Columbia University geologists William Ryan and Walter Pitman wondered what could explain the preponderance of flood legends. Their theory: As the Ice Age ended and glaciers melted, a wall of seawater surged from the Mediterranean into the Black Sea.
• During the Ice Age, Ryan and Pitman argue, the Black Sea was an isolated freshwater lake surrounded by farmland.

• About 12,000 years ago, toward the end of the Ice Age, Earth began growing warmer. Vast sheets of ice that sprawled over the Northern Hemisphere began to melt. Oceans and seas grew deeper as a result.

• About 7,000 years ago the Mediterranean Sea swelled. Seawater pushed northward, slicing through what is now Turkey.

• Funneled through the narrow Bosporus, the water hit the Black Sea with 200 times the force of Niagara Falls. Each day the Black Sea rose about six inches (15 centimeters), and coastal farms were flooded.

• Seared into the memories of terrified survivors, the tale of the flood was passed down through the generations and eventually became the Noah story.

http://chadparmet.home.comcast.net/~chadparmet/BlackSea/overview/blacksea.html


Demirci valley

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4DNcRi2aXY

http://www.tavas.gov.tr/ingilizcet.htm

'Broken Angel' getting ready to hit the theaters

Evrim Kavcar


The movie that many Turkish-Americans have been waiting for over a year now is in its last stages of editing before it hits the theaters in mid March 2008.

Following the four-week shooting in early June in Los Angeles, Broken Angel is set to win the hearts of every Turkish-American and anyone who appreciates an artistic and well-told story.

An adaptation of Chicago resident Tulay Pirlant's novel 'Windy City' (Ruzgarli Sehir), the film tells the real life story of Ebru, a Turkish girl who came to America in the 80s and fell prey to the image of fame and fortune.

Adapted by Leslie Bates and directed by Aclan Buyukturkoglu, the quality of the acting and directing in Broken Angel has exceeded expectations so much so that it is currently being submitted to Sundance for its US premiere.


Starring Nehir Erdogan, Aysenil Arda, Nilufer Acikalin and Hollywood heartthrob Patrick Muldoon, Broken Angel benefits from American cinematography techniques and carries the European artistic sensibility, all the while passionately moving and bonding with its audience in a typical Turkish style.



This cultural fusion however should come as a no surprise as Turkish-American director Aclan Buyukturkoglu brings in many years of experience from his background in acting and directing at the state theater in Turkey as well as his masters and filming experience in the US.



With its gripping storyline and high caliber filmmaking, Broken Angel promises quite an international appeal, daring us to dream of potential awards, now granted to a Turkish story for a change. Inshallah!



For more information on Broken Angel, please visit the official website at www.brokenangelfilm.com

Ubeyd Korbey, chairman of Turkey’s Anti-Smoking Association, said that cigarettes, believed to be one of the worst addictions in the world, takes millions of victims every year, both smokers and non-smokers.

Noting that 11,000 out of 114,000 victims of smoking in Turkey last year were the victims of secondhand smoke, Korbey said: “I mean these people didn’t smoke, but they died of cancer and similar diseases caused by smoking. The most painful fact is that 1,600 of them were babies and children who didn’t even know what cigarettes are.”

Korbay stressed that the number of people in Turkey who died from the aftereffects of smoke in the year 2006 rose by 2,000 over 2005. He said 23 million people smoke and that 3 million of them are under the age of 18. “It means that in the following years the number of those dying from secondhand smoke will again exceed 100,000. I suggest that smokers stay away from cigarettes so they can see their grandchildren and have a healthy life when they grow old,” he said, reported the Anatolia news agency.

(Zaman)

Unfortunately a dam project here will destroy everything there. The Ilisu Dam construction started already.

Hasankeyf is a archaeological site that dates from bronze age. It was a major military fort on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire. Then it became a major town on the silk road and grew into importance during the medieval times when it became the capital of Turkish Artukid Dynasty.

FACTS:

1- Germany, Austria and EU is financing the dam. Great Britain pulled back its support to save antiquity.

2- The money can be spend to built other dam projects on the same river elsewhere, saving this ancient town.

3- The economic life of the dam to be built is estimated only 60 years.

4- The geological rock formation under Hasankeyf is not strong enough for large amounts of water. The dam lake will collapse even those parts that won't be submerged.

5- The archaeological excavations can not be finished in time; these monuments can not be carried elsewhere. All of the monuments and archaeological layers will be destroyed when submerged by water erosion.

6- All of the population (thousands) will have to move elsewhere; they will loose high quality farming land as well.

for the wee hours:
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=3_MITMWmaZ4&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZjBQYTIHr8

Although in his 80s, Arthur Bonner is not one to stop his adventures in life. The veteran foreign correspondent has been living in Turkey for four years while working on his book about the country’s history and the Islamic movement

http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=91990

Cacik: question, who will finance your last idea?