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My sister, who wears a veil, was verbally abused by a stranger this weekend. What should she say to the people who insult her?

by Riazat Butt

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Wednesday August 27 2008 11:00 BST

My sister has worn a face veil for six years. She lives in Birmingham, where it is common to see women shrouded in black, however the sight is more unusual in Southampton, where my parents live and where, at the weekend, my sister was called "a ninja woman".

This insult is neither the most hurtful – "fucking terrorist freak" – nor the most spurious – "Osama-lover" – to have been levelled at her over the years. But it wasn't the name-calling that really rankled her and me.

We challenged the man who made the remark, he denied saying it, even though he said it as I was passing him. My sister called him "a lying bigot", which is all she could muster on a Sunday afternoon in Primark, en route to Clark's to have her children fitted for new shoes, but she delivered it rather splendidly, to the bemusement of shoppers who, if they hadn't noticed her before, suddenly found her rather interesting. Her children asked why mummy was shouting at a man.

She left Primark in a foul mood, and sitting in Clark's with three children who kept complaining about being bored/tired/hungry was not the best way for her to calm down. Later, rushing to the car to avoid a parking ticket, she told me she could handle the stares and the insults but not the lies. She always made a point, she said, of walking up to people and asking them why they had called her names. The response was either silence or denial. Perhaps they were surprised she could speak English or even hear them through the cloth. She said:

People never say things to your face, they always say them once they think you're out of earshot. That's what gets me. When you bring them up on it, they deny saying anything or they look in the other direction. Men are the worst.

My sister wears a face veil because it is something she wants to do. She knows not all Muslim women feel the same and she is not on a mission to force others to adopt the same dress code as her. She is not breaking the law. She is, as she sees it, minding her own business, being a mother and bringing up her children. My question is: the next time someone calls her a name, how should she respond?

A French Poet in Cyprus: Arthur Rimbaud

“It has been found again! What? Eternity.
It is the sea mingled with the sun.”

Island means escape. It means freedom. It means isolation. It calls one to chase one’s own utopia in the far distance of every civilisation. Cyprus meant all these to the French poet Arthur Rimbaud; a newfound eternity.

Imagine a stone quarry in Cyprus... Then, place a supervisor in this scene... Let this be a French fellow who mostly enjoyed hard work... Let this be Arthur Rimbaud, the poet who charmed the literary scene of Paris with his poems he wrote in his teens only; one who wrote the most innovative and influencing poem of the age when he was only 17. He burnt out all the poems he had written at once, left Europe, and came here, to Cyprus...
Renowned French poet Paul Verlaine mentioned him, “He was neither Devil nor the holy God; he was Rimbaud, a great poet, (...) a distinctive boy!”
Rimbaud was doubtless a genius who shaped the world of poetry with his four-year work, from the age of 16 to the age of 20. He took poetry out of drawing rooms and placed it in the middle of modern life by crying “from your dark poems, let strange flowers burst out, and electric butterflies! See – it’s the century of Hell!” The life of the poet, who claimed, “I is another”, passed quite congruent to this aphorism of him, extending from the world of letters into a world of hard work incorporating two different others.

The Beginning
Rimbaud is known to have a quick start in life in every aspect. He is said to be born with his eyes open in the morning of October 20, 1854. Then, we see him as an obstreperous teenager. He is young, rebellious, and restless, pushing the borders all the time. Given this image of Rimbaud, a photograph of the poet, retouched to show him wearing jeans, was used as a symbol of the student revolt in Paris in May 1968. The restless soul of Rimbaud, which pushed him leave home several times, finally took him thousands of miles, even continents far from his homeland...
The renowned French poet Verlaine receives a letter in a morning of the year 1871. This was a set of poems, one like which he receives a thousand maybe every day. But this time, it was different. The letter was signed ‘Arthur Rimbaud’, and Verlaine was impressed by the imagery of these poems. He sends a reply to Rimbaud, “We await you; we desire you” with a train ticket to Paris attached.
A forerunner of the Decadence movement in France, standing for “art for art’s sake” which will give way to later Symbolism and Aestheticism, Verlaine is shocked upon meeting Rimbaud, for what he was expecting was a 30-year old man; but what he found instead was a 17-year old countryboy. He patrons him in Paris and introduces him to the literary circles in the city. In the meantime, Rimbaud and Verlaine, whose wife is pregnant, get into a homosexual relationship. In his masterpiece ‘A Season in Hell’, Rimbaud traces this relationship. He mentions Verlaine as “a demon” whose “mysterious ways” seduced him.
When Rimbaud attempted to break apart with Verlaine, the poet shoots him in the arm and he was sent into a Belgian gaol for two years. Upon this, Rimbaud shuts him in his room for some time and writes poetry. At the point that he has many poems to fill a book, he takes them and heads for publishing houses. Nevertheless, the society of letters accuses Rimbaud for spoiling Verlaine’s life by first destroying his marriage and then putting him in the jail. Therefore, he is refused by every little publishing house he takes his poems. The young genius is deeply depressed. And this moment is the exact moment in which everything comes to an end. He throws all his poems into fire at once, the ones that compose his masterpiece ‘A Season in Hell’ mostly, and leaves the country. To become an ‘other’... It is the year 1875...

