Day: August 4, 2021

Turkish public broadcaster TRT will have a strong presence at the 27th Sarajevo Film Festival in the city, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The contributions to the festival, set to take place on Aug. 13-20, come in the form of five films produced or co-produced by the TRT, said the broadcaster in a statement.

The festival will kick off with director Danis Tanovic’s Not So Friendly Neigbourhood, a product of TRT, the statement said.

In the In Focus program of the festival, director Cem Ozay’s Forgiveness and Jasmila Zbanic’s Quo Vadis, Aida? – both of which are TRT co-productions – will compete.

Another TRT co-production, director Bekir Bulbul’s To Carnations of a Song, will be part of the festival’s Cinelink Work in Progress section.

Hesitation Wound by director Selman Nacar, co-produced by TRT, will also be presented in the festival. The Cinelink Industry Days section of the festival selected it for the co-production and drama strand.

TRT is a festival partner of the 27th Sarajevo Film Festival.

* Writing by Ahmet Gencturk

Source: Anadolu Agency

Just a day before Christopher Columbus departed from the port of Palos de la Frontera in southern Spain to embark on an expedition that would change world history, the last ship carrying Jews left Spain on Aug. 2, 1492.

The tragic ending of the Jewish presence in Spain, tracing back to Biblical times, paved the way for the opening of a new chapter in Turkish-Jewish relations which had profound impacts on the history of these two nations but also the Near East and Europe.

Of the expelled Spanish Jews, also known as Sephardic Jews, many at the invitation of Sultan Bayezid II, who sent a fleet to evacuate them and offered them Ottoman citizenship and complete religious liberty, settled in the Ottoman domain. In fact, long before 1492, European Jewry was aware of the favorable conditions that existed for Jews in the Ottoman realm.

As such, Romaniote, Rabbanite, and Karaite Jewish communities grew, prospered, and were joined by Jews from non-Ottoman territories from the Near East between the late 14th and the mid-15th century.

It was against this background, Chief Rabbi of Jewish Community of Edirne Yitzhak Sarfati, a German Jew migrated to the Ottoman Empire, who urged his brethren across Europe by stating: “I proclaim to you that Turkey is a land wherein nothing is lacking, and where, if you will, all shall yet be well with you. The way to the Holy Land lies open to you through Turkey. Is it not better for you to live under Moselems than under Christians?” [1]

The urge to re-make Istanbul a populated and wealthy world city after its conquest in 1453 gave a new impetus to Ottoman efforts of attracting more Jews, who were at the time were increasingly being subjected to pogroms and forceful conversion campaigns across different parts of Europe. However, the fact that Jewish immigration continued to the Ottoman realm after Istanbul became a vivid and prosperous world capital by the mid-16th century, and they were able to settle in various parts of the empire, including Salonica, Valona, Kavala, Bursa, Ankara, and Palestine provinces that Ottoman policy toward Jews was not only based on pragmatical considerations.

As an Islamic state, Ottoman Empire was under the religious obligation of providing the same protection for its non-Muslim constituents, including Jews, as for Muslims, in return for a poll tax, jizya. Furthermore, Halil Inalcik highlights that Ottoman state tradition practiced Islamic law concerning non-Muslims in its most liberal interpretation, particularly towards Jews who provided a significant amount of wealth, skills, and information to the state without pursuing conspiring against the state.[2]

In the times, Jews were being persecuted in Europe basically only for being Jew, Ottomans allowed them to maintain their traditional communal organization, autonomy in their internal affairs, and take part in prominent positions in the economy and state apparatus. What is more, they took measures to protect them against fraud and oppression.

Therefore, Jewish communities across the vast Ottoman domain, from the Balkans to Asia Minor and the Levant, flourished thanks to the protection offered by Ottoman state law, Islamic law, and supervision of state bureaucracy as confirmed by contemporary Jewish, Ottoman, and European accounts.

