Greeks and Turks have more in common than they might like to admit. First of all, the food. Giant slabs of meat roasting on a stick - call it kebab or call it souvlaki, it´s the same thing. Then there is spanakopita, or borek in Turkish, olives, white beans in tomato sauce (fasuliye or fasolada) and the sweets: baklava, helva, kadayif, not to mention all the yogurt....

They have many words in common, too, despite the complete difference in language. They both drive with a devil-may-care attitude, and use the already narrow sidewalks as parking lanes. Both countries are fiercely proud of their history, language and culture - if you listen to a Greek, they invented everything, if you listen to a Turk, their country is the very birthplace of civilization. And if you have problems with the evil eye, they will sell you the same charms in Athens as in Istanbul.

http://debnemens.blogspot.com/

I do care about the well-being of
these poor kids.

A Turkish minister on Monday accused Sarah Ferguson, Britain´s Duchess of York, of smearing Turkey´s image on a TV show about orphanages in Turkey to be aired on a British television channel later this week.

Nimet Cubukcu, the minister in charge of women and family affairs, said the television program is timed to air at around the same time as the European Union is scheduled to release a report on Turkey´s progress toward membership.

"It is obvious that in this incidence, Sarah Ferguson is trying to leave Turkey in the midst of a smudge campaign," Cubukcu said.

more from BBC News:

Children´s plight moves princess

The princess said the experience left her feeling angry and upset The plight of abandoned children in a Turkish orphanage made Princess Eugenie cry, pictures show. She accompanied her mother the Duchess of York and an undercover news team to investigate conditions in an Istanbul centre for 60 disabled children. Afterwards the princess said the experience had made her "so angry", and her "eyes had been opened". The Royal pair also visited Romanian institutions as part of the special report for ITV1´s Tonight programme. The princess told Tonight: "In the hustle and bustle of a cosmopolitan city, in a popular tourist destination it´s hard to comprehend places like that exist. My eyes have been opened." The duchess donned a wig and headscarf disguise She wore a disguise of a black wig and headscarf to visit the Saray institution near the Turkish city of Ankara, where more than 700 disabled children are housed. Inside she and the reporting team found children tied to their beds or left in cots all day - not even being taken out to be fed. One child, who was not allowed outside, was discovered crawling along the corridor to feel the sun on his face. Her sister Princess Beatrice also went with her mother to institutions in Romania with the programme. The duchess, who works with a number of children´s charities, wanted to see for herself whether conditions were improving for orphans and disabled children in Romania following a similar investigation by the team three years ago. The duchess said: "Everybody always rushes to what the front page says, or what´s sexy, or the glamorous Hollywood party where you´re raising money for paediatric aids, which is fantastic and a great job. "But there is still a child in Romania saying ´help me´." The programme will be broadcast on ITV1 on 6 November.

Have a look at Gianlorenzo Bernini´s antique marbel statue of the sleeping HERMAPHRODITOS in the Louvre in Paris. Half woman, half man.

http://flickr.com/photos/magusita/2489583872/

Vineyard, were you referring to this person or not. I might be mistaken?

The Babur Nama, a journal kept by the founder of the Mughal Empire in India, gives a detailed accounts of Babur´s conquests in Central Asia, Afghanistan and India. Besides recording his military achievements Babur emerges as a sensitive aesthete, naturalist, poet and lover. But he is also candid about his personal weaknesses like his love for alcohol and his fascination for a 12 year-old boy. Writer and journalist Dilip Hiro has edited the new version of Babur Nama. Here he talks about Babur and his journal.

For Lady in Red:

For the record:  some people are here in TLC for learning the language, yet others like me are here for learning about the Turkish Culture, poetry, cuisine.

For those who like to dive:

http://www.ursispaltenstein.ch/blog/weblog.php?/weblog/comments/6130

Many Australians regard the defeat of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (Anzac) at Gallipoli as the birth of the nation - its first major military action.

http://news.bbc.co.uk:80/2/low/asia-pacific/7703747.stm

THE WALNUT TREE

My head is a foaming cloud, inside and outside I’m the sea.
I am a walnut tree in Gülhane park in Istanbul,
an old walnut tree with knots and scars.
You don’t know this and the police don’t either.

I am a walnut tree in Gülhane Park,
My leaves sparkle like fish in water,
my leaves flutter like silk handkerchiefs.
Break one off, my darling, and wipe your tears.
My leaves are my eyes, and I am shocked at what I see.

I look at you, Istanbul, with a hundred thousand eyes
and my leaves beat, beat with a hundred thousand heards.
I am a walnut tree in Gülhane Park.
You don’t know this and the police don’t either.

(July 1, 1957)

NAZIM HÝKMET-1901-1963

and what happens to those members who have no knowledge of the Turkish language, and are unable to read what he composed: