Is Turkey dangerous? This is what we’ve learned so far!
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Article by Cynthia Bil
Turkey has been portrayed in a bad light lately by the media: people dying in bomb attacks, the war between the Turks and the Kurds, the many refugees from Syria fleeing into Turkey to make their way towards Europe, the turbulent atmosphere near the borders of Syria and Iraq,…. Tourists are staying away because they are afraid. Too bad because Turkey is a spectacular country with very welcoming people!
One of the many breathtaking views!
People who haven’t visited Turkey yet assume that it’s a third world country with very strict Islamic rules. We’ve only been here for a couple of weeks but we can already say that this is not the case! The villages are still very traditional but the cities have a blend of local and international influences in the buildings, the shops and in the dress code. Some men and women are still dressed traditionally (sleeved tops, loose trousers, knee-length dresses or skirts, headscarves) while the younger generation are dressed in the same clothes we would wear in France, Belgium, Italy,…
A blend of traditional and western clothes on a marketA woman in traditional clothes interacting with a woman in western clothes
The first place we visited was Marmaris, a little city on the Aegean sea where we arrived by ferry. We noticed this is a touristic city with a lot of trendy coffee shops and restaurants. Most towns and cities located on the West Coast of Turkey are built in a more Western European style. There are lots of hotels and resorts for holidaymakers. The more inland we went, the more we saw traditional villages and towns. Apparently Turkey is very diverse depending in what area you are. The country is very big ( 783,562 sq km), has a large variety in landscapes and we’ve only seen 2 out of the 81 provinces of Turkey so far so there is still a lot for us to discover!
Street view in a city (Marmaris)Street view of a little village (Islamlar)
Despite of the more western look of the cities at the coast, we definitely knew we were in Turkey because we saw the flag everywhere! In the streets, on boats, on cars, on top of a hill in the middle of nowhere, hanging on the front and inside houses,… we’ve never seen so much red as in our first days in Turkey! The Turkish people have the highest respect for their flag. It’s sacred for the Muslim Turks because of the star and crescent embellished on it (the star and crescent are seen as typical Muslim symbols). For others it is a symbol for their independence, honor and history.
Flags in the cityBoats with flags or flags with boats?
Another sign that we were in Turkey and specifically in a Muslim country, were the many mosques. The first time I heard the call to prayer, I had a huge smile on my face! The sound represented that we were in another culture! The Muslim are called to pray five times a day. The call is heard at dawn, at noon, in the middle of the afternoon, just after sunset and about two hours after sunset. The muezzin, a man appointed to call to prayer, climbs the high tower of the mosque, the minaret. He calls through a speaker in the Arabic language “Hasten to prayer”. That’s the moment where the people stop whatever they are doing, get out their little mat and start praying.
One of the many mosquesThe minare
However in Turkey we haven’t seen people praying in public like Niko saw in Morocco and I in Senegal. We also noticed that they are not following the strict rules that other Islamic countries have. We’ve learned that Turkey is one of the few secular Muslim countries in the world. This means that there is a separation between religion and governmental state and that the people are free in their religious beliefs. Even though most Turks consider themselves Muslims, they don’t have to follow the rules of the Islam very strictly. They can go out, drink alcohol, socialize with each other in ways that other Muslim countries would see as a ‘sin’. The religion is more of a cultural thing. That’s also why a lot of women don’t wear head scarves.
How did Turkey become a secular state? After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (the founder of the nation) came about and made some drastic changes in the country to detach itself from its Islamic heritage. He formed the Republic of Turkey in 1923 and abolished the Islamic justice system and adopted western justice and law methods. He made it law that women could wear their own choice of clothing (that’s why the headscarf is not obligated). He introduced the Latin alphabet (before that the Turkish language was written in Arabic) and helped a whole country to learn it. I think I don’t need to explain why he is called ‘The father of all Turks’ and why his statue and portrait can be found everywhere in Turkey, nearly as much as the Turkish flag!
I think I like this man too!
