Turkish student gets UNESCO award

Enes Altunok, a 17-year-old high school student, won the “Living with World Heritage” competition with his photo . DHA photo

Enes Altunok, a 17-year-old high school student, won the “Living with World Heritage” competition with his photo presentation of the Turkish UNESCO World Heritage site Cappadocia.

The youth competition was arranged as part of the 40th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention. Altunok is a student at Altınyıldız High School in the Nevşehir province of Central Anatolia. His pictures are from Cappadocia, a historical and unique region located mainly in Nevşehir. Altunok’s photos capture the mysterious landscape of Cappadocia, which is a result of several volcanic eruptions that took place millions of years ago.

Conference in Roros

The World Heritage Convention anniversary will be marked with a conference in Roros, Norway from May 14 to 16. The conference, titled “Living with World Heritage,” will discuss World Heritage and sustainable development and the role of local communities. The mining town of Roros, the conference venue, is one of Norway’s seven World Heritage sites, and the town has a vibrant local community. As part of the prize Altunok has been invited to attend the conference. (hurriyetdailynews)

Shakespeare Fest to be celebrated in Turkish

The World Shakespeare Festival is remembering the English playwright through productions in 37 different languages. Stage and screen veteran Haluk Bilginer’s theater group will perform Antony and Cleopatra in Turkish

“Let Rome in Tiber melt, and the wide arch of the ranged empire fall!” So will Turkish stage and screen actor Haluk Bilginer cry on stage in London in late May.

These words by the Roman general Mark Antony in the Shakespeare tragedy “Antony and Cleopatra” will be uttered in Turkish as part of London’s six-week Globe to Globe event, which is staging plays by Shakespeare in 37 languages from Turkish and Swahili to sign language for the World Shakespeare Festival.

The World Shakespeare Festival, celebrating the bard and his work, will be part of the London 2012 Festival, a global extravaganza tying in with the upcoming Summer Olympics in London and celebrating culture through film, theater, music, fashion, visual arts and more.

The festival kicked off last week, coinciding with both Shakespeare’s birthday and the anniversary of his death. The plays in various languages will take place on the south bank of the River Thames at Shakespeare’s Globe, the replica of the original 17th century theater of the English playwright.

Recent British Council research revealed that Shakespeare’s plays are taught in half of the schools around the world. His plays are translated into over 80 languages, with hundreds of stage productions and movie adaptations added to a list that continues to inspire people around the planet.

The list of languages Shakespeare has been translated into will increase even further with Globe to Globe, where a group from South Sudan will perform “Pericles” in Juba Arabic, and “Comedy of Errors” from Afghanistan will go before audiences in Dari.

The recent performance of the Trojan War play “Troilus and Cressida” from New Zealand’s theater company Ngakau Toa in Maori made headlines when the play incorporated a haka (warrior dance) and waiata (song). Many will know the haka from New Zealand’s rugby matches. The warrior dance took a whole new meaning when a special haka was created for the scene in which Achilles calls his people to help him find and kill Hector.

Antony and Cleopatra to speak Turkish

Last weekend, the audience had the chance to hear the words, “’Tis time to fear when tyrants seem to kiss,” from “Pericles” in Greek, by the Greek National Theater from where tragedy, comedy and the Olympic Games originated. The National Theater of China also was on stage during the weekend, performing “Richard III” in Mandarin with an interpretation that transformed the play into more Chinese than English.

The idea for Globe to Globe seems set to send theater-lovers not only to the plays they are able to understand but also to go get a feel for different interpretations even if they do not understand them word for word. This is evident in the Olympic-themed ticket packages that are offering a “Globe biathlon,” “triathlon” and “pentathlon” – as well as a discount to see all 37 productions for an audience most likely that doesn’t exist.

The Turkish production of “Antony and Cleopatra” (Antonius ile Kleopatra) will be staged on May 26 and 27 by Bilginer’s Istanbul-based company, Oyun Atölyesi, which staged “Timon of Athens,” “Macbeth” and “Othello” in the past. Bilginer is perhaps best-known to U.K. audiences not for his stage performances in the U.K. or minor roles in Hollywood productions, such as in the Warren Beatty comedy “Ishtar,” but for his role as the loveable womanizer Mehmet Osman in the British soap “EastEnders” in the 1980s.

Here, Bilginer will be accompanied by Zerrin Tekindor as Cleopatra and Globe regular Kevork Malikyan in the role of Enobarbus, Antony’s lieutenant, who will utter the famous lines about Cleopatra, “Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety,” or “Yıpratamaz zaman onun güzelliğini, solduramaz rengini bozamaz ahengini.”

Perhaps the most original tribute to Shakespeare might come not from the 37 theater groups visiting London but from Mark Ravenhill, the Royal Shakespeare Company’s writer in residence, who has written a sonnet himself to mark the global Shakespeare event. “I’ve tried to capture my love of Shakespeare,” Ravenhill told The Guardian. “It’s a sonnet for our times, not a pastiche of Shakespeare.”

Ravenhill’s sonnet starts like this: “I envy you. Your world was new, unmapped, / The language that you wrote in barely fixed; / You were Shagsbeer or Shaxpeer.” And for the Turkish audience watching “Antony and Cleopatra” in Shakespeare’s Globe, it will be Şekspir. (Emrah Güler-ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News)

'Genocide' cartoon in French school shocks Turkish students

Two Turkish students in a French school have reacted after a cartoon depicting a Turk carrying a basket full of skulls with the words "Armenian Genocide" written on its side was shown in class. The incident occurred at the College Anatole France high school in the city of Montbéliard in France's Comte region. A teacher displayed a cartoon during a geography and history class and asked students: "What do you understand from this cartoon? Why can Turkey not join the EU according to this cartoon?" The cartoon depicted a mountain with the EU flag erected at its peak. Three stereotypical caricatures of Balkan peoples were drawn climbing the mountain. At the very bottom of the mountain was a "peasant" Turkish man struggling to get up from the ground with a very large basket on his back. The basket was filled with human skulls with the word "Turkey" written on it and the words "Armenian Genocide" above. Behind the Turkish character, a slender man with "France" written over his head was shown adding a skull to the already-full basket.

