Monday, August 2, 2010
Leaving Istanbul for Turkey Aug 2
Today Mom left Istanbul for home in Oroville. This is a wonderful city, and our stay at Sphendon Hotel in the old city of Sultnahmet has been wonderful. The garden in the back has been so lovely for breakfast, with quince and periwinkles, geraniums, and grapes. I love hearing the call to prayers from the Blue Mosque near our hotel, then echoing out through the city five times a day. Every inch of this city is steeped in antiquity, a veritable archaeological paradise. It's hard to keep all the layers straight. At the archaeological museum, the Greek and Roman statues and crypts were very beautiful. In these pictures, you can look out over black sea; the Bosphorus strait from the Sultans palace; see the horse drawn carriages on the Prince Islands; and mom and I at lunch. It would be so interesting to do a kitty study here. There are so many cats, and they are very affectionate and well fed. They must have a very interesting social structure with this density; every home and hotel has one, plus there are more. I'm doing alittle kitty collage for my friend Mary Medicine Bug. I imagine they don't have veterinary care and don't live to an old age, but they really have a major presence here. A whole kitty world apart from the people world. I've seen several dogs, but mostly they are with people but not on leashes, much better trained than certain dogs who shall not be named. I loved swimming in the Black Sea; it was rough, so riding out through the surf then bobbing on the surface and paddling around in the clear water with perfect temperature was delightful.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Hydrology and Eastern Turkey
I met with Engin and Didire, with a non profit grassroots environmental group Doga Dernegi. I am trying to plan a trip to eastern Turkey to research dam construction on the Tigris River, and specifically the Ilusu Dam. After seeing the devastation in the Mesopotamian Marshes from combined drought and water withdrawals, knowing the inadequate results of requests by the Iraqi government for water, I wanted to come investigate the headwaters of the watershed myself. The goal of Hima Mesopotamia is to link grassroots efforts to review dam construction on the Tigris and Euphrates watershed.
At this time, Turkey has a very robust economy. Wanting to become a member of the European Union, Turkey has committed to strengthening it environmental, cultural, human rights and relatioanships with neighboring states. Ironically, part of its committment to reducing fossil fuel combustion and green house gase emissions is to increase "renewable" hydroelectric energy development. I have heard between 2600-1600 dams are proposed in Turkey. Besides the Ilusu Dam on the Tigris River, there are 28 proposals on tributaries of the Tigris. The Ilusu Dam itself would flood 313 km2 with 400 km of river (240 river miles) impacted above the dam. Ilusu is planned to produce surge current, releasing water intermittently with fairly high peaks. This means that there will be a great deal of erosion and destruction along the banks of the Tigris when peak flows are released, damaging habitat for many species.
No Environmental Impact Assessment is proposed for the Ilusu dam. Turkey is saying that the dam proposal pre-dates current international environmental and social justice agreements. The EIS would evaluate impacts on flora, fauna, water quality, Hasankeyf and other archaeological sites, and on the local people and economy. The entire watershed impacts would be evaluated and the least damaging alternative selected. This would likely be several smaller dams. It is also likely to mean compensation for local people impacted by reservoir construction and loss of agricutlural soils and tourist industry. It also means release flows from the dams could optimize conditions downstream, to optimize fish and aquatic habitat, maintain riparian and wetland habitats, and maintain equitable flows in the Tigris River for downstream users.
I have just listed at the Barcelona Conference to the lives of Iraqi people, the Marsh Arabs, and a scientific assessment of the losses of the Mesopotamian Marshes. The tragedy is already unfolding downstream, and there are losses on the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers. I want to go see for myself the impacts of the dams, and possible mitigation measures that could be take to reduce impacts to nature and the local culture.
Spending time in Turkey, I am so amazed by the antiquity of cultures laying on cultres. When we took a tour of the Hippodrom, where the old chariot races were held and political parties bet on the winning team, our guide said you cannot dig anywhere in Istanbul without finding and artifact. And the artifacts. date from the Assyrians, Persians, Romans, Byzantines, Ottomans, and the radically changing Turkey from WW! and being divided among European nations, WW2 and staying neutral, the great Ataturk bringing Turkey back to cohesiveness, then all the changes in the last decades.
Turkey has long been a U.S. ally, and a strategic partner in the region bordered by Iran, Iraq, Russia and ex Soviet Union nations. Now would be the time for the U.S. to implement its own environmental and social policies we use such as National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act. This is a huge deal, and the world isn't even hearing about it.
Lip service to protection of nature aside, there is no Environmental Impact Report on the results of Ilusu dam construction.
At this time, Turkey has a very robust economy. Wanting to become a member of the European Union, Turkey has committed to strengthening it environmental, cultural, human rights and relatioanships with neighboring states. Ironically, part of its committment to reducing fossil fuel combustion and green house gase emissions is to increase "renewable" hydroelectric energy development. I have heard between 2600-1600 dams are proposed in Turkey. Besides the Ilusu Dam on the Tigris River, there are 28 proposals on tributaries of the Tigris. The Ilusu Dam itself would flood 313 km2 with 400 km of river (240 river miles) impacted above the dam. Ilusu is planned to produce surge current, releasing water intermittently with fairly high peaks. This means that there will be a great deal of erosion and destruction along the banks of the Tigris when peak flows are released, damaging habitat for many species.
