INTERVIEW: 'Turkish Soft Power Changes Middle East' (usak-isro.blogspot.co)

Interview with Sedat Laciner on Turkey’s Expanding Foreign Policy by Kaitlin MacKenzie

Sedat Laciner (SL): "First of all, Anatolia is a special place between the continents of Asia, Europe, and Africa. It was always an important place for the Romans, for the Greeks, Arabs, Iranians, and Russians. If a country is located in such a special place, it needs a special foreign policy to protect its interests and to maintain its relations with the neighboring regions. The Anatolian political and economic order needs to be integrated with that of the Balkans and the Caucasus, and with that of today’s Middle Eastern systems, for otherwise it cannot maintain its sovereignty, development, independence, or peace. Turks, during the Ottoman era, first integrated the Anatolian territories and then moved to the territories that connect Anatolia to Europe, Asia, and northern Africa. That is why the first sultans of the Ottoman Empire gave great importance to integrating the Balkans and Asia Minor before integrating the Black Sea region and the Caucasian and Middle Eastern territories nearby.

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MUSIC: Chants, Hymns and Dances: Music of Gurdjieff & Tsabropoulos (2003)

Classical | EAC (APE & CUE) | 216 MB
A fascinating new project by German cellist Anja Lechner and Greek pianist Vassilis Tsabropoulos, Chants, Hymns and Dances, could be subtitled “Music from the Crossroads of the World”. It is a project that blurs the dividing lines between East and West, between composition and arrangement and improvisation, and between contemporary and traditional music. At the centre of the repertoire are compositions by Tsabropoulos, which take as their inspirational starting point ancient Byzantine hymns, and music by the Armenian-born philosopher-composer Georges Ivanovitch Gurdjieff (c.1877-1949) which draws upon melodies and rhythms, both sacred and secular, of the Caucasus, the Middle East and Central Asia.

Tracklist

George I. Gurdjieff

1. Chant from a Holy Book
2. Bayaty
3. Prayer
4. Duduki
5. Interlude I

Vassilis Tsabropoulos

6. Trois Morceaux après Hymnes Byzantins I
7. Trois Morceaux après Hymnes Byzantins II
8. Trois Morceaux après Hymnes Byzantins III
9. Dance
10. Chant
11. Interlude II
12. Assyrian Woman Mourners
13. Armenian Song
14. (No. 11)
15. Woman´s Prayer
16. Chant from a Holy Book, var. 1

Anja Lechner cello
Vassilis Tsabropoulos piano

ECM New Series 1888

source: avaxhome.ws