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Expats enjoys in Turkey Also called DIDYMI, or BRANCHIDAE, ancient sanctuary and seat of an oracle of Apollo, located south of Miletus in modern Turkey. Before be‐ ing plundered and burned by the Per‐ sians (c. 494 BC), the sanctuary was in the charge of the Branchids, a priestly caste named aer Branchus, a favorite youth of Apollo. Aer Alexander the Great conquered Miletus (334), the ora‐

cle was re sanctified; the city adminis‐ tered the cult, annually electing a prophet. About 300 BC the Milesians be‐ gan to build a new temple, intended to be the largest in the Greek world. e annual festival held there, the Didymeia, became Panhellenic in the beginning of the 2nd century BC. Excavations made between 1905 and 1930 revealed all of the uncompleted new temple and some

carved pieces of the earlier temple and statues.

Made a township in 1991, Didyma is a peninsula surrounded by the provincial limits of Mugla and the Akbük cove in the east, the Aegean Sea in the south and west and the lake Bafa and the river Me‐ ander in the north. It is located 106 km from Aydin, 53 km from Söke, 73 km from Kusadasi, and 110 km from Bo‐ drum. e number of its inhabitants is 10.400 according to the census of 1990, and its area 300 km2.

Didyma possesses a bed capacity of 15.000 in 200 facilities either certified by the Ministry or by the Municipality. ere are a lot of invaluable historical sites, ruins, ancient cities and recreation‐ al facilities by the seaside in and around Didyma which make the region a world-

known tourism center. is shows that Didyma is a town of history, legends and nature with the Dilek peninsula on one side and the Meander delta and the Dilek peninsula on one side and the Me‐ ander delta and the take Bafa on the take Bafa on the other. Having a coastal line of 60 km Diduma further has hundreds of coves.

Didyma is an ideal holiday resort for those who like aquatics. fi shing, trekking, youth and student tourism, hunting, healthcare, historical works, sea sun and nature. e colors created by the setting by the setting sun over the sea at Altinkum are not those that can be seen elsewhere. You can enjoy with much sat‐ isfaction that moment with a goblet of drink at any restaurant by the seaside.

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Altinkum, Didyma is an excellent resort for those who would seek for the sea, sun and sand. You can have a sun bath on on golden sandy beaches, participate in aquatics in the coves where any kinds of such sports can be performed. When the sun start to set. Altinkum gains a nerdish color. Later than that hour, you can have dinner at hundreds of restau‐ rants that serve the Turkish and various other cuisines from all over the world.

And Altinkum, which looks small and quiet awakens in the evening. As the time goes by, you can see that people

start dancing and chatting at the bars. If you are unable to slow down in the later hours of the night, you can dance in one of the discos which will entertain you until the morning. at is not all. You can also ride a bicycle to see the bars. If you are unable to slow down in the later hours of the night. You can dance in one of the discos which will entertain you until the morning. at is not al you can also ride a bicycle to see the coves and historical sites around the place. Besides the sea and sun on one side and the end‐ less golden beaches on the other. histori‐ cal and artistic wonders in everywhere. e Apollo temple of Didyma (the Didy‐ maion), located within the boundaries of the village of Yeni Hisar in the Söke dis‐ trict of the province of Aydın, was known as a sanctuary and seat of an ora‐ cle attached to Miletus. Recent excava‐ tions revealed remains which showed that Didyma was not only a seat of an oracle but also the site of dense settle‐ ment. e research concerning the origins of the names of Didyma and Didymaion has been a subject of discussion going on for years. Along with several other myths, it was thought that the name Didymaion which meant "twin temples" or "temple of the twins", was related to Artemis, the twin sister of Apollo. How‐ ever, as no definite evidence could be found, this theory also remained as a myth. With the intensification of work in recent years on the "Sacred Road" con‐ necting Miletus and Didyma, and the finding of the place of the Artemis cult during the excavations however, it was proved that this thesis was riğht. e two temples built for the twin brother and

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Apollon Temple in Didyma sister, the Artemision and the Didy‐ maion, constitute the origin of the name Didyma.

Apollo and Artemis were closely related to the mother goddess Cybele who had, from prehistoric times, a very important place in Anatolia. e mother goddess Cybele had various names (such as Kubaba, Isis, Hepat, Lat) and epithets ac‐ cording to localities and cultures. e most widespread of these names was Dindymene which was derived from mount Dindymus and which is remark‐ able for its resemblance to the name Didyma. e name of Apollo is considered not to be Greek. Apollo, who, because of the re‐ semblance in names was identified with the god Apulunas mentioned in Hittite written sources, represented shape given by rational perception, temperate power, fine arts and light. Besides these, he was renowned for his ability to prophesy, and he communicated to people through mediums and oracles his knowledge of the future.

e dependence of communities on reli‐ gion increased as it was seen that gods possessed forces to direct according to their will, all phenonema and events re‐ lating to nature and society. As a natural consequence of the increase in religion, belief in the power to prophesy of the gods who could foresee events and phe‐ nomena was intensified.

In the Archaic period the oracle of Apol‐ lo had great fame. e great number of temples erected in Anatolia as seats of oracles is evidence that belief in gods had reached enormous proportions. e most important of the temples dedicated to Apollo were the Temple of Apollo at Delphi in Greece, and the Didymaion in Anatolia. ese to seats were in constant rivalry with each other. A fine example of this rivalry can be clearly seen in the following verses by the oracle of Delphi.

In the mid 7th century BC, in the oracles of Apollo, the god could be consulted once a year for official matters, and the answers received to questions directed would be in the form of "yes or "no".

When in later years, consulting the god also for private matters became a tradi‐ tion, these consultations became gradu‐ ally more frequent. e oracles of Apollo grew very rich as a result of this, and their fame and influence spread over large areas. ey became as powerful as the state they were in and were effective in shaping the destinies of persons and communities, and particularly in politics where they played a very important role, they very oen caused wrong decisions to be taken.

Pausanias states that the Apollo temple at Didyma had been built before the Greek colonization (10th century BC). It is believed in the light of this that the ex‐ istence of Didyma, like that of Miletus and Priene goes back to the 2nd millen‐ nium BC. However according to the re‐ sults of excavations and research work undertaken up to the present day, the earliest temple remains date back to the end of the 8th century BC. One learns from Herodotus that valuable votive offerings were presented to the

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temple by King Necho of Egypt at the end of the 7th century BC, and King Croesus of Lydia in the 6th century BC. It is believed that the construction of the Archaic temple was begun in the mid 6th century BC and was completed at the end of the same century. In the 6th century BC, the Didymaion was admin‐ istered by a priestly caste named Branchids. During this period which lasted about 100 years, the temple flour‐ ished and went through its most brilliant era.

It was completely burned and plundered by the Persians during the battle of Lade, the priests of the temple were driven to Susa, and the cult statue of Apollo was taken to Ecbatana. e statue of Apollo which was dated back to 500 BC, was made by the sculptor Kanachus of Sicy‐ on and reflects Anatolian - Hittite char‐ acteristics. e construction of the Hellenistic tem‐ ple was begun aer the victory of Alexander the Great over the Persians.

