Dance & Music – New Schools – Smoke & Scandal

24.06.2019 -

610

kez okundu.

♫As the summer draws to an end so does the succession of rich cultural fare that is allowing Bodrum to shed its distorted reputation of being just a ‘sun, sand, sea & sex’ vacation resort. The 7^th Bodrum Ballet Festival is now an international event and this year it features France as the guest of honor, with two troupes from that country, Compagnie Kafig (22 Aug) and Ballet National de Marseille (29 & 30 Aug). The festival opens on 19 Aug with Ankara State Ballet Modern Dance Company’s performance of “A Thousand Heartbeats”. Also on the program is “Harem” on 25 & 26 Aug performed by the Antalya State Opera & Ballet Company. All performances begin at 21:30 hrs in the Bodrum Castle. For more information go to: http://www.bodrumballetfestival.org/index_e.html Meanwhile Bodrum Ancient Amphitheater hosts the renowned “Anatolian Fire” Company (15 Aug) with their brilliant show “Evolution”. In the same venue the popular Turkish singer Sezen Aksu sings on 16 Aug and Ferhat Göçer on 18 Aug. Also, the 6^th Gümüşlük Classical Music Festival continues with Cihat Aşkın on violin (22 Aug) and Alexander Baille on cello (26 Aug). Jazz and popular music by well known artists can be savored in the Hadigari Club.

☻There is a growing number of philanthropists in Turkey, and two have come forward to build two new schools on the Bodrum peninsula, one in Gündoğan and one in Güvercinlik. The two donors come from very different walks of life, one could be called the ‘king of pasta’ in Turkey and the other the ‘king of gambling casinos’. The Gündoğan primary school built by Muharrem Eskiyapan, the founder of Nuh Grubu, producers of quality pasta, has the capacity for 600 students and is scheduled to open this year. The other donor, Sudi Őzkan, an entrepreneur also known as “the king of gambling casinos”, has pledged funds to build a 12-classroom Fine Arts & Sports Lycée (high school) in Güvercinlik, construction to be completed in two years. Both these schools will carry the names of the benefactors, an encouragement to other well-to-do persons to become sponsors and have their names honored by posterity.

▼Last week Bodrum, Ortakent and other way-places were choking on smoke blowing across the peninsula from the burning garbage dump of Yalikavak. The putrid-smelling haze lay over large swathes of land, certainly not contributing to the good name of what we love to boast of as “our corner of paradise”. This is not the first year that this garbage tip has been on fire and poisoned the atmosphere, but neither the local, regional nor national authorities have done anything to solve the waste dump problem for good. Another scandal is the sewage flowing into the sea in Gündoğan where the Kırmızı Değirmen Site and Tunalı İnşaat ve Tatil Site use common septic tanks. What is really scandalous is that this environmental massacre is taking place in Gündoğan bay which has been awarded the Blue Flag!!