations that baklava is Greek, and it was all over the news, with even state ministers joining in the debate. Similar disputes have been going on for decades over other things too, like Turkish Delight, yoghurt, meatballs, stuffed vine-leaves, in fact pretty much every single item of food in Turkish and Greek cuisine, because they pretty much share the same cuisine. You know how when Pakistanis and Indians fight over whose-cuisine-has-what and you eat it as a foreigner and go “I don’t get it, what’s the difference?”… Well, that’s the same with Greek and Turkish cuisine. It’s the same thing. That’s why they fight over everything when they should be happy instead that they share an excellent common Byzantine-Ottoman heritage. Honestly, you could understand people getting all proud about past empires, conquerors, great wars of liberation, wonderful feats… but the nationality of food? I could be proud of Pericles or Suleiman the Magnificent being my supposed ancestor or something, but stuffed cabbage leaves in olive oil? Gee, let’s run that up a flagpole and see how it flies. You don’t see Americans and Germans at each others’ throats over hamburgers, or Mexicans and Guatemalans trying to cut each others’ heads off with flying tortillas, but say “Turkish Coffee” to a Greek waiter and he’ll spit and walk away as if you just told him his mother is a donkey. Say “Greek Baklava” to a Turkish pastry chef and he’ll fume and rage and swear to make the ultimate Uber-Baklava. It’s time for Turks and Greeks – and other peoples – to accept that if people other than themselves share the same traditional dish then it’s also their dish as much as it is yours, regardless of obscure and impossible to verify “national” origins. Thus there is Greek Coffee in Greece and Turkish Coffee in Turkey, thus tzatziki and cacık are both Greek and Turkish, thus baklava is both Greek and Turkish (and Syrian, etc…), thus keftedes and köfte are both Greek and Turkish (and whoever else has it), thus börek is Greek and Turkish and Armenian and Serbian and so on. All these nations should be able to proudly claim each one of these dishes as their own respective national dish without being threatened with reprisal attacks from skinhead chefs wielding fascist kitchen appliances. To seek national and racial origins in food is just as ridiculous as looking for them in people. Like people, food evolves, mixes, changes over time, representing layer upon layer of history, interaction and cross-cultural influences. Thus, looking for origins is futile, and ramming your nationalist insecurities down other peoples’ throats with your food chauvinism is even more so. You are what you eat, as they say, but you don’t have to force what you are on what other people eat. But if you really, really insist on the national origins of food, then this is as close as you’ll get to the truth: feta cheese comes from Goat’s-teet-istan, coffee comes from Ground-beans-in-hot-water-ovo, and kebabs come from Butchered-and-skinned-animal-ia. That’s all you need to know. Now could everybody shut up and enjoy their meal please?

Halacoglu wants to be like P.N. Oak when he grows up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purushottam_Nagesh_Oak Too bad Oaks deceased recently at such an age - wouldn't it have been cool to see the two of them side by side on some show?

Boghos and MJ.

I think it's pretty clear. All the said countries were represented by their national teams for scientific solidation of buildings with architectural value at some competition, and Armenia's national team represented by Melkumyan won the gold medal.

Yes, recognition of the Armenian genocide is the key to stopping them in their tracks or else, you know, the Turks might indeed seek their quest for world dominion.

