OCTOBER 2011/Message of Egemen BAĞIŞ, Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator, Opening Ceremony of the Project, Istanbul-Turkey

Dear Participants,

We have made great progress in the process of our membership to the EU. A process commenced by late Adnan Menderes in1959 and now led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan who takes this Project to be the most important modernization Project in the aftermath of the foundation of the Republic.

It is undoubtedly of significance that the public as a whole adopt the EU process that is carried out steadfastly in order for our community to reach EU standards. The Project “Experience for Change within the Cultural Heritage Sector”, the opening ceremony of which is taking place today, is a sign of the fact that every segment of our society is involved in our EU process. In that regard I would like to extend my thanks to Friends of Cultural Heritage for its contributions to Turkey on the way to EU membership.

Please be confident that the Ministry for EU Affairs, established as a result of the importance that we attach to process of full membership to the EU, will keep on supporting you whenever you need our help. Wish you success with your hard work.

Egemen BAĞIŞ
Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator

(Source of the photograph is the official web of the Minister - http://egemenbagis.com/tr/foto-galeri)

OCTOBER 2011, OPENING SPEECH by Makbule OKAT, EU Affairs Expert, T.R. Ministry for EU Affairs - Istanbul Office

OPENING CEREMONY OF the PROJECT
EXPERIENCE FOR CHANGE WITHIN THE CULTURAL HERITAGE
IMPLEMENTED UNDER
TURKEY & EU CIVIL SOCIETY DIALOGUE II PROJECT, CULTURE AND ARTS COMPONENT
OCTOBER 13, 2011
TÜRVAK CINEMA MUSEUM,
TAKSIM/ISTANBUL

Distinguished Member of Jordanian Parliament,
Esteemed Cultural Attaché of Italy,
Members of Press,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I have great pleasure in starting my words with Minister Egemen BAGIŞ,’s greeting message to the opening ceremony of the Project “Experience for change within the cultural heritage sector” implemented under Turkey and EU Civil Society Dialogue II Culture and Arts Component.

Dear Participants,

We have made great progress in the process of our membership to the EU. A process commenced by late Adnan Menderes in1959 and now led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan who takes this Project to be the most important modernization Project in the aftermath of the foundation of the Republic.

It is undoubtedly of significance that the public as a whole adopt the EU process that is carried out steadfastly in order for our community to reach EU standards. The Project “Experience for Change within the Cultural Heritage Sector”, the opening ceremony of which is taking place today, is a sign of the fact that every segment of our society is involved in our EU process. In that regard I would like to extend my thanks to Friends of Cultural Heritage for its contributions to Turkey on the way to EU membership.

Please be confident that the Ministry for EU Affairs, established as a result of the importance that we attach to process of full membership to the EU, will keep on supporting you whenever you need our help. Wish you success with your hard work.

Egemen BAĞIŞ
Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator

Assembled Guests,

• Even though membership to the EU is backed up substantially in Turkey the public still lacks knowledge on operation, rules, policies and culture of the EU.

• We regret to see that there are unfounded concerns and mutual prejudice in Turkey as well as in Europe toward membership of Turkey to the EU Civil Society Dialogue is targeted to make publics in Turkey and EU familiar with each other thus eliminating the prejudices.

• To this end our ministry is implementing projects to “promote Civil Society Dialogue between EU and Turkey” within the framework of Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance.

• The first of Turkey and Civil Dialogue Project was completed in 2009.

• Within the scope of the project referred approximately 20 million € were distributed to the projects prepared by municipalities, trade bodies, universities and youth initiatives that make up the core of civil society in Turkey.

• Subsequent of the first, Turkey and EU Civil Society Dialogue II Project takes aim primarily at building bridges of knowledge and strengthening communication between actors in Turkey and their counterparts in Europe.

• Turkey and EU Civil Society Dialogue II Grant Scheme is composed of two components; Agriculture and Fisheries and Culture and Arts.

• The objective of the Culture and Arts Grant Scheme is to create partnerships between European Union and candidate countries; reinforce partnerships between CSOs engaged in the field; promote the atmosphere of sustainable cooperation and dialogue. The program is targeted at ensuring exchange of experience and knowledge between civil society in Turkey and the EU; strengthening the relationship; and developing mutual understanding.

