A few months ago I received the following email:

hi joe

The our site is open about Mersin. Review this site then add us URL, please.

Thank you very much

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Mersin360 Yönetim

I’ve finally got around to reviewing it. Mersin360.com is a well-designed Turkish-language Mersin portal centred around local entertainment events. The website includes blogs, a forum and a photo gallery. It is very similar to and probably inspired by MersinSosyete.com.

The amount of up to date information about Mersin on the net has rapidly increased in the last year. Unfortunately, little of the information is in English.

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tuna
+
tahini paste
+
a few splashes of balsamic vinegar
+
sliced ‘Bursa’ (Roma) tomato
+
oregano
+
rocket
+
fresh mint leaves
+
chilli flakes
+
fresh sliced onion
+
red capsicum
+
pepper paste
+
stoned black olives
+
crumbly tulum cheese

all in a freshly baked “tas ekmegi” (‘stone bread’)
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BLISS

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Here is a glowing review of Mersin. The man came to Mersin via the Latakia ferry from Tartous, Syria for a break with his family. A quote:

Mersin is such a nice place and only a stone throw away from Tartous. Knowing this city intimately, as I’ve done over the last few days, is akin to having an affair with your beautiful neighbor.

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Mersin is competing against Volos, Greece and Rijeka, Croatia to host the 2013 Mediterranean Games (‘Akdeniz Oynalari’). The Egyptian Al-Ahram Weekly has a write-up of each city’s presentations.

The Mediterranean Games are a multi-sport event held every 4 years in the Olympic tradition. Unlike the Olympics (and as its name suggests), participation in the Mediterranean Games is restricted to countries in the vicinity of the Mediterranean Sea. All countries bordering the Med take part except for Israel.

The final decision on who hosts the 2013 games will be made by the International Mediterranean Games Committee (CIJM) in November 2007. Turkey hosted the Mediterranean Games once previously: the 1971 games in Izmir.

The 2009 games will be held in Pescara, Italy.

Mersin has changed its candidature logo. The following fish logo is the original design. I took this photo at the 2006 Mersin Motor Show. I guess the bubbles coming out of its mouth are meant to represent the 3 CIJM rings.

Recently, a more conservative and informative logo has replace the fish:

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The 8th stage of the European Open Water Swimming Cup will be held at Kizkalesi on the weekend of 1 and 2 September. Men and women will compete in separate 5 kilometre races. Swimmers swimming around the castle would make a good spectacle.

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Wednesday morning I left home at 5 am and, for the first time ever, walked the 10 kilometres west along the coast from Camlibel to Mezitli, Mersin’s neighbouring town. I returned via bus, arriving back home at 8:20 am.

The early morning is a beautiful time to walk. The heat of the sun and the city noise were non-existent. Following are a few photos I took during my walk:

This stray kitten and its companion (not in photo) were hungry for food

The sun rising in the east. Pollution helps make sunrises and sunsets more beautiful (probably pollution’s only positive).

Looking towards Pozcu. There are people walking, play equipment, a cafe, military relics and the ugly “Pozcu Plaza” building with crane on top intruding in front of the mountains. This is the same building as I wrote about here.

Mersin’s largest mosque, “Mugdat Camii”

The reflection of a fountain prior to its daily operation

A fisherman not worried about the pollution in the bay. Perhaps he thinks it is a bonus if the fish have two heads. In the foreground are pigeons enjoying a feeding frenzy. My one-man pigeon crap-reduction cult has very little chance of succeeding if people keep feeding the birds en masse.

Sculptures are placed at various locations along the coast. This one is of the traditional Turkish puppets Karagoz and Hacivat.

Bees gorging on pollen in the banana blossoms

In this part of the world it is fashionable to have an English name for your bar no matter how lame it sounds. “The Vodka” anyone?

Galatasaray Square. Soon I will write a post specifically about this disgrace.

A crow resting on the rail. Mersin’ skyline is in the background. To the left of the crow is the Taksim International hotel. The 6 pillars visible in the distance to the crow’s right are Mugdat Mosque’s minarets (see photo above).

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Last week Italian Antonio stayed for a day on his way from Syria to Cyprus. We first met last month in Damascus at Jeff’s Trivial Pursuit night.

Antonio spent 2 months in Syria learning Arabic but was glad to leave the country as he found it too closed and conservative. He is an interesting fellow having gained an engineering degree, worked in France for 2 years (in which time he became fluent in French) and then obtained his teaching qualifications in Florence. He hopes to be accepted into the Italian public schooling system this year.

Antonio didn’t stay long but it was still enough time for ice cream at Mado, tantuni, kunefe, a shave and a swim down the coast.

At Mado with the pre-shaven Antonio at Mado:

I look forward to visiting Antonio’s place on the heel of Italy one day.

UPDATE: Due to popular demand (well, Jeff is popular), I have uploaded a photo of a post-shaven Antonio. The image is actually a mirror reflection at the barber’s straight after Antonio’s shave.

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Now that I can access Blogger.com again, I will catch-up on a few posts.

Following are pictures and short descriptions (in Turkish) of Mersin Province’s successful candidates in the recent Turkish election. The ratios were such that 4 candidates from each of the AKP, CHP and MHP parties were elected.

AKP (Adalet ve Kalkinmasa Partisi; Justice and Development Party; ‘Islamic roots’; currently in power nationally)

CHP (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi; Republican People’s Party; ‘centre-left’; Ataturk’s party)

MHP (Milliyet Hareket Partisi; Nationalist Movement Party; ‘ultra-nationalists’)

QUICK QUIZ

Q: Did you notice anything odd about the candidates?

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A: They are all males born between 1944 and 1968 (one or two member-elect descriptions don’t mention their birth date but they would be in suggested range)

I wish the new members of parliament were far more representative of Mersin’s actual population and featured more women and young people. Incidentally, nationally, Turkey has one of the lowest percentages of women elected to parliament in the world.

POSTCRIPT: Here is an interesting pre-election write-up about the supposed ‘turbulent’ and ‘tense’ city of Mersin.

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