From the horse's mouth: http://www.agos.com.tr/eng/index.php?modul...70&cat_id=1 “I neither foster hope nor anxiety” Our phones did not stop ringing throughout the past week. Following the announcement of the reasoned court decision about Arat Dink and Sarkis Seropyan and the change in our identification, we watched in suprise news implying that Arat had left Turkey. First of all, we were sorry to see that our press is expecting such an “escape” at every visit of Dink family abroad. In the same way, it was interesting that society also adopted an attitude making this retreat official while this was only implied in the news reports. Because even if this news was true, the answer was the answer of a question that everybody living in Turkey should have asked themselves: “Which is better? Should he stay, or should he go?” Leaving all these rumours aside, we interviewed Arat about leaving Turkey, Baron Hrant, Hrant Dink Foundation and Agos. In recent news reports, it has been said that you left have Turkey. How do you interpret the production of such news immediately after the announcement of the reasoned decision of your case? While there are so many developments both about the announced reasoned court decision and also the murder case, I regard it as a negative situation that certain colleagues are only interested in this. Neither I nor my family consider leaving Turkey. Anyway, if we decide to leave Turkey, it will not be in a hidden way. After the court decision, my family suggested me to go away for a while. I found it appropriate to take some time to complete several private tasks that I had left unfinished, and accepted this suggestion. This was an absence of a few months covering both my education and some delayed private business. Anyway, half of this process passes in Turkey as it is now. I have been abroad for a temporary period, I have come back now and I will return. This will continue in this manner for a while. Many young people are concerned about staying in Turkey at the moment. As a young Armenian, what do you think about living abroad? I have never considered this option, I have never wanted to move abroad in my life. Of course, I have had friends thinking of making a living abroad. Yet, I have never considered the thought myself. I believe that the human being is a creature tied to the environment it is born into. One should not focus on “where should I build a life?”, but should consider improving the current place of living. S/he must produce for this aim and try to leave a better place to the ones who will come after. I could be the last young person to wish to leave this country because I have a big example in front of me who preferred to stay in spite of all difficulties. That example inspires me more than it does other people. Are the threats continuing? There have been threats during the process. We are not at a point to evaluate how serious they are. Generally, I am not anxious about this. My life philosophy is not to survive at all costs. I do not take steps only to survive. By the way, after January 19, we lost the organ to feel anxiety and other similar feelings. How were your thoughts and feelings affected from being sentenced in a case in which your father had also been tried? Unfortunately, I was not surprised. I was expecting it, as a feeling, if not as a prediction. In order to make a prediction, you need to settle certain things in your mind and establish a consistent chain of logic. However, this decision cannot be based on any logical model. I felt it was going to hapen. The previous examples made me feel this was probable. How do you evaluate the developments about the murder case? Is hope diminishing by the day? Hope is, like anxiety, a feeling we can no longer foster, we can no longer feel. We do not have anything to gain from the positive conclusion of the case, as expected. There is no satisfaction in it for the family, nor for me personally. The only party to benefit from a fair verdict in this case is Turkey. Then we will be indirectly satisfied, as citizens, to live in a transparent and clean country. What are the developments regarding the foundation? No announcement of activities has yet been made except for the news of its establishment. What is being planned? The Foundation will operate under 4 main titles generally. The first is education. The second is intercultural dialogue. Another is inter-generation dialogue and history. And of course, one of our fields is Hrant Dink. Attending to his heritage and sharing his views with the society by ensuring their transmission over generations. The official proceedings of the foundation are completed; we are currently organizing its new headquarters. An internet site will be opened soon. Its opening will be announced with a press statement. We had announced that it would be an international foundation. Is there any work towards this aim? There will be branches in different countries abroad. Work continues regarding the issue. We will announce the branches as they are opened. What about the administration? An administrative board has been formed up including the family as well as specialists from several different branches. Is there a relationship between Agos and the Hrant Dink Foundation? Yes, we are neighbours... (I catch a glimpse of his first smile since the beginning of the interview) Agos and the Hrant Dink Foundation are surely two different institutions. However, they will be working together on many issues. Agos and Hrant Dink cannot be separated. And the foundation is the Hrant Dink Foundation. Yet, there are no institutional connections. January is approaching. It is wondered whether there are any preparations for January 19. Are there preparations being made? The foundation and the family, as heritors of Hrant Dink, have decided not to carry out this kind of an activity. This year, we will only help coordinating the activities upon request. It would be more appropriate if these activities are conducted by public will. Surely, there will be a religious ceremony. On Sunday, January 20… How do you comment on the support and reaction from the Armenian society? Do you think there is any improvement in civil awareness since January? The Armenian society is not an advanced society in terms of demonstrating a civil attitude in the face of such developments. It is hard to expect certain things at this point. Certainly, the larger society has further responsibility here. Yet, the Armenian society should produce the culture to reveal a civil attitude in the face of developments. How do you regard the nationalist discourse on the rise in the virtual environment in recent months? There are such opinions in every society. I am not more affected by them than the general public. I regard it as normal. The right thing would be to reduce these voices to such level that they would be regarded abnormal in a society. What concerns me more is that people holding certain official positions make such statements. We have experienced such examples, our lawyers have taken some precautions. Apart from that, this is a matter that should receive a reaction from the whole of civil society. Can these new civil formations and initiatives be influential enough? There were fewer people at the hearing held in Beşiktaş in October compared to the previous one. One wonders whether there will be even fewer at the next one. Yes, voices rise in periods of escalating aggressive discourses. Yet, the segment that raises voice constantly is a small one. The important thing is to ensure an environment where authorized bodies also fulfill their duty in addition to these reactions of the society. The demonstrations or protests are a declaration of will as to what kind of a country we wish to live in. My dear “Responsible” Editor, could you make an evaluation of Agos for the past 8 months? I suppose that Agos has received good results in this period by adding the support from outside to its own power. The presence of my father was a comfort for us, for the Armenian community, and even for many democrats in Turkey. At the point we are at, Turks and Armenians are doomed to be deprived of Hrant Dink. Therefore, even though we are deprived of his presence, our duty is to pursue his path, lead and re-produce the discourse he bequeathed, and open other paths that he could not. Agos does and will proceed in this direction.