In recent years, for many, Bayrams have become nothing more than a chance for a vacation, rather than maintaining any real religious significance. This means that all forms of public transport are fully booked, roads are very busy and accommodation of all types in the resorts will be scarce and expensive.

http://www.mymerhaba.com/main/content.asp_Q_id_E_http://www.mymerhaba.com/Bayrams-in-Turkey-119.html

Kurtulur dil, tarih, ahlak ve iman;
Görürler, nasýlmýþ, neymiþ kahraman!
Yer ve gök su vermem dediði zaman,
Her tarlayý sular, arkýmýz bizim...

They survive, the language, history, morality and faith;

They see, how, what´s the hero!

When earth and sky do not give water,

It waters every crop, our culvert...

ismet özel - münacaat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBBX0Hy74es&feature=related

NESET ERTAS - Naz Eyleme (Gurban Olduðum)

 

NESET ERTAS TURKULER TURKEY TURKIYE HALK MUZIK SAZ BAGLAMA TURQUIE

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/512877//

An Arabic traveler who engraved his name on a block of red sandstone over 1,300 years ago may help solve a question about the Qur´an that has vexed historians for hundreds of years: Why was the text seemingly written without diacritical marks?

Diacritical marks, which include accent marks, tildes, umlauts and other notations, help to distinguish one letter from another and aid in pronunciation. When added or removed, they can completely change the meaning of a word or sentence.

Analysis of the recently found sandstone inscription, which predates the earliest known copies of the Qur´an, determined that it reads: "In the name of Allah/ I, Zuhayr, wrote (this) at the time ´Umar died/year four/And twenty."

According to researcher Ali ibn Ibrahim Ghabban, who, with his wife, discovered the 644 A.D. inscription northwest of Saudi Arabia, "It is an immensely important find, since it is our earliest dated Arabic inscription."

Ghabban, a member of the Supreme Commission for Tourism, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, added that it also "shows evidence of a fully-fledged system of diacritical marks."

A paper describing the find appears in the latest issue of the journal Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/11/18/islamic-inscription.html

 Is it just a brand logo? Is it an ancient symbol of the moon goddess that the Turks unwittingly imported into Islam? Or of the pre-Islamic moon goddess of southern Arabia? Or does it have a symbolic value - a secret - that has now become obscure and unfamiliar to modern Muslims? Modern Turks will themselves tell you that the crescent and star is an ancient Turkoman symbol that their nomad ancestors carried across Central Asia and established as the banner of Islam upon adopting the faith. Is it then merely an ethnic symbol after all? Perhaps its association with Islam is accidental and it has no profound meaning? We must remember that modernity is a forgetting. The hilal emerged as the emblem of Islam from the tumult of the collapse of the Caliphate and thus from the religion´s passage into modernity. Is it a symbol that survived from the closing phases of classical Islamic civilization but of which the significance has been forgotten?

There is certainly no consensus of opinion as to what the symbol actually means. This is why there are so many different variations used on flags and other Muslim insignia. The common elements are a crescent and a star, but there is no standard way to arrange them, except to say that the star is very often intruding into or is placed within the dark of the moon´s face. How does this represent Islam? What does it mean? The crescent alone is easy to explain: it represents the crescent moons by which the Muslim calendar is calculated, the hilal moon. Sighting and calculating the hilal is a Muslim past time today and in previous centuries was a serious scientific endeavour. It is understandable and appropriate as an emblem of Islam, and indeed the crescent is often seen portrayed alone, as in the Red Crescent of the emergency humanitarian organisation, the Muslim equivalent to the International Red Cross. But the crescent is usually accompanied by a star, and this creates difficulties. Which star? Which astronomical (or astrological) configuration is being depicted? And how does this appropriately represent Islam? It seems there are no clear answers to any of these questions.

http://www.theabodeofpeace.com/hilal.html

Israel´s national intelligence agency Mossad has been behind a failed coup in Turkey, the Turkish daily newspaper, Milliyet reports.

A secret investigation into detained Ergenekon group members and other studies outside Turkey indicate that Mossad orchestrated the coup plot against the Turkish government, the report says.

The Ergenekon group is a Turkish neo-nationalist organization with alleged links to the military, members of which have been arrested on charges of plotting to foment unrest in the country.

