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Çanakkale
Skyline of Çanakkale
Çanakkale
Coordinates: 40°09′21″N 26°24′49″E / 40.15583°N 26.41361°E / 40.15583; 26.41361Coordinates: 40°09′21″N 26°24′49″E / 40.15583°N 26.41361°E / 40.15583; 26.41361
Country	Turkey
Province	Çanakkale
Government
• Mayor	Ülgür Gökhan (CHP)
• Kaymakam
Area
• District	938 km2 (362 sq mi)
Population (2010)[1][2]
• Urban	106,116
• District	136,484
• District Density	150/km2 (380/sq mi)
Website	www.canakkale.bel.tr

Dardanelles, centrum city.

Çanakkale (pronounced [tʃaˈnakkaˌle]) is a town and seaport in Turkey, in Çanakkale Province, on the southern (Asian) coast of the Dardanelles (or Hellespont) at their narrowest point. The population of the town is 106,116 (2010 estimate).^[3] The current mayor is Ülgür Gökhan (CHP).

Çanakkale Province, like Istanbul Province, has territory in both Europe and Asia. Ferries cross here to the northern (European) side of the strait.

The city is the nearest major town to the site of ancient Troy. The "wooden horse" from the 2004 movie Troy is exhibited on the seafront. Çanakkale is the second city to be situated on two continents after Istanbul. However Çanakkale is closer to mid-division than Istanbul. There is a Jewish community.^[4]

Name[link]

The Byzantine name for Çanakkale was Δαρδανέλλια Dardanellia, from which the English name Dardanelles is derived.

Çanakkale was an Ottoman fortress called Kale-i Sultaniye (Ottoman Turkish: قلعة سلطانيه) or Sultaniye kalesi (Fortress of the Sultan). It later became known for its pottery, hence the later name Çanak kalesi 'pot fortress' or 'Çanakkale.

Legends[link]

Ancient Abydos, where the story of Hero and Leander takes place, is to the north of Çanakkale.

History[link]

• 

  Çanakkale ferry line across the Dardanelles

• 

  Çanakkale fortress at night

• 

  Çanakkale fortress

• Kilitbahir.jpg

  Kilitbahir Castle

The first inhabitants of the city, which hosted many civilizations, lived on the Biga Peninsula in the Last Chalcolithic Age c. 6000 years ago. However, very little is known about the identity and lifestyle of these early settlers. According to some excavations and research, the earliest settlements in the region were established at Kumtepe. It is supposed that Kumkale was established in 4000 BC and Troy between 3500–3000 BC. The real history of Çanakkale started with Troy.

Later the Aeolian Greeks settled on that important land in the 8th century BC and established many trade colonies in the region called Aeolis. The region came under the control of the Lydians in the 7th century BC and under the control of the Persians in the 6th century BC. Aeolis went under the control of the Macedonians as Alexander the Great defeated the Persians by the Granicus River of the region in the Battle of the Granicus on his way to Asia. The region went under the reign of the Kingdom of Pergamon in the 2nd century BC.

The western part of the Biga Peninsula where ancient Troy is stiuated was called Troas. Alexandria Troas, an important settlement of the region, was a free trade port and a rich trade center during Roman times. Later in the 2nd century AD, the region was attacked by Goths from Thrace. During the 7th and 8th centuries, in order to attack Constantinople (modern İstanbul) the Arabs passed the strait a few times and came up to Sestos. At the beginning of the 14th century the Karasids dominated the Anatolian part of the strait. During the first half of that century Demirhan Bey from Karasids attempted to dominate the region. The Ottomans gained control of Gallipoli in 1367.

In 1915, during the First World War, Great Britain and France attempted to to capture the Ottoman capital of Constantinople and secure a sea route to Russia. Known as the The Gallipoli Campaign, or the Dardanelles Campaign, in Turkey it is referred to as the Battle of Çanakkale (Turkish: Çanakkale Savaşı), in particular the sea battle which took place on March 1915 where the Royal Navy was repulsed by Turkish forces. During the naval battles, Joule, AE2, Triumph, Ocean and HMS Goliath were among the crafts sunk by Turkish forces.

