Time to get rid of the disgrace about Halki Seminary
I have not seen such a clear and open attitude from a member of a ruling party member about the Halki Seminary until now.
Well done, Hüseyin Çelik. It is the former education minister and today’s Justice and Development Party (AK Party) spokesperson and deputy chairman who says: “It was a mistake to close it, it is another one not to open it.”
“…There is no legal obstacle preventing it from being opened. It can be activated in 24 hours if wished. This school is a right given with the Lausanne Treaty [1923]. None of the reasons cited have any validity … They want to start a junior school. It is reasonable from all aspects. Only one decision is enough…”
He has told the truth.
Most importantly, Hüseyin Çelik opposes the “reciprocity” stance that bureaucrats in Ankara have been insisting on. We used to say: “We will open the Halki Seminary, and you should build a mosque in Athens or change the method of election for the mufti in Western Thrace.” In fact, the Halki Seminary is our institution. It serves our own citizens. The patriarch is our citizen, of our people.
Now, really, get moving. What is the government waiting for, when they can enact a law in two days if they want to? Everybody is saying, “Yes, it should be opened,” but nobody seems to move a finger.
It is high time we get rid of this disgrace.
Mosque in Çamlıca would be a pity
I walked around Çamlıca the other day. I particularly tried to figure out where and how a mosque would be built near the antenna chaos. I could not.
I understand that the prime minister wants a giant mosque to be built in his name and for whoever passes through the Bosphorus to cite him. A human demand…
However, one is scared when thinking about a mosque that every passerby would see, covering 15,000 square meters, with six minarets taller than 105 meters. No green will be left. The antennas will stay where they are with all their ugliness. Çamlıca will be a complete shambles.
Who would go to pray there is not known. Maybe in the spring and summer only those on an excursion, and in the winter those who want to be close to the prime minister will come on Fridays. So much money will go down the drain.
Moreover, somebody will change its name in the future.
I love Kiev
It was my first time in the Ukrainian capital Kiev. I thought it was a typical former Soviet Union city, far from being a tourist center.
It was just the opposite. Kiev has astounded me.
It is a city of 3.5 million, situated inside a huge park, so to say. Green is all around it. You feel like you’re living inside forest with a river running by.
They have not cut their trees to make room for new buildings. Inside the city there are cathedrals, historic churches and 3-4 storey buildings. Tall buildings are outside the city. The New Kiev has grown there.
Inside the city, it is as if you are walking inside history. It is a very clean city with beautiful churches, wide squares, wonderful museums, theaters, concert halls.
If the final match of the Euro 2012 hadn’t been here and if Coca Cola had not invited me, I would have never seen Kiev.
Don’t forget, Kiev is not a sex city. If you look for it, sex is available in any city. I recommend that you go to Kiev to see the city. There are two flights everyday and it takes about two hours.