"On the Road to Kandahar"

I recently read Jason Burkes "On the Road to Kandahar" on 15 years of journalistic work in the so-called Muslim World (not a term of my choice).

Burke has also written this.

I liked his style - I always appreciate people who write about things they have seen and heard for themselves, not what they have heard from a distance. Burke travels and lives in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Algeria during the 1900's and in the early 21st century, when political issues centered here have given more and more attention, and rarely for positive reasons...


I also appreciated very much his conclusions, saying, among other things: "And I realized that not only was there no general theory about militancy but there was no general theory that could explain 'the Islamic world' and that to search for one was not only futile but in fact counter-productive." and "if my travels during the previous years had taught me anything, it was that to emphasize the differences when there is so much that binds, to emphasize the divisions when so much is the same, to emphasize the distance when there is so much that is increasingly close, is not just dangerous but is wrong".

This is a view and a philosophy to which I fully subscribe and that I hope permeates the picture of my world that I give you here. Read the book!

Cave cities

None of these is really great and slightly blurry, but now when I have the chance I wanted to show you more of the Kapadokya underground cities I have previously featured photos of.

It is a quite amazing place, with 8 floors dug into the ground, during centuries of usage. As I understood it, they were taken over by the Tourism MInistry in the early 60's, which I guess means they were used off and on until that time.

Adonis

Read the Swedish eminence-grise of knowledge in Middle East culture and literature, Sigrid Kahle, on writings and family of Syrian-born poet Adonis (in French, here in English). The book Kahle writes about, by him and his daughter, can be found here (in Swedish).

Adonis is my personal favourite as a Nobel literature candidate, which he talks about in this interview almost 2 years ago.

Alhambra is Adonis Swedish publisher, with the widest scope in Sweden of publications of classic and modern Arabic literature.

Peace prize

Swedish journalist Cordelia Edvardsson has received a peace prize (The Eldh-Ekblad prize, given out since 1960 by the Swedish peace and arbitraton society - "Svenska freds- och skiljedomsföreningen) for her many years of passionate reporting from Israel on Israeli and Palestinian issues. She intends to donate the prize money to the Israeli peace movement Peace Now (read more here).

Reading

This week's recommended articles and reports are now due! Rather a mixed bunch of links today, I believe...;-)

Here is on ecological shopping (mostly groceries) in Stockholm, focusing on a theme market from last weekend, but with some ideas for the future.

This is a simple Q&A (in Swedish, from Svenska Dagbladet) earlier this week on the fighting taking place in Lebanon. And (same source) the Swedish development aid minister on supporting Palestine, together with a more pessimistic view on the situation in Gaza, called "culture of death". (And Alan Johnston has been missing for 74 days...)

For once, the Arab press (Ahram Weekly) writes on the political developments in Turkey. I'm not sure what the message or lesson are supposed to be from it, though. Read also a mini-guide about Erzerum, a place in north-east Turkey I still haven't made it to.

A BBC view from inside Bahrain, may interest you.

A topic I haven't covered at all today is Iran, but at least Swedish media have featured several inside articles. recently. Maybe I'll get around to collecting some of those.

Kapadokya doggies

And in Kapadokya, we met these sleeping beauties, all in the same day actually!

Kapadokya church paintings

I may have shown you similar before. But the very simple early church paintings done al fresco with ochra on the walls of Kapadokya cave churches are so appealing to me. They are also so very telling of the early church circumstances and art. so can't refrain from showing them again!

Something with the focus of my camera is a bit odd right now. :-(

Arab pop revolution?

Read a BBC-article on the Arab pop revolution and listen (if you have real-player, that is).

Another place to listen is this, but I haven't tried it myself yet - and it may not represent the new pop revolution fully, but rather feature the classics.

Support Red Cross campaign

The Swedish Red Cross has a national campaign to "Save the mothers" directed at support to mothers in war-zones. You can donate online, if you wish to support this specific cause.

They also have special campaigns to support victims of the war in Iraq and for victims of aids. The same goes for them, or support to their general activities, that online donations are possible and welcome!

This week's recommendations

First, a fine-tuned essay article by David Grossman (NYT), on Israel and his dead son.

Also from NYT is a long article on Iraqi refugees in the Middle East.

Both of the above links were given to me by a close blogger-friend who I hereby sincerely thank!

Another Iraq-article (BBC) takes it's story and grim outlook from a recent Chatham house report. The report itself (Accepting Realities in Iraq) can be found here.