We were also pleasantly surprised how open-minded most Turks are. They are so welcoming towards strangers! Okay, I’ve heard they love to sell you their merchandise but the people we’ve met were just genuinely kind and friendly without expecting anything in return! The first night Niko and I grabbed a bite in a little local restaurant. We’ve had lahmacun (we call it a Turkish pizza) and ayran (a typical Turkish yogurt drink) for only €2 each! The owner of the restaurant loved to hear us practice our Turkish with him. He offered us some free tea and even gave us a loaf of bread when we said goodbye! The next morning we went to a little coffee shop with internet (so I could send my mum a text we arrived safely in Turkey). The waitress was very friendly and happy to practice her English with us. She even went to get her mother from the kitchen to introduce us to her. Again we got offered free tea and her mother gave us a big bag full of little cakes for the road. We had not even been 24 hours in Turkey and we were already overwhelmed with gifts and tea!
Lahmacun aka Turkish pizza!
And then comes the hitchhiking part. The very first time I felt a bit out of my comfort zone. It was the first time since the beginning of our travels. We’ve read about hitchhiking in Turkey but we know that every experience is different and that we had to find out for ourselves. And so far, we can only say that hitchhiking in Turkey is safe, easy and fun! The people are incredibly kind. Our first driver invited us for lunch and tea (is it possible to get a ‘tea belly’ instead of a ‘beer belly’?). We had drivers getting out of their way to drop us off in a good place to continue hitchhiking and one even gave us his umbrella when it was pouring down with rain! Remember what I wrote about Philotimo in Greece? Turks also have this attitude towards life!!
Our first impressions of Turkey? It is not dangerous here! It is a beautiful and enriching country with many ancient traditions and historical sites to discover, an unbelievably friendly culture and very tasty food!
Our travels in Turkey have only started but we are already in love! We feel safe and welcome and can’t wait to explore more of this interesting country!
Making You the Most Viable Next Hire Being flexible, creative and adaptable in today’s economy is the cornerstone to survival. The job search is no different and, with unemployment rising, requires just as much vigilance. One way you can keep your options open and make yourself even more marketable is by considering Consulting in addition to your quest for full-time employment. Often perceived as an “either-or” scenario, Consulting offers you just as many benefits as it does your “would be” employer:
Track record of Fixing Problems? Career wise, people typically fall into one of two categories: those who thrive on problem solving and the prospect of a new challenge –or- someone who is exceptionally good at steering the ship once it is on course. If the thought of fixing something that is broken appeals to you (versus has you thinking about reaching for the Tylenol), then Consulting might be an avenue to explore.
A More Flexible Interview Quite often, what a company needs is someone to tackle a specific problem, not a new full-time employee. Identifying this in the interview and being able to present yourself as the solution to their problem (at a lower cost), can ultimately create a job tailor made for you and your skill set. No one can compete against that.
Dating Before Marriage A consulting engagement can give you the opportunity to see if this company is a nice place to visit or a great place to live. The only thing worse than a prolonged job search, is ending up in a position that results in you being unemployed again in 6-12 months. Consulting lets you do more due diligence than you could ever accomplish in an interview.
“Consulting” on Your Resume To many recruiters, seeing “consulting” as your current role without any clients/engagements is just a way to dress up being out of work. But, with a list of key accomplishments at those engagements, you show that you are in demand, have more control over your search and are broadening your experience. The latter is extremely important if you are looking to transition industries.
Change Agent For companies looking to make some sort of change internally (and you should like this if you have a track record of fixing problems), consulting is a more preferred approach versus hiring a permanent employee. It is much easier to come in as a consultant, effect the course correction and then hand it off to the internal leadership.
Money Besides the obvious benefit of having income during your search, it also gives you breathing room to be more objective in selecting your next job.
It’s Easier to Find a Job When You Already Have One So much of what makes this true is that fact that when you are employed, you tend to be a bit more objective because you have a “bird in hand.” Consulting (in addition to easing that financial strain, which helps here) can provide the self-assurance that comes along with being employed, which can get whittled away while unemployed.
Presenting yourself as a viable consultant or full time employee isn’t mutually exclusive. Rather, they are simply two sides to the same coin. For the companies where you interview, this will only make you more viable and versatile in your eyes. For you, there is nothing to lose. The worst thing that happens here is you generate some income to inevitable financial strain of your job search. On the other hand, you might just find through this process that you discover your next career move.
