29 Eylül 2019 Pazar

TNT History Archives: Hejaz Railway Reincarnation


türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Sabah Newspaper, 29 September 2019)

constructive criticism click here for a recent TNT report
based on an article written by Dr. Şerefeddin Mağmumi,
an Ottoman living in exile in Cairo in the early 1900s,
about making the Hejaz Railway better.

action-packed Hejaz story click here for a TNT report
about a Turk helping a stranded German ship's crew
through the desert to the Hejaz Railway in 1915. (there
is also an embedded link at the end to a related and 
more detailed War History Online version of the story.)


feasiblity study from 2017 click here for a very thorough
report about the prospect of revitalizing the Hejaz Railway.

jordan railways map ile ilgili görsel sonucu

The Islamic Cooperation Organization's Permanent Committee on
Economic and Commercial Cooperation (İSEDAK) has met in Amman,
Jordan, to take up the matter of restoring the Hejaz Railway that was
built by the Ottomans during the reign of Sultan Abdülhamid II in
the first years of the 20th century.

Officials from Turkey's Transportation Ministry and Turkish Railways
(TCDD) discussed the matter with Jordan's Hejaz Railway Director
Salah el-Levzi, with the idea of converting the current touristic icon
to a working railway.  Levzi noted that Jordan needs faster and cheaper
rail capability, so restoring the Hejaz Railway fits in with this goal.


Jordan railway
The current Jordan Railways network. Black line at left
carries phosphate to the port of Aqaba.



28 Eylül 2019 Cumartesi

He Caught the Bouquet, Unfortunately


türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 24 September 2019)

Vesikalık çektirmek için geldi, fotoğrafçıyı bacağından vurdu
"Hey Mehmet, someone from 'Chippendales' is calling you..."

In Adana, an unidentified individual entered the shop of photographer
Mehmet Özlü to have passport pictures taken but for some reason shot
Özlü in the leg instead.  Yesterday at around noon the assailant entered
Özlü' shop on Atatürk Avenue and asked the price for the pictures.
Evidently not pleased with the response, the attacker pulled a revolver
from his belt and shot Özlü 3 times in his leg.

As the suspect fled, one of Özlü's first-responding shopkeeper friends
used the strap tied to a bride's bouquet, normally used for bridal photos
to stanch the bleeding in Özlü's leg.  Displeased with the resulting
unmanly image, Özlü threatened reporters: "Don't take pictures!  I'll get
your cameras from you!"

man catch the bouquet ile ilgili görsel sonucu
    Actually, something of a tradition in the Özlü family...
     

27 Eylül 2019 Cuma

Istanbul Earthquake: Saving the Machines


türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 26 September 2019)

nurettin ünal ali bakay ile ilgili görsel sonucu
Machines have long memories. When they take over for good
Nurettin bey will be their king.


At the moment of the earthquake in Istanbul today, Nurettin Ünal, a
worker in a textile factory in the Bahçelievler section of the city,
remained inside the factory to prevent a machine from falling over,
while his colleagues all fled the building.

The incident occurred at the factory on Mithatpaşa Avenue in the
Yenibosna-Çobançeşme neighborhood.  As the building shook
violently from the effects of the tremors at about 2 o'clock in the
afternoon, and everyone else rushed outside, Ünal gripped the giant
machine tightly in an effort to keep it from falling over.

Afterwards, Ünal's boss Ali Bakay rewarded Ünal with an extra
salary, saying that "he shouldn't have done it and we told him not
to put his own life at risk again for the sake of a machine.
Nevertheless, we had to reward him for his actions."


yenibosna haritası ile ilgili görsel sonucu
Bahçelievler is located right around the "İ" in "İstanbul".




26 Eylül 2019 Perşembe

Duped Seat-Belt's Deadly Revenge


türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 24 September 2019)

emniyet kemeri tokası ile ilgili görsel sonucu
                    It's not nice to fool Mother Seat-Belt.

In Zonguldak, Mehmet Akdeniz lost control of his vehicle, plate
number 67 EY 696, while driving on the Saraycık village road.
As the car rolled down a 36-meter embankment, Akdeniz was thrown
out and hit his head on a tree.  He was taken to Bülent Ecevit
University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead from his injuries.

It turned out that Akdeniz had placed a metal piece, that can be
purchased for 15 TL (less than $3) on the internet, into the seat-belt
receptacle to 'fool' the car's warning system so he didn't have to wear
his seat-belt. (!)

zonguldak haritası ile ilgili görsel sonucu
           Zonguldak is on the western Black Sea coast.

