What Are We Doing?

1. Turkish National Soccer Team finished the World Cup 2002 in Third Place.

2. We saw Mr. Prime Minister Tony Blair says "WELCOME" to Americans on TV Commercial.

After the things above happened, we decided to have our web sites similar to

www.Britain2002.org  and www.OnlyInBritain.com  

FOR TURKEY;

www.Turkey2002.org  
www.OnlyInTurkey.com
www.VisitTurkey.org
www.IstanbulConnection.com


Please visit our web sites and tell us how we can help 180 millions Internet users in North America who like to Visit Turkey, have Istanbul Connection.

A SMALL NOTE:
We believe, soon we will have our TV Commercials aired, and Turkish National Team Striker Ilhan Mansiz, Goal Keeper Rustu Recber, and Midfielder Hasan Sas would "WELCOME" you.

Regards,

Mustafa Kemal Ozturk
Lt. Colonel, TUAF - NATO, Res.

...................

Olympic Victory UEFA decided that the final matches of the 2005 Champions' League would take place in Turkey. The Executive Board of UEFA, which gathered in Switzerland, decided to hold the final matches of the 2005 Champions' League in the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul.   May 25, 2005 Liverpool is champion! Liverpool: 6  AC Milan: 5   Three Lions Roar: A Novel of World Cup 2006 A Sunday night championships match with the underdog U-12 boy’s team pulling away with a two, zero victory. Or how about a champions league final with the underdog team Liverpool after being down 3-0 coming back to win it all in a shoot out. Whatever the circumstance, whoever the opponent; Three Lions Roar pays a tribute to just that. The underdogs! We have all lived it. Whether it was watching the world cup final or just playing in a pick up game. The feeling of rising up to the occasion, when all obstacles are in your way and, nobody believes it can be done. Achieving the impossible! For all of those who get goose bumps ever time you grab a beer and, discuss your old glory days, this book is dedicated to you. Wonderfully constructed, Umut Ozturk gives us play by play a nation’s face toward glory. England’s hope of a world cup. Turk USSF "C" Licence Football* Coach *It’s also called "Soccer" in America   Coming soon: Three Lions Roar: A Novel of World Cup 2006 Search at www.amazon.com 's books!

Turkey and other E.U. Candidate Countries Promoted on Italian TV  Istanbul, TURKEY, January 05, 2004 - A documentary on Turkey and the other 12 European Union (EU) candidate countries has been aired on Italian television in order to present the countries to Europe, as well as aid their membership processes. The documentary is part of an iniative by the Italian European Commission and the Italian television channel RAI. The producer of the Turkish segment of the documentary, Kemal Ozturk (*), said presenting Turkey on a prominent Italian channel would contribute significantly to Turkey's EU process and tourism. Ozturk believes it is important for the European Commission to treat Turkey as an equal candidate. He said while many countries do not consider Turkey's membership, the European Commission sees Turkey as equal to the other countries and that Turkey has been assessed on the same criteriea as the other countries until now. Selected to do the project because of his previous successes, Ozturk said the documentary, a portrait of Turkey, presented a wide perspective of subject matter, from the St. Hagia Sophia to Nemrut, from the Istanbul Bosphorous to the Antalya coast. The two-part documentary, features sights and sounds from the different countries, information and depictions of ordinary citizens. Six aspects of the countries: music, popular culture, social changes, historical places, education and the youth are featured in different parts of the documentary and each subject is explained leading names in each field. For instance, Turkish popstar Deniz Seki presents the segment on music, art and changes in the art scene in Turkey. TV comedy writer Birol Guven, famed for his comedy series, "Do not Let the Children Hear", hosts the segment on social changes. In his show, Guven addresses changes in habits, family structure and attitudes to popular culture. Kemal Ozturk describes Turkey as a mosaic, emphasizing the modern face of Turkey with its traditional elements and pluralism and richness. The documentary entitled Central Express also features films from Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Slovenia, Cyprus, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria. (*) OnlyInTurkey's Note: There is no relationship between The Producer Kemal Ozturk and Lt. Colonel M. Kemal Ozturk. However, they both love their country and its people very much.

