Tuesday, April 29, 2014

The Street of Friends

The wall of peace
For those traveling to Antakya as tourists, journalists, or pilgrims, you might just stumble upon a little know place called the "Street of Friends", that is, if you can find it. Nestled in Antakya's old city, the Street of Friends is run by Sister Barbara, who provides a serene environment for pilgrims, travelers, wanderers, and searchers. The adjoining buildings with old, heavy wooden doors, stone courtyards center-pieced with orange trees, is the vertex for two buildings of faith: on one side of the wall, a Catholic Church, on the other side, a Mosque.

To commemorate the joining of these two buildings of faith, Sister Barbara built a modest chapel in the main building; a sort of symbol of harmony. The chapel house itself, is a cool and dark stone room illuminated by three windows containing a shrine to the three Abrahamic religions: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. The floor, furbished with prayer rugs, leads down the room to a quilted Wish Tree, popular in the Alawite religion for prayer, with the sidewall decorated by dozens of plaques expressing different words for peace.   

"We dare to pray for peace," Sister Barbara spoke to the people congregating in the chapel house. And after a brief pause for silent prayer, she picked up her guitar and said, "Now, let us sing."
German pilgrim in front of the Wish Tree

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Easter on the Syrian Border

Benediction before the midnight mass
This weekend marks one of the largest holiday for the Christian faith, Easter. The ancient city of Antioch, currently known as Antakya, has always been a major hub for Catholic, and Orthodox Christians alike, as the city holds one of the first five churches of early Christendom. It was here that St. Paul began his missionary journeys, allowing the city to claim the “world's first cathedral”, and where religious followers of Jesus Christ were first recorded as being called “Christians".

Antakya is the main town in Hatay that reaches out to the rural border villages.  It has always been a city of mixed culture: Muslim, Catholic, Orthodox Christian, Arabs, and Turks. Since the start of the Syrian civil war, hundreds of thousands of Syrians, both Muslim, and Christian, have crossed over into Hatay.  On Good Friday, in the middle of the church's stone courtyard and surrounded by fruiting orange trees, Father Dominic talked about the changes the Syrian war has created for the Catholic congregation in Antakya.
Father Dominic leading a procession to the church
"Many Syrian Christians already have relatives here in Antioch.” He explained, “It's hard to say how many new people have joined this church, not everyone comes on a regular basis, but it is still noticeably bigger. A lot [of people] left for fear of religious persecution; so many people just practice their faith at home with their families while they wait to relocate to Europe."

Two hundred and eighty kilometers (175 miles) east of Antakya is the city of Homs, Syria. Once home to tens of thousands Christians, the city’s Christian population has now shrunk to less than 100 due to the war and radical Islamic organizations who target Christians. The most notable of these religious killings is the recent assassination of the 75 year old Jesuit Dutch priest, Frans van der Lugt, was widely known for staying in the besieged city of Homs, while constantly calling for humanitarian aid and working for peace before he was dragged from his home last week and shot twice in the head by an unknown gunman.
Prayer, and song inside the church
"Here in Turkey, we are safe," Father Dominic told me, "Over there [in Syria] there are many people who only care about who you are: Christian, Shia, Sunni, Alawite. Many people say they are faithful, but do not act as their religions tells them to. They have a black and white mentality. Here in Turkey, there is tension between people, yes, but there is still no violence. Here, we are safe."
Lighting of the candles
In the midsts of hymns 

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Good Friday in Antioch

The Father, and a layman
A layman in prayer

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Syrian Pirate Radio

Sout Raya's symbol - a map of Syria depicting zones controlled by military groups
Istanbul, Turkey - Sout Raya radio, a Syrian pirate radio station run by a collective of Syrian journalists-turned-exiles, broadcast a variety of shows directly into Syria from their station in Istanbul, Turkey. Initiated in 2012 by co-founders Firas Fayyad, and Aliser Hasan, Sout Raya (Sound of the Flag) radio has evolved to become a full-time station covering a wide range of topics for Syrians still inside Syria, including musical performances, child education programs, in-depth interviews with notable speakers, history, culture, real-time reports on situations inside Syria, and discussions regarding the ever looming question, what form of government will Syria have when the civil war eventually ends?