The Escape
“My day is done: I am leaving Europe. The marine air will burn my lungs; unknown climates will tan my skin.” (A Season in Hell)

The year 1878... After stopping by several cities in Africa, Cyprus welcomes Rimbaud with its tranquillity. Here in Cyprus, he works as a supervisor at a stone quarry. He turns out to be a “man of action” totally leaving aside his personality of a “ man of thought”. He takes fancy in doing hard work. Poetry is dead for him. He never mentions his ‘previous’ life and his glorious days in Paris. No one, not even his employer, knows where he is from or who he is. Upon the inquiries concerning his past he replies, “absurd” and goes on “ridiculous, disgusting”. Rimbaud, has become somebody else. He is leading a tranquil and silent life in Cyprus, where he escaped from his past or maybe from himself.
The first letter he wrote from Cyprus to his mother carries the evidences of that dense feeling of isolated loneliness that would seal his life from then on: “The nearest village is one hour away on foot. There is nothing here but a jumble of rocks, a river, and the sea. There are no houses. No soil, no gardens, no trees”. And of course, no poetry...
How come did Rimbaud end up in Cyprus? Is it an escape from love, or from poetry? Or was he only seeking adventure? Maybe... However, a more detailed look will reveal another perspective: The years that covered Rimbaud’s life was an age in which modernism was climbing very fast. Many values underwent a rapid change with the Industrial Revolution that took place in the beginning of the century. Bourgeoisie was the enemy and everything that belonged to the bourgeois world was fought against. Poets were losing their place in the society.
However, towards the end of the 19th century, bourgeoisie started to gain power steadily. In the face of all these rapid changes, the poets and writers questioned their social idealism, had problems of concern and under this pressure preferred to escape. The literary movement that found roots in this circle of writers is the ‘Escapism’.
Under the suddenly changing values of the city, poets and writers escaped to the wilderness and pristine countries. Can we say then Rimbaud was an ‘escapist’? Considering his sudden escape and disappearing from Europe, he can be labelled as an escapist for sure. The word ‘escape’ in literature brings to mind ‘island’. Island means escape, a place far from the traces of civilisation.
Considering that transportation to islands was possible only via ships in the middle of the 19th century, the most attractive place to chase one’s personal utopia was an island.
Nevertheless, Rimbaud did not have a magnificent life in Cyprus. His letters to his mother tell us that he had hard times on this island. However, who can say this life was not what he pursued, his personal utopia? Especially thinking of the dark bohemian character we have here...
Rimbaud leaves the island in 1880 upon a quarrel he has with the workers, and heads for Aden via the Red Sea gradually getting farther and farther from Europe. After 11 years of exile, he sails to Marseille, worried for a fatal ache in his right leg. Diagnosed as cancer, his right leg is amputated and only six months later Rimbaud dies at the age of thirty-seven.

The End
“Let us go... All the filthy memories are disappearing... At dawn, armed with a burning patience, we shall enter into the splendid cities...” (A Season in Hell)

Teenage rebel, innovative poet, passionate lover, lonely heart...
The poet who came to Paris on a ‘Drunken Boat’ and lived ‘A Season in Hell’ and then had his ‘Illuminations’... Today Rimbaud is renowned neither as a stone quarry supervisor nor as a foreman. He has taken his place in the history of literature as the forerunner of Parnassian movement in literature which gave way to symbolism and decadence later on by seeking “art for art’s sake”. He is remembered as an influential poet who wrote the most innovative poetry of his age though only for four years in his lifetime... He is the great poet who passed by our land that we live on...


