Varosha - Maras is the southern quarter of the Famagusta, a de jure territory of Cyprus, currently under the control of Northern Cyprus. Varosha has a population of 226 in the 2011 Northern Cyprus census. The area of Varosha is 6.19 km2 (2.39 sq mi).

 

The name of Varosha derives from the Turkish word varoş (Ottoman Turkish: واروش, 'suburb'). The place where Varosha is located now was empty fields in which animals grazed.

 

In the early 1970s, Famagusta was the number-one tourist destination in Cyprus. To cater to the increasing number of tourists, many new high-rise buildings and hotels were constructed. During its heyday, Varosha was not only the number-one tourist destination in Cyprus, but between 1970 and 1974, it was one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world and was a favorite destination of such celebrities as Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Raquel Welch, and Brigitte Bardot.

 

Before 1974, Varosha was the modern tourist area of the Famagusta city. Its Greek Cypriot inhabitants fled during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, when the city of Famagusta came under Turkish control, and it has remained abandoned ever since. In 1984 a U.N. resolution called for the handover of the city to UN control and said that only the original inhabitants, who were forced out, could resettle in the town.

 

Entry to part of Varosha was opened to civilians in 2017.

 

In August 1974, the Turkish Army advanced as far as the Green Line, a UN-patrolled demilitarized zone between the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, and controlled and fenced Varosha. Just hours before the Greek Cypriot and Turkish armies met in combat on the streets of Famagusta, the entire Greek Cypriot population fled to Paralimni, Dherynia, and Larnaca, fearing a massacre. The evacuation was aided and orchestrated by the nearby British military base. Paralimni has since become the modern-day capital of the Famagusta province of Greek Cypriot-led Cyprus.

 

The Turkish Army has allowed the entry of only Turkish military and United Nations personnel since 2017.

 

One such settlement plan was the Annan Plan to reunify the island that provided for the return of Varosha to the original residents. But this was rejected by Greek Cypriots in a 2004 referendum. The UN Security Council Resolution 550 states that it "considers attempts to settle any part of Varosha by people other than its inhabitants as inadmissible and calls for the transfer of this area to the administration of the United Nations".

 

The European Court of Human Rights awarded between €100,000 and €8,000,000 to eight Greek Cypriots for being deprived of their homes and properties as a result of the 1974 invasion. The case was filed jointly by businessman Constantinos Lordos and others, with the principal judgement in the Lordos case dating back to November 2010. The court ruled that, in the case of eight of the applicants, Turkey had violated Article 1 of Protocol 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights on the right of peaceful enjoyment of one's possessions, and in the case of seven of the applicants, Turkey had violated Article 8 on the right to respect for private and family life.

 

In the absence of human habitation and maintenance, buildings continue to decay. Over time, parts of the city have begun to be reclaimed by nature as metal corrodes, windows are broken, and plants work their roots into the walls and pavement and grow wild in old window boxes. In 2014, the BBC reported that sea turtles were observed nesting on the beaches in the city.

 

During the Cyprus Missile Crisis (1997–1998), the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktaş, threatened to take over Varosha if the Cypriot government did not back down.

 

The main features of Varosha included John F. Kennedy Avenue, a street which ran from close to the port of Famagusta, through Varosha and parallel to Glossa beach. Along JFK Avenue, there were many well known high rise hotels including the King George Hotel, The Asterias Hotel, The Grecian Hotel, The Florida Hotel, and The Argo Hotel which was the favourite hotel of Elizabeth Taylor. The Argo Hotel is located near the end of JFK Avenue, looking towards Protaras and Fig Tree Bay. Another major street in Varosha was Leonidas (Greek: Λεωνίδας), a major street that came off JFK Avenue and headed west towards Vienna Corner. Leonidas was a major shopping and leisure street in Varosha, consisting of bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and a Toyota car dealership.

 

According to Greek Cypriots, 425 plots exist on the Varosha beach front, which extends from the Contandia hotel to the Golden Sands hotel. The complete number of plots in Varosha are 6082.

 

There are 281 cases of Greek Cypriots who filed to the Immovable Property Commission (IPC) of Northern Cyprus for compensation.

 

In 2020, Greek Cypriot Demetrios Hadjihambis filed a lawsuit seeking state compensation for financial losses.

 

The population of Varosha was 226 in the 2011 Northern Cyprus census.

 

In 2017, Varosha's beach was opened for the exclusive use of Turks (both Turkish Cypriots and Turkish nationals).

 

In 2019, the Government of Northern Cyprus announced it would open Varosha to settlement. On 14 November 2019, Ersin Tatar, the prime minister of Northern Cyprus, announced that Northern Cyprus aims to open Varosha by the end of 2020.

 

On 25 July 2019, Varosha Inventory Commission of Northern Cyprus started its inventory analysis on the buildings and other infrastructure in Varosha.

 

On 9 December 2019, Ibrahim Benter, the Director-General of the Turkish Cypriot EVKAF religious foundation's administration, declared all of Maraş/Varosha to be the property of EVKAF. Benter said "EVKAF can sign renting contracts with Greek Cypriots if they accept that the fenced-off town belongs to the Evkaf."

 

In 2019–20, inventory studies of buildings by the Government of Northern Cyprus were concluded. On 15 February 2020, the Turkish Bar Association organised a round table meeting at the Sandy Beach Hotel in Varosha, which was attended by Turkish officials (Vice President Fuat Oktay and Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gül), Turkish Cypriot officials, representatives of the Turkish Cypriot religious foundation Evkaf, and Turkish and Turkish Cypriot lawyers.

 

On 22 February 2020, Cyprus declared it would veto European Union funds to Turkish Cypriots if Varosha were opened to settlement.

 

On 6 October 2020, Ersin Tatar, the Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus, announced that the beach area of Varosha would reopen to the public on 8 October 2020. Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said Turkey fully supported the decision. The move came ahead of the 2020 Northern Cypriot presidential election, in which Tatar was a candidate. Deputy Prime Minister Kudret Özersay, who had worked on the reopening previously, said that this was not a full reopening of the area, that this was just a unilateral election stunt by Tatar. His People's Party withdrew from the Tatar cabinet, leading to the collapse of the Turkish Cypriot government. The EU's diplomatic chief condemned the plan and described it as a "serious violation" of the U.N. ceasefire agreement. In addition, he asked Turkey to stop this activity. The U.N. Secretary-General expressed concern over Turkey's decision.

 

On 8 October 2020, some parts of Varosha were opened from the Officers' Club of Turkish and Turkish Cypriot Army to the Golden Sands Hotel.

 

In November 2020, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Turkey's ambassador to Nicosia, visited Varosha. In addition, the main avenue in Varosha has been renamed after Semih Sancar, Chief of the General Staff of Turkey from 1973 to 1978, a period including the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus.

 

The European Parliament on 27 November, asked Turkey to reverse its decision to re-open part of Varosha and resume negotiations aimed at resolving the Cyprus problem on the basis of a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation and called on the European Union to impose sanctions against Turkey, if things do not change. Turkey rejected the resolution, adding that Turkey will continue to protect both its own rights and those of Turkish Cypriots. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus presidency also condemned the resolution.

 

On 20 July 2021, Tatar, the president of Northern Cyprus announced the start of the 2nd phase of the opening of Varosha. He encouraged Greek Cypriots to apply Immovable Property Commission of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus to claim their properties back if they have any such rights.

 

Bilal Aga Mosque, constructed in 1821 and taken out of service in 1974, was re-opened on 23 July 2021.

 

In response to a decision by the government of Turkish Cyprus, the presidential statement of the United Nations Security Council dated on 23 July said that settling any part of the abandoned Cypriot suburb of Varosha, "by people other than its inhabitants, is 'inadmissible'." The same day, Turkey rejected the presidential statement of the UNSC on Maras (Varosha), and said that these statements were based on Greek-Greek Cypriot propaganda, were groundless and unfounded claims, and inconsistent with the realities on the Island. On 24 July 2021, the presidency of Northern Cyprus condemned the presidential statement of the UNSC dated on 23 July, and stated that "We see and condemn it as an attempt to create an obstacle for the property-rights-holders in Varosha to achieve their rights".

 

By 1 January 2022, nearly 400,000 people had visited Varosha since its opening to civilians on 6 October 2020.

 

On 19 May 2022, Northern Cyprus opened a 600m long X 400m wide stretch of beach on the Golden Sands beach (from the King George Hotel to the Oceania Building) in Varosha for commercial use. Sun beds and umbrellas were installed.

 

UNFICYP said it would raise the decision taken by Turkish Cypriot authorities to open that stretch of beach in Varosha with the Security Council, spokesperson for the peacekeeping force Aleem Siddique said on Friday. The UN announced its "position on Varosha is unchanged and we are monitoring the situation closely".

 

In October 2022, the Turkish Cypriots announced that public institutions will be opened in the city.

 

In April 2023, Cleo Hotel, the 7-floor Golden Seaside Hotel, and the 3-star Aegean Hotel were purchased by a Turkish Cypriot businessman (from their Greek Cypriot owners) who will operate them within 2025.

 

On 10 August 2023, the Government of Northern Cyprus decided to construct a marina and tourist facility in Varosha.

 

Varosha was analyzed by Alan Weisman in his book The World Without Us as an example of the unstoppable power of nature.

 

Filmmaker Greek Cypriot Michael Cacoyannis described the city and interviewed its exiled citizens in the film Attilas '74, produced in 1975.

 

In 2021, the Belarusian group Main-De-Gloire dedicated a song to this city that has become a ghostly place.

 

Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a de facto state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. It is recognised only by Turkey, and its territory is considered by all other states to be part of the Republic of Cyprus.

 

Northern Cyprus extends from the tip of the Karpass Peninsula in the northeast to Morphou Bay, Cape Kormakitis and its westernmost point, the Kokkina exclave in the west. Its southernmost point is the village of Louroujina. A buffer zone under the control of the United Nations stretches between Northern Cyprus and the rest of the island and divides Nicosia, the island's largest city and capital of both sides.

 

A coup d'état in 1974, performed as part of an attempt to annex the island to Greece, prompted the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. This resulted in the eviction of much of the north's Greek Cypriot population, the flight of Turkish Cypriots from the south, and the partitioning of the island, leading to a unilateral declaration of independence by the north in 1983. Due to its lack of recognition, Northern Cyprus is heavily dependent on Turkey for economic, political and military support.

 

Attempts to reach a solution to the Cyprus dispute have been unsuccessful. The Turkish Army maintains a large force in Northern Cyprus with the support and approval of the TRNC government, while the Republic of Cyprus, the European Union as a whole, and the international community regard it as an occupation force. This military presence has been denounced in several United Nations Security Council resolutions.

 

Northern Cyprus is a semi-presidential, democratic republic with a cultural heritage incorporating various influences and an economy that is dominated by the services sector. The economy has seen growth through the 2000s and 2010s, with the GNP per capita more than tripling in the 2000s, but is held back by an international embargo due to the official closure of the ports in Northern Cyprus by the Republic of Cyprus. The official language is Turkish, with a distinct local dialect being spoken. The vast majority of the population consists of Sunni Muslims, while religious attitudes are mostly moderate and secular. Northern Cyprus is an observer state of ECO and OIC under the name "Turkish Cypriot State", PACE under the name "Turkish Cypriot Community", and Organization of Turkic States with its own name.

 

Several distinct periods of Cypriot intercommunal violence involving the two main ethnic communities, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, marked mid-20th century Cyprus. These included the Cyprus Emergency of 1955–59 during British rule, the post-independence Cyprus crisis of 1963–64, and the Cyprus crisis of 1967. Hostilities culminated in the 1974 de facto division of the island along the Green Line following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. The region has been relatively peaceful since then, but the Cyprus dispute has continued, with various attempts to solve it diplomatically having been generally unsuccessful.

 

Cyprus, an island lying in the eastern Mediterranean, hosted a population of Greeks and Turks (four-fifths and one-fifth, respectively), who lived under British rule in the late nineteenth-century and the first half of the twentieth-century. Christian Orthodox Church of Cyprus played a prominent political role among the Greek Cypriot community, a privilege that it acquired during the Ottoman Empire with the employment of the millet system, which gave the archbishop an unofficial ethnarch status.

 

The repeated rejections by the British of Greek Cypriot demands for enosis, union with Greece, led to armed resistance, organised by the National Organization of Cypriot Struggle, or EOKA. EOKA, led by the Greek-Cypriot commander George Grivas, systematically targeted British colonial authorities. One of the effects of EOKA's campaign was to alter the Turkish position from demanding full reincorporation into Turkey to a demand for taksim (partition). EOKA's mission and activities caused a "Cretan syndrome" (see Turkish Resistance Organisation) within the Turkish Cypriot community, as its members feared that they would be forced to leave the island in such a case as had been the case with Cretan Turks. As such, they preferred the continuation of British colonial rule and then taksim, the division of the island. Due to the Turkish Cypriots' support for the British, EOKA's leader, Georgios Grivas, declared them to be enemies. The fact that the Turks were a minority was, according to Nihat Erim, to be addressed by the transfer of thousands of Turks from mainland Turkey so that Greek Cypriots would cease to be the majority. When Erim visited Cyprus as the Turkish representative, he was advised by Field Marshal Sir John Harding, the then Governor of Cyprus, that Turkey should send educated Turks to settle in Cyprus.

 

Turkey actively promoted the idea that on the island of Cyprus two distinctive communities existed, and sidestepped its former claim that "the people of Cyprus were all Turkish subjects". In doing so, Turkey's aim to have self-determination of two to-be equal communities in effect led to de jure partition of the island.[citation needed] This could be justified to the international community against the will of the majority Greek population of the island. Dr. Fazil Küçük in 1954 had already proposed Cyprus be divided in two at the 35° parallel.

 

Lindley Dan, from Notre Dame University, spotted the roots of intercommunal violence to different visions among the two communities of Cyprus (enosis for Greek Cypriots, taksim for Turkish Cypriots). Also, Lindlay wrote that "the merging of church, schools/education, and politics in divisive and nationalistic ways" had played a crucial role in creation of havoc in Cyprus' history. Attalides Michael also pointed to the opposing nationalisms as the cause of the Cyprus problem.

 

By the mid-1950's, the "Cyprus is Turkish" party, movement, and slogan gained force in both Cyprus and Turkey. In a 1954 editorial, Turkish Cypriot leader Dr. Fazil Kuchuk expressed the sentiment that the Turkish youth had grown up with the idea that "as soon as Great Britain leaves the island, it will be taken over by the Turks", and that "Turkey cannot tolerate otherwise". This perspective contributed to the willingness of Turkish Cypriots to align themselves with the British, who started recruiting Turkish Cypriots into the police force that patrolled Cyprus to fight EOKA, a Greek Cypriot nationalist organisation that sought to rid the island of British rule.

 

EOKA targeted colonial authorities, including police, but Georgios Grivas, the leader of EOKA, did not initially wish to open up a new front by fighting Turkish Cypriots and reassured them that EOKA would not harm their people. In 1956, some Turkish Cypriot policemen were killed by EOKA members and this provoked some intercommunal violence in the spring and summer, but these attacks on policemen were not motivated by the fact that they were Turkish Cypriots.

 

However, in January 1957, Grivas changed his policy as his forces in the mountains became increasingly pressured by the British Crown forces. In order to divert the attention of the Crown forces, EOKA members started to target Turkish Cypriot policemen intentionally in the towns, so that Turkish Cypriots would riot against the Greek Cypriots and the security forces would have to be diverted to the towns to restore order. The killing of a Turkish Cypriot policeman on 19 January, when a power station was bombed, and the injury of three others, provoked three days of intercommunal violence in Nicosia. The two communities targeted each other in reprisals, at least one Greek Cypriot was killed and the British Army was deployed in the streets. Greek Cypriot stores were burned and their neighbourhoods attacked. Following the events, the Greek Cypriot leadership spread the propaganda that the riots had merely been an act of Turkish Cypriot aggression. Such events created chaos and drove the communities apart both in Cyprus and in Turkey.

 

On 22 October 1957 Sir Hugh Mackintosh Foot replaced Sir John Harding as the British Governor of Cyprus. Foot suggested five to seven years of self-government before any final decision. His plan rejected both enosis and taksim. The Turkish Cypriot response to this plan was a series of anti-British demonstrations in Nicosia on 27 and 28 January 1958 rejecting the proposed plan because the plan did not include partition. The British then withdrew the plan.

 

In 1957, Black Gang, a Turkish Cypriot pro-taksim paramilitary organisation, was formed to patrol a Turkish Cypriot enclave, the Tahtakale district of Nicosia, against activities of EOKA. The organisation later attempted to grow into a national scale, but failed to gain public support.

 

By 1958, signs of dissatisfaction with the British increased on both sides, with a group of Turkish Cypriots forming Volkan (later renamed to the Turkish Resistance Organisation) paramilitary group to promote partition and the annexation of Cyprus to Turkey as dictated by the Menderes plan. Volkan initially consisted of roughly 100 members, with the stated aim of raising awareness in Turkey of the Cyprus issue and courting military training and support for Turkish Cypriot fighters from the Turkish government.

 

In June 1958, the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, was expected to propose a plan to resolve the Cyprus issue. In light of the new development, the Turks rioted in Nicosia to promote the idea that Greek and Turkish Cypriots could not live together and therefore any plan that did not include partition would not be viable. This violence was soon followed by bombing, Greek Cypriot deaths and looting of Greek Cypriot-owned shops and houses. Greek and Turkish Cypriots started to flee mixed population villages where they were a minority in search of safety. This was effectively the beginning of the segregation of the two communities. On 7 June 1958, a bomb exploded at the entrance of the Turkish Embassy in Cyprus. Following the bombing, Turkish Cypriots looted Greek Cypriot properties. On 26 June 1984, the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktaş, admitted on British channel ITV that the bomb was placed by the Turks themselves in order to create tension. On 9 January 1995, Rauf Denktaş repeated his claim to the famous Turkish newspaper Milliyet in Turkey.

 

The crisis reached a climax on 12 June 1958, when eight Greeks, out of an armed group of thirty five arrested by soldiers of the Royal Horse Guards on suspicion of preparing an attack on the Turkish quarter of Skylloura, were killed in a suspected attack by Turkish Cypriot locals, near the village of Geunyeli, having been ordered to walk back to their village of Kondemenos.

 

After the EOKA campaign had begun, the British government successfully began to turn the Cyprus issue from a British colonial problem into a Greek-Turkish issue. British diplomacy exerted backstage influence on the Adnan Menderes government, with the aim of making Turkey active in Cyprus. For the British, the attempt had a twofold objective. The EOKA campaign would be silenced as quickly as possible, and Turkish Cypriots would not side with Greek Cypriots against the British colonial claims over the island, which would thus remain under the British. The Turkish Cypriot leadership visited Menderes to discuss the Cyprus issue. When asked how the Turkish Cypriots should respond to the Greek Cypriot claim of enosis, Menderes replied: "You should go to the British foreign minister and request the status quo be prolonged, Cyprus to remain as a British colony". When the Turkish Cypriots visited the British Foreign Secretary and requested for Cyprus to remain a colony, he replied: "You should not be asking for colonialism at this day and age, you should be asking for Cyprus be returned to Turkey, its former owner".

 

As Turkish Cypriots began to look to Turkey for protection, Greek Cypriots soon understood that enosis was extremely unlikely. The Greek Cypriot leader, Archbishop Makarios III, now set independence for the island as his objective.

 

Britain resolved to solve the dispute by creating an independent Cyprus. In 1959, all involved parties signed the Zurich Agreements: Britain, Turkey, Greece, and the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders, Makarios and Dr. Fazil Kucuk, respectively. The new constitution drew heavily on the ethnic composition of the island. The President would be a Greek Cypriot, and the Vice-President a Turkish Cypriot with an equal veto. The contribution to the public service would be set at a ratio of 70:30, and the Supreme Court would consist of an equal number of judges from both communities as well as an independent judge who was not Greek, Turkish or British. The Zurich Agreements were supplemented by a number of treaties. The Treaty of Guarantee stated that secession or union with any state was forbidden, and that Greece, Turkey and Britain would be given guarantor status to intervene if that was violated. The Treaty of Alliance allowed for two small Greek and Turkish military contingents to be stationed on the island, and the Treaty of Establishment gave Britain sovereignty over two bases in Akrotiri and Dhekelia.

 

On 15 August 1960, the Colony of Cyprus became fully independent as the Republic of Cyprus. The new republic remained within the Commonwealth of Nations.

 

The new constitution brought dissatisfaction to Greek Cypriots, who felt it to be highly unjust for them for historical, demographic and contributional reasons. Although 80% of the island's population were Greek Cypriots and these indigenous people had lived on the island for thousands of years and paid 94% of taxes, the new constitution was giving the 17% of the population that was Turkish Cypriots, who paid 6% of taxes, around 30% of government jobs and 40% of national security jobs.

 

Within three years tensions between the two communities in administrative affairs began to show. In particular disputes over separate municipalities and taxation created a deadlock in government. A constitutional court ruled in 1963 Makarios had failed to uphold article 173 of the constitution which called for the establishment of separate municipalities for Turkish Cypriots. Makarios subsequently declared his intention to ignore the judgement, resulting in the West German judge resigning from his position. Makarios proposed thirteen amendments to the constitution, which would have had the effect of resolving most of the issues in the Greek Cypriot favour. Under the proposals, the President and Vice-President would lose their veto, the separate municipalities as sought after by the Turkish Cypriots would be abandoned, the need for separate majorities by both communities in passing legislation would be discarded and the civil service contribution would be set at actual population ratios (82:18) instead of the slightly higher figure for Turkish Cypriots.

 

The intention behind the amendments has long been called into question. The Akritas plan, written in the height of the constitutional dispute by the Greek Cypriot interior minister Polycarpos Georkadjis, called for the removal of undesirable elements of the constitution so as to allow power-sharing to work. The plan envisaged a swift retaliatory attack on Turkish Cypriot strongholds should Turkish Cypriots resort to violence to resist the measures, stating "In the event of a planned or staged Turkish attack, it is imperative to overcome it by force in the shortest possible time, because if we succeed in gaining command of the situation (in one or two days), no outside, intervention would be either justified or possible." Whether Makarios's proposals were part of the Akritas plan is unclear, however it remains that sentiment towards enosis had not completely disappeared with independence. Makarios described independence as "a step on the road to enosis".[31] Preparations for conflict were not entirely absent from Turkish Cypriots either, with right wing elements still believing taksim (partition) the best safeguard against enosis.

 

Greek Cypriots however believe the amendments were a necessity stemming from a perceived attempt by Turkish Cypriots to frustrate the working of government. Turkish Cypriots saw it as a means to reduce their status within the state from one of co-founder to that of minority, seeing it as a first step towards enosis. The security situation deteriorated rapidly.

 

Main articles: Bloody Christmas (1963) and Battle of Tillyria

An armed conflict was triggered after December 21, 1963, a period remembered by Turkish Cypriots as Bloody Christmas, when a Greek Cypriot policemen that had been called to help deal with a taxi driver refusing officers already on the scene access to check the identification documents of his customers, took out his gun upon arrival and shot and killed the taxi driver and his partner. Eric Solsten summarised the events as follows: "a Greek Cypriot police patrol, ostensibly checking identification documents, stopped a Turkish Cypriot couple on the edge of the Turkish quarter. A hostile crowd gathered, shots were fired, and two Turkish Cypriots were killed."

 

In the morning after the shooting, crowds gathered in protest in Northern Nicosia, likely encouraged by the TMT, without incident. On the evening of the 22nd, gunfire broke out, communication lines to the Turkish neighbourhoods were cut, and the Greek Cypriot police occupied the nearby airport. On the 23rd, a ceasefire was negotiated, but did not hold. Fighting, including automatic weapons fire, between Greek and Turkish Cypriots and militias increased in Nicosia and Larnaca. A force of Greek Cypriot irregulars led by Nikos Sampson entered the Nicosia suburb of Omorphita and engaged in heavy firing on armed, as well as by some accounts unarmed, Turkish Cypriots. The Omorphita clash has been described by Turkish Cypriots as a massacre, while this view has generally not been acknowledged by Greek Cypriots.

 

Further ceasefires were arranged between the two sides, but also failed. By Christmas Eve, the 24th, Britain, Greece, and Turkey had joined talks, with all sides calling for a truce. On Christmas day, Turkish fighter jets overflew Nicosia in a show of support. Finally it was agreed to allow a force of 2,700 British soldiers to help enforce a ceasefire. In the next days, a "buffer zone" was created in Nicosia, and a British officer marked a line on a map with green ink, separating the two sides of the city, which was the beginning of the "Green Line". Fighting continued across the island for the next several weeks.

 

In total 364 Turkish Cypriots and 174 Greek Cypriots were killed during the violence. 25,000 Turkish Cypriots from 103-109 villages fled and were displaced into enclaves and thousands of Turkish Cypriot houses were ransacked or completely destroyed.

 

Contemporary newspapers also reported on the forceful exodus of the Turkish Cypriots from their homes. According to The Times in 1964, threats, shootings and attempts of arson were committed against the Turkish Cypriots to force them out of their homes. The Daily Express wrote that "25,000 Turks have already been forced to leave their homes". The Guardian reported a massacre of Turks at Limassol on 16 February 1964.

 

Turkey had by now readied its fleet and its fighter jets appeared over Nicosia. Turkey was dissuaded from direct involvement by the creation of a United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) in 1964. Despite the negotiated ceasefire in Nicosia, attacks on the Turkish Cypriot persisted, particularly in Limassol. Concerned about the possibility of a Turkish invasion, Makarios undertook the creation of a Greek Cypriot conscript-based army called the "National Guard". A general from Greece took charge of the army, whilst a further 20,000 well-equipped officers and men were smuggled from Greece into Cyprus. Turkey threatened to intervene once more, but was prevented by a strongly worded letter from the American President Lyndon B. Johnson, anxious to avoid a conflict between NATO allies Greece and Turkey at the height of the Cold War.

 

Turkish Cypriots had by now established an important bridgehead at Kokkina, provided with arms, volunteers and materials from Turkey and abroad. Seeing this incursion of foreign weapons and troops as a major threat, the Cypriot government invited George Grivas to return from Greece as commander of the Greek troops on the island and launch a major attack on the bridgehead. Turkey retaliated by dispatching its fighter jets to bomb Greek positions, causing Makarios to threaten an attack on every Turkish Cypriot village on the island if the bombings did not cease. The conflict had now drawn in Greece and Turkey, with both countries amassing troops on their Thracian borders. Efforts at mediation by Dean Acheson, a former U.S. Secretary of State, and UN-appointed mediator Galo Plaza had failed, all the while the division of the two communities becoming more apparent. Greek Cypriot forces were estimated at some 30,000, including the National Guard and the large contingent from Greece. Defending the Turkish Cypriot enclaves was a force of approximately 5,000 irregulars, led by a Turkish colonel, but lacking the equipment and organisation of the Greek forces.

 

The Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1964, U Thant, reported the damage during the conflicts:

 

UNFICYP carried out a detailed survey of all damage to properties throughout the island during the disturbances; it shows that in 109 villages, most of them Turkish-Cypriot or mixed villages, 527 houses have been destroyed while 2,000 others have suffered damage from looting.

 

The situation worsened in 1967, when a military junta overthrew the democratically elected government of Greece, and began applying pressure on Makarios to achieve enosis. Makarios, not wishing to become part of a military dictatorship or trigger a Turkish invasion, began to distance himself from the goal of enosis. This caused tensions with the junta in Greece as well as George Grivas in Cyprus. Grivas's control over the National Guard and Greek contingent was seen as a threat to Makarios's position, who now feared a possible coup.[citation needed] The National Guard and Cyprus Police began patrolling the Turkish Cypriot enclaves of Ayios Theodoros and Kophinou, and on November 15 engaged in heavy fighting with the Turkish Cypriots.

 

By the time of his withdrawal 26 Turkish Cypriots had been killed. Turkey replied with an ultimatum demanding that Grivas be removed from the island, that the troops smuggled from Greece in excess of the limits of the Treaty of Alliance be removed, and that the economic blockades on the Turkish Cypriot enclaves be lifted. Grivas was recalled by the Athens Junta and the 12,000 Greek troops were withdrawn. Makarios now attempted to consolidate his position by reducing the number of National Guard troops, and by creating a paramilitary force loyal to Cypriot independence. In 1968, acknowledging that enosis was now all but impossible, Makarios stated, "A solution by necessity must be sought within the limits of what is feasible which does not always coincide with the limits of what is desirable."

 

After 1967 tensions between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots subsided. Instead, the main source of tension on the island came from factions within the Greek Cypriot community. Although Makarios had effectively abandoned enosis in favour of an 'attainable solution', many others continued to believe that the only legitimate political aspiration for Greek Cypriots was union with Greece.

 

On his arrival, Grivas began by establishing a nationalist paramilitary group known as the National Organization of Cypriot Fighters (Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston B or EOKA-B), drawing comparisons with the EOKA struggle for enosis under the British colonial administration of the 1950s.

 

The military junta in Athens saw Makarios as an obstacle. Makarios's failure to disband the National Guard, whose officer class was dominated by mainland Greeks, had meant the junta had practical control over the Cypriot military establishment, leaving Makarios isolated and a vulnerable target.

 

During the first Turkish invasion, Turkish troops invaded Cyprus territory on 20 July 1974, invoking its rights under the Treaty of Guarantee. This expansion of Turkish-occupied zone violated International Law as well as the Charter of the United Nations. Turkish troops managed to capture 3% of the island which was accompanied by the burning of the Turkish Cypriot quarter, as well as the raping and killing of women and children. A temporary cease-fire followed which was mitigated by the UN Security Council. Subsequently, the Greek military Junta collapsed on July 23, 1974, and peace talks commenced in which a democratic government was installed. The Resolution 353 was broken after Turkey attacked a second time and managed to get a hold of 37% of Cyprus territory. The Island of Cyprus was appointed a Buffer Zone by the United Nations, which divided the island into two zones through the 'Green Line' and put an end to the Turkish invasion. Although Turkey announced that the occupied areas of Cyprus to be called the Federated Turkish State in 1975, it is not legitimised on a worldwide political scale. The United Nations called for the international recognition of independence for the Republic of Cyprus in the Security Council Resolution 367.

 

In the years after the Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus one can observe a history of failed talks between the two parties. The 1983 declaration of the independent Turkish Republic of Cyprus resulted in a rise of inter-communal tensions and made it increasingly hard to find mutual understanding. With Cyprus' interest of a possible EU membership and a new UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 1997 new hopes arose for a fresh start. International involvement from sides of the US and UK, wanting a solution to the Cyprus dispute prior to the EU accession led to political pressures for new talks. The believe that an accession without a solution would threaten Greek-Turkish relations and acknowledge the partition of the island would direct the coming negotiations.

