Holly Chase Middle Eastern Travel

Boston Hosts 14th Annual Turkish Film Festival
19 March – 25 April 2015

 

“As its celebrates its 14th anniversary in 2015, the festival invites you to enjoy a rich program of 23 films, continuing its tradition of highlighting contemporary Turkish cinema and Turkish filmmakers. We are proud to present you North America and U.S. premieres of many films in our program. Award winning films of the 19th Boston Turkish Festival Documentary & Short Film Competition will be rescreened and directors will be presented their awards in a ceremony, followed by a panel discussion moderated by film critic Peter Keough.

“It is also our distinct honor to be announcing a special concert series in the music program of the festival in April. Before the concert program begins, we will have special presentation by Prof. Ufuk Kocabaş on “Constantinople’s Theodosian Harbor and 37 Byzantine Shipwrecks” on April 8th at the Goethe – Institute Boston. On April 11th, we proudly present first rendition of Hasan Ferid Alnar’s Concerto for Kanun and Strings by Tahir Aydogdu, “From Prelude to Concerto”. On April 18th, group Esthema will bring to the festival the “Mediterranean Soundscapes”. Our festival will conclude on April 25th with a concert of favorite songs from all-time Turkish films, “A Celebration of Music in Turkish Cinema by NEOTOLIA”. All concerts will take place at the Goethe-Institut Boston.

Co-presented with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

ALL FILM SCREENINGS WILL TAKE PLACE AT THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON

10 April 2014

How to obtain your Turkish Tourist & Business Visas

All foreigners must obtain their Turkish visas from Turkish missions abroad or from the e-visa application system, depending on eligibility. PLEASE NOTE: The e-visa system is only usable for travelers entering Turkey for tourism or commerce.

For any other purpose of travel, the applicant must obtain a Turkish visa in advance from a Turkish diplomatic or consular post.

Information regarding Turkish e-visas and the application process can be found at: https://www.evisa.gov.tr/en/

26-September-2013

 

 

 

Turkey’s modern capital, Ankara, once known as Angora, the source of fine “angora” goat wool, continues to offer appealing textiles. You’ll find anything from a whimsical museum T-shirt Museum of Anatolian Civilizations to traditional carpets, kilim & cicim weavings collected from Central Turkey.

09-June-2013

Last evening, Britain’s Consul- General Leigh Turner in Istanbul tweeted “#Istanbul Saturday 2000 – Taksim Sq & #gezipark packed, noisy, calm. Cafes, street vendors doing great biz.”

In addition, the British Consul tweeted his own photo, typical of any June evening in central Istanbul. pic.twitter.com/KAy3Ex7dTR

Or course, at a time of public demonstrations, the UK Turkish Consular page mentions the obvious precautions both residents and tourists should take when travelling, but it also makes a very good point, one we wish more New World denizens would bear in mind:

“Over 2,500,000 British nationals visit Turkey every year. Most visits are trouble-free.”

And should anyone who does not know Turkey or who doubts the spirit in which these protests began– here’s an image of the next generation of tree-huggers, who are with their parents at the Gezi Parki sit-in.

Yes, one picture really IS worth a thousand words.

05-June-2013

Gunaydin – Good morning, everyone,

I have been in daily—sometimes hourly—contact with many of you this week about the demonstrations in Turkey. Meanwhile, my Turkish friends—colleagues, guides, academics, & students—and I are tapping into alternative and mainstream media in various languages to follow what is really going on. And(in their case), many are actually reporting from within some of the peaceful environmental protection demonstrations in Turkish cities.

As you might imagine, cellular connections have been overloaded, but we have been able to communicate by email and SMS messages. So I am extremely happy to relay some very reassuring news from one of our Equinox colleagues (who now runs cultural walking tours throughout Istanbul).

Our colleague had been Tweeting from within the central Istanbul demonstrations herself as well as keeping tabs on her team of guides and scores of guests for whom she is responsible every day.

Earlier today, I had a report from her that the Old City of Istanbul has not been touched by the unrest around Taksim Square… in fact, her office conducted 6 walking tours there this morning! She also sent me Skype messages as she was, at that moment, with a small group visiting Topkapi Palace. ( Yes, even the domicile of the Ottoman sultans offers WiFi!) Note: Turkey is 7 hours later than my time here in Florida, so she was reporting at about 2:30 PM Turkish time.

Another good sign is that today environmental activists have been meeting with Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister about the original issue that sparked the protests—the preservation of a very large park in the heart of Istanbul. We are very optimistic about a reassessment of the park’s crucial importance to the city.

Anyone planning travel to Turkey in the near future should gather information from a variety of sources– not only from mainstream media.

We also advise all travelers to review their trip interruption insurance policies— these can provide you, your families, and business associates with additional peace of mind.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you are concerned about travel to–or within– Turkey. We have contacts throughout the country and are always happy to help.