Rimbaud’s Oeuvre
The Drunken Boat (Le Bateau Ivre) 1871
The Illuminations (Les Illuminations) 1874
A Season in Hell (Une Saison en Enfer) 1873
(copies of it discovered at a Belgian publisher in 1901)


A Poem by Rimbaud
Sensation
Through blue summer nights I will pass along paths,
Pricked by wheat, trampling short grass:
Dreaming, I will feel coolness underfoot,
Will let breezes bathe my bare head.

Not a word, not a thought:
Boundless love will surge through my soul,
And I will wander far away, a vagabond
In Nature - as happily as with a woman.


Rimbaud in various disciplines of art
Though composed poetry for only four years in his lifetime, Rimbaud was influential not only in poetry and literature but also in various fields of art. His has impacts in the powerful movements of the 20th century such as Symbolism, Expressionism, and Aestheticism. The famous composer Benjamin Britten composed his poetry in ‘Les Illuminations’ (the Illuminations). Bob Dylan and Jim Morrison take him for inspiration. The film ‘Paris Blues’ (1961) narrates the poet’s life and his masterpiece ‘A Season in Hell’ was adapted for the screen. A retouched photography of Rimbaud showing him wearing jeans was the symbol of the student revolt in Paris in 1968.
*published in Caretta Magazine, Feb 2008

Kıbrıs’ta bir Fransız Şair: Arthur Rimbaud

“Yeniden bulundu! Ne? Sonsuzluk.

Güneşle oynaşan denizdir o.”

Ada, kaçış demektir. Özgürlük demektir. İnziva demektir. Medeniyet’in, kalabalığın uzağında kendi ütopyanın peşine düşmek demektir. Fransız şair Arthur Rimbaud için Kıbrıs, bunların hepsini vaat eden, yeni bulunmuş bir sonsuzluktu.

Kıbrıs’ta bir taşocağı... Taşocağında bir denetleyici... Kimi zaman işçilerle birlikte ağır işin altına girmenin hazzını seven bir Fransız... Bu kişi, gençlik yıllarında Paris’teki edebiyat çevrelerini şiirleriyle büyüleyen, 17 yaşında çağının en etkileyici ve yenilikçi şiirlerini yazan Arthur Rimbaud. Yazdığı tüm şiirleri bir çırpıda yakıp Avrupa’yı bir anda terk ederek, buraya, Kıbrıs’a geldi.

Ünlü Fransız şair Paul Verlaine, "Ne şeytandı ne ulu Tanrı; Rimbaud’ydu o, yani çok büyük bir şair, (...) kimseye benzemeyen bir çocuk!" diye söz eder ondan. On altı yaşından yirmi yaşına kadar, dört senelik ürünüyle o, şiir dünyasını biçimlendirmiş bir dehaydı. “Bırakın, kara şiirlerinizden, tuhaf çiçekler patlasın ve elektrikli kelebekler uçuşsun! Görmüyor musunuz, bu cehennem çağıdır!” diyerek şiiri, aristokrasi sohbetlerinden alıp, modern hayatın tam ortasına, tüm çıplaklığıyla yerleştirdi. “Ben, ötekidir” diyen şairin hayatı, bu aforizmasını kanıtlar nitelikte; şiir ve edebiyattan, ağır işçiliğe kadar uzanan bir eksende, iki farklı ötekiyi, tek bir yaşamda birleştiren bir efsaneydi.

Başlangıç

Rimbaud, hayata her anlamda çok hızlı bir giriş yapmış olmasıyla bilinir. 20 Ekim 1854 sabahı, onun gözleri açık doğduğu söylenir. Sonrasında kabına sığmaz bir genç olarak karşımıza çıkar. Asi ve sınırlarını aşmak isteyen, bunun için çabalayan, içi kaynayan bir gençtir. Öyle ki, Rimbaud’nun rötuşlanarak kot pantolon giydirilmiş bir resmi, 1968 Mayıs’ında Paris’teki öğrenci hareketinin sembolü olmuştur. Sık sık evden kaçan Rimbaud’nun rahatsız ruh hali, onu ülkesinden kıtalarca uzaklara taşıyacaktır.