 

Over the course of two years a concrete plan, the Annan plan was formulated. In 2004 the fifth version agreed upon from both sides and with the endorsement of Turkey, US, UK and EU then was presented to the public and was given a referendum in both Cypriot communities to assure the legitimisation of the resolution. The Turkish Cypriots voted with 65% for the plan, however the Greek Cypriots voted with a 76% majority against. The Annan plan contained multiple important topics. Firstly it established a confederation of two separate states called the United Cyprus Republic. Both communities would have autonomous states combined under one unified government. The members of parliament would be chosen according to the percentage in population numbers to ensure a just involvement from both communities. The paper proposed a demilitarisation of the island over the next years. Furthermore it agreed upon a number of 45000 Turkish settlers that could remain on the island. These settlers became a very important issue concerning peace talks. Originally the Turkish government encouraged Turks to settle in Cyprus providing transfer and property, to establish a counterpart to the Greek Cypriot population due to their 1 to 5 minority. With the economic situation many Turkish-Cypriot decided to leave the island, however their departure is made up by incoming Turkish settlers leaving the population ratio between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots stable. However all these points where criticised and as seen in the vote rejected mainly by the Greek Cypriots. These name the dissolution of the „Republic of Cyprus", economic consequences of a reunion and the remaining Turkish settlers as reason. Many claim that the plan was indeed drawing more from Turkish-Cypriot demands then Greek-Cypriot interests. Taking in consideration that the US wanted to keep Turkey as a strategic partner in future Middle Eastern conflicts.

 

A week after the failed referendum the Republic of Cyprus joined the EU. In multiple instances the EU tried to promote trade with Northern Cyprus but without internationally recognised ports this spiked a grand debate. Both side endure their intention of negotiations, however without the prospect of any new compromises or agreements the UN is unwilling to start the process again. Since 2004 negotiations took place in numbers but without any results, both sides are strongly holding on to their position without an agreeable solution in sight that would suit both parties.

The Beat Goes On was the newsletter of the December 4th Committee headed by Akua Njeri (formerly Deborah Johnson), a Chicago Black Panther and the fiancé of slain Panther leader Fred Hampton.

 

The Committee was formed to expose the truth of the December 4, 1969 killing orchestrated by Cook County State’s Attorney Edward Hanrahan, who was assisted by Chicago police and the FBI, and to keep Fred Hampton’s political contributions alive.

 

Vol. 1 No. 1 of the newsletter recounts Fred Hampton’s history, the events of the raid and a timeline of developments up until August 1975. It also contains an advertisement for a commemoration of the Attica prison uprising, urging amnesty for prisoners.

 

The Committee was still in existence as of 2021.

 

Hampton came to prominence in Chicago as deputy chairman of the national Black Panther Party, and chair of the Illinois chapter.

 

Hampton was a Marxist-Leninist who formed first Rainbow Coalition, a prominent multicultural political organization that initially included the Black Panthers, Young Patriots (which organized poor whites), and the Young Lords (which organized primarily among people of Puerto Rican descent), and an alliance among major Chicago street gangs to help them end infighting and work for social change.

 

In 1967, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) identified Hampton as a radical threat. It tried to subvert his activities in Chicago, sowing disinformation among black progressive groups and placing a counterintelligence operative in the local Panthers organization.

 

In December 1969, Hampton was drugged, shot and killed in his bed during a predawn raid at his Chicago apartment by a tactical unit of the Cook County State's Attorney's Office, who received aid from the Chicago Police Department and the FBI leading up to the attack.

 

Law enforcement sprayed more than 90 gunshots throughout the apartment; the occupants possibly fired once. During the raid, Panther Mark Clark was also killed and several others were seriously wounded.

 

MEA Worldwide interviewed Njeri in 2021 after the release of the film Judas and the Black Messiah and wrote about the night of the raid:

 

“Shedding light on Fred's last few moments, Deborah said they called his mother to tell her they wouldn't come that night. Fred fell asleep while talking to her and she couldn't wake him up. The first thing she remembered about the next morning was being awakened by somebody shaking Fred saying, “Chairman, Chairman, wake up, the pigs are vamping, the pigs are vamping!”

 

“Armed with a map, cops burst through the doors and showered a series of bullets. The events of the horrific night remained fresh in Deborah's mind for a long time. “I remember it like it was yesterday. The police knocked on the door (around 4.35 am) and Defense Captain Mark Clark (who headed up the Black Panther’s Peoria chapter) answered the door by saying, ‘Who is it?’ The police said, ‘Tommy.” And Mark responded, ‘Tommy who?’ Then the police responded back, ‘Tommy gun.’ After that, the police kicked in the front door and started shooting. And Mark was killed instantly.”

 

“Fred was shot dead in the next few moments and 25 days later, she [Njeri] gave birth to their son. The night turned out to be the biggest catastrophe in her life.

 

“Describing how the cops manhandled her, she said, “The policeman grabbed me by the hair and pretty much just shoved me — I had more hair then — pretty much just shoved me into the kitchen area.” She asked for a policeman to pin up her robe because it was open and heard someone say, “He's barely alive, he'll barely make it,” adding, “He's good and dead now.”

 

In January 1970, the Cook County Coroner held an inquest; the jury concluded that Hampton's and Clark's deaths were justifiable homicides.

 

A civil lawsuit was later filed on behalf of the survivors and the relatives of Hampton and Clark. It was resolved in 1982 by a settlement of $1.85 million (equivalent to $4.96 million in 2020); the City of Chicago, Cook County, and the federal government each paid one-third to a group of nine plaintiffs. Given revelations about the illegal COINTELPRO program and documents associated with the killings, many scholars now consider Hampton's death an assassination at the FBI's initiative.

 

--description partially excerpted from Wikipedia

 

For more information and images related to the Washington, D.C. Black Panther Party, see flic.kr/s/aHsjBUuu3J

 

For issues of the Black Panther Party newspaper, see washingtonareaspark.com/contributors/periodicals/

 

For a PDF of the 8 ½ x 11, The Beat Goes On, see

 

Vol. 1 No. 1 – Aug. 1975 - washingtonareaspark.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/1975-f...

 

Donated by Robert “Bob” Simpson

 

The Flash Gordon serials are remembered for being the science fiction predecessors to everything the fifties and beyond would bring. They are believed to be the influence behind the "Star Wars" series and the "Indiana Jones" trilogy. This chapter, which features Flash with his ever ready raygun, and Ming, the Merciless with his army.

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZ2HUfD0QSw&feature=share&amp...

Universal, 15 Chapters, 1938. Starring Larry “Buster” Crabbe, Jean Rogers, Charles Middleton, Frank Shannon, Beatrice Roberts, Richard Alexander, Donald Kerr, C. Montague Shaw, Wheeler Oakman.

Flash Gordon’s Trip to Mars picks up almost exactly where Flash Gordon left off, with our courageous trio of interplanetary adventurers–Flash Gordon (Larry “Buster” Crabbe), Dale Arden (Jean Rogers), and Dr. Zarkov (Frank Shannon)–returning to Earth from the planet Mongo. They are greeted to a royal welcome, since their voyage has saved the Earth from being destroyed by the late Emperor Ming of Mongo. Zarkov, however, attempts to curb the Earthlings’ ebullience by cautioning them that the defeat and death of Ming does not mean that their planet is free from other threats of extraterrestrial invasion. As usual, Zarkov is correct; shortly after his warning speech, the Martian Queen Azura (Beatrice Roberts) begins an operation designed to siphon off the “nitron” (aka nitrogen) in the Earth’s atmosphere. Azura’s primary goal is to create nitron-powered weapons with which to wage a war against her mortal foes, the Clay People of Mars. She’s indifferent to the devastating effect that it will have on the Earth, while her chief adviser and military consultant regards the destruction of Earth as the main attraction of the plan. That adviser is none other than Ming (Charles Middleton), still very much alive and longing for revenge on Flash and Zarkov for toppling him from his throne and driving him into exile on Mars.

As the Earth begins to experience catastrophic floods and storms, due to the effects of Azura’s “Nitron Lamp,” Zarkov, Flash, and Dale launch another interplanetary trip to discover the cause of the catastrophes, which Zarkov has determined are due to a beam that emanates from outer space. They discover an unexpected stowaway aboard after takeoff–reporter “Happy” Hapgood (Donald Kerr), who had set out to track down Zarkov and get his opinion of the world-wide disasters. Not long after arriving on Mars, our quartet of Earth adventurers find themselves embroiled in the war between Azura and the Clay People. The latter are one-time rivals of the Queen, who have been transformed into living clay by Azura’s magical powers and banished to underground caverns from whence they carry on a guerilla war against Azura’s forces. The Clay People’s king enlists the aid of Flash and his party, as both of them want to stop Azura’s nitron-collecting plans, and, with additional aid from Prince Barin (Richard Alexander)–who arrives on Mars to try to convince the Martians to expel Ming–Flash and his party pit themselves against Azura’s magic, Ming’s machinations, Ming’s savage allies the Forest People, and many other hazards, in their quest to save the Earth.

 

Flash Gordon’s Trip to Mars is fully as good as the first Flash Gordon serial, although its strengths are in slightly different areas. While Trip to Mars doesn’t measure up to Flash Gordon when it comes to colorful characters and fantastic monsters, its focused plotline surpasses the episodic story of the earlier serial. In Flash Gordon, the protagonists merely responded to the perpetual perils that were hurled at them by Ming, King Vultan, and King Kala, while Ming’s own plans for destroying the Earth were largely abandoned after the first chapter in favor of his attempts to marry Dale and destroy Flash. In Trip to Mars, Flash, Dale, and Zarkov initiate events instead of just coping with them, and Ming’s new grand design drives the plot far more strongly than his earlier one, giving the good guys a clear-cut objective (the destruction of the Nitron Lamp) beyond simple escape from Mongo.

While Trip to Mars has no characters to rival Flash Gordon’s King Vultan and no bizarre beasts like the Orangopoid or the Fire Dragon, it still has excellent other-worldly atmosphere. The sets are not as varied and intricate as in the first serial, but still surpass the backdrops of almost any other chapterplay. Especially striking are Ming’s “powerhouse,” with its laboratory equipment and its disintegration room, Azura’s massive palace with its unique architectural design (particularly the futuristic pocket doors), the Clay People’s eerie caves, and the wonderfully-designed realm of the Forest People, with its twisted trees, climbing vines, hidden tunnels amid tree roots, and treehouse-like observation platforms.

 

In addition to the big sets, there are dozens of other major and minor props and special effects that make Trips to Mars memorably atmospheric; there’s the the Martians’ flying capes, the Martian televiewer screens (which are cleverly incorporated into the recap sequences at the beginning of each chapter), the Clay People’s vapor-healing chamber, and the bridge of light that connects Azura’s rocket tower to the rest of her palace and is powered by a simple switch like any Earthling lamp (the scene where Flash and Zarkov are first forced to cross the unsafe-looking thing is quite funny), to name but a few. I also appreciate the fact that Azura’s spaceship squadrons–her “stratosleds”–are designed differently than any of the ships in the first Flash Gordon serial; one would expect the aerial fleets of differing planets to differ in appearance. Another neat touch of internal consistency is the use of three completely different forms of salute by the three principal Martian races–Queen Azura’s subjects, the Clay People, and the Forest People.

The serial’s screenplay maintains good continuity with the previous Flash outing, despite being the work of a completely different team of writers–Ray Trampe, Norman S. Hall, Wyndham Gittens, and Herbert Dalmas. The new writing team avoids any of the clunky lines that occasionally crept into Flash Gordon’s dialogue exchanges; they also, despite having to resort to a few flashbacks to the first serial for padding purposes, manage to make their plot fit its fifteen-chapter length quite nicely. The major plot thread of the heroes’ attempts to destroy Ming and Azura’s Nitron Lamp is skillfully interwoven with several subplots–the Clay People’s efforts to regain their natural shape, the attempts by both Flash and Ming to get hold of the Black Sapphire of Kalu (a talisman that can neutralize Azura’s magic), and Ming’s plot to undermine Azura and seize the Martian throne.

Trip to Mars’ script wisely spreads its plot developments over the course of the serial, instead of introducing all its ideas in the first chapter and letting them tread water until the final one: the Clay People aren’t introduced till the second chapter or the Forest People until the sixth, while Prince Barin first arrives in Chapter Seven. The Nitron Lamp is destroyed in Chapter Nine and rebuilt over the course of the following chapters until it must be destroyed again at the climax, and one of the principal villains is killed off in Chapter Thirteen.

The cliffhangers aren’t quite as varied as in the first Flash serial, due to the lack of the various monsters that frequently attacked Flash for chapter-ending purposes in the earlier outing. However, writers still manage to avoid excessive repetition; for instance, while there are three chapter endings involving stratosled crashes, each one is set up differently–the first has Flash crashing a stratosled into another stratosled to stop it from bombing Dale and Happy, the second has a stratosled crashing on top of Flash and Zarkov, and the third has Flash and the pilots of a ’sled grapping for the controls as it soars towards yet another crash. There’s also an excellent cliffhanger in which Flash, Dale, Happy, and Zarkov are surrounded by an ever-narrowing ring of fire in the Forest People’s kingdom, and a memorably unusual one that has a hypnotized Dale stabbing an unsuspecting Flash in the back.

 

Though Trip to Mars has no swordfights or wrestling matches corresponding to those in Flash Gordon, it still features a nice variety of action scenes–including stratosled dogfights, fights among the vines and treetops of the Forest Kingdom, and chases through Azura’s big palace; the palace sequence in Chapter Five, which has the nimble Flash vaulting through windows to avoid the guards, is a particular standout. Directors Ford Beebe (a Universal serial veteran) and Robert Hill (a talented director who rarely escaped from low-budget independent serials and B-films) do a fine job of orchestrating these action scenes, assisted by stuntmen Eddie Parker (doubling Buster Crabbe), George DeNormand, Tom Steele, Bud Wolfe, and Jerry Frank. All of the aforementioned stuntmen, except Parker, also pop up in minor acting roles.

The performances in Trip to Mars are all first-rate; the returning actors from the first serial are all just as good as they were in Flash Gordon, while the new major players fit in smoothly. Buster Crabbe’s Flash is just as tough, chipper, athletic, and likable as in the first serial–and a good deal more wise and resourceful than before, improvising strategy and coming up with plans in tough situations instead of just trying to batter his way out. Frank Shannon’s Zarkov, as consequence of Flash’s new-found intelligence, has a reduced part, not guiding the good guys’ actions as he did in the first serial; he still functions as the scientific brains of the group, though, and is still as intense, serious, and sincere as before.

Jean Rogers, with her long blonde hair bobbed and dyed brown to better match the comic-strip version of Dale Arden (she’s also dressed in less arresting fashion), isn’t as stunning as in Flash Gordon, but is still a warm, welcome, and lovely presence. Her part here is smaller than in the first serial, though, since Ming is not romantically interested in her this time out (Ming, though no gentleman, evidently prefers blondes). Richard Alexander’s Prince Barin is a lot more self-assured when it comes to delivering dialogue this time around (helped, no doubt, by the absence of any overly high-flown lines), while his convincingly royal bearing and his commanding size are as effective as before.

Charles Middleton’s Ming is even more entertainingly sinister here than he was in Flash Gordon, getting a good deal more screen time and given a more devilish appearance by a notably forked beard. Though still given opportunities to break into tyrannical and bloodthirsty rages (particularly in his insane rant in the final chapter), Middleton spends much of the serial displaying duplicity and sly subtlety instead, since his Ming must pretend to friendship with Azura even while plotting against her. Middleton carries off this slightly more multi-faceted version of Ming masterfully, winning a few laughs with his crafty cynicism while remaining thoroughly sinister and hateful.

 

Beatrice Roberts does a fine job as Queen Azura, eschewing the sneering, aggressive demeanor of other serial villainesses for a regal, dignified manner (with a wryly humorous undercurrent) that contrasts interestingly with her often cruel behavior. Her Azura comes off as selfish and ruthless, but not an abusive tyrant like Ming. Donald Kerr as reporter Happy Hapgood, the other principal new character, is as controversial among fans as most other serial comedy-relief characters are. Speaking for myself, though, I found him quite likable and entertaining; he provides an amusingly commonplace point-of-view towards the fantastic world of Mars and is never obtrusive, gratingly stupid, or obnoxious. Additionally, his character is allowed to be quite heroic and helpful when the chips are down, a far cry from one-dimensional cowardly “comic” pests like Sonny Ray in Perils of Pauline or Lee Ford in SOS Coast Guard.

Wheeler Oakman is very good as Tarnak, Ming’s wily lab assistant and co-conspirator against Azura. C. Montague Shaw, concealed under heavy makeup for most of the serial, conveys an impressive air of ruined dignity as the King of the Clay People and manages to seem both sinister and sympathetic at different times. Usual hero Kane Richmond brings appropriate depth of characterization to his key role as a Martian pilot, who proves instrumental in helping Flash overthrow Ming in the later chapters. Anthony Warde has a small part as Toran, king of the Forest People, but extracts as much snarling nastiness as possible from the role. Future director Thomas Carr is his second-in-command, Kenne Duncan is the officer in charge of Azura’s airdrome, Lane Chandler and Jack Mulhall both appear as pilots of her Death Squadron, and Warner Richmond has a small role as one of Ming’s palace cohorts.

 

Hooper Atchley and James Blaine pop up as self-important Earth scientists, propounding ingenious and inaccurate theories as to the causes of the damage brought about by the Nitron Lamp, while Edwin Stanley is the general presiding over a council comprised of these two and additional savants. Louis Merrill (a radio actor who played character roles in several feature films) has a brief but memorable turn as the blunt and slightly uncouth Dr. Metz, who alone among the scientists has the humility to admit that Zarkov is the only one capable of unravelling the riddle of the disasters. Merrill’s characterization is so vivid that one wishes the actor had taken a larger part in this chapterplay or in other serials.

Flash Gordon’s Trip to Mars is a nearly ideal sequel, in that it manages to preserve the basic strengths of its predecessor while deviating from it in some areas and improving on it in others. It’s also a nearly ideal serial, independent of its relation to the earlier Flash Gordon; it balances good acting, atmosphere, action, and plotting in such fine style that it would still be a notable achievement if it were the sole entry in the Flash Gordon series.

  

Flash, Dale, and Dr. Zarkov return from their former space adventures only to find that their enemy, Ming the Merciless of planet Mongo, has a new weapon: a deadly ray that crosses space to wreak havoc on earth. Earth's only hope is for our heroes to take off again and stop the ray at its source on Mars, where they (and a stowaway) familiar to sci-fi serial fans as Happy Hapgood the space traveling reporter). Must battle Ming's ally, Queen Azura, who turns her enemies into lumpish clay people.With the aid of the Clay People and Prince Barin, Flash and his friends are triumphant in destroying the ray and putting an end to the scheme of Ming the Merciless. Can they survive 15 chapters of deadly perils? Find out next week...

The Deadly Ray From Mars was an edited version of the 1938 Universal serial "Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars" that was released to TV in a syndication package in 1966.

Mars Attacks the World was the feature version of the 1938 serial titled Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars. aka "Space Soldiers' Trip to Mars" - USA (TV title)

Mars Attacks the World is the feature compilation version of the serial Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars, while Rocket Ship is the the feature compilation of the serial Flash Gordon.

Jean Rogers as Dale Arden

Charles Middelton as Emperor Ming

Frank Shannon as Dr. Zarkov

Beatrice Roberts as Queen Azura

Richard Alexander as Prince Barin

Montague Shaw as The Clay King

Donald Kerr as Happy Hapgood the space traveling reporter.

The title of this serial was originally going to be "Flash Gordon and the Witch Queen of Mongo." It was changed so that Universal could save money by shooting the outdoor scenes on the back lot and not have to build costly sets, and by reusing the set for Emperor Ming's palace.

In the stock footage from Flash Gordon, shown in this film, as Flash is telling The Clay People about his previous encounter with Emperor Ming, Ming is bald and Dale Arden has blond hair. In this sequel, Ming has "pasted on" hair and Dale is a brunette. It has been reported that Jean Rogers (Dale Arden) had many other film roles pending at that time (1938) which had called for her to portray a brunette.

King Features Syndicate released the 3 Flash Gordon serials as well as "Buck Rogers," Red Barry", "Ace Drummond" and other comic strip cliffhangers to US TV in 1951. Because the television show Flash Gordon, starring Steve Holland as Flash, was in syndication in late 1953, the three Universal Pictures Flash Gordon theatrical serials were retitled for TV broadcast. Flash Gordon became "Space Soldiers", Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars became "Space Soldiers' Trip to Mars", and Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe became "Space Soldiers Conquer the Universe". To this day both the 3 original "Flash Gordon" serial titles and the 3 "Space Soldiers" titles are used.

Chapter Titles:

1. New Worlds To Conquer

2. The Living Dead

3. Queen of Magic

4. Ancient Enemies

5. The Boomerang

6. Treemen of Mars

7. Prisoner of Monga

8. Black Sapphire of Kalu

9. Symbol of Death

10. Incense of Forgetfulness

11. Human Bait

12. Ming the Merciless

13. Miracle of Magic

14. Beasts at Bay

15. An Eyes For An Eye

  

Varosha - Maras is the southern quarter of the Famagusta, a de jure territory of Cyprus, currently under the control of Northern Cyprus. Varosha has a population of 226 in the 2011 Northern Cyprus census. The area of Varosha is 6.19 km2 (2.39 sq mi).

 

The name of Varosha derives from the Turkish word varoş (Ottoman Turkish: واروش, 'suburb'). The place where Varosha is located now was empty fields in which animals grazed.

 

In the early 1970s, Famagusta was the number-one tourist destination in Cyprus. To cater to the increasing number of tourists, many new high-rise buildings and hotels were constructed. During its heyday, Varosha was not only the number-one tourist destination in Cyprus, but between 1970 and 1974, it was one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world and was a favorite destination of such celebrities as Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Raquel Welch, and Brigitte Bardot.

 

Before 1974, Varosha was the modern tourist area of the Famagusta city. Its Greek Cypriot inhabitants fled during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, when the city of Famagusta came under Turkish control, and it has remained abandoned ever since. In 1984 a U.N. resolution called for the handover of the city to UN control and said that only the original inhabitants, who were forced out, could resettle in the town.

 

Entry to part of Varosha was opened to civilians in 2017.

 

In August 1974, the Turkish Army advanced as far as the Green Line, a UN-patrolled demilitarized zone between the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, and controlled and fenced Varosha. Just hours before the Greek Cypriot and Turkish armies met in combat on the streets of Famagusta, the entire Greek Cypriot population fled to Paralimni, Dherynia, and Larnaca, fearing a massacre. The evacuation was aided and orchestrated by the nearby British military base. Paralimni has since become the modern-day capital of the Famagusta province of Greek Cypriot-led Cyprus.

 

The Turkish Army has allowed the entry of only Turkish military and United Nations personnel since 2017.

 

One such settlement plan was the Annan Plan to reunify the island that provided for the return of Varosha to the original residents. But this was rejected by Greek Cypriots in a 2004 referendum. The UN Security Council Resolution 550 states that it "considers attempts to settle any part of Varosha by people other than its inhabitants as inadmissible and calls for the transfer of this area to the administration of the United Nations".

 

The European Court of Human Rights awarded between €100,000 and €8,000,000 to eight Greek Cypriots for being deprived of their homes and properties as a result of the 1974 invasion. The case was filed jointly by businessman Constantinos Lordos and others, with the principal judgement in the Lordos case dating back to November 2010. The court ruled that, in the case of eight of the applicants, Turkey had violated Article 1 of Protocol 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights on the right of peaceful enjoyment of one's possessions, and in the case of seven of the applicants, Turkey had violated Article 8 on the right to respect for private and family life.

 

In the absence of human habitation and maintenance, buildings continue to decay. Over time, parts of the city have begun to be reclaimed by nature as metal corrodes, windows are broken, and plants work their roots into the walls and pavement and grow wild in old window boxes. In 2014, the BBC reported that sea turtles were observed nesting on the beaches in the city.

 

During the Cyprus Missile Crisis (1997–1998), the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktaş, threatened to take over Varosha if the Cypriot government did not back down.

 

The main features of Varosha included John F. Kennedy Avenue, a street which ran from close to the port of Famagusta, through Varosha and parallel to Glossa beach. Along JFK Avenue, there were many well known high rise hotels including the King George Hotel, The Asterias Hotel, The Grecian Hotel, The Florida Hotel, and The Argo Hotel which was the favourite hotel of Elizabeth Taylor. The Argo Hotel is located near the end of JFK Avenue, looking towards Protaras and Fig Tree Bay. Another major street in Varosha was Leonidas (Greek: Λεωνίδας), a major street that came off JFK Avenue and headed west towards Vienna Corner. Leonidas was a major shopping and leisure street in Varosha, consisting of bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and a Toyota car dealership.

 

According to Greek Cypriots, 425 plots exist on the Varosha beach front, which extends from the Contandia hotel to the Golden Sands hotel. The complete number of plots in Varosha are 6082.

 

There are 281 cases of Greek Cypriots who filed to the Immovable Property Commission (IPC) of Northern Cyprus for compensation.

 

In 2020, Greek Cypriot Demetrios Hadjihambis filed a lawsuit seeking state compensation for financial losses.

 

The population of Varosha was 226 in the 2011 Northern Cyprus census.

 

In 2017, Varosha's beach was opened for the exclusive use of Turks (both Turkish Cypriots and Turkish nationals).

 

In 2019, the Government of Northern Cyprus announced it would open Varosha to settlement. On 14 November 2019, Ersin Tatar, the prime minister of Northern Cyprus, announced that Northern Cyprus aims to open Varosha by the end of 2020.

 

On 25 July 2019, Varosha Inventory Commission of Northern Cyprus started its inventory analysis on the buildings and other infrastructure in Varosha.

 

On 9 December 2019, Ibrahim Benter, the Director-General of the Turkish Cypriot EVKAF religious foundation's administration, declared all of Maraş/Varosha to be the property of EVKAF. Benter said "EVKAF can sign renting contracts with Greek Cypriots if they accept that the fenced-off town belongs to the Evkaf."

 

In 2019–20, inventory studies of buildings by the Government of Northern Cyprus were concluded. On 15 February 2020, the Turkish Bar Association organised a round table meeting at the Sandy Beach Hotel in Varosha, which was attended by Turkish officials (Vice President Fuat Oktay and Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gül), Turkish Cypriot officials, representatives of the Turkish Cypriot religious foundation Evkaf, and Turkish and Turkish Cypriot lawyers.

 

On 22 February 2020, Cyprus declared it would veto European Union funds to Turkish Cypriots if Varosha were opened to settlement.

 

On 6 October 2020, Ersin Tatar, the Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus, announced that the beach area of Varosha would reopen to the public on 8 October 2020. Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said Turkey fully supported the decision. The move came ahead of the 2020 Northern Cypriot presidential election, in which Tatar was a candidate. Deputy Prime Minister Kudret Özersay, who had worked on the reopening previously, said that this was not a full reopening of the area, that this was just a unilateral election stunt by Tatar. His People's Party withdrew from the Tatar cabinet, leading to the collapse of the Turkish Cypriot government. The EU's diplomatic chief condemned the plan and described it as a "serious violation" of the U.N. ceasefire agreement. In addition, he asked Turkey to stop this activity. The U.N. Secretary-General expressed concern over Turkey's decision.

 

On 8 October 2020, some parts of Varosha were opened from the Officers' Club of Turkish and Turkish Cypriot Army to the Golden Sands Hotel.

 

In November 2020, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Turkey's ambassador to Nicosia, visited Varosha. In addition, the main avenue in Varosha has been renamed after Semih Sancar, Chief of the General Staff of Turkey from 1973 to 1978, a period including the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus.

 

The European Parliament on 27 November, asked Turkey to reverse its decision to re-open part of Varosha and resume negotiations aimed at resolving the Cyprus problem on the basis of a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation and called on the European Union to impose sanctions against Turkey, if things do not change. Turkey rejected the resolution, adding that Turkey will continue to protect both its own rights and those of Turkish Cypriots. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus presidency also condemned the resolution.

 

On 20 July 2021, Tatar, the president of Northern Cyprus announced the start of the 2nd phase of the opening of Varosha. He encouraged Greek Cypriots to apply Immovable Property Commission of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus to claim their properties back if they have any such rights.

 

Bilal Aga Mosque, constructed in 1821 and taken out of service in 1974, was re-opened on 23 July 2021.

 

In response to a decision by the government of Turkish Cyprus, the presidential statement of the United Nations Security Council dated on 23 July said that settling any part of the abandoned Cypriot suburb of Varosha, "by people other than its inhabitants, is 'inadmissible'." The same day, Turkey rejected the presidential statement of the UNSC on Maras (Varosha), and said that these statements were based on Greek-Greek Cypriot propaganda, were groundless and unfounded claims, and inconsistent with the realities on the Island. On 24 July 2021, the presidency of Northern Cyprus condemned the presidential statement of the UNSC dated on 23 July, and stated that "We see and condemn it as an attempt to create an obstacle for the property-rights-holders in Varosha to achieve their rights".

 

By 1 January 2022, nearly 400,000 people had visited Varosha since its opening to civilians on 6 October 2020.

 

On 19 May 2022, Northern Cyprus opened a 600m long X 400m wide stretch of beach on the Golden Sands beach (from the King George Hotel to the Oceania Building) in Varosha for commercial use. Sun beds and umbrellas were installed.

 

UNFICYP said it would raise the decision taken by Turkish Cypriot authorities to open that stretch of beach in Varosha with the Security Council, spokesperson for the peacekeeping force Aleem Siddique said on Friday. The UN announced its "position on Varosha is unchanged and we are monitoring the situation closely".

 

In October 2022, the Turkish Cypriots announced that public institutions will be opened in the city.

 

In April 2023, Cleo Hotel, the 7-floor Golden Seaside Hotel, and the 3-star Aegean Hotel were purchased by a Turkish Cypriot businessman (from their Greek Cypriot owners) who will operate them within 2025.

 

On 10 August 2023, the Government of Northern Cyprus decided to construct a marina and tourist facility in Varosha.

 

Varosha was analyzed by Alan Weisman in his book The World Without Us as an example of the unstoppable power of nature.

 

Filmmaker Greek Cypriot Michael Cacoyannis described the city and interviewed its exiled citizens in the film Attilas '74, produced in 1975.

 

In 2021, the Belarusian group Main-De-Gloire dedicated a song to this city that has become a ghostly place.

 

Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a de facto state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. It is recognised only by Turkey, and its territory is considered by all other states to be part of the Republic of Cyprus.

 

Northern Cyprus extends from the tip of the Karpass Peninsula in the northeast to Morphou Bay, Cape Kormakitis and its westernmost point, the Kokkina exclave in the west. Its southernmost point is the village of Louroujina. A buffer zone under the control of the United Nations stretches between Northern Cyprus and the rest of the island and divides Nicosia, the island's largest city and capital of both sides.

 

A coup d'état in 1974, performed as part of an attempt to annex the island to Greece, prompted the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. This resulted in the eviction of much of the north's Greek Cypriot population, the flight of Turkish Cypriots from the south, and the partitioning of the island, leading to a unilateral declaration of independence by the north in 1983. Due to its lack of recognition, Northern Cyprus is heavily dependent on Turkey for economic, political and military support.

 

Attempts to reach a solution to the Cyprus dispute have been unsuccessful. The Turkish Army maintains a large force in Northern Cyprus with the support and approval of the TRNC government, while the Republic of Cyprus, the European Union as a whole, and the international community regard it as an occupation force. This military presence has been denounced in several United Nations Security Council resolutions.