However, it was understood from the re‐ mains that this Hellenistic temple was not completed. e temple of which the construction was continued under Emperor Caligula (37 - 41 AD) who wanted to be though of as the god of the temple, and later un‐ der Hadrian (117 - 138 AD), was never completed. With the alterations made in the 3rd century AD to protect it from plunder, the temple took on the appear‐ ance of a fortress, and flourished under the reigns of Aurelian (270 - 275) and Diocletian (284 - 305). ere are findings which indicate that work was done on the temple during the reign of Emperor Julian (361 - 363).

In the beginning of the 5th century AD, Emperor eodosius had a church built in the sacred courtyard (Adyton Sekos). is church, which had the ap‐ pearance of a three - winged basilica, was destroyed in an earthquake and later rebuilt with one wing (9th century AD).

In the 10th century AD, the two columned hall (Chresmographeion - hall of the oracle) and the pronaos, which were used as storage areas, were greatly damaged in a fire, and most of the mar‐ ble turned into lime.

Aer the Seljuks and the Mongols con‐ quered the region the temple was com‐ pletely abandoned.

An Italian traveler who visited Didyma in 1446 records that the whole temple was standing, however at the end of the 15th century the temple was completely destroyed by an earthquake and turned into a heap of marble. In later years the

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temple was used as a quarry, and many of its architectural elements were used as building material in the construction of dwellings and other buildings by the lo‐ cal people.

crouching lions and sphinxes, all of which gave the road an impressive ap‐ pearance. Monumental tombs and sar‐ cophagi belonging to important persons were also dispersed along the road. Stat‐ ues of Branchids revealed in the excava‐

work was completed in a very short time.

It was understood from a milestone re‐ vealed during excavations that the road was 16.5 kilometers long. According to the portions uncovered, the width of the

tions carried out by Newton in 1858 on the Sacred Road have been taken to the British Museum. Some fragments be‐ longing to the statues are in the store‐ room of the house of excavations in Didyma. Four of the Branchid statues in which Hittite influence is apparent and which have been dated back to the 6th century BC, are on display in the muse‐ um in Miletus. In the years 100 and 101 AD Emperor Trajan had the Sacred Road restored. e parts of the road that had fallen down were raised to a higher level and the other parts were repaired.

Inscriptions indicate that the restoration

road which was made of stone blocks, changed between 5 and 7 meters. On both sides of it were rows of shops, vo‐ tive fountains, monumental tombs, baths, and the area for the cult of Artemis. Findings indicate a dense set‐ tlement. e group of people who set out from Miletus to join the annual celebra‐ tions and festivities which were held in the Didymaion every spring, reached the temple aer a long walk, there were therefore, resting places on the Sacred Road. It is understood that the Terrace with the Sphinx, uncovered during exca‐ vations carried out in 1985 about 4 kilo‐

EXCAVATIONS e first excavations in Didyma were made in 1858 by the English under the direction of Newton. e area excavated was the Sacred Road.

In the temple, excavations were first be‐ gun in 1872 by the French under O Rayet and A omas. e aim was to find the cult statue of Apollo, but at the end of the work which lasted two years, the cult statue had not been found. How‐ ever, it had been possible to determine the dimensions of the temple and to re‐ construct its plan.

In the excavations of 1895 - 96, again undertaken by the French, the work, su‐ pervised by B Haussoullier and E Pon‐ tremoli, was concentrated on the north‐ ern part of the temple. ese excavations were stopped shortly aer due to eco‐ nomic reasos. Excavations begun in 1905 for the museums in Berlin under the supervision of . Weigand, were continued on a systematic basis until the year 1937. During this time a great por‐ tion of the temple was revealed. Aer this date, excavations were interrupted and work on publication of the results was begun.

In order find solutions to certain prob‐ lems concerning the temple and its sur‐ roundings, excavations were begun again in 1962, this time for the German Insti‐ tute of Archaeology, under the supervi‐ sion of R Naumann. When R Naumann le, the excavations in Didyma were continued under the supervision of Klaus Tuchelt. Work is at present still go‐ ing on in the area with special attention to research on the Sacred Road.

THE SACRED ROAD e Delphinion is accepted as the start‐ ing point of the Sacred Road connecting Miletus and Didyma. e road ran from the Sacret Gate of Miletus southwards in the direction of the coast to Panarmos Harbour (above Akköy), and - bending south - east from the port, reached the Didymaion. Within the boundaries of Yenihisar, the Sacred Road runs close along the side of the asphalt road. A por‐ tion of the Sacred Road has been re‐ vealed by excavations and exploratory trenches dug in recent years. However, due to certain bureaucratic obstacles, it has not yet been possible to establish its connection to the temple.

On either side of the road there were statues of Branchids (priests and priestesses attached to the temple),

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meters to the south of Akköy, was a halt‐ ing place built for rest purposes.

THE ARCHAIC DIDYMAION (e Apollo Temple at Didyma) Remains of foundations of the Late Geo‐ metric period were found during excava‐ tions carried out in 1962 by German ar‐ chaeologists within the secos of the Hel‐ lenistic temple to look for the first Apol‐ lo temple of Didyma which, according to Pausanias, had existed before the 10th century BC. e temple which, accord‐ ing to the foundations of secos walls un‐ covered in the north and south parts, was 10.20 meters wide and 24 meters long and slightly narrowed towards the east, was built at the end of the 8th cen‐ tury BC. e small and simple temple contained a secos (sacred courtyard), an altar, a sacred source, a cult statue and the symbols of Apollo. e Late Geomet‐ ric temple did not have a naiscos, the naiscos is understood to have been built at the end of the 7th century BC to pro‐ tect the cult statue. Exploratory digging carried out to the south - west of the temple revealed the remains of a columned building 15.50 meters long and 3.60 meters wide. e remnants and ceramic findings have been dated back to the end of the 7th century BC. Not many remains are le to the present day from the Archaic Didymaion, as it was burned, destroyed and plundered in 494 BC (the battle of Lade). Besides, findings relating to the Archaic temple are further limited by the fact that the Hellenistic temple was built over the foundations of the Archaic one.

However, the construction of the plan was possible and various examples of re‐ construction were made through ancient authors, as well as architectural and sculptural fragments found during bor‐ ings and excavations. e Didymaion became really important in the first of the 6th century BC when all Ionian cities, and especially Miletus, reached their most flourishing era. e temple was rebuilt in 560 - 550 BC with larger proportions. e influence of the temples of Hera at Samos and Artemis at Ephesus are apparent in the Archaic Didymaion. e temple, an 87.65 meter long and 40.89 meter wide building of a dipteral plan (having a double row of columns all around), rested on a two - stepped crepes. e longer sides had 21 columns each, the east had 8, and the west 9, whereas in the pronaos there were 8 columns in two rows. Together with the columns within the peristasis (the sur‐ rounding hall), the total number of columns added up to 112. e parts of the temple which were not visible from the outside were made of lo‐

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cal tufa, while those that were visible were made of marble. e marble was provided from marble quarries on the is‐ land of Toşoz, and in the hills above the village of Pınarcık near Bafa lake. One can still see fragments of roughly pre‐ pared column shas in the quarries at Pınarcık. e party worked marble, brought from the quarry to Latmos Har‐ bour, was then taken by sea to Panarmos Harbor, and from there it was carried to the temple e bases and capitals of the 15.45 meter high columns bear the characteristics of the Artemis Temple at Ephesus; the

bases consists of tori and double trochili, the Ionic capitals have large volutes, the column shas have 36 flutes. On the eastern facade, the lower parts of the columns in the front row were decorated with reliefs; a head of a woman (Kore) from these relief is on display in the Charlottenburg Museum in Berlin. e characteristics of all these elements indi‐ cate that they were at the latest made in the year 550 BC, which coincides with the date of the initial construction of the Archaic Didymaion. e double row of columns in the pronaos indicate that it had a roof. e

architrave is quite narrow. In the corners are high reliefs of winged gorgons and behind these are figures of crouching li‐ ons. It is believed that certain wild ani‐ mals' figures were also there besides the lions. is type of decorations is quite unusual in temple entablature. ese pieces of work which can be dated back to the end of the 6th century BC, were probably made during restoration works which took place in the temple at the time. On the architrave rest, in due order, a band of egg - and - dart molding, dentils, another band of egg and - dart moulding, a cornice and a roof.