Anna Dahlberg of Swedish Expressen (with whom I rarely agree on ideology or domestic politics, but whose Middle East reporting is poignant and to the point, frequently as a result of actually going there and seeing for herself!) writes on Arabs and democracy, making a powerful plea for that it well within the realm of the possible, if only given a sporting chance.

Finally (as usually!) I want to recommend you Swedish-speakers to listen to tomorrow morning's Konflikt, from Swedish radio P1. It's my favourite programme, and the fact that their staff will chair several interesting panels and debates during this year's Stockholm Re:Orient festival in June only goes to show!

Update Saturday: At WEF in Amman, the crown-prince of Dubai has donated a large sum of money to education in the Middle East, to help bridge the gap to a knowledge society and assist women's literacy and job creation.

Also for Swedish-speakers, I suggest reading this Dagens Nyheter-piece on "Lawrence of Arabia". By the way, I tend to recommend the David Lean-film for those wanting the 20th-century "Middle East history in perspective"-crash course!

Update Sunday, also in Swedish: a Dagens Nyheter op-ed by 4 former Nordic foreign ministers (all today with ICG) on a Nordic role in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Pavilions

And here, some of the smaller pavilions at the heart of the Topkapi - the innermost courtyard. First, the gilt tent where the sultan would break his ramadan fast. There is a beautiful view of the city behind, but I'm afraid the crowds obscure it.

And then a fountain, and, if my memory serves me, the Erivan pavilion, commemorating a 17th century conquer of Yerevan in Armenia. The Baghdad pavilion (to the right of the gilt iftar tent), commemorating the conquer of that city, is currently under renovation.

Topkapi harem

A few interiors of the harem, including the courtyard for education and leisure of the so-called favourites. These are quite recent, but I have more, older photos, from it - which I may have showed you already? It has beautiful Iznik tiling almost all over.

Anyway, this is of course the most famous and reputed harem, but it is not the whole truth of the institution as such. For many Muslim families, it is simply the part of the private part of their house, where only the family are welcome.

Hagia Sofia mosaics

Also the Hagia Sofia has some beautiful mosaics, even if they are fewer and further between, so the mass effect of the Chora is far away. Unfortunately the Christ Pantocrator at the botton of the posting turned out quite . blurry - from it's position above the entrance doors it's difficult to get a good angle on it.

Happy Birthday...

... to Alan Johnston, still a captive in Gaza after 66 days. May your 45th birthday at least be a day of hope and where you can feel the involvement in your plight.

Voting Eurovision

I am not a great Eurovision fan (if I was I would have written this days ago!), even if I do find it fun to watch. But the most interesting is always actually the voting - who gives who full 12 points? Here you can read some recent points (from Svenska Dagbladet).

Only very politically Turkey-sceptic Western European countries, gave Turkey 12 points. The Turks gave theirs to Armenia (who last year got 10 points). One year Turkey gave their 12 to Greece, but none at all to Cyprus. Just a few illustrative examples...

And winning the contest and after that organizing it the following year - has been done by Estonia, Ukraine and Turkey. This has always preceded their European political integration. I think we may guess Serbia may run the same track.

I believe this is the new map of Europe we are seeing formed. Viva Europa!

More mosaics

Sorry for the skipping around among my recent Istanbul photos - I am a little confused lately... Now this is back with the amazing Chora mosaics.

International Press Institute

The IPI (International Press Institute) has it's annual world congress in Istanbul this weekend. safeguarding press freedom is at the core of the mission and the programme, of course, and people like Hrant Dink, Anna Politkovskaja (journalists killed in the course of their work in the last year, both of whom there are films on being screened for the first time at the congress - I think they can be downloaded from the link above) and Alan Johnston are given due attention.

Another interesting voice was raised on the Johnston case, by the way.

Hagia Eirene

Behind the Hagia Sofia (the Church of the Divine Wisdom) lies Hagia Eirene, dedicated to the Divine Peace. I like the combination of dedications very much, especially as both are abstractons made to be female divinities. ;-)

Its in the first courtyard of the Topkapi Palace, but before the actual museum entrance. I've never managed to find it open though. But it is used for concerts and things, so one should be able to enter, at times - or with the right ticket...

Chora interiors

Just seeing details of mosaics may be fine, but to give a slightly bigger picture of the interior, I here show you some more comprehensive inside views. Nice domes and windows in combination with the fabulous decorations, as you see!