 

Northern Cyprus is a semi-presidential, democratic republic with a cultural heritage incorporating various influences and an economy that is dominated by the services sector. The economy has seen growth through the 2000s and 2010s, with the GNP per capita more than tripling in the 2000s, but is held back by an international embargo due to the official closure of the ports in Northern Cyprus by the Republic of Cyprus. The official language is Turkish, with a distinct local dialect being spoken. The vast majority of the population consists of Sunni Muslims, while religious attitudes are mostly moderate and secular. Northern Cyprus is an observer state of ECO and OIC under the name "Turkish Cypriot State", PACE under the name "Turkish Cypriot Community", and Organization of Turkic States with its own name.

 

Several distinct periods of Cypriot intercommunal violence involving the two main ethnic communities, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, marked mid-20th century Cyprus. These included the Cyprus Emergency of 1955–59 during British rule, the post-independence Cyprus crisis of 1963–64, and the Cyprus crisis of 1967. Hostilities culminated in the 1974 de facto division of the island along the Green Line following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. The region has been relatively peaceful since then, but the Cyprus dispute has continued, with various attempts to solve it diplomatically having been generally unsuccessful.

 

Cyprus, an island lying in the eastern Mediterranean, hosted a population of Greeks and Turks (four-fifths and one-fifth, respectively), who lived under British rule in the late nineteenth-century and the first half of the twentieth-century. Christian Orthodox Church of Cyprus played a prominent political role among the Greek Cypriot community, a privilege that it acquired during the Ottoman Empire with the employment of the millet system, which gave the archbishop an unofficial ethnarch status.

 

The repeated rejections by the British of Greek Cypriot demands for enosis, union with Greece, led to armed resistance, organised by the National Organization of Cypriot Struggle, or EOKA. EOKA, led by the Greek-Cypriot commander George Grivas, systematically targeted British colonial authorities. One of the effects of EOKA's campaign was to alter the Turkish position from demanding full reincorporation into Turkey to a demand for taksim (partition). EOKA's mission and activities caused a "Cretan syndrome" (see Turkish Resistance Organisation) within the Turkish Cypriot community, as its members feared that they would be forced to leave the island in such a case as had been the case with Cretan Turks. As such, they preferred the continuation of British colonial rule and then taksim, the division of the island. Due to the Turkish Cypriots' support for the British, EOKA's leader, Georgios Grivas, declared them to be enemies. The fact that the Turks were a minority was, according to Nihat Erim, to be addressed by the transfer of thousands of Turks from mainland Turkey so that Greek Cypriots would cease to be the majority. When Erim visited Cyprus as the Turkish representative, he was advised by Field Marshal Sir John Harding, the then Governor of Cyprus, that Turkey should send educated Turks to settle in Cyprus.

 

Turkey actively promoted the idea that on the island of Cyprus two distinctive communities existed, and sidestepped its former claim that "the people of Cyprus were all Turkish subjects". In doing so, Turkey's aim to have self-determination of two to-be equal communities in effect led to de jure partition of the island.[citation needed] This could be justified to the international community against the will of the majority Greek population of the island. Dr. Fazil Küçük in 1954 had already proposed Cyprus be divided in two at the 35° parallel.

 

Lindley Dan, from Notre Dame University, spotted the roots of intercommunal violence to different visions among the two communities of Cyprus (enosis for Greek Cypriots, taksim for Turkish Cypriots). Also, Lindlay wrote that "the merging of church, schools/education, and politics in divisive and nationalistic ways" had played a crucial role in creation of havoc in Cyprus' history. Attalides Michael also pointed to the opposing nationalisms as the cause of the Cyprus problem.

 

By the mid-1950's, the "Cyprus is Turkish" party, movement, and slogan gained force in both Cyprus and Turkey. In a 1954 editorial, Turkish Cypriot leader Dr. Fazil Kuchuk expressed the sentiment that the Turkish youth had grown up with the idea that "as soon as Great Britain leaves the island, it will be taken over by the Turks", and that "Turkey cannot tolerate otherwise". This perspective contributed to the willingness of Turkish Cypriots to align themselves with the British, who started recruiting Turkish Cypriots into the police force that patrolled Cyprus to fight EOKA, a Greek Cypriot nationalist organisation that sought to rid the island of British rule.

 

EOKA targeted colonial authorities, including police, but Georgios Grivas, the leader of EOKA, did not initially wish to open up a new front by fighting Turkish Cypriots and reassured them that EOKA would not harm their people. In 1956, some Turkish Cypriot policemen were killed by EOKA members and this provoked some intercommunal violence in the spring and summer, but these attacks on policemen were not motivated by the fact that they were Turkish Cypriots.

 

However, in January 1957, Grivas changed his policy as his forces in the mountains became increasingly pressured by the British Crown forces. In order to divert the attention of the Crown forces, EOKA members started to target Turkish Cypriot policemen intentionally in the towns, so that Turkish Cypriots would riot against the Greek Cypriots and the security forces would have to be diverted to the towns to restore order. The killing of a Turkish Cypriot policeman on 19 January, when a power station was bombed, and the injury of three others, provoked three days of intercommunal violence in Nicosia. The two communities targeted each other in reprisals, at least one Greek Cypriot was killed and the British Army was deployed in the streets. Greek Cypriot stores were burned and their neighbourhoods attacked. Following the events, the Greek Cypriot leadership spread the propaganda that the riots had merely been an act of Turkish Cypriot aggression. Such events created chaos and drove the communities apart both in Cyprus and in Turkey.

 

On 22 October 1957 Sir Hugh Mackintosh Foot replaced Sir John Harding as the British Governor of Cyprus. Foot suggested five to seven years of self-government before any final decision. His plan rejected both enosis and taksim. The Turkish Cypriot response to this plan was a series of anti-British demonstrations in Nicosia on 27 and 28 January 1958 rejecting the proposed plan because the plan did not include partition. The British then withdrew the plan.

 

In 1957, Black Gang, a Turkish Cypriot pro-taksim paramilitary organisation, was formed to patrol a Turkish Cypriot enclave, the Tahtakale district of Nicosia, against activities of EOKA. The organisation later attempted to grow into a national scale, but failed to gain public support.

 

By 1958, signs of dissatisfaction with the British increased on both sides, with a group of Turkish Cypriots forming Volkan (later renamed to the Turkish Resistance Organisation) paramilitary group to promote partition and the annexation of Cyprus to Turkey as dictated by the Menderes plan. Volkan initially consisted of roughly 100 members, with the stated aim of raising awareness in Turkey of the Cyprus issue and courting military training and support for Turkish Cypriot fighters from the Turkish government.

 

In June 1958, the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, was expected to propose a plan to resolve the Cyprus issue. In light of the new development, the Turks rioted in Nicosia to promote the idea that Greek and Turkish Cypriots could not live together and therefore any plan that did not include partition would not be viable. This violence was soon followed by bombing, Greek Cypriot deaths and looting of Greek Cypriot-owned shops and houses. Greek and Turkish Cypriots started to flee mixed population villages where they were a minority in search of safety. This was effectively the beginning of the segregation of the two communities. On 7 June 1958, a bomb exploded at the entrance of the Turkish Embassy in Cyprus. Following the bombing, Turkish Cypriots looted Greek Cypriot properties. On 26 June 1984, the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktaş, admitted on British channel ITV that the bomb was placed by the Turks themselves in order to create tension. On 9 January 1995, Rauf Denktaş repeated his claim to the famous Turkish newspaper Milliyet in Turkey.

 

The crisis reached a climax on 12 June 1958, when eight Greeks, out of an armed group of thirty five arrested by soldiers of the Royal Horse Guards on suspicion of preparing an attack on the Turkish quarter of Skylloura, were killed in a suspected attack by Turkish Cypriot locals, near the village of Geunyeli, having been ordered to walk back to their village of Kondemenos.

 

After the EOKA campaign had begun, the British government successfully began to turn the Cyprus issue from a British colonial problem into a Greek-Turkish issue. British diplomacy exerted backstage influence on the Adnan Menderes government, with the aim of making Turkey active in Cyprus. For the British, the attempt had a twofold objective. The EOKA campaign would be silenced as quickly as possible, and Turkish Cypriots would not side with Greek Cypriots against the British colonial claims over the island, which would thus remain under the British. The Turkish Cypriot leadership visited Menderes to discuss the Cyprus issue. When asked how the Turkish Cypriots should respond to the Greek Cypriot claim of enosis, Menderes replied: "You should go to the British foreign minister and request the status quo be prolonged, Cyprus to remain as a British colony". When the Turkish Cypriots visited the British Foreign Secretary and requested for Cyprus to remain a colony, he replied: "You should not be asking for colonialism at this day and age, you should be asking for Cyprus be returned to Turkey, its former owner".

 

As Turkish Cypriots began to look to Turkey for protection, Greek Cypriots soon understood that enosis was extremely unlikely. The Greek Cypriot leader, Archbishop Makarios III, now set independence for the island as his objective.

 

Britain resolved to solve the dispute by creating an independent Cyprus. In 1959, all involved parties signed the Zurich Agreements: Britain, Turkey, Greece, and the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders, Makarios and Dr. Fazil Kucuk, respectively. The new constitution drew heavily on the ethnic composition of the island. The President would be a Greek Cypriot, and the Vice-President a Turkish Cypriot with an equal veto. The contribution to the public service would be set at a ratio of 70:30, and the Supreme Court would consist of an equal number of judges from both communities as well as an independent judge who was not Greek, Turkish or British. The Zurich Agreements were supplemented by a number of treaties. The Treaty of Guarantee stated that secession or union with any state was forbidden, and that Greece, Turkey and Britain would be given guarantor status to intervene if that was violated. The Treaty of Alliance allowed for two small Greek and Turkish military contingents to be stationed on the island, and the Treaty of Establishment gave Britain sovereignty over two bases in Akrotiri and Dhekelia.

 

On 15 August 1960, the Colony of Cyprus became fully independent as the Republic of Cyprus. The new republic remained within the Commonwealth of Nations.

 

The new constitution brought dissatisfaction to Greek Cypriots, who felt it to be highly unjust for them for historical, demographic and contributional reasons. Although 80% of the island's population were Greek Cypriots and these indigenous people had lived on the island for thousands of years and paid 94% of taxes, the new constitution was giving the 17% of the population that was Turkish Cypriots, who paid 6% of taxes, around 30% of government jobs and 40% of national security jobs.

 

Within three years tensions between the two communities in administrative affairs began to show. In particular disputes over separate municipalities and taxation created a deadlock in government. A constitutional court ruled in 1963 Makarios had failed to uphold article 173 of the constitution which called for the establishment of separate municipalities for Turkish Cypriots. Makarios subsequently declared his intention to ignore the judgement, resulting in the West German judge resigning from his position. Makarios proposed thirteen amendments to the constitution, which would have had the effect of resolving most of the issues in the Greek Cypriot favour. Under the proposals, the President and Vice-President would lose their veto, the separate municipalities as sought after by the Turkish Cypriots would be abandoned, the need for separate majorities by both communities in passing legislation would be discarded and the civil service contribution would be set at actual population ratios (82:18) instead of the slightly higher figure for Turkish Cypriots.

 

The intention behind the amendments has long been called into question. The Akritas plan, written in the height of the constitutional dispute by the Greek Cypriot interior minister Polycarpos Georkadjis, called for the removal of undesirable elements of the constitution so as to allow power-sharing to work. The plan envisaged a swift retaliatory attack on Turkish Cypriot strongholds should Turkish Cypriots resort to violence to resist the measures, stating "In the event of a planned or staged Turkish attack, it is imperative to overcome it by force in the shortest possible time, because if we succeed in gaining command of the situation (in one or two days), no outside, intervention would be either justified or possible." Whether Makarios's proposals were part of the Akritas plan is unclear, however it remains that sentiment towards enosis had not completely disappeared with independence. Makarios described independence as "a step on the road to enosis".[31] Preparations for conflict were not entirely absent from Turkish Cypriots either, with right wing elements still believing taksim (partition) the best safeguard against enosis.

 

Greek Cypriots however believe the amendments were a necessity stemming from a perceived attempt by Turkish Cypriots to frustrate the working of government. Turkish Cypriots saw it as a means to reduce their status within the state from one of co-founder to that of minority, seeing it as a first step towards enosis. The security situation deteriorated rapidly.

 

Main articles: Bloody Christmas (1963) and Battle of Tillyria

An armed conflict was triggered after December 21, 1963, a period remembered by Turkish Cypriots as Bloody Christmas, when a Greek Cypriot policemen that had been called to help deal with a taxi driver refusing officers already on the scene access to check the identification documents of his customers, took out his gun upon arrival and shot and killed the taxi driver and his partner. Eric Solsten summarised the events as follows: "a Greek Cypriot police patrol, ostensibly checking identification documents, stopped a Turkish Cypriot couple on the edge of the Turkish quarter. A hostile crowd gathered, shots were fired, and two Turkish Cypriots were killed."

 

In the morning after the shooting, crowds gathered in protest in Northern Nicosia, likely encouraged by the TMT, without incident. On the evening of the 22nd, gunfire broke out, communication lines to the Turkish neighbourhoods were cut, and the Greek Cypriot police occupied the nearby airport. On the 23rd, a ceasefire was negotiated, but did not hold. Fighting, including automatic weapons fire, between Greek and Turkish Cypriots and militias increased in Nicosia and Larnaca. A force of Greek Cypriot irregulars led by Nikos Sampson entered the Nicosia suburb of Omorphita and engaged in heavy firing on armed, as well as by some accounts unarmed, Turkish Cypriots. The Omorphita clash has been described by Turkish Cypriots as a massacre, while this view has generally not been acknowledged by Greek Cypriots.

 

Further ceasefires were arranged between the two sides, but also failed. By Christmas Eve, the 24th, Britain, Greece, and Turkey had joined talks, with all sides calling for a truce. On Christmas day, Turkish fighter jets overflew Nicosia in a show of support. Finally it was agreed to allow a force of 2,700 British soldiers to help enforce a ceasefire. In the next days, a "buffer zone" was created in Nicosia, and a British officer marked a line on a map with green ink, separating the two sides of the city, which was the beginning of the "Green Line". Fighting continued across the island for the next several weeks.

 

In total 364 Turkish Cypriots and 174 Greek Cypriots were killed during the violence. 25,000 Turkish Cypriots from 103-109 villages fled and were displaced into enclaves and thousands of Turkish Cypriot houses were ransacked or completely destroyed.

 

Contemporary newspapers also reported on the forceful exodus of the Turkish Cypriots from their homes. According to The Times in 1964, threats, shootings and attempts of arson were committed against the Turkish Cypriots to force them out of their homes. The Daily Express wrote that "25,000 Turks have already been forced to leave their homes". The Guardian reported a massacre of Turks at Limassol on 16 February 1964.

 

Turkey had by now readied its fleet and its fighter jets appeared over Nicosia. Turkey was dissuaded from direct involvement by the creation of a United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) in 1964. Despite the negotiated ceasefire in Nicosia, attacks on the Turkish Cypriot persisted, particularly in Limassol. Concerned about the possibility of a Turkish invasion, Makarios undertook the creation of a Greek Cypriot conscript-based army called the "National Guard". A general from Greece took charge of the army, whilst a further 20,000 well-equipped officers and men were smuggled from Greece into Cyprus. Turkey threatened to intervene once more, but was prevented by a strongly worded letter from the American President Lyndon B. Johnson, anxious to avoid a conflict between NATO allies Greece and Turkey at the height of the Cold War.

 

Turkish Cypriots had by now established an important bridgehead at Kokkina, provided with arms, volunteers and materials from Turkey and abroad. Seeing this incursion of foreign weapons and troops as a major threat, the Cypriot government invited George Grivas to return from Greece as commander of the Greek troops on the island and launch a major attack on the bridgehead. Turkey retaliated by dispatching its fighter jets to bomb Greek positions, causing Makarios to threaten an attack on every Turkish Cypriot village on the island if the bombings did not cease. The conflict had now drawn in Greece and Turkey, with both countries amassing troops on their Thracian borders. Efforts at mediation by Dean Acheson, a former U.S. Secretary of State, and UN-appointed mediator Galo Plaza had failed, all the while the division of the two communities becoming more apparent. Greek Cypriot forces were estimated at some 30,000, including the National Guard and the large contingent from Greece. Defending the Turkish Cypriot enclaves was a force of approximately 5,000 irregulars, led by a Turkish colonel, but lacking the equipment and organisation of the Greek forces.

 

The Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1964, U Thant, reported the damage during the conflicts:

 

UNFICYP carried out a detailed survey of all damage to properties throughout the island during the disturbances; it shows that in 109 villages, most of them Turkish-Cypriot or mixed villages, 527 houses have been destroyed while 2,000 others have suffered damage from looting.

 

The situation worsened in 1967, when a military junta overthrew the democratically elected government of Greece, and began applying pressure on Makarios to achieve enosis. Makarios, not wishing to become part of a military dictatorship or trigger a Turkish invasion, began to distance himself from the goal of enosis. This caused tensions with the junta in Greece as well as George Grivas in Cyprus. Grivas's control over the National Guard and Greek contingent was seen as a threat to Makarios's position, who now feared a possible coup.[citation needed] The National Guard and Cyprus Police began patrolling the Turkish Cypriot enclaves of Ayios Theodoros and Kophinou, and on November 15 engaged in heavy fighting with the Turkish Cypriots.

 

By the time of his withdrawal 26 Turkish Cypriots had been killed. Turkey replied with an ultimatum demanding that Grivas be removed from the island, that the troops smuggled from Greece in excess of the limits of the Treaty of Alliance be removed, and that the economic blockades on the Turkish Cypriot enclaves be lifted. Grivas was recalled by the Athens Junta and the 12,000 Greek troops were withdrawn. Makarios now attempted to consolidate his position by reducing the number of National Guard troops, and by creating a paramilitary force loyal to Cypriot independence. In 1968, acknowledging that enosis was now all but impossible, Makarios stated, "A solution by necessity must be sought within the limits of what is feasible which does not always coincide with the limits of what is desirable."

 

After 1967 tensions between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots subsided. Instead, the main source of tension on the island came from factions within the Greek Cypriot community. Although Makarios had effectively abandoned enosis in favour of an 'attainable solution', many others continued to believe that the only legitimate political aspiration for Greek Cypriots was union with Greece.

 

On his arrival, Grivas began by establishing a nationalist paramilitary group known as the National Organization of Cypriot Fighters (Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston B or EOKA-B), drawing comparisons with the EOKA struggle for enosis under the British colonial administration of the 1950s.

 

The military junta in Athens saw Makarios as an obstacle. Makarios's failure to disband the National Guard, whose officer class was dominated by mainland Greeks, had meant the junta had practical control over the Cypriot military establishment, leaving Makarios isolated and a vulnerable target.

 

During the first Turkish invasion, Turkish troops invaded Cyprus territory on 20 July 1974, invoking its rights under the Treaty of Guarantee. This expansion of Turkish-occupied zone violated International Law as well as the Charter of the United Nations. Turkish troops managed to capture 3% of the island which was accompanied by the burning of the Turkish Cypriot quarter, as well as the raping and killing of women and children. A temporary cease-fire followed which was mitigated by the UN Security Council. Subsequently, the Greek military Junta collapsed on July 23, 1974, and peace talks commenced in which a democratic government was installed. The Resolution 353 was broken after Turkey attacked a second time and managed to get a hold of 37% of Cyprus territory. The Island of Cyprus was appointed a Buffer Zone by the United Nations, which divided the island into two zones through the 'Green Line' and put an end to the Turkish invasion. Although Turkey announced that the occupied areas of Cyprus to be called the Federated Turkish State in 1975, it is not legitimised on a worldwide political scale. The United Nations called for the international recognition of independence for the Republic of Cyprus in the Security Council Resolution 367.

 

In the years after the Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus one can observe a history of failed talks between the two parties. The 1983 declaration of the independent Turkish Republic of Cyprus resulted in a rise of inter-communal tensions and made it increasingly hard to find mutual understanding. With Cyprus' interest of a possible EU membership and a new UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 1997 new hopes arose for a fresh start. International involvement from sides of the US and UK, wanting a solution to the Cyprus dispute prior to the EU accession led to political pressures for new talks. The believe that an accession without a solution would threaten Greek-Turkish relations and acknowledge the partition of the island would direct the coming negotiations.

 

Over the course of two years a concrete plan, the Annan plan was formulated. In 2004 the fifth version agreed upon from both sides and with the endorsement of Turkey, US, UK and EU then was presented to the public and was given a referendum in both Cypriot communities to assure the legitimisation of the resolution. The Turkish Cypriots voted with 65% for the plan, however the Greek Cypriots voted with a 76% majority against. The Annan plan contained multiple important topics. Firstly it established a confederation of two separate states called the United Cyprus Republic. Both communities would have autonomous states combined under one unified government. The members of parliament would be chosen according to the percentage in population numbers to ensure a just involvement from both communities. The paper proposed a demilitarisation of the island over the next years. Furthermore it agreed upon a number of 45000 Turkish settlers that could remain on the island. These settlers became a very important issue concerning peace talks. Originally the Turkish government encouraged Turks to settle in Cyprus providing transfer and property, to establish a counterpart to the Greek Cypriot population due to their 1 to 5 minority. With the economic situation many Turkish-Cypriot decided to leave the island, however their departure is made up by incoming Turkish settlers leaving the population ratio between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots stable. However all these points where criticised and as seen in the vote rejected mainly by the Greek Cypriots. These name the dissolution of the „Republic of Cyprus", economic consequences of a reunion and the remaining Turkish settlers as reason. Many claim that the plan was indeed drawing more from Turkish-Cypriot demands then Greek-Cypriot interests. Taking in consideration that the US wanted to keep Turkey as a strategic partner in future Middle Eastern conflicts.

 

A week after the failed referendum the Republic of Cyprus joined the EU. In multiple instances the EU tried to promote trade with Northern Cyprus but without internationally recognised ports this spiked a grand debate. Both side endure their intention of negotiations, however without the prospect of any new compromises or agreements the UN is unwilling to start the process again. Since 2004 negotiations took place in numbers but without any results, both sides are strongly holding on to their position without an agreeable solution in sight that would suit both parties.

She saw her grandfather's revoked citizenship document ...stamped with the nazi swastika.

(Considering distances between freedoms and fascism.)

 

This is also part of a dialogue & collaboration with Craig Ross, "juju games (orchestrator/orchestrated)"...

www.flickr.com/photos/purpleye2/7883081188/in/photostream

Tombstone of Ralph Scott McCreath (April 27, 1919 - May 2, 1997). Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto, Canada. Summer morning, 2022. Pentax K1 II.

 

From The Globe and Mail, May 26, 1997, page A18

 

Lives Lived

RALPH SCOTT MCCREATH

Champion figure skater, Olympic skating judge, corporate lawyer, army major, founding member of the Olympic Trust. Born in Toronto on April 27, 1919; died in Toronto on May 2, 1997, of complications from a stroke, aged 79.

 

Ralph McCreath had bags of charm. He could command respect just by being in a room. Tall and stalwart, he had a magnetism that beguiled figure-skating judges, his peers in international corporate law, and a host of children who called him Uncle Wiggley, after one of his favourite childhood stories.

 

He grew up in Toronto's Moore Park neighbourhood, where his pastimes included slinging mudballs at friends, and then defending himself with garbage can lids. At North Toronto Collegiate, he was an outstanding athlete. As a figure skater he was without equal, winning 13 Canadian and three North American championships in any discipline he tried: singles, pairs, fours, ice-dancing. "People today don't realize how really good he was," says Donald Gilchrist, who finished second to him a few times in the 1940's.

 

McCreath had the highest and longest jumps ever seen, according to Nigel Stephens, the 1945 Canadian men's champion. Although he had been a daunting 40 points behind the American Eugene Turner after compulsory figures at the 1941 North American championship, McCreath used powerful jumps to advantage in the freeskate. When McCreath skated to his specially orchestrated, live music that suddenly ceased when he jumped, "the crowd went wild." according to Stephens. McCreath won.

 

McCreath qualified for the 1940 Olympic Games, but when the Second World War erupted, they were cancelled. McCreath never spoke of his disappointment. He enlisted in the 48th Highlanders of Canada, serving in Europe and North Africa, and rising to the rank of major in the tank corps at the age of 25. Although he saw fierce action, he didn't talk about it: "There are some stories that don't need to be told," he said.

 

After the war, he strapped on his skates -- for the first time in five years -- a few months before the Canadian figure-skating championship, and won the men's event. "It was amazing," Stephens says. Also in the postwar years, he graduated from Osgoode Hall law school in 1949.

 

If McCreath wasn't able to make it to the Olympics as a skater, he did as a judge -- four times. He also judged six world championships. Stephens says, "He talked to [the skaters] as equals. He was always interested in young people."

 

One youngster he took under his wing was the 1948 Olympic champion Barbara Ann Scott-King, who calls McCreath her "absolute hero." For dips in the lake during summer training, McCreath wore leopard swimming trunks that made a lasting impression on her. "He was Tarzan until the day he died, to me."

 

McCreath was left with four children -- James, Martin, Paul, and Michelle -- after his first wife, Myrtle, died in 1968. His sons never owned figure skates; he let them find their own paths. He raised them on Uncle Wiggley tales and a favourite song: I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts.

 

Music was central to his life. He plunked away on something he called the gutbucket with such skill that his trio, dressed in tails, performed at the Royal York Hotel. The gutbucket was a washtub, a broom and a size No. 6 cord from a venetian blind. It worked, too, bellowing out mellow notes similar to those of a base violin.

 

He counted among his friends the flugelhornist Guido Basso, who played at his funeral; vibraphonist Peter Appleyard, and the late pianist, Hagood Hardy, who wrote a song for McCreath for his 70th surprise birthday party, engineered by McCreath's second wife, Anna. He played the piano and organ by ear, gathering the family around for his renditions of the The Sound of Music or Camelot.

 

And his life was full. He served as a hands-on director on boards for convicts' halfway houses. His concerns about the financial welfare of Olympic-bound athletes helped fashion the Olympic Trust of Canada. As a corporate lawyer, he was responsible for the deals that brought UPS to Canada.

 

And he enjoyed life on his farm in Primrose, Ont., raising sheep for their wool, hiring an Australian shepherd to look after them, and converting a barn on the property into a splendid home ringed by tennis court and pool.

 

Off the farm, at meetings, he was firm and decisive. "He didn't suffer fools gladly," his son James says, "But if you had something to say, he was readily impressed."

 

There was a certain strength about the man that enabled him to speak frankly with threatening, and act without hurting. Said Stephens: "He was outspoken, but softspoken."

 

---- Beverly Smith

Beverley Smith is The Globe's skating reporter.

  

The Beyond Broadway Experience 2016 presents

BRING IT ON: THE MUSICAL

 

Libretto by Jeff Whitty

Music by Tom Kitt & Lin-Manuel Miranda

Lyrics by Amanda Green & Lin-Manuel Miranda

Inspired by the Motion Picture Bring It On Written by Jessica Bendinger

Arrangements and Orchestrations Alex Lacamoire & Tom Kitt

Presented at the King’s Theatre, Edinburgh on 22nd and 23rd July 2016

www.beyond-broadway.com/productions/

Bald Eagle - (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) - Lawrencetown, Nova Scotia, Canada

 

A bald eagle flies over the water with its catch. I am not sure if this was freshly caught, or scavenged.

 

The eagle took off and flew with the fish to a more secure location away from the curious crows and ravens. As big and intimidating as the eagles are, they are no match for a well orchestrated corvid blitz.

 

Thanks for visiting!

The Uighurs are a very welcoming Muslim Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. About 7,2 millions of them live in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region at the western extremity of China. Though the Uyghur identity remains fragmented, Uyghur activists like Rebiya Kadeer mainly try to garner international support for the "rights and interests of the Uyghurs", including the right to demonstrate, although the Chinese government has accused her of orchestrating the deadly July 2009 Urumqi riots. Six Uyghur men were sentenced to death after the riots. Uyghurs are classified as a National Minority rather than an indigenous group and thus have no special rights to the land under the law. As a result of Han immigration and government policies, Uyghurs' freedoms of religion and of movement are curtailed. Tensions between Uyghurs and Han have resulted in several instances of violence and ethnic clashes.

 

© Eric Lafforgue

www.ericlafforgue.com

1940 - Margot Fonteyn as the Bride, the role she created, in the one act ballet 'The Wise Virgins'.

 

The ballet premièred on 24th April 1940 at Sadler's Well Theatre choreography by Frederick Ashton, to a score of music by Johann Sebastian Bach orchestrated by William Walton.

 

Programme: www.flickr.com/photos/w77t/31264026203/in/dateposted-public/

 

Born [Margaret Evelyn Hookham] on 18th May 1919 in Reigate, England and died on 21st Feb 1991 in Panama City, Panama.

 

Her debut was with the Vic-Wells Ballet in 1934 and initially danced under the name of Peggy Hookham then Margot Fontes, then Margot Fonteyn.

 

In the 1930s she and Robert Helpmann formed a very successful dance partnership and they dance together for 25 years.

 

Fonteyn was awarded a DBE in 1956.

 

Appointed prima ballerina assoluta of the Royal Ballet in 1979, as a gift for her 60th Birthday. The title was sanctioned by Queen Elizabeth II as patron of the company.

 

As a dancer she made her last appearance in Nureyev's 1979 summer season, and in Feb 1986 she appeared on stage for the last time as 'The Queen' in "The Sleeping Beauty".

 

The Meskel is one of the most important Ethiopian Orthodox festivals, celebrated each September. The legend has it that in the year 326, Queen Helena, the Mother of Constantine the Great, discovered the cross upon which Christ was crucified. Unable to find the Holy Sepulchre, she prayed for help and was directed by the smoke from a burning fire as to where the cross was buried. After unearthing the Holy Cross, Queen Helena lit torches heralding her success. On the first day of Meskel, called Demera, bonfires are built topped by a cross to which flowers are tied. The flowers are Meskel Daisies. The Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church orchestrates the lightening ceremony. After the bonfires are blessed they are lit and dancing and singing begins around them. Priests in full ceremonial dress sing around the bonfire. While the Demera is set on fire there is an inner feeling of brightness for all those who are around it. At the closing of the Demera, a rain shower is expected to fall to help put the fire out. If the rain falls and the fire is extinguished, there is a belief that the year will be prosperous. It was quite an experience having been able to attend and participate in this emotional ceremony. You could really sense the happiness from the crowd, and how proud everyone was of their heritage.

 

© 2014 Alex Stoen, All rights reserved.

 

No Group Invites/Graphics Please.

 

www.alexstoen.com

 

Follow me on 500px * Google+ * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram .

Much of our country’s early history was orchestrated in Boston and Philadelphia. The city of Boston contains the locations as well as the bodies of our early ancestors. While John Hancock has become famous mostly for his large flamboyant signature, now a euphemism for a signature, he was also a participant in the creation of our nation.

A beautiful maiden, draped in pristine white, her ebony curls cascading like silken tendrils, orchestrating a ballet with blades of grass beneath the verdant gaze of an ancient tree.

"The creative process, so far as we are able to follow it at all, consists in the unconscious activation of an archetypal image and elaborating and shaping the image into the finished work. By giving it shape, the artist translates it into the language of the present and so makes it possible for us to find our way back to the deepest springs of life."

