Marmaray Rail Tunnel Under Bosphorus Opens on 90th Turkish Republic Day

Gül and Erdoğan take a Ride

Today is Republic Day in Turkey, marking the 90th Anniversary  of the Proclamation of the Turkish Republic on October 29, 1923, and Prime Minister Erdoğan marked it with the opening of another of his ambitious public works projects, the first-ever rail tunnel linking Europe and Asia under the Bosphorus. The Marmaray (for Marmara Rail) will initially link commuter rail traffic on the two sides but will eventually carry long-distance passenger and freight rail as well. Erdoğan and President Abdullah Gül were accompanied by the Japanese and Romanian Prime Ministers (Japanese firms built the tunnel),

The idea of a rail tunnel under the sea linking the continents was first proposed by Sultan Abdul Hamid II in 1891 but never built.

Remember the Kangaroo at the Pyramids? How About Samurai at the Sphinx?

I'm still on vacation (and on the road today) so posting is light and the main posts were prepared ahead of time. I'm back on the clock Wednesday, but there will be posts today and tomorrow. Part 3 of the Aramaic/Coptic series will appear tomorrow.

 My post a few months back of a photograph of a kangaroo at the Pyramids (apparently the mascot of some Aussie troops in WWI) garnered a few links, so perhaps there's an interest in odd juxtapositions. Certainly that would include Japanese samurai posing in front of the Sphinx.

The folks at the io9 website called their post "A Strong Contender for the Most Bad-Ass Photo Ever Taken." That I consider hyperbole to say the least. Samurai at the Sphinx are certainly cool, but "Most Bad-Ass Photo Ever Taken?" Please. They aren't even swinging their katanas at each other.

Nicholas Reeves' website has the explanation: 

Following the Emperor Komei`s "order to expel barbarians" in 1863, a Japanese embassy left for Europe on 29 December 1863, led by Ikeda Nagaoki, governor of Chikugo Province (Fukuoka Prefecture). Its aim was to persuade France to agree to the closing of the port of Yokohama to foreign trade, and allow Japan to retreat into isolation once more. The mission inevitably failed.
In 1864, en route to Paris, the Ikeda mission visited Egypt. The stay was memorialised in one of nineteenth-century photography`s most extraordinary images - the embassy`s members, dressed in winged kamishimo costume and jingasa hats, carrying their feared long (katana) and short (wakizashi) swords, standing before the Giza Sphinx. The photograph was taken by Antonio Beato (c. 1825-1903), brother of the photographer Felice Beato. Extant prints of this image are today extremely rare.

Intriguing if nothing else. For the heck of it, here's the kangaroo again:

The Crescent and the Sun: Japanese in 19th Century Ottoman Istanbul

Yamada Torajiro in Ottoman Garb

I could start the week by writing about the crisis over President Morsi's attempt to restore the dissolved Parliament in Egypt. I'll be writing about that today, but not just yet.

I could start the week with the crisis in Syria, or the elections in Libya. But I won't.

I'm going to start the week with something completely different: 19th Century Japanese in the late Ottoman Empire. From the Istanbul Research Institute's Blog, "A Fin de Siècle Japanese Romantic in İstanbul." 

The narrative is from the catalogue of an exhibit called The Crescent And The Sun: Three Japanese İn İstanbul: Yamada Torajirō, Itō Chūta, Ōtani Kōzui.

After the Ottoman frigate Ertuğrul struck rocks on the Japanese coast after a typhoon in 1890, following a visit to Japan, Japan rallied to provide relief to the families of the hundreds of sailors who died. Yamada Torajiro took the donations to Istanbul, and soon was allowed to open a store displaying Japanese exports and promoting trade. He wrote extensively, introducing Turkey to Japan as well as promoting Japan in the late Ottoman Empire. There's more at the link; he apparently lived into the 1950s and his memoir (in Japanese of course) appeared in 1957.

Two Odds and Ends

Two of the week's odder links:

• On this one, I think the headline says it all: "First Arab-Muslim Sumo Wrestler Faces Challenges in Japan"

•  Coming soon to a Starbucks near you?: "Forget cappuccino, Dubai drinkers get a taste for camel-ccino." Apparently in Dubai, the latest Big Thing is camel-milk latte, camel milkshakes, etc.

Better Late than Never:

Those with long memories may remember an event last July when a Japanese tanker suffered damage from — something that exploded. Mine? Shell? Torpedo? Collision? At first there was a lot of denial, but evetually it was interpreted as a potential terrorist attack. My earlier posts are here.

Now the United States has weighed in and warned that it was a terrorist attack.

I'm sure the world's tanker traffic is grateful to know this. Four months later. To be fair, though, everyone concerned with oil security has been aware of this for some time.

The Tanker Attack's Belated Confirmation

Some 10 days after the original incident, and somewhat buried due to the weekend, we learned that the attack on the Japanese tanker M Star was indeed a terrorist attack, seemingly giving credence to a claim by the shadowy ‘Abdullah al-‘Azzam Brigades that they attacked the ship.

There would probably be more open alarm being expressed if a) the damage had been greater; b) there hadn't been so much initial confusion, as to whether it was a seismic event or an attack; and c) the delay in announcing a cause.

The fact that only one person was injured on board the tanker, and that the damage was so limited, means that there has been no knee-jerk panic, but a persistent fear has been that terrorist groups could target tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, which could send insurance premiums soaring (as occurred in the "tanker war" phase of the Iran-Iraq war. A repetition of the incident or a more successful attack could still be cause for concern.

What Happened to the Japanese Tanker?

A Japanese tanker passing through the Gulf suffered what is described as an explosion yesterday as it was passing through the Strait of Hormuz, but the nature of it is unclear. AP (via Arab News) here, which acknowledges the Japanese firm suggested some sort of explosion; a fuller account in The National, here, along with the WAM (Emirates News Service) photo of the dent in the hull, which I reproduce here. The tanker, the M.Star, put into Fujairah after the blast.

Obviously, I have no special knowledge of what happened, but that sure looks like an external dent in the hull, which suggests she hit a mine or something similar, which also seems to be what the Japanese owners are suggesting.

The official explanations, however, are a bit strange:

The UAE’s state news agency, WAM, cited a UAE official as saying there was no possibility the damage was caused by an attack, adding that no trace of explosives was found on its outer body structure. It said a large wave that resulted from a “seismic shock” was responsible.

There was no unusual seismic activity in the region, according to a spokesman for the National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology.

The Omani transport ministry also attributed the damage to a large wave. “There’s no reason to suspect foul play,” a spokesman for the ministry said. “Our information from the Omani coast guard officers, who have been at the vessel, said that it was a strong wave that caused the damage. It has already docked in Fujairah for inspection.”

Dr Mustafa Alani, the senior adviser for security and terrorism at the Dubai-based Gulf Research Centre, said initial investigation will focus on the nature of the damage to the ship. “It’s very easy to tell if it’s an external attack or not from whether the damage is pushing inside or internal,” Dr Alani said.

So it's a seismic event, despite there being no record of seismic events? The BBC, however, is buying the "seismic event/giant wave" explanation, citing Iranian and Omani sources. So it may be a weird fluke of nature. Still, this may bear watching.