Zafer Ozcan / Istanbul / TURKEY

...
FORGOTEN HISTORY
TURKS-KOREA-CUBA

KOREA
Discussions about the 14th Infantry Regiment in Korea would be incomplete without some reference to the Turks. We fought alongside, relieved and were relieved by the Turks. The Turks earned the reputation as fierce fighters in Korea. Talk with almost any Korean War veteran who served in the 14th and you are likely to hear a Turk story (some true, some half-true, and some complete fabrications). Still, most Turk stories are believable for those of us who had some contact with the Turks in Korea.

Glen Thompson -- Charlie Company, 14th Infantry Regiment
.......


Korea - 52 years ago this week
Nov. 27-Dec. 3, 1950*
By Jim Caldwell
TRADOC News Service
Nov. 27-29
The 7th ID's Task Force MacLean and First Marine Division are ordered to attack north of their positions east and west of the Chosin Reservoir in what later was called "the most ill-advised and unfortunate operation of the Korean War." It was hoped the attack would relieve pressure on allied units to the west. Task Force MacLean's 3,200 soldiers, including 700 ROK troops and the Marines run into the 120,000-man Chinese Ninth Army Group. The Army unit becomes Task Force Faith when Col. Allan D. MacLean is wounded and captured and Lt. Col. Don C. Faith takes command.
The First Marine Division is surrounded at the reservoir and begins to fight its way south, crossing frozen rivers in temperatures down to 35 degrees below zero.
-- On Nov. 29, the Turks, in bayonet fighting, momentarily stop the Chinese advance near Kunu-ri. American, South Korean, United Kingdom and Turkish troops on the west coast fight desperately to keep from being surrounded and cut off by the Chinese central thrust.
Nov. 28-29
MacArthur says the UN forces are in "an entirely new war" with China after destroying the North Korean army. He says "over 200,000" Chinese regular troops shatter the myth fostered by communist propaganda that only "volunteers" were fighting with their Korean brethren. Far larger Chinese forces are gathered in "the privileged sanctuary north of the international boundary" in Manchuria.
-- The same day, a British spokesman admits they had voted against a MacArthur request to the UN to bomb targets in Manchuria. They were still hoping to convince China not to enter the Korean War, and feel MacArthur's offensive is to blame for drawing China into the war.
MacArthur defends the Nov. 24 initiative, saying it had disrupted Chinese plans to build up their forces in Korea to more than 400,000 troops before they attacked UN forces. He calls his senior commanders to Tokyo to discuss the situation.
The general also tells an NBC radio reporter that his "home by Christmas" pledge four days earlier was made "in a jocular vein" and news people had "greatly exaggerated" the remark. "At no time have I ever attempted to predict the course or termination of this or any other military campaign." Great Britain and other European countries have derided those same remarks.
-- A Chinese spokesman echoes the "volunteers" propaganda line, but tells the UN Security Council that China will make certain UN troops are driven out of Korea.
-- Secretary of State Dean Acheson draws the ire of political leaders, who are for immediate action against Chinese in Korea, because he wants to "reexamine" policies.
-- President Truman claims the Soviet Union instigated the Chinese invasion. It must be stopped, he declares, or it will lead to communist aggression in the rest of Asia, Europe and the Western Hemisphere. He says he will ask Congress for more money for the war and turn the Manchuria question over to the UN.
-- An Army spokesman in Washington admits that intelligence underestimated the strength of Chinese forces in Korea.
-- Congressmen and newspaper columnists call for Truman to use the A-bomb against China.
-- A Communist Chinese representative speaks to the UN Security Council Nov. 28, urging them to "apply severe sanctions against the U.S. government" for "armed intervention in Korea." He refuses to discuss China's involvement in Korea although the UN agenda item is China's invasion of Korea. He wants the U.S. to be penalized for "criminal acts of armed aggression" against Formosa and rails against "American imperialism and its lackey Chang Kai Shek." He ignores questions from the American UN Ambassador Warren R. Austin including how "volunteers" can fly Chinese aircraft on combat missions in Korea.
-- The next day Austin suggests the council drop the outrageous charges about Formosa and instead declare China the aggressor in the war. Russian Ambassador Jacob Malik replied that the United States has long oppressed and exploited China. National China's Dr. T.F. Tsiang refutes the communist charge saying, "the U.S. does not hold a single square inch of Chinese territory." He says the Red Chinese are puppets of an "imperial master at Moscow."
-- On Nov. 29, Lt. Gen. Walton H. Walker, Eighth Army commander, agrees with MacArthur, saying the Nov. 24 campaign "probably saved our forces from a trap which might well have destroyed them." Had they not attacked "the 200,000 Chinese troops thrown against my lines would have increased within a short time to double that strength.