- Carl Jung

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thecolbertreport.cc.com/guests/sting/yi8cxa/sting

 

Premik has performed in Rock for the Rainforest, a biennial benefit concert held by the Rainforest Foundation Fund and Rainforest Foundation US, hosted by the organizations' founders Sting and his wife Trudie Styler in 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014.

___

 

Premik Russell Tubbs

Performing in (House Band -flute, tenor sax & alto flute )

25th Anniversary of the Rainforest Fund Benefit Concert

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Carnegie Hall

Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage

7 PM

www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2014/4/17/0700/PM/25th-Anni...

 

www.showbiz411.com/2014/02/19/exclusive-sting-trudie-styl...

_________________

 

Premik solo in SINGING THE OCEANS ALIVE CONCERT with the ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

Fairfield Hall concert LONDON, ENGLAND APRIL 25, 2014

 

Premik solo with the London Royal Philharmonic performing "Apla Kathar."

The main melody was composed by Sri Chinmoy & orchestrated by Vapushtara Matthijs Jongepier.

YouTube:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbhReDbyIOY

 

High praise from Craig Pruess:

"The piece was excellent, thrilling even, very well orchestrated, and your playing was note perfect. An honor to work with you, my man." –Craig Pruess Composer, Musician, Arranger, and a Gold & Platinum Record Producer

www.heaven-on-earth-music.co.uk/

 

__________________________

 

Premik Russell Tubbs | The Music of Karl Jenkins | Carnegie Hall

MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY

Monday, January 19, 2015

Premik Russell Tubbs played "bansuri & ethnic flutes" in this concert. (Bansuri is an Indian bamboo flute).

 

nyconcertreview.com/reviews/distinguished-concerts-intern...

Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) presents The Music of Karl Jenkins in Review

 

www.karljenkins.com/

 

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New YouTube

High Spirits Native American Flutes

Double White Tail Key of "B" in Birch (B minor)

Red Tail Hawk w/ Turquoise Inlay – G – Walnut

 

SONG FOR WAKIYA

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LViBPfPrR90

 

Uli Geissendoerfer

www.ulimusic.com/home.html

Premik Russell Tubbs

www.premik.com/

 

____________________________

 

Premik Russell Tubbs performs solo, with his own 'Journey To Light Ensemble,' and with many others.

 

{ To be added to Premik's events mailing list send a request to premik@premik.com www.premik.com/contact/ }

 

Humankind has not woven the web of life; we are but one thread in it. What we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. –Chief Seattle (He may or may not have said this -either way I believe it holds truth).

 

“Music has to live under our fingers, under our eyes, in our hearts and in our brains with all that we, the living, can offer it.” -Dinu Lipatti!

 

www.reverbnation.com/premik

www.broadjam.com/premik

www.premik.com

New music coming soon

 

www.premik.com/recordings/discography/

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premik_Russell_Tubbs

________

 

Most recent recordings and projects:

 

In 2012 Premik recorded with 2011 Grammy nominee vocalist and composer Chandrika Krishnamurthy Tandon. 'Over 75 musicians came together to record the album in the US and India combining ancient traditional instruments like the rhumba, calypso, ektara, dugdugi and esraj with saxophone, banjo and piano to transcend musical boundaries.'

 

Sound Samples:

Amazon

www.amazon.com/Soul-March-Chandrika-Krishnamurthy-Tandon/...

CB Baby

www.cdbaby.com/cd/chandrikakrishnamurthyta2

Check out "JOG"

www.soulchants.com/

 

****

 

Recording projects in 2010-2012 with Grammy award-winning producer and founder of Windham Hill Records Will Ackerman include albums by Fiona Jay Hawkins, Shambhu, Dean Boland, Rebecca Harrold, Ronnda Cadle and Masako.

 

Will Ackerman: ...‘The criteria for who works here go way past simple talent. Imaginary Road is my home and I’m only letting wonderful people into my home. I don’t care how talented you are; if you’re not able to wear your heart on your sleeve don’t bother to turn up. We use Keith Carlock (Sting and Steeley Dan) as a drummer too along with Arron Sterling (John Mayer and Sheryl Crow). Only last year I met Premik Russel Tubbs who plays sax and wind synths for us.

 

‘Premik has become part of the family...'

www.newagemusicworld.com/will-ackerman-interview-new-in-2...

imaginaryroadstudios.com/

 

****

 

Premik recorded with Heidi Breyer and accompanied her at the ZMR Awards 2013, staged in New Orleans.

www.zonemusicreporter.com/admin/performers.asp

ZMR Awards 2013 -Best Instrumental Album – Piano - “Beyond the Turning” - Heidi Breyer - Winterhall Records, produced at Synchrosonic Productions by Grammy winner Corin Nelsen. www.heidibreyer.com/

 

****

New Age / Ambient / World Top 100 Radio Chart

ZoneMusicReporter.com

Top 100 Radio Play - #1 Top Recordings for January 2014

Title: Call of the Mountains - Artist: Masako

www.zonemusicreporter.com/charts/top100.asp

Premik plays wind synth on tracks 4 "Watching the Clouds", & 9 "Purple Indulgence".

 

****

Premik, in conjunction with jazz pianist Uli Geissendoerfer heads Bangalore Breakdown, an exciting, world music ensemble. They released their first CD, titled Diary, in 2008. In the words of noted Jazz author Bill Milkowski: Is it world music? Is it jazz? Is it some kind of new uncategorizable fusion that hasn’t yet been labeled?

Sound samples here: www.bangalorebreakdown.com/music.html

 

****

 

Premik and Uli Geissendoerfer released in 2014 their own collaborative duo CD titled Passport to 'Happyness' (yes, happiness with a 'y'') www.ulimusic.com

 

www.flickr.com/photos/42514297@N04/15543396956/

 

****

 

Premik will soon be featured in Carman Moore's Cd “Concerto for Ornette” in which Premik will play the orchestral solo saxophone part. Premik is also the featured saxophonist with SKYBAND on its recording of Carman Moore’s “DON AND BEA IN LOVE,” a fantasy concept album roughly about the intense Renaissance love between Dante and Beatrice which, in part, takes place in outer space! Carman Moore is a 2013 Guggenheim Fellowship winner. www.carmanmoore.com

 

****

 

Premik’s ‘Journey To Light Ensemble’

Sound is East/West, jazz., a journey....

With Premik Russell Tubbs (saxpohones, flutes, lap steel, wind synth),

www.premik.com

Dave Phelps (guitar),

www.davidphelpsguitar.com/

Leigh Stuart (cello),

leighstuart.com/about/

Nathan Peck (upright & electric bass),

www.alexskolnick.com/biography-nathan-peck/

Todd Isler (drums, percussion)

toddisler.com/

Naren Budakar (tabla)

www.sooryadance.com/html/Milan/naren.htm

Watch for a Journey To Light Ensemble album to be released in 2014

 

****

 

TriBeCaStan

Premik (saxophones, flutes, lap steel, wind synth)

tribecastan.tv/

 

TriBeCaStan's "Coal Again"- Cd Release 2014

www.flickr.com/photos/42514297@N04/15447303643/in/photost...

 

__________________

 

Contact/Listen

 

www.premik.com

www.facebook.com/premik.tubbs

www.reverbnation.com/premik

www.broadjam.com/premik

www.myspace.com/premik

www.emusic.com/album/premik/mission-transcendence/10884302/

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premik_Russell_Tubbs

__________________

 

Short Bio

 

World / Jazz / Experimental / Improv / East-West / Ambient / Pop

PREMIK RUSSELL TUBBS

 

Premik, a composer, arranger, producer and an accomplished multi-instrumentalist performs on various flutes, soprano, alto and tenor saxophones, wind synthesizers, and lap steel guitar.

 

Premik has worked with everyone from Carlos Santana, Whitney Houston, Herbie Hancock, John McLaughlin, Ravi Shankar, Narada Michael Walden, Clarence Clemons, Ornette Coleman, Jackson Browne, Jean-Luc Ponty, Lonnie Liston-Smith, Scarlet Riveria, James Taylor, Sting and Lady Gaga, just to name a few. He is equally adept in pop, R&B, jazz, world and experimental genres.

 

Sax solos on #1 Hits -: “How Will I Know” (Whitney Houston) and “Baby, Come To Me” (Regina Belle).

 

Premik's first major recording breakthrough was with John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra on the album“Visions of the Emerald Beyond.” Premik was a major part of the landmark Carlos Santana album "The Swing of Delight" which featured Herbie Hancock as co-arranger and co-musical director. Also featured were Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams, Ron Carter and several members of the Santana band.

 

www.premik.com/recordings/discography/

 

In 1978 Premik joined Carlos Santana on a six-week European tour as part of an opening act for the Santana Band called Devadip Oneness.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=beD58ordH08

"Gardenia" - DEVADIP European tour w/ Carlos Santana, Dec.'78 in Paris

 

www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=juVuh...

!978 Devidip Orchestra

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YouTube -DEVADIP CARLOS SANTANA ~~ HANNIBAL ~~ 1980

Russel Tubbs, saxo

Devadip Santana, guitar

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lv_jsp_43h0

 

Varosha - Maras is the southern quarter of the Famagusta, a de jure territory of Cyprus, currently under the control of Northern Cyprus. Varosha has a population of 226 in the 2011 Northern Cyprus census. The area of Varosha is 6.19 km2 (2.39 sq mi).

 

The name of Varosha derives from the Turkish word varoş (Ottoman Turkish: واروش, 'suburb'). The place where Varosha is located now was empty fields in which animals grazed.

 

In the early 1970s, Famagusta was the number-one tourist destination in Cyprus. To cater to the increasing number of tourists, many new high-rise buildings and hotels were constructed. During its heyday, Varosha was not only the number-one tourist destination in Cyprus, but between 1970 and 1974, it was one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world and was a favorite destination of such celebrities as Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Raquel Welch, and Brigitte Bardot.

 

Before 1974, Varosha was the modern tourist area of the Famagusta city. Its Greek Cypriot inhabitants fled during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, when the city of Famagusta came under Turkish control, and it has remained abandoned ever since. In 1984 a U.N. resolution called for the handover of the city to UN control and said that only the original inhabitants, who were forced out, could resettle in the town.

 

Entry to part of Varosha was opened to civilians in 2017.

 

In August 1974, the Turkish Army advanced as far as the Green Line, a UN-patrolled demilitarized zone between the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, and controlled and fenced Varosha. Just hours before the Greek Cypriot and Turkish armies met in combat on the streets of Famagusta, the entire Greek Cypriot population fled to Paralimni, Dherynia, and Larnaca, fearing a massacre. The evacuation was aided and orchestrated by the nearby British military base. Paralimni has since become the modern-day capital of the Famagusta province of Greek Cypriot-led Cyprus.

 

The Turkish Army has allowed the entry of only Turkish military and United Nations personnel since 2017.

 

One such settlement plan was the Annan Plan to reunify the island that provided for the return of Varosha to the original residents. But this was rejected by Greek Cypriots in a 2004 referendum. The UN Security Council Resolution 550 states that it "considers attempts to settle any part of Varosha by people other than its inhabitants as inadmissible and calls for the transfer of this area to the administration of the United Nations".

 

The European Court of Human Rights awarded between €100,000 and €8,000,000 to eight Greek Cypriots for being deprived of their homes and properties as a result of the 1974 invasion. The case was filed jointly by businessman Constantinos Lordos and others, with the principal judgement in the Lordos case dating back to November 2010. The court ruled that, in the case of eight of the applicants, Turkey had violated Article 1 of Protocol 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights on the right of peaceful enjoyment of one's possessions, and in the case of seven of the applicants, Turkey had violated Article 8 on the right to respect for private and family life.

 

In the absence of human habitation and maintenance, buildings continue to decay. Over time, parts of the city have begun to be reclaimed by nature as metal corrodes, windows are broken, and plants work their roots into the walls and pavement and grow wild in old window boxes. In 2014, the BBC reported that sea turtles were observed nesting on the beaches in the city.

 

During the Cyprus Missile Crisis (1997–1998), the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktaş, threatened to take over Varosha if the Cypriot government did not back down.

 

The main features of Varosha included John F. Kennedy Avenue, a street which ran from close to the port of Famagusta, through Varosha and parallel to Glossa beach. Along JFK Avenue, there were many well known high rise hotels including the King George Hotel, The Asterias Hotel, The Grecian Hotel, The Florida Hotel, and The Argo Hotel which was the favourite hotel of Elizabeth Taylor. The Argo Hotel is located near the end of JFK Avenue, looking towards Protaras and Fig Tree Bay. Another major street in Varosha was Leonidas (Greek: Λεωνίδας), a major street that came off JFK Avenue and headed west towards Vienna Corner. Leonidas was a major shopping and leisure street in Varosha, consisting of bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and a Toyota car dealership.

 

According to Greek Cypriots, 425 plots exist on the Varosha beach front, which extends from the Contandia hotel to the Golden Sands hotel. The complete number of plots in Varosha are 6082.

 

There are 281 cases of Greek Cypriots who filed to the Immovable Property Commission (IPC) of Northern Cyprus for compensation.

 

In 2020, Greek Cypriot Demetrios Hadjihambis filed a lawsuit seeking state compensation for financial losses.

 

The population of Varosha was 226 in the 2011 Northern Cyprus census.

 

In 2017, Varosha's beach was opened for the exclusive use of Turks (both Turkish Cypriots and Turkish nationals).

 

In 2019, the Government of Northern Cyprus announced it would open Varosha to settlement. On 14 November 2019, Ersin Tatar, the prime minister of Northern Cyprus, announced that Northern Cyprus aims to open Varosha by the end of 2020.

 

On 25 July 2019, Varosha Inventory Commission of Northern Cyprus started its inventory analysis on the buildings and other infrastructure in Varosha.

 

On 9 December 2019, Ibrahim Benter, the Director-General of the Turkish Cypriot EVKAF religious foundation's administration, declared all of Maraş/Varosha to be the property of EVKAF. Benter said "EVKAF can sign renting contracts with Greek Cypriots if they accept that the fenced-off town belongs to the Evkaf."

 

In 2019–20, inventory studies of buildings by the Government of Northern Cyprus were concluded. On 15 February 2020, the Turkish Bar Association organised a round table meeting at the Sandy Beach Hotel in Varosha, which was attended by Turkish officials (Vice President Fuat Oktay and Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gül), Turkish Cypriot officials, representatives of the Turkish Cypriot religious foundation Evkaf, and Turkish and Turkish Cypriot lawyers.

 

On 22 February 2020, Cyprus declared it would veto European Union funds to Turkish Cypriots if Varosha were opened to settlement.

 

On 6 October 2020, Ersin Tatar, the Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus, announced that the beach area of Varosha would reopen to the public on 8 October 2020. Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said Turkey fully supported the decision. The move came ahead of the 2020 Northern Cypriot presidential election, in which Tatar was a candidate. Deputy Prime Minister Kudret Özersay, who had worked on the reopening previously, said that this was not a full reopening of the area, that this was just a unilateral election stunt by Tatar. His People's Party withdrew from the Tatar cabinet, leading to the collapse of the Turkish Cypriot government. The EU's diplomatic chief condemned the plan and described it as a "serious violation" of the U.N. ceasefire agreement. In addition, he asked Turkey to stop this activity. The U.N. Secretary-General expressed concern over Turkey's decision.

 

On 8 October 2020, some parts of Varosha were opened from the Officers' Club of Turkish and Turkish Cypriot Army to the Golden Sands Hotel.

 

In November 2020, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Turkey's ambassador to Nicosia, visited Varosha. In addition, the main avenue in Varosha has been renamed after Semih Sancar, Chief of the General Staff of Turkey from 1973 to 1978, a period including the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus.

 

The European Parliament on 27 November, asked Turkey to reverse its decision to re-open part of Varosha and resume negotiations aimed at resolving the Cyprus problem on the basis of a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation and called on the European Union to impose sanctions against Turkey, if things do not change. Turkey rejected the resolution, adding that Turkey will continue to protect both its own rights and those of Turkish Cypriots. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus presidency also condemned the resolution.

 

On 20 July 2021, Tatar, the president of Northern Cyprus announced the start of the 2nd phase of the opening of Varosha. He encouraged Greek Cypriots to apply Immovable Property Commission of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus to claim their properties back if they have any such rights.

 

Bilal Aga Mosque, constructed in 1821 and taken out of service in 1974, was re-opened on 23 July 2021.

 

In response to a decision by the government of Turkish Cyprus, the presidential statement of the United Nations Security Council dated on 23 July said that settling any part of the abandoned Cypriot suburb of Varosha, "by people other than its inhabitants, is 'inadmissible'." The same day, Turkey rejected the presidential statement of the UNSC on Maras (Varosha), and said that these statements were based on Greek-Greek Cypriot propaganda, were groundless and unfounded claims, and inconsistent with the realities on the Island. On 24 July 2021, the presidency of Northern Cyprus condemned the presidential statement of the UNSC dated on 23 July, and stated that "We see and condemn it as an attempt to create an obstacle for the property-rights-holders in Varosha to achieve their rights".

 

By 1 January 2022, nearly 400,000 people had visited Varosha since its opening to civilians on 6 October 2020.

 

On 19 May 2022, Northern Cyprus opened a 600m long X 400m wide stretch of beach on the Golden Sands beach (from the King George Hotel to the Oceania Building) in Varosha for commercial use. Sun beds and umbrellas were installed.

 

UNFICYP said it would raise the decision taken by Turkish Cypriot authorities to open that stretch of beach in Varosha with the Security Council, spokesperson for the peacekeeping force Aleem Siddique said on Friday. The UN announced its "position on Varosha is unchanged and we are monitoring the situation closely".

 

In October 2022, the Turkish Cypriots announced that public institutions will be opened in the city.

 

In April 2023, Cleo Hotel, the 7-floor Golden Seaside Hotel, and the 3-star Aegean Hotel were purchased by a Turkish Cypriot businessman (from their Greek Cypriot owners) who will operate them within 2025.

 

On 10 August 2023, the Government of Northern Cyprus decided to construct a marina and tourist facility in Varosha.

 

Varosha was analyzed by Alan Weisman in his book The World Without Us as an example of the unstoppable power of nature.

 

Filmmaker Greek Cypriot Michael Cacoyannis described the city and interviewed its exiled citizens in the film Attilas '74, produced in 1975.

 

In 2021, the Belarusian group Main-De-Gloire dedicated a song to this city that has become a ghostly place.

 

Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a de facto state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. It is recognised only by Turkey, and its territory is considered by all other states to be part of the Republic of Cyprus.

 

Northern Cyprus extends from the tip of the Karpass Peninsula in the northeast to Morphou Bay, Cape Kormakitis and its westernmost point, the Kokkina exclave in the west. Its southernmost point is the village of Louroujina. A buffer zone under the control of the United Nations stretches between Northern Cyprus and the rest of the island and divides Nicosia, the island's largest city and capital of both sides.

 

A coup d'état in 1974, performed as part of an attempt to annex the island to Greece, prompted the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. This resulted in the eviction of much of the north's Greek Cypriot population, the flight of Turkish Cypriots from the south, and the partitioning of the island, leading to a unilateral declaration of independence by the north in 1983. Due to its lack of recognition, Northern Cyprus is heavily dependent on Turkey for economic, political and military support.

 

Attempts to reach a solution to the Cyprus dispute have been unsuccessful. The Turkish Army maintains a large force in Northern Cyprus with the support and approval of the TRNC government, while the Republic of Cyprus, the European Union as a whole, and the international community regard it as an occupation force. This military presence has been denounced in several United Nations Security Council resolutions.

 

Northern Cyprus is a semi-presidential, democratic republic with a cultural heritage incorporating various influences and an economy that is dominated by the services sector. The economy has seen growth through the 2000s and 2010s, with the GNP per capita more than tripling in the 2000s, but is held back by an international embargo due to the official closure of the ports in Northern Cyprus by the Republic of Cyprus. The official language is Turkish, with a distinct local dialect being spoken. The vast majority of the population consists of Sunni Muslims, while religious attitudes are mostly moderate and secular. Northern Cyprus is an observer state of ECO and OIC under the name "Turkish Cypriot State", PACE under the name "Turkish Cypriot Community", and Organization of Turkic States with its own name.

 

Several distinct periods of Cypriot intercommunal violence involving the two main ethnic communities, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, marked mid-20th century Cyprus. These included the Cyprus Emergency of 1955–59 during British rule, the post-independence Cyprus crisis of 1963–64, and the Cyprus crisis of 1967. Hostilities culminated in the 1974 de facto division of the island along the Green Line following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. The region has been relatively peaceful since then, but the Cyprus dispute has continued, with various attempts to solve it diplomatically having been generally unsuccessful.

 

Cyprus, an island lying in the eastern Mediterranean, hosted a population of Greeks and Turks (four-fifths and one-fifth, respectively), who lived under British rule in the late nineteenth-century and the first half of the twentieth-century. Christian Orthodox Church of Cyprus played a prominent political role among the Greek Cypriot community, a privilege that it acquired during the Ottoman Empire with the employment of the millet system, which gave the archbishop an unofficial ethnarch status.

 

The repeated rejections by the British of Greek Cypriot demands for enosis, union with Greece, led to armed resistance, organised by the National Organization of Cypriot Struggle, or EOKA. EOKA, led by the Greek-Cypriot commander George Grivas, systematically targeted British colonial authorities. One of the effects of EOKA's campaign was to alter the Turkish position from demanding full reincorporation into Turkey to a demand for taksim (partition). EOKA's mission and activities caused a "Cretan syndrome" (see Turkish Resistance Organisation) within the Turkish Cypriot community, as its members feared that they would be forced to leave the island in such a case as had been the case with Cretan Turks. As such, they preferred the continuation of British colonial rule and then taksim, the division of the island. Due to the Turkish Cypriots' support for the British, EOKA's leader, Georgios Grivas, declared them to be enemies. The fact that the Turks were a minority was, according to Nihat Erim, to be addressed by the transfer of thousands of Turks from mainland Turkey so that Greek Cypriots would cease to be the majority. When Erim visited Cyprus as the Turkish representative, he was advised by Field Marshal Sir John Harding, the then Governor of Cyprus, that Turkey should send educated Turks to settle in Cyprus.

 

Turkey actively promoted the idea that on the island of Cyprus two distinctive communities existed, and sidestepped its former claim that "the people of Cyprus were all Turkish subjects". In doing so, Turkey's aim to have self-determination of two to-be equal communities in effect led to de jure partition of the island.[citation needed] This could be justified to the international community against the will of the majority Greek population of the island. Dr. Fazil Küçük in 1954 had already proposed Cyprus be divided in two at the 35° parallel.

 

Lindley Dan, from Notre Dame University, spotted the roots of intercommunal violence to different visions among the two communities of Cyprus (enosis for Greek Cypriots, taksim for Turkish Cypriots). Also, Lindlay wrote that "the merging of church, schools/education, and politics in divisive and nationalistic ways" had played a crucial role in creation of havoc in Cyprus' history. Attalides Michael also pointed to the opposing nationalisms as the cause of the Cyprus problem.

 

By the mid-1950's, the "Cyprus is Turkish" party, movement, and slogan gained force in both Cyprus and Turkey. In a 1954 editorial, Turkish Cypriot leader Dr. Fazil Kuchuk expressed the sentiment that the Turkish youth had grown up with the idea that "as soon as Great Britain leaves the island, it will be taken over by the Turks", and that "Turkey cannot tolerate otherwise". This perspective contributed to the willingness of Turkish Cypriots to align themselves with the British, who started recruiting Turkish Cypriots into the police force that patrolled Cyprus to fight EOKA, a Greek Cypriot nationalist organisation that sought to rid the island of British rule.

 

EOKA targeted colonial authorities, including police, but Georgios Grivas, the leader of EOKA, did not initially wish to open up a new front by fighting Turkish Cypriots and reassured them that EOKA would not harm their people. In 1956, some Turkish Cypriot policemen were killed by EOKA members and this provoked some intercommunal violence in the spring and summer, but these attacks on policemen were not motivated by the fact that they were Turkish Cypriots.

 

However, in January 1957, Grivas changed his policy as his forces in the mountains became increasingly pressured by the British Crown forces. In order to divert the attention of the Crown forces, EOKA members started to target Turkish Cypriot policemen intentionally in the towns, so that Turkish Cypriots would riot against the Greek Cypriots and the security forces would have to be diverted to the towns to restore order. The killing of a Turkish Cypriot policeman on 19 January, when a power station was bombed, and the injury of three others, provoked three days of intercommunal violence in Nicosia. The two communities targeted each other in reprisals, at least one Greek Cypriot was killed and the British Army was deployed in the streets. Greek Cypriot stores were burned and their neighbourhoods attacked. Following the events, the Greek Cypriot leadership spread the propaganda that the riots had merely been an act of Turkish Cypriot aggression. Such events created chaos and drove the communities apart both in Cyprus and in Turkey.

 

On 22 October 1957 Sir Hugh Mackintosh Foot replaced Sir John Harding as the British Governor of Cyprus. Foot suggested five to seven years of self-government before any final decision. His plan rejected both enosis and taksim. The Turkish Cypriot response to this plan was a series of anti-British demonstrations in Nicosia on 27 and 28 January 1958 rejecting the proposed plan because the plan did not include partition. The British then withdrew the plan.

 

In 1957, Black Gang, a Turkish Cypriot pro-taksim paramilitary organisation, was formed to patrol a Turkish Cypriot enclave, the Tahtakale district of Nicosia, against activities of EOKA. The organisation later attempted to grow into a national scale, but failed to gain public support.

 

By 1958, signs of dissatisfaction with the British increased on both sides, with a group of Turkish Cypriots forming Volkan (later renamed to the Turkish Resistance Organisation) paramilitary group to promote partition and the annexation of Cyprus to Turkey as dictated by the Menderes plan. Volkan initially consisted of roughly 100 members, with the stated aim of raising awareness in Turkey of the Cyprus issue and courting military training and support for Turkish Cypriot fighters from the Turkish government.

 

In June 1958, the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, was expected to propose a plan to resolve the Cyprus issue. In light of the new development, the Turks rioted in Nicosia to promote the idea that Greek and Turkish Cypriots could not live together and therefore any plan that did not include partition would not be viable. This violence was soon followed by bombing, Greek Cypriot deaths and looting of Greek Cypriot-owned shops and houses. Greek and Turkish Cypriots started to flee mixed population villages where they were a minority in search of safety. This was effectively the beginning of the segregation of the two communities. On 7 June 1958, a bomb exploded at the entrance of the Turkish Embassy in Cyprus. Following the bombing, Turkish Cypriots looted Greek Cypriot properties. On 26 June 1984, the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktaş, admitted on British channel ITV that the bomb was placed by the Turks themselves in order to create tension. On 9 January 1995, Rauf Denktaş repeated his claim to the famous Turkish newspaper Milliyet in Turkey.

 

The crisis reached a climax on 12 June 1958, when eight Greeks, out of an armed group of thirty five arrested by soldiers of the Royal Horse Guards on suspicion of preparing an attack on the Turkish quarter of Skylloura, were killed in a suspected attack by Turkish Cypriot locals, near the village of Geunyeli, having been ordered to walk back to their village of Kondemenos.

 

After the EOKA campaign had begun, the British government successfully began to turn the Cyprus issue from a British colonial problem into a Greek-Turkish issue. British diplomacy exerted backstage influence on the Adnan Menderes government, with the aim of making Turkey active in Cyprus. For the British, the attempt had a twofold objective. The EOKA campaign would be silenced as quickly as possible, and Turkish Cypriots would not side with Greek Cypriots against the British colonial claims over the island, which would thus remain under the British. The Turkish Cypriot leadership visited Menderes to discuss the Cyprus issue. When asked how the Turkish Cypriots should respond to the Greek Cypriot claim of enosis, Menderes replied: "You should go to the British foreign minister and request the status quo be prolonged, Cyprus to remain as a British colony". When the Turkish Cypriots visited the British Foreign Secretary and requested for Cyprus to remain a colony, he replied: "You should not be asking for colonialism at this day and age, you should be asking for Cyprus be returned to Turkey, its former owner".

 

As Turkish Cypriots began to look to Turkey for protection, Greek Cypriots soon understood that enosis was extremely unlikely. The Greek Cypriot leader, Archbishop Makarios III, now set independence for the island as his objective.

 

Britain resolved to solve the dispute by creating an independent Cyprus. In 1959, all involved parties signed the Zurich Agreements: Britain, Turkey, Greece, and the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders, Makarios and Dr. Fazil Kucuk, respectively. The new constitution drew heavily on the ethnic composition of the island. The President would be a Greek Cypriot, and the Vice-President a Turkish Cypriot with an equal veto. The contribution to the public service would be set at a ratio of 70:30, and the Supreme Court would consist of an equal number of judges from both communities as well as an independent judge who was not Greek, Turkish or British. The Zurich Agreements were supplemented by a number of treaties. The Treaty of Guarantee stated that secession or union with any state was forbidden, and that Greece, Turkey and Britain would be given guarantor status to intervene if that was violated. The Treaty of Alliance allowed for two small Greek and Turkish military contingents to be stationed on the island, and the Treaty of Establishment gave Britain sovereignty over two bases in Akrotiri and Dhekelia.

 

On 15 August 1960, the Colony of Cyprus became fully independent as the Republic of Cyprus. The new republic remained within the Commonwealth of Nations.

 

The new constitution brought dissatisfaction to Greek Cypriots, who felt it to be highly unjust for them for historical, demographic and contributional reasons. Although 80% of the island's population were Greek Cypriots and these indigenous people had lived on the island for thousands of years and paid 94% of taxes, the new constitution was giving the 17% of the population that was Turkish Cypriots, who paid 6% of taxes, around 30% of government jobs and 40% of national security jobs.

 

Within three years tensions between the two communities in administrative affairs began to show. In particular disputes over separate municipalities and taxation created a deadlock in government. A constitutional court ruled in 1963 Makarios had failed to uphold article 173 of the constitution which called for the establishment of separate municipalities for Turkish Cypriots. Makarios subsequently declared his intention to ignore the judgement, resulting in the West German judge resigning from his position. Makarios proposed thirteen amendments to the constitution, which would have had the effect of resolving most of the issues in the Greek Cypriot favour. Under the proposals, the President and Vice-President would lose their veto, the separate municipalities as sought after by the Turkish Cypriots would be abandoned, the need for separate majorities by both communities in passing legislation would be discarded and the civil service contribution would be set at actual population ratios (82:18) instead of the slightly higher figure for Turkish Cypriots.

 

The intention behind the amendments has long been called into question. The Akritas plan, written in the height of the constitutional dispute by the Greek Cypriot interior minister Polycarpos Georkadjis, called for the removal of undesirable elements of the constitution so as to allow power-sharing to work. The plan envisaged a swift retaliatory attack on Turkish Cypriot strongholds should Turkish Cypriots resort to violence to resist the measures, stating "In the event of a planned or staged Turkish attack, it is imperative to overcome it by force in the shortest possible time, because if we succeed in gaining command of the situation (in one or two days), no outside, intervention would be either justified or possible." Whether Makarios's proposals were part of the Akritas plan is unclear, however it remains that sentiment towards enosis had not completely disappeared with independence. Makarios described independence as "a step on the road to enosis".[31] Preparations for conflict were not entirely absent from Turkish Cypriots either, with right wing elements still believing taksim (partition) the best safeguard against enosis.