Turkish students Muhammed Ali Erki, 17, and İsmail Erdal, 14, said they were shocked to see the cartoon. Erki reportedly asked his teacher, "We did not commit genocide, yet you accuse us of it. What do you think about Algerians?" “You are right but this cartoon is not my idea, I need to give this class as part of the curriculum,” the teacher said in reply. Erdal said he understood from the cartoon that "the French do not want to see Turkey in the EU." The students said they had not been able to concentrate on their classes after seeing the cartoon and added that were especially saddened to see North African students making fun of Turkey and Turks. The families of the students notified the anti-racism COJEP International foundation. COJEP President Ali Gedikoğlu said they would bring the cartoon to the attention of the authorities in France and file a complaint with the French Education Ministry to have the cartoon removed from the curriculum. (hurriyetdailynews)

Tension at Turkish border turns world focus on Syria

The world’s eyes turn to the Turkish-Syrian border as key figures come to Hatay amid hectic diplomacy on the Arab republic and the Annan plan’s deadline

International envoy to Syria Kofi Annan said there should be no preconditions to halting the violence in Syria and appealed to all sides to comply with the truce deadline of April 12 at 6:00 a.m. Eastern European Summer Time (EEST).

“I again appeal to the Syrian government and the Syrian parties to cease violence in accordance [with] the plan,” he said at a news conference held at the airport in the Hatay province of southern Turkey, where he visited Syrian refugee camps. “I believe there should be no preconditions for stopping violence.”

Annan said yesterday the U.N. Security Council would take up the issue and was expected to write a letter to the Security Council yesterday.

“On the question of whether the plan is succeeding or failing, I believe it is a bit too early to say that the plan has failed. The plan is still on the table,” he said at the joint press conference with Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay. “We still have time between now and the 12th [of April] to stop violence,” he said.

Annan said he had seen many refugee camps before and the Syrian refugee camps in Turkey are some of the best. The number of Syrian refugees staying in Turkey has reached 24,288 according to AFAD.

Atalay said the U.N. Security Council should step in and fulfill its responsibilities if the Syrian regime does not cooperate with the implementation of the peace plan. Annan said there is an increasing flow of people from Syria to Turkey, which points to an escalation of violence or another issue. Annan said this flow of people over the border cannot be explained with anything else.

Annan said he had information that the Syrian military was withdrawing from some areas but moving to others not previously targeted. He appealed to all sides to stop the violence.

Activists who supply much of the information coming from sites in Syria such as Homs, Hama and Idlib say attacks by the Syrian army have not diminished. The main Syrian opposition group estimated that some 1,000 people have been killed in regime attacks in the week leading up to Tuesday’s withdrawal deadline. Fighting on Tuesday claimed the lives of at least 29 civilians and 11 regime soldiers, activists said.

U.S. senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman also visited a tent-site in Hatay yesterday and talked with Syrians who had fled to Turkey from Syria. Lieberman and McCain met with Syrian National Council leader Burhan Ghalioun on April 9 and also with Free Syrian Army leaders in Hatay, according to Lieberman. He said the two groups told them it was an unfair fight. “They don’t have the weapons Assad has they said,” Lieberman said, adding that the anger they have about the killings Assad conducted was deep. McCain said they met with Turkish President Abdullah Gül but did not discuss the details of the needs of Syrian opposition in Turkey. McCain said SNC and FSA have almost no division in their stances on the issue. “See you in Damascus next year,” McCain said.

US presses UN Security Council ahead of Syria report

The United States said yesterday that it hoped the UN Security Council would consider action if Annan concludes that Syria’s government broke troop withdrawal commitments. White House spokesman Jay Carney said Washington was waiting for Annan’s assessment of the situation, but so far had only seen evidence of further “brutality and aggression” from President Bashar al-Assad’s forces. “We would certainly hope the UN Security Council would evaluate the situation in Syria if in fact Annan finds that the Assad regime has not abided by its own commitments to begin withdrawal by today,” Carney said.

Carney, speaking aboard Air Force One, said the US would work with its partners and other nations in the aftermath of Annan’s letter to decide what the next steps to take are regarding Syria.

Compiled from AFP, Reuters and AA stories by the Daily News staff. (hurriyetdailynews)

Four migrants rescued on Greek-Turkish border: police

A police patrol in northeastern Greece on Monday rescued four migrants stranded on the Evros river, the natural boundary with Turkey that is a popular migration crossing point into Europe.

The police used an inflatable dinghy to bring the three women from the Dominican Republic and a man from Sierra Leone to the shore, a local police source said.

Thousands of migrants and refugees attempt to cross the Evros into Greece every year and many die in the process from drowning or exposure to the cold.

Fourteen bodies have been recovered in the area this year according to police.

Greece, currently in the throes of a major economic crisis, is a major hub for illegal immigration to Europe from Turkey and the Middle East.

Nearly 100,000 people were arrested for illegal entry or residence last year and authorities are going through some 30,000 asylum requests by migrants and refugees, Authorities are building a wire fence on a section of the frontier and plan to turn a number of disused army barracks around the country into a network of holding centres to enable the screening of asylum seekers. (hurriyetdailynews)