Nov. 30
President Truman says he might use the atom bomb in Korea as a final option.
Nov. 30-Dec. 1
The 2nd Infantry Division, which has been playing rear guard for the withdrawal of other Eighth Army units in northwestern Korean, withdraws from Konu-ri on the Chongchon River about 75 miles south of the Yalu River. The ROK Third Regiment and what's left of the Turkish Brigade are attached to the division. The Chinese break through the Turks on the right of the defensive line and set up roadblocks on the 2nd ID's planned escape route.
Instead of withdrawing to the east, 2nd ID Commander Maj. Gen. Laurence B. Keiser decides to stick to the original plan and retreat southward. That took the division through six miles of enemy-infested mountain roads, which became known as "The Gauntlet."
The British Commonwealth Brigade, which attacked north from Sunchon to link up with the 2nd ID to help it withdraw, are stopped on the same mountain roads by Chinese forces.
The 2nd ID's 23rd Regimental Combat Team, which is the 23rd Infantry Regiment and the 15th Field Artillery act as the rear guard for the division's withdrawal.
The Chinese virtually wipe out the 9th and 38th Infantry Regiments on the retreat route. After that the 23rd RCT withdraws to the east to escape the slaughter.
By the time the remnants of the 2nd ID reach the British lines, nearly a third of its strength is gone, about 4,940 soldiers.
Keiser is relieved of command and replaced by Maj. Gen. Robert B McClure.
-- To the east, X Corps orders the Army Third and Seventh Divisions to withdraw south to Hungnam. Task Force Faith, part of the Seventh Division and named for it's commander, Lt. Col. Don Faith, begins to fight its way from the east bank of the Chosin Reservoir to Hugaru at the south end of the reservoir to join up with the 1st Marine Division. Fighting in temperatures at 35 below zero and carrying 500 wounded, Faith is told by the hard-pressed Marines they'd have to look out for themselves. By then the task force has 100 more casualties. Faith has the wounded loaded on trucks and began to move south again. They're hit by Chinese mortars and small arms, and have to fight through enemy roadblocks. U.S. Air Force fighters, mistaking them for an enemy column, also drop napalm on the front of the column. Faith is wounded by a Chinese grenade. They reach Hudong, only to find that the expected regimental tank company had already retreated to Hugaru. They are then hit by an all-out Chinese attack. Faith is killed along with most of the other wounded. Only 385 of the original 3,200-man task force make it to UN lines. Faith was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
Nov. 30-Dec. 6
The 1st Marine Division makes its famous fighting withdrawal from Chosin, also beginning November 30. The Fifth and Seventh Marine Regiments begin fighting their way to the First Marine Division command post at Hagaru. They finally make it December 4 after fighting their way in subfreezing temperatures. They are able to airlift more than 4,300 casualties out of Hagaru, and they receive 537 replacements by air. Most of their casualties are caused by frostbite. On December 6, they start the 11-mile trip to the First Marine Regiment's position at Koto-ri. It takes 38 hours and results in more than 600 casualties out of the 10,000-Marine force. The Marines do get strong air support from Air Force, Navy and Marine fliers.
Dec. 2
Gen. MacArthur tells U.S. News and World Report that China had assured North Korea it would send troops to assist them if necessary before the North Koreans invaded South Korea June 25. "The Chinese war machine started gearing for the Korean battlefront" when UN forces had gained the upper hand on the North Koreans. The reason the Chinese were able to sneak into North Korea is because they were only a night's march from the Yalu River in Manchuria, which UN forces were forbidden to attack, MacArthur says. "An enormous handicap, without precedent in military history."
He refuses to answer questions about using the atom bomb against China.
He later estimates that over half of the 500,000 Chinese troops were directly involved in the fighting in North Korea. They are also helping to put together a new North Korean force of 100,000 to 150,000 soldiers, which will bring the total communist strength his forces face to more than 600,000.
-- The Air Force says its crews flew 827 sorties supporting allied troops, a one-day record for the war. More communist jet fighters are also reported over North Korea.
Dec. 2-7
Other elements of the Eighth U.S. Army on the west coast of Korea establish a defensive perimeter at Pyongyang on Dec. 2 but they are ordered to abandon it the next day. As the troops fall back to Chinnampo, they burn all the supply facilities in the city.
-- On Dec. 3 Task Force 90 Amphibious Force begins evacuating UN soldiers from Chinnampo and Wonsan on the west coast. On the east coast, the task force evacuates 1,800 American soldiers and sailors and 5,900 ROK soldiers from Wonsan. More than 3,800 UN fighters, 7,009 Korean civilian refugees, 1,146 vehicles and 10, 013 tons of cargo are safely removed.