 

Greek Cypriots however believe the amendments were a necessity stemming from a perceived attempt by Turkish Cypriots to frustrate the working of government. Turkish Cypriots saw it as a means to reduce their status within the state from one of co-founder to that of minority, seeing it as a first step towards enosis. The security situation deteriorated rapidly.

 

Main articles: Bloody Christmas (1963) and Battle of Tillyria

An armed conflict was triggered after December 21, 1963, a period remembered by Turkish Cypriots as Bloody Christmas, when a Greek Cypriot policemen that had been called to help deal with a taxi driver refusing officers already on the scene access to check the identification documents of his customers, took out his gun upon arrival and shot and killed the taxi driver and his partner. Eric Solsten summarised the events as follows: "a Greek Cypriot police patrol, ostensibly checking identification documents, stopped a Turkish Cypriot couple on the edge of the Turkish quarter. A hostile crowd gathered, shots were fired, and two Turkish Cypriots were killed."

 

In the morning after the shooting, crowds gathered in protest in Northern Nicosia, likely encouraged by the TMT, without incident. On the evening of the 22nd, gunfire broke out, communication lines to the Turkish neighbourhoods were cut, and the Greek Cypriot police occupied the nearby airport. On the 23rd, a ceasefire was negotiated, but did not hold. Fighting, including automatic weapons fire, between Greek and Turkish Cypriots and militias increased in Nicosia and Larnaca. A force of Greek Cypriot irregulars led by Nikos Sampson entered the Nicosia suburb of Omorphita and engaged in heavy firing on armed, as well as by some accounts unarmed, Turkish Cypriots. The Omorphita clash has been described by Turkish Cypriots as a massacre, while this view has generally not been acknowledged by Greek Cypriots.

 

Further ceasefires were arranged between the two sides, but also failed. By Christmas Eve, the 24th, Britain, Greece, and Turkey had joined talks, with all sides calling for a truce. On Christmas day, Turkish fighter jets overflew Nicosia in a show of support. Finally it was agreed to allow a force of 2,700 British soldiers to help enforce a ceasefire. In the next days, a "buffer zone" was created in Nicosia, and a British officer marked a line on a map with green ink, separating the two sides of the city, which was the beginning of the "Green Line". Fighting continued across the island for the next several weeks.

 

In total 364 Turkish Cypriots and 174 Greek Cypriots were killed during the violence. 25,000 Turkish Cypriots from 103-109 villages fled and were displaced into enclaves and thousands of Turkish Cypriot houses were ransacked or completely destroyed.

 

Contemporary newspapers also reported on the forceful exodus of the Turkish Cypriots from their homes. According to The Times in 1964, threats, shootings and attempts of arson were committed against the Turkish Cypriots to force them out of their homes. The Daily Express wrote that "25,000 Turks have already been forced to leave their homes". The Guardian reported a massacre of Turks at Limassol on 16 February 1964.

 

Turkey had by now readied its fleet and its fighter jets appeared over Nicosia. Turkey was dissuaded from direct involvement by the creation of a United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) in 1964. Despite the negotiated ceasefire in Nicosia, attacks on the Turkish Cypriot persisted, particularly in Limassol. Concerned about the possibility of a Turkish invasion, Makarios undertook the creation of a Greek Cypriot conscript-based army called the "National Guard". A general from Greece took charge of the army, whilst a further 20,000 well-equipped officers and men were smuggled from Greece into Cyprus. Turkey threatened to intervene once more, but was prevented by a strongly worded letter from the American President Lyndon B. Johnson, anxious to avoid a conflict between NATO allies Greece and Turkey at the height of the Cold War.

 

Turkish Cypriots had by now established an important bridgehead at Kokkina, provided with arms, volunteers and materials from Turkey and abroad. Seeing this incursion of foreign weapons and troops as a major threat, the Cypriot government invited George Grivas to return from Greece as commander of the Greek troops on the island and launch a major attack on the bridgehead. Turkey retaliated by dispatching its fighter jets to bomb Greek positions, causing Makarios to threaten an attack on every Turkish Cypriot village on the island if the bombings did not cease. The conflict had now drawn in Greece and Turkey, with both countries amassing troops on their Thracian borders. Efforts at mediation by Dean Acheson, a former U.S. Secretary of State, and UN-appointed mediator Galo Plaza had failed, all the while the division of the two communities becoming more apparent. Greek Cypriot forces were estimated at some 30,000, including the National Guard and the large contingent from Greece. Defending the Turkish Cypriot enclaves was a force of approximately 5,000 irregulars, led by a Turkish colonel, but lacking the equipment and organisation of the Greek forces.

 

The Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1964, U Thant, reported the damage during the conflicts:

 

UNFICYP carried out a detailed survey of all damage to properties throughout the island during the disturbances; it shows that in 109 villages, most of them Turkish-Cypriot or mixed villages, 527 houses have been destroyed while 2,000 others have suffered damage from looting.

 

The situation worsened in 1967, when a military junta overthrew the democratically elected government of Greece, and began applying pressure on Makarios to achieve enosis. Makarios, not wishing to become part of a military dictatorship or trigger a Turkish invasion, began to distance himself from the goal of enosis. This caused tensions with the junta in Greece as well as George Grivas in Cyprus. Grivas's control over the National Guard and Greek contingent was seen as a threat to Makarios's position, who now feared a possible coup.[citation needed] The National Guard and Cyprus Police began patrolling the Turkish Cypriot enclaves of Ayios Theodoros and Kophinou, and on November 15 engaged in heavy fighting with the Turkish Cypriots.

 

By the time of his withdrawal 26 Turkish Cypriots had been killed. Turkey replied with an ultimatum demanding that Grivas be removed from the island, that the troops smuggled from Greece in excess of the limits of the Treaty of Alliance be removed, and that the economic blockades on the Turkish Cypriot enclaves be lifted. Grivas was recalled by the Athens Junta and the 12,000 Greek troops were withdrawn. Makarios now attempted to consolidate his position by reducing the number of National Guard troops, and by creating a paramilitary force loyal to Cypriot independence. In 1968, acknowledging that enosis was now all but impossible, Makarios stated, "A solution by necessity must be sought within the limits of what is feasible which does not always coincide with the limits of what is desirable."

 

After 1967 tensions between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots subsided. Instead, the main source of tension on the island came from factions within the Greek Cypriot community. Although Makarios had effectively abandoned enosis in favour of an 'attainable solution', many others continued to believe that the only legitimate political aspiration for Greek Cypriots was union with Greece.

 

On his arrival, Grivas began by establishing a nationalist paramilitary group known as the National Organization of Cypriot Fighters (Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston B or EOKA-B), drawing comparisons with the EOKA struggle for enosis under the British colonial administration of the 1950s.

 

The military junta in Athens saw Makarios as an obstacle. Makarios's failure to disband the National Guard, whose officer class was dominated by mainland Greeks, had meant the junta had practical control over the Cypriot military establishment, leaving Makarios isolated and a vulnerable target.

 

During the first Turkish invasion, Turkish troops invaded Cyprus territory on 20 July 1974, invoking its rights under the Treaty of Guarantee. This expansion of Turkish-occupied zone violated International Law as well as the Charter of the United Nations. Turkish troops managed to capture 3% of the island which was accompanied by the burning of the Turkish Cypriot quarter, as well as the raping and killing of women and children. A temporary cease-fire followed which was mitigated by the UN Security Council. Subsequently, the Greek military Junta collapsed on July 23, 1974, and peace talks commenced in which a democratic government was installed. The Resolution 353 was broken after Turkey attacked a second time and managed to get a hold of 37% of Cyprus territory. The Island of Cyprus was appointed a Buffer Zone by the United Nations, which divided the island into two zones through the 'Green Line' and put an end to the Turkish invasion. Although Turkey announced that the occupied areas of Cyprus to be called the Federated Turkish State in 1975, it is not legitimised on a worldwide political scale. The United Nations called for the international recognition of independence for the Republic of Cyprus in the Security Council Resolution 367.

 

In the years after the Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus one can observe a history of failed talks between the two parties. The 1983 declaration of the independent Turkish Republic of Cyprus resulted in a rise of inter-communal tensions and made it increasingly hard to find mutual understanding. With Cyprus' interest of a possible EU membership and a new UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 1997 new hopes arose for a fresh start. International involvement from sides of the US and UK, wanting a solution to the Cyprus dispute prior to the EU accession led to political pressures for new talks. The believe that an accession without a solution would threaten Greek-Turkish relations and acknowledge the partition of the island would direct the coming negotiations.

 

Over the course of two years a concrete plan, the Annan plan was formulated. In 2004 the fifth version agreed upon from both sides and with the endorsement of Turkey, US, UK and EU then was presented to the public and was given a referendum in both Cypriot communities to assure the legitimisation of the resolution. The Turkish Cypriots voted with 65% for the plan, however the Greek Cypriots voted with a 76% majority against. The Annan plan contained multiple important topics. Firstly it established a confederation of two separate states called the United Cyprus Republic. Both communities would have autonomous states combined under one unified government. The members of parliament would be chosen according to the percentage in population numbers to ensure a just involvement from both communities. The paper proposed a demilitarisation of the island over the next years. Furthermore it agreed upon a number of 45000 Turkish settlers that could remain on the island. These settlers became a very important issue concerning peace talks. Originally the Turkish government encouraged Turks to settle in Cyprus providing transfer and property, to establish a counterpart to the Greek Cypriot population due to their 1 to 5 minority. With the economic situation many Turkish-Cypriot decided to leave the island, however their departure is made up by incoming Turkish settlers leaving the population ratio between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots stable. However all these points where criticised and as seen in the vote rejected mainly by the Greek Cypriots. These name the dissolution of the „Republic of Cyprus", economic consequences of a reunion and the remaining Turkish settlers as reason. Many claim that the plan was indeed drawing more from Turkish-Cypriot demands then Greek-Cypriot interests. Taking in consideration that the US wanted to keep Turkey as a strategic partner in future Middle Eastern conflicts.

 

A week after the failed referendum the Republic of Cyprus joined the EU. In multiple instances the EU tried to promote trade with Northern Cyprus but without internationally recognised ports this spiked a grand debate. Both side endure their intention of negotiations, however without the prospect of any new compromises or agreements the UN is unwilling to start the process again. Since 2004 negotiations took place in numbers but without any results, both sides are strongly holding on to their position without an agreeable solution in sight that would suit both parties.

Remastered to fit on Flickr,,,I would say this has a finer sound track better orchestration.. but scenes deleted to fit in the 3 min limitation.

The Beyond Broadway Experience 2016 presents

BRING IT ON: THE MUSICAL

 

Libretto by Jeff Whitty

Music by Tom Kitt & Lin-Manuel Miranda

Lyrics by Amanda Green & Lin-Manuel Miranda

Inspired by the Motion Picture Bring It On Written by Jessica Bendinger

Arrangements and Orchestrations Alex Lacamoire & Tom Kitt

Presented at the King’s Theatre, Edinburgh on 22nd and 23rd July 2016

www.beyond-broadway.com/productions/

Understanding and aligning with others on your channels is a foundational step toward orchestrating experiences.

Orchestrating Experiences: Collaborative Design for Complexity, Risdon, Quattlebaum, 2018, New York: Rosenfeld Media

rosenfeldmedia.com/books/orchestrating-experiences//

In May 1972 the Swanage Railway Society was formed with the objective of restoring an all-the-year-round community railway service linking to the main line at Wareham, which would be 'subsidised' by the operation of steam-hauled heritage trains during the holidays. However, during the summer of 1972, BR hired contractors to lift the track between Swanage and Furzebrook sidings. Protests were orchestrated by the Society and an agreement between the Society and BR followed, leading to all the ballast being left in situ plus an extra ½ mile of track at Furzebrook. The track from Furzebrook to the main-line junction at Worgret remained in use for ball clay traffic, later also serving the oilfield at Wytch Farm. BR had intended to sell the Swanage station site to a property developer, but, after the intervention of Evelyn King, the MP for South Dorset, at the Society's request, it was offered to Swanage Town Council.

At first, neither the Dorset County Council nor the Swanage Town Council backed the Society's plans to restore the railway. Dorset County Council planned to build a by-pass for Corfe Castle on the railway land, while the town council started to demolish Swanage station. To break the impasse, the Railway Society formed two additional organisations: the Swanage and Wareham Railway Group, composed of local residents prepared to lobby the local authorities, and the Southern Steam Group, to collect historic railway rolling stock and establish a museum of steam and railway technology. In 1975, after many interventions by local residents, the town council finally granted the Society limited facilities on the Swanage station site. In 1975, Dorset County Council acquired the railway land between the end of the line at Furzebrook and Northbrook Road bridge in Swanage, and undertook to ‘give further consideration’ to routes for a Corfe Castle by-pass. The Society piloted a successful application by the Southern Steam Group to the Charity Commissioners for charitable status, and subsequently both the Society and the residents' group joined the new Southern Steam Trust.

In 1979, a short line was re-opened the length of King George's playing fields. This was extended, first to Herston Halt, and then to Harman's Cross in 1988, neither of which had been stations previously. In 1995, the railway reopened from Swanage to Corfe Castle and onwards to Norden Park and Ride, another post-BR station. The reopening of the station at Corfe Castle was delayed until Norden was ready, as Dorset County Council had concerns about the effects of traffic on Corfe's narrow main street (the A351 road between Wareham and Swanage). On 3rd January 2002, the track was temporarily joined with the Furzebrook freight line at Motala and the Purbeck branch line was once again complete, thirty years to the day after it was closed.

Drummond Greyhound 4-4-0 No.30120 is seen here departing Swanage on April 23rd 2019. New to the LSWR from Nine Elms Works during august 1899, the locomotive was withdrawn from Eastleigh in July 1963, having spent much of its BR career based at Dorchester and Exmouth Jct - which latter's 72A shedplate it is wearing here.

 

Las Ventanas al Paraiso "The windows to Paradise"

Km 19.5 Carretera Transpeninsular

Cabo San Lucas, San Jose del Cabo - MEXICO

 

In the 1970's the Mexican government designated "hot spots" for tourism development including Cancun, Ixtapa and Los Cabos. Los Cabos, which means the Capes has twin towns of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo which are separated by 20 miles of beach coast line. Mexican developer Javier Burillo Azcarraga acquired eighteen undeveloped acres at Cabo San Lucas in the early 90's. He envisioned for the site a unique, super-luxury, boutique hotel that would stand out from the crowd and reflect Baja's indigenous culture and landscape. He brought in Atlanta-based architect and developer Hal Thannisch, Jr. to create the master plan and orchestrate the design, construction, financing, and ultimate operation of the completed resort. Thannisch hired HKS Architects of Dallas to provide architectural services, and they in turn, retained The SWA Group of Dallas to create the site plan and landscape architecture. The SWA Group developed the Las Ventanas landscape which blends the natural desert environment with the sensuality of the Mexican-style architecture to enhance the resort’s sense of authenticity. Construction began in December 1995, and the five-star Las Ventanas al Paraiso, or "Windows to Paradise," welcomed its first guests in July 1997. When guests enter Las Ventanas, they don't see all the buildings at once. Rather, the resort gradually reveals itself as guests walk down to the sea. The site plan radiates out from the open-air lobby, and every guest suite has a view of the blue Sea of Cortez. The resort resembles a small, sand and earth-colored Mexican village. The hotels opening rate was $325 a night. The 61-room Las Ventanas al Paraiso claims to have the longest celebrity client list of any hotel in the world. The discreet resort does not have a sign outside on Highway 1. Zen-inspired raked-sand entrance opens to beach views from the restaurant, private rooftop patios, and infinity-edge pools, where super-attentive pool butlers clean your smudged sunglasses and provide unlimited towel service. All over-sized guestrooms have pebble-inlaid headboards, hand-carved cedar doors, wood-burning fireplaces, and telescopes for stargazing.

 

Javier Burillo belongs to the Azcárraga family, owner of Televisa. He is the son of Carmela Azcárraga Milmo, sister of the late Emilio Azcárraga Milmo and daughter of Emilio Azcárraga Vidaurreta, founder of Televicentro, now Televisa. Grupo Televisa, S.A.B. is a Mexican multimedia company and the largest in Latin America and the Spanish-speaking world (Univision in the United States). The company has been led and owned by three generations of Azcárraga. Javier Burillo inherited the Ritz Acapulco Hotel from his grandfather. In 1999 he and Rosewood's Hal Thannisch proposed a $62 million, 105-room Rosewood Resort in Sonoma, CA which failed to get city's approval.

 

Thannisch Development Services, Inc. (TDS) specializes in complex issues of development planning, financing, interdisciplinary management, design management and implementation. Thannisch was directly responsible for the renovation of the historic Cogswell College building now the Ritz Carlton San Francisco and the redevelopment of the Mahogany Run Resort, St. Thomas, USVI. In 1985, Thannisch joined Caroline Hunt's Rosewood Hotel Group as vice president, development. Based in Dallas, he was immersed in the development of the Hotel Hana-Maui at Hana Ranch and The Hotel on the Old Course, St. Andrews, Scotland. In 1989, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company called on his experience to manage the feasibility, pre-development, development and construction of the Ritz-Carlton Aspen, Hotel Arts Barcelona, Spain. Thannisch brought to Rosewood its first Mexico project, Las Ventanas which has emerged as a premier five-star resort in all of Mexico.

 

Las Ventanas al Paraíso became the first world-class resort in Los Cabos under hotelier Edward Steiner who served the hotel from opening to 2008. The resort achieved AAA Five Diamond status under his leadership.

 

In December 2003 Paraiso Los Cabos, S.A. de C.V. sold Las Ventana al Paraiso to Dallas based JTL Capital in partnership with Farallon Capital Management L.L.C.for an undisclosed price. Rosewood Hotels & Resorts agreed to a long-term contract to continue management of the resort. The purchase also included land entitled for up to 30 additional villa residences as well as an unfinished Phase IV building containing 8 premier villas that JTL Capital will finish constructing in September of 2004. The transaction was a first for JTL in Mexico. Morgan Stanley Mortgage Capital provided the financing. JTL Capital, L.L.C. is a closely held, real estate investment and development concern founded in 1999 by David A. Lane and Mark J. Sullivan. JTL Capital employs a "buy and enhance" strategy that produces attractive risk-adjusted returns.

 

In September 2004 Ty Warner Hotels & Resorts, LLC purchased the 61-room Las Ventanas al Paraíso Resort from Dallas-based JTL Capital, LLC. According to Ty Warner, the goal is to extend and enhance the beauty and amenities at the resort. Warner believed the essential component to achieving that goal is in Rosewood Hotels & Resorts' continued operation of the resort. Ty Warner is an American billionaire who created the 1990s stuffed toy fad - Beanie Babies. At the peak of the Beanie craze in 1999, the privately owned Ty Inc. is believed to have earned over $700 million in profits in a year. The Beanie Babies phenomenon, coupled with the rise of the Internet, is cited as elevating Warner to billionaire status. Ty Warner Hotel and Resort Properties include: Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara, CA, Four Seasons Hotel New York, NY and San Ysidro Ranch, Montecito, CA.

 

Managing Directors since Edward Steiner include: Lionel Alvarez appointed Managing Director in 2008. He previously was General Manager at at Aquapura Vale Do Douro Hotel, Portugal. Martein van Wagenberg was appointed managing director of Las Ventanas in 2011. He previously was at Rosewood Little Dix Bay in Virgin Gorda. In 2014 Rosewood named Mário Candeias the managing director of Las Ventanas. He was the Director of Operations at Pestana Hotels & Resorts in Portugal. Rosewood appointed Frederic Vidal the Managing Director of Las Ventanas al Paraíso in 2014. Previously he was Managing Director for YOSH Hospitality, a company managing palaces and villas in the United Arab Emirates.

 

Compiled by Dick Johnson, November 2019

Orchestra council officers senior Gretchen Gregor and junior Elliot Choy take attendance before a meeting of the orchestra class representatives on Sept. 29. These representatives are elected by their respective orchestras and take on responsibilities such as planning program-wide activities such as the Halloween party, which will take place on Oct. 23. SWETHA NAKSHATRI / PHOTO

 

Ballets Russes produced this version of “Sleeping Beauty” and renamed it “The Sleeping Princess.” Leon Bakst designed the costumes and scenery and Marius Petipa and Bronislava Nijinska were responsible for the choreography. The music by Tchaikovsky was partly re-orchestrated by Igor Stravinsky for Ballets Russes. It was a lavish and costly production which premiered at London’s Alhambra Theatre on November 2, 1921, and it nearly bankrupted Diaghilev’s company. The National Gallery of Australia describes the ballet and the reasons for the ensuing financial disaster as follows:

 

“…At the birth of his daughter, King Florestan XXIV and his queen invite all the fairies of the land to be godmothers to the baby Princess Aurora at her christening at the palace. All the fairies arrive and bestow a magic wish on the young princess. However, the ceremony is interrupted by the wicked fairy Carabosse who, angry that she has been left off the invitation list, curses Aurora, promising that one day she will prick her finger and die. Although she cannot break the curse, the Lilac Fairy frustrates Carabosse by exchanging Aurora’s imminent death with a long slumber, from which Aurora can only be woken by the kiss of a prince. Aurora’s awakening by Florimund a hundred years later is followed by their spectacular marriage.

 

“This ballet had its genesis as Sleeping Beauty, presented in 1890 by Marius Petipa for the Mariinsky Theatre and celebrated for its lavish production quality and for the commissioning of Tchaikovsky for its musical score. The young Bakst, Benois and Diaghilev saw this production, and were enthralled by its fusion of historical art, design and contemporary music. The ballet was given a number of times outside Russia, including a version for Anna Pavlova’s company in New York in 1916, with costume designs by Bakst. While the Ballets Russes had reached the end of the decade as the acknowledged leader in modern ballet, Diaghilev’s decision to stage this ballet in 1921 was driven by the company’s weak financial position and the hope that such a classic might secure for the Ballets Russes a long-running season in the conservative, but lucrative, London theatre world. He reconciled with Bakst, offering him the design work, secure in the knowledge of Bakst’s previous experience with this production and his sketches prepared for the earlier Pavlova commission. Diaghilev secured the backing of Sir Oswald Stoll, the director of the Alhambra Theatre, to fund the production, renamed in English The Sleeping Princess, but soon ran over budget. The costs of Bakst’s costumes for a huge cast spiralled due to their lavish use of expensive materials and couture-like construction and detailing, with the final detail of every costume personally overseen and approved by Diaghilev. The National Gallery’s costume for a lady-in-waiting is an indication of the extravagance, as a costume provided for a relatively minor character. Bakst’s six elaborate sets, inspired by the Baroque work of the seventeenth-century theatre designer Ferdinando Galli Bibiena (1656–1743) and the eighteenth-century work of Bérain and Boquet (for the later period of Aurora’s awakening), also drained the budget.

 

“The demanding, lengthy performance of a single ballet did not appeal to audiences used to a more varied repertoire, and crucial audience numbers did not eventuate, forcing the production to close after 114 performances and leaving Diaghilev with crippling debt. As security, Stoll impounded the valuable costumes and properties at his Coliseum Theatre until Diaghilev was able to repay the debt, something he did not achieve until 1926. Having fled London before the production finished, without his properties and unable to return to Britain due to the risk of legal action and penalty, Diaghilev was again forced to change direction and focus. An unplanned future benefit of this episode was that the sturdily crafted costumes remained in relatively good condition, having been worn lightly and stored for a long period. By the time they were released, Diaghilev had moved on from such historical spectacles and the costumes, like Aurora, entered another long period of slumber and obscurity.” [National Gallery of Australia at www.nga.gov.au]

 

This image comes from my continuing exploration of the natural world through arranging free and fallen pieces in to mandalas or "maps of our universe". I am interested in communicating inter-connectivity through the way we effect nature and in turn, the way nature effects us.

A Christmas window display at Henri Bendel, taken without a flash. The New York City Ballet partnered with the store on the display, and Bendel's Visual Director Gilberto Santana orchestrated the windows with clothing designed by the NYCB's costume shop.

MuCEM + Fort Saint-Jean, Marseille, France - 2013 -Architects: Rudy Ricciotti and C+T architecture

Views, sea, sun, a mineral quality, which all must be orchestrated by a program that will become federal and cognitive. First of all a perfect square of 72 m per side, it is a classic plan, Latin, under the control of Pythagoras. Within this square, another of 52 m per side, comprising the exhibition and conference halls identified as the heart of the museum.

Around, above and below are the service areas. But between these areas and the heart, openings entirely bypass the central square and form interconnected spaces. More interested by the views of the fort, the sea or the port, the culturally overwhelmed visitor will choose this route. Along two interlacing ramps, he will then plunge into the imaginary of the tower of Babel or of a ziggurat in order to climb up to the rooftop and on to Fort Saint- Jean. This peripheral loop will be a free breathe, enveloped by the smells of the sea from the proximity to the moats, a pause to dispel any lingering doubts about the use of the history of our civilizations. The MuCEM will be a vertical Casbah.

The tectonic choice of an exceptional concrete coming from the latest research by French industry, reducing the dimensions to little more than skin and bones, will affirm a mineral script under the high ramparts of Fort Saint-Jean. This sole material in the colour of dust, matt, crushed by the light, distant from the brilliance and technological consumerism, will commend the dense and the delicate. The MuCEM sees itself evanescent in a landscape of stone and Orientalist through its fanning shadows.

 

Alexander Wilson went on to become a world renowned writer and international spy!

Learn more here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Wilson_(writer_and_spy)

 

Writer, lover, soldier, spy: The strange and secretive life of Alexander Wilson

A best-selling author whose back catalogue mysteriously vanished... A man with a taste for bigamy... An army officer who worked for MI6...

 

As the author of Chronicles of the Secret Service, Microbes of Power and The Death of Dr Whitelaw, Alexander Wilson earned critical plaudits and enjoyed excellent sales. His spy thrillers were full of espionage and derring-do, so realistic that those in the secret service recognised pen portraits of themselves – and their superiors. So why today does no one remember him, while contemporaries like John Buchan and Compton Mackenzie survive in print? And why did he die in obscurity in 1963, an undischarged bankrupt with a criminal record?

 

The answers, according to a new book, may stem from the fact that part of his life was orchestrated on behalf of the British Secret Intelligence Services who, for reasons unexplained, then expunged him from official records. Was he, as some of his family believe, a spy who became addicted to deception, a compulsive storyteller who lost all sense of fact and fiction?

 

The deceit was so extensive that it was not until two years ago that, during the writing of The Secret Lives of A Secret Agent: The Mysterious Life and Times of Alexander Wilson, the journalist and author Tim Crook was able to make some of Wilson's children aware of each other's existence – for not only was Wilson adept at crafting characters who lived daring double lives, he lived one of his own, with one legal and three bigamous marriages to his name.

 

Crook's book tells the remarkable story of a man remembered by his oldest surviving son, Dennis Wilson, now 89, as "charming and charismatic – when we saw him." He adds: "My father had a very complicated life."

 

It was a very rich one. Born in Dover, Kent, to an Irish mother and an English army officer father, Alexander Wilson spent his childhood following his father to Mauritius, Singapore, Hong Kong and Ceylon. By 1925, Wilson was 32, a much-travelled former First World War officer who had become the actor-manager of a touring repertory company. It was then that he unexpectedly left his wife Gladys and three young children in England to become Professor of English Literature at the University of Punjab in Lahore, then part of the British Raj.

 

Crook believes Wilson was recruited into the secret world: "The academic who appointed him had known connections with the intelligence world." But why almost a decade after he last saw service on behalf of his country, and why a man with little academic achievement, apart from speaking Cantonese and French, which is hardly useful locally?

 

"I suspect some Army connection, possibly through his family, that led him to being either recruited or activated at this point. The British needed to combat the threat of Communist-backed insurgents in the North-West Frontier."

 

With academic cover, Wilson travelled around the North-West Frontier, became an honorary Major in the Indian Army Reserve and learnt Urdu and Persian. In the early 1930s, he also spent time in Ceylon, Arabia and Palestine, on likely intelligence missions.

 

In India, Wilson's career took another unexpected twist. After writing a book of English for Indian students, which may have been part of his cover, he wrote two spy thrillers, The Mystery of Tunnel 51 which, for the first time featured his secret-service hero, Sir Leonard Wallace, shortly followed by The Devil's Cocktail – "A thrill on every page," said The Times Literary Supplement (TLS) – both published in 1928.

 

Crook says: "What was remarkable about these books was their uncanny portrayal of the original 'C' – Mansfield Smith-Cumming, the first head of MI6, fictionalised as Sir Leonard. Only someone who knew Smith-Cumming could have written those books." The fictional Wallace, for instance, shared with the real "C" a false wooden limb, grey eyes and a wife whose forename began with "M".

 

Wilson returned to England in 1933, an established author. His fifth book, The Crimson Dacoit, a thriller about terrorist infiltration into Indian intelligence, was reviewed by TLS: "He evidently devotes time and thought to the working out of details... a thriller which is very good."

 

The reviews got better. In September 1933, TLS said Wallace of the Secret Service was "sensational... a genuine piece of forceful story-telling."

 

While his writing career took off, his personal circumstances were complicated. In India, he met and married Dorothy Wick, a touring actress. But when they returned to Britain, Dorothy was left in London, with baby son Michael, while Wilson resumed life with his first family in Southampton.

 

Dennis remembers: "My father had been this rather glamorous figure who would turn up on leave, driving a flash hired car and bringing us loads of presents before leaving again. The 18 months he lived with us after he returned from India were the only time we were a family."

 

After a row with a relative in 1935, Wilson went back to London, telling his wife and children he would find somewhere for them all to live. His son says: "I imagined him arriving at Waterloo with his luggage and looking for lodgings. But now I know that all he did was return to Dorothy. And we never got to live in London."

 

In 1940, Chronicles of the Secret Service, his 18th and final novel, the 10th to feature Sir Leonard Wallace, was published, its jacket blurb strongly implying inside knowledge: "Major Alexander Wilson probably knows as much about the Secret Service as any living novelist." Crook argues that Wilson's writing was so precise in its knowledge of intelligence life that it is almost inconceivable he did not have first-hand experience, and that he was encouraged by the services to write his books as a way of perpetuating a myth of their all-powerful nature.

 

Whatever the extent of his secret life up to that point, there is no doubt that in 1940 he joined MI6, eavesdropping on overseas embassies' telephones to gather what was known in the intelligence world as "special material". By now estranged from Dorothy, he met his third wife, Alison McKelvie, an MI6 secretary.

 

But then life took a turn for the worst. In late 1942, shortly after the birth of their first son, Gordon, he was dismissed from the Secret Intelligence Service. Wilson maintained to Alison this was for "operational reasons" and that he was now an agent in the field. He stuck to this explanation during years in poverty – he was declared bankrupt in 1944 (the year their second son Nigel was born), they were forced to repeatedly move house, four further books went unpublished and he was twice jailed for petty crimes.

 

Alison grew suspicious of "a vast fabrication" barely able to believe it was all just "cover". In fact, as Crook points out, a similar "fall from grace" scenario was central to The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, by John le Carré, himself a former intelligence officer. Crook believes the prison sentences could have been designed to place him under cover with imprisoned agents and subversives in prison.

