Voices Newspaper Altinkum Didim Turkey - February 20th: Let's have a drink together!

TWO issues have come up for this Saturday: First: not having had the opportunity as yet to mix and mingle during the New Year? Or are you the person who just can not get enough of the party atmosphere?

In any case you may be ready for a few drinks with likeminded Didymians! February the 20th is the day. So what’s up: a chance to welcome 2010 and a new decade – I reckon it is never too late!

The host and the venue: the offices of the Solidarity with British Association in the centre of town next to the 2. Noter on the major shopping street leading from Atatürk Boulevard to the Town Hall (you shall see the logo of the association prominently displayed from their balcony when you stand in-between their and the Noter’s building – please look up) from 1300 – 1530 hours.

Who is invited: Everyone! British residents, Turkish hosts, international guests (there are some around already!)

Fulya, the chairwoman of the association, has kindly agreed to let all of us use her premises on this occasion and is the official host and partner for this event.

She will furthermore give a short presentation about her organisation’s important work. Guests will be able to learn about the association’s plans for 2010.

I have the intention to take five minutes of your time (not more – someone please bring a stop-watch) and talk about a few civil society projects which are in the pipeline for the new year and beyond (including a series of seminars starting in April about cancer awareness as well the work of Turkey’s Red Crescent Society).

Please go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/Didim-Events-Calendar/215153796553 in order to find further details and updates as and when they become available.

I shall endeavour to secure a sponsor for the first drink but if this does not materialize there will be a cash bar instead. It would be appreciated to make a reservation by sending a SMS to 0536.8639810 or 0555.4936829 or a brief e-mail to Klaus.Jurgens@gmail.com.

Second, from a columnist’s perspective ‘change’ is an ever-present companion and more than newsworthy to comment upon. The way we travel and how information travels, too, are perfect examples. Let us talk about ‘us’ first.

Consumers change, their demands change and yes, their purchasing power changes alongside albeit gradually; while Turkey mastered the last global financial meltdown rather well due to the solidity of its banking system the economic downturn was of course to be felt.

If you ever took the long-distance bus to Didim from İstanbul or Ankara you were forgiven to wishing upon a start in the night sky that your journey would not take that long. Then change happened indeed and many of the buses that are now used on some of the routes have fewer seats, more legroom and above all individual TV screens for each passenger. There are free non-alcoholic drinks as well as sandwiches available and even some of the stop-over places have been revamped or simply newly built.

No more having a cup of tea in a smoke filled cafeteria in the middle of the night but a decent meal or cappuccino a la Starbucks instead with clean restrooms and yes indeed, even the toilets have TV’s with live news. Which brings me to my second observation: how does news travel these days? In one word: fast!

We no longer need to wait until the evening news are broadcast into our living room. 9 out of 10 we will have had our fair dose of breaking news, developing stories or 24/7 coverage of each and every event long before we have retired for the day! Again, there are the good guys and the bad boys.

While it may be important for the free world to hear first hand that an international court has re-opened a case against a general potentially involved in genocide it may be a bad thing that a terror gang who just blew up innocent bystanders will be featured in near real-time on TV a few minutes later as this gives them free publicity for their unjust crusades.

This Wednesday was one such day where the ICC stated to reopen the case against the Sudanese president while only a few hours before two bomb attacks had occurred in towns in Pakistan as well as Iraq. Do not misinterpret me: I am not saying that without CNN or BBC World terror would not happen.

Attacks against democracy occurred long before the advent of 24 hour television – in many cases we simply did not know about it, or only when it was too late!

News on a bus, in the restroom, while sipping a drink in your hotel bar or in your local pub in-between your favourite soccer match? You catch my drift. While perhaps not every one agrees I quite like it that way as it makes our world so much more transparent.

We learn more about what happens around us. Our children learn more and want to know more. Add the internet and we truly live in the age of information You yourself can make news – and news can be encouraging and uplifting for a change, too. I guess that’s why we need our local press so much.

Happy reading and see you all on the 20th!