Archeology Edition: Troy's 4X Bigger Neighbor

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(HaberTürk Newspaper, 6 August 2015)


         Going for the bronze in this race.

The latest findings from an archeological excavation that has
been underway for the past two years at a hill known as
Kaymakçı in the Gölmarmara basin in Manisa province, has
gotten the world of archeology excited.  The research, which
is shedding light on previously unknown aspects of the Late
Bronze Age (1600-1200 B.C.), is being conducted by an
international team of archeologist from leading universities
in the U.S., Europe and Turkey.

Yaşar University's Dr. Sinan Ünlüsoy, deputy chief of the
excavation project, explained that "this place is four times as
big at Troy, which was its contemporary in the period. Up
to now, it is the largest Late Bronze Age settlement found in
the Aegean region.  When our work is done we will have
taken a big step forward in making Manisa known to the
world."

As a result of the research that has been going on here
for ten years by the international excavation team, a great fortress
believed to have belonged to the ancestors of the Lydians
has been found.  In sources of the Hittite Empire of the
second millenium B.C. the region was known as the
"Seha Nehri ülkesi" (nation of the Seha River).

Ever Wonder What Noah's Ark Smelled Like?

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(HaberTürk Newspaper, 5 August 2015)


      Give this one an especially wide berth. 

Each time it come to Çelebi port at Bandırma in Balıkesir
province it draws reactions from citizens because of the smell
it spreads all over. 'It' is the animal-carrier ship Zein-1, also
known by citizens as the "floating stable".


  Hey Noah, we forgot to ask: lavatory facilities on board?


When the Panama-flagged ship begins to unload its cargo of
6,491 cattle for distribution to livestock fattners the pungent
smell will get even worse. During the unloading of 9,250 cattle
last June the people of Bandırma complained bitterly about
the stench.


  

Cycle Edition: Mongolian Coincidence, Biker Granddad

//ed. note: original Turkish article unavailable in digital form.//

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 4 August 2015)


Fancy meeting you here...on the border of Mongolia!

They both left Istanbul two months apart and followed
different routes but somehow bicyclist Volkan Ermiş
and motorcycle rider Serkan Söğüt ran into one another
on the Mongolian border. After the two adventurers took
a memento photo (above), they agreed to meet again in
the Mongolian city of Ölgii.

They have both returned to their own planned routes.
Serkan Söğüt says his goal is to reach Japan, whereas
Volkan Ermiş noted that he does not like to disclose his
route.

      Ölgii is Mongolia's westernmost province. 

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türkçe links to original Turkish article.

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 4 August 2015)


Distance no obstacle for biking granddad. Mecca next! 

Saadettin Sevin is doing his military service in Ordu's
Ünye district. His grandfather Nureddin Gönülal wanted
to see Saadettin so he rode a bicycle 1,054 kilometers from
Ödemiş district of Izmir province all the way to Ünye.

Once Gönülal reached his grandson, serving as a Gendarmerie
troop at the Ünye Prison, they were both quite happy.  The
elderly man said that when his grandson was in training in
Çanakkale he rode his bike to see him there, too. Gönülal
explained that "my friends said that 'Çanakkale is close but
Ordu is far, you'll never make it.'  Nevertheless, I've reached
my grandson and I'm very happy."

Gönülal said that his next goal is to ride his bicycle to Mecca,
Saudi Arabia.


            From Ödemiş to Ünye.

Oxymoron Edition: Jet Taxi, Bikini-less Beach

türkçe links to original Turkish article.

(HaberTürk Newspaper, 3 August 2015)


"Where are the taxis when you need them!?"

An interesting incident occurred on the Turkish Airlines
flight from New Delhi, India, to Istanbul on 21 June. A 90
year-old Indian business-class passenger who was to transit
in Istanbul for a flight to Manchester, England, exclaimed
two hours after take-off "get me out of this forest! Call me
a taxi!"

It was clear that the passenger was not in full command of
his faculties so the passenger seated next to him was moved
to another seat.  Then a member of the crew sat in the seat
in front of the Indian passenger and behaved like a taxi driver.
The passenger calmed down and an Indian doctor sat down
next to the old man, speaking to him in Hindi.

At Istanbul, arrangements were made to transer the passenger
to his Manchester flight.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Cumhuriyet Newspaper, 3 August 2015)

At the 200-household village of Garipçe on the Bosphorus,
where the third Bosphorus bride will pass causing the destruction
of millions of trees, a banner has been hung at the seaside that
reads as follows:

 
(It is forbidden to enter the water with a bathing suit or a 
bikini. ((signed)) Garipçe Sports Culture and Beautification
Association)

Those who have seen the banner are asking themselves in
confusion "if you don't don a bathing suit or a bikini, and
since it would be shameful to go bathing in your underwear,
there's no alternative but to go in naked."

Consequently, on social media people are spreading the news
that "Turkey's first nudist camp has opened at Garipçe."



This is what the Association will allow for bathing beauties.


Garipçe is hard by the now-under-construction 3rd bridge.

Legendary Bilker Lives On Through Others

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 2 August 2015)


"Hey, if they wanna buy a bridge, I'll sell 'em one."

Osman Ziya Sülün was born in Istanbul in 1923. His first
'accomplishment' was to hoodwink the owner of a house he
rented in Fatih, Istanbul, in 1948. In the 1950s and 1960s he
'sold' or 'rented' trams, clocks in the square, ferries and the
like to unwitting citizens and became an urban legend known
as 'Sülün Osman'.

He was caught while 'selling' the Galata Bridge in Istanbul.
It is thought that he died of a heart attack in a hotel room in
Beyoğlu, Istanbul, in 1984. Because he carried no identity
card he was buried in a pauper's grave.

Which brings us to today. In Bursa, the Gemlik police were
contacted by a pilot named B.K. who explained how he had
been bilked: "I saw a boat I liked on the internet and I sent
75,000 TL to the account of the person I contacted. It turned
out, though, that the boat belonged to someone else."  The
method of fraud was reminiscent of 'Sülün Osman''s technique.


Bridge sale didn't go as planned...

Meanwhile, in Antalya, a person claiming to be the nephew of
AK Party General Director and Kırıkkale Parliamentarian Beşir
Atalay collected between 5 and 22 thousand TL from people
wanting to become state employees. The incident came to light
when one of the victims realized that B.T. (35), who promised
the jobs, had vanished.

Victim A.E. related that "B.T. drove a luxury car and said 'I'm
the nephew of Beşir Atalay.' In fact he used me as a reference
when he bought a plasma TV. He had many victims, getting
12 thousand from one woman and 24 thousand from another.
But people were too embarrassed to file a complaint."

Animal Edition: 'Cecil' Saved, 'Trump' Elected

türkçe links to original Turkish article


(HaberTürk Newspaper, 1 August 2015)


'Cecil' after rescue, no doubt thinking of his African
namesake....

A cat (let's call him 'Cecil') stranded on Çelebi Island
off Bodrum district of Muğla province has been rescued
by an AKUT (search & rescue) team. Yonca Evcimik,
a singer and the head of HAKUT (animal search & rescue
association) alerted AKUT to Cecil's predicament and the
team set out for the island, half a mile from the coast at
Ortakent village.


               May he rest in peace.

Four AKUT team members searched the island before
nightfall without success. They returned the next day,though,
and found Cecil in a trap they had set up.  It is thought that
Cecil had been stranded on the island for some time. He
was brought to the Bodrum Animal Shelter, examined and
released to the wilds of Bodrum.


Çelebi Island lies to the west of Bodrum city.

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türkçe links to original Turkish article

(HaberTürk Newspaper, 1 August 2015)


'Trump' triumphs! Harbinger of things to come in the USA?...

Hacı Çelik, the village chief of Eşmeçayır village, located 110
kilometers from the provincial capital Kars and with a population of
2,000, in protest over the 60-year water shortage in Eşmeçayır,
has turned over his tie, village seal and authorities to a ram (let's
call him 'Trump') in the village.

Explaining the change of village leadership, Çelik said that "I get
900 TL per month as a salary, but because of the water shortage I
suffer 2,000 TL in damages. Until water comes, let 'Trump' run the
village.

 
Eşmeçayır village is in Sarıkamış district of Kars province.