Robert Tait | Istanbul | July 1

The Guardian -

_{Most of the ancient city of Hasankeyf, in Batman province, will be submerged if South-eastern Anatolia project goes ahead, critics claim. Photograph: Alamy}

Turkey today announced plans to resume a controversial £1bn dam project in the face of environmental protests that it would displace thousands of people, destroy habitats and drown priceless archaeological treasures.

The environment minister, Veysel Eroglu, said work on the Ilisu hydroelectric dam on the Tigris river in south-east Turkey would restart after a six-month funding suspension ends next week.

Tom Perry | Bnechei, Lebanon | June 13

Reuters - Hezbollah and its allies will not join a new Lebanese government unless they have veto power over its decisions, a leading Christian member of their alliance said on Saturday.

Suleiman Franjieh said that without veto power it would be better to stay in opposition than to join the new government, which is almost certain to be led by a rival U.S.-backed coalition that won a parliamentary election on Sunday.

"Let them rule and take the whole government, but without us as bystanders in it," Franjieh told Reuters in an interview.

"We will not hold things up. But we will refuse to join the government," added Franjieh, whose Marada movement won three of parliament's 128 seats in the election.

June 8

BBC - The leader of Lebanon's governing pro-Western coalition has claimed victory over a Hezbollah-led bloc in the country's parliamentary election.

Saad Hariri said his 14 March alliance would retain its majority in the 128-seat parliament.

A key Christian ally of the Hezbollah-led alliance, which is supported by Syria and Iran, admitted defeat in Sunday's elections.

Official results are due later on Monday. Turnout was more than 50%.

"Congratulations to you, congratulations to freedom, congratulations to democracy," Mr Hariri told a crowd of his cheering supporters in the capital Beirut.

Saad Hariri said "the only winner is democracy in Lebanon"
"There is no winner and loser in these elections, the only winner is democracy and Lebanon," he added.

Mr Hariri's coalition was expected to win 70 seats in the new assembly, while the Hezbollah alliance would get 58 seats, Mr Hariri's Future TV station predicted.

Bethany Bell | Vienna | June 5

BBC - Undated photo released by CIA of alleged nuclear reactor under construction in Syria.
Syria says the al-Kibar site was a disused military building

The UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, says traces of undeclared man-made uranium have been found at a second site in Syria, at a reactor in Damascus.

The IAEA is investigating US claims that a Syrian site destroyed in a 2007 Israeli raid was a nuclear reactor that was not yet operational.

Separately, the agency says Iran is continuing to enrich uranium in defiance of the UN Security Council.

Both Iran and Syria deny allegations of illicit nuclear activities.

** IAEA Reports on Iran and Syria ~ Arms Control Wonks

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT ON A NEW BEGINNING

Cairo University
Cairo, Egypt

1:10 P.M. (Local)

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thank you very much. Good afternoon. I am honored to be in the timeless city of Cairo, and to be hosted by two remarkable institutions. For over a thousand years, Al-Azhar has stood as a beacon of Islamic learning; and for over a century, Cairo University has been a source of Egypt's advancement. And together, you represent the harmony between tradition and progress. I'm grateful for your hospitality, and the hospitality of the people of Egypt. And I'm also proud to carry with me the goodwill of the American people, and a greeting of peace from Muslim communities in my country: Assalaamu alaykum. (Applause.)

Fazile Zahir | Fethiye, Turkey | June 4

Asia Times -
The funeral of women's rights champion and avowed secularist Turkan Saylan, who helped thousands of Turkey's most underprivileged girls access education, was packed with mourners.

Conspicuously absent were members of the Islamist ruling party, who have been lambasted for ordering a demeaning investigation into Saylan's charity while she was on her death bed. Continued after the jump

• Battle Between Pro-Secular and Islamic Government Continues in Turkey

June 4

LA Times -

A beautiful woman glances seductively over her shoulder from a billboard on a busy Beirut thoroughfare. But it isn't perfume or shampoo she's selling: It's politics.

The ad, which urges women to "be beautiful and vote," was one of the more controversial campaign advertisements rolled out by parliamentary candidate Gen. Michel Aoun, whose party is allied with the Islamist group Hezbollah and is expected to make gains in national elections Sunday.

Critics call the ad sexist and pandering, a cheap grab for attention. But with only days until the balloting, there's not a wall, billboard or street that isn't plastered in campaign ads, and notoriety is just more free publicity.

"Our strategy was based on one platform, which was that we have to win the elections in 2009," said Sami Saab, the chief hand behind the ads. "At the end of the day, we made an ad campaign and we are talking to people."