Ünlü Fransız şair Verlaine, 1871 yılında bir sabah, bir mektupla karşılaşır. Muhtemelen kendisine gönderilen milyonlarca taslaktan biridir bu. Arthur Rimbaud imzalı. Elindeki şiirlerin imgesel gücü karşısında son derece etkilenen Verlaine, Rimbaud’ya yazdığı cevaba bir de tren bileti ekleyerek onu Paris’e davet eder: “Seni bekliyoruz, seni istiyoruz.”

Fransa’da, sonradan Sembolist ve Estetik akıma yol açacak, “sanat, sanat içindir”i savunan Dekadans hareketin öncülerinden olan Verlaine, 30 yaşlarında tahmin ettiği şairin aslında 17 yaşında taşralı bir genç olduğunu gördüğünde hayrete düşer. Onu Paris’te koruması altına alır ve edebi çevrelere tanıtır. Bu sırada eşi hamile olan Verlaine ile Rimbaud arasında arkadaşlıktan öte bir ilişki başlar. Rimbaud, ünlü eseri ‘Cehennemde bir Mevsim’de bu ilişkinin güncesini tutar. Verlaine’den kendisini “kurnaz tuzaklarla oyuna getiren bir şeytan” olarak söz eder. Rimbaud, Verlaine’i terk etmeye karar verdiğinde ise usta şair, onu bir silahla kolundan yaralar ve 2 sene hapis yatar. Bunun üzerine odasına kapanıp şiirler yazar Rimbaud uzun bir süre. Bir kitabı dolduracak kadar şiiri olduğunda ise onları alıp yayıncıları dolaşmaya başlar. Ancak, büyük şair Verlaine’i içine düşürdüğü durumdan, tüm edebi çevreler onu sorumlu tutmaktadır ve Rimbaud çok acı bir şekilde, her yayıncının kapısından çevrilir. Büyük bir çöküntü yaşamaktadır. Ve bu an, onun için her şeyin bittiği an olur. Şiirlerin hepsini ateşe atar ve ülkeyi terk eder. Bir başkası olmak üzere... Yıl, 1875...

Kaçış

“Günlerim doldu: Terk ediyorum seni Avrupa. Deniz kokusu yakacak ciğerlerimi, bilinmeyen iklimlerin güneşinde kavrulacak tenim” (Cehennemde Bir Mevsim)

Yıl 1878...Afrika’da birkaç durağın ardından ayak bastığı Kıbrıs, ona sükûnetiyle kucak açar. Burada bulunduğu süre boyunca, bir taş ocağında denetleyici olarak çalışır. Bir düşünce adamı olmaktan çıkıp bir hareket adamına dönüşür adeta. Ağır işler yapmaktan haz duyar. Şiir ölmüştür, onun için. Alsa ve asla “eski” yaşamından söz etmez. Onun kim olduğunu nerden geldiğini kimse bilmez, işvereni bile. Ona geçmişi sorulduğunda “sadece saçmalık, der, bir sürü saçmalık”. Rimbaud, bambaşka bir insan oluvermiştir. Sade ve sakin yaşamaktadır.

Kıbrıs’tan ailesine yazdığı ilk mektup, onun bundan sonraki yaşamına damgasını vuracak olan o izole yalnızlık hissinin kanıtlarını taşımaktadır: “en yakın köy, bir saat yürüyüş mesafesinde. Burada dağlar, deniz ve ırmaktan başka hiçbir şey yok. Evler yok. Toprak yok, bahçe yok, ağaç yok...”. Şiir de yok...

