Saturday 18 April 2009

Friday 17 April 2009

VIDEO ABOUT TURKEY

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Turkish/46986441801#/video/video.php?v=35382889780&ref=mf

Monuments : ANITKABIR


Anıtkabir (literally, "memorial tomb") is the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the leader of Turkish War of Independence and the founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey. It is located in Ankara and was designed by architects Professor Emin Onat and Assistant Professor Orhan Arda, who won the competition held by the Turkish Government in 1941 for a "monumental mausoleum" for Atatürk out of a total of 49 international proposals.
The site is also the final resting place of İsmet İnönü, the second President of Turkey, who was interred there after he died in 1973. His tomb faces the Atatürk Mausoleum, on the opposite side of the Ceremonial Ground.


On 10 November 2007, 69th anniversary of Atatürk's death, 546,620 people, of whom 544,200 were Turkish nationals and 2,420 were foreigners, visited Anıtkabir setting an all time high record of daily visitors. In the first 11 months of 2007, Anıtkabir received over 11 million visitors, surpassing the total number of visitors for any whole year. In 2006, a total of 8,150,000 people and in 2005, a total of 3,800,000 people visited Anıtkabir.


There are four main parts to Anıtkabir: the Street of Lions, the Ceremonial Plaza, the Hall of Honor (location of Atatürk's tomb) and the Peace Park that surrounds the monument.

Street of Lions
The approach to the monument is a 262-meter-long pedestrian walkway that is lined on both sides by twelve pairs of lions carved in a style like the Hittite archaeological finds. The lions represent Anatolia and are shown seated to simultaneously represent both power and peace. A five centimeter gap separates the paving stones on the Street of Lions to ensure that visitors take their time and observe respectful behavior on their way to Atatürk's tomb.

Ceremonial Plaza
The Ceremonial Plaza is situated at the end of the Lions Road. The area is 129 m. long and 84 m. wide and was designed to accommodate 15,000 people. The floor is decorated with 373 rug and kilim (Turkish carpet) patterns, and is made of travertine in various colors.

Hall of Honor
The Hall of Honor is the iconic symbol of Anıtkabir and the location of Atatürk's tomb. The structure is 41.65 x 57.35 m. in plan and rises to a height of 17 m, with the columns themselves measuring 14.4 meters.
Atatürk's tomb is situated right under the symbolic 40-ton sarcophagus in the ground floor of The Hall of Honor, and Atatürk's corpse is buried below this in a special Tomb Room in the basement level. The room has an octagonal plan in Seljuk and Ottoman architectural styles, and its pyramidal ceiling is inlaid with gold mosaics.

Peace Park
The park that surrounds the monument is called a Peace Park in honor of Atatürk's famous expression "Peace at home, peace in the world." It contains around 50,000 decorative trees, flowers and shrubs in 104 varieties, donated from around 25 countries.

Towers, statues, museum
Within the Anitkabir site there are ten towers situated in a symmetrical arrangement. These symbolize the ideals that influenced the Turkish nation and the creation of the Republic of Turkey. The towers are similar in terms of planning and structure: they are rectangular, close to a square, with pyramidal roofs. Bronze arrowheads are placed on the top of the roofs, like in traditional Turkish nomad tents. Inside the towers, geometric ornamentation inspired by traditional Turkish carpet (kilim) patterns and motifs, can be found on the towers' ceilings in fresco technique. There are also inscriptions of quotes by Atatürk that correspond to the theme of that tower.

Towers:
Independence,Freedom, Mehmetçik,Victory, Peace, 23rd April,National Pact and Reforms



Tuesday 14 April 2009

Famous People


Mustafa Kemal ATATURK (19 May 1881–10 November 1938) was a Turkish army officer, revolutionary statesman, and founder of the Turkish Republic as well as its first president.

Mustafa Kemal established himself as an intelligent and extremely capable military commander while serving as a division commander at the Battle of Gallipoli. He later fought with distinction on the eastern Anatolian and Palestinian fronts, making a name for himself during World War I.[4] Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire at the hands of the Allies, and the subsequent plans for its partition, Mustafa Kemal led the Turkish national movement in what would become the Turkish War of Independence. Having established a provisional government in Ankara, he defeated the forces sent by the Allies of World War I. His successful military campaigns led to the liberation of the country and to the establishment of the Republic of Turkey.