• 19 projects proposed by CSOs in Turkey and EU that are engaged in field of culture and arts benefit from approximately 2.2 million € of grant within the scope of the Grant Scheme. Duration of the said projects to be carried by CSOs from Turkey and EU varies from 10 to 15 months.

• Within the framework of the Culture and Arts Grant Scheme, projects serving to different purposes will organize enjoyable activities in various branches of traditional and contemporary art ranging from cartoons to street performances, from music to architecture, from folk dances to handcraft. What is intended by these activities is to ensure that Turkish and European citizens get to better know and understand each other through diversified organizations marked with most beautiful motives of culture and arts.

• Project activities under this Component will take place with participation of CSOs from different cities of Turkey and from EU countries such as France, Italy, Spain, Macedonia, Greece and Sweden.

• Please let me remind you that Friends of Cultural Heritage got over a contestable evaluation process and were entitled to grant out of 274 proposals thanks to the difference it created.

• If you would appreciate I would like to underline that Friends of Cultural Heritage (FOCUH) deserves to be appraised for the fact it has created a communication atmosphere with its partner WATCH from Italy as well as other institutions and people engaged in cultural heritage protection, a field that demands continuing efforts.

• As you would agree the efforts made by the association and the project team to this end are a struggle that necessitates as much effort and time as made for the preparation of the project proposal.

• We would like to extend our thanks to Friends of Cultural Heritage, its partner along with project associates for realizing their project in an atmosphere of dialogue regardless of uneasiness of the field engaged.

In conclusion,

We believe that Turkey and EU Civil Society Dialogue II Project will promote common knowledge, dialogue and long-term cooperation between civil society in Turkey and its counterparts in the EU. We would like to reiterate our gratitude to Friends of Cultural Heritage for its precious contributions.

  

THEATRE in PERA

Istanbul, from its past to present, is a world city with unique historical, artistic and cultural assets. It is a metropolis for thousand of years; an art center, where ancient tragedy and numerous spectacular performances were held including the Byzantine period. However, the appearance of classical theatre that we know in today’s context is dated to the 18th century. In this regard, we should especially state two very important theatre halls in Beyoğlu. The first one was the “French Theatre Hall”, where the Elhamra Movie Theatre is located today. Having six floors in horseshoe shape, an elegant hall comprised of 26 loges ornamented with gold leaf and velvet, the French Theatre Halll was opened by Guistiniani from Genoese and also known as the “Crystal Palace (Palais de Cristal)” because of its glass entrance part. Both French and Turkish companies carried out performances so many times in this hall. The second avant-garde theatre hall in Beyoğlu was “Naum”. Built by an Italian whose name was Bosco, the Hall was then run by Naum Efendi. This wooden theatre hall was ruined by a fire in 1847 but a new building was erected in its place. It was also called “Imperial Theatre Hall” because of the supports from the Palace. The Naum Theatre Hall, located on the right corner of today’s Sahne Street (Stage Street) next to the Galatasaray High School, witnessed various performances such as ballet and illusion shows besides of the performances mostly carried out by the Italian lyric groups. Unfortunately, the Hall was totally burned by the fire that destroyed whole Beyoğlu in 1870. Beyoğlu, however, is not a district which looses its character easily. It is a productive, fertile and mobile center. In other words, “theatres cannot disappear because of a fire”. For example, “Rumeli Theatre Hall (1861)”, “Alcazar de Byzance Theatre Hall (1864)”, “Şark Theatre Hall (1864)” and “Anadolu Theatre Hall (1867)” could survive and continued hosting their audiences.

Another important theatre hall in Pera, the name of Beyoğlu in the 19th century, was the “Concordia” opened in 1871 in the place where the Saint-Antoine de Padoue Church is located today. Concordia, until its demolition in 1906, hosted hundreds of performances in its halls designed for both summer and winter times. The two other halls located in Meşrutiyet Street in Tepebaşı were among the major halls of Istanbul and constant places of lovers of theatre for many years. Serving successfully also as the “Darülbedayi Tragedy and Comedy Theatres”, one of these two halls was burned twice intentionally. Today, unfortunately there is a car park in its place.