Rimbaud’yu buraya getiren neydi? Aşktan mı kaçıyordu, şiirden mi? Macera mı arıyordu sadece? Belki... Ancak daha kapsamlı bir değerlendirme bize şunu gösterir: Rimbaud’nun yaşadığı çağ, modernleşme ivmesinin en hızlı olduğu çağdı. Sanayi devrimi ile birlikte birçok değer hızlı bir değişim göstermişti. Burjuva sınıfı, düşmanca görülüyor ve burjuvaziyi çağrıştıran her şeye karşı savaş açılıyordu. Bir şair, toplum içindeki yerini gitgide kaybediyordu. 19. yüzyılın sonlarına doğru ise burjuvazi kararlı bir şekilde güçleniyordu. Tüm bu hızlı değişimler karşısında şair ve yazarlar, sosyal idealizmlerini sorguluyor, aidiyet sorunu yaşıyor ve kaçmayı yeğliyorlardı. İşte tam da bu edebi çevre arasında, bu yıllarda doğan akım “escapism”, yani “kaçış”tır. Hızla değişen kent değerlerinin karşısında, şair ve yazarlar ya doğaya ya da el değmemiş ülkelere sığınmışlardır. Acaba, Rimbaud da bir “escapist” miydi? Yaşamını tamamen değiştirmesinin ve tek kelimeyle ‘ortadan kaybolması’nın onu bir “escapist” yaptığı şüphesiz. Kaçış denince, edebiyatta akla ilk gelen şey “ada” olur hep. Ada, kaçış demektir, medeniyetten uzak bir durak demektir. Özellikle, 19. yüzyıl ortalarında, adalara ulaşımın sadece gemilerle mümkün olduğu düşünülürse, kişisel ütopyanın en muhtemel hedeflerinden birinin bir ada olduğu kesindir. Ne var ki Rimbaud, Kıbrıs’ta muhteşem bir yaşam sürmedi. Annesine mektuplarından onun sıkıntılı ve zor günler geçirdiğini öğreniyoruz. Ancak, bunun onun ütopyası olmadığını kim söyleyebilir ki?

Ocaktaki işçilerle giriştiği bir kavga sonucu adadaki işini bırakmak zorunda kalan Rimbaud, 1880’de Kıbrıs’tan ayrılır ve Kızıl Deniz yoluyla, Avrupa’dan gitgide daha da uzaklaşarak Aden’e gider. On bir yıllık sürgünün ardından, sağ bacağındaki ağrı nedeniyle, bir gemiyle Marseille’e gelir. 37 yaşındaki Rimbaud’nun sağ bacağı kanser teşhisi ile kesilir ve altı ay sonra da yaşamı sona erer.

Son

“Hadi gidelim... Tüm pislik hatıralar yok oluyor... gün doğarken, tutuşmuş bir sabırla donanmış tavrımızla gireceğiz göz kamaştıran kentlere...” (Cehennemde Bir Mevsim)

Asi genç, yenilikçi şair, tutkulu âşık, yalnız ruh...

‘Sarhoş Gemi’ ile Paris’e gelip ‘Cehennem’de Bir Mevsim’ yaşayan ve ruhunun ‘Aydınlanma’sına kavuşan şair... Rimbaud, bugün ne bir denetleyici ne de bir işçi olarak anılıyor. O, çağına damgasını vurmuş ‘sanat, sanat içindir’ diye haykıran, sembolizme ve dekadansa yol açan Parnasizm akımının öncüsü. Bu topraklardan geçen büyük şair...

Rimbaud’nun Eserleri

Sarhoş Gemi (Le Bateau Ivre) 1871

Aydınlanma (Les Illuminations) 1874

Cehennemde Bir Mevsim (Une Saison en Enfer) 1873, ölümünden sonra basıldı

Rimbaud’dan bir şiir

Özlem

Mavi yaz akşamlarında, özgür, gezeceğim,
ayaklarımın altında nemli, serin kırlar;
Başakları devşirip, otları ezeceğim,
Yıkayıp arıtacak çıplak başımı rüzgar;

Ne bir söz,ne düşünce, yalnız bitmeyen bir düş
Ve yüreğimde sevgi; büyük, sonsuz, umutlu,
Çekip gideceğim, çingene gibi, başıboş
Doğada, -bir kadınla birlikte gibi mutlu.

Sanatın çeşitli alanlarında Rimbaud

Rimbaud, sadece 4 yıl şiir yazmış olmasına rağmen, sadece şiir veya edebiyat alanında değil, hem sanatsal hem de sosyal birçok alanda etkili olmuştur. Sembolizm, İzlenimcilik ve Estetik hareket gibi 20. yüzyıla damgasını vuran belli başlı akımlarda onun etkileri vardır. Ünlü besteci Benjamin Britten, Rimbaud’nun ‘Les Illuminations(aydınlanma)’ adı altında toplanan şiirlerini bestelemiştir. Bob Dylan ve Jim Morrison, onu bir ilham kaynağı olarak kutsamışlardır. Ünlü şairin yaşamını konu alan ‘Paris Blues(1961)’ adlı bir film ve eseri ‘Cehennemde Bir Mevsim’ ile aynı adı taşıyan bir uyarlama mevcuttur. Paris 1968 öğrenci hareketinde, Rimbaud’nun rötuşlanarak kot pantolon giydirilmiş bir resmi, hareketin sembolü olarak literatürdeki yerini almıştır.