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e inner sides of the walls of the secos (sacred courtyard) were fortified by pi‐ lasters in the form of half - columns, which brought colour to the long, high walls. e height of the walls of the 50.25 meter long and 17.45 meter wide secos reached 17.5 meters. Walls of this height give the imprecision that the secos was was roofed, but the greatness of the dis‐ tances between the pilasters on the walls destroys this theory.

Within the secos stood the naiscos (little temple) where the cult statue of Apollo was kept. However, there are not many findings belonging to this buildings.

During borings in the Hellenistic naiscos, foundation remains belonging to a smaller building were found. It is be‐ lieved that these foundations belong to the Archaic naiscos. e bronze cult stat‐ ue is known as the "Apollo Philesius" and represents Apollo catching a deer.

In front of the temple (east) and on the same axis stands a circular altar. is al‐ tar, of which the other diameter mea‐ sures 8 meters and the inner one 5.5 me‐ ters, had two doors. e holes for the hinges can still be seen on the thresholds. e altar of which the inside is very well preserved, had been used in the Archaic, and also in the Hellenistic and Roman temples as the sacred place where the animals presented as votive offerings were burned. e great amount of ashes found in the building during ex‐ cavations is evidence of this. In ancient times, animals offered to the gods of the sky were burned in this type of altar, and sanctification was achieved by washing in the blood of the animals offered to the gods under the ground. To the north of the altar is the sacred source. e ma‐ sonry of the lower parts of this circular well shows that it was constructed in the Archaic period.

3.5 meter high protective walls encircle the front part of the temple. ese walls must have been built to diminish the dif‐ ference of levels in the large area in front of the temple. In the uncovered portion of these protective walls were five outlets with staircases, each 2.5 meters wide. e central stairs are situated just oppo‐ site the altar, on the same axis. ese stairs led to the terrace on which stood the votive and gods' statues. e style of the egg - and - dart molding used to dec‐ orate the upper part of the terrace wall as well as the workmanship of the wall and stairs, bear the characteristics of the Ar‐ chaic period.

On this terrace one also comes across the remains of two long structures built of limestone. e 34.5 meter long and 7 meter wide buildings must have been shops where visitors took shelter or shopped. ese buildings also show the characteristics of the Archaic period.

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Next to the stairs along the terrace wall situate in the direction of the south - east end of the temple are rows of benches. It is understood that these benches extend‐ ing parallel to the steps of the temple were built in the Hellenistic period, and were the rows of benches for the stadium situated to the south of the temple, Every four years festivities called the "Megala Didymeia" and musical shows, were held here, and torch processions and compe‐ titions were arranged. e bases having a hole in the center, which marked the starting points of the races, can be seen at the eastern end of the stadium. ese bases lie on the same axis as the altar.

THE HELLENISTIC DIDYMAION What remains of the temple in the present day, through hundreds of years of earth - quakes, fire, destruction and plunder are mostly remnants of the Hel‐ lenistic period. e Roman characteris‐ tics witnessed in certain parts of the temple, are elements which have reached the present day from the temple, which continued to be built during the Roman period also.

It is known that the construction of the Hellenistic temple was begun in 313 BC, and that it was erected over the Archaic temple which was burned and destroyed in 494 BC. e donations of Alexander the Great and King Seleucus I of Syria were of great help in the rebuilding of the Didymaion. Furthermore, Seleucus I had the cult statue of Apollo brought back from Ecbatana (300 BC) and re‐ placed in the temple. e plan of the temple was made by Paionius of Ephesus and Daphnis of Miletus. ese two renowned architects had also worked on the Artemision at Ephesus (one of the seven wonders of the world) and the Heraion at Samos, which were considered to be the largest and the most magnificent temples of the Hellenistic period. e Didymaion emerges as the third largest edifice of the Hellenistic period, following the former. e plan, as a requisition of the cult, had to provide an open air space to hold the Sacred Fountain, the Altar, the Laurel Grove, considered to be the sacred tree of Apollo, and it had also to shelter the cult statue. All these elements had to be arranged in a way not to disturb the cov‐ ered spaces. e architects constructed on ostentatious example of architecture, by the perfect use of the local character‐ istics of the cult of the oracle and of the spaces of different levels. is temple dif‐ fered from a normal temple plan in that it was also the seat of an oracle. Teh edi‐ fice consisted of a long pronaos, a rect‐ angular hall with two columns in the centre (the oracle hallCresmographeion), a sacred courtyard surrounded by high walls (Secos-

Adyton), and in this courtyard a small temple sheltering the cult statue of Apol‐ lo (the naiscos), all set on the same axis but at different floor levels.

structure and the entablature, as 29.40 meters. is measurement gives an idea of the magnificence of the temple before it was destroyed.

e temples, situated over the Archaic one and of Larger proportions, had ne‐ cessitated an ucommonly high lower structure. e temple rested on a 3.5 me‐ ter high and 7 - stepped platform (crepis), and had in the center of the front facade a 14 - stepped stairway of which both sides were limited. e width of these stairs was equal to that of the temple. is characteristic is also visible in the Classical Artemision. e temple, 109.34 meters long and 51.13 meters wide, was built on a dipteral (having a double row of columns all around) plan.

It had 21 columns each on its longer sides, and 10 each on the shorter ones.

Together with the columns within the peristasis and the ones in the pronaos and cresmographeion, the total number of columns added up to 122. e cost of the columns of which only three stand today, was very high. Excavations have revealed a great number of inscriptions showing the calculation of construction costs prepared during the building of the temple. It is understood from these doc‐ uments that the cost of one column was 40,000 drachmae and that the daily wages of a labourer was only 2 drachmea. is means that one laborer would have to work for 20,000 workdays to put a column in its place, or to adapt it to the present day, by assuming that the minimum daily wage of a stone work‐ man be 10,000 TL, the construction cost of a column could be calculated to amount to 200 million TL. It is also known, from these inscriptions that, from 250 BC onwards, 8 architects and 20 construction companies worked for the temple.

e double row of columns round the temple gave the building a very impres‐ sive appearance as well as depth. Of the 108 columns in the peristasis (the pe‐ ripheral hall) about 80 are standing in their original places. e letters seen in the upper and lower parts of the frag‐ ments of column shas were written by the workmen to avoid any mistakes dur‐ ing the placing of the columns in their places. is is also an indication that the columns had entasis (a swelling of col‐ umn shas).