If Saab sounds like the creative director at a competitive commercial ad agency, it's because he is. In fact, he took two months' leave to work full time on the campaign.

Hamza Hendawisam F Ghattas | Beirut | June 2

LA Times - It's an unusual alliance in a country where your religion usually determines your politics: Christians siding with Shiite Muslim militant Hezbollah. But it has shaken up Lebanon's politics, and backers say it represents the future of this long divided nation.

The coalition is also strong enough it could bring the anti-Israel and anti-U.S. Hezbollah to power in next week's parliamentary elections. That possibility has turned this election into a fierce battle for Lebanon's Christians.

Took the train from Istanbul to Bucharest last night. It was a fun train ride. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

I knew tearing myself away from this city was going to be difficult, but I had no idea I would spend my last full afternoon in a terrible state of what the Turks might call, "hüzün." If I did not have to be in Denmark in mid-June I would not leave. Soon I'll head down to the train station and have a last uskumru sandwich and watch ferries dance across the Bosporus.

I arrived on April 1, 2009 and in the blink of an eye this magical city has wooed me, wowed me, saddened me beyond measure and lifted me to the highest of heights. I will look back on this time just as I do Lake Toba, but for altogether different reasons. Toba was about disconnecting from the world in a way I'd not done in years. It was an escape, an idyll, an exotic dreamscape of guitars, new friends, peace and the warm waters of the lake I bathed in each morning. Toba was a place for me to bury the past, the obligations of home and family and in their place plant seeds that would, I hoped, spring up into a new life.

More after the jump.

From my travel journal:

May 26, 2009: We left İstanbul at noon. Navigating İstanbul traffic from Sultanhamet to the Yenikapi ferry port wasn't too hard. Getting the ferry ticket and embarking was a cinch. The ferry to Yalova took about an hour. Amanda and I listened to the music on her iPod as the wine-dark waters of the Marmara skimmed beneath us. We disembarked, gassed up and sped off into the Bithynian hills. We stopped for lunch along Ulubat Golu, a pretty lake just west of Bursa. Watched a young family play futbol along the shores and shared an Iskender kebab. Lots of tea, as always! We stopped at a pastanesi--sweet shop--about 3/5ths of the way to Izmir. Honey and pistachios. How can one go wrong?

As promised, here are the photos from Ephesus and Priene. A big shout-out to MJSteckel, for the suggestion to visit Priene.

Ephesus was a great site. And very big. But Priene, well, the view was fantastic. And the site, because it's less curated, let my imagination run wild. It was wonderful.

Enjoy.

Photos coming tomorrow. I'm off to Bucharest, or at least heading north on the 31st.

I'm surrounded by hills with olive groves running up the walls. Apricot orchards and orange groves are everywhere.

The water is a deep sapphire blue. There isn't a cloud in the sky. The local wine is wonderful.

I have a deep Aegean tan.

Ephesus was magnificent and the mountain village of Sirince was all too picturesque.

Who gets to live such a life?

May 26

UPI - Lebanese military prosecutors charged three Lebanese nationals, including military officials, with spying for Israel in a growing intelligence network.

Lebanese authorities have uncovered scores of Lebanese military officials allegedly serving as agents for the Israeli spy network Mossad.

The latest charges bring the total number of Lebanese nationals convicted of spying for Israel to 21. At least 30 were arrested in the past three months.

The arrests come as the Israeli military plans operations for May 31 along the border with Lebanon.

More election meddling?

Erich Follath | May 23

Spiegel Online - The United Nations special tribunal investigating the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri has reached surprising new conclusions -- and it is keeping them secret. According to information obtained by SPIEGEL, investigators now believe Hezbollah was behind the Hariri murder.

Biden in Lebanon:

Biden, speaking to reporters after arriving in Lebanon amid tight security, warned that U.S. aid to Lebanon could be reconsidered in case of a win by Hezbollah, which Washington considers a terrorist organization.

"I do not come here to back any particular party or any particular person. I come here to back certain principles," Biden said after a meeting with President Michel Suleiman. "We will evaluate the shape of our assistance programs based on the composition of the new government and the policies it advocates." LA Times

and

Joe Biden did not mention Hezbollah by name, or its foreign supporters, but correspondents said his statement was a clear warning to voters tempted to vote for the party or its allies.

"I urge those who think about standing with the spoilers of peace not to miss this opportunity to walk away," he said BBC

Truth or election meddling?