23 Eylül 2019 Pazartesi

Sunflower Seed Habit Dooms Fugitive Hoodwinker


türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 23 September 2019)


çekirdek çitlemek ile ilgili görsel sonucu
Undercover cops in Osmangazi trying to blend in as they
surveilled Bülent A. 


Three years ago, workers and 16 company owners at a Social Security
Bureau construction site in Alanya district of Antalya province staged
protests and filed suit when they didn't get the money owed to them by
a subcontracting firm involved with the project. 

Bülent A., an engineer from the subcontracting firm, who has been
sought by the police with a 3-year jail sentence for the fraud,
disappeared.  But one of the workers at the construction site, Hacı
Mehmet Özdemir, recently went to Bursa from Alayna and happened
to see Bülent A. eating sunflower seeds in a park (!).

çekirdek bülent hacı mehmet özdemir alanya osmangazi ile ilgili görsel sonucu
"It's a habit I can't kick. I knew it would be my downfall one
day..."

Özdemir informed the local Osmangazi police and Bülent A., accused
of defrauding the Social Security Bureau of 2.1 million TL (about
$350,000), was taken into custody.  It turned out that Bülent A. had
previously spent time in prison for fraud. 

alanya bursa haritası ile ilgili görsel sonucu


TNT History Archives: Ottomans' Far-Flung Maritime Woes (1906)

//Ed. note: Dr. Şerefeddin Mağmumi, writing a newspaper
column in Cairo where he lived in exile from Turkey, took
aim at Ottoman maritime shortcomings in this article.

In his book "The Rise of Modern Turkey", Stanford Shaw
noted that İdare-i Mahsusa was originally organized by
Sultan Abdülaziz but was neglected by Sultan Abdülhamid
II.  In 1895, there were about 50,000 Ottoman-flagged 
vessels, 3,000 of  which were steam-powered.  By 1905
this number had risen to 68,769 ships, including 4,756
steamships.//


idare i mahsusa ile ilgili görsel sonucu
                       An 'İdare-i Mahsusa' steamship.

I'm Thinking That...
"Türk" newspaper (Cairo): 25 August 1906

One of the reforms we talk about a lot has to do with the 'İdare-i
Mahsusa' ('Reserved Administration'/Ottoman Steamship Company).
Barely a month passes in Istanbul without excellent ideas being
promulgated in newspaper columns.  As a consequence, the matter
is discussed, special commissions established and laws passed.
The Navy Ministry is informed and, in turn, writes to the 'Babıâli'
(Ottoman seat of government).

Right away, there are announcements like two or three ships to be
acquired, regular postal service to Trablusgarp (Libya) to be put
into operation, ships on the Syria line to be extended to Alexandria,
etc., etc.  But these are all empty promises.  Over the past 25 years,
none of these words has been transformed into deeds, nor will they
be in the future.

marmara denizi haritası ile ilgili görsel sonucu
Tekirdağ is on the north shore, while Bandırma and Erdek 
straddle the large peninsula on the south shore.  Çanakkale is
on the Dardanelles Strait at left.


The small ports of Istanbul's 'lake', the Sea of Marmara, such as
Tekirdağ, Bandırma and Erdek, are all served by English and Greek
tugs.  Trablusgarp, the State's one remaining colony in Africa, doesn't
even have a monthly postal ship service and Italian ships transport
Ottoman soldiers there.  There's no regular ship service to Syria every
two weeks, as there should be.  And ships only go to Jiddah during the
haj (Moslem pilgrimage) season and to Hodeidah (Yemen) solely to
take and retrieve conscripts. 

There are no 'İdare-i Mahsusa' ships in Basra (Iraq) or in İşkodra
(Albania).  What is the reason?  It's because the 'İdare-i Mahsusa'
is a fiefdom, which is, unfortunately, not uncommon for us (Ottoman
State).  Any minor storm at sea will force our small ships to seek refuge
in a port for a few days, making a 3-5 day trip take 15 days.  These days,
while military transport is outsourced, so is commercial and passenger
service.

Here's an example of the current situation:  a postal ship headed for
Salonica (Thessaloniki) with both commercial goods and passengers
loaded onto its deck, is commandeered at Çanakkale by the Third Army
and directed to retrieve conscripts from Antalya.  Consequently,
passengers who thought they boarded a ship for a 48-hour trip are
instead out at sea for 10 days, while the commercial goods spoil and rot. 
The price of the goods falls and the owners are victimized.  These are
common occurrences. 

red sea map ile ilgili görsel sonucu
Jiddah, center - on the east shore, and 
Hodeidah (Al-Hudaydah) right - on 
today's Yemen's shore.