Firas Fayyad, a 30 year old documentary film maker, activist, and proud new father of a beautiful daughter, lived in Damascus during the start of Syria's Arab Spring revolution in 2011. As anti-government protests quickly slipped out of control, and into a full scale civil war, Firas was one of the first journalists on the ground covering the conflict. His documentary film "On the Other Side" brought him international acclaim, but as he continued to document the fate of his country, he was arrested by Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad's government. 
Journalists in the sound proof room recording a show for broadcasting
Yet, even after being beaten, and tortured by government forces, Firas continued his work documenting the war. That was, until his second arrest by government troops. For 6 months he was imprisoned, beaten, and tortured by electric shocks from a car battery. After his second release, Firas, still determined to continue his work as a journalist, knew he would no longer be safe working in his own country. Fleeing Syria through the south, via Jordan's Zaatari refugee camp, he eventually relocating to Istanbul, Turkey. 

It was here that he connected with Aliser Hasan, the current manager for the station, whose connections with NGOs, and a rich Syrian businessman, brought about the foundation of Sout Raya radio, in 2012. Located in the middle of a financial district in Istanbul, the station has all the professional equipment needed to produce quality programs. The studio itself, is spacious with hardwood floors, beige tiled walls, individual work stations for each department (two sound proof rooms for live broadcasts, news production, music composition, sound mixing, media coordination, a kitchen, and a meeting room with two mat beds tucked away in the corner for journalists to sleep during all night projects). Approaching their two year mark as a station, Sout Raya has a paid staff of 10 journalists working at the Istanbul station, and 14 journalists reporting secretly from various locations within Syria. 

The majority of the station's funding, which is budgeted at $15,000 USD per month, comes directly from a wealthy Syrian benefactor, but a notable portion of funds are coming from various NGOs, predominantly based in western nations. Firas, and the other journalists (whose names will be intentionally concealed for their security) insist they have not received any pressure from NGOs to produce biased reports, (although some reports claim NGOs act as a third party conduit for western government funds). However, all the working journalists personally oppose Assad's regime, regardless of the ultimate source of "no-strings-attached" funds. 
Audio mixing for a broadcast in one of the recording rooms
"Most of our programs are not about the war," a Sout Raya journalist explained. "Our shows focus more on history, culture, welfare, and education. The war is destroying these things, and we need to make sure these important issues are not forgotten".  

Of course, much of their work is not without personal cost. Every journalist for Sout Raya has faced some form of repercussion for their work: arrests, torture, death threats, imprisonment, and so on. In the past, Sout Raya's radio transmitter has been stolen, and destroyed by the Islamic jihadist organization ISIL / ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant/Syria). Many of the journalists working in Istanbul still have family inside of Syria, creating a serious danger if those journalist's families are discovered.

"There is always a moment of being scared every time my phone rings with a Syrian number." Feris told me, gazing at his phone as we sat around the kitchen table over a cup of Nescafe. "Is this going to be the call saying that one of our families has been kidnapped, or killed? After we answer the phone, and we hear them say, 'Hello. How are you?', we can relax, but every time my phone rings, my heart pounds, and races."
Syrian musician creating a score for a program in the music composition room
The Syrian civil war is now entering its fourth year. With a death toll so difficult to confirm, the United Nations has ceased counting the dead. Yet, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that over 150,000 people have been killed in the war, including civilians, fighters for various rebel groups, and the Syrian army. UNHRC (United Nations Human Rights Council) also confirmed that over one million Syrian refugees fled into the neighboring nation of Lebanon, with similar figures being seen in Turkey, and Jordan alike. In their most recent report, the UNHRC called the ongoing refugee crisis a "devastating milestone for a host community stretched to breaking point". 