In addition to these halls mentioned above, the “Tekke Theatre Hall”, where various Turkish theatre companies met with theatre lovers, and the “Elhamra Theatre”, opened in 1871 and then called “Odeon” in 1884, were the other ones in Beyoğlu. At Odeon, Güllü Agop’s theatre company “Ottoman” carried out several performances. Today, Odeon is run with the name “Lüks Movie Theatre”. Another theatre hall, which was in Halep Bazaar, in Beyoğlu, hosted performances first with the name “Théâtre - Cirque de Pera” and then “Varyete”. It also hosted Turkish theatre companies “Ses” and “Dormen” during the Republican period and still the permanent hall of the famous theatre company “Ferhan Şensoy – Ortaoyuncular”. It should be underlined here that one of the important theatrical venues of the Republican term was the “Küçük Sahne/Little Hall”, opened in Beyoğlu by Yapı Kredi, which is a long-established financial institution in Turkey. In contrast to its name, Küçük Sahne was a huge art center. The most popular private theatre companies of the Republic performed spectacular plays several times in Küçük Sahne for the public, such as “Dormen Tiyatrosu”, “Gülriz Sururi-Engin Cezzar Group”, “Ulvi Uraz Tiyatrosu”, “Mücap Ofluoğlu Tiyatrosu”, Ali Poyrazoğlu Tiyatrosu”, and today “Sadri Alışık Tiyatrosu”. “Muammer Karaca Tiyatrosu” opened in 1955, “Arena” located in Sıraserviler, “Oraloğlu” in İstiklal Street, “Gen-Ar”, “Dostlar” located in Tünel, “Devekuşu Kabere” in Taksim and the many other theatre halls and companies constitutes the rich and glorious history of theatre in Beyoğlu.

Besides Beyoğlu, Galata district also played an essential role. In this historical district, Turkish, Greek and Italian theatre companies performed their plays at “Apollon” and “Ahali” theatre halls until the halls were burned by a fire in 1882. “Alkazar Theatre Hall” in Galata was the constant stage of Güllü Agop’s company, the Ottoman Theatre. In addition, the “Kuşlu Theatre Hall” where mostly the pantomime shows were held, the “American Theatre Hall” where the theatre company Abdürrezzak performed its plays, and the “European Theatre Halls” where the theatre company Hamdi performed its plays, were the well-known halls in Galata.

The “Gedikpaşa Theatre Hall” in Gedikpaşa district, which was built in 1867, was then named “the Ottoman Hall” and started to run by the company of Güllü Agop. At those times, there were numerous theatre halls in every district of Istanbul where at least one theatre company performed its plays: “Hamdi Efendi” in Aksaray; “Çuhacıyan” in Beyazıt; “Aziziye” in Üsküdar; “Yeni/New” in Horor, Üsküdar; “Papazın Bahçesi” in Kuşdili, Kadıköy; “Kışlık” in Kadıköy; “Varyete” in Pangaltı; “Dilkuşa”, “Ferah”, “Hilal”, “Millet” and “Turan” in Şehzadebaşı and many others… Especially, the “Turan Theatre Hall” hosted one of the most popular comedy companies of our time, “Nejat Uygur Theatre” for a long time. “Muhlis Sabahattin’in Çocukları Halk Opereti”, “Beyoğlu Ses Opereti”, and Surusi’s “Istanbul Theatre” were the exciting, colorful theatres of the Republican period. “Darülbedayi” and then the “City Theatres” constituted the theatre companies funded by the municipalities. “Muhsin Ertuğrul Hall” in Harbiye, “Musahipzade Celal Hall” in Üsküdar, “Fatih Hall” in Zeyrek and “Haldun Taner Hall ” in Kadıköy, met and still meeting theatre with the art lovers in both sides of Istanbul. We should also mention here the halls of the State Theatres in Istanbul; the hall of the Atatürk Culture Center, a building magnificently situated at the Taksim Square; and, the “Venus Theatre Hall” in Taksim.

Theatre, unlike cinema, makes possible one-to-one communication between people and creates a unique and a captivating atmosphere. Hence, the love of theatre triggers productivity and fertility leading to the creation of new places, new environments like nature does. These new places and environments, in other words, new halls, fulfill Istanbul’s need for art, such as “Azak” in Gedikpaşa, where Gönül Ülkü and Gazanfer Özcan performed; “Atlan Erbulak’s “Çevre”, in Kocamustafapaşa; Nisa Serezli and Tolga Aşkıner’s “Ümit”, in Şişli; Ergun Köknar and Suna Pekuysal's “Sunar”, in Üsküdar; and theatres of Sezer Sezin, Tevfik Gelenbe, Müjdat Gezen ve Kenan Büke ve Enis Fosforoğlu, in Kadıköy; “Hadi Çaman Actors of Yeditepe”, in Teşvikiye; “Köşebaşı Tuncay Özinel”, in Aksaray; “Egemen Bostancı Elmadağ Şan Tiyatrosu” and many others… Unfortunately, some of them is closed or moved today.

