Eski Imaret Mosque / Church

I was born and lived the first seven years of my life, next door, literally, a few houses away from the church / mosque named, Eski Imaret.

As a little kid I have played inside it hundreds of times. I use to play while the older people prayed. It is so nice inside it. They say there are graves under it, and you sure can feel something there. 

Go there, if you ever make it to Istanbul. 

It is about a 30 walk from the Blue Misque.

Russia and Ukraine War

I was doing some research.  

We are always lied to.  

Russia is not like USA. USA goes out of its territory to start wars. Irak, Syria, Libya, Vietnam, Afghanistan etc.  all ended in disaster for those nations, millions of deaths.  

Russia has been invaded by the west for hundreds of years, therefore, all the nations west of Russia are her buffer nations, Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Romania, Macedonia etc. and these nations came out of the collapsed Soviet Union.  

The buffet nations act as protection to Russia against the west. 

Now Putin advised NATO and USA to not initiate or push Ukraine to join NATO or any other alliance with USA or the west.  

What did NATO do or USA? They were confronting Russia by talking about a military base or bases in Ukraine.  

Now Putin is no angel, and war is not the answer. But we are being fed wrong news. It is again the USAs fault that war began.  

USA could have easily said, no to bases and ended it without war months ago.  

Russia is protecting herself from the west.  

At least, I read it this way.

Fatih area of Istanbul

It is interesting that this Arab person bashed Erdogan as almost all Arabs I meet love him.  

He must be a left leaning person. Because most of the lefts do not like Erdogan in Turkey, it is the right wing, plus, older folks, and religious ones that keep him in power. 

Turkey, under Erdogan does not have a good record in jailing so many people.

I have come across many videos on YouTube about people who were jailed for months and years, without cause. They ended up obviously losing their jobs, homes etc. 

What is that phrase, power corrupts and too much corrupts without prejudice. 

One thing I like about Erdogan is, and you might not agree with me was his policy about the Syrians. 

I’m from Fatih, Istanbul. I was born only a block away from the Fatih Mosque, where Fatih Sultan Mehmet’s tomb is at. I tell you this to give you an idea where it is, in case you have been to that area. 

Well that area of Fatih is almost all people from the province of Siirt. That is where my grandparents are from. After WWI, many people from Siirt settled, out of that faraway city (Siirt)  to Istanbul, to find better employment. Similar to Newfoundlanders coming to Alberta for work. 

Anyway, people from Siirt are mostly Turkish Arabs. Because, sorry, this is heading somewhere, but during the Ottoman Empire days, people from El-Sham area, meaning Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria area, settled in Siirt area, because there was wars down in El-Sham. 

So, my ancestors are Arabs from south Syria area, could be Jerusalem area.

But, the Syrian refugees due to the recent wars have settled all around Fatih. Now, that area of Istanbul is full of Arabs. The signs on shops are Turkish, English, and Arabic. Just interesting how my neighbourhood has changed, again it could be worse for some, but good for others, as these people needed a new place to live. 

I guess it is good and bad, I just liked that Turkey took in 4 million plus refugees, while all of Europe complained that 1 million are coming in. 

Also, Turkey taking so many refugees is due to the fact that Arabs and all the other areas around Turkey, even in the Balkans still see Turkey as the grandchildren of the Ottomans, if anyone can save us, it is them, they think. 

Anyway, I wrote too much. 

Take care,

New immigrants into Canada

Yes, better decisions should be made about immigrants coming into Canada

I get the understanding that some immigrants only get in because they have the money to show the Canadian authorities, and I believe it is still a points system.  

Therefore, they get certain points for the money. Then certain points for education, and certain points for age etc. and total points, say, over 75, gives them the green light to come in. 

However, they should be screened at the last stage better. 

New immigrants bashing Canada, and hearing about this, makes me believe that they still donot see the benefit in living in our beautiful country. Give them time, they will learn to love it.  

Take care,

Garage Sizes

Never understood why some individuals drive those big trucks?!?!? They don’t fit in high percentage of garages. 

I like those four door jeeps. Always liked the jeep YJ as a young man, but never had the opportunity to own one. 

I would like to buy one of those four door kinds of jeep YJs now as my financial situation is better than when I was a young man. But, I will not buy, as they will not fit inside my garage.  

I have learned to buy cars. 

About ten years ago I bought an Acura 3.2 TL. It was a nice car, but it was a snug fit in my garage. I sold it about a month after buying it. 

Now I only buy mid sized cars.  

Currently I have a 2008 Honda Civic hybrid, best car I owned, and it fits nicely in my garage, with plenty of room on both sides of it to move around. 

The wife has a 2005 Honda CRV, it also fits nicely in the garage.

Both vehicles fit perfectly inside our garage. 

I guess the lesson here is, make sure your vehicle fits in your garage or parking stall, before buying it. 

Live and learn ehh. 

Ottomans, one of the longest lasting empires

https://247tempo.com/the-longest-lived-empires-in-history/11/

Good article about empires, my beloved, the Ottomans were number 26, a bit lower than I thought. 

However, the Ottomans lasted very long in a transitional time in Europe, Middle East, and Western Asia, where there were multiple strong other armies. 

Plus, more importantly, there were multiple nationalistic desires within the empire, wanting to break it apart, to create their own country.  

Lastly, that goddamn oil being found in Irak, Arabia, southern Syria, prior to WWI, made the Ottomans a victim at the hands of the imperial powers that wanted to break her apart and take the oil and lands. 

The Ottomans suffered much.  

I mean it.

Tormented Heart

Sultan Suleiman’s multiple sons were growing rapidly, and getting ready to take over the throne from their father. 

The sultan was witnessing the increasing tension between the male heirs and their mothers, which concerned and feared him. Therefore, due to the tensions, Suleiman did not leave Istanbul for long periods, as he believed his throne would be in jeopardy, and surely, he would be deposed. 

Suleiman had many concubines, and of the many, two of the females were the most important, since they provided the ruler with male heirs to his throne. 

The first woman to bear a male child was Mahidevran Gulbahar, who gave birth to Prince Mustafa, the eldest child of Suleiman. Mahidevran was of Albanian origin; she came from a wealthy family, and joined the sultan’s harem. The birth of Mustafa was particularly important, because he was the first child of Suleiman. 

The second female who bore male heirs for Sultan Suleiman was Hurrem Haseki. This young beautiful woman was a captured slave girl from the southeast section of Poland, where the country bordered Ukraine. The following were the sons of Hurrem, they were: Mehmet, Beyazit, Selim, and Cihangir. 

Hurrem and Suleiman were madly in love with one another. The tormented heart of Suleiman was very much evidenced by everyone, after the death of Hurrem. Furthermore, after her death, he lived an isolated life at the Topkapi Palace; the home of the sultanate family, in Istanbul. 

Could the torment he was living through, during the latter years of his life be due to another reason? 

It sure looked like some of the decisions made by Suleiman tormented him greatly, one of them being the order given to have his eldest son executed. 

Please order your copy, thank you.