Istanbul: mysterious tickets after Süleymaniye Mosque donation

Posted on March 2, 2012 by wordpressgrethe

Süleymaniye Mosque

On leaving the beautiful Süleymaniye Mosque (also known as the Blue Mosque) I gave a donation to a guy sitting at the exit of the Mosque with a sign ‘donations for the Mosque’. As the entrance was free and usually the maintenance of this kind of buildings is enormous in costs, it seemed reasonable to have some contribution. I gave money and got a few blue tickets in return for that. I looked at them and thought, why do I get this kind of tickets? I gave a donation, but what is this for?
As my brains couldn’t find a solution, I started to think the Dutch way. This must be a proof for tax administration that a donation was made, I thought. In the Netherlands this exists; for income that is spent in gifts to good aims, citizens don’t need to pay taxes. But you must be able to proof that you gave away that money. I suggested the Turks might have the same system and that the tickets I got at the Süleymaniye Mosque served to prove to Turkish taxes that this money was really spent as a gift. But I also know that perspectives can be coloured too much by national perspective. The reason why I got the tickets could be completely different.
So in the restaurant, close to Süleymaniye, where we had dinner after visiting the Mosque, I showed my newly acquired tickets to the staff and asked them for the meaning of them. The staff was very surprised about it: ‘we have never seen these tickets before’. They started to question me ‘the Mosque is free to visit, why did you give them money?’. I tried to explain to them the idea, or should I say idealism, of donations but my table company destroyed it all by saying ‘she wanted to feel good about herself’, making everybody burst out in laughter as if I were the kind of fool that was hardly seen in this part of Istanbul.
The restaurant staff explained to me ‘the government takes care of the Mosque, they don’t need your money’. Hey, I don’t give up that easily so I responded in an utmost surprised way ‘ah, I thought Turkey has a separation of state and religion’. ‘Well yes’, they replied, ‘the state doesn’t pay any money but local government does, the city of Istanbul is taking care of the Mosque’. I thought that the separation of state and religion also involved local government as well as national government but they thought that local was completely different from national and showed surprise that the City of Amsterdam is not giving money to churches or mosques ‘Istanbul is very social but Amsterdam is not’.
Soon enough, we started to talk Turkish instead of English and we jumped from the way Christians were treated in the South-East of Turkey to the way Muslems were treated in Greece and Bulgaria. I got a bit upset and so did they, and they had the superiority of language, meaningful in situations like the moment where I said that the monasteries in the North (güney) had a hard time under Turkish government when they declared there were no monasteries in the North – like I usually do, I mixed the words South and North (kuzey versus güney); a problem of mastering a language that weakened my arguments because they wouldn’t notice that I was not telling an ‘untruth’ but making a language mistake.
We didn’t really find a solution for Muslems in Greece and Bulgaria or for Christians in South East Turkey but we had a drink together to close the discussion. The only problem that lasts now is that my question about the tickets was left unanswered: why does a tourist who gives a donation to the Süleymaniye Mosque get tickets showing the period, the amount and the purpose of the donation? If you, reader, know the answer, please send me a message because I really like to know after all…

Other blogs you might like:
Istanbul and souvenirs with a religious component
Agios Nikolaos
Istanbul street cats

Istanbul religious souvenirs

Posted on March 1, 2012 by wordpressgrethe

Istanbul religious souvenirs

Changes can sometimes be perceived in small signs that function as a symbol for deeper lying norms and values. One of those signs in Istanbul is the way souvenir shops deal with presents that have a religious component. When I was here twenty years ago, the presents with different religious background were thoroughly separated from each other. For example in the jewelry market, jewelry with the ‘bismallah’ sign were sold in shops with a muslem owner, golden crosses were sold in shops with a christian owner. In that time there was no mixed collection of presents with religious component to be found at the same shop; absolutely nowhere!
This is something that has really changed now. In many shops it is possible to find articles with islamic, christian and jewish meaning all together not just in the same shop, but also on the same shelve. For someone like me who missed 20 years of Istanbul development, it feels like a radical change. I asked some questions about it in one souvenir shop and the workers there kindly explained to me that they believe in and respect all the prophets. I tried to explain them how this was in the years ’70, ’80, even begin ’90 but they kept telling me how they feel about it now. They couldn’t explain history to me, why it was different before and why it changed. They had Maria and Jesus hanging in their shop next to islamic holy artefacts, see the picture above, and considered that as normal.
I cannot analyze this yet, it would need a more indept insight but as said I have seen this mixture in many shops in Istanbul city already. These are small signs for what could be a more fundamental change. My first and overall impression is that the selfconfidence of the Turks has increased a lot in daily life, and tolerance often comes with selfconfidence. Another way of looking at it could be that the Christian minorities form no more threat whatsoever to the Turks which allows a different attitude. Finally, it is also possible to look at this businesswise. The Turks were always good in customer service, eager to help customers out, create strong relationships and earn some money; maybe they have just added these new products to their buckets…