Author: Erol ŞENEL, Director, Turker İnanoğlu Foundation Cinema Television Museum and Library,Istanbul http://www.turvak.com.tr/en/
(with the appoval on July 16, 2011)

“ISTANBUL and CINEMA”

The French Lumière brothers, Louis and Auguste Lumière, won the competition in the field of cinematography between the years 1890 and 1895. Their Cinématographe met its audience for the first time in the basement of Grand Café in Paris in December 22, 1895. It attracted a great deal of attention in a very short time and started spreading all over the world rapidly. A lot of people from many countries wanted to own this device and among them was one of the well-known photographers in Istanbul, Theodore Vafiadis. However, since the Lumière brothers had only one device which they used in their first screening, it was impossible for them to send this one and only device. Then, they sent to Istanbul not the Cinématographe but the operator who they trained after a little while. Those operators were shooting films as well as running. But in those times, it was extremely hard to get permission to shoot films in Istanbul. Sultan Abdulhamid II, who was skeptical about innovation, was not in favor of cinema because of his antipathy toward “electricity and devices with cranks”. He even prohibited foreign filmmakers from shooting movies in the country by an imperial order. In fact, the same person had made a great effort for the development of photography in the country.

Sinema da tıpkı fotoğrafçılık gibi ülkemizde seyircisi ile ilk defa saraylarda ve konaklarda buluştu.

Like photography, cinema in Turkey met its audience for the first time in palaces and mansions. When the Lumière brothers lost their position in the world market to Charles Pathé, Turkey had been already known Pathé’s famous “rooster” logo in 1897. The brand’s representative in Turkey, Sigmund Weinberg, who was a Polish Jew and a citizen of Romania, undertook a mission in order to take cinema out of the palace and to bring it to the public places. While Weinberg was looking for a venue for a show with his devices and films, an advert was appeared in newspapers as follows: “Sponeck Hall, the first screening of motion picture in Istanbul, date: December 12, 1896.” This date is still a debatable issue today. Was it Weinberg or D. Hanri who did the first screening? One thing is certain: After this first show in Sponeck Public House, Sigmund Weinberg realized public screenings of films at an entertainment venue in Pera, called Concordia, where the Saint-Antoine de Padoue Church is located today. Later on, he moved cinema to “Istanbul side” of the Golden Horn from Pera because of the great interest of the public. Screenings of films, which were held at Fevziye Coffee House, continued at venues which were transformed into permanent movie theatres called “Emperyal/Imperial” (1914), “Milli/Natioal” (1915), “Güneş/Sun” (1919); and then, “Melek/Angel” and “Turkish Movie Theatre”.

After the proclamation of the second Constitutional Monarchy, positive developments were experienced in cinema. Weinberg opened the first permanent movie theatre, called Pathé, in 1908 in Tepebaşı, where the Old Comedy Department of the City Theatre was also located. The Pathé which drew a considerable interest hosted its audience for a long time. Its name was changed to “Belediye/City Hall” in 1910, “Anfi” in 1919, “Asrî/Modern” in 1924 and “Ses/Sound” in 1941. Weinberg also held screenings at schools: Fuat Uzkınay, who was an internal affairs official at Istanbul High School, made a great effort to teach cinema to the students. He was responsible, together with Şakir Seden who was a teacher at the same school, for selecting films and holding screenings. Fuat Uzkınay, who had a strong persuasive skill, convinced Weinberg and learned to use the cinema device. Afterwards, he convinced Şakir Seden and his brother Kemal Seden and he started to run a permanent movie theatre opened to public together with them.