Such a large and costly building could certainly not have been finished in a short time. It is understood that the con‐ struction went on in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, and that some of it was completed during the Roman period. Al‐ though a great portion of the columns were prepared and set in their places, it can be seen that those in the outer row of the peristasis and especially those in the rear facade were never completed. e height of the columns was first de‐ termined in 1873 by A. omas as being 19.71 meters. e accuracy of the mea‐ surement was evidenced by recent re‐ search work also. e lower diameters of the columns vary between 1.96 and 2 meters. is conforms to the rule that, in the Ionic order lower diameters of columns are equal to 1/10th of their height.

A von Gerkan has calculated the total height of the temple, including the 19.71 meter high columns, the stepped lower

Of the three Hellenistic columns still standing, the workmanship of two are complete and they carry the entablature. e third column which carries a capital has no fluting in its sha. According to the characteristics of the capitals, the columns were built in the first half of the 2nd century BC. e bases of the columns in the peristal‐ sis display different characteristics; whereas some consist of plinthus, torus and double trochilus, the column bases in the central part of the other row in the front facade show Early Roman charac‐ teristics. One of these bases is divided in to 12 rectangular panels decorated with motifs of sea creatures, palmettoes and other plants. On another base there are double meander and palmento motifs. ese bases were built between the years 37 and 41 BC by Emperor Caligula who wanted to identify himself with Apollo. e capitals situated at the outer corners of the peristasis and ornamented with busts of gods and bulls' heads as well as the heads of Gorgons on the architrave, show the baroque characteristics of the 2nd century AD. e columns on the north side of the temple, of which the workmanship is complete, are all standing in their places, whereas those on the west side were set in their places, although their workman‐ ship was incomplete, the latter now lie on the ground, fallen in earthquakes.

Most of the columns on the south side are missing, and it is understood that they were never completed.

In the front of the temple, aer the dou‐ ble row of columns, was the pronaos.

Also mentioned as the 12- columned hall in archaeological literature, the pronaos had a total of 12 columns in three rows of four columns each, which carried the roof (Dodecastylos). e marks le by the fire of the Middle Ages can be seen on the Attic styl, scale motifs are carved on the upper parts of the an‐ tae walls are profiled in the same form. is is the first time that this characteris‐

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tic, of which an example is in the Porthenon, is seen in a Ionic temple. ere were three doors in the rear wall of the pronaos. e central door of mon‐ umental appearance was 5.63 meters wide and 14 meters high. e fact that its threshold was placed 1.46 meters higher than the floor of the pronaos shows that there was no entrance from here to the oracle hall. e prophecies of Apollo were communicated by his pronouncers to the people through this door. It is therefore named the "Oracle Door". e marble blocks on either side of the door weigh 70 tons each are known as the heaviest elements of antiquity. e two other doors, one on either side of the monumental door, were each 1.20 meters wide and 2.25 meters high, and

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century BC on the evidence of their characteristics, these capitals are consid‐ ered to be among the earliest examples of Corinthian capitals. e doors the north and south sides of the Cresmographeion open onto stepped passages mentioned as Labyrinths in in‐ scriptions. On the ceiling of the better preserved southern corridor meander motifs can be seen. ese passages played an important role in acoustics during cult ceremonies accompanied by the chorus. e roof of the temple was also reached by these passages. e 21.71 meter wide and 53.63 meter long Adytum is of a very striking appear‐ ance with its 25 meter high walls and its top open to the sky. e lower part of the Adytum walls which are at the same level

surface of the marble by a very thin and sharp point, and they represented the plants of various elements and divisions of the Didymaion. In order to obtain ac‐ curate drawings, a grid consisting of hor‐ izontal lines with 1.8 - 1.9 centimeter in‐ tervals cut at regular intervals by per‐ pendicular lines, was prepared before‐ hand to serve as a scale. is grid facili‐ tated the making of the actual drawings.

It is understood that these drawings which are extremely accurate, were done by the architects who worked on the construction of the temple. e plans cover an area of 200 square meters. Some of the drawings were made horizontally, whereas others are perpen‐ dicular. In general, the horizontal draw‐ ings are on a 1 to 1 scale, and the per‐ pendicular ones on a 1 to 6 scale.

Besides the drawings of elements like column bases and shas, the drawing of o portion of the entablature of the niscos was also discovered on the rear wall of the Adytum. ese drawings, believed to involve all the parts of the temple, will throw a light upon many an unsolved problem on the Didymaion, thus adding new proportions to the work.

provided the entrance to the inner part of the temple. ese doors were connect‐ ed to the sacred courtyard by vaulted and sloping narrow corridors. In the lower parts of the corridors which opened onto the Adytum were small di‐ visions which had coffering in their ceil‐ ings. Doric elements seen on the doors are characteristics which remind one of the propylaea of the Athenian Acropolis.

Only persons working in the temple and priests could enter the inner part of the temple. ese people would reach the Adytum through the dark and mystic corridors mentioned above.

To the east of the Adytum, between the doors at the end of the corridors, was a 15.24 meter wide stairway consisting of 24 steps. ese stairs led to a 14.01 meter long, 8.74 meter wide and 20 meter high hall with three doors and two columns. is hall which had no entrance from the pronaos was Cresmographeion (the hall of the oracle) which together with the pronaos the first completed sections of the temple. Only priests and mediums could enter this hall, and they communi‐ cated the prophecies to the people through the above mentioned monu‐ mental door. erefore, the Cresmo‐ grapheion and the pronaos, which con‐ stituted an entity, were considered the most important divisions of the Didy‐ maion. e two columns in the center of the oracle hall had Corinthian capitals and carried the roof. Understood to have been built in the beginning of the 3rd

as the Cresmographeion have the ap‐ pearance of a high podium. eir base is profiled and the upper end is finished with a row of egg - and - dart molding. e podium which is made of smooth marble blocks displays a fine workman‐ ship. In the central parts of the walls are pilasters in the form of half - columns.

Over the pilasters were pilaster capitals ornamented with motifs of griffins or vaulted plants, on the frieze between the capitals were reliefs representing winged lions holding Apollo's lyre between their paws, and on top of it all was the cornice ending in the cymatium. All these ele‐ ments brought color to the long and ex‐ cessively high walls. e decorations on the walls of the Adytum bear the charac‐ teristics of the Early Hellenistic period. ese elements indicate that the Adytum was built in the first half of the 2nd cen‐ tury BC. It has also been proven by an inscription that the Adytum had been completed at that time.

One of the most important findings of recent years in the Didymaion are the drawings on the lower parts of the walls of the Adytum. ese drawings which can be seen with great difficulty and only under certain lighting condition, first at‐ tracted attention in 1979 and work was begun on them in 1980. e work is be‐ ing carried out by Lother Haselberg who was the first to see the drawings. ese were worked onto the smooth marble walls of the Adytum by making about half a millimeter deep incisions in the

To the west of the Adytum stood the naiscos which sheltered the cult statue. e temple, of which only the remains of the foundations can be seen today was 14.43 meters long and 8.24 meters wide. e plan of the naiscos, reconstructed from discovered fragments, was a prostyle. e temple was a small building with antae obtained by the projection of the two side walls of the naos and four Ionic columns in front. Column bases were of the Ephesus type. e Ionic capi‐ tals, antae capitals and entablature orna‐ ments, all show Early Hellenistic charac‐ teristics. Wall bases were profiled in the Attic style like the Adytum walls. e ed‐ ifice, which looked like the Zeus temple at Priene, was the first Anatolian temple built in the Hellenistic period under At‐ tic influence. In contrast with the smooth, ornament less walls, the entab‐ lature was very richly decorated. e cof‐ fering of the ceiling in the front hall and the soffits of the lower part of the archi‐ trave, were decorated with flower motifs polychrome in various colors. It is ac‐ cepted, according to the ornamentation of the entablature, that the naiscos was completed in 270 BC and that the cult statue of Apollo which was brought from Ecbatana, was put in its place in the naos in 300 BC. e reconstruction model of the naiscos, constructed by putting together the dis‐ covered architectural fragments, is kept in the storeroom of the excavation house.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TEMPLE