Other interesting blogs:
Minorities in Gaziantep
Istanbul: mysterious tickets
Mikve Israel-Immanuel synagogue
Ramallah: Jews removing Christians from Middle East

Iron Lady – too soft a movie

Posted on February 7, 2012 by wordpressgrethe

Iron Lady is a surprising, rather disappointing movie. Years ago, I read Margaret Thatcher’s biographie. I found it very interesting to read about her own views on what she stood for and how she wanted to achieve her goals. She was one of the first women at the international stage. In the Netherlands, until now, we never even had a female Prime Minister. So Margaret Thatcher is a woman we can learn something from.

In the movie The Iron Lady, however, we learn little about her views; the movie doesn’t even explain or pay any attention to the question how she could achieve at all to become Prime Minister as a woman in an ‘all men’ environment. On the contrary, we see most of the time an old woman who is having memories about her past life in short parts and sketches. She is already confused in a starting dementia, imagining her deceased husband around her most of the time and talking to him, sometimes even thinking that she is still Prime Minister.

In the various scenes about her life we see in the first place a woman who is Prime Minister, rather than a Prime Minister who is a woman. The focus is on her style much more than on her ideas, policies, views. Especially for a Prime Minister who lead a country through many changes, this is a surprising and also disappointing focus.

Research has shown that this treatment is reserved especially for female ministers. Journalists for example ask them two to three times more often about their private life and children than they do to their male colleagues. When they report about women in government positions, they report first of all about their style; however for their male colleagues, the main attention is paid to the content of their politics.

Nobody can say that Meryl Streep did not do a good job, because she was brilliant as ever. But she is not responsible for the script that chose to show one of the most influential Prime Ministers of the 20th century from a vulnerable side that is at least partly based on phantasy of the maker rather than as a strong and powerful person with ideas and the competence to realize them. Let’s hope another, more visionary movie maker will stand up and do the work that the Iron Lady movie has neglected to do.

Other blogs you may like:
Turist and the myth of heroism
Lore movie that silences the public
Simone Veil: une vie

Northern Cyprus Heritage (12) cultural approach

Posted on August 1, 2011 by wordpressgrethe

Northern Cyprus Heritage: cultural approach

Culture exists and it doesn’t exist. It is almost impossible to describe a culture in general terms as it is always possible to show members belonging to that culture that differ from the description. There is so much diversity within cultures – diversity that will even increase the coming years – that people who read about the culture they adhere to can strongly disagree about the description given. Nevertheless, I am going to give it a try, knowing already that some people might feel irritation while reading it.

Concerning Northern Cyprus heritage, it seems that Turks are more oriented towards the future while Greeks are more oriented towards the past. In the words Turks and Greeks I include Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, without denying that in many aspects they have an identity of their own, as Cypriots.
The consequence is that Turks are inclined to value and use Northern Cyprus heritage that they see as relevant for the present. This is why the former cathedral of the Lusignans in Lefkosa/Nicosia, the Venetian castle in Girne/Kyrenia and a typical Greek building like the Mavi Kösk / Blue House are well kept and get a good profile in any touristic and cultural presentation. They can show the greatness of the Turks in actual times and the (conquered) enemies they had to deal with. This is also why churches like Ermelaos or monasteries like Sourp Magar and Pandeleimon get no attention at all: what message for the future could be given with that heritage?
I remember a visit I made once to Hattusa in Turkey. The guide told us that Hettites were the high and mighty ancestors of the Turks. He got very very angry when I said there was at least 2000, maybe even 3000 years of difference in time between the Hettites and the Turks arriving in actual Turkey. Clearly this was not just about the facts: this was about the value that Hettite history presented for the greatness and the future of the Turkish people. What I saw as objective truth, was useless for my guide and even upset him.
Greeks have a magnificent ancient past. They had Socrates, Homer, Euripides and so many others, really high science and culture. Then they developed an independent and mighty church that created such beautiful monuments. Memories of that past are kept with the highest care as to remember what Greeks brought to civilization, development, faith and culture in this world: it is their identity. So when a new country exists that calls itself Macedonia, Greeks protest firmly as Macedonia including Alexander the Great is considered as a Greek identity and cannot exist independently of them. The fact that this happens anyway in the 21st century is very difficult for the Greek.
In Northern Cyprus heritage, two cultures meet. Greek see the way the Turks deal with their monuments as a proof that Turks are barbarians (barbaros = the ancient Greek word for a stranger, a non-Greek). Just read some Greek websites where these issues are discussed and you will notice a consequent approach: tell the world how terrible the Turks are. In several blogs I have shown pictures that prove them right.
Turks really do not understand what is expected from them: why would they contribute to prove the greatness of the Greek past? They prefer to invest in what they see as relevant for actual life and development of Northern Cypriot inhabitants. There are few Turkish websites that blame the Greeks. The Turks have given up the territories that they lost in 1974 as well as their monuments, lives and dreams. They are looking forward, not backward. They just ignore the Greek complaints and move on. In several blogs I have shown examples that prove them right.
In Northern Cyprus heritage, two cultures meet. To find each other, they need to listen more. At this moment, they are mainly blaming or judging each other – this is strongly influenced by the problematic political situation of course. However, for heritage it is a lot better if parties listen to each other and recognize and value differences. This could be a starting point to create synergy in diversity. Then both the past and the present will profit!