Climate[link]

Çanakkale has a mediterranean climate with hot and dry summers and cool and rainy winters.

Notable people from Çanakkale[link]

Ece Ayhan(poet)
Teoman Alpay(compositor)
İbrahim Bodur(entrepreneur)
Nuri Bilge Ceylan(director)
Tahir Musa Ceylan (novelist philosopher)

Education[link]

The service of education throughout the city is above the country averages. There are 13 high schools and a college within the boundaries of the city. Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University has 9 faculties, 2 institutes, 2 vocational schools and serves more than 20,000 students. Eight percent of the population are college graduates.

Transportation[link]

Canakkale has one airport, which is 3 km off the city, serving since 1995. Anadolu Jet a trademark of Turkish Airlines, and Borajet has flights from Istanbul and Ankara seven days a week.

Sea transportation is vital for the city since it is located on both sides of Asian and European continents, just like Istanbul.

Çanakkale is linked to north, east, and south by well-paved highways numbered E87/E90/D550, E90/D200, and E87/D550 respectively. There are buses from Istanbul and Izmir at any time, day or night. It takes five and a half to six hours to get from Istanbul to Canakkale, and about the same time from Izmir.

Twinships[link]

• Pomezia, Italy
• Osnabrück, Germany

See also[link]

• Battle of Gallipoli
• Güzelyalı, a nearby town
• Chanak Crisis

References[link]

• Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition s.v. Dardanelles (town).

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Canakkale

• Çanakkale Web Site
• Çanakkale Özel Web Sitesi

• Pictures of the town and sub-galleries to major sights
• [1] an overview of memorials, cemeteries and relics of the gallipoli campaign, in Turkish known as the Canakkale wars.

v t e Çanakkale in Çanakkale Province (in the Marmara region) of Turkey Urban districts Çanakkale Rural districts Ayvacık - Bayramiç - Biga - Bozcaada - Çan - Eceabat - Ezine - Gelibolu - Gökçeada - Lapseki - Yenice Regions Provinces Aegean Afyonkarahisar - Aydın - Denizli - Izmir - Kütahya - Manisa - Muğla - Uşak Black Sea Amasya - Artvin - Bartın - Bayburt - Bolu - Çorum - Düzce - Giresun - Gümüşhane - Karabük - Kastamonu - Ordu - Rize - Samsun - Sinop - Tokat - Trabzon - Zonguldak Central Anatolia Aksaray - Ankara - Çankırı - Eskişehir - Karaman - Kayseri - Kırıkkale - Kırşehir - Konya - Nevşehir - Niğde - Sivas - Yozgat Eastern Anatolia Ağrı - Ardahan -Bingöl - Bitlis - Elâzığ - Erzincan - Erzurum - Hakkâri - Iğdır - Kars - Malatya - Muş - Siirt - Tunceli - Van Marmara Balıkesir - Bilecik - Bursa - Çanakkale - Edirne - Istanbul - Kırklareli - Kocaeli - Sakarya - Tekirdağ - Yalova Mediterranean Adana - Antalya- Burdur - Hatay - Isparta - Kahramanmaraş - Mersin - Osmaniye Southeastern Anatolia Adıyaman - Batman - Diyarbakır - Gaziantep - Kilis - Mardin - Şanlıurfa - Şırnak

Mehmet Akif Ersoy
File:Mehmet Akif Ersoy.jpg
Born	(1873-12-20)20 December 1873 Fatih, Istanbul, Ottoman Empire
Died	27 December 1936(1936-12-27) (aged 63) Istanbul, Turkey
Occupation	Poet, author, politician
Nationality	Turkish, Uzbek, Albanian
Literary movement	The Republican Era
Notable work(s)	Safahat
www.mehmetakifersoy.com

Reverse of the 100 lira banknote (1983–1989)

Mehmet Âkif Ersoy (1873, Fatih, Istanbul^[1] - 27 December 1936, Istanbul) was a Turkish poet, author, academic, member of parliament, and the poet of the Turkish National Anthem.