As the first President of Turkey, Atatürk embarked upon a major program of political, economic, and cultural reforms. An admirer of the Age of Enlightenment, Atatürk sought to transform the ruins of the Ottoman Empire into a modern, democratic, secular, nation-state. The principles of Atatürk's reforms are often referred to as Kemalism and continue to form the political foundation of the modern Turkish state.




Mehmet Okur, Utah Jazz player and 2007 NBA All-Star
Utah Jazz – No. 13
Center-Power forward
Born: May 26, 1979 (1979-05-26) (age 29)
Yalova, Turkey
Nationality Turkish
Height 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Weight 263 lb (119.3 kg)
League NBA
Draft 2nd round, 38th overall, 2001
Detroit Pistons
Pro career 1997–present
Former teams Oyak Renault (1997–1998)
Tofaş S.K. (1998–2000)
Efes Pilsen (2000–2002)
Detroit Pistons (2002–2004)
Awards 2007 NBA All-Star
1-Time NBA Champion
Profile Info Page



Ara Güler (born August 16, 1928, Istanbul, Turkey) is a Turkish photojournalist of descent, nicknamed "the Eye of Istanbul" or "the Photographer of Istanbul"








Fatih Akın- German film Director of Turkish descent Fatih Akın (August 25, 1973 in Hamburg, Germany) is a European Film Award winning German film director of Turkish descent.







Nasuh Mahruki
Ali Nasuh Mahruki (born May 21, 1968) is a professional mountain climber, writer, photographer and documentary producer. An all-round outdoor sportsman, he climbed to the summit of Mount Everest and was the first ever Turkish person to climb the Seven Summits.
Between 1992 and 1994, Mahruki climbed the five highest former Soviet mountains in Asia (Khan Tengri, Lenin Peak, Peak Korzhenevskaya, Communism Peak and Peak Pobeda), which are all over 7,000 metres high. This achievement gained him the honorific title "Snow Leopard", awarded by the Russian Climbing Federation. This recognition led him to his high altitude mountaineering career.


Sertab Erener (born December 4, 1964 in Istanbul) is a Turkish pop star and also a cross-over soprano with a vocal range that extends to high F. She is one of the most successful female Turkish pop singers in her homeland, and is considered one of the divas of Turkish pop music. In Europe, she is best known for winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with her hit song "Everyway That I Can", although she has had many other achievements outside Turkey.







Tarkan
Tarkan Tevetoğlu (born October 17, 1972), popularly known as Tarkan, is a World Music award winning German-born Turkish pop singer. Tarkan has been known for the use of sexual and romantic themes in his work and has been nicknamed the "Prince Of Pop" by the media.He has also been listed by Rhapsody as a key artist in the history of European pop music, with his signature song "Şımarık" as a keystone track that moved the genre forward.




Hadise
Hadise Açıkgöz, (born October 22, 1985 in Mol, Belgium), best known as just Hadise, is a TMF award winning Belgian-Turkish R&B singer-songwriter and an occasional presenter.She is currently in the process of making her third studio album and also preparing to represent Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song "Düm Tek Tek". Hadise will be the first singer not born in Turkey to represent the country.

Sunday 12 April 2009

The Biggest Cities: Izmir




Izmir is the third largest city of Turkey after Istanbul and Ankara.It's located by the Aegean Sea. The total population is 2,65o,000.İzmir is widely regarded as one of the most progressive Turkish cities in terms of its values, lifestyle, dynamism and gender roles.









MAIN SIGHTS

1. Karşıyaka
2. Konak
3. The Roman Celsus Library
4. Ephesus Ancient Theatre





The Biggest Cities: Ankara






ANKARA
Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and the second largest city. It has nearly 4 million population.It is in the middle of Turkey.


MAIN SIGHTS

1.Anıtkabir ''Atatürk's Mausoleum''
2. Çamkoru Scouting And Camping Site
3.Ankara Esztergom Castle
4.Atakule
5. Kuğulu Park (a naturel park famous with the swans live there)







Istanbul : Centuries-old City

The Bosphorus Bridge
at night