Graveyards – Northern Cyprus Heritage (10)

Posted on July 30, 2011 by wordpressgrethe

Graveyards in Northern Cyprus

War is not a rational thing. You’d say it is a fight between the living but when the Turkish army took hold of Northern Cyprus, also the dead suffered: many Greek graveyards were destroyed with an anger that is surprising. One wonders who would do such a thing. Don’t we all love our dead and cherish the monuments we give them so that they will not be anonymous and have a place of their own?

I remember about ten years ago there were some ideas in Alba Club in Lapta – I think it was the manager – to restore the demolished graveyard that lies in front of the Club. They thought it was a shame to have that at their entrance. I checked this year but no, this has not been done, see the photographs:
$graveyards\$
In Alsancak, close to the Riverside Holiday Village, lies another demolished graveyard. It is not that people here do not know what it should be like; see the photograph on top of this blog showing the Turkish graveyard right beside it: peaceful, nice and well taken care of. Apparently the Riverside does not feel embarrassed to have this so close to their compound and the community of Alsancak does neither.

Is it possible to hate so much that you also hate the dead of your enemy? Or is it just disinterest and lack of feeling of responsibility, like is the case for other heritage sites? However these were deliberately destroyed and 37 years have passed now: it’s about time to restore the graveyards. Until that time these graveyards lie like open wounds in a society that otherwise is proving to find ways for social and economic development in many aspects.

In 2017 a scientific publication using my pictures! Read about it here

Other blogs you may like:
Agios Nikolaos Limnia
Agios Trias Basilica

Agios Prokopios – Northern Cyprus Heritage (9)

Posted on July 29, 2011 by wordpressgrethe

Agios Prokopios

In Sinirürstü / Syngrasis stands the church of Agios Prokopios. The building looks strong and healthy, and looks better now than it did on a photograph on this site (http://patrimundianorthcyprus.e-monsite.com/rubrique,ayios-prokopios,545036.html), that gives you by the way lots of information about heritage in Northern Cyprus.
The inside is not well preserved and pidgeons seem to rule the place which is not favourable for conservation of course. On the walls of the church’s courtyard we still find the words EOKA and ENOSIS: visible memories of fighting times. Is it a coincidence that the graveyard with its crosses in this courtyard was destroyed?

Other blogs you may like:
Agios Ambrosius church – Northern Cyprus Heritage (14)
Agios Chrisostomos – Northern Cyprus heritage (2)

Gaidhouras – Northern Cyprus Heritage (8)

Posted on July 29, 2011 by wordpressgrethe

Gaidhouras church

The Gaidhouras church in Lefkoniko / Gecitkale is still in a good state. Until five years ago it was used as a mosque. Now the new cami is ready and the church stands empty. Pigeons have conquered the side aisle and this becomes dirty.
Locals say Greek Cypriots visit the church on a regular basis and told the church is much older than the presence of the Greeks in Northern Cyprus. I could not find any evidence about that information, no information at all actually about this church: if you have, it’s welcome!

The inside has a completely intact floor, very beautiful and a spectacular, undamaged wooden upper-floor.

Gecitkale also has a cemetery that is largely intact, although clearly neglected, unlike some other places (see my posts the coming days).
This place has been a bit away from direct fighting, and that works out better for heritage.