Widely regarded as one of the premiere literary minds of his time, Ersoy was further noted for his command of the Turkish language, as well as his patriotism and piousness and his support for the Turkish War of Independence.

As a gesture of gratitude, a framed version of the national anthem typically occupies the wall above the blackboard in the classrooms of every public as well as most private schools around Turkey, along with a Turkish flag, a photograph of the country's founding father Atatürk, and a copy of Atatürk's famous inspirational speech to the nation's youth.

He currently has a university in his name in Burdur. Ersoy's portrait was depicted on the reverse of the Turkish 100 lira banknotes of 1983–1989.^[2]

Biography[link]

Ersoy was born as Mehmet Akif in Fatih, Istanbul, Ottoman Empire in 1873 to a conservative family, the son of İpekli Tahir Efendi, an Albanian from İpek, modern day Peć and tutor at the Fatih Madrasah,^[3] at a time when all institutions of the state were in terminal decline, and major crises and regime changes were underway. His mother, Emine Şerife Hanım, was of mixed Uzbek and Turkish descent.^[4] As he was about to complete his education at the Fatih Merkez Rüştiyesi, his father's death and a fire that destroyed his home, forced Ersoy to interrupt his education and to start working to support his family. He wanted to start a professional career as soon as possible, and he entered the Mülkiye Baytar Mektebi (Veterinary School), and graduated with honors in 1893.

In the same year, Mehmet Akif Ersoy joined the civil service and conducted research on contagious diseases in various locations in Anatolia. During these assignments, in line with his religious inclination, he gave sermons in mosques, and tried to educate the people and to raise their awareness. Along with fellow men-of-letters Recaizade Mahmut Ekrem, Abdülhak Hamit Tarhan and Cenap Şahabettin, which he had met in 1913, he worked for the publication branch of the Müdafaa-i Milliye Heyeti. He soon resigned from his government position and other occupations, and wrote poems and articles for the publication Sırat-ı Müstakim.

During the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Mehmet Akif Ersoy was a fervent patriot. He made important contributions to the struggle for the declaration of the Turkish Republic, and advocated patriotism through speeches that he delivered in many mosques in Anatolia. On 19 November 1920, during a famous speech he gave in Kastamonu's Nasrullah Mosque, he condemned the Treaty of Sèvres, and invited the people to use their faith and guns to fight against Western colonialists. When the publication Sebilürreşat, which was then operating out of Ankara, published this speech, it spread all over the country and was even made into a pamphlet distributed to Turkish soldiers.

However, Mehmet Akif Ersoy earned himself his significant place in the history of the Republic of Turkey as the composer of the lyrics of the Turkish National Anthem. During the session of 12 March 1921, the Turkish Grand National Assembly officially designated his ten-quatrain poem as the lyrics of the national anthem.

Mehmet Akif Ersoy is an important national figure in the history of modern Turkey and has left an immortal trace in its history. During the republican period, Mehmet Akif Ersoy taught history and literature at various universities.

Ersoy temporarily relocated to Cairo due to a family-related matter in 1925, and taught the Turkish language at the University there during his 11-year stay. He caught malaria during a visit to Lebanon and returned to Turkey shortly before his death in 1936.

He was interred in the Edirnekapı Martyr's Cemetery in Istanbul. Mehmet Akif Ersoy is the first person in the history of the Republic of Turkey to have the national anthem performed at his funeral ceremony.

Works[link]

Mehmet Akif Ersoy had abundant knowledge concerning traditional eastern literature. In addition, during the years he was studying at Veterinary school, he enjoyed reading the works of authors such as Victor Hugo, Alphonse de Lamartine, Emile Zola, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

He is best known for his 1911 work entitled Safahat. This volume is a collection of 44 poems of various lengths by Mehmet Akif Ersoy. The earliest work that appears in this book is dated 1904, but this is unattested, and it is highly likely that the poet, who was 32 on that particular date, composed poems prior to that date.