Besides being for centuries a very impor‐ tant oracle seat, the Didymaion was also renowned for its sacred water, sacred grove, the many sacred elements it housed, and its wealth. e riches of the temple had its source in donations and votive offerings made in varying forms. e very valuable offerings of King Ne‐ cho of Egypt, King Croesus of Lydia and King Seleucus II of Pergamum, had an important place among the donations made to the Didymaion. e donation of various sacrificial animals, 1,000 in number, and 12 rams by Lysimachus, was also one of the interesting offerings. e fact that Miletus attempted to build a fleet with the treasury of the temple be‐ fore the battle of Lade, shows how rich the Didymaion was.

One other feature of the Didymaion was that it had the right to shelter. is right which was termed "the Right of Asylum", was the recognition of the right of inviolability to people who took refuge in the temple. e right of asylum, which therefore created many problems, had given rise to many a dis‐ cussion. e boundaries of the right of asylum, however, were gradually en‐ larged and were increased to 3 kilome‐ ters by Emperor Augustus Trajan en‐ larged the boundaries even more and wanted them to be recognized from the beginning of the Sacred Road.

It is understood from inscriptions that the festivities and ceremonies held every year in spring went on even aer the Didymaion was completely destroyed in 494 BC. e journey from Miletus to the Didymaion was made by sea or by the Sacred Road. e group of people who set out from Miletus with ceremonies begun in the Delphinion where they re‐ ceived the sanctification of Apollo and were sent forward by the Delphins, came from the Lions' Harbour to the Panar‐ mos Harbour, and from there reached the Didymaion on foot. First, sacrificial beasts and votive offerings were present‐ ed to the god, then, aer ceremonies to the accompaniment of music and chorus, the important persons entered the temple, and aer that, the questions asked by inquires were answered by the oracle. e ceremonies were directed by the Stephanephors. It was shown by in‐ scriptions that the Emperors Augustus a n d Tr a j a n t o o k t h e t i t l e o f Stephanephor and carried out this posi‐ tion. In the Roman period, the Sacred Road gained in importance as the har‐ bors filled up with alluvial mud and trav‐ el by sea became unfeasible. e reason for this extremely impressive and magnificent temple's not being con‐ sidered among the seven wonders of the world is related by the authorities to its not having been completed.

8

Didim Today

Major changes to Turkish law in 2012 Looking back, I feel as though 2012 flew by so quickly, or maybe I feel that way because I am getting older.

You know the theory “time goes quicker as you get older.” is should be mathe‐ matically correct and please correct me if I am wrong. If you are only a one-dayold baby, the whole day would seem like a lifetime. When you are a 1 year old; one day is already 1/365 of your life so it elapses relatively faster.

For me, the year went very quickly but looking at the performance of Parlia‐ ment, which was eager to make laws, sub legislation and decrees, they did quite a lot in a very short time. In some cases, instead of making real laws which are clear to everyone, Parliament chose to make a law giving the authority to the Council of Ministers to regulate the mat‐ ter later on.

Whether the government has the vast majority of the seats in Parliament or not, it is much easier to regulate things amongst the members of the Council of Ministers, who apparently are the most dedicated people in the governing politi‐ cal party. Having this power, the govern‐ ment, indirectly through the Council of Ministers, can easily make regulations which may affect daily life. I do not agree with this type of assignment of powers to a limited number of people who can make rules faster, easier and customize them.

Indiscriminately opposing everything is a great mistake for any opposition. is kind of opposition may end up eliminat‐ ing the opposition itself. Opposition should be made with care and certain

decisions, actions, operations or policies of the governing party should be appre‐ ciated if they deserve such appreciation.

To sum up, the method of delegating some powers to the Council of Ministers is sometimes useful. In cases which need fast action, it is a must or at least some‐ thing which should be considered. I can‐ not say the same for all matters, though.

For the sake of objectiveness, I will not give any examples regarding this matter.

If I may go back to my topic, there were many amendments to the Turkish legal system during 2012. Considering the topic to be central in respect to Turkey's relations with the rest of the globe, I will touch on some of the most important ones from those amendments.

had to come to Turkey to participate in the elections. With the amendment, the possibility of voting at Turkish con‐ sulates abroad has been provided to these citizens. Of course, this is an im‐ portant development for democratic participation.

One of the amendments is that Turkey revoked the reciprocity rule on the pur‐ chase of property for foreigners in Turkey. Before this amendment, foreign‐ ers were not allowed to purchase proper‐ ty in Turkey if Turkish citizens were not able to purchase property in that country. With this amendment, the re‐ strictive reciprocity rule has been quashed and some other restrictions have become more lax. ereby, invest‐ ments have increased, giving strength to Turkish relations with other countries without being dependent on reciprocity rules.

Turkey is located in an earthquake zone and there have been many large-scale earthquakes. To make provision against damage caused by earthquakes, many resolutions were adopted. One of them is the Disaster Insurances Law and with an amendment to this law, it is intended that compulsory earthquake insurance will become more effective. According to the amendment, title deed offices will seek to ensure that transactions are not carried out unless properties are proper‐ ly insured for earthquakes.

Another amendment was to the Law on Basic Provisions on Elections and the Voter List in 2012. ere are millions of Turkish citizens living abroad and before this amendment, citizens living abroad

Surely, the most important change is the new Turkish Commercial Code coming into force in 2012. One of the basic changes is the definition of minority rights granted to the minority group shareholders in companies. With the new law, minority rights have been ex‐

panded and minority group shareholders have more opportunities to be represent‐ ed on a company's board.

e other amendment is to do with transparency of companies. With this amendment, any kind of information re‐ lated to the company and audit reports will be accessible to related third parties.

Parliament, as I said, made thousands of regulations last year but these are the ones of utmost importance in my opin‐ ion. I hope that 2013 will be a better year. Looking at the deaths that are oc‐ curring, I might be engaged in wishful thinking.

NOTE: Berk Çektir is a Turkish lawyer and available to answer questions on the legal aspects of living and doing business in Turkey. Please send inquiries to b.cek‐ tir@todayszaman.com. If a sender's let‐ ter is published, names may be disclosed unless otherwise expressly stated by the sender.

Didim Today

9

PlayStation 4 Coming Soon

e curtain is lied on the future of gaming. Here’s your rundown on the news from PlayStation Meeting 2013 in New York. Discover what’s been revealed so far about PlayStation 4, the new DU‐ ALSHOCK 4 controller and the initial games line-up.

PlayStation 4 PS4 promises games that can be experi‐ enced whenever, wherever and however you want, thanks to a system specially built to cater to the needs of the best de‐ velopers in the world.

You’ll be able to play digital titles as they download from PlayStation Store, and update PS4 even when it is switched off.

Immediately pick up any saved game where you le off – the “suspend mode” of PS4 gets rid of loading times and lets

you carry on by simply pressing the power button.