In return, Jews profoundly contributed to the Ottoman economy, finances and urban development, industrialization. At least equally important, most Jews did not forget this noble policy of the Ottomans, so much so that, hundreds of years after their immigration into the Ottoman Empire, in April 1892, the regional committee of the Alliance Israelite Universelle, the Paris-based international organization aiming to safeguard the rights of world Jewry, as an expression of sincere gratitude, thanked Sultan Abdulhamid II for the protection which the Jews enjoyed in the Ottoman domain.[3]

Presently, Turkish Jews, as equal citizens of the country and members of the nation, continue to present essential contributions to Turkey in many domains, including culture, science, manufacturing, and finance. Despite occasional political disputes between Turkey and Israel, bonds between Turkish and Jewish nations remain strong.

[1] Elli Kohen, History of the Turkish Jews and Sephardim: Memories of a Past Golden Age (Lanham: University Press of America, 2007), 155.

[2] Halil Inalcik, “Foundations of Ottoman-Jewish Cooperation,” in Jews, Turks, Ottomans: A Shared History, Fifteenth Through Twentieth Century, ed. Avigdor Levy ( New York: Syracuse University Press, 2002), 6-7

[3] Paul Dumont, “Jewish communities in Turkey During the Last Decades of the 19th Century in the Light of the Archives of the Alliance Israelite Universelle,” in Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Empire: Functioning of a Plural Society, eds. Bernard Lewis and Benjamin Braude (New York: Holmes & Meier ,1982),225.

Source: Anadolu Agency

People whose homes have been damaged in the ongoing wildfires will be given new houses within one year at the latest, Turkey’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.

“The government has also been quick to provide financial aid, with at least 10,000 Turkish liras out of up to 50,000 Turkish liras already provided to affected families,” Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters during an inspection visit to Antalya’s Manavgat district along with Ersin Tatar, president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

He said efforts are continuing to douse blazes at three points in Antalya.

“The biggest obstacle right now is the wind,” he said, stressing that all resources are being utilized in the operations.

Cavusoglu said teams are carrying out damage assessment in the region and authorities will do everything in their power to fulfill the demands of all citizens affected by the fires.

TRNC’s President Tatar wished a speedy recovery to the entire Turkish nation.

He said the TRNC has been monitoring the situation with great concern since the first day and, as a show of support and solidarity, a TRNC civil defense team will assist in Turkey’s firefighting efforts.

Turkey has successfully contained 160 of 174 wildfires since last week, according to a Wednesday statement by the country’s Forestry Directorate.

Wildfires have broken out in 39 of Turkey’s 81 provinces, the authority said, with 14 blazes still raging in five provinces in southern and southwestern Turkey – Antalya, Mugla, Aydin, Isparta, and Denizli.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Turkish firefighters maintain their battle against wildfires in the Milas and Bodrum districts of the touristic city of Mugla in southwestern Turkey, with the assistance of aerial elements pouring tons of water.

A wildfire in Milas first erupted on July 31 and spread to many other neighborhoods, while firefighters restlessly spend efforts to contain the fast-spreading fires.

The extinguishing efforts on the ground continue day and night, and aerial elements play an important role in the operations. Once a fire is contained at a location, authorities immediately start cooling down the area to prevent the eruption of another fire.

Construction vehicles clean the way in some forest areas to help fire brigade trucks move and put out wildfires, while volunteers and locals do not hesitate to join the strife and do their best to contribute to firefighting.

In some settlements evacuated as part of measures and at locations where fires are currently under control, locals have begun to bring back their livestock.

The unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have had a flight time of 462 hours amid the ongoing wildfires.

The country has been using its UAVs effectively in fighting terrorism, and they are also playing an important role now in protecting the “green homeland,” a reference to the country’s forests.

The UAVs belonging to the Turkish army get visuals in the wildfire areas and simultaneously share them with a coordination center that sends them to the aerial firefighting vehicles, briefing them over the location and direction of wildfires.

Aerial, ground efforts ongoing to extinguish fires in Turkey’s Mugla

Source: Anadolu Agency

US stocks opened mixed on Wednesday with weak payrolls data, pushing European indexes lower despite posting strong gains earlier.