The Seden brothers were the nephews of Ali Efendi who owned the most famous restaurant of the Istanbul side of the Golden Horn in 1914. Ali Efendi, at the instance of his nephews, gave them permission to open “Ali Efendi Movie Theatre” in the place of the candy store, which was on the ground floor of the Musul Hotel in Sirkeci in July 6, 1914. Whilst Fuat Uzkınay and the Seden brothers were continuing their cinema works, an unexpected incident happened. In 28 August 1914, when the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared a war against Serbia, the Ottoman Empire had to sign an alliance with Germany. Upon the declaration of mobilization in the country, Fuat Uzkınay joined the army.

The monument in Yeşilköy, which had been erected at the time of the Ottoman-Russian War in 1876-1877, was seen as a provocative structure affecting people’s emotions in a negative way. Hence, it was decided that the monument had to be demolished but at the same time such a moment had to be recorded by a Turkish citizen as well. At the end, everybody agreed that it should be Fuat Uzkınay, who was then in the military service. Therefore, Uzkınay, who learned how to use the receiver in a very short time, shot the first Turkish documentary film (150 meter in length) “Demolition of the Russian Monument in St. Stefano (Yeşilköy)”, in November 14, 1914. Before this date, there are a few films shot in the country. One of them is an anonymous film realized at Yıldız Mosque in 28 July 1905 and another one is a film by cinema and photograph artists Manaki brothers from Macedonia. The film, which was about the visit of Sultan Mehmet Reşat V to Selanik and Monastery, is now kept in the Macedonian Film Archive. Besides, again an anonymous film of Hamidiye Cruiser is dated to 1913.

In 1914, cinema had a place in Turkey and there was a group of audience. Fuat Uzkınay, Cevat Boyer, Şakir and Kemal Seden were the Turkish filmmakers of the time besides Sigmund Weinberg who was an expert and the master in cinema. However, while talking about the introduction of cinema in Turkey, it should be noted that at those times cinema was embraced only by the one district of Istanbul, which is Beyoğlu, known as Pera in the 19th century. Levantines or other foreign residents of Pera constituted the majority of the film audiences and until 1914, Beyoğlu was the center of the cinema. The first permanent movie theatre was the Pathé opened by Sigmund Weinberg in Tepebaşı in 1908. Following the Pathé, Orientaux (1911), Central (1912), Ideal (1912), Lion (1913), Gaumont (1913), American (1913) and Parlant (1913) were opened.

For the Ramadan of 1908, the Psihuli brothers rented the Istanbul Theatre in Vezneciler; in 1910, Weinberg held screenings in Şehzadebaşı and in the same years, new movie theatres were opened such as “Apolion” in Kadıköy, “Kuşdili” in Kuşdili, “Taş Merdiven/Rock Stair” in Ortaköy and Seaport Square movie theatres in Büyükada (the biggest one of the Princes’ Islands). The first permanent movie theatre run by Turkish people is the “Milli/National”, which was opened in March 19, 1919 by Muray Bey and Cevat Boyer. The following ones are the “Ali Efendi Movie Teatre” opened by Fuat Uzkınay and the Seden brothers in Sirkeci in July, in the same year and then, “Kemal Bey Movie Theatre” in Demirkapı. After establishment of those movie theatres in Beyoğlu and its surrounding places, many others were opened in Anatolian cities, such as İzmir, Trabzon and Selanik. It is worth noting that the first building which was erected and designed as a movie theatre in Istanbul is the “Majik” in Sıraserviler, completed in 1920; since, the previous ones had been opened in places like coffee house, theatre hall and so on until this date. In the 60s, the name “Majik” was changed to “Yeni Taksim/the New Taksim” and then to “Venüs/Venus”. The movie theatres in Beyoğlu were not always grandiosely designed; the “Rüya/Dream”, which was called “Artistik” in the past, is the most explicit example of those modest ones. However, it hosted the most assertive and popular films and met them with the cinema lovers in spite of its modest design, in contrast to the spectacular “Elhamra”, “Lale/Tulip”, “Saray/Palace” and “Melek/Angel”.

Movie theatres are not ordinary pleaces where people just watch the films. Going to the cinema is a habit. And the traces of watching unforgettable films at unforgettable places left in people’s memories can never be erased, such as watching “Irish Girl” at Emek Movie Theatre in Beyoğlu or watching “Doctor Jivago” at Süreyya Movie Theatre in Kadıköy.

Author: Nurcan KURAN, Communication Director, Türker İnanoğlu Group of Companies http://www.turvak.com.tr/en/
(With the approval on July 16, 2011)