* According to the Turkish daily Turkiye, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay said on Monday that the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party will not be afforded a safe place.
  He added that operations against the outlawed organization will continue in and out of Turkey.
  Another Turkish Paper, Vatan, quoted the deputy prime minister as saying that they are working to bring down the terrorists from the mountains.
  The rebel Kurdistan Workers Party has hideouts in rugged mountainous territory in South Eastern Turkey and across the border in Iraqi Territory.
  Turkish military has been carrying out operations against the militants for the past three weeks. Press releases by the military and the Turkish government say that they have killed more than 20 militants. The press releases say that in some of the mountain hideouts security personnel has found food, weapons, equipment, documents and blueprints. One main shelter built into a cave had four floors.
  The Turkish military has been using unmanned aerial vehicles in some of its operations. Some of these vehicles are supplied by the U.S.
  The Kurdistan Workers Party is considered to be a terrorist organization by the European Union and the United States.

* In related news, according to Agence France-Presse, Turkish police arrested a photographer of the agency on Tuesday in an operation against people with suspected links with Kurdish rebels, the photographer's lawyer said.
  In other operations 38 other journalists were also arrested.
  The photographer's house was searched for several hours CDs and documents were seized, memory cards were copied.
  Since 2009, 700 people have been arrested for alleged links with the rebels, according to the government, but the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party puts the figure at more than 3,500.
  The arrests are drawing criticism of the Turkish authorities at home and abroad.

* Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta made a stop in Turkey on Dec. 15 through Dec. 17 as part of his tour of the region. According to New York Times, Mr. Panetta urged Turkish officials to mend ties with Israel.
  New York Times also reported that Mr. Panetta and Turkish leaders discussed the importance of continuing pressure on the Syrian government, “so that Assad steps down and the people of Syria are given the opportunity to be able to establish the institutions of government that will give them greater rights and opportunities.”
  Hurriyet Daily News on the other hand reported that the Turkish officials have warned the United States that war-torn Iraq’s stability will continue to be at stake unless the country is cleared of terrorist organizations after US withdraws its troops from the country. According to Hurriyet, Mr. Panetta's talks with Turkish officials also covered the fight against the rebel Kurdistan Workers’ Party.

* Speaking of South East Turkey, a small bus carrying passengers from Diyarbakir to Siirt province and a truck carrying bricks collided in Bismil town due to improper passing.
  25 people including a baby were killed, and 13 people were injured in the accident.

* Turkish Daily Vatan said Turkish lawmakers approved a bill late on Thursday that increases pensions of retired Turkish MPs by 100 percent.
  The daily said all political parties in the parliament supported the bill that increases pensions to around $4,300 for all MPs who served a minimum of two years in office.

* According to the Turkish statistics authority, TurkStat,
  The figure marked a drop of 0.5 points over the previous year.
  Also, 16.9 percent of the population lived below the poverty line in 2010 as 18 percent of the population lived under risk of permanent poverty. TurkStat said average usable household income was around $11,6000 in 2010.

* According to news reports, the bankrupt Swedish automobile company Saab and the Swedish government are trying to find Turkish buyers.
  According to the Turkish daily Sabah Turkish Embassy was negotiating with the Swedish Ministry of Industry and the bankruptcy office. Murat Ertekin, the trade counselor at the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm, confirmed the dialogue but said, "it is not a state initiative, we are helping the private sector."
  Another Turkish daily, Yeni Safak, wrote that Saab's CEO Victor Muller got an appointment from the embassy, and briefed Turkish executives on the recent condition of the company.