As is plainly obvious by now I am back in Istanbul for a brief stop-over before I head for points south west, maybe Konya, maybe Seljuk, Priene and Ephesus. We'll see what happens. The lease in my flat was up on the first of May, so I have been holing up down here in Sultanhamet, instead of the Taksim area. So, unless I fall in with a group of twenty-something futbol fans in town for the UEFA Cup (Donetsk-Shakhtar beat Weder Bremen, by the way) my social opportunities are a bit limited right now. I am considering going to the Beşiktaş-Galatasary match on Sunday night. Turkish futbol matches are a lot of fun. I did, however, have a wonderful conversation about art and architecture the other night with two lovely Norwegian septuagenerians, on their once a year European 'art vacation' as the ladies called it. They were really charming. But that's about it.

And then, serendipity always seems to intervene.

Yesterday I was strolling along the sea-walls on the Marmara shore taking some photos of an area of Istanbul I've neglected when I stumbled upon these two gentlemen. The saw me taking photos of them and called me over in English.

"Did you get good photos of us," the young one asked.

"Sure did," I said, showing him the shot in the view finder.

"Seet down," said the older one, "seet down, please."

More after the jump.

My friend Kipouros lives here in Istanbul and wrote one of the best descriptions of why this place is so wonderful, why it has such an amazing and captivating spirit:

But why does it draw people in so? It’s not necessarily physical beauty, though Istanbul has plenty despite the flood of cement that has obliterated much of its old character. When I look off the Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridge up the undulating turquoise Bosphorus, lined with brilliant white mansions below forested hills splashed with the pink of Judas trees, I often think, “when this view ceases to move me, it will be time to leave.”

These are things that draw people to the city, but what keeps them here is the inescapable warmth of the people (even if there are some we feel like strangling) and an ever-transforming, inexhaustible energy. It’s not always pleasant; a friend described Istanbul as a “city of near misses,” and it’s a good description. Everyday life can be a bit like watching the local neighborhood showoff throwing rocks at a hornet’s nest. Things could play out in lots of different ways, but you know something’s going to happen, and it will probably be interesting.

I'd encourage you to read the entire post, as he echoes many of my thoughts and feelings about this place.

More after the jump.

A last rumination on my journey through Anatolia these last three weeks (and no architecture, I promise) for those inclined, here.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled news and political blogging.

If you are so inclined, you can read about it here.

The last several days have been busy, but not a job-minded busy, just an interesting, peripatetic busy. My days seem to be growing more and more interesting and I already know I will miss Turkey when I leave on the June 1. But, by then it will be time to move on. I imagine I'll be taking an overnight train to Sophia, Bulgaria or Belgrade, Serbia. I haven't planned that far ahead yet. Probably a short stop in Budapest and then the long ride up to Denmark. No Crimea this time around. I'll save that for another trip. I'm sitting on a cafe terrace right now, looking down into the Bursa Valley. It's a nice sight. Not as epic as Eastern Anatolia, nor as wild. But it has a strong Mediterranean flavor, very Levatine. The sun is shining but huge semi-random globules of rain drop. It's nice to be in a liberal city again. I loved it out East, all the raw wildness of the place. But it was conservative. And I don't really like it when eight of ten women are covered. Bursa has a very open, lively feel.

I woke early, Saturday in Sivas, paid the hotel bill and caught the 1100am bus to Ankara. It was about 75* in Sivas, but the harsh glare of the sun made it feel 90*. I crawled onto the bus, plugged in my iPod and settled down for a long, boring drive. From Sivas to Ankara is not terribly inspiring and although there are plenty of craggy hillocks to break up the swathes of farm and pasture land, the landscape resembled the steady rise and fall of swells in the North Atlantic. Wheat, barley, shepherds and small plots of vegetables cover the countryside. Broken up only by large creeks lined with Cypress trees, surrounded by Oxbow lakes and small congregations of tents: itinerant farmers--the last vestiges of Turkish pastoral nomadism in Anatolia.

More can be read here..

Kind of says it all:

People photos from Sivas start around here.

Enjoy the rest from Bursa.

Drove to Divriği today. About 400 kilometers round trip. Rented a car. Splendid. The day was as close to perfect as could be asked. I took some rural photos for Don (i.e the one in this post, I figured he'd like seeing a field like that! And this one too.), and also I stopped at a place where they breed those Anatolian Shepherd Dogs everyone is raving about. Enjoy the photos.

Another big photo dump (about 120 photos), as promised.

Photos can be found here.