Gaikai technology will let you instantly try out sections of any game that catches your eye on PlayStation Store.

Check out what your friends are up to and see the games, TV shows, movies and music recommended especially for you on the newly designed PS4 menu screen.

Broadcast as you play via Ustream. If you get stuck, your mates can join in to help you or offer comments in real time.

You can use a variety of applications, such as a web browser, while you play a game. Your favourite PS4 games will be playable on PlayStation Vita via Wi-Fi with Remote Play.

Meanwhile, the new PlayStation App lets

you turn your smartphone into a second screen – for example, to let you view a map or see how a friend is tackling the same part of a game.

New, curved L2 and R2 buttons will give you greater control.

Upload images and video to Facebook with a tap of the new SHARE button.

DUALSHOCK 4 A new, built-in sensor will enable highly sensitive motion control. You’ll be able to interact with games in new ways thanks to a touch pad on the front of the controller.

Additional sound effects will come from an inbuilt speaker; a headset jack lets you hear these in detail as well as chat with friends. e controller’s familiar dual analog sticks have been enhanced to provide better precision.

An LED Light Bar on the top of the con‐ troller will match the colour of in-game characters so players can keep track of each other. You’ll also be able to spot when a character has been injured, for instance.

A new camera has been developed alongside the controller, and tracks the location of DUALSHOCK 4 via its LED Light Bar. e games..

So get ready for PS4 soon because much more to see.

10

Didim Today

Turkish champion Galatasaray has made an easy task look difficult Turkish champion Galatasaray has made an easy task look difficult aer it could only manage a 1-1 draw with German Bundesliga struggler Schalke 04 in their UEFA Champions League last 16 first match at Türk Telekom Arena in Şişli on Wednesday evening. e Lions, as Galatasaray is popularly called in football circles, was expected to beat Schalke 04 in İstanbul and turn the r e t u r n l e g at Ve l t i n s - A r e n a i n Gelsenkirchen on March 12 into a mere formality. “You can't always get what you want,” according to the Rolling Stones, and therefore Fatih Terim's men had to make do with a draw.

month aer a spell in China, linked up well with Burak Yılmaz in attack.

Burak scored his seventh goal in seven Champions League matches -- all the goals Galatasaray has netted in the com‐ petition this season, putting his side ahead in the 12th minute when he picked up a pass from Selçuk İnan and flicked the ball around a defender to send in a stinging right-footed shot past Schalke goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand.

“We scored a beautiful goal early in the game with Selçuk's intelligent pass and Burak's talented shot. We could have scored a second goal; we found the

broke quickly, Jefferson Farfan passing across the goal to Jermaine Jones, who side-footed past Fernando Muslera.

“We played very well tonight and did many right things on the pitch. We found many chances but made individu‐ al mistakes, one of which cost us a goal,” said Schalke coach Jens Keller.

“We could have scored more goals, but I am very happy with our performance in this great atmosphere,” he added. “We will learn lessons from this game and take necessary precautions for the sec‐ ond leg.”

Galatasaray coach Fatih Terim, as ex‐ pected, fielded his two recent expensive signings -- Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder and veteran Cote d'Ivoire strike Didier Drogba in his starting line-up.

Aer all, this duo was acquired during the January transfer window to help the team progress in the Champions League.

Schalke had a chance to equalize soon aer Burak's opener, but Klaas-Jan Huntelaar failed to steer the ball in at the far post.

Hamit Altıntop nearly doubled the home team's lead in the 18th minute with a powerful shot which ricocheted off the bar aer Hildebrand saved an effort from Drogba, who took the winning penalty for Chelsea in last season's fi nal shootout.

Burak had another chance to score in the 38th minute when Drogba put him through on goal but Hildebrand blocked his shot. e match continued to alternate attacks in the second half and Farfan had a chance to put the visitors ahead in the 55th minute, but his effort was blocked

by Sabri Sarıoğlu.

In the final stages, Galatasaray pressed harder for the winner while Schalke hung on for a draw.

But Sneijder, who had been sidelined by Inter for three months over a salary cut dispute before joining Galatasaray, showed serious signs of match unfitness -- meaning he is not yet physically and mentally fit to make the starting XI in the big-time Champions League.

Burak had a great chance to put Galatasaray back ahead in the 77th minute, but he fired wide of the Schalke goal.

Moreover, Terim fielding the Dutchman in the le wing position made that flank Galatasaray's weakest link and that's where the Lions were most vulnerable, especially in the first half, and it was also where Schalke 04 launched most of its deadly attacks. Little wonder Sneijder was substituted aer half time.

“We could have scored or conceded in the second half. Of course, Schalke holds the advantage now, having forced us to a draw, but we will keep chasing the chances until the very last second,” Ter‐ im said.

Drogba displays his class Drogba, though not yet 100 percent fit, was nonetheless more impressive on his Champions League debut for Galatasaray. e Ivory Coast striker, last year's Champions League hero for Chelsea who moved to the Lions last

open game from the outset.

chances. e game could have taken a totally different shape,” Reuters quoted Terim as saying.

Schalke equalized at the stroke of a very exciting first half. e visiting team

Faithful fans Spurred on by the passionate home fans, the Lions soon began to demonstrate their attacking power in what was an

In other words, Terim, like his Schalke counterpart, has a lesson to learn from Wednesday's game before the second leg in Germany next month. One thing is al‐ most certain: Sneijder will start from the bench and may only be fielded depend‐ ing on the result at Veltins-Arena on March 12. e Galatasaray coach and his men real‐ ly have plenty of time to do their home‐ work and fill those gaping holes in mid‐ field and defense.

Didim Today

11

Google Attempts to Redefine the Mobile Market in 2013

Last week Google already announced it’s no longer allowing advertisers to target desktop and mobile users separately within AdWords. Which means we all know that everyone trying to control mobile advertising this days and increase every other day! Baking mobile into desktop means a major simplification to how advertisers track and manage cam‐ paigns, which in turn means CPCs for both channels will become the same. Ad‐ ditionally, consumers could potentially receive marketing content in non-opti‐ mized formats.

In effect, Google is removing some of the choices for advertisers who want to tar‐ get different devices or operating sys‐ tems and forcing everyone to pay more for mobile inventory, which typically

commands a lower CPC than desktop inventory.

Brand advocates, marketing managers and tech enthusiasts alike are unified in their response: e market isn’t ready for this kind of change, even as Google squeezes more money out of advertisers while limiting the controls they have over managing their campaigns.

As part of the explanation for the change, Google has pointed to the gener‐ al increase in time spent on mobile de‐ vices, which in turn has forced advertis‐ ers to cobble together and compare sev‐ eral different campaigns. While this is true on some level, and mobile and desk‐ top are steadily moving towards a point of convergence, they simply aren’t there

yet.

Google’s rationale.

Marketers and publishers have different goals and business models for desktop and mobile, and many are still working out a mobile strategy. Forcing their hand has the potential to cause adverse effects for the advertising ecosystem.

At Outbrain, our philosophy is that buy‐ ers should have choices when it comes to where their campaigns run so they can better derive the most value and provide users and publishers with device-opti‐ mized experiences. Ultimately, these campaign levers can result in better ROI for marketers and the best experience for end users.