---Caretta Dergisi'nde ve Kibris Gazetesi'nde yayimlandi.

The Night of Crossed Destinies

North Cyprus Turtle Project invites you to experience a marvel of nature. You can observe sea turtles laying eggs in the silence and darkness of the midnight beach… An opportunity of a lifetime …

I already knew, on our way to Alagadi, that it would be a poetic night. A full moon, the stillness of the mountains beyond the beach, and the gentle breeze carrying the salty breath of the Mediterranean… We drive to Alagadi, known alternatively by locals as the Turtle Beach. It has been estimated that as few as 300-400 green turtles and 2,000 loggerheads nest throughout the Mediterranean each year. For both species, but in particular the Green Turtle, Northern Cyprus is clearly an extremely important nesting site. Alagadi is considered to be the fifth major nesting site in the Mediterranean for Loggerhead and Green turtles.
We take the turn right and follow signposts to ‘Turtle Project’. The information office, situated some distance from the beach, is known as the Goatshed. This is our meeting point before we set out to observe the nesting of sea turtles tonight. North Cyprus Turtle Project, known as the Marine Turtle Research Group, was initiated in 1992 by Kuzey Kibris Kaplumbagalari Koruma Dernegi (Society for the Protection of Turtles in Northern Cyprus, KKKKD/SPOT), which invited staff and students from Glasgow University to conduct a survey of the nesting beaches in Northern Cyprus. This took the form of an undergraduate expedition lasting three months. Since 1992 over 200 students and staff from British universities have taken part in the annual monitoring and conservation of marine turtles in Northern Cyprus. Work is carried out at the request of and in conjunction with members of the local Society for the Protection of Turtles and the local Department of Environmental Protection.
Around 21:00, we start our long walk from the goatshed to the beach under the guidance of the students who are involved in the Turtle Project. It is a night when destinies cross: the full moon above, the guests that accompany our walk and the mother turtle who is now swimming somewhere in the sea towards some point on the beach to lay her eggs. It is as if we are marching to meet our fate for tonight, somehow taking us to this silent corner of nature. I think of people in the city, killing time in front of their tellies. I am filled with the enthusiasm and delight of being here, and I cannot help but picture in my mind the mother turtle now somewhere in the sea, heading to our shore.

A Patch of Dark on the Sand
21:30… We lay our belongings at a point on the sand. One of the students says a female turtle is approaching. She crawls out of the sea, pausing frequently as if carefully scoping out her spot. We should stop at a distance so as not to alarm her. Maybe she will decide to stay over, and we can then approach her. Sometimes it happens that a turtle crawls out of the sea but for some unknown reason decides not to nest. This is called a "false crawl": it can happen naturally, be caused by artificial lighting or by the presence of people on the beach. All we can do for now is to wait until the students tell us the time is right to approach her.
Normally the students survey the beach every five minutes to check if some turtle comes nesting, and to inspect the nests that are close to hatching. Tonight we do not hear of any other turtles. There is only the one close to us. We learn that when the moon is full turtles are less liable to come to the shore for nesting and besides they usually tend to come much later in the night. This night it seems we are in luck. Whilst waiting we approach Robin Snape, the 25 year old project leader, to obtain some information about the marine turtles that visit Alagadi and the Turtle Project.

Turtles Visiting Alagadi and the Turtle Project
Robin tells us that two types of sea turtles come to lay their eggs at Alagadi: Loggerheads, which are publicly known as Caretta Caretta; and Green turtles. Green turtles, which grow bigger than the Loggerheads, come in large numbers, says Robin, especially this year. They are more specific about their nesting places than the Loggerheads. The Turtle Project volunteers and staff survey the beaches both day and night. They have two groups, working in shifts. Although their main headquarters is in Alagadi, they also have teams in Güzelyurt and Karpaz. Robin says the living conditions and opportunities differ from one base to another, so they regularly change places to be fair to all. For instance, the three students living in Karpaz are staying in a fire station with the firemen. This may be limiting to their social life. At the same time, Robin does not forget to mention the kind people who so generously offered them friendly places in which to stay.
Robin receives a message from the students who have been observing the mother turtle from close by, and now we know it is time…. it is time to meet our little girl who was swimming to the shore as we were walking to the beach.