 

However, it was probably not cover that caused him to marry again, to Elizabeth Hill, a nurse he met while working as a hospital porter in the mid-Fifties. For two years he carried on a double life between two proximate homes. He and Elizabeth had a son, Douglas.

 

Alison later wrote: "I realised there was not a single thing [he] had ever told me that I could put my finger on and now say 'that is true'. Just one thing I knew – he had written intelligence stories. This indeed was the supreme irony: the only reality in a mountain of fiction was fiction itself." Crook takes the opposite view: "All of the mysteries, ambiguities and contradictions are consistent with intelligence tradecraft. What Alison perceived as fantasy and lying could also be read as the tactics and rituals of cover."

 

Wilson died of a heart attack in 1963, his 70th year. It was only when Alison called the Southampton house, with whom he remained on good terms, with news of his death that they learned of her existence. "We thought she was his landlady," says Dennis. Alison also discovered her late husband was not divorced from Gladys.

 

Four decades later, Crook began investigating Wilson at the behest of his friend Michael, who was staggered to learn that his father had not, as he was told by a bitter Dorothy, died at El Alamein in 1942, but had lived for another 22 years. The six surviving half-siblings – Adrian, his other son by Dorothy died in 1998 – subsequently learned fully of each other's existence, becoming one large, mutually accepting, extended family. Dennis says: "It is absolutely marvellous, like we have known each other all our lives."

 

And they have all been interesting, fulfilling ones: Dennis, an Army officer, was wounded at Normandy before becoming a businessman, while Nigel was a City investment manager and Gordon a Navy captain; Douglas, works for the Scottish government and Michael had a long career as an actor, having changed his surname to Shannon. One grandchild, Nigel's daughter, Ruth Wilson, is an actress, starring in the 2006 BBC version of Jane Eyre.

 

Wilson's other legacy to the nation is more opaque. Crook can only speculate why so little of his work survived beyond the war, why the records of his literary agents and publishers were missing, why many traces of Wilson seemed to have been eradicated. "It may have been an operation to sanitize the public records."

 

Crook was not allowed to see MI6 files. He did, however, have access to "confidential sources", unable to either confirm or deny anything. "I always stressed the negative – that Wilson was a fantasist, his books luckily perceptive rather than the work of an insider and his post-war decline his own fault," says Crook. "But when I spoke to my sources, the positive was strongly pointed out – that Wilson might well have being doing a great job for his country, an unsung hero in contrast to others from the era, like Anthony Blunt or Guy Burgess.''

 

For Crook, that is at least partial confirmation of the secret life of Alexander Wilson. Of course, within the wilderness of mirrors in the secret world, it might be simply expedient to let some fiction masquerade as fact. And vice versa.

 

'The Secret Lives of the Secret Agent: The Mysterious Life and Times of Alexander Wilson' is published by Kultura Press (£29.99). To order a copy for the special price of £26.99 (free P&P) call Independent Books Direct on 08430 600 030, or visit www.independentbooksdirect.co.uk

 

Source: www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/writer-lover-s...

Oberon outside Athens to save Titania's Bottom from those errant arrows of Eros he so orchestrated.

 

I wish everyone a New Year filled with Magic and Love! May it be a Creative one!

 

I know, I am late!

 

Better in Black www.flickr.com/photos/northernstar288/8351845609/in/photo...

 

I had forgotten that "A Midsummer Night's Dream" took place in a forest outside of Athens.

Emerson Stage presents

INTO THE WOODS

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Book by James Lapine

Originally Directed on Broadway by James Lapine

Orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick

Directed by Scott LaFeber

Music Direction by Jonathan Goldberg

Original Broadway Production by Heidi Landesman, Rocco Landesman, Rick Steiner, M. Anthony Fisher, Frederic H. Mayerson, and Jujamcyn Theaters

Originally produced by the Old Globe Theater, San Diego, CA.

April 14 & 16, 2022

Cutler Majestic Theatre

Emerson College

Boston, MA

Scenic Design by LUCIANA STECCONI and JORDAN BARNETT

Projects Design by ALEX BASCO KOCH and PIPER PHILLIPS

Props Lead: LAUREN CORCUERA

Costume Design by MOLLY SHAUGHNESSY

Lighting Design by TALIA ELISE & GRACE TUCHMAN

Sound Design by MEGAN CULLEY

Stage Manager: SOPHIE KLOKINIS

Dramaturg: CIARA BERARDI

Cast: ROBERTA ALAMAN, LUCAS BABCOCK, JONAH BARRICKLO, OLIVIA BODLEY, NAJA NICOLE BROWN, JAKE COLLINS, DENNIS DIZON, CEDRICK EKRA, MARCO GIACONA, ISABEL GINSBERG, EMERSON HART, HAWA KAMARA, ELLIANA KARRIS, EMILY KILBOURNE, KARLEY KRICKMIER, ANTHONY LAFORNARA, BRENDAN MASSAR, MORGAN MCMILLIN, ZOEY SCHORSCH, ELLA SHAW, BEATRICE STEUER, AMANDA VAZQUEZ, ANANIA WILLIAMS, ISABELLE WISDOM, ZEHAVA YOUNGER

Orchestra: MICHAEL BELLOFATTO, LISA BROOKE, DAVID BURDETT, MAXWELL CONNOR, JACQUELINE DEVOE, KATE FOSS, JONATHAN GOLDBERG, CLARA KEBABIAN, DOUGLAS LIPPINCOTT, SALLY MERRIMAN, CAMERON SAWZIN, JENNIFER SHALLENBERGER, EMMA STAUDACHER, LOUIS TOTH, NORALEE WALKER

All photos by Craig Bailey/Perspective Photo

More information: www.emersonstage.org/into-the-woods

Too bad so much smoke, no wind. It was a great fireworks display but unfortunately couldn't see the beautifully orchestrated colourful explosions!

Blogged here. Sokwanele on Twitter. Please link up with us there to receive sms action alerts on your mobile phone like this one here, and critical news updates. We plan to use Twitter intensively over the run-off election period scheduled for 27th June.

Blogged here. Sokwanele on Twitter. Please link up with us there to receive sms action alerts on your mobile phone like this one here, and critical news updates. We plan to use Twitter intensively over the run-off election period scheduled for 27th June.

Canadian National Exhibition 2015 - Toronto

 

"Percy Faith was a Canadian bandleader, orchestrator, composer and conductor, known for his lush arrangements of pop and Christmas standards. He is often credited with popularizing the 'easy listening' or 'mood music' format. Faith became a staple of American popular music in the 1950s and continued well into the 1960s. Though his professional orchestra-leading career began at the height of the swing era, Faith refined and rethought orchestration techniques, including use of large string sections, to soften and fill out the brass-dominated popular music of the 1940s.

 

Faith was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. He was the oldest of eight children. His parents, Abraham Faith and Minnie, née Rottenberg, were Jewish. He played violin and piano as a child, and played in theatres and at Massey Hall. After his hands were badly burned in a fire, he turned to conducting, and his live orchestras used the new medium of radio broadcasting.”

 

[ From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ]

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRV0yHiEua8

   

Blogged here. Sokwanele on Twitter. Please link up with us there to receive sms action alerts on your mobile phone like this one here, and critical news updates. We plan to use Twitter intensively over the run-off election period scheduled for 27th June.

The ballet La Nuit sur le Mont Chauve (Night on the Bare Mountain) premiered in April, 1924 at the Théâtre de Monte-Carlo. The choreography was by Bronislava Nijinska and the set and costume designs were by Natalia Goncharova.

 

Night on the Bare Mountain (now better known as Night on Bald Mountain) is an orchestral work by Mussorgsky inspired by the witches’ Sabbath in Gogol’s story of “St. John’s Eve.” It was composed in 1867 as an orchestral work, revised in 1872 as an operatic choral piece, and revised and re-orchestrated by Rimsky-Korsakov in 1886. The latter is now the concert favorite and the one most often programmed. However, millions of 20th century listeners owe their initial acquaintance with the music to Leopold Stokowski who composed a version in 1940 for Walt Disney’s animated masterpiece, Fantasia.

 

My favorite Disney clip featuring Stokowski’s Night on Bald Mountain has been deleted from Youtube. It was removed, allegedly, on “copyright grounds.” I can’t help but notice, however, that many other Disney clips remain on Youtube. This selective action, I suspect, is corporate Disney yielding to the demands of a small band of viewers who complain about the so-called “demonic imagery” in the “Night on Bald Mountain.” To those viewers I say “Get a Life!”

 

Fortunately, Stokowski’s music is still on Youtube but without the Disney animation:

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qu970EXXGzQ

 

In fact, an animated version of Night on Bald Mountain preceded Disney. It is by Alexeieff, it was produced in 1933 and it isn’t bad at all:

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYbjW7XrWDo

 

Finally, the Disney animation survives on the web (for how long is anyone’s guess) but without Leopold Stokowski conducting the orchestra. Check it out here:

 

vimeo.com/7753129

 

Premik solo in SINGING THE OCEANS ALIVE CONCERT with the ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

Fairfield Hall concert LONDON, ENGLAND APRIL 25, 2014

 

Watch/Listen

YouTubes

 

Premik solo with the London Royal Philharmonic performing "Apla Kathar."

The main melody was composed by Sri Chinmoy & orchestrated by Vapushtara Matthijs Jongepier.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbhReDbyIOY

 

High praise from Craig Pruess:

"The piece was excellent, thrilling even, very well orchestrated, and your playing was note perfect. An honor to work with you, my man." –Craig Pruess Composer, Musician, Arranger, and a Gold & Platinum Record Producer

www.heaven-on-earth-music.co.uk/

 

******

Premik Russell Tubbs & Kristin Hoffmann - Also, while in London, England...

Saturday, April 26, 2014

7:00PM

World Heart Beat Music Academy

58 Kimber Road (1st Floor)

London SW18 4PP

www.worldheartbeat.org

+44 (0) 20 8870 3042

+44 (0) 7973 631203

The World Heart Beat Music Academy is located on the 1st floor of the CW Charles Wilson Engineering building next to the German Motor Company on the Merton Rd…end of Kimber Rd

Nearest Transport LInks:

Southfields Underground, Earlsfield Station, Busses 44, 270, 156, 39, 639

 

*****

Premik and Kristin began working together in March of 2003...

 

Premik Russell Tubbs has enjoyed many years of working with talented singer/songwriter Kristin Hoffmann. They have performed together at various venues across the USA. Premik toured in 2005 with Kristin opening for Jakob Dylan and the Wallflowers.

 

Premik accompanied Kristin @ her release party/show Thurs, April 10th, 2014

The Human Compass: New Directions Remix Release Party @ The Slipper Room, East Village, NYC

kristinhoffmann.bandcamp.co

 

In NYC one can catch them playing at Caffe Vivaldi. Premik accompanies Kristin with flutes, saxophones and lap steel guitar.

www.kristinhoffmann.com/

 

caffevivaldi.com/

_________

 

Most recent recordings and projects:

 

In 2012 Premik recorded with 2011 Grammy nominee vocalist and composer Chandrika Krishnamurthy Tandon. 'Over 75 musicians came together to record the album in the US and India combining ancient traditional instruments like the rhumba, calypso, ektara, dugdugi and esraj with saxophone, banjo and piano to transcend musical boundaries.'

 

Sound Samples:

Amazon

www.amazon.com/Soul-March-Chandrika-Krishnamurthy-Tandon/...

CB Baby

www.cdbaby.com/cd/chandrikakrishnamurthyta2

Check out "JOG"

www.soulchants.com/

 

****

 

Recording projects in 2010-2012 with Grammy award-winning producer and founder of Windham Hill Records Will Ackerman include albums by Fiona Jay Hawkins, Shambhu, Dean Boland, Rebecca Harrold, Ronnda Cadle and Masako.

 

Will Ackerman: ...‘The criteria for who works here go way past simple talent. Imaginary Road is my home and I’m only letting wonderful people into my home. I don’t care how talented you are; if you’re not able to wear your heart on your sleeve don’t bother to turn up. We use Keith Carlock (Sting and Steeley Dan) as a drummer too along with Arron Sterling (John Mayer and Sheryl Crow). Only last year I met Premik Russel Tubbs who plays sax and wind synths for us.

 

‘Premik has become part of the family...'

www.newagemusicworld.com/will-ackerman-interview-new-in-2...

imaginaryroadstudios.com/

 

****

 

Premik recorded with Heidi Breyer and accompanied her at the ZMR Awards 2013, staged in New Orleans.

www.zonemusicreporter.com/admin/performers.asp

ZMR Awards 2013 -Best Instrumental Album – Piano - “Beyond the Turning” - Heidi Breyer - Winterhall Records, produced at Synchrosonic Productions by Grammy winner Corin Nelsen. www.heidibreyer.com/

 

****

New Age / Ambient / World Top 100 Radio Chart

ZoneMusicReporter.com

Top 100 Radio Play - #1 Top Recordings for January 2014

Title: Call of the Mountains - Artist: Masako

www.zonemusicreporter.com/charts/top100.asp

Premik plays wind synth on tracks 4 "Watching the Clouds", & 9 "Purple Indulgence".

 

****

Premik, in conjunction with jazz pianist Uli Geissendoerfer heads Bangalore Breakdown, an exciting, world music ensemble. They released their first CD, titled Diary, in 2008. In the words of noted Jazz author Bill Milkowski: Is it world music? Is it jazz? Is it some kind of new uncategorizable fusion that hasn’t yet been labeled?

Sound samples here: www.bangalorebreakdown.com/music.html

 

****

 

Premik and Uli Geissendoerfer released in 2014 their own collaborative duo CD titled Passport to 'Happyness' (yes, happiness with a 'y'') www.ulimusic.com

 

www.flickr.com/photos/42514297@N04/15543396956/

 

****

 

Premik will soon be featured in Carman Moore's Cd “Concerto for Ornette” in which Premik will play the orchestral solo saxophone part. Premik is also the featured saxophonist with SKYBAND on its recording of Carman Moore’s “DON AND BEA IN LOVE,” a fantasy concept album roughly about the intense Renaissance love between Dante and Beatrice which, in part, takes place in outer space! Carman Moore is a 2013 Guggenheim Fellowship winner. www.carmanmoore.com

 

****

 

Premik’s ‘Journey To Light Ensemble’

Sound is East/West, jazz., a journey....

With Premik Russell Tubbs (saxpohones, flutes, lap steel, wind synth),

www.premik.com

Dave Phelps (guitar),

www.davidphelpsguitar.com/

Leigh Stuart (cello),

leighstuart.com/about/

Nathan Peck (upright & electric bass),

www.alexskolnick.com/biography-nathan-peck/

Todd Isler (drums, percussion)

toddisler.com/

Naren Budakar (tabla)

www.sooryadance.com/html/Milan/naren.htm

Watch for a Journey To Light Ensemble album to be released in 2014

 

****

 

TriBeCaStan

Premik (saxophones, flutes, lap steel, wind synth)

tribecastan.tv/

 

TriBeCaStan's "Coal Again"- Cd Release 2014

www.flickr.com/photos/42514297@N04/15447303643/in/photost...

 

***

 

Performing in:

25th Anniversary of the Rainforest Fund Benefit Concert

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Carnegie Hall

Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage

7 PM

www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2014/4/17/0700/PM/25th-Anni...

 

***

 

Premik solo in SINGING THE OCEANS ALIVE CONCERT with the ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

Fairfield Hall concert LONDON, ENGLAND APRIL 25, 2014

 

Watch/Listen

YouTubes

 

Premik solo with the London Royal Philharmonic performing "Apla Kathar."

The main melody was composed by Sri Chinmoy & orchestrated by Vapushtara Matthijs Jongepier.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbhReDbyIOY

 

High praise from Craig Pruess:

"The piece was excellent, thrilling even, very well orchestrated, and your playing was note perfect. An honor to work with you, my man." –Craig Pruess Composer, Musician, Arranger, and a Gold & Platinum Record Producer

www.heaven-on-earth-music.co.uk/

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4euUuBNUzco

Song of the Ocean by Kristin Hoffmann

All performers of the evening take the stage with the London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

 

****

 

Premik Russell Tubbs | The Music of Karl Jenkins | Carnegie Hall

MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY

Monday, January 19, 2015

Premik Russell Tubbs played "bansuri & ethnic flutes" in this concert. (Bansuri is an Indian bamboo flute).

 

nyconcertreview.com/reviews/distinguished-concerts-intern...

Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) presents The Music of Karl Jenkins in Review

 

www.karljenkins.com/

 

__________________

 

Contact/Listen

 

www.premik.com

www.facebook.com/premik.tubbs

www.reverbnation.com/premik

www.broadjam.com/premik

www.myspace.com/premik

www.emusic.com/album/premik/mission-transcendence/10884302/

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premik_Russell_Tubbs

__________________

 

Short Bio

 

World / Jazz / Experimental / Improv / East-West / Ambient / Pop

PREMIK RUSSELL TUBBS

 

Premik, a composer, arranger, producer and an accomplished multi-instrumentalist performs on various flutes, soprano, alto and tenor saxophones, wind synthesizers, and lap steel guitar.

 

Premik has worked with everyone from Carlos Santana, Whitney Houston, Herbie Hancock, John McLaughlin, Ravi Shankar, Narada Michael Walden, Clarence Clemons, Ornette Coleman, Jackson Browne, Jean-Luc Ponty, Lonnie Liston-Smith, Scarlet Riveria, James Taylor, Sting and Lady Gaga, just to name a few. He is equally adept in pop, R&B, jazz, world and experimental genres.

 

Sax solos on #1 Hits -: “How Will I Know” (Whitney Houston) and “Baby, Come To Me” (Regina Belle).

 

Premik's first major recording breakthrough was with John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra on the album“Visions of the Emerald Beyond.” Premik was a major part of the landmark Carlos Santana album "The Swing of Delight" which featured Herbie Hancock as co-arranger and co-musical director. Also featured were Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams, Ron Carter and several members of the Santana band.

 

www.premik.com/recordings/discography/

 

In 1978 Premik joined Carlos Santana on a six-week European tour as part of an opening act for the Santana Band called Devadip Oneness.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=beD58ordH08

"Gardenia" - DEVADIP European tour w/ Carlos Santana, Dec.'78 in Paris

 

www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=juVuh...

!978 Devidip Orchestra

 

Las Ventanas al Paraiso "The windows to Paradise"

Km 19.5 Carretera Transpeninsular

Cabo San Lucas, San Jose del Cabo - MEXICO

 

In the 1970's the Mexican government designated "hot spots" for tourism development including Cancun, Ixtapa and Los Cabos. Los Cabos, which means the Capes has twin towns of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo which are separated by 20 miles of beach coast line. Mexican developer Javier Burillo Azcarraga acquired eighteen undeveloped acres at Cabo San Lucas in the early 90's. He envisioned for the site a unique, super-luxury, boutique hotel that would stand out from the crowd and reflect Baja's indigenous culture and landscape. He brought in Atlanta-based architect and developer Hal Thannisch, Jr. to create the master plan and orchestrate the design, construction, financing, and ultimate operation of the completed resort. Thannisch hired HKS Architects of Dallas to provide architectural services, and they in turn, retained The SWA Group of Dallas to create the site plan and landscape architecture. The SWA Group developed the Las Ventanas landscape which blends the natural desert environment with the sensuality of the Mexican-style architecture to enhance the resort’s sense of authenticity. Construction began in December 1995, and the five-star Las Ventanas al Paraiso, or "Windows to Paradise," welcomed its first guests in July 1997. When guests enter Las Ventanas, they don't see all the buildings at once. Rather, the resort gradually reveals itself as guests walk down to the sea. The site plan radiates out from the open-air lobby, and every guest suite has a view of the blue Sea of Cortez. The resort resembles a small, sand and earth-colored Mexican village. The hotels opening rate was $325 a night. The 61-room Las Ventanas al Paraiso claims to have the longest celebrity client list of any hotel in the world. The discreet resort does not have a sign outside on Highway 1. Zen-inspired raked-sand entrance opens to beach views from the restaurant, private rooftop patios, and infinity-edge pools, where super-attentive pool butlers clean your smudged sunglasses and provide unlimited towel service. All over-sized guestrooms have pebble-inlaid headboards, hand-carved cedar doors, wood-burning fireplaces, and telescopes for stargazing.

 

Javier Burillo belongs to the Azcárraga family, owner of Televisa. He is the son of Carmela Azcárraga Milmo, sister of the late Emilio Azcárraga Milmo and daughter of Emilio Azcárraga Vidaurreta, founder of Televicentro, now Televisa. Grupo Televisa, S.A.B. is a Mexican multimedia company and the largest in Latin America and the Spanish-speaking world (Univision in the United States). The company has been led and owned by three generations of Azcárraga. Javier Burillo inherited the Ritz Acapulco Hotel from his grandfather. In 1999 he and Rosewood's Hal Thannisch proposed a $62 million, 105-room Rosewood Resort in Sonoma, CA which failed to get city's approval.

 

Thannisch Development Services, Inc. (TDS) specializes in complex issues of development planning, financing, interdisciplinary management, design management and implementation. Thannisch was directly responsible for the renovation of the historic Cogswell College building now the Ritz Carlton San Francisco and the redevelopment of the Mahogany Run Resort, St. Thomas, USVI. In 1985, Thannisch joined Caroline Hunt's Rosewood Hotel Group as vice president, development. Based in Dallas, he was immersed in the development of the Hotel Hana-Maui at Hana Ranch and The Hotel on the Old Course, St. Andrews, Scotland. In 1989, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company called on his experience to manage the feasibility, pre-development, development and construction of the Ritz-Carlton Aspen, Hotel Arts Barcelona, Spain. Thannisch brought to Rosewood its first Mexico project, Las Ventanas which has emerged as a premier five-star resort in all of Mexico.

 

Las Ventanas al Paraíso became the first world-class resort in Los Cabos under hotelier Edward Steiner who served the hotel from opening to 2008. The resort achieved AAA Five Diamond status under his leadership.

 

In December 2003 Paraiso Los Cabos, S.A. de C.V. sold Las Ventana al Paraiso to Dallas based JTL Capital in partnership with Farallon Capital Management L.L.C.for an undisclosed price. Rosewood Hotels & Resorts agreed to a long-term contract to continue management of the resort. The purchase also included land entitled for up to 30 additional villa residences as well as an unfinished Phase IV building containing 8 premier villas that JTL Capital will finish constructing in September of 2004. The transaction was a first for JTL in Mexico. Morgan Stanley Mortgage Capital provided the financing. JTL Capital, L.L.C. is a closely held, real estate investment and development concern founded in 1999 by David A. Lane and Mark J. Sullivan. JTL Capital employs a "buy and enhance" strategy that produces attractive risk-adjusted returns.

 

In September 2004 Ty Warner Hotels & Resorts, LLC purchased the 61-room Las Ventanas al Paraíso Resort from Dallas-based JTL Capital, LLC. According to Ty Warner, the goal is to extend and enhance the beauty and amenities at the resort. Warner believed the essential component to achieving that goal is in Rosewood Hotels & Resorts' continued operation of the resort. Ty Warner is an American billionaire who created the 1990s stuffed toy fad - Beanie Babies. At the peak of the Beanie craze in 1999, the privately owned Ty Inc. is believed to have earned over $700 million in profits in a year. The Beanie Babies phenomenon, coupled with the rise of the Internet, is cited as elevating Warner to billionaire status. Ty Warner Hotel and Resort Properties include: Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara, CA, Four Seasons Hotel New York, NY and San Ysidro Ranch, Montecito, CA.

 

Managing Directors since Edward Steiner include: Lionel Alvarez appointed Managing Director in 2008. He previously was General Manager at at Aquapura Vale Do Douro Hotel, Portugal. Martein van Wagenberg was appointed managing director of Las Ventanas in 2011. He previously was at Rosewood Little Dix Bay in Virgin Gorda. In 2014 Rosewood named Mário Candeias the managing director of Las Ventanas. He was the Director of Operations at Pestana Hotels & Resorts in Portugal. Rosewood appointed Frederic Vidal the Managing Director of Las Ventanas al Paraíso in 2014. Previously he was Managing Director for YOSH Hospitality, a company managing palaces and villas in the United Arab Emirates.

 

Compiled by Dick Johnson, November 2019

35mm: A Musical Exhibition at the University of Southern Maine School of Music

 

Music and Lyrics by Ryan Scott Oliver

Based on Photographs by Matthew Murphy

Vocal Arrangements and Orchestrations by Ryan Scott Oliver

Additional Percussion arrangements by Jeremy Yaddaw

Additional Guitar arrangements by Matt Hinkley

Directed by Edward Reichert

 

A picture is worth 1,000 words - what about a song? In 35mm: A Musical Exhibition, each photo creates a unique song, moments frozen in time; a glimmer of a life unfolding, a glimpse of something happening. The University of Southern Maine School of Music fall musical theatre production is part concert, part exhibition, part poetry jam, part performance art...an intricately woven collection of stories that re-imagines what the modern American musical can be.

 

Three performances take place in Corthell Concert Hall on the Gorham campus on Friday, October 26 and Saturday, October 27 at 8 p.m., and Sunday, October 28 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15 for the general public, $10 for seniors, USM alumni and employees, and $5 for students. They can be purchased online at usm.maine.edu/music/boxoffice, by phone at (207) 780-5555, or at the door.

 

The show is sponsored by Saco & Biddeford Savings Institution.

 

Art moves and touches people in different ways. The stories told through song in 35mm are all based on or inspired by the eclectic photography of Matthew Murphy. Composer Ryan Scott Oliver provides us with a collection of stories and photographs about life: gorgeous songs about love and loss, more complex issues like insanity, abuse...and some humor too. Oliver states, “it covers a wide range of experiences and sensations.” This show is recommended for mature audiences.

 

The show’s director, Ed Reichert says, “The score is fascinating to me because it covers so many genres such as rock, gospel, country, pop, and musical comedy. Ryan Scott Oliver openly talks about some of his creative influences including Lady Gaga, The Scissor Sisters, Schubert, and Rufus Wainwright. He is equally inspired by the likes of Quentin Tarantino, Stephen King, and Stephen Sondheim.” Reichert adds, “With Halloween just around the corner, at least three of the songs are timely: Leave, Luanne (a Southern Gothic Ghost Story), Twisted Teeth (a duet between two vampires), and The Ballad of Sara Berry (think prom queen...).”

 

The cast includes: Samuel Allen (Harpswell), Matthew Boyd (Medford, NJ), Ricky Brewster (Lewiston), Andrew Carney (Millinocket), Mikayla Clifford (Yarmouth), Noli French (New Gloucester), Aaron Kircheis (Bucksport), Katie Lind (Standish), Ayann Main (Wiscasset), Megan Mayfield (Marlborough, MA), Miles Obrey (Gorham), Alyssa Pearl-Ross (Sangerville), Victoria Stackpole (Biddeford), March Steiger (Buxton), Ben Walker-Dubay (Kennebunk), Megan Walz (Portland), Meg Ward (Bangor), Abby White (Dalton, Mass.), and Ed Reichert on piano.

 

The band includes Lynnea Harding, associate music director, violin and viola; Catherine Begin, cello; Jake Cooper, guitar; Sam Smith, drums.

 

Those needing special accommodations to participate fully in this program, contact Lori Arsenault, (207) 780-5142, loria@maine.edu. Hearing impaired: call USM's telex / TDD number (207) 780-5646.

 

35mm: A Musical Exhibition is presented by special arrangement with SAMUEL FRENCH, INC.

Varosha - Maras is the southern quarter of the Famagusta, a de jure territory of Cyprus, currently under the control of Northern Cyprus. Varosha has a population of 226 in the 2011 Northern Cyprus census. The area of Varosha is 6.19 km2 (2.39 sq mi).

 

The name of Varosha derives from the Turkish word varoş (Ottoman Turkish: واروش, 'suburb'). The place where Varosha is located now was empty fields in which animals grazed.

 

In the early 1970s, Famagusta was the number-one tourist destination in Cyprus. To cater to the increasing number of tourists, many new high-rise buildings and hotels were constructed. During its heyday, Varosha was not only the number-one tourist destination in Cyprus, but between 1970 and 1974, it was one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world and was a favorite destination of such celebrities as Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Raquel Welch, and Brigitte Bardot.

 

Before 1974, Varosha was the modern tourist area of the Famagusta city. Its Greek Cypriot inhabitants fled during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, when the city of Famagusta came under Turkish control, and it has remained abandoned ever since. In 1984 a U.N. resolution called for the handover of the city to UN control and said that only the original inhabitants, who were forced out, could resettle in the town.

 

Entry to part of Varosha was opened to civilians in 2017.

 

In August 1974, the Turkish Army advanced as far as the Green Line, a UN-patrolled demilitarized zone between the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, and controlled and fenced Varosha. Just hours before the Greek Cypriot and Turkish armies met in combat on the streets of Famagusta, the entire Greek Cypriot population fled to Paralimni, Dherynia, and Larnaca, fearing a massacre. The evacuation was aided and orchestrated by the nearby British military base. Paralimni has since become the modern-day capital of the Famagusta province of Greek Cypriot-led Cyprus.

 

The Turkish Army has allowed the entry of only Turkish military and United Nations personnel since 2017.

 

One such settlement plan was the Annan Plan to reunify the island that provided for the return of Varosha to the original residents. But this was rejected by Greek Cypriots in a 2004 referendum. The UN Security Council Resolution 550 states that it "considers attempts to settle any part of Varosha by people other than its inhabitants as inadmissible and calls for the transfer of this area to the administration of the United Nations".

 

The European Court of Human Rights awarded between €100,000 and €8,000,000 to eight Greek Cypriots for being deprived of their homes and properties as a result of the 1974 invasion. The case was filed jointly by businessman Constantinos Lordos and others, with the principal judgement in the Lordos case dating back to November 2010. The court ruled that, in the case of eight of the applicants, Turkey had violated Article 1 of Protocol 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights on the right of peaceful enjoyment of one's possessions, and in the case of seven of the applicants, Turkey had violated Article 8 on the right to respect for private and family life.

 

In the absence of human habitation and maintenance, buildings continue to decay. Over time, parts of the city have begun to be reclaimed by nature as metal corrodes, windows are broken, and plants work their roots into the walls and pavement and grow wild in old window boxes. In 2014, the BBC reported that sea turtles were observed nesting on the beaches in the city.

 

During the Cyprus Missile Crisis (1997–1998), the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktaş, threatened to take over Varosha if the Cypriot government did not back down.

 

The main features of Varosha included John F. Kennedy Avenue, a street which ran from close to the port of Famagusta, through Varosha and parallel to Glossa beach. Along JFK Avenue, there were many well known high rise hotels including the King George Hotel, The Asterias Hotel, The Grecian Hotel, The Florida Hotel, and The Argo Hotel which was the favourite hotel of Elizabeth Taylor. The Argo Hotel is located near the end of JFK Avenue, looking towards Protaras and Fig Tree Bay. Another major street in Varosha was Leonidas (Greek: Λεωνίδας), a major street that came off JFK Avenue and headed west towards Vienna Corner. Leonidas was a major shopping and leisure street in Varosha, consisting of bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and a Toyota car dealership.

 

According to Greek Cypriots, 425 plots exist on the Varosha beach front, which extends from the Contandia hotel to the Golden Sands hotel. The complete number of plots in Varosha are 6082.