Mavi Kösk Blue House – Northern Cyprus heritage (6)

Posted on July 27, 2011 by wordpressgrethe

Mavi Kösk Blue House

There are several sites describing the beauty of the Mavi Kösk Blue House between Camlibell and Sadrazam Köy. Although it is recent heritage (built in 1956) and most probably some army propaganda (see: http://www.cyprus44.com/forums/48200.asp), worth a visit everybody said. Info sites mention large opening hours so what could go wrong? But when I arrived, I was not rewarded by an entrance ticket but by learning more about car diversity.

The Mavi Kösk Blue House lies in a military camp so you pass along a soldiers barrier before approaching it. It is close to the monastery Agios Pandeleimon that I also visited. But I couldn’t pass, the guy said, because my car was a rental car from the South of Cyprus. First I thought he made a joke, but he was serious. Here I am, a Dutch person speaking quite some Turkish and visiting Northern Cyprus since many years and I was left out while others entered because I had the wrong car. Being discriminated because of your car only, I really never heard about that kind of ‘ayrimcilik’ before. Neither is it mentioned on any site about the Blue House, but the guy seriously told me ‘go change your car’, these were the rules. My offer to park the car and walk to the Mavi Kösk Blue House (only 500-1000 meters) was fiercely rejected because civilians can’t walk on a military site. Could have known that, Turks never walk anyway.

They didn’t offer me a hike to make the bridge between these few meters, they really sent me off. I think it was my first time in thirty years meeting with Turks that hospitality was denied. My experience so far was: they always find a solution, especially when you speak the language and know the culture. So they left me in shock.

It made me think of Germany some time ago. In the Netherlands, we used to drive the car we want. One could see a millionaire in a Fiat (a former Prime Minister was known for that) and a poor man in a BMW. In Germany this was not possible at that time. Every class had its car and everybody sticked with the rules and that made the world orderly and predictable. Germany changed, and so will hopefully one day the Turkish army. It is not the car that is the enemy, but the person inside it. The next spy might show up in a Turkish car….or in a car rented in the North of Cyprus. Hope Turkish soldiers will learn to see the difference 🙂

Other blogs you may like:
Elections in Turkey
A kastel is not a castle in Gaziantep
Museum of the history of Cypriot coinage
Alaniçi: moving memories of 1955 – 1974 (5)

Vrysi – Northern Cyprus Heritage (3)

Posted on July 26, 2011 by wordpressgrethe

Vrysi

This piece was written July 2011. For update after visit December 2018, see below.

The neolithic site of Vrysi (ca. 4000BC) is an important site where many artefacts were found – to be seen in Girne’s museum. It is located inside the Acapulco Resort close to Catalköy, between the new restaurant and the sea and can only be reached via a ‘staff only’ backpath along the kitchens. However, all of the staff will be happy to help you out for a visit (just don’t ask for Vrysi cause they wouldn’t know but for ‘old houses’ and ‘history’) and with the purpose of visiting Vrysi, one has free entrance (checked that 🙂 to the Acapulco resort where every other thing has its price.

Vrysi is in a very bad state, apparently nobody is looking after this site. Of course it is difficult (see this book page) to preserve a site built of rubble and mud. Well, as far as I can see neither the Acapulco resort nor the Turkish Cypriot government give it even a try.

Some walls crumble down, others are invaded by the anemons that won’t do them any good, for sure. Maybe it is the site’s luck and survival that so few people visit Vrysi that Acapulco just built a new restaurant in front of it and that the staff doesn’t even know it’s name. However if this situation lasts another ten years, Vrysi might be lost.

Update after visit December 2018
I tried to visit the Vrysi site again through the backpath along the kitchens. A member of the kitchen staff stopped me in a rather intimidating way, an unusual way. There were no historical remains there, he shouted, there had never been a site like I described: ‘did I understand or what?’

terrace view

I left surprised but decided not to be sent off just like that. I entered the restaurant and spoke to two staff members who also denied the existence of a neolithic site. One of them called the manager. That manager was absolutely not happy but he did know what I talked about and said he would show me the remains of Vrysi. We went to the terrace outside where men were working to renew the terrace. From this spot I could take some pictures. Then the manager led me outside and waited until I left. He was polite and very unfriendly in the same time.

vrysi beach view

Acapulco is developing on all sides (hotel, casino, spa, beach, restaurant) and it is a beautiful place. Nothing wrong with this complex, their only bad luck is that they have Vrysi on their site that possibly hampers their ambitions. On the other hand, they could do something for it. Acapulco clearly thrives; why not spend a little bit of money and care to neolithic heritage? Think of the way Hotel Derlon in Maastricht has integrated Roman findings in their concept.