Our Lady Turtle is Nesting
Sea turtles are generally slow and awkward on land, and nesting is exhausting work. The female turtle flings away loose sand with her flippers. She constructs a body pit by digging with her flippers and rotating her body. After the body pit is complete she digs an egg cavity, using her cupped rear flippers as shovels. The egg cavity is shaped roughly like a teardrop and is usually tilted slightly. When the turtle has finished digging the egg chamber she begins to lay her eggs. The average size of a clutch ranges from about 80 to 120 eggs. However, only a few of them produce healthy hatchlings. Nesting sea turtles appear to shed tears, but the turtle is just excreting the salt that accumulates in her body. Many people believe that while laying her eggs a sea turtle goes into a trance from which she cannot be disturbed. This is not entirely true. A sea turtle is least likely to abandon nesting when she is laying her eggs, but some turtles will abort the process if they are harassed or feel they are in danger. For this reason, it is important that sea turtles are never disturbed during nesting. As our lady, a Green Turtle, starts laying her eggs students measure her and keep her records. Her shell is 87cm, which is quite big for a Green Turtle. I ask Robin her age. He says it is not possible to tell exactly, but the project records have her tagged previously on this beach about 10 years ago. Then we calculate: given the fact that turtles reach adulthood at 30, and she was tagged some ten years ago, she might be around 40 years old. However it is quite possible that she used to come here before she was tagged. Therefore, according to Robin, she might well be 50 or even up to 80 years old.
Once all the eggs are in the chamber the mother turtle uses her rear flippers to push sand over the top of the egg cavity. Gradually, she packs the sand down over the top and then begins using her front flippers to refill the body pit and disguise the nest. The students mark the egg chamber by placing some sticks around it because, as she throws sand in all directions, it is hard to locate the nest afterwards. When she has moved about 2-3 metres from the nest the students start digging to identify the exact location of the egg chamber. Once they locate it, they place a cage around the nest to protect it from dangers. The last thing we want, says Graham Mumby, the project coordinator, is someone to drive a parasol directly into a nest so we place these cages over them. Another danger comes from predators. As the hatchlings start to come out they spread a particular smell, which is scented by dogs wandering around. Attracted by the smell the dogs will dig the ground to reach the hatchlings and eat them. For this reason a net is also placed over the nest.

Significant Work for Natural Survival
23:30… Our lady turtle looks exhausted now. Whilst watching her one feels very sensitive about the threats that endanger the turtles’ existence. I have always felt attracted to their elegant nature; the hard work of their motherhood, their mysterious selectivity of beaches, their lovely babies… but here, watching her laying eggs and undertaking this exhausting job with her big and aged body, is an extraordinary feeling. After throwing sand for a couple of minutes using her flippers, she stops to rest briefly. Then, taking a deep breath, she starts moving her flippers again…
According to information from Robin a turtle nests almost five times a season, leaving approximately a hundred eggs in each nest. Out of five hundred eggs around 350 will hatch, but only one in a thousand hatchlings will survive to adulthood and be able to carry on the cycle of life. Therefore, Robin stresses, if a turtle gets hurt or killed it puts at risk their very existence. Threats are not limited to the low rate of reaching adulthood, unfortunately. Sea turtles also face a myriad of dangers: industrial fishing, coastal development, and global climate change pose the greatest challenges to their continued survival. Due to these threats, many sea turtle species are now listed as endangered. Given all these facts you truly appreciate all the hard work done by the students, volunteers, and staff here at the Turtle Project to help save the lives of these turtles …

Back to the Sea
Our lady Green Turtle is now happy with the concealment of her nest. She slowly crawls her way back into the sea. Exhausted, she will rest in the waters to regain her strength before nesting again later in the season, finally beginning the migration back to her feeding ground. She meets the dark waters washed by blue moonlight, slowly disappearing, giving her bodily weight to the sea.
For us, the visitors, she came out of nowhere and she has returned to a mysterious corner of the deep. Somehow the paths of our destinies crossed tonight… my eyes wander the long beach as far as I can see under the dim moonlight. I see tens of nests marked by cages around them. I try imagining how wonderful it would feel to be able to experience this extraordinary event every night. In the dark, on the beach, you secretly become a part of nature – the realm of marvels.