According to a new report, only 16 per‐ cent of marketers (out of 250 surveyed globally) have even developed a mobile strategy aimed at building customer en‐ gagement, and only 14 percent are satis‐ fied with the way their brands are access‐ ing and leveraging mobile. e fact re‐ mains that advertisers have plenty more work to do optimizing both their content and their strategies before the market reaches a level of maturity indicative of

e industry as a whole is working hard to adapt to the rapid shi from desktop to mobile, but until the convergence be‐ tween the two worlds is more complete, the more transparent and flexible the system, the better for all parties.

12

Didim Today

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Didim Today

13

Yacht Weddings in Altinkum Now!

Altinkum Weddings in 2013 start to of‐ fer boat, yacht weddings for you now and why not have your aer wedding re‐ ception-party on a fully decorated dou‐ ble decker Boat departing from Al‐ tinkum Harbour, which is 5 minutes away from Altinkum? All the yacht or boat weddings includes starters, BBQ, Aers, Music, alot of local drinks.. But‐ ler service under the moonlight and stars. We decorate the vehicles, both, Bride-Bridegroom Vip and Guests Vehi‐ cle We will pick you all up from your Al‐ tinkum Hotels or apartments in Al‐ tinkum Turkey.

We will take you to Altinkum Harbour where the boats are. We get to the deco‐ rated boat. Downstairs are the tables and bar and toilets, upstairs ideal for dancing or watching the stars on the sky. Meal in‐ cludes BBQ Chicken or BBQ Fresh Fish, Salad, Starters, Pasta, Fruit.

Complimentary bottle of Champagne will be served to Bride and Bridegroom from Altinkum Weddings. Drinks are extra to remaining guests always. Little bit fire crackers will be also added to make your evening colorful, not as much as the amount used on the new year cele‐ brations around the globe.

Aer the cruise we will dock back on the harbour. If you wish you can visit a nice bar in Altinkum or we take you back to your Hotels, apartments in Altinkum Didim or Akbuk.

Dont forget this kind of wedding pack‐ ages suitable for all ages, under 18 with legal guardian or permission. You can al‐ ways contact Altinkum Weddings Plan‐ ners and get more details and even qoute today right now.

Weddings in Turkey never been this easy because we do all the legal paper works for you and assist with all the way!

14

Didim Today

Protesting against Dolphin Aer a nice and very friendly demon‐ stration in the center of Zuerich, the ac‐ tivists now put their promise to junk a Japanese car into effect. With this action they want to put a stop to the Japanese dolphin- and whale-hunt.

“Shame on the Murderers of Taiji”. Many a pedestrian, amongst them some Orien‐ tals, were quite surprised about this ac‐ tion and the approval rate was quite high.

with sharks, will be slaughtered by the Japanese fishermen. Even young animals or babies are not saved. Mainly Bot‐ tlenose-Dolphins, Striped-Dolphins, Risso’s dolphins, Spotted-Dolphins, Short-finned Pilot-Whales, Small Killer-

tal poisons, will turn the consumers away. Although the demand for whale meat is shrinking in Japan and the coun‐ try meanwhile is sitting on a mountain of 5.000 tons of frozen and unsellable whale meat, several hundred whales are

Angie Neuhaus from Lucerne sacrificed her Japanese car for this action: “is car is still running, but I did not want to drive it around any more on our roads.

All the reports from Japan about the slaughter of dolphins and the hunts to

e demonstration in Switzerland was co-organized by Andreas Morlok, CEO of the German dolphin- and whale pro‐ tection organization ProWal, who had been an eye witness to several of the dol‐ phin drive-hunts in Japan:

Whales and Dall-Porpoises are being caught and killed in the coastal waters around Japan. e fishermen get about 400 Euros for the meat of a dolphin, which is sold on the local markets.

still being killed under different whaling programs in the Antarctic and in the Pa‐ cific.”

sell them worldwide to the dolphin in‐ dustry, as well as the whale hunts, have made me very sad and I shall very care‐ fully pay attention that I do not own any Japanese products and I will not buy any in the future.”

“Dolphins are caught at these hunts and then sold for more than 100.000 Euros to dolphinariums all over the world. is is a lucrative billion-dollar business for the fishermen, handlers and the whole dolphin industry. All the animals that are captive in the around 330 dolphinari‐ ums, in existence all around the world, are being exploited for commercial gain until their death. ose member of a dolphin family that have been caught and are not material to be used for breeding purposes, because they might have scars or skin lesions from fights

We also condemn the false scientific whale hunt of the Japanese, which in re‐ ality is nothing but a commercial enter‐ prise. e scientific results that are gained hereby, are totally worthless, be‐ cause the dead whales are only measured and the stomach content is examined to find out, what the animals ate.

show them the power of the consumer with their action. e Japanese car was expertly delivered to the junkyard in Switzerland. Angie Neuhaus meanwhile is driving a new car, which is much more to her liking. It is a French product.

At the very impressive demonstration in the center of Zuerich, animal protection activists and passing pedestrians were able to write their opinions about the Japanese dolphin and whale hunts on the car. Amongst those were: ”Freedom for the Dolphins!”, “Stop the Killing”, and

Only very seldom dioxin analyses are performed, because people are afraid that the results, which are bound to show that the whale meat is contaminat‐ ed with mercury and other environmen‐

e animal protection activists will con‐ tact the Japanese government and will

e confrontations for the Japanese whale hunters are getting more and more numerous. Just a short while ago the en‐ vironmental protection organization “Seashepherd” discovered the Japanese whaling fleet in the Antarctic.

Didim Today

15

She was among the core that founded the PKK with Abdullah Ocalan What do the corpses of three Kurdish women activists of the PKK found killed with silenced weapons at the Kurdish In‐ formation Center of Paris in the early hours of Jan. 10 tell us? e keys to an answer are actually in the question above. e identities of the victims re‐ veal important points. Sakine Cansiz, said to be above 55 years of age, was an important figure inside the PKK. She was among the core that founded the PKK with Abdullah Ocalan. As such, she had a substantial and emblematic posi‐ tion in the history of the Kurdish move‐ ment. We are told that she spent 10 years in the Diyarbakir Prison, notorious for torture and ill treatment of Kurdish pris‐ oners, following the 1980 military coup and that she had become one of the sym‐ bols of resistance in prison. Sakine Can‐ siz was a prominent name among politi‐ cized Kurdish women. With all her par‐ ticulars and background, she won’t be simply forgotten by Kurdish nationalists. e second person killed, Fidan Dogan, 31, was the representative in France of the National Kurdistan Congress, which also made her a valuable target. e third victim was a younger woman, ac‐ tivist Leyla Soylemez, 24.

Comments by French President Francois

Hollande, carried by the Turkish press, offer clues on the extent of the political activities of the victims: “is disastrous incident has directly affected three per‐ sons, one of whom I knew personally, as she was meeting with us regularly. Many

politicians and I knew her.” e murder of these persons is a heavy trauma for the Kurdish movement in Turkey and Kurdish public opinion. Ad‐ verse consequences should be expected. e timing of the murders also offers significant clues. e murders took place at a time of preliminary contacts be‐ tween Turkish state officials and the PKK’s founding leader Abdullah Ocalan, who is serving a life senence in prison. e Turkish side had described these

talks as intending to persuade the PKK give up its arms.