Bağdat Caddesi
Gel de parmaklara hakim ol, yapma bir Caddebostan, Bağdat Caddesi nostaljisi şimdi!...diğer bir deyişle 'Karşı taraf' . Cok uzun seneler yazları gittiğim, son yıllarda ise her Türkiye'ye gittiğimde kaldığım Istanbul'un bir başka eşşiz köşesi. 1960'lı 70'li yıllarda köşkleriyle, bahçelerinden salkım salkım sarkan ortancalarıyla, billur gibi denizliyle, 'sayfiye' yeri olmasıyla meşhur Erenköy, Suadiye, Caddebostan.
Dükkanların az, ağaçların çok olduğu, bunca yıl geçmesine rağmen hala güzelliğini koruyan Bağdat Caddesi. On, onbir yaşımdan itibaren yazlarım geçti oralarda. Sokaklarda oynanırdı o zamanlar, öyle pek araba filan geçmezdi. Doyasıya bisiklete binilir, el birakarak gitmek büyük marifet sayılır Erenköy, Saskınbakkal, Göztepe bisikletle rahat rahat gidilir dönülürdü. Deniz için bazı sokakların denize vardıkları noktalarda bulunan kayıkhanelerden saatlik ücretle kayık kiralanır, kadın erkek kürek çekmeyi bilir, kayıktan denize girilirdi. Bazı gençler dalıp iskele ayaklarından midye toplar bazıları ise sığ kumda zıpkınla vatos avlarlardı. Sokaklardan dondurmacılar geçerdi o zamanlar. Simdiki gibi binbir çeşit ne gezer 'Dondurma, Kaymaaak' diye bağıran dondurmacının küçücük arabasında sadece kaymaklı ve limonlu dondurma olur, bazen ise çeşit olsun diye vişneli bulunurdu.
Caddebostan Plajı'nın yanı sıra bir de üyelikle girilebilen klüpler vardı. Marmara Yelken Klubü başta olmak üzere, Balıkadamlar, Caddebostan Yat Klübü ve İstanbul Yelken. Eğer bunlardan birine üyeyseniz veya üye bir arkadaşınız varsa bazı sporları yapma veya izleme olanağınız olur, voleybol, ping pong oynar, kıyıdan yelkenlilerin yarışlarını izlerdiniz. Denizin ortasında ise köfteciler vardı. Bunlardan aklımda kalanı ise mayomuzun kenarına sıkıştırdığımız parayla yüzdüğümüz, veya kayıkla yanaştığımız 'Fıştak'tı. Dönerken yüzülüyorsa demirlemiş kayıklara tutuna tutuna, dinlene dinlene yüzülürdü.
Akşamüstüne doğru herkesi bir 'piyasa' heyecanı alırdı. Saçlar yıkanır, bildiğımız ütüyle ütülenerek düzeltilir, ve (Bağdat) Cadde'ye binbir tur atmaya çıkılırdı. Bir aşağı, bir yukarı. Parkur ise genellikle Santral Durağı'ndan Saşkınbakkala kadardı. O zaman 'cafe' adeti bir elin parmaklarını geçmez, 'Borsa'da yer bulabilmek için hızlı davranmak gerekir, 'Divan' ise gençlere çok pahalı geldiğinden ancak hafif 'yaşı geçmiş'lerin duraklama mekanı olurdu. Hali varaba sahiakti oldukça yerinde olan birkaç genç ise bir aşağı bir yukarı arabayla giderek Mustang veya Corvette'leriyle gelene geçene hava atarlardı.
Geceleri ise açık hava sinemalarının keyfine doyulmazdı. Caddebostan'daki Ozan Sineması'nda genellikle Türk filmleri oynar, çıkınca biraz aşağıda, Caddebostan Maksim Gazino'sunun (MIGROS)yakınındaki büfe'de 'zümküfül' yenirdi (Bir çeşit sosisli sandoviç ) Yabancı filmlerin mekanı ise Budak Sineması'ydı (Şimdiki CKM). Yastıgını kapıp tahta iskemlelere yerleştirdikten sonra, çekirdeğini çıtlatarak izlenirdi filmler. Bazen bu sinemalarda Cem Karaca gibi o zamanın ünlü sesleri konserler verir, bazıları ağaç tepelerinden konser izlerdi.