Baby Caretta Carettas Surprise Us
As we were packing for our return journey, we approached a nest protected by a ring cage and a pyramid cage. Whilst trying to take a photo of this cage in the dark, holding our torches, we suddenly discovered a little baby turtle! And then another one! We yelled at the students “there are baby turtles here!” They came at once to record the hatching nest. The babies, they told us, are Caretta Caretta turtles. They, the students tell us, are identified by being totally black and, to our amazement, they told us that they might excavate the nest the next day! Nothing will hold us back from coming here and seeing baby Caretta Carettas coming out of their nest!

*published in Caretta Magazine, Aug 2008
** see "Caretta Caretta Babies Come Out!" - sequel to this article

Caretta Caretta Babies Come Out!

While watching a huge Green Turtle laying eggs, we discovered two baby Loggerheads in a near nest! Today, we are going back to Alagadi to join the public excavation of the nest! Somewhere in the sand, those babies are waiting to be discovered and released to the sea….

When some sea turtles are just coming to lay their eggs, the first nests begin to open and baby sea turtles make their way to the sea. Following our surprising discovery of two Loggerhead babies on the beach last night, today we are informed that there will be a public excavation at 17:00. You are also invited!
During their regular nightwatches, the students in the Turtle Project, check the nests which are older than 40 days. This indicates that the nest could hatch any time. Therefore, these nests get different treatment to protect any early babies from being eaten or destroyed. They place a pyramid cage to protect any predators stealing into the nest, and a ring cage around it so that if any babies come out of the nest, they stay within this ring until the students find them. We had approached this kind of nest last night as we were about to leave the beach after having watched a 87-cm Green Turtle lay her eggs; and we had discovered two baby Loggerhead sea turtles, which are commonly known as Caretta Caretta.

Excavating the Nest
As hatchlings usually emerge from their nest at night when temperatures are cooler, upon such discovery, the following day the Turtle Project places notices at crowded places in the city to invite people to join public excavation. The people already on the beach willingly approach to witness the birth of the hatchlings. So, it is always very crowded. To prevent any chaos, and to secure their smooth working without any harm to the babies, first the students tape off the area around the nest and a small area near the sea, where they will let the babies perform their legendary walk to the sea.
Excavating hatched sea turtle nests, or ones that have failed to hatch, provides crucial information for understanding turtle hatching successes and failures. Students try to understand the reasons for unsuccessful or high mortality-rate turtle nests. At the end of the season with all the data the volunteers and workers write the final report on the sea turtle nesting season.

Babies Show Up
The students slowly dig the sand using their hands and fingers. This process should be done carefully not to cause any damage to the babies. We start finding them close to the surface. At first, one shows himself. Then, a second, and a third one! They are all covered in sand! You can see a dark spot at the place of their eyes! The students measure them, and weigh them to keep a record. Then they all go into a bucket. Soon, Graham (Graham Mumby, the project coordinator) finds a pip, just coming out of its shell. One of the students takes it around to make everyone see it. It is so hard to believe these little creatures grow so big and heavy. They are Loggerhead babies, which means they will grow nearly to 110 cm. They look so fragile and tiny! They are lucky because they are not left alone to their fate. Many dangers await them on the pathway to their adulthood from the very first moment of their lives.
Once they get out of the nest, the hatchlings orient themselves to the brightest horizon and then dash toward the sea. If they don't make it to the sea quickly, many hatchlings will die of dehydration in the sun or be caught by predators like birds and crabs. Once in the water, there are still many obstacles for hatchlings. Sharks, big fish and circling birds all eat baby turtles, and they die after accidentally eating tar balls and plastic garbage. The obstacles are so numerous for baby turtles that only about one in 1,000 survives to adulthood.

Power of Nature
During the excavation, the Turtle Project team discovers 72 eggs; 16 of them alive. Sixteen Caretta Caretta babies are now ready to go into the sea… The students take them in their hands and leave them at some distance on the beach to let us see how they crawl towards the water. Everybody watches them amazed! Years later, if any of them could survive, she will come back to lay her eggs here, on this beach. At the very place her life started, she will give life to other turtles… If preserved effectively, Alagadi will continue to raise a myriad of turtles in her womb.

*published in Caretta Magazine, Aug 2008
** This article is a prequel to "The Night of Crossed Destinies"