Many observers, including the spokes‐ men for the Kurdish movement, believe that these contacts with Ocalan at a spe‐ cial prison on the Imrali Island in the Sea of Marmara have not yet been ele‐ vated to a systematic peace-negotiations process seeking to end the Kurdish issue between the Turkish government and the PKK. But there was hope that such a process could start soon. at is why the Paris murders serve the interests of actors who would like to de‐ stroy the process even before it starts.

And there are powerful actors who don’t want Turkey to reconcile with its own Kurds for the time being and whose in‐ terests could be harmed by such a peace. e technique of the murders speaks volumes as well. Only professionals can commit perfect murders. e office door had coded entry system, but it was opened without force. is tells us that the victims probably knew the killers, or the killers want us to think that. e near consensus in Turkey is that the killers wanted to destroy a peace process. If it is a conspiracy against peace, and it is, then we have to look for answers to two ques‐ tions: Who would want to block peace?

And who among them would have ade‐ quate intelligence and operational capa‐ bility to carry out such a perfect murder in Paris?

Let’s start with the “Turkish-agents” hy‐ pothesis, the immediate “usual suspect” of Kurdish public opinion in Turkey and in the Diaspora. For the culprites to be agents working for the Turkish govern‐ ment is a most absurd allegation. Why would a government that wants the PKK to give up arms want to block the pro‐ cess with its invisible hands? And why would it endanger its very valuable Turk‐ ish-French relations by committing mur‐ ders on French soil? Unless they are to‐ tally moronic, this is unthinkable. ere is also suspicion of a “deep Turkish state,” which also out of place. In the Turkish political lexicon, the “deep state” is an illegal, unaccountable phenomenon that uses state facilities and commits crimes for the so-called “high interests” of the state. We knew that Turkey’s for‐ mer military/bureaucratic tutelage regime was opposed to a political settle‐ ment of the Kurdish issue. e “deep state’” was an adjunct of this regime. e AKP rule eliminated this tutelage regime and all the institutions that the “deep state” relied on either came under gov‐ ernment control or were eradicated.

16

erefore, the probability of the provo‐ cation in Paris to be organized by the remnants of the Turkish “deep state” is close to nil. If they had any potency, they would have used it for provocations on Turkish soil. As to the assumption that “Turkish nationalists” could have com‐ mitted the murder, this is also without foundation. ey have neither the back‐ ground nor the operational capability for such actions abroad. If they really meant to do it, it would have been much easier for them to stage such provocations in Turkey. e final analysis was by Turkish government officials, who said the Paris murders could be an “internal PKK ac‐ count settling.” Even if the ones who pulled the triggers may have been people known to the victims, we can’t ignore the element of timing, which could not be distinguished from the Ocalan-Turkish government contacts.

It would be naïve not to understand that those who planned the murders sought to raise questions about the Ocalan-gov‐ ernment contacts, to instill atmosphere of distrust and finally erase the hopes for peace.

Didim Today

Harmony Bay in Akbuk

It’s still unclear who killed three women prominent in Turkey’s Kurdish autono‐ my movement, who were found shot to death in Paris on ursday, and why.

One of the three, Sakine Cansiz, was a founding member of the rebel PKK movement and first senior female mem‐ ber of the organization. e other two, Fidan Dogan and Leyla Soylemez, where activists working on behalf of the PKK in Europe.

With the number of tourists arriving in Turkey increasing year on year (reaching 31.78 million visitors in 2012), and over‐ seas investment in the Turkish property market predicted to rise from $2.5 bil‐ lion to $10 billion over the next few years, it is easy to see why award win‐ ning developer Akbuk Resort Group has identified Turkey as the ideal place for its stunning new Harmony Bay Resort & Spa. Scheduled to open in 2014, the re‐ sort is attracting a healthy blend of busi‐ ness partnerships and individual invest‐ ments. Agreements have just been fi‐ nalised with Wyndham Hotel Group and Sophos Hotels, who manage a large pro‐ portion of the Wyndham Ramada re‐ sorts, meaning the resort will come un‐ der the Ramada brand as ‘Ramada Re‐ sort Akbuk.’ e resort, which boasts magnificent panoramic views across the beautiful Akbuk Bay and the Aegean Sea beyond, will feature a delightful hotel and a range of luxury suites. Its exclusive spa, fine dining restaurants and extensive leisure and fitness options will add to the attrac‐ tions of the area’s stunning coastline and wealth of historical sites. Lee Harley, Op‐ erations Director of Akbuk Resort Group, explains the development’s in‐ vestment opportunities, “Harmony Bay Resort & Spa has something to offer ev‐ ery investor. We are excited to be part of Turkey’s bright future and are offering a flexible range of investment options, in line with the country’s forward-thinking economic outlook.

It is impossible to ignore such a spectac‐ ular crime in one of the important cen‐ ters of the world just as peace was com‐ ing onto the agenda.

If they had done something similar in the mountains of Turkey, it would have been ignored, but not in Paris. at Paris was the scene of the crime also tells us things. e possibility that the killers were PKK militants just like the victims could not be treated separately from the regionalization of Turkey’s Kurdish issue. e Syrian crisis led to regionalization of Turkey’s Kurdish issues, and Ankara’s Syria policy made potential results much more menacing for Turkey. You can no longer ignore the involvements of Iran, Baghdad, Erbil, Damascus and Syrian Kurds as parties to the Kurdish issue.

It is not a secret that among these actors there may be those who want a solution to Turkey’s Kurdish issue even less than the Kurdish hawks, and who want to maintain this issue as an instrument that could be used against Turkey when needed. It must never be forgotten that among the powers who may want to block progress on a negotiation process may have their own extensions inside the PKK.

tination for foreign investment in 2012.

From full purchase to fractional owner‐ ship SIPP (Self Invested Personal Pen‐ sion) investments, we are enabling our investors to generate lucrative returns by becoming part of one of the world’s fastest growing and strongest economies.” Investment options begin at just £11,688 for fractional ownership, with full ownership prices ranging from £61,600 to £107,800.

Harmony Resort Bay Spa in Akbuk Turkey for you because in the face of a generally gloomy world economy, it seems there is nothing but good news for Turkey. Finance Minister Mehmet Sim‐ sek has reported that the economy grew around 3 percent in 2012 and is expect‐ ed to grow by 4 percent in 2013 with e World Bank adding that it anticipated a further 4.5 percent growth during 2014.

Turkey’s economy has been strengthen‐ ing for years. By 2011 the country was ranked 18th in the world in terms of GDP(World Bank) while its economy

was the fastest growing in Europe at 8.5 percent. With inflation falling and healthy growth predictions for the com‐ ing years, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is confident in his coun‐ try’s ’2023 Vision’ of becoming one of the top ten economies in the world.

Overseas investment makes up a signifi‐ cant part of the economy: in the past nine years, Turkey has absorbed $110 billion of overseas investment according to CNBC, while A.T. Kearney’s Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index ranked it as the 13th most attractive des‐

In line with its reputation for innovation, Akbuk Resort Group is proud that the development is Turkey’s first fully SIPPcompliant resort. Depending on the cho‐ sen investment option, returns can in‐ clude 4% interest paid until completion, Rental Assurance of 8% for the first two years following completion and a clear exit strategy with buy-back options in year five. With flexible, investor-friendly options such as these being offered, it is no wonder that overseas investors con‐ tinue to be attracted to Turkey and to be‐ ing part of the country’s bright and dy‐ namic future. For further information contact Akbuk Resort Group on +44 (0)845 230 5210 or info@akbukresort‐ group.com.