Investigators uncovered evidence that show a Jewish rabbi named Tuncay Guney, who worked for Mossad and fled to Canada in 2004, was a key figure behind attempts to overthrow the Turkish government.

A document uncovered this week by the Sabah daily shows how Guney purposefully infiltrated Ergenekon and another organization known as JITEM, an illegal intelligence unit in the gendarmerie suspected of hundreds of murders and kidnappings .

The rabbi was taken out of Turkey and sent to the US for protection after his identity was exposed in an investigation by Turkish police, according to Sabah.

Guney is also reported to have links with Israeli espionage activities in Egypt. According to Egyptian security forces, at least one of three suspects currently being pursued by the Egyptian government for spying was in contact with Tuncay Guney.

Meanwhile, a separate report by Turkish daily Yeni Safak has claimed that Turkish security forces have discovered some bags in Guney´s Istanbul house that include the Israeli flag and Mossad´s slogan.

According to an earlier report by Aksamanother Turkish daily, Mossad has been involved in several ambiguous events in Turkey.

The report claimed that Turkish security forces have discovered documents that disclose information concerning suspicious investment and economic activities by certain Jewish businessmen in Turkey.

The Jewish businessmen are alleged to have had significant relations with individuals, political groups and cultural organizations, which investigations show are affiliated to the Ergenekon group.

Turkish security forces have detained many members of the Ergenekon group, including retired army generals, politicians, popular lawyers and famous journalists. The individuals currently face trail on charges of plotting to overthrow Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=77062&sectionid=351020204

Is it more difficult for a Turk to elect a Kurd than it is for an American to elect a black American as president?"

For some segments of society and even for a majority of us, this question might seem pointless, even dangerous.

Yet this is the question I found myself asking in the early hours of the morning.

* * *

Those who find this question meaningless could be justified in their thinking, reasoning that:

Hasn’t Turkey ever had a Kurdish origin prime minister or president before now?

Yes, it is true, Turkey has.

But, none of them chaired their positions by openly declaring their "Kurdish identity".

Therefore, it might be better to rephrase the question in this way.

"Would a Turk elect to president an individual who openly says ´I am a Kurd´?"

This is the true test of democracy.

What would your sincere answer to this question be?

Can you comfortably answer "yes" to this question?

These days for many of us, I would assume it would be difficult to say "yes".

In other words, I repeat that a revolution like an "American Revolution" as covered in today’s Hurriyet daily headline news, is even less likely to become a reality in Turkey.

* * *

If this estimation is an expression of one of our country´s facts then we also need to seek the answer to the following question.

Why we are like this?

Do we lack sufficient character to reach this level of democratic maturity?

I do not believe this is the case.

The democratic maturity of the Turkish nation is already at a level that could make many of the world´s oldest democracies jealous.

If we cannot comfortably answer "yes" to this question, the reason is not only the mistakes made in name of the "Turks" over the past 25 years, but as importantly, those made in the name of  "Kurds".

The American public, who just 15-20 years ago were involved in displaying the most primitive examples of racism, can now elect a second generation black man as president.

That is because Americans do not have a terrorist organization like the PKK.

They brought to an end groups like the Ku Klux Klan and the Black Panthers.

Therefore the president has no cause to refer to his skin color, which is his ethnic identity, during his presidential victory speech, because it is not an issue.

This is why Republicans are being defeated in states known for their racist stance.

He does not make a show of his demand for change by covering them with black veils, headscarves or making being black the issue.

I asked this question to myself at five o´clock in the morning and began to think.

What is the cost to Turkey of basing politics on religion and ethnic identity?

Turkey will hold local elections next year.

What do the terrorist PKK and pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party say?

"Kurds should vote for Kurds."

More than this, they say, a Kurd should vote for Kurds supported by the PKK...

What emerges from this thinking?

"Turks should vote for Turks..."

What about the streets and regions choked full of uncollected garbage.

This is not important...

And change is once again left to the future...

This is why the U.S. is a nation of people who "have dreams" and can realize these dreams.

While our country is a nation of poor that awakes from their nightmares drenched in sweat, each and every night...

http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/home/10297302.asp?gid=244

In Today´s Hurriyett

http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/lifestyle/10476079.asp?gid=244