Another example: sheep and other livestock are transported to various
places like Basra, Hodeidah and Jiddah.  On return, the ships are loaded
with ill soldiers or those coming back on leave who have waited weeks
or months for the ships to arrive.  Shipping companies from Austria,
Russia, France and Greece operate in our Ottoman waters and ports,
making millions.  Yet our 'İdare-i Mahsusa' is in a sad state, not even
able to operate regular postal ship service along our own shores and
so insolvent that its workers aren't paid each month.

If the 'İdare-i Mahsusa' weren't a fiefdom and, instead, a well-run, for-
profit company, it wouldn't have to leave operations in Ottoman waters
to foreign ships and could even compete with the foreigners for postal
service to places like Egypt, India and Java.  It could be on a parr with
French and Russian companies that handle such trade.

şirket-i hayriye 1900 ile ilgili görsel sonucu
           The Şirket-i Hayriye's 'Sureyya' ferry in Istanbul.

Given that the 'İdare-i Mahsusa' is a fiefdom and cannot run itself, why
isn't it handed over to the Şirket-i Hayriye (Istanbul ferry service, today's
Şehir Hatları/City Lines),  which is a well-run and progressive national
company?   For years, Şirket-i Hayriye has wanted permission to
operate in ports where English and Greek tugs work but has been put
off time and again.  This is quite a mystery and a strange puzzle that
ought to be solved by granting these privileges that foreign shippers
enjoy to Şirket-i Hayriye.  If and when this happens Ottoman
commercial maritime affairs can be improved and expanded. 

osmanlı 1900 haritası ile ilgili görsel sonucu

 

22 Eylül 2019 Pazar

A Legendary Marriage, For All the Wrong Reasons


türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Milliyet Newspaper, 22 September 2019)

Kına gecesinde gelinin yakınları damadı öldürdü, annesini ağır yaraladı
                                    One for the books...


Eser Efsane (32) and Damla Efsane (27) ('efsane' means tale, myth,
fable, legend) met in Kahramanmaraş and decided to get married. 
The couple's families approved and three months ago they became
engaged.  Two months ago Eser and Damla were married ('nikah')
and began to prepare for the celebratory 'düğün' (wedding feast/
reception) in Gaziantep.

However (!), when the bride's family argued with the groom's relatives
about 'düğün' shopping, Damla's parents withdrew their approval,
prompting Eser and Damla, still very much in love with each other, to
run away to Kahramanmaraş. 

Family elders got together and Damla's parents relented.  A 'kına
gecesi' (night when the bride is painted with henna.) was organized
the night before last in Gaziantep, where Damla's father and brothers
stabbed Eser to death (!) and seriously injured his mother Meryem F. 
Four people have been taken into custody.

kahramanmaraş gaziantep haritası ile ilgili görsel sonucu


21 Eylül 2019 Cumartesi

TNT History Archives: Massacres of Non-Christians & Western Double-standards (1906)

//Ed. note: Dr. Şerefeddin Mağmumi, in exile in Cairo, took
up the issue of various recent massacres of non-Christians 
by European Christians: from the Dutch in Java, to the 
Russians in the Far East and, again, by the Russians in 
Kishinev, in the early 1900s.  He juxtaposed the silence
of Westerners about these events, with their outrage over
Ottoman clashes with its Christian minorities.// 


diogenes and his lamp ile ilgili görsel sonucu
    Diogenes searching for that ever-elusive honest man...


I'm Thinking That...
"Türk" newspaper: 18 August 1906

The Greek philosopher Diogenes roamed the streets with a torch in
broad daylight shouting "I'm searching for an honest man!"  It has now
been 3 weeks since I read the telegram about the massacre of 1,085
people in Java by Dutch soldiers.  So, with a big magnifying glass in my
hand I've been reading the French newspapers I have, searching for any
word of protest by a humanitarian.

dutch bali intervention 1906 cartoons ile ilgili görsel sonucu
                           Dutch attack on Bali in 1906.

Where are the public-spirited Europeans who shout "Barbarian Turks!
Vicious Kurds and Albanians!" if a drop of Bulgarian or Armenian blood
is spilled in Rumeli or in Anatolia?  Actually, soldiers and Gendarmerie
are sent to these most civilized corners of the world to fend off the flag-
waving gangs armed from head to toe in Bulgaria, who then cross over
into Turkey with dynamite to bomb banks, bridges, railway wagons; to
forcibly incite villagers, who are otherwise busy with their chores; and
to kill, maim and loot those who do not obey them.