He is further noted for writing the lyrics of Turkish National Anthem, İstiklâl Marşı (The March of Independence in English) – which was adopted in 1921, and is accepted by many Turks as their "National Poet". The lyrics were originally written as a poem in a collection of his writings. Paradoxically, one of his most famous works, a book called Safahat, was not widely read or published until recently. He studied veterinary science at the university.

In addition to his literary merits and his patriotic personality, Ersoy was a deeply pious man who was known on occasion to engage in Tafsir and for the few but particularly well-written poetic translations from the Qur'an he penned. Atatürk, who admired Ersoy and was deeply impressed with the samples of Tafsir Ersoy provided, asked the poet if he could translate the entire Qur'an into Turkish, as well as provide a commentary on its contents. Although he first accepted the offer, Ersoy soon realized that his command of Islamic theology and his knowledge of classical Arabic was insufficient to provide a thorough, proper and deserving translation of the exquisite Arabic in The Qur'an. To avoid the possible public circulation of a transliteration which may remotely be faulty, he burned the few pages that he worked on, and the job of creating the Turkish Tafsir of the Qur'an was given to one of the greatest theologians and academics of the day, Elmalılı Muhammed Hamdi Yazır, whose work is still regarded as the Tafsir of record in Turkey.

Other works are Süleymaniye Kürsüsünde (At the Chair of Süleymaniye, 1912), Hakkın Sesleri (Voices of God, 1913), Fatih Kürsüsünde (At the Chair of Fatih, 1914), Hatıralar (Memoirs, 1917), Asım (Asım, 1924), Gölgeler (Shadow, 1933), Kastamonu Nasrullah Kürsüsü'nde (At the Kastamonu Nasrullah Chair, 1921), Kur'an'dan Ayet ve Hadisler (Ayat and Hadith from the Koran, 1944).

See also[link]

Wikisource has original works written by or about: Mehmet Akif Ersoy

• İstiklâl Marşı

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Grey Wolves - Listen Mehmet Akif Ersoy Online
• Biyografi.info - Biography of Mehmet Akif Ersoy
• Mehmet Akif Ersoy Vakfi - Mehmet Akif Ersoy
• Turkish Culture Portal - Mehmet Akif Ersoy
• Mehmet Akif Ersoy, Yeşim Gökçe, Bilkent University
• Mehmet Akif Ersoy, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Çökerken, Vural Savaş

Sunay Akın (born 1962, Trabzon, Turkey) is a Turkish poet, writer, TV host, journalist, and a philanthropist. He is the founder of Istanbul Toy Museum.

Best known for his poetry, Akın's primary influences include Orhan Veli Kanık and Cemal Süreya. His poems are generally lyric, short, and soft in tone. He also often makes use of satirical forms and puns.

Akın has a collection of over 7,000 toys, some of which date back nearly 200 years.^[1] 4,000 of them are on display in the İstanbul Toy Museum which opened in 2005.^[1]

He co-hosts a TV show called "Yaşamdan Dakikalar" ("Minutes from Life") on the TV channel tv8, together with Hıncal Uluç, Haşmet Babaoğlu, and Nebil Özgentürk.^[2][3] He has hosted other TV and radio programmes such as "Mahya Işıkları", "Stüdyo İstanbul" and "İzler" on the TV channel TRT 2, "Gezgin Korkuluk" on the TV channel tv8, and "Veşaire...Veşaire" on the radio channel Yaşam Radyo.

He lectures at Marmara University, and Müjdat Gezen Art School, as well as at his own institution, the İstanbul Toy Museum.

Akın regularly stages one man shows in Turkey and abroad, and participates in panels and conferences. He contributes as a regular columnist to the newspaper Cumhuriyet. His column is named after his 2004 book, "Kule Cambazı" ("Tower Acrobat"), in reference to İstanbul's Maiden's Tower.