The Dow Jones fell 212 points, or 0.6%, to 34,903 at 9.40 a.m. EDT, while the S&P 500 fell 14, or 0.3%, to 4,408.

Pharma stocks helped the Nasdaq rise 21, or 0.14%, to 14,782. Novavax soared 9.8% after announcing a deal with the EU to provide up to 200 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine.

The mixed indexes came as US private payrolls increased 330,000 in July, well below market expectation of 695,000, according to ADP Research Institute’s national employment report that was released earlier in the day.

The yield on 10-year US Treasury notes decreased 3.4% to 1.134, and the dollar index fell 0.25% to 91.85. The VIX volatility index, known as the fear index, continued its increase by adding 2.3% to 18.45.

Precious metals also saw gains as gold rose 1.1% to $1,830 per ounce and silver increased 1.5% to $25.91.

Oil prices plummeted another 2% with Brent crude trading at $70.92 per barrel with a 2.1% loss and West Texas Intermediate around $68.67 — a 2.7% decline.

All of this caused European indices to give up some gains posted earlier in the day.

Despite hitting an all-time high of 6,766.61 points, the French stock market, CAC 40, was down to 6,741.

STOXX Europe 600, which includes around 90% of the market capitalization of the European market in 17 European countries, was at 467, down from its record high of 468.39.

Spain’s IBEX 35 turned negative to 8,744 with a 0.33% loss at 1340 GMT. London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.15% at 7,116.

Germany’s DAX 30 was at 15,617 with a 0.4% gain, while Italy’s Borsa Italiana FTSE MIB 30 was at 25,411, a 0.2% increase.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Two planes from Ukraine are contributing to the aerial response against multiple wildfires in Turkey.

Air and land intervention continues against the fires, which have broken out in various locations and have spread with the wind.

Efforts are being made to bring the fires under control with a large number of firefighting planes, helicopters and construction equipment.

But this has proven to be difficult in the mountainous regions of Antalya and Mugla provinces due to high temperatures and low humidity.

Countries such as Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Croatia and Spain have also mobilized their resources to bring the fires under control in a short time.

At least eight people have lost their lives in the wildfires.

Planes to stay in Turkey for 10 days

The two firefighting aircraft from Ukraine arrived with a team of 14 people. The planes of the Ukraine Emergency State Service began operating in Antalya, where fires continue and threaten residential areas.

Planes deployed to Gazipasa Airport in Antalya are responding to fires in the city districts of Manavgat, Alanya, Akseki and Gundogmus.

The planes that will serve in Turkey for 10 days and have four replaceable water tanks of 2,000 liters.

The aircraft, which can discharge water from all of their tanks simultaneously, play an active role in firefighting.

Since the beginning of the operation, 34 flights have been carried out by the planes to the areas affected by the fires and 272 tons of water have been discharged.

‘We are here to help the Turkish people’

One of the pilots, Kostiantyn Kolomin, told Anadolu Agency that he had come to Turkey on vacation before. This time, however, he said he came to help battle the fires.

Kolomin said he was sad to see the region where he had been on holiday now exposed to flames.

Noting that there was a big fire in “friendly country Turkey,” he said: “We are here to help the Turkish people.”

“We are trying to do our job in the best way possible.”

Noting that it was difficult for land crews to reach the areas where the fires broke out, Kolomin said aircrews are more effective in extinguishing them.

He hoped that they can “save the Turkish people from the fires as soon as possible and we will come here for a holiday again.”

Turkish-Ukrainian cooperation ‘to always continue’

Fatih Duzgun, the coordinating pilot of the Ukrainian planes, said it was a difficult process.

“We thank the friendly country Ukraine and its people for their support,” Duzgun said.

“Turkey has always supported Ukraine, and Ukraine is with Turkey today.

“The cooperation between the two countries will always continue,” he added.

2 Ukrainian planes supporting efforts to battle forest fires in Turkey

Source: Anadolu Agency