Other blogs about prehistoric findings you may like:
Gay caveman in Czech Republic
Museum of Art and Archaeology of the Périgord
Travels with Herodotus

Freedom Day Northern Cyprus

Posted on July 20, 2011 by wordpressgrethe

Freedom Day Northern Cyprus

Today I met with an old Cypriot friend. He sees his identity in the first place as Cypriot, then also as Turkish Cypriot. We saw each other in the center of Girne (Kyrenia) in the very North of Cyprus where the celebrations for the freedom of Northern Cyprus, the Turkish side of Cyprus were fully happening. 20th July 1974 the Turkish army started their action to take over charge of this part of the island, a peace operation in the eyes of some, an illegal invasion in the eyes of others. This date is now called Freedom Day.

Many people came today to the harbour of Girne for Freedom Day to see the military flight show that was indeed impressive. I tried to take some photographs but the jets should have slowed down a bit for more successful pictures – you see some poor results above this blog, couldn’t do any better sorry.

Discussion was heard whether showing freedom by military force was:
1. a male expression of freedom – women would show it otherwise
2. a middle eastern way of expressing – western europe would show it otherwise
3. a way to impress and frigthen the Greeks – in this version, the jets first made a tour around the green line to make the Greeks nervous before arriving in Girne for the show
4. just fun – it was indeed a perfect and exciting show
5. a way to make the Turkish Cypriots feel safe: look how much power we have, and we protect you

My friend as well as many other Cypriots was desillusioned when there was the UN-referendum for the unification of Cyprus in 2004 and the Turkish Cypriots said yes while the Greek Cypriots said no. Strange enough the Greek Cypriots were consequently rewarded by EU membership and the Turkish Cypriots were left out. Time will show whether this was the last (spoiled) opportunity for the Greek Cypriots to restore a common Cypriot identity, above national ‘homeland’ feelings and group identities. The North of Cyprus is now developing as a more independant Turkish identity, mainlanders start to live there and bring an ‘all Turkish’ culture in – the Turkish Cypriot identity is hardly surviving in these circumstances.

When I met my friend earlier today he asked me ‘did you really come over to see this event?’. I said in a joking tune, I wouldn’t miss any opportunity to celebrate Freedom Day on Northern Cyprus. ‘Oh, I feel so free’ he said. He didn’t travel for many years because the Turkish Cypriot passport would not be recognized by any country but Turkey. The Greek Cypriot passport does not apply. And he refuses to ask for a Turkish one that indeed he can obtain and that will be recognized. His identity does not formally exist.

The Turkish army, I do believe that, has guaranteed safety for the Turkish Cypriot community here. But after 37 years they are still on this island because the necessary followup – the political and economical support for Turkish Cypriots – was never realized. So the question is not: why are there military flight shows on a Freedom Day? But the question is: which politicians and entrepreneurs will bring better alternatives for Cyprus – when?!

Other blogs you may like to read:
Gaziantep castle: panorama and nationalism
Gaziantep war museum
Alaniçi: moving memories of 1955 – 1974 (5)

Gay caveman in Czech republic

Posted on April 12, 2011 by wordpressgrethe

Gay caveman in Czech Republic

Archaeologists in the Czech Republic say that they found the first ever known gay caveman from Prehistory. Why interprete that our caveman was gay? Good question because, as you might suspect, only a skeleton was found so it could not be determined from his appearance or so. Well there are two main reasons for that:
1. he was buried head to the east like women always were, men were buried head to the west
2. he was buried with pots and jugs, not with weapons and tools like a real man would be
Read all about it at http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2011/04/07/2011-04-07_archaeologists_discover_firstever_gay_caveman_in_czech_republic_man_buried_with_.html

News articles like these are really funny, they show us not a lot about Prehistory but all about perceptions in the 21st century. Why would a man that was buried in a traditionally women’s way be gay? What has gay got to do with femininity? Some people in the 21st century think that being gay is close to being a woman, but we haven’t got a clue whether Prehistory had the same kind of stereotyping ideas about masculinity and femininity.

I have another suggestion, I think our caveman might have been some kind of prehistoric karate teacher. When I remember my karate teacher, I still see the eyeliner and other make-up he used in a time when not one single man was using make up in the Netherlands and not one tough guy would support being in the neighbourhood of such a man. All the tough guys were talking about it but non of them would dare to say a word about it when the karate teacher was there. They’d just shut up and follow his instructions….

So I think the caveman was a some kind of prehistoric karate teacher who loved to cook and who didn’t care to be different. His power was so strong that even after his death they followed his instructions for burial though it was contrary to all traditions. Let’s face it: don’t we all just love this type of karate teachers?!

Blogs you may also like:
Gay penguins Buddy and Pedro
Social safety at work for gays and lesbians

Beware of the dog

Grethe van Geffen

culture and diversity

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