No Environmental Impact Assessment is proposed for the Ilusu dam. Turkey is saying that the dam proposal pre-dates current international environmental and social justice agreements. The EIS would evaluate impacts on flora, fauna, water quality, Hasankeyf and other archaeological sites, and on the local people and economy. The entire watershed impacts would be evaluated and the least damaging alternative selected. This would likely be several smaller dams. It is also likely to mean compensation for local people impacted by reservoir construction and loss of agricutlural soils and tourist industry. It also means release flows from the dams could optimize conditions downstream, to optimize fish and aquatic habitat, maintain riparian and wetland habitats, and maintain equitable flows in the Tigris River for downstream users.
I have just listed at the Barcelona Conference to the lives of Iraqi people, the Marsh Arabs, and a scientific assessment of the losses of the Mesopotamian Marshes. The tragedy is already unfolding downstream, and there are losses on the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers. I want to go see for myself the impacts of the dams, and possible mitigation measures that could be take to reduce impacts to nature and the local culture.
Spending time in Turkey, I am so amazed by the antiquity of cultures laying on cultres. When we took a tour of the Hippodrom, where the old chariot races were held and political parties bet on the winning team, our guide said you cannot dig anywhere in Istanbul without finding and artifact. And the artifacts. date from the Assyrians, Persians, Romans, Byzantines, Ottomans, and the radically changing Turkey from WW! and being divided among European nations, WW2 and staying neutral, the great Ataturk bringing Turkey back to cohesiveness, then all the changes in the last decades.
Turkey has long been a U.S. ally, and a strategic partner in the region bordered by Iran, Iraq, Russia and ex Soviet Union nations. Now would be the time for the U.S. to implement its own environmental and social policies we use such as National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act. This is a huge deal, and the world isn't even hearing about it.
Lip service to protection of nature aside, there is no Environmental Impact Report on the results of Ilusu dam construction.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Sufi Music
Last night went to a sufi dance in Istanbul. As Rumi would say, "Be a lover, a lover. Chose love that you might be the chosen one." Rumi is the founder if the Mevlevi Sufi order, a mystical brotherhood of Islam started in the early 1200's. He asks, If you fill ajug from the ocean, how much can it hold? One day's supply. Thus, just as the ocean can only fill the jug to capacity, so mevlana can only fit into words and our perception in proportion to our capacity for union with Allah, with Creator, with Great Spirit, Buddha, God. The mystical tradition experiences direct contact, love, union with Creator, and religion with its rules and regulations does not seem to be as direct or even an experience of Union at all.
The musicians came in first, a drum to call the participant to "wake up" or divine comand "be", then a flute improvisation of the soul dancing and flowing to Creators song. There were five dancers, who came in and bowed to creation. They placed a sheep skin rug on the ground, representing the divine truth in each of us. All of the black cloak, white dress with "shroud", eveything represents a death of ego much as many Buddhist ceremonies. They stand with arms cross, representing the "one" or unity with god. There were for parts to the ceremony: 1) viewing all the worlds, reaching the gradeur and majesty of God; 2) existence is dissolved within the Divine Unity; 3) lovers cleanse themselves and reach spiritual maturity; 4) reach the void or non-existence within Divine Mystery. A lone flute ends the ceremony or spiritual journy, of all who take the path of love, of all who seek the Divien within themselves.
As the dancing and ceremony began, tears flowed down my face, and I felt a Divine recognition. It was beautiful!
The musicians came in first, a drum to call the participant to "wake up" or divine comand "be", then a flute improvisation of the soul dancing and flowing to Creators song. There were five dancers, who came in and bowed to creation. They placed a sheep skin rug on the ground, representing the divine truth in each of us. All of the black cloak, white dress with "shroud", eveything represents a death of ego much as many Buddhist ceremonies. They stand with arms cross, representing the "one" or unity with god. There were for parts to the ceremony: 1) viewing all the worlds, reaching the gradeur and majesty of God; 2) existence is dissolved within the Divine Unity; 3) lovers cleanse themselves and reach spiritual maturity; 4) reach the void or non-existence within Divine Mystery. A lone flute ends the ceremony or spiritual journy, of all who take the path of love, of all who seek the Divien within themselves.
As the dancing and ceremony began, tears flowed down my face, and I felt a Divine recognition. It was beautiful!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Istanbul July 28
I arrived in Istanbul at 4:30 this morning. A driver from Hotel Sphendon came to pick me up at the airport, and we drove in the cool blue light of the pre dawn, with a full moon. Driving into the city, the mosques all have their spirals touching the sky, and the full moon lit up history as we drove into the city. The bridge across the Bosporus Sea framed the exotic city scape in water, and eveything in the early light was clean and filled with expectations and excitement.
The days are punctuated with singing from the Blue Mosque near our hotel, then reverberating through echoes of other mosques praying throughout Istanbul. Our breakfast is on a beautiful garden, with a stone wall and vinca's and other flowers. A calico kitty gave us company and purred to our pets. There are many cats in the city, many pretty skinny. One tiny kitten looked at us but its little body seemed crumpled, not long for life, suffering. Poor little thing.
Right now it is a great thunder and lightening storm. Rain sprinkles on our window. We walked along the Bosphorus until the rain storm drove us into a restaurant for a delicious dinner of kebab and vegies. Tomorrow we will be tourists.
The days are punctuated with singing from the Blue Mosque near our hotel, then reverberating through echoes of other mosques praying throughout Istanbul. Our breakfast is on a beautiful garden, with a stone wall and vinca's and other flowers. A calico kitty gave us company and purred to our pets. There are many cats in the city, many pretty skinny. One tiny kitten looked at us but its little body seemed crumpled, not long for life, suffering. Poor little thing.
Right now it is a great thunder and lightening storm. Rain sprinkles on our window. We walked along the Bosphorus until the rain storm drove us into a restaurant for a delicious dinner of kebab and vegies. Tomorrow we will be tourists.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)