 

There are 281 cases of Greek Cypriots who filed to the Immovable Property Commission (IPC) of Northern Cyprus for compensation.

 

In 2020, Greek Cypriot Demetrios Hadjihambis filed a lawsuit seeking state compensation for financial losses.

 

The population of Varosha was 226 in the 2011 Northern Cyprus census.

 

In 2017, Varosha's beach was opened for the exclusive use of Turks (both Turkish Cypriots and Turkish nationals).

 

In 2019, the Government of Northern Cyprus announced it would open Varosha to settlement. On 14 November 2019, Ersin Tatar, the prime minister of Northern Cyprus, announced that Northern Cyprus aims to open Varosha by the end of 2020.

 

On 25 July 2019, Varosha Inventory Commission of Northern Cyprus started its inventory analysis on the buildings and other infrastructure in Varosha.

 

On 9 December 2019, Ibrahim Benter, the Director-General of the Turkish Cypriot EVKAF religious foundation's administration, declared all of Maraş/Varosha to be the property of EVKAF. Benter said "EVKAF can sign renting contracts with Greek Cypriots if they accept that the fenced-off town belongs to the Evkaf."

 

In 2019–20, inventory studies of buildings by the Government of Northern Cyprus were concluded. On 15 February 2020, the Turkish Bar Association organised a round table meeting at the Sandy Beach Hotel in Varosha, which was attended by Turkish officials (Vice President Fuat Oktay and Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gül), Turkish Cypriot officials, representatives of the Turkish Cypriot religious foundation Evkaf, and Turkish and Turkish Cypriot lawyers.

 

On 22 February 2020, Cyprus declared it would veto European Union funds to Turkish Cypriots if Varosha were opened to settlement.

 

On 6 October 2020, Ersin Tatar, the Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus, announced that the beach area of Varosha would reopen to the public on 8 October 2020. Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said Turkey fully supported the decision. The move came ahead of the 2020 Northern Cypriot presidential election, in which Tatar was a candidate. Deputy Prime Minister Kudret Özersay, who had worked on the reopening previously, said that this was not a full reopening of the area, that this was just a unilateral election stunt by Tatar. His People's Party withdrew from the Tatar cabinet, leading to the collapse of the Turkish Cypriot government. The EU's diplomatic chief condemned the plan and described it as a "serious violation" of the U.N. ceasefire agreement. In addition, he asked Turkey to stop this activity. The U.N. Secretary-General expressed concern over Turkey's decision.

 

On 8 October 2020, some parts of Varosha were opened from the Officers' Club of Turkish and Turkish Cypriot Army to the Golden Sands Hotel.

 

In November 2020, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Turkey's ambassador to Nicosia, visited Varosha. In addition, the main avenue in Varosha has been renamed after Semih Sancar, Chief of the General Staff of Turkey from 1973 to 1978, a period including the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus.

 

The European Parliament on 27 November, asked Turkey to reverse its decision to re-open part of Varosha and resume negotiations aimed at resolving the Cyprus problem on the basis of a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation and called on the European Union to impose sanctions against Turkey, if things do not change. Turkey rejected the resolution, adding that Turkey will continue to protect both its own rights and those of Turkish Cypriots. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus presidency also condemned the resolution.

 

On 20 July 2021, Tatar, the president of Northern Cyprus announced the start of the 2nd phase of the opening of Varosha. He encouraged Greek Cypriots to apply Immovable Property Commission of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus to claim their properties back if they have any such rights.

 

Bilal Aga Mosque, constructed in 1821 and taken out of service in 1974, was re-opened on 23 July 2021.

 

In response to a decision by the government of Turkish Cyprus, the presidential statement of the United Nations Security Council dated on 23 July said that settling any part of the abandoned Cypriot suburb of Varosha, "by people other than its inhabitants, is 'inadmissible'." The same day, Turkey rejected the presidential statement of the UNSC on Maras (Varosha), and said that these statements were based on Greek-Greek Cypriot propaganda, were groundless and unfounded claims, and inconsistent with the realities on the Island. On 24 July 2021, the presidency of Northern Cyprus condemned the presidential statement of the UNSC dated on 23 July, and stated that "We see and condemn it as an attempt to create an obstacle for the property-rights-holders in Varosha to achieve their rights".

 

By 1 January 2022, nearly 400,000 people had visited Varosha since its opening to civilians on 6 October 2020.

 

On 19 May 2022, Northern Cyprus opened a 600m long X 400m wide stretch of beach on the Golden Sands beach (from the King George Hotel to the Oceania Building) in Varosha for commercial use. Sun beds and umbrellas were installed.

 

UNFICYP said it would raise the decision taken by Turkish Cypriot authorities to open that stretch of beach in Varosha with the Security Council, spokesperson for the peacekeeping force Aleem Siddique said on Friday. The UN announced its "position on Varosha is unchanged and we are monitoring the situation closely".

 

In October 2022, the Turkish Cypriots announced that public institutions will be opened in the city.

 

In April 2023, Cleo Hotel, the 7-floor Golden Seaside Hotel, and the 3-star Aegean Hotel were purchased by a Turkish Cypriot businessman (from their Greek Cypriot owners) who will operate them within 2025.

 

On 10 August 2023, the Government of Northern Cyprus decided to construct a marina and tourist facility in Varosha.

 

Varosha was analyzed by Alan Weisman in his book The World Without Us as an example of the unstoppable power of nature.

 

Filmmaker Greek Cypriot Michael Cacoyannis described the city and interviewed its exiled citizens in the film Attilas '74, produced in 1975.

 

In 2021, the Belarusian group Main-De-Gloire dedicated a song to this city that has become a ghostly place.

 

Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a de facto state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. It is recognised only by Turkey, and its territory is considered by all other states to be part of the Republic of Cyprus.

 

Northern Cyprus extends from the tip of the Karpass Peninsula in the northeast to Morphou Bay, Cape Kormakitis and its westernmost point, the Kokkina exclave in the west. Its southernmost point is the village of Louroujina. A buffer zone under the control of the United Nations stretches between Northern Cyprus and the rest of the island and divides Nicosia, the island's largest city and capital of both sides.

 

A coup d'état in 1974, performed as part of an attempt to annex the island to Greece, prompted the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. This resulted in the eviction of much of the north's Greek Cypriot population, the flight of Turkish Cypriots from the south, and the partitioning of the island, leading to a unilateral declaration of independence by the north in 1983. Due to its lack of recognition, Northern Cyprus is heavily dependent on Turkey for economic, political and military support.

 

Attempts to reach a solution to the Cyprus dispute have been unsuccessful. The Turkish Army maintains a large force in Northern Cyprus with the support and approval of the TRNC government, while the Republic of Cyprus, the European Union as a whole, and the international community regard it as an occupation force. This military presence has been denounced in several United Nations Security Council resolutions.

 

Northern Cyprus is a semi-presidential, democratic republic with a cultural heritage incorporating various influences and an economy that is dominated by the services sector. The economy has seen growth through the 2000s and 2010s, with the GNP per capita more than tripling in the 2000s, but is held back by an international embargo due to the official closure of the ports in Northern Cyprus by the Republic of Cyprus. The official language is Turkish, with a distinct local dialect being spoken. The vast majority of the population consists of Sunni Muslims, while religious attitudes are mostly moderate and secular. Northern Cyprus is an observer state of ECO and OIC under the name "Turkish Cypriot State", PACE under the name "Turkish Cypriot Community", and Organization of Turkic States with its own name.

 

Several distinct periods of Cypriot intercommunal violence involving the two main ethnic communities, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, marked mid-20th century Cyprus. These included the Cyprus Emergency of 1955–59 during British rule, the post-independence Cyprus crisis of 1963–64, and the Cyprus crisis of 1967. Hostilities culminated in the 1974 de facto division of the island along the Green Line following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. The region has been relatively peaceful since then, but the Cyprus dispute has continued, with various attempts to solve it diplomatically having been generally unsuccessful.

 

Cyprus, an island lying in the eastern Mediterranean, hosted a population of Greeks and Turks (four-fifths and one-fifth, respectively), who lived under British rule in the late nineteenth-century and the first half of the twentieth-century. Christian Orthodox Church of Cyprus played a prominent political role among the Greek Cypriot community, a privilege that it acquired during the Ottoman Empire with the employment of the millet system, which gave the archbishop an unofficial ethnarch status.

 

The repeated rejections by the British of Greek Cypriot demands for enosis, union with Greece, led to armed resistance, organised by the National Organization of Cypriot Struggle, or EOKA. EOKA, led by the Greek-Cypriot commander George Grivas, systematically targeted British colonial authorities. One of the effects of EOKA's campaign was to alter the Turkish position from demanding full reincorporation into Turkey to a demand for taksim (partition). EOKA's mission and activities caused a "Cretan syndrome" (see Turkish Resistance Organisation) within the Turkish Cypriot community, as its members feared that they would be forced to leave the island in such a case as had been the case with Cretan Turks. As such, they preferred the continuation of British colonial rule and then taksim, the division of the island. Due to the Turkish Cypriots' support for the British, EOKA's leader, Georgios Grivas, declared them to be enemies. The fact that the Turks were a minority was, according to Nihat Erim, to be addressed by the transfer of thousands of Turks from mainland Turkey so that Greek Cypriots would cease to be the majority. When Erim visited Cyprus as the Turkish representative, he was advised by Field Marshal Sir John Harding, the then Governor of Cyprus, that Turkey should send educated Turks to settle in Cyprus.

 

Turkey actively promoted the idea that on the island of Cyprus two distinctive communities existed, and sidestepped its former claim that "the people of Cyprus were all Turkish subjects". In doing so, Turkey's aim to have self-determination of two to-be equal communities in effect led to de jure partition of the island.[citation needed] This could be justified to the international community against the will of the majority Greek population of the island. Dr. Fazil Küçük in 1954 had already proposed Cyprus be divided in two at the 35° parallel.

 

Lindley Dan, from Notre Dame University, spotted the roots of intercommunal violence to different visions among the two communities of Cyprus (enosis for Greek Cypriots, taksim for Turkish Cypriots). Also, Lindlay wrote that "the merging of church, schools/education, and politics in divisive and nationalistic ways" had played a crucial role in creation of havoc in Cyprus' history. Attalides Michael also pointed to the opposing nationalisms as the cause of the Cyprus problem.

 

By the mid-1950's, the "Cyprus is Turkish" party, movement, and slogan gained force in both Cyprus and Turkey. In a 1954 editorial, Turkish Cypriot leader Dr. Fazil Kuchuk expressed the sentiment that the Turkish youth had grown up with the idea that "as soon as Great Britain leaves the island, it will be taken over by the Turks", and that "Turkey cannot tolerate otherwise". This perspective contributed to the willingness of Turkish Cypriots to align themselves with the British, who started recruiting Turkish Cypriots into the police force that patrolled Cyprus to fight EOKA, a Greek Cypriot nationalist organisation that sought to rid the island of British rule.

 

EOKA targeted colonial authorities, including police, but Georgios Grivas, the leader of EOKA, did not initially wish to open up a new front by fighting Turkish Cypriots and reassured them that EOKA would not harm their people. In 1956, some Turkish Cypriot policemen were killed by EOKA members and this provoked some intercommunal violence in the spring and summer, but these attacks on policemen were not motivated by the fact that they were Turkish Cypriots.

 

However, in January 1957, Grivas changed his policy as his forces in the mountains became increasingly pressured by the British Crown forces. In order to divert the attention of the Crown forces, EOKA members started to target Turkish Cypriot policemen intentionally in the towns, so that Turkish Cypriots would riot against the Greek Cypriots and the security forces would have to be diverted to the towns to restore order. The killing of a Turkish Cypriot policeman on 19 January, when a power station was bombed, and the injury of three others, provoked three days of intercommunal violence in Nicosia. The two communities targeted each other in reprisals, at least one Greek Cypriot was killed and the British Army was deployed in the streets. Greek Cypriot stores were burned and their neighbourhoods attacked. Following the events, the Greek Cypriot leadership spread the propaganda that the riots had merely been an act of Turkish Cypriot aggression. Such events created chaos and drove the communities apart both in Cyprus and in Turkey.

 

On 22 October 1957 Sir Hugh Mackintosh Foot replaced Sir John Harding as the British Governor of Cyprus. Foot suggested five to seven years of self-government before any final decision. His plan rejected both enosis and taksim. The Turkish Cypriot response to this plan was a series of anti-British demonstrations in Nicosia on 27 and 28 January 1958 rejecting the proposed plan because the plan did not include partition. The British then withdrew the plan.

 

In 1957, Black Gang, a Turkish Cypriot pro-taksim paramilitary organisation, was formed to patrol a Turkish Cypriot enclave, the Tahtakale district of Nicosia, against activities of EOKA. The organisation later attempted to grow into a national scale, but failed to gain public support.

 

By 1958, signs of dissatisfaction with the British increased on both sides, with a group of Turkish Cypriots forming Volkan (later renamed to the Turkish Resistance Organisation) paramilitary group to promote partition and the annexation of Cyprus to Turkey as dictated by the Menderes plan. Volkan initially consisted of roughly 100 members, with the stated aim of raising awareness in Turkey of the Cyprus issue and courting military training and support for Turkish Cypriot fighters from the Turkish government.

 

In June 1958, the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, was expected to propose a plan to resolve the Cyprus issue. In light of the new development, the Turks rioted in Nicosia to promote the idea that Greek and Turkish Cypriots could not live together and therefore any plan that did not include partition would not be viable. This violence was soon followed by bombing, Greek Cypriot deaths and looting of Greek Cypriot-owned shops and houses. Greek and Turkish Cypriots started to flee mixed population villages where they were a minority in search of safety. This was effectively the beginning of the segregation of the two communities. On 7 June 1958, a bomb exploded at the entrance of the Turkish Embassy in Cyprus. Following the bombing, Turkish Cypriots looted Greek Cypriot properties. On 26 June 1984, the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktaş, admitted on British channel ITV that the bomb was placed by the Turks themselves in order to create tension. On 9 January 1995, Rauf Denktaş repeated his claim to the famous Turkish newspaper Milliyet in Turkey.

 

The crisis reached a climax on 12 June 1958, when eight Greeks, out of an armed group of thirty five arrested by soldiers of the Royal Horse Guards on suspicion of preparing an attack on the Turkish quarter of Skylloura, were killed in a suspected attack by Turkish Cypriot locals, near the village of Geunyeli, having been ordered to walk back to their village of Kondemenos.

 

After the EOKA campaign had begun, the British government successfully began to turn the Cyprus issue from a British colonial problem into a Greek-Turkish issue. British diplomacy exerted backstage influence on the Adnan Menderes government, with the aim of making Turkey active in Cyprus. For the British, the attempt had a twofold objective. The EOKA campaign would be silenced as quickly as possible, and Turkish Cypriots would not side with Greek Cypriots against the British colonial claims over the island, which would thus remain under the British. The Turkish Cypriot leadership visited Menderes to discuss the Cyprus issue. When asked how the Turkish Cypriots should respond to the Greek Cypriot claim of enosis, Menderes replied: "You should go to the British foreign minister and request the status quo be prolonged, Cyprus to remain as a British colony". When the Turkish Cypriots visited the British Foreign Secretary and requested for Cyprus to remain a colony, he replied: "You should not be asking for colonialism at this day and age, you should be asking for Cyprus be returned to Turkey, its former owner".

 

As Turkish Cypriots began to look to Turkey for protection, Greek Cypriots soon understood that enosis was extremely unlikely. The Greek Cypriot leader, Archbishop Makarios III, now set independence for the island as his objective.

 

Britain resolved to solve the dispute by creating an independent Cyprus. In 1959, all involved parties signed the Zurich Agreements: Britain, Turkey, Greece, and the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders, Makarios and Dr. Fazil Kucuk, respectively. The new constitution drew heavily on the ethnic composition of the island. The President would be a Greek Cypriot, and the Vice-President a Turkish Cypriot with an equal veto. The contribution to the public service would be set at a ratio of 70:30, and the Supreme Court would consist of an equal number of judges from both communities as well as an independent judge who was not Greek, Turkish or British. The Zurich Agreements were supplemented by a number of treaties. The Treaty of Guarantee stated that secession or union with any state was forbidden, and that Greece, Turkey and Britain would be given guarantor status to intervene if that was violated. The Treaty of Alliance allowed for two small Greek and Turkish military contingents to be stationed on the island, and the Treaty of Establishment gave Britain sovereignty over two bases in Akrotiri and Dhekelia.

 

On 15 August 1960, the Colony of Cyprus became fully independent as the Republic of Cyprus. The new republic remained within the Commonwealth of Nations.

 

The new constitution brought dissatisfaction to Greek Cypriots, who felt it to be highly unjust for them for historical, demographic and contributional reasons. Although 80% of the island's population were Greek Cypriots and these indigenous people had lived on the island for thousands of years and paid 94% of taxes, the new constitution was giving the 17% of the population that was Turkish Cypriots, who paid 6% of taxes, around 30% of government jobs and 40% of national security jobs.

 

Within three years tensions between the two communities in administrative affairs began to show. In particular disputes over separate municipalities and taxation created a deadlock in government. A constitutional court ruled in 1963 Makarios had failed to uphold article 173 of the constitution which called for the establishment of separate municipalities for Turkish Cypriots. Makarios subsequently declared his intention to ignore the judgement, resulting in the West German judge resigning from his position. Makarios proposed thirteen amendments to the constitution, which would have had the effect of resolving most of the issues in the Greek Cypriot favour. Under the proposals, the President and Vice-President would lose their veto, the separate municipalities as sought after by the Turkish Cypriots would be abandoned, the need for separate majorities by both communities in passing legislation would be discarded and the civil service contribution would be set at actual population ratios (82:18) instead of the slightly higher figure for Turkish Cypriots.

 

The intention behind the amendments has long been called into question. The Akritas plan, written in the height of the constitutional dispute by the Greek Cypriot interior minister Polycarpos Georkadjis, called for the removal of undesirable elements of the constitution so as to allow power-sharing to work. The plan envisaged a swift retaliatory attack on Turkish Cypriot strongholds should Turkish Cypriots resort to violence to resist the measures, stating "In the event of a planned or staged Turkish attack, it is imperative to overcome it by force in the shortest possible time, because if we succeed in gaining command of the situation (in one or two days), no outside, intervention would be either justified or possible." Whether Makarios's proposals were part of the Akritas plan is unclear, however it remains that sentiment towards enosis had not completely disappeared with independence. Makarios described independence as "a step on the road to enosis".[31] Preparations for conflict were not entirely absent from Turkish Cypriots either, with right wing elements still believing taksim (partition) the best safeguard against enosis.

 

Greek Cypriots however believe the amendments were a necessity stemming from a perceived attempt by Turkish Cypriots to frustrate the working of government. Turkish Cypriots saw it as a means to reduce their status within the state from one of co-founder to that of minority, seeing it as a first step towards enosis. The security situation deteriorated rapidly.

 

Main articles: Bloody Christmas (1963) and Battle of Tillyria

An armed conflict was triggered after December 21, 1963, a period remembered by Turkish Cypriots as Bloody Christmas, when a Greek Cypriot policemen that had been called to help deal with a taxi driver refusing officers already on the scene access to check the identification documents of his customers, took out his gun upon arrival and shot and killed the taxi driver and his partner. Eric Solsten summarised the events as follows: "a Greek Cypriot police patrol, ostensibly checking identification documents, stopped a Turkish Cypriot couple on the edge of the Turkish quarter. A hostile crowd gathered, shots were fired, and two Turkish Cypriots were killed."

 

In the morning after the shooting, crowds gathered in protest in Northern Nicosia, likely encouraged by the TMT, without incident. On the evening of the 22nd, gunfire broke out, communication lines to the Turkish neighbourhoods were cut, and the Greek Cypriot police occupied the nearby airport. On the 23rd, a ceasefire was negotiated, but did not hold. Fighting, including automatic weapons fire, between Greek and Turkish Cypriots and militias increased in Nicosia and Larnaca. A force of Greek Cypriot irregulars led by Nikos Sampson entered the Nicosia suburb of Omorphita and engaged in heavy firing on armed, as well as by some accounts unarmed, Turkish Cypriots. The Omorphita clash has been described by Turkish Cypriots as a massacre, while this view has generally not been acknowledged by Greek Cypriots.

 

Further ceasefires were arranged between the two sides, but also failed. By Christmas Eve, the 24th, Britain, Greece, and Turkey had joined talks, with all sides calling for a truce. On Christmas day, Turkish fighter jets overflew Nicosia in a show of support. Finally it was agreed to allow a force of 2,700 British soldiers to help enforce a ceasefire. In the next days, a "buffer zone" was created in Nicosia, and a British officer marked a line on a map with green ink, separating the two sides of the city, which was the beginning of the "Green Line". Fighting continued across the island for the next several weeks.

 

In total 364 Turkish Cypriots and 174 Greek Cypriots were killed during the violence. 25,000 Turkish Cypriots from 103-109 villages fled and were displaced into enclaves and thousands of Turkish Cypriot houses were ransacked or completely destroyed.

 

Contemporary newspapers also reported on the forceful exodus of the Turkish Cypriots from their homes. According to The Times in 1964, threats, shootings and attempts of arson were committed against the Turkish Cypriots to force them out of their homes. The Daily Express wrote that "25,000 Turks have already been forced to leave their homes". The Guardian reported a massacre of Turks at Limassol on 16 February 1964.

 

Turkey had by now readied its fleet and its fighter jets appeared over Nicosia. Turkey was dissuaded from direct involvement by the creation of a United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) in 1964. Despite the negotiated ceasefire in Nicosia, attacks on the Turkish Cypriot persisted, particularly in Limassol. Concerned about the possibility of a Turkish invasion, Makarios undertook the creation of a Greek Cypriot conscript-based army called the "National Guard". A general from Greece took charge of the army, whilst a further 20,000 well-equipped officers and men were smuggled from Greece into Cyprus. Turkey threatened to intervene once more, but was prevented by a strongly worded letter from the American President Lyndon B. Johnson, anxious to avoid a conflict between NATO allies Greece and Turkey at the height of the Cold War.

 

Turkish Cypriots had by now established an important bridgehead at Kokkina, provided with arms, volunteers and materials from Turkey and abroad. Seeing this incursion of foreign weapons and troops as a major threat, the Cypriot government invited George Grivas to return from Greece as commander of the Greek troops on the island and launch a major attack on the bridgehead. Turkey retaliated by dispatching its fighter jets to bomb Greek positions, causing Makarios to threaten an attack on every Turkish Cypriot village on the island if the bombings did not cease. The conflict had now drawn in Greece and Turkey, with both countries amassing troops on their Thracian borders. Efforts at mediation by Dean Acheson, a former U.S. Secretary of State, and UN-appointed mediator Galo Plaza had failed, all the while the division of the two communities becoming more apparent. Greek Cypriot forces were estimated at some 30,000, including the National Guard and the large contingent from Greece. Defending the Turkish Cypriot enclaves was a force of approximately 5,000 irregulars, led by a Turkish colonel, but lacking the equipment and organisation of the Greek forces.

 

The Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1964, U Thant, reported the damage during the conflicts:

 

UNFICYP carried out a detailed survey of all damage to properties throughout the island during the disturbances; it shows that in 109 villages, most of them Turkish-Cypriot or mixed villages, 527 houses have been destroyed while 2,000 others have suffered damage from looting.

 

The situation worsened in 1967, when a military junta overthrew the democratically elected government of Greece, and began applying pressure on Makarios to achieve enosis. Makarios, not wishing to become part of a military dictatorship or trigger a Turkish invasion, began to distance himself from the goal of enosis. This caused tensions with the junta in Greece as well as George Grivas in Cyprus. Grivas's control over the National Guard and Greek contingent was seen as a threat to Makarios's position, who now feared a possible coup.[citation needed] The National Guard and Cyprus Police began patrolling the Turkish Cypriot enclaves of Ayios Theodoros and Kophinou, and on November 15 engaged in heavy fighting with the Turkish Cypriots.

 

By the time of his withdrawal 26 Turkish Cypriots had been killed. Turkey replied with an ultimatum demanding that Grivas be removed from the island, that the troops smuggled from Greece in excess of the limits of the Treaty of Alliance be removed, and that the economic blockades on the Turkish Cypriot enclaves be lifted. Grivas was recalled by the Athens Junta and the 12,000 Greek troops were withdrawn. Makarios now attempted to consolidate his position by reducing the number of National Guard troops, and by creating a paramilitary force loyal to Cypriot independence. In 1968, acknowledging that enosis was now all but impossible, Makarios stated, "A solution by necessity must be sought within the limits of what is feasible which does not always coincide with the limits of what is desirable."

 

After 1967 tensions between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots subsided. Instead, the main source of tension on the island came from factions within the Greek Cypriot community. Although Makarios had effectively abandoned enosis in favour of an 'attainable solution', many others continued to believe that the only legitimate political aspiration for Greek Cypriots was union with Greece.

 

On his arrival, Grivas began by establishing a nationalist paramilitary group known as the National Organization of Cypriot Fighters (Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston B or EOKA-B), drawing comparisons with the EOKA struggle for enosis under the British colonial administration of the 1950s.

 

The military junta in Athens saw Makarios as an obstacle. Makarios's failure to disband the National Guard, whose officer class was dominated by mainland Greeks, had meant the junta had practical control over the Cypriot military establishment, leaving Makarios isolated and a vulnerable target.

 

During the first Turkish invasion, Turkish troops invaded Cyprus territory on 20 July 1974, invoking its rights under the Treaty of Guarantee. This expansion of Turkish-occupied zone violated International Law as well as the Charter of the United Nations. Turkish troops managed to capture 3% of the island which was accompanied by the burning of the Turkish Cypriot quarter, as well as the raping and killing of women and children. A temporary cease-fire followed which was mitigated by the UN Security Council. Subsequently, the Greek military Junta collapsed on July 23, 1974, and peace talks commenced in which a democratic government was installed. The Resolution 353 was broken after Turkey attacked a second time and managed to get a hold of 37% of Cyprus territory. The Island of Cyprus was appointed a Buffer Zone by the United Nations, which divided the island into two zones through the 'Green Line' and put an end to the Turkish invasion. Although Turkey announced that the occupied areas of Cyprus to be called the Federated Turkish State in 1975, it is not legitimised on a worldwide political scale. The United Nations called for the international recognition of independence for the Republic of Cyprus in the Security Council Resolution 367.

 

In the years after the Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus one can observe a history of failed talks between the two parties. The 1983 declaration of the independent Turkish Republic of Cyprus resulted in a rise of inter-communal tensions and made it increasingly hard to find mutual understanding. With Cyprus' interest of a possible EU membership and a new UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 1997 new hopes arose for a fresh start. International involvement from sides of the US and UK, wanting a solution to the Cyprus dispute prior to the EU accession led to political pressures for new talks. The believe that an accession without a solution would threaten Greek-Turkish relations and acknowledge the partition of the island would direct the coming negotiations.

 

Over the course of two years a concrete plan, the Annan plan was formulated. In 2004 the fifth version agreed upon from both sides and with the endorsement of Turkey, US, UK and EU then was presented to the public and was given a referendum in both Cypriot communities to assure the legitimisation of the resolution. The Turkish Cypriots voted with 65% for the plan, however the Greek Cypriots voted with a 76% majority against. The Annan plan contained multiple important topics. Firstly it established a confederation of two separate states called the United Cyprus Republic. Both communities would have autonomous states combined under one unified government. The members of parliament would be chosen according to the percentage in population numbers to ensure a just involvement from both communities. The paper proposed a demilitarisation of the island over the next years. Furthermore it agreed upon a number of 45000 Turkish settlers that could remain on the island. These settlers became a very important issue concerning peace talks. Originally the Turkish government encouraged Turks to settle in Cyprus providing transfer and property, to establish a counterpart to the Greek Cypriot population due to their 1 to 5 minority. With the economic situation many Turkish-Cypriot decided to leave the island, however their departure is made up by incoming Turkish settlers leaving the population ratio between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots stable. However all these points where criticised and as seen in the vote rejected mainly by the Greek Cypriots. These name the dissolution of the „Republic of Cyprus", economic consequences of a reunion and the remaining Turkish settlers as reason. Many claim that the plan was indeed drawing more from Turkish-Cypriot demands then Greek-Cypriot interests. Taking in consideration that the US wanted to keep Turkey as a strategic partner in future Middle Eastern conflicts.

 

A week after the failed referendum the Republic of Cyprus joined the EU. In multiple instances the EU tried to promote trade with Northern Cyprus but without internationally recognised ports this spiked a grand debate. Both side endure their intention of negotiations, however without the prospect of any new compromises or agreements the UN is unwilling to start the process again. Since 2004 negotiations took place in numbers but without any results, both sides are strongly holding on to their position without an agreeable solution in sight that would suit both parties.

Diary of An Inmate

 

By John W. Dobbs, Florida, inmate no.C00618

Go to amku.org and sygds.com

True Story

Growing up in N.Y.C. we learned the game in leaps and bounds; developed rules to it. Doing time in Florida is like peeping the game through a microscope. Thank you for checking out this brief on overlooked crimes against humanity; interchangeable corruption orchestrated by masters of misdirection.

In ’06 an old girlfriend and I were visiting my kids out here and stopped at a topless bar for drinks.5 drunk guys waited in the parking lot for her; surrounded my car; a fistfight turned deadly. I put 3 of them in the hospital, fatally stabbing the 3rd or 4th guy to jump in. I myself was cut by them 6 times; but I’d killed the son of a powerful attorney, another had a $2,000,000 trust fund. Thus, selective application of the “Stand Your Ground” law.

The only one arrested; charged with murder, two aggravated batteries, and aggravated assault; despite their multiple felony convictions and one being on probation in a state where being drunk or police contact are grounds for re-arrest. I ’m held by a judge without bail, on a charging affidavit that wasn’t really an affidavit; it wasn’t signed by anyone authorized to administer oaths. No alleged victim made an allegation of me committing a crime until 2 months after my arrest. Then the guy on probation changed his statement to one that is refuted by the State’s own C.S.I.; the only statement against me today. I get a Public Pretender

Instead of Defender. Misleading jury instruction; for example: what they call “initial aggressor“ instructions that substitute the word “aggressor” with aggressor” provocation” which can mean to irritate or annoy; therefore if I irritated them by standing my ground, I could lose the right to stand my ground! Bet Zimmerman’s never read that one!

The prosecutor fabricated evidence contradicting all her witnesses. Appeal court denials without saying why or misdirecting the public intentionally misconstruing my arguments knowing it may take years to be seen again. So I’m held to crimes that by Justifiable use to Force Statue never occurred all because of fraud in the court. But I’m King Universal from the Southside of what gives birth to King: Queens. Where we rock forward, never backward. I can give a wealth of love to a beautiful woman and a wealth legacy to a powerful law firm. Hollar at something real! Share the victory. WOO.

Thank You

 

For more info. Go to amku.org

 

A call to action

 

Please Help

 

This is it!

 

The real deal. Facts. Check out Online Florida Star Newspaper for feature videos get your update on the new and true crime of the century.

