1,001 Yanks die in sinking of Japanese hospital ship
…
British Laborite victory cheers G.I.’s in Germany
Not that they don’t admire Churchill’s war job, but election campaign was eye-opener
By Judy Barden, North American Newspaper Alliance
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Rumbles of trouble rise from hunger of Berliners
They don’t feel any sense of guilt for war, but condemn Allied rationing system
By Nat A. Barrows
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Background of news –
Dardanelles and the Turks
By Frank Aston
The Dardanelles is on the program of the Big Three at Potsdam.
The Dardanelles has been on a lot of history-making programs. It is a strait between Southeastern Europe and Asia Minor and also figured in a song. Hardly a party could gather in the early ‘20s without a burst of “Oh, sweet Dardanella…” This American custom had nothing to do with wars and other activities of the region.
Turkey controls the Dardanelles, which is about 42 miles long and from one to five miles wide. Seems people have forever been trying to swim it where it’s narrow. Lord Byron, who wrote poetry, swam it in 1810, getting across in 70 minutes. Ancient Greeks liked to do it, too.
The strait may have taken its name from an old city called Dardanus, or the name may have come from some castles along the water. Experts argue about that. The Greeks had a word for the place: Hellespont.
Russia would like permission for its ships to go back and forth through the strait, so they could move between the Black Sea and Mediterranean. Great Britain has her own ideas about that. Hence the Dardanelles on the Potsdam program.
Turks busy modernizing
While three other fellows talk about their Dardanelles, the Turks continue to busy themselves with their modernization program. A couple of decades ago, male Turks wore fezzes and women wore veils. Along came a dictator who did away with fez and veil. He was so enthusiastic over westernizing his people’s clothes that the law now requires members of the National Assembly to wear frock coats and the President to wear white tie and tails practically every minute of their waking hours.
The President was the dictator, or vice versa. In 1934, a law was passed giving him the family name of Ataturk, or “Chief Turk.” Every Turk was obliged to adopt a family name. at that time titles like Pasha, Bey and Effendi were abandoned. Western forms of dancing were encouraged and men were told to take only one wife at a time.
Ataturk died in 1938.
Turks don’t mention death in polite society unless they can cloak it with fancy words like “cup bearer of the sphere.” It is considered pious to help carry a corpse and pallbearers change constantly while a body is being borne to the grave. Since the Turks believe the soul stays with the body for some time after burial, a wise teacher called a Mullah remains for a period at the graveside, presumably to answer spiritual questioners dropping in to talk to the lingering soul.
Turks are kind to animals but allow no dogs in the house. The average Turk is healthy, a condition he attributes to personal cleanliness, teetotalism and outdoor activity. The face and the hands and arms to the elbows must be washed before each of the five daily prayers.
Turkish dishes are spicy
Checkers, dominoes and backgammon are favorite indoor sports, but card games are out, for religious reasons. Bets are minor, seldom going beyond a glass of raki, a distillation from grape juice and grain. Turks like to wrestle.
Knives and forks are almost unknown, but spoons are used. Lots of spice goes into the typical Turkish dish, with the menu running largely to tomatoes, rice, onions, garlic, peppers, lemons, sugar and honey. Mutton and fowl are popular roasts. Beef and veal seldom are eaten. Give a Turk some curdled milk and he’s happy.
The main dish is often served in a bowl and each guest reaches in with his right hand. It is considered bad manners to reach in with the left hand. It is not unusual to serve 10 or 12 courses of a Turkish meal in 30 minutes. Turks seldom converse at the table; they eat. One drinks only after a meal and it’s almost always water.
Ataturk put Turkish women into community life. They are no longer kept behind veil and lattice.
Turkey gave us the Turkish bath and Turkish towel. It did not provide the Thanksgiving bird. That came from North America.