Sonra sonra o köşkler birer birer yıkılmaya, yerlerin uzun uzun binalar dikilmeye, Cadde'deki evlerin yerlerini dükkanlar almaya, arabalar çoğalmaya, faytonlar yok olmaya, tekerlekli dondurmacıların yerini Algida'cılar almaya başladı. Ama ne mutlu ki tüm büyümeler, kalabalıklaşmalar rağmen 'Cadde'yi bozmayı başaramadı! O hala 'Cadde', İstanbul'un ,Türkiye'nin en güzide caddesi hala boydan boya yürümekten zevk aldığım, bir yerde oturup geleni geçeni izlemenin keyfini her yıl bir iki hafta yaşayabildiğim bir yer.
Galata' ya dogru...
The best way to improve health care requires physicians and other stakeholders
My honest approach for how to improve the care is to support a methodology such as being self-serving. I would like to start a program to introduce a software-based point-of-care tool for obtaining patient feedback. This real time information can be used with clients to positively impact the patient experience, nurse engagement, physician (soft skills) competence and overall quality. In my perspective the criteria for fulfilling the demand for finding the best way to improve healthcare is that it need be simple to implement, impactful and cost effective. The most impact to healthcare improvement will come from process improvement and healthcare provider recruitment AND retention. The by-products will be reduced cost of care and improved patient satisfaction. This applies to hospitals and private practices. Based on current studies and the economy, supplying adequate healthcare to the community is already tough and is going to get more challenging. Recruiting sufficient healthcare coverage will boost revenue and provide some improvement to patient satisfaction (wait time and access). However, failure to retain the medical staff will significantly hurt the outcome. With high demand and low supply, it will be well worth the time and money to present "we have the greenest pastures here". The method mentioned above may be called such as point-of-care through successful implementations that may turn in to popular key parts of process improvement. You need to have some feedback from the patients and the physicians in order to measure the processes that should be or are currently being improved. In order to achieve this you have to create the acronym HOSPITAL to help those in Healthcare recall the numbers of different types of inefficiencies in any medical facility. Those who have been exposed to Six Sigma and Lean have an appreciation for improvement opportunities and generally view things through differently trained eyes that can see within all those facilities. Publishing the results of the similar programs online may offer a transparent access to the consumers to monitor these inefficiencies. Welcoming any feedback relative to this and encourage your staff to consider this method or similar training methods for their teams will be highly critical for the outcome. We have to understand that it is impossible to solve a problem that we are unaware of. By providing even the most basic tools at the lowest level possible, these problems have a way of surfacing. While everyone recognizes that healthcare systems and organizations need to improve, I think not enough time is spent on firstly identifying the key stakeholders, and secondly properly ENGAGING them. I strongly believe that not enough time is spent trying to engage physicians in this process. In my experience too many of these "improvement strategies" are top-down decisions by non-clinical managers who failed to conduct any research into what physicians might want or what stumbling blocks there are/were to get them to adopt the new technologies. EMR/EHR/CPOE are prime examples - all of these require a breakdown in the normal activity flow of providers, as it requires them to either find and log on to a terminal or carry a bulky instrument. Almost all clients and colleagues I have worked with resent and resist those methods. And look how few MDs are part of Healthcare consulting firm teams. IMHO, I believe more energy should be spent engaging rather than alienating MDs as a first step, then doing the same for patients in order to get buy in from the two key stakeholders as I see it. I've always found that engaging these stakeholders on projects from the beginning results in more buy-in and most importantly, better recommendations/outcomes (a better product).
ULTIMATE RESULTS
Ilhan Arsel
BJK FOREVER
Karga kartalların sırtına oturur ve boynunu ısırır. Kartal cevap vermez, kargayla savaşmaz; kargaya zaman veya enerji harcamaz, bunun yerine sadece kanatlarını açar ve göklerde yükselmeye başlar. Uçuş ne kadar yüksek olursa, karganın nefes alması o kadar zor olur ve sonunda karga oksijen eksikliği nedeniyle düşer. Kartaldan öğrenin ve kargalarla savaşmayın, sadece yükselmeye devam edin. Yolculuk için gelebilirler ama yakında düşecekler. Dikkat dağıtıcı şeylere yenik düşmenize izin vermeyin....yukarıdaki şeylere odaklanmaya devam edin ve yükselmeye devam edin!! Kartal ve Karga dersi
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