* In Korea War, 721 Turkish Soldiers killed, 175 were lost.
...

The Cuba-Crisis 1962
Cuba, the biggest isle of the Antilles, was part of the Spanish colonial empire since it was discovered by C.Columbus in 1492. In the Spanish-American War of 1898 the Spaniards lost Cuba to the USA. In 1902 the state Cuba was founded. The political system was a democracy. But in fact the USA had a big influence in the politics as well as in the economics. Cuba's main economic sector was the export of sugar, tobacco and coffee.
In the mid-30s General Franco Batista came into power, he was supported by the USA. In 1952 he seized power with the support of the army. On July 26, 1953 Batista crushed an uprising (einen Aufstand niederschlagen) led by a young lawyer named Fidel Castro.
Batista terrorized his political opponents (Grau San Martin) so there was no opposition left and he won the election in 1955.
On December 2, 1956, Castro invaded with some 80 insurgents. The force was crushed by the army, but Castro escaped into the mountains and formed a new force, which had a guerrilla-tactic. Castro won more and more disciples in the population. On March 17, 1958 he called for a general revolt. Cuba was on the edge of a civil war.
Finally Castro reached his aim on the new-years-day of 1959, when Batista resigned and fled the country.
The Castro regime soon practiced a leftist (linksgerichtet) policy and initiated an approximation to the communistic states. In 1960 Castro expropriated (enteignen) an estimated $ 1 Billion US-owned properties. All that led to the break with the USA.(January 1961).
On April 17, 961 an invasion of exile-Cubans who were trained in Florida in the Bay of Pigs failed.
Since then Cuba was officially supported by the USSR , which was very content to have a satellite-state in the western hemisphere just next door to the USA (Cuba to Florida ~ 100km), and the Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev (=Cruschtschow) promised that the Soviet-Union would defend the newly inaugurated system of Castro, and soon launched plans to supply Cuba with intermediate-range ballistic missiles.
Khrushchev claimed to attack the USA with nuclear missiles if Cuba was invaded by the US-forces.
The crisis itself started on October 14, 1962 when American spy planes overflying Cuba had photographed ballistic missiles. A rocket-launch-base was photographed, too.
After the evaluation (Auswertung) of the pictures the American politicians were sure that the rockets were offensive. This kind of rockets were to be endowed with nuclear rocket-heads.
Those rockets could easily reach the whole southeast of the USA with cities like Houston, New Orleans, Miami, Atlanta and eventually cities like the capital Washington D.C., Dallas, New York, Philadelphia and all the other cities on the east-coast.
Up to that point the USSR had never stationed atomic missiles out of its own state, neither in Eastern-Europe, nor in China.
Now, with these rockets the USSR had a good base to attack the USA. Before, the only missiles were the ICR (intercontinental rockets),stationed in the east of the soviet union but these ICRs were heavy and slow and very expensive, and could be better repulsed (abgewehrt) by the US-defending system. The USA had the same problem, they only had some old Rockets (type intermediate range, named Jupiter) stationed in the north-east of the NATO-partner Turkey.
On October, 22, 1962 the president of the United States, John F. Kennedy told Krushchev to dismantle the missiles in an official speech on TV when he informed the American population of the crisis at the same time.
John F. Kennedy discussed the situation with some members of the US-government. They came to the conclusion that there were three possible ways to react:
1st: invasion of Cuba with the US-Army,
2nd: air strikes by the US-Air-Force,
3rd: a sea blockade.
Finally they gave up the first two plans, because they maybe would cause a nuclear war with the USSR, which could spread over to Europe and eventually cause a Soviet invasion of Berlin. Another reason was that the USA would have been the aggressor in a potential 3rd world war. But they pointed out that every rocket fired to a western state would be treated like an attack on the USA, that means the hit-back with nuclear missiles.
So they chose the sea blockade, called quarantine by Kennedy. He declared that US naval forces would intercept and inspect ships bound for Cuba to determine whether they were carrying missiles. So the US naval forces were sent out for Cuba.
To the big astonishment of the captains of the US-ships, the soviet vessels on route for Cuba turned away to avoid the quarantined zone.
The communication between Khrushchef and Kennedy was opened through diplomatic channels after many politicians and even the Pope had tried to intervene (vermitteln). Khrushchef agreed, on October 28, to dismantle the missile sites and to return the weapons to the Soviet Union, offering the USA on-site inspection in return for a guarantee not to invade Cuba. Kennedy supplied these assurances and halted the blockade.
Another condition by Khrushchev to Kennedy, to withdraw the Jupiter-rockets in Turkey was ignored, but those obsolete (veraltet) missiles had no decisive importance. And unofficially Kennedy promised to withdraw them in the next few months.
The Cuba-crisis ended and took away the fear in all parts of the world of a nuclear war. It can be said that the crisis ended with a kind of draw (unentschieden). Everybody won something but lost something, too.
- Kennedy reached that the Soviet missiles on Cuba were dismantled, but he had to guarantee that the USA would not invade Cuba.
- Khrushchev couldn't keep his rockets on Cuba, but he reached the dismantling of the US-missiles stationed in Turkey. With Kennedy's promise he could be sure not to lose Cuba as a partner.
- Fidel Castro could be sure not to be attacked by the USA, but he lost the Soviet missiles which would have strengthened Cuba.
So you can see that the one and only winner was the world, which could avoid a nuclear war.
In fact the Cuba-Crisis was the climax of the cold war, regarded by many as the world's closest approach to a nuclear war.
After the Cuba-Crisis Kennedy said that he was sitting in the same boat like Khrushchev, and if the Soviet Premier cared about what his citizens were interested in there would be no reason why they could not live in peace.
A short time later, on August 5, 1963 the USA, the USSR and England signed a contract in London that said that no more nuclear-tests should be made, excluding subterranean tests. This contract is valid up to now. This contract displays clearly the new foreign-political-line of the world-powers, the policy of detente (Entspannungspolitik).
Tobias Muller, April 1997

