samedi 5 mars 2016

Hidden paradise welcomes visitors in northern Aegean



ÇANAKKALE – Anadolu Agency

With a past that stretches back to antiquity, Çanakkale’s Yeşilyurt village is drawing more and more interest from tourists eager to sample its natural beauty and view its old stone houses

With its unspoiled nature and old stone houses, the Yeşilyurt village on the skirts of the Kaz Mountains has become a favorite getaway for those seeking to escape the stress of city life.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/hidden-paradise-welcomes-visitors-in-northern-aegean.aspx?pageID=238&nID=95755&NewsCatID=379

Ertuğrul excavations continue to reveal history

DHA Photo

MUĞLA – Doğan News Agency

Uniforms of dead soldiers are among the many other artifacts found during this year’s works in the Ertuğrul frigate that commenced on Jan 15

A new season of underwater excavations on the Ertuğrul frigate, which sank near Japan’s city of Kushimoto and caused the death of 550 Turkish sailors, have been ongoing since the beginning of the year. The recent works in the frigate have unearthed many new artifacts. Among them are soldier uniforms and a naval mine. This year’s goal is to find the frigate’s safe.

vendredi 4 mars 2016

Turkish books available in dozens of languages



Some 1,124 books of Turkish literature have been translated into 60 languages in 65 countries as part of a project that was first launched 11 years ago, the Culture and Tourism Ministry has said.

According to information provided by the ministry, the Translation and Publication Grant Program of Turkey (TEDA) program was initiated for Turkish literature to be promoted abroad with the translation of books into various languages.

jeudi 3 mars 2016

Last Byzantine church in Ankara close to disappearing

The Orthodox church of Saint Clement, which was built at least 1,000 years ago in Ankara and is the only Byzantine-era structure in the city, has almost disappeared among office buildings

 

The only structure from the Byzantine era in Ankara, the Saint Clement Church, is about to disappear amid the city’s continuing urban sprawl.

The structure, which is among office buildings in the Altındağ district, can be visited only with the permission of the owners of the offices and by walking down the fire escape stairs. 

mercredi 2 mars 2016

Golden Age of Midas exhibit in US



The Penn Museum will host an exclusive exhibition titled ‘The Golden Age of King Midas,’ featuring a spectacular array of specially-loaned ancient artifacts from Turkey

The Penn Museum will host an exclusive exhibition titled ‘The Golden Age of King Midas,’ featuring a spectacular array of specially-loaned ancient artifacts from Turkey


mardi 1 mars 2016

‘The Meursault Investigation’ by Kamel Daoud



‘The Meursault Investigation’ by Kamel Daoud (Other Press, 143 pages, $14.95)

Kamel Daoud’s blistering “The Meursault Investigation” is based on an ingenious conceit: Its narrator, Harun, says he is the brother of the Arab shot dead at the beginning of Albert Camus’ classic 1942 novel “The Stranger.” Drinking with his unnamed interlocutor in a bar in the Algerian coastal town of Oran, Harun describes events leading to the death of his brother (given the name “Musa”) and his life after Musa’s death. The killer Meursault became a hero of mid-20th century existentialist literature, never tried for the murder but condemned after failing to cry at his mother’s funeral. The Arab he killed remained unnamed and forgotten, while Algeria was merely a convenient backdrop for an absurdist drama.

Spray painted tomb to be cleaned by experts

DHA Photo

Spray painted tomb to be cleaned by experts

BURSA – Doğan News Agency

DHA Photo
DHA Photo
Spray-painted names and hearts on the walls of the historic Berberkaya tomb in the northwestern province of Bursa’s İznik district will be cleaned by a team of experts. The tomb, which dates back to the Bithynia civilization in 149 B.C., is made of basalt rock and located on a slope close to the district’s Lefke Gate.

Tourism officials in the region had complained about graffiti which covered nearly the entire tomb, so the Culture and Tourism Ministry’s Directorate of Surveying and Monuments in Bursa initiated work to reverse the damage to the tomb. 

lundi 29 février 2016

Refugee musicians play in Turkey’s camps



A 22-year-old Turkish musician is changing the lives of Syrian people living at Turkey’s Elbeyli refugee camp in the southern province of Kilis.      

Mustafa Ertekin has formed a music group for Syrian performers who have fled the war in their own country to revive their profession and culture inside and outside a refugee camp that is home to 24,000 people.    
 
The musical group is composed of 11 refugees and “orchestra chief” Ertekin, who has made a concerted effort to find players to fill what he called a “gap” in the camp – namely the lack of music.

“It was very tiring at the beginning,” says Ertekin when asked how the idea of forming the group arose. He firstly wandered across the province for a long time and before telling camp officials about his idea.

He says he was lucky to find the most of the group members at the camp after getting official approval from the Kilis governorate.

The group, called Mustafa Ertekin and His Orchestra, performs concerts and play at welcoming ceremonies for national and international officials visiting the camp and on special days such as Children’s Day, held annually in Turkey on April 23.

“Music is viewed as a hobby by some people, but my purpose is to make these Syrians express themselves with music,” he says, describing the work of the group as a “long-term” effort.

Explaining the roles of the members, who were musicians in Syria before the war, Ertekin said six played instruments, three were vocalists and two others, including one female performer, were soloists.

In the white container where they practice, up to 11 instruments could be seen, including an oud, a violin, a bağlama (an instrument with three double strings), a cumbus (a mandolin with a metal body), a ney (a reed flute) and a drum.

The non-profit group mostly plays Turkish classical music, sometimes blending Turkish and Arabic songs during their performance.

Some of the group members have even become registered teachers at schools inside the camp who teach music to Syrian children.
HDN 26/02/2016

FILM FRANCO-TURC - Quatre Césars pour récompenser Mustang


La 41ème cérémonie des Césars a récompensé l'équipe du film franco-turc Mustang à quatre reprises, vendredi 26 février. Le film a raflé les statuettes du meilleur premier film, meilleure musique originale, meilleur scénario original, et meilleur montage. 

http://www.lepetitjournal.com/istanbul/a-voir-a-faire/actu-culturelle/239448-film-franco-turc-quatre-cesars-pour-recompenser-mustang