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  • Youth and Sports Day

    Turkey celebrates Ataturk's Memorial, Youth and Sports Day on Friday, May 19. This special day is the 88th anniversary of when the country's War of Independence was ignited. Mustafa Kemal founded the Republic of Turkey on the ashes of a collapsed empire and started civil reforms to westernize and

  • Post UCI: moving forward

    Team Incirlik, what a performance! I sat in the Unit Compliance Inspection outbrief last week smiling, cheering and thinking of how proud I was of everyone's performance as the IG team leader announced the numerous "Excellent" and "Outstanding" ratings. All of the extended hours and weekend work

  • After the Party

    When the West Seneca police responded to a noisy house party involving over-indulging drinkers early one Saturday morning on Hybank Drive, they never expected to trigger a tragedy. But the sight of an approaching patrol car caused some 50 young people to scatter, and one of them ran off a 60-foot

  • Mother's Day

    Mother's Day is observed and celebrated in Turkey on the same day as the rest of the world. Flowers and various gifts are given to mothers on that day. I offer my respect and greetings to all mothers worldwide.   Queen Pudu-Hepa, the woman from Cukurova   History doesn't record the migration of the

  • Thumping the Bunny

    Tom was new in town and was having a hard time finding a place to live because he had a Doberman. Finally, he secured a carriage house in the backyard of a house owned by two old women by assuring the ladies the dog was perfectly friendly, which, of course, it was. The landladies had a rabbit hutch

  • Wellington, Waterloo, and Eton

    Legend has it that several years after his victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo, the Duke of Wellington commented that Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton, a famous school in England that Wellington attended. Whether or not the Duke actually made the comment is subject to

  • Visiting Ankara

    Question: Mehmet , the ITT office and some other agencies offer tours to various locations but, I don't want to stick with the itinerary of the tour. I want to go and spend more time at the places I like and skip the places that don't interest me. Is there a place that you recommend to go and stay

  • POST UCI Break to Recharge

    I know it is hard to believe the Unit Compliance Inspection is nearly over. I can almost hear a collective sigh of relief from everyone as we eagerly close out the final inning of the inspection and wait for our outbrief. This is where the inspection team will let us know just how compliant we are

  • Contusions to the Cranium

    Certain land animals have evolved over the millennia to use speed in the pursuit of prey or avoidance of predators. The cheetah (Acinonyx Jubatus) can run as fast as 60 mph over the plains of Africa, and the pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra Americana) can reach 55 mph over the plains of North

  • Turkish Presidential elections

    Question: Mehmet, I know that Turkey will elect a new president soon, but, I don't see any banners or election activities around. When is the election going to happen? Is Turkey going to have a new government? You are right that Turkey will have a new president soon and there are no election