If these bandits take refuge on a mountain or in a village then they are
bombarded and, of course, some of the villagers will be killed along
with the rebels.  But the Europeans scream "The Turks are massacring
the Bulgarians and burning villages!"  They proceed to go from city to
city, holding conferences, making speeches, publishing articles and
brochures supposedly to collect donations for the poor villagers and
orphans, but in reality, the money goes to the rebels and bandits.

ottoman atrocities bulgars armenians ile ilgili görsel sonucu

For example, as has been verified by a collective report by foreign
consuls, Ottoman soldiers were sent to restore law and order in the
face of armed gangs of Russian Armenians from the Caucasus who
were supported groups hiding in the Sason Mountains.  Certainly,
there were casualties on both sides but these same Europeans right
away started screaming "Massacre! Pillage!".  They put the number
of dead at 1,000, even though it was 10, and display telegrams
concocted and written by dubious sources from Muş and Van.

How odd! This tenderness and compassion of the West that seeks out
only those who worship in places with the cross.  Humanitarians! They
consider only Christians worthy of support and protection.  One drop of
Christian blood might as well be a lake, as far as they are concerned.
Even if the blood comes from a bloody murderer or a bandit, when
killed by a Moslem these cross-worshiping criminals are considered
innocent and sinless.  Defending their rights is a sacred duty!

dutch 'intervention' in Bali click here for background & details.


dutch bali intervention 1906 cartoons ile ilgili görsel sonucu
                                   Dutch colonization of Indonesia.

Meanwhile, in Java, the Dutch massacred men, women and children
armed with only the most primitive weapons, as if they were sheep.
But the press agencies told the world about this with a two-line
telegram and no one protested, no one wrote even a 5-line paragraph
disapproving the massacre.  There were no conferences, no speeches,
not even a word.  It seems that the Javans aren't humans but, rather,
they're considered animals.  But really, less than animals, because in
the West groups and governments support even animal rights.  The
real reason is that the Javans were Moslems and those that conducted
the massacre were civilized Europeans!

blagoveshchensk massacre click here for background & details.

blagoveshchensk massacre 1900 cartoons ile ilgili görsel sonucu

A few years ago in China, the Russians herded 30,000 people from
a city (Blagoveshchensk) into the Amur River, blocked them from
exiting and consequently they all drowned.  For a few days, river
traffic was suspended because of all the bodies floating in the water. 
In light of this atrocity, the 'humanitarian Europeans' remained
astonishingly quiet, with not even a whimper being heard. The
reason?  The victims worshipped an idol rather than the cross and
their executioners were civilized Europeans!

kishinev massacre click here for background & details.

kishinev massacre cartoons ile ilgili görsel sonucu

Again in Russia, in the city of Kishniev (today's Chisinau, Moldova), the
Jews were attacked on Easter Sunday and hundreds of them massacred
and their shops looted.  But not a peep was heard from the West's
humanitarians.  The reason?  Those massacred were Jews and those who
perpetrated the massacre were civilized Christians!  The Crusades
continue, this time by those with eloquent tongues instead of iron
swords.

Claiming to be secularists, these Westerners still come under the sway
of religious schools they attended and the education and training they
received.  In reality, they are religious fanatics with a fervent animosity
against Islam.  When it comes to religious extremists, the Christians
are at the head of the line.  Even the most liberal among them long
to see the crescent above Aya Sofya changed back to a cross. Their
empty words about caring for the other half of the world that hold
different beliefs and their counterfeit calls for freedom and independence
are seductive but worthless. Let's not be fooled.


western double standard 1900 cartoons ile ilgili görsel sonucu
















20 Eylül 2019 Cuma

Viagra Falls Overflows in Istanbul


türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Milliyet Newspaper, 20 September 2019)

viagra milyoneri büyükçekmece ile ilgili görsel sonucu
 "I hate to run out of stuff. I make my own toothpaste, too."

In Büyükçekmece, Istanbul, 58 kilograms of sildenafil, the raw material
of Viagra and enough of the chemical to make 1.5 million pills, have
been seized.  The suspect who was taken into custody defended
himself  by saying that he routinely puts the chemical into his tea and
soup: "I'm an inveterate user!" (!)

Police in Büyükçekmece got a tip about someone illegally importing a
sexually potent medicine from abroad, with the intention to sell it. 
Following physical and technical surveillance, police raided the home
of Mehmet E. in Büyükçekmece, where they found 825 'sex pills' and
58 kilograms of sildenafil and tadalafil.  Police determined that 1.5
million pills could be made from the chemicals they found. 

viagra addict ile ilgili görsel sonucu
Mehmet E.'s son wearing dad's tribute t-shirt (free with
every order!).

In his statement to police, Mehmet E. claimed that he is addicted to
the substance (!) and that the chemicals were to be for personal use,
not for sale.

büyükçekmece haritası ile ilgili görsel sonucu