 

John W. Dobbs, Florida inmate no. C00618

 

Revelations 2020 King U Exposes the Game from Prison (4part videos)

 

Pass this on, share this explosive Revelation. Also check out Online Florida Star Newspaper feature videos get your update on the new and true crime of the century.

 

Does are the links:

 

1.) part 1 of 4

youtu.be/keHYOMimEfA

 

2.) part 2 of 4

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtbG6azRb2k

 

3.) part 3 of 4

www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2CZQDCBlLw

 

4.) part 4

youtu.be/M1zo4EgOj6k

  

The numbers actually view have been suppressed.

 

For more info go to amku.org and or sygds.com

 

Contact: Mrs. Celeste Dobbs at dobbsceleste7@gmail.com) (732) 259 - 4436

 

Thank You

 

Kiss Me, Kate (original Broadway cast)

 

Vinyl LP (1949, reissued 1963)

Label: Columbia Masterworks

Catalog No.: OL 4140

Monophonic

Out-of-print

Number of Discs: 1

 

▶ Front cover: here.

 

**************

☞ Side 1

1. Overture - Another Op'nin', Another Show

— Annabelle Hill with Chorus

2. Why Can't You Behave

— Lisa Kirk, Harold Lang

3. Wunderbar

— Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison

4. So In Love

— Patricia Morison

5. We Open In Venice

Lisa Kirk, Harold Lang, Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison

6. Tom, Dick Or Harry

— Edwin Clay, Charles Wood

7. I've Come To Wive It Wealthily In Padua

— Alfred Drake With Chorus

8. I Hate Men

— Patricia Morison

 

☞ Side 2

1. (9) Were Thine That Special Face

— Alfred Drake

2. (10) Too Darn Hot

— Lorenzo Fuller, Eddie Sledge, Fred Davis

3. (11) Where Is The Life That I Led?

— Alfred Drake

4. (12) Always True To You (In My Fashion)

— Lisa Kirk

5. (13) Bianca

— Harold Lang

6. (14) So In Love (Reprise)

— Alfred Drake

7. (15) Brush Up Your Shakespeare

— Harry Clark, Jack Diamond

8.1 (16) I Am Ashamed That Women Are So Simple

— Patricia Morison

8.2 (16) Finale

— Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison

 

*************

Lyrics and music by Cole Porter

Orchestrated by Robert Russell Bennett

Musical direction by Pembroke Davenport

Vocal arrangements by Pembroke Davenport

Presenter – Lemuel Ayers, Saint Subber

Recorded by Mitchell Ayres

Liner Notes by George Dale

 

By Special Arrangement with RCA Victor

Made In U.S.A.

Nonbreakable

 

***************

▶ LINER NOTES

 

"On the night of December 30th, 1948, Kiss Me, Kate opened at the Century Theater in New York City. As the New York Times noted, it was raining too hard that night for dancing int he streets, but the critics adequately took care of the celebration in their columns. The public, too, gave every indication that this lavish and opulent musical comedy was exactly what it was looking for, and Kiss Me, Kate became the town's reigning hit, and remained so for 1077 performances, not counting subsequent revivals.

 

In merry and melodious fashion, the show describes the Baltimore opening of a revival of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, alternating between Elizabethan jests and twentieth-century sophistication with style, color, and originality as the provocative songs of Cole Porter and crackling wit of Bella and Samuel Spewack unfold the story. In addition to those benisons, and the efforts of one of the most attractive and talented casts any musical has boasted, the dances of Hanya Holm and the scenery and costumes of Lemuel Ayers added elegance and excitement to an unquestioned success.

 

As Kiss Me, Kate opens, the cast of the revival is assembled on stage for final instructions before the opening (Another Openin,' Another Show). In the cast with producer-actor Fred Graham are his former wife, Lilli Vanessi; Lois Lane, a singer in whom he is deeply interested, and Bill Calhoun, who is Lois' primary interest. The irresponsible Bill informs Lois that he has signed Graham's name to a $10,000 IOU in 'the most respectable floating crap game in town' and she begs him to reform (Why Can't You Behave). Meanwhile, Graham and Lilli patch up their differences as they reminisce nostalgically about other shows in which they have appeared together, showing particular fondness for an old-fashioned operetta (Wunderbar), and when a bouquet which Graham has sent Lois is delivered by mistake to Lilli, she is overcome with sentiment (So in Love).

 

On stage, The Taming of the Shrew gets underway (We Open in Venice) as Lois as Bianca and Bill as Lucentio discusses Bainca's inability to marry until her older sister (Katharina) has been affianced (Tom, Dick or Harry). Graham, as Petruchio, arrives in search of a rich wife (I've Come to Wive It Wealthily in Padua) and although Katherina, played by Lilli, states her inalterable opposition to males (I Hate Men), Petruchio agrees to marry her, even though she is not the wife of whom he has dreamed (Were Thine That Special Face). Lilli discovers that her bouquet was intended for Lois, and threatens to leave the show. Her departure is prevented by two gangsters who have come to collect the IOU with Graham's signature, and as the curtain falls on the first act, she is raging, both in character and in reality.

 

Later in the evening, Paul, Graham's dresser, passes time in the alley beside the theater by commenting feelingly on Baltimore weather (Too Darn Hot). As the revival continues on stage, Petruchio, although just marries to Katharina and beginning his tempestuous wedded life, begins to yearn for life as a single man (Where Is the Life That Late I Led?). Offstage, Bill discovers Lois flirting and reproaches her. She explains her feelings (Always True to You in My Fashion), and he counters with a charming expression of affection for the character she plays in the revival (Bianca). Because of a sudden change in gang administration, the gangsters tear up the now-worthless IOU, and Lill prepares to walk out on the show as Graham muses on his love for her (So in Love—Reprise). The gangsters pause to pay a decidedly unusual tribute to Shakespeare (Brush Up Your Shakespeare), and as the revival comes to a close, Lilli unexpectedly returns and in Katharina's words expresses her intention of returning to Graham (I Am Ashamed That Women Are So Simple). She and Graham are reunited, and Lois and Bill reach their own understanding in time for the finale.

 

******

☞ Alfred Drake, who sings the leading role, is well remembered for his portrayal of Curley in Oklahoma! during the first year or so of that musical's run, and for his flamboyant starring performance in the musical version of Kismet. He made his debut as understudy to William Gaxton in White Horse Inn, and has since appeared in such presentations as Babes in Arms, One For the Money, Two for the Show, Beggar's Holiday, The Cradle Will Rock, and Joy to the World. Born in New York, he has appeared in several films, conducted his own radio show for CBS, and first appeared with Miss Morison in Kismet in London and has appeared with the American Shakespeare Festival in Othello and with Katherine Hepburn.

 

☞ Miss Morison was also born in New York, and at 16 won a scholarship to study art at Beaux Arts in Paris. However, she decided that she wanted to act instead, and at once began dramatic and vocal training. After her appearance in The Two Bouquets, she was called to Hollywood and graced the screen in a long list of films before joining the first Hollywood group to embark on an overseas USO tour. Upon her return, she again went to Hollywood and was singing on a sound stage when Cole Porter heard her and decided that no one else could play Lilli. Miss Morison has recently starred in The King and I during its lengthy tour of the country.

 

☞ Lisa Kirk skyrocketed to fame with her rendition of The Gentleman Is a Dope in Allegor. With the encouragement of her parents, she began studying dancing at three and kept up her work until, at fifteen, she had her own radio program. When she had finished high school, she set out from Roscoe, Pa., for New York and became a showgirl. After a spell of singing with bands and various small parts in Broadway shows, she was engaged by a nightclub as featured songstress. From there, she went into Allegor and thence to Kiss Me, Kate. Since then, she has appeared in leading supper clubs and hotels across the nation.

 

☞ Harold Lang, the leading dancer of this lively production, was one of the three brisk sailors in Ballet Theater's Fancy Free . Distinguished performances in this and other Ballet Theater and the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo led to Broadway, Three to Make Ready and Look, Ma, I'm Dancin.' After Kiss Me, Kate, Mr. Lang appeared in Make a Wish, starred in the enormously successful revival of Pal Joey, and was seen in the Ziegfield Follies with Beatrice Lillie. Born in San Francisco, he first worked as a super at the Opera House and later at the Golden Gate World's Fair before moving east for his dancing successes.

 

☞ Leading the opening chorus is Annabelle Hill, who studied at the Conservatory of Music in Flint, Michigan. After an appearance in Detroit operetta, Miss Hill came to New York for an engagement at Cafe Society. Lorenzo Fuller studied at Juilliard School of Music in New York, doubling between classes into the cast of St. Louis Woman. He was one of the quartet who snag The Begat in Finnegan's Rainbow and was a member of the cast of Porgy and Bess on its history-making tour of the world.

 

☞ Musical director for the production is Pembroke Davenport, who performed the same duties for The Red Mill, Look, Ma, I'm Dancin', and Seven lively Arts. A former pianist and arranger for Fred Waring, Mr. Davenport has composed music for many concert artists.

 

☞ Cole Porter's first musical hit came in 1919, with Hitch-Koo, and since that time his abundant melodies and ingenious rhymes have delighted theater-goers, dancers, and television and radio listeners again and again. Anything Goes, Jubilee, Fifty Million Frenchmen, Leave It to Me, Something for the Boys, DuBarry Was a Lady, Mexican Hayride, Out of this World, Can-Can, and Silk Stockings are only a handful of his many stage successes, while he has supplied music for such films as Born to Dance, Rosalie, and, of course, Night and Day, based loosely on his career. Among his more recent scores are those for the movies High Society and Les Girls, and for the CBS-Television production Aladdin.

 

☞ Bella and Samuel Spewack dissected Hollywood in Boy Meets Girl and foreign correspondents in Clear All Wires before turning their observation on the theater in Kiss Me, Kate. Together and alone, they have turned out a large number of memorable plays, books, and screenplay, and collaborated with Mr. Porter on Leave it to Me, the memorable musical that introduced Mary Martin to Broadway."

— Notes by George Dale.

 

***************

▶ Photo by Yours For Good Fermentables.com.

▶ For a larger image, type 'L' (without the quotation marks).

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— Edit: Photoshop Elements 15.

▶ Commercial use requires explicit permission, as per Creative Commons.

Emerson Stage presents

INTO THE WOODS

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Book by James Lapine

Originally Directed on Broadway by James Lapine

Orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick

Directed by Scott LaFeber

Music Direction by Jonathan Goldberg

Original Broadway Production by Heidi Landesman, Rocco Landesman, Rick Steiner, M. Anthony Fisher, Frederic H. Mayerson, and Jujamcyn Theaters

Originally produced by the Old Globe Theater, San Diego, CA.

April 14 & 16, 2022

Cutler Majestic Theatre

Emerson College

Boston, MA

Scenic Design by LUCIANA STECCONI and JORDAN BARNETT

Projects Design by ALEX BASCO KOCH and PIPER PHILLIPS

Props Lead: LAUREN CORCUERA

Costume Design by MOLLY SHAUGHNESSY

Lighting Design by TALIA ELISE & GRACE TUCHMAN

Sound Design by MEGAN CULLEY

Stage Manager: SOPHIE KLOKINIS

Dramaturg: CIARA BERARDI

Cast: ROBERTA ALAMAN, LUCAS BABCOCK, JONAH BARRICKLO, OLIVIA BODLEY, NAJA NICOLE BROWN, JAKE COLLINS, DENNIS DIZON, CEDRICK EKRA, MARCO GIACONA, ISABEL GINSBERG, EMERSON HART, HAWA KAMARA, ELLIANA KARRIS, EMILY KILBOURNE, KARLEY KRICKMIER, ANTHONY LAFORNARA, BRENDAN MASSAR, MORGAN MCMILLIN, ZOEY SCHORSCH, ELLA SHAW, BEATRICE STEUER, AMANDA VAZQUEZ, ANANIA WILLIAMS, ISABELLE WISDOM, ZEHAVA YOUNGER

Orchestra: MICHAEL BELLOFATTO, LISA BROOKE, DAVID BURDETT, MAXWELL CONNOR, JACQUELINE DEVOE, KATE FOSS, JONATHAN GOLDBERG, CLARA KEBABIAN, DOUGLAS LIPPINCOTT, SALLY MERRIMAN, CAMERON SAWZIN, JENNIFER SHALLENBERGER, EMMA STAUDACHER, LOUIS TOTH, NORALEE WALKER

All photos by Craig Bailey/Perspective Photo

More information: www.emersonstage.org/into-the-woods

The Beyond Broadway Experience 2016 presents

BRING IT ON: THE MUSICAL

 

Libretto by Jeff Whitty

Music by Tom Kitt & Lin-Manuel Miranda

Lyrics by Amanda Green & Lin-Manuel Miranda

Inspired by the Motion Picture Bring It On Written by Jessica Bendinger

Arrangements and Orchestrations Alex Lacamoire & Tom Kitt

Presented at the King’s Theatre, Edinburgh on 22nd and 23rd July 2016

www.beyond-broadway.com/productions/

The Beyond Broadway Experience 2016 presents

BRING IT ON: THE MUSICAL

 

Libretto by Jeff Whitty

Music by Tom Kitt & Lin-Manuel Miranda

Lyrics by Amanda Green & Lin-Manuel Miranda

Inspired by the Motion Picture Bring It On Written by Jessica Bendinger

Arrangements and Orchestrations Alex Lacamoire & Tom Kitt

Presented at the King’s Theatre, Edinburgh on 22nd and 23rd July 2016

www.beyond-broadway.com/productions/

‘Orchestrating the Depth of Light’ (ODL), an installation at Roßmarkt in central Frankfurt, forms an intersection of the historical and contemporary commercial urban context, advanced light technology, computer programming and architecture.

closer look at what he's looking at

Masturbierendes Mädchen/Masturbating Girl, 1910

Bleistift/Pencil

Neue Galerie Graz, Universalmuseum Joanneum

 

While Schiele portrayed his male models and boy sitters without any erotic or sexual connotations, his nude girls are rarely simple representations of their bodies. Apart from the artist himself, no boy or man is depicted masturbating. By contrast, even very young girls are staged in autoerotic situations. The female nudes always present themselves and their erotic bodies to the viewer.

If the obscene theme of a masturbating girl became the subject of a picture far removed from caricature or erotica whith Schiele, this was not least due to the new, albeit secret omnipresence of erotic photography. Arthur Roessler, in his description of Schiele's drawings of children, has provided a guide to their interpretation and emphasized that sexual reality however embarassing, is part of these works' artistic truth.

 

Während Schiele männliche Modelle und auch Knaben ohne jegliche Erotisierung und sexuelle Konnotation darstellt, sind seine Mädchenakte selten reine Präsentation des Körpers. Außer dem Künstler selbst wird kein Knabe oder Mann beim Onanieren dargestellt. Weibliche Masturbation hingeben inszeniert Schiele auch bei sehr jungen Mädchen. Diese weiblichen Akte präsentieren sich und ihren erotischen Leib immer in Bezug auf den Betrachter.

Wenn das obszöne Motiv eines masturbierenden Mädchens erst mit Schiele zu einem fern der Karikatur oder Erotika liegenden Bildgegenstand wurde, so verdankt sich dies auch der neuen, wenngleich heimlichen Omnipräsenz fotografischer Erotik. Arthur Roessler hat mit seiner Beschreibung des Schieleschen Kinderzeichnungen eine Interpretationsanleitung gegeben und betont, dass die wie immer auch peinliche sexuelle Realität Teil der künstlerischen Wahrheit dieser Werke ist.

 

The Albertina

The architectural history of the Palais

(Pictures you can see by clicking on the link at the end of page!)

Image: The oldest photographic view of the newly designed Palais Archduke Albrecht, 1869

"It is my will that ​​the expansion of the inner city of Vienna with regard to a suitable connection of the same with the suburbs as soon as possible is tackled and at this on Regulirung (regulation) and beautifying of my Residence and Imperial Capital is taken into account. To this end I grant the withdrawal of the ramparts and fortifications of the inner city and the trenches around the same".

This decree of Emperor Franz Joseph I, published on 25 December 1857 in the Wiener Zeitung, formed the basis for the largest the surface concerning and architecturally most significant transformation of the Viennese cityscape. Involving several renowned domestic and foreign architects a "master plan" took form, which included the construction of a boulevard instead of the ramparts between the inner city and its radially upstream suburbs. In the 50-years during implementation phase, an impressive architectural ensemble developed, consisting of imperial and private representational buildings, public administration and cultural buildings, churches and barracks, marking the era under the term "ring-street style". Already in the first year tithe decided a senior member of the Austrian imperial family to decorate the facades of his palace according to the new design principles, and thus certified the aristocratic claim that this also "historicism" said style on the part of the imperial house was attributed.

Image: The Old Albertina after 1920

It was the palace of Archduke Albrecht (1817-1895), the Senior of the Habsburg Family Council, who as Field Marshal held the overall command over the Austro-Hungarian army. The building was incorporated into the imperial residence of the Hofburg complex, forming the south-west corner and extending eleven meters above street level on the so-called Augustinerbastei.

The close proximity of the palace to the imperial residence corresponded not only with Emperor Franz Joseph I and Archduke Albert with a close familial relationship between the owner of the palace and the monarch. Even the former inhabitants were always in close relationship to the imperial family, whether by birth or marriage. An exception here again proves the rule: Don Emanuel Teles da Silva Conde Tarouca (1696-1771), for which Maria Theresa in 1744 the palace had built, was just a close friend and advisor of the monarch. Silva Tarouca underpins the rule with a second exception, because he belonged to the administrative services as Generalhofbaudirektor (general court architect) and President of the Austrian-Dutch administration, while all other him subsequent owners were highest ranking military.

In the annals of Austrian history, especially those of military history, they either went into as commander of the Imperial Army, or the Austrian, later kk Army. In chronological order, this applies to Duke Carl Alexander of Lorraine, the brother-of-law of Maria Theresa, as Imperial Marshal, her son-in-law Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen, also field marshal, whos adopted son, Archduke Charles of Austria, the last imperial field marshal and only Generalissimo of Austria, his son Archduke Albrecht of Austria as Feldmarschalil and army Supreme commander, and most recently his nephew Archduke Friedrich of Austria, who held as field marshal from 1914 to 1916 the command of the Austro-Hungarian troops. Despite their military profession, all five generals conceived themselves as patrons of the arts and promoted large sums of money to build large collections, the construction of magnificent buildings and cultural life. Charles Alexander of Lorraine promoted as governor of the Austrian Netherlands from 1741 to 1780 the Academy of Fine Arts, the Théâtre de Ja Monnaie and the companies Bourgeois Concert and Concert Noble, he founded the Academie royale et imperial des Sciences et des Lettres, opened the Bibliotheque Royal for the population and supported artistic talents with high scholarships. World fame got his porcelain collection, which however had to be sold by Emperor Joseph II to pay off his debts. Duke Albert began in 1776 according to the concept of conte Durazzo to set up an encyclopedic collection of prints, which forms the core of the world-famous "Albertina" today.

Image : Duke Albert and Archduchess Marie Christine show in family cercle the from Italy brought along art, 1776. Frederick Henry Füger.

1816 declared to Fideikommiss and thus in future indivisible, inalienable and inseparable, the collection 1822 passed into the possession of Archduke Carl, who, like his descendants, it broadened. Under him, the collection was introduced together with the sumptuously equipped palace on the Augustinerbastei in the so-called "Carl Ludwig'schen fideicommissum in 1826, by which the building and the in it kept collection fused into an indissoluble unity. At this time had from the Palais Tarouca by structural expansion or acquisition a veritable Residenz palace evolved. Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen was first in 1800 the third floor of the adjacent Augustinian convent wing adapted to house his collection and he had after 1802 by his Belgian architect Louis de Montoyer at the suburban side built a magnificent extension, called the wing of staterooms, it was equipped in the style of Louis XVI. Only two decades later, Archduke Carl the entire palace newly set up. According to scetches of the architect Joseph Kornhäusel the 1822-1825 retreaded premises presented themselves in the Empire style. The interior of the palace testified from now in an impressive way the high rank and the prominent position of its owner. Under Archduke Albrecht the outer appearance also should meet the requirements. He had the facade of the palace in the style of historicism orchestrated and added to the Palais front against the suburbs an offshore covered access. Inside, he limited himself, apart from the redesign of the Rococo room in the manner of the second Blondel style, to the retention of the paternal stock. Archduke Friedrich's plans for an expansion of the palace were omitted, however, because of the outbreak of the First World War so that his contribution to the state rooms, especially, consists in the layout of the Spanish apartment, which he in 1895 for his sister, the Queen of Spain Maria Christina, had set up as a permanent residence.

Picture: The "audience room" after the restoration: Picture: The "balcony room" around 1990

The era of stately representation with handing down their cultural values ​​found its most obvious visualization inside the palace through the design and features of the staterooms. On one hand, by the use of the finest materials and the purchase of masterfully manufactured pieces of equipment, such as on the other hand by the permanent reuse of older equipment parts. This period lasted until 1919, when Archduke Friedrich was expropriated by the newly founded Republic of Austria. With the republicanization of the collection and the building first of all finished the tradition that the owner's name was synonymous with the building name:

After Palais Tarouca or tarokkisches house it was called Lorraine House, afterwards Duke Albert Palais and Palais Archduke Carl. Due to the new construction of an adjacently located administration building it received in 1865 the prefix "Upper" and was referred to as Upper Palais Archduke Albrecht and Upper Palais Archduke Frederick. For the state a special reference to the Habsburg past was certainly politically no longer opportune, which is why was decided to name the building according to the in it kept collection "Albertina".

Picture: The "Wedgwood Cabinet" after the restoration: Picture: the "Wedgwood Cabinet" in the Palais Archduke Friedrich, 1905

This name derives from the term "La Collection Albertina" which had been used by the gallery Inspector Maurice von Thausing in 1870 in the Gazette des Beaux-Arts for the former graphics collection of Duke Albert. For this reason, it was the first time since the foundation of the palace that the name of the collection had become synonymous with the room shell. Room shell, hence, because the Republic of Austria Archduke Friedrich had allowed to take along all the movable goods from the palace in his Hungarian exile: crystal chandeliers, curtains and carpets as well as sculptures, vases and clocks. Particularly stressed should be the exquisite furniture, which stems of three facilities phases: the Louis XVI furnitures of Duke Albert, which had been manufactured on the basis of fraternal relations between his wife Archduchess Marie Christine and the French Queen Marie Antoinette after 1780 in the French Hofmanufakturen, also the on behalf of Archduke Charles 1822-1825 in the Vienna Porcelain Manufactory by Joseph Danhauser produced Empire furnitures and thirdly additions of the same style of Archduke Friedrich, which this about 1900 at Portois & Ffix as well as at Friedrich Otto Schmidt had commissioned.

The "swept clean" building got due to the strained financial situation after the First World War initially only a makeshift facility. However, since until 1999 no revision of the emergency equipment took place, but differently designed, primarily the utilitarianism committed office furnitures complementarily had been added, the equipment of the former state rooms presented itself at the end of the 20th century as an inhomogeneous administrative mingle-mangle of insignificant parts, where, however, dwelt a certain quaint charm. From the magnificent state rooms had evolved depots, storage rooms, a library, a study hall and several officed.

Image: The Albertina Graphic Arts Collection and the Philipphof after the American bombing of 12 März 1945.

Image: The palace after the demolition of the entrance facade, 1948-52

Worse it hit the outer appearance of the palace, because in times of continued anti-Habsburg sentiment after the Second World War and inspired by an intolerant destruction will, it came by pickaxe to a ministerial erasure of history. In contrast to the graphic collection possessed the richly decorated facades with the conspicuous insignia of the former owner an object-immanent reference to the Habsburg past and thus exhibited the monarchial traditions and values ​​of the era of Francis Joseph significantly. As part of the remedial measures after a bomb damage, in 1948 the aristocratic, by Archduke Albert initiated, historicist facade structuring along with all decorations was cut off, many facade figures demolished and the Hapsburg crest emblems plunged to the ground. Since in addition the old ramp also had been cancelled and the main entrance of the bastion level had been moved down to the second basement storey at street level, ended the presence of the old Archduke's palace after more than 200 years. At the reopening of the "Albertina Graphic Collection" in 1952, the former Hapsburg Palais of splendour presented itself as one of his identity robbed, formally trivial, soulless room shell, whose successful republicanization an oversized and also unproportional eagle above the new main entrance to the Augustinian road symbolized. The emocratic throw of monuments had wiped out the Hapsburg palace from the urban appeareance, whereby in the perception only existed a nondescript, nameless and ahistorical building that henceforth served the lodging and presentation of world-famous graphic collection of the Albertina. The condition was not changed by the decision to the refurbishment because there were only planned collection specific extensions, but no restoration of the palace.

Image: The palace after the Second World War with simplified facades, the rudiment of the Danubiusbrunnens (well) and the new staircase up to the Augustinerbastei

This paradigm shift corresponded to a blatant reversal of the historical circumstances, as the travel guides and travel books for kk Residence and imperial capital of Vienna dedicated itself primarily with the magnificent, aristocratic palace on the Augustinerbastei with the sumptuously fitted out reception rooms and mentioned the collection kept there - if at all - only in passing. Only with the repositioning of the Albertina in 2000 under the direction of Klaus Albrecht Schröder, the palace was within the meaning and in fulfillment of the Fideikommiss of Archduke Charles in 1826 again met with the high regard, from which could result a further inseparable bond between the magnificent mansions and the world-famous collection. In view of the knowing about politically motivated errors and omissions of the past, the facades should get back their noble, historicist designing, the staterooms regain their glamorous, prestigious appearance and culturally unique equippment be repurchased. From this presumption, eventually grew the full commitment to revise the history of redemption and the return of the stately palace in the public consciousness.

Image: The restored suburb facade of the Palais Albertina suburb

The smoothed palace facades were returned to their original condition and present themselves today - with the exception of the not anymore reconstructed Attica figures - again with the historicist decoration and layout elements that Archduke Albrecht had given after the razing of the Augustinerbastei in 1865 in order. The neoclassical interiors, today called after the former inhabitants "Habsburg Staterooms", receiving a meticulous and detailed restoration taking place at the premises of originality and authenticity, got back their venerable and sumptuous appearance. From the world wide scattered historical pieces of equipment have been bought back 70 properties or could be returned through permanent loan to its original location, by which to the visitors is made experiencable again that atmosphere in 1919 the state rooms of the last Habsburg owner Archduke Frederick had owned. The for the first time in 80 years public accessible "Habsburg State Rooms" at the Palais Albertina enable now again as eloquent testimony to our Habsburg past and as a unique cultural heritage fundamental and essential insights into the Austrian cultural history. With the relocation of the main entrance to the level of the Augustinerbastei the recollection to this so valuable Austrian Cultural Heritage formally and functionally came to completion. The vision of the restoration and recovery of the grand palace was a pillar on which the new Albertina should arise again, the other embody the four large newly built exhibition halls, which allow for the first time in the history of the Albertina, to exhibit the collection throughout its encyclopedic breadh under optimal conservation conditions.

Image: The new entrance area of the Albertina

64 meter long shed roof. Hans Hollein.

The palace presents itself now in its appearance in the historicist style of the Ringstrassenära, almost as if nothing had happened in the meantime. But will the wheel of time should not, cannot and must not be turned back, so that the double standards of the "Albertina Palace" said museum - on the one hand Habsburg grandeur palaces and other modern museum for the arts of graphics - should be symbolized by a modern character: The in 2003 by Hans Hollein designed far into the Albertina square cantilevering, elegant floating flying roof. 64 meters long, it symbolizes in the form of a dynamic wedge the accelerated urban spatial connectivity and public access to the palace. It advertises the major changes in the interior as well as the huge underground extensions of the repositioned "Albertina".

 

Christian Benedictine

Art historian with research interests History of Architecture, building industry of the Hapsburgs, Hofburg and Zeremonialwissenschaft (ceremonial sciences). Since 1990 he works in the architecture collection of the Albertina. Since 2000 he supervises as director of the newly founded department "Staterooms" the restoration and furnishing of the state rooms and the restoration of the facades and explores the history of the palace and its inhabitants.

 

www.wien-vienna.at/albertinabaugeschichte.php

 

A beautiful maiden, draped in pristine white, her ebony curls cascading like silken tendrils, orchestrating a ballet with blades of grass beneath the verdant gaze of an ancient tree.

Super Committee or Super Committee

 

The United States Congress Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, aka the Super Committee, aka the Super Congress, is a one of the outcomes of the debt-ceiling "crisis" orchestrated to distract U.S. citizens from the lack of jobs, rising cost of living and rampant corporate/government corruption. The Super Committee will provide an opportunity for lobbyists to focus all their influence on a smaller number of legislators. Given the fact that Republicans all vote in lock-step, only one Democrat is needed to hand over total victory. The goal of the Super Committee it to make budgetary recommendations for legislation to be voted on by Congress as a whole. According to Wikipedia, "The committee's recommendations would then be put to a vote by Congress in a simple up or down vote, without any amendments or House 'majority of the majority' blocks or Senate filibusters possible, by December 23, 2011."

 

Senate Members

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Max Baucus, Montana, Democrat,

John Kerry, Massachusetts, Democrat

Jon Kyl, Arizona, Republican

Patty Murray, Washington, Co-Chair, Democrat

Rob Portman, Ohio, Republican

Pat Toomey, Pennsylvania, Republican

 

House Members

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Xavier Becerra, California, Democrat

Dave Camp, Michigan, Republican

Jim Clyburn, South Carolina, Democrat

Jeb Hensarling, Texas, Co-Chair, Republican

Fred Upton, Michigan, Republican

Chris Van Hollen, Maryland, Democrat

 

Source images for carictures:

Senator Murry - a photo in the public domain available via Wikimedia.

Congressman Hensarling - a photo in the public domain from the United States Congress available via Wikimedia.

Senator Kyl - a Creative Commons licensed photo from Saeima's Flickr photostream.

Senator Baucus - a photo in the public domain available from the U.S. Senate website.

Senator Portman - a photo in the public domain from the United States Senate available via Wikimedia.

Senator Kerry - a Creative Commons licensed photo from Πρωθυπουργός της Ελλάδας' Flickr Photostream.

Senator Toomey - a photo in the public domain available via Wikipedia.

Congressman Becerra - a photo in the public domain available via Wikipedia.

Congressman Camp - a photo in the public domain available via Wikipedia.

Congressman Clyburn - a photo in the public domain available via Wikipedia.

Congressman Upton - a Creative Commons licensed photo from iomechallenge's Flickr photostream.

Congressman Van Hollen - a photo in the public domain available via Wikipedia.

I was fortunate to be the last one allowed into the lighthouse under full moon conditions - an event which sells out pretty quickly(you must buy tickets in advance). It was a highly orchestrated affair - they actually took attendance! Though i took a number of shots this was probably the best.

 

#0366(123) HDR - Photomatix 3exp Fusion

The Beyond Broadway Experience 2016 presents

BRING IT ON: THE MUSICAL

 

Libretto by Jeff Whitty

Music by Tom Kitt & Lin-Manuel Miranda

Lyrics by Amanda Green & Lin-Manuel Miranda

Inspired by the Motion Picture Bring It On Written by Jessica Bendinger

Arrangements and Orchestrations Alex Lacamoire & Tom Kitt

Presented at the King’s Theatre, Edinburgh on 22nd and 23rd July 2016

www.beyond-broadway.com/productions/