* Turkey's first and only official whirling dervish ritual group, the Konya Turkish Sufi Music Society, has been bringing the famous Turkish ritual to places around the world, from the United States to India and from Luxembourg to Pakistan.
  Speaking to Anatolia news agency, the Society's Art Director Yusuf Kaya said the Central Anatolian province of Konya was currently drawing great interest as Dec. 17 was the 738th anniversary of Mevlana Jalaladdin Rumi's death. The mystic poet lived from 1207 to 1273.
  Mr. Kaya said the group was performing the Sufi ritual, known as the "sema", twice a week at the Mevlana Cultural Center for the anniversary. He also said the group had been active for 20 years and that interest in Sufi ritual was increasing gradually.
  Mr. Kaya said a whirling dervish participates in 300-350 rituals a year while a ritual program lasts between 45 minutes and one hour. "When we don't have a specific program, we have a repertoire of works in Konya. We work very hard to promote Rumi's life and philosophy, and to promote Turkey as well. This mission gives us strength."
  Based on the group's experiences abroad, Mr. Kaya said they had noticed foreigners were very intrigued by Rumi. "From the many people we have met after our programs, we have seen that Rumi is well known all over the world."
  He also said UNESCO's decision to declare 2007 the Year of Rumi greatly contributed to people's awareness of the great mystic abroad.
  See more at Konya Sema

* Turkey's third largest metropolitan area İzmir's historical Konak Movie Theater closed its doors for two years after serving moviegoers since 1960s. According to a report by the Anatolia News Agency, the movie theater failed to compete against theaters in shopping malls but is now being redeveloped by volunteers. But it needs sponsors to survive.
  The İzmir Cinema and Visual Arts Association Deputy Chairman Aydın Karataş says that Konak is surviving with the efforts of volunteers and the theater was having difficulty finding sponsors from the corporate world.
  Mr. Karataş says that some of the volunteers to bank loans to help with the effort.
  Since the building was old, it had no air conditioning, no acoustic panels and no insulation. Upgrading the building cost $900,000.
  He said they did not envision showing too many commercial films. "Our concept is very different. We will mostly screen films from Turkish cinema."
  See more at Izmir Movietheater

* A similar effort is underway in Istanbul, according to a report in Hurriyet Daily News.
  The Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts proposed to develop a project that will restore Emek Movie Theater in an effort to save one of Istanbul's historic venues from being demolished and replaced by a shopping mall.
  "We don't believe the project in its current form will contribute to Istanbul's art and cultural life. There is a need for a new solution and as Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts we are willing to provide that solution," said Bülent Eczacıbaşı, chairman of the foundation, at a press conference.
  A campaign has been launched by civil society representatives as the trend rises to demolish Istanbul's historical buildings to replace them by high-profit shopping malls. The building that harbors Emek Movie Theater, an iconic figure of the Turkish art scene, is on İstiklal Avenue, Istanbul's busiest pedestrian walkway.
  "Culture Minister Ertuğrul Günay said it will not be demolished and that's important," said Mr. Eczacıbaşı. Günay, Beyoğlu Mayor Ahmet Misbah Demircan and the owners and architects of the project have been accused of misinforming the public with vague descriptions of the plans by saying that Emek Theater would not be demolished but moved "upstairs."
  "We can provide a solution. Give us time, six months. We can look for a project that can enable Emek Movie Theater to contribute to art and culture, in harmony with Beyoğlu's fabric, and bring forth a proposal with financial details based on how it can be operationally managed," he said. He also said they cannot guarantee the project will be financially profitable and all relevant sides should be ready for certain sacrifices for the sake of a significant contribution to Istanbul's art scene. The Emek Movie Theater building is owned by a public organization.
  While conscious of the Culture Ministry's efforts to increase its budget and the related challenges, Eczacıbaşı did say very limited public contribution to art and culture was not helping. "This is very peculiar. We are really one of the few countries where the share of public contribution is minimal."
  Ahmet Kocabıyık, Vice Chairman of Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, also said infrastructure issues were especially major problems and fixing those went beyond private sector capabilities.
  See more at Emek 1
  See also Emek 2

* Hurriyet Daily News reports that Turkish pop artists performed to raise money for earthquake survivors in Van in a concert organized by Istanbul's Şişli Municipality Dec. 18.
  The 7.1 magnitude earthquake that took place on October 23 killed over 600 people.
  Municipal officials said the concert raised $188,000. The money will be spent on the construction of a guesthouse for teachers in Van.
  Şişli Mayor Mustafa Sarıgül said "The 75-room guesthouse for teachers will be in honor of 75 teachers who died in the earthquake. The house's opening will take place with the help of these artists."
   See more at For Van