Troop Deployment Nothing New for Turkey
Istanbul, TURKEY, October 08, 2003 - Turkey sent its first military units abroad during the Korean War. The then Democrat Party (DP) leader Adnan Menderes sent Turkish troops to Korea with a Cabinet Council decision dated July 25 1950.

Then as now, the opposition party was against a troop deployment, much like the Republican People's Party's (CHP) current position.

There are striking similarities between today's parliament and the parliament of the time when troops were sent to Korea. The DP had achieved a significant majority after the May 14 1950 elections, much like the Justice and Development Party (AKP) has done last year.

The Turkish soldier (Mehmetcik) went to Korea for a war, but now, is going to Iraq to build a peace. In both cases however, Turkey's duty to the United States as a military ally has played an important role in the decision.

Since the Korean War, a Turkish government has received permission from parliament to send troops abroad 16 times.

Most notably between 1960 and 1974, granting permission three times to send troops to Cyprus.

Since the end of the Cold War, Turkish troops have also participated in peacekeeping missions in different parts of the world.

The parliament granted permission, in two separate motions, to send soldiers;

To Somalia and Bosnia Herzegovina on December 8 1992.

To Al-Halil, to stand between Israel and Palestine on February 8 1997.

To Albania on April 10 1997 and again on July 23 1998.

To Kosovo on October 8 1998, and lastly

To Afghanistan in October 2001.




TO KOREA