Awards[link]

• 1987, Halil Kocagöz Poem Awards for his collection of unprinted poems "Noktalı Virgül" ("Semicolon")
• 1990, Orhon Murat Arıburnu Poem Awards for his poem "Makiler" ("Maquis")

Works[link]

Earlier works[link]

His first poems were published in various periodicals in 1984. In 1989, he founded the poetry journal "Yeni Yaprak" ("New Page", "New Leaf") in reference to Orhan Veli's landmark 1949 journal "Yaprak", whose logo was adopted in the new publication. "Yeni Yaprak" was published in collaboration with the poets Ramazan Üren and Akgün Akova, twice a week in the beginning, on a monthly basis later, reaching a total of sixteen issues.

In 1990, Akın took part in the publication of "Olmaz" (Won't Happen), a poetry journal. In 1991, in one of Yaprak's last issues, a poem titled "Barış için dizeler" ("Lines for Peace") brought together 81 Turkish poets each writing parts of the verses, unaware of what the others composed. Some among the 81 poets were well-known names of Turkish literature, such as Can Yücel, Hilmi Yavuz, Lale Müldür, Semih Kaplanoğlu, and Süreyya Berfe.

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Bibliography[link]

^{[clarification needed]}

• "Antik Acılar" (1991, 1995, 1999) ("Antique sufferings")
• "Şairler Matinesi" (1993) ("Poets' matinée")
• "Şiir Cumhuriyeti" (1993) ("The Republic of Poetry") - joint collection
• "Veşaire...Veşaire" (1994), which could be translated as "And to poets...And to poets", a pun derived from "Ve saire...Ve saire" ("Et cetera...Et cetera...")
• "Küçük Asker...Küçük Asker..." (1995) ("Little soldier..Little soldier" referring to a popular Turkish children's song of the same name)
• "Makiler" (1996, 1999) ("Maquis")
• "Kaza Süsü" (1997) ("Freak accident")
• "Kırılan Canlar" (1997) ("Broken Souls")
• "İstanbul'un Nazım Planı" (Structural plan of Istanbul), with the word "Nazım" propitious to a pun since it also means "in verse" or may refer to the poet Nazım Hikmet.
• "62 Tavşanı" (2000) ("Rabbit of 62") in reference to the simple way of drawing a rabbit, by writing down 62 first and then connecting the digits with two horizontal lines. Akın was born in 1962.
• "Ayçöreği ve Denizyıldızı" (2000) ("Croissant and starfish")
• "Kız Kulesi'ndeki Kızılderili" (2000) ("The Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Redskin in Maiden's Tower")
• "Önce Çocuklar ve Kadınlar" (2000) ("Children and women first")
• "İstanbul'da Bir Zürafa" (2001) ("A giraffe in İstanbul")
• "Onlar Hep Oradaydı" (2002) ("They were always there")
• "Kırdığımız Oyuncaklar" (2004) ("The toys we broke")
• "Kule Cambazı" (2004) ("Tower Acrobat")

Periodicals[link]

His poems were published in many periodicals and anthologies such as Milliyet Sanat, Yeni Düşün, Varlık, Broy, Yarın, Journal of poetry & literature.^[4][5] He also wrote essays in a number of periodicals such as the Cumhuriyet supplement "Gezi" covering subjects such as poetry and history of art.

See also[link]

• İstanbul Toy Museum

References[link]

References on his books, some of which were printed outside Turkey are as follows:^{[6][7][8] [9][10][11] [12] [13] [14]}

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Sunay Akın Fan Site
• Sunay Akın Hayran Kulübü
• Poems (Turkish)
• Antology
• Sunay Akın
• Sunay Akın
• Sunay Akın
• Sunay Akın
• Sunay Akın
• Sunay Akın
• Sunay Akın
• Info
• Bibliotheek 2003-Nl