* The Macedonian house of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's father, Ali Rıza Efendi, will be reconstructed like its original and become a museum, reports the Anatolia News Agency.
  Ataturk, 1881- 1938, was the first president of Turkey and the independence war hero.
  The house, in which Ali Rıza Efendi was born and grew up, is located in the Kodzadzik village of Zupa province, Macedonia. The restoration project for the house is being conducted by a collaborative team of Macedonian and Turkish experts.
  It will be reconstructed as part of an initiative of the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry and the Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency.
  The project is expected to cost 650,000 euros, and the house will be opened as a museum in 2013.
  See more at Ali Riza Home

* Turkish Nobel Laureate author Orhan Pamuk is currently touring South America to promote his new book, "The Naive and the Sentimental Novelist."
  Mr. Pamuk said he had found a number of similarities between Turkey and South America.
  "I have seen huge similarities between Turkey and Brazil. Brazil is like Turkey in terms of the preservation of cultural heritage by the middle class," Pamuk told Doğan news agency, adding that the most impressive thing in Latin America was the spirit and liveliness of the people.
  The writer has attracted huge interest in South America; Pamuk first attended conferences in Chile, Uruguay and Argentina for conferences before going to Brazil. In Argentina, he met Maria Kodima, wife of Jorge Luis Borges – one of Pamuk's favorite writers – and addressed fans at the Latin American Arts Museum, MALBA.
  In Brazil, Pamuk visited the cities of Sao Paolo and Porto Alegre, where he attended the conference of the "Fronteiras do Pensamento" (Thoughtful Boundaries) group. The group hosted writers such as Terry Eagleton, Mario Vargas Llosa, Alain de Botton and David Lynch. Pamuk was the first Turkish writer to attend a conference by the group.
  "I've been planning to visit South America for the last 18 months. I learned of the region from Latin American writers such as Borges, Garcia Marquez and Julio Cortazar," Mr. Pamuk said. Literature is one of the best ways to discover a culture, but it is still not enough to discover the whole continent, he said, adding that he read novels by Carlos Fuentes and Vargas Llosa.
  Mr. Pamuk said South American cities were like Istanbul because they had seen many coups and had the same economic problems. "While they are struggling against decay, they are trying to restrict a new kind of modernity. Maybe because of this, ‘Istanbul' was one of the bestselling novels in Latin America."
  South America is a continent of soccer, Mr. Pamuk said, adding that his publisher invited him to a Corinthians-Palmeiras soccer match.

* According to a report by the Anatolia News Agency, the historic Varda Railway Bridge in the southern province of Adana's Hacıkırı village will be a filming location for scenes for the next James Bond film, the longest film series in the world that is celebrating its 50th year in 2012.
  The 172-meter-long and 98-meter-high bridge, which was built in 1912 by Germans, will feature in the opening 15-minute part of the 25th film of the series along with Istanbul's Hagia Sophia Museum and the Aegean province of Fethiye.
  The production team, which has been preparing the venues, will start filming in February. The Varda Bridge will be shown for 10 minutes in the film and its star Daniel Craig will also participate in the filming there, according to reports. The 200-person production team will come to Turkey in January for three months.
  The Varda Bridge has been the subject of photographers and filmmakers before, appearing in many advertisements. The film's producers, impressed by the story behind the bridge's construction, will promote the bridge to the world by filming close shots and providing information about it in the film.

* The New York Times has a long article about women artists in Turkey associated with an ongoing exhibit at the Istanbul Modern art Museum entitled "Dream and Reality: Modern and Contemporary Women Artists from Turkey" which runs through Jan 23, 2012.
  Levent Calikoglu, chief curator for the Modern, said by e-mail last week that female artists "have a very important, critical and pioneering position in the Turkish art world. One of the objectives of the show was to render this visible." He continued, "One of the most important things about the show is that "it has brought together these artists not just because they are women but because they are very good, prominent, original artists."
  See more at Turkish Women Artists