Happy New Year
31 Dec 2021 3 Comments
10th Anniversary
15 Sep 2018 6 Comments
When I started this blog 10 years ago, I had no idea where it would take me. I had –and still have- things to share and things to say and I knew blogging was –and still is- the right media to address the world.
Blogging in English was a deliberate choice and to be frankly quite a challenge. My grammar and typing mistakes may hurt the eyes of native speakers, but I sincerely hope that the content you got may ease your pain.
It was not a smooth sailing. When a Turkish Court blocked the Blogspot, the original platform I was using, I had no idea whether I should continue or not and if yes how. The migration to WordPress, 8 years ago, was a big leap of faith for me but it worked fine. The Twitter account of this blog has been a good addition and an excellent platform for instant blogging.
Personally, the most satisfying moments were, when I was creating the news instead of relaying press releases or news articles prepared by somebody else.
Through this blog I was able to meet many wonderful people, must online, some in person and share ideas, information and thoughts. I am very grateful for this.
I would like to thank my family. Actually, I can’t thank them enough for every minute I spent on this blog is a minute less spent with them.
And finally, I would like to thank all my readers and followers. Without your continued feedback, interest and engagement this journey would not be this interesting.
Season’s Greetings
22 Dec 2013 3 Comments
I wish all my readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2014.
Notice To Mariners
12 Oct 2013 5 Comments
There will very light or no blogging until further notice.
Fifth Anniversary
15 Sep 2013 6 Comments
Today marks the fifth anniversary of this blog.
This is my 976th post, thus I post 195 entries per year on average. In 2011 I had 568 views per day, in 2012 it was 686. This year it is 831. Not bad for a very specialized blog with a very focused content.
To be honest I had no idea how long and how far I could travel along this path when I started this blog. Now I realize that it opened a new chapter in my life. Through this blog I was able to meet with a lot of people -most of them online, some of them in person- who shared my interest in maritime affairs in this region.
I would like to thank each and every one who has contributed to this blog. I hope you are enjoying reading this blog as much as I’m enjoying writing it.
New Year’s Resolutions
31 Dec 2012 3 Comments
My first blog entry in 2012 was this:
My regular readers may have noticed that I have not been writing much in the last few days. This due to the fact that I now have a regular day job. My new job takes up most of my day so that I have little time left for my blog.
So my new year’s resolution is to post one post every other day. If I end the year 2012 with 170 or more new posts I will consider my self successful.
I have ended 2012 with 162 blog entries, 8 short from my goal. But never the less it was a good year, because:
- On 4th April 2012 this blog received 4.311 views. An all time high. The reason of this influx was Mrs. J.E. Dyer’s excellent blog post “How many old, belching Russian destroyers does it take to establish an international veto in Syria?” with a link to my blog post “Russian Destroyer Smetlivy Passed Through Bosphorus“
- On 30th July 2012 for the first time in my life I have seen and photographed Chinese warships, the destroyer Qingdao and the frigate Yantai. The photo of Yantai was reproduced in the October issue of US. Naval Institute’s influential magazine Proceedings.
- On 30th August I had the privilege to visit the first Milgem class corvette F-511 TCG Heybeliada. It was a very different experience. Some off the photos I have taken that day are going to be published in the January 2013 issue of Warships IFR magazine.
- On 15th September this blog celebrated its 4th anniversary.
- On 19th September I was able to take the photos of the only submarine in Russian Black Sea Fleet Alrosa, as she was passing through the Bosphorus.
My plans for 2013 are simple: I will try to continue what I have been doing, as one of my readers so nicely wrote “You keep up with naval events that have not been covered in Western news media since the Soviet Union collapsed”; steady as she goes.
I wish you all a Happy 2013.
Stratfor Uses Bosphorus Naval News As A Source. So Why Don’t You?
13 Mar 2012 2 Comments
Today I was reading one of the hacked e-mails from the private US intelligence company Stratfor. Last year in December a hacker collective known as Anonymous claimed responsibility for crashing the Web site of the Stratfor Global Intelligence Service. The hacker declared that they have obtained the full client list including their credit cards information, as well as over 200 GB of email correspondence.
Since the beginning of March these e-mails are being published by Wikileaks and other associated websites. So of these e-mail especially those about Turkey and Turkish politics found a large audience in Turkish media.
While I was reading this particular e-mail with the subject line “Re: Discussion – Turkey/MIL – The Turkish Navy” dated “Jul 2, 2009 20:01” with Email ID 982788, I have realized that one of the indicated sources in the attached word file and used for the basis of the analyses was my own blog.
My blog post on the acquisition plans of 2 three masted schooner type training ships was one of the referred sources. I was delighted to see that Stratfor used my postings as a source for their work but I was also saddened that I have been largely misinterpreted by the Stratfor analyst.
Well, read the Stratfor mail and my blog post and decide for yourself.
New Year’s resolutions
5 Jan 2012 1 Comment
My regular readers may have noticed that I have not been writing much in the last few days. This due to the fact that I now have a regular day job. My new job takes up most of my day so that I have little time left for my blog.
So my new year’s resolution is to post one post every other day. If I end the year 2012 with 170 or more new posts I will consider my self successful.
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