In Syria, currently the world's largest humanitarian crisis, there is no end in sight to this war. For Feris, and all of the journalists for Sout Raya radio, their work is never ending, and will continue until a solution is forged, one way or another.

"We want to create unity," Feris explains. "We need news about things that are beyond death counts. We will continue to work for peace, even when the war is over. Syria is our country, our home, and we [the Syrian people] will need to heal after the war".

"We will return to Syria," he went on, after a pause. "Everyone will have to continue with their lives. I will make my life's work through films, and try to find a way to heal my country. When there is peace, we hope to expand the radio station, and create Sout Raya TV in Syria".

"We dream of freedom, and will achieve just that" he said with confidence. "It will not be easy, but it is not impossible".
A kitchen discussion about future governance

Sunday, April 13, 2014

The Red Wedding

How could I miss my chance to title this photograph after George R.R. Martin's infamous 'Red Wedding'?

For those of you who don't know me personally, I have a strong passion for history, and the medieval era. So, when I photographed this Kurdish wedding outside of Istanbul's famous Sultanahmet Mosque (Blue Mosque), I couldn't help but think of a witty title related to the 'Game of Thrones' series, which has captivated a world-wide audience with this weeks debut of the show's fourth season.
A Kurdish wedding outside of Istanbul's Sultanahmet Mosque (Blue Mosque)

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Ankara Protests Against Electoral Corruption

Ankara, Turkey - On March 30th, Turkey entered into its municipal elections. While the current Prime Minister, Tayyip Erdogan, and his ruling party, AKP, is set to maintain power across Turkey, there has been strong opposition against AKP for electoral corruption.
Protesters stand their ground against police water cannons
On the day of the election, the key cities of Istanbul, and Ankara, which had less than a 1% vote gap, suddenly faced electrical problems, making it so votes could not be counted. Government officials have cited that this electrical problem was due to a stray cat disrupting the transformer. The half-hearted reason for a cat disrupting an extremely close, and important election is already doubtable, but now AKP has claimed an electoral victory, and cut off citizen's ability to track the vote counting online, claiming it necessary for national security.

Since Sunday's elections, AKP opposition groups are personally taking part in the recounting of votes, and have noticing a numerical difference compared to what AKP reported when claiming their victory. Supporters of CHP, Turkey's oldest political party established by Ataturk, are gathering in the streets outside of Ankara's election authority building, protesting against electoral fraud.
CHP supporters protest against electoral corruption in front of the ballot office 
Prime Minister Erdogan, and Ankara's AKP ruling mayor for 20 years, Melih Gökçek, states that there will be no patience for protesters to dispute the elections, and dispatched Ankara's riot police to disband the demonstrators by using water cannons, and tear gas.

As water trucks, and riot police approach the protesters, the crowd begins to chant slogans, sing the national anthem, say homophobic remarks about AKP politicians, and wave to the line of police shouting, "Come! Come! Come!"
Parents bring their children to expose them to political movements early on 
After some time, the police did just that. Charging down the street towards the crowd, protesters break off into smaller groups, taking side streets which begin a block by block skirmish while trying to avoid being hit by the water cannons from the trucks driving up, and down the streets.

"Our government, and our Prime Minister stole our election" Ahmet Gezer, a CHP protester told me. "Mussolini, Franco, Bush, Erdogan, they are all the same. They are fascists who only want war. The only reason a government attacks its own people during a peaceful protest is because they know they have cheated us, and are afraid of the power of their own people."
Whistles are commonly used to keep up the protester's spirits
Opposition protesters return after a water cannon attack
It is difficult to speculate what will happen in the coming days for Turkey's political parties. Even now, there is growing dissent amongst CHP's opposition members. As of last night, a call was put out online for the youth, and young adults in support of CHP to occupy their own facilities in attempts to throw out some of their leading politicians, who many young adults feel are not doing enough to challenge the corruption of this election.
Hand signs of the 'Grey Wolf'- an age old Turkish symbol of civil protest & power
Singing Turkey's national anthem