Competitiveness report

I should share this with you too, the 2007 Arab Competitiveness report - prepared under the auspices of the World Economic Forum.

Mosaics

The medieval (13th century, if I remember correctly) mosaics of the Chora/Kariye are exquisite! Some of the frescoes are beautiful too, and quite avantgarde for the time, but my photos of those are not available to publish yet...

Chora

We went to the Chora Church, now the Kariye Müzesi, to see the lovely mosaics and frescoes. But the outside view, on a sunny springday, was equally enticing!

Alan Johnston - developments

I've been away a few days, to the Gulf, and haven't had time to blog in the meantime. Unfortunately, no photos this time, but there is hope for the future (and lots of Turkey still to show). However, first an update on Alan Johnston's continued disappearance in Gaza, 60 days on now.



He has been awarded a prize in his absense, as broadcast journalist of the year. His presscard has showed up on camera. Appeals have been made. But the haunting questions are still unanswered - where is he? How is he? Why is nobody capable of retrieving him? Who has no-one even taken "credit" for his capture?

Update 13 May: Well, it seems the people who delivered the tape with his presscard have issued some sort of demands, if not terribly specific (except in one instance). But they haven't openly claimed responsibility as far as I understand, and the question is if they really hold him? So not reallt a lot of answers, still just more questions...

Medusa underground

The Byzantine cistern is often mentioned among the important Istanbul sights, even if I don't completely understand it's charms. But it is cool enough, and the randomly placed Medusa heads holding up some of the far columns are quite interesting (yes, they are placed sideways and upside down, I'm not playing with the photos).

Spring in Ankara!

Being Swedish, blooming lilacs feel very special, recalling the first bursts of early summer back home. Here, they are earlier of course, but just as beautiful. This is in the street outside my office, this week.

I apologise for the photo quality, though, I used my mobile phone for this one...

...and tulips!

Istanbul is beautiful in the spring. This year we missed the tulip festival as such. But in spots, especially in and around the Topkapi Sarayi, the tulips were still in full bloom. Look at the almost black ones in the second picture, for instance! Or the explosions of red further down...

Markets....

As you know by now, I adore markets especially for food. The strawberries are lovely here now, and so I can't resist showing even the top picture, even if they are out of focus. These are from the Mihrimah Sultan Carsisi in Üsküdar, by the way, almost 2 weeks ago by now.

Freedom of the press

Today is the World day for press freedom. Help honour it, please. It is needed, as journalists are increasingly under threat and pressure.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has a special report for today on their webpage.

This Freedom House report on press freedom in Iran is also relevant to today's theme.

A few words also today to mention Alan Johnston, 52 days into his disappearance at gunpoint in Gaza. See also the webpage put up for the campaign to free him.

Carpet exhibitions

In April (even if I didn't see more than a tiny corner of one of them) there were a range of carpet and textile exhibitions opened in Istanbul, all in connections with the International Conference on Oriental Carpets taking place 10 days ago.

A selections of museums participating can be seen here: Sabanci Museum, the Topkapi Palace (no special exhibition feature, though), Vakiflar Carpet and Kilim Museums and the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts all participate. I am sure they are all worth a visit for those of you who take an interest in oriental carpets and/or textile arts and folklore.

Cornucopia lifestyle magazine has a nice feature on all of this too, with some fabulous pictures of Caucasian rugs and imperial caftans to show...

Favourite re-runs...

As usual, the Ortaköy mosque is one of my absolute Istanbul favourites!

Tehran bazaar

Today, I offer you a very nice article (from Financial Times) on the trade in the Tehran bazaar, including a passage on the carpet trade (ooooh). It features a nice picture gallery too!

Emma

Armchairs like this, with low armrests and curved backs, are called Emma-chairs in Sweden. I bought mine at an auction a couple of years back - and just had it re-upholstered. I promised several viewers photos of the result, so here goes! Isn't it cool?

Dialogue

I put these links last in a previous post first, but realise they warrant a posting of it's own in my blogosphere - about a topic and a person high in my esteem. Read about Jan Henningsson, the Director of the Swedish Institute in Alexandria in an interview from Svenska Dagbladet, and his project Peace agents, involving young Swedish muslims in dialogue for peace.

Read also about the virtual museum on Discover Islamic Art, recently inaugurated by the mentioned Henningsson.