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    Giant Puppet of Syrian Refugee Angers Some on Walk Through Greece

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    “Little Amal” is on a 5,000-mile journey from Turkey to Britain to highlight the plight of Syrian refugees. But in Greece, some have objected to her presence, saying it could encourage more migrants.ATHENS — A giant puppet of a nine-year-old Syrian girl named Amal has been traveling across Turkey and Greece for much of the past month. It is the first leg of a 5,000-mile journey, one that is rich in symbolism as a new migration crisis looms in Europe following the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan.The puppet is the lead character in an ambitious theater project called “The Walk” that aims to draw attention to the refugee experience by following a route similar to that taken by some Syrians who escaped the civil war in their country. “Little Amal” and her handlers plan to cross eight countries and dozens of cities in an 8,000-kilometer bid to shine a light on the plight of millions of displaced refugees.But Amal, who is 12 feet tall and “walks” with the aid of the team of puppeteers accompanying her, is not welcome everywhere.On Monday, the local council of Meteora, a municipality in central Greece, voted to ban Amal from walking through a village in the area, which is home to a UNESCO World Heritage site known for its cluster of Orthodox monasteries built on towering rock formations.The objection raised by several council members was that a puppet depicting a Muslim refugee should not be permitted to perform in a space of such importance to Greek Orthodox believers. The local bishop opposed the project for that reason, while a local heritage group complained that the initiative could bring more refugees to a country that has already taken in tens of thousands.The tensions in this corner of Greece come as Europe wrestles once again with the inflammatory issue of migration amid the escalating crisis in Afghanistan.Greece was particularly hard-hit by the migration crisis of 2015-2016, which saw more than 1 million refugees stream through the country — mostly from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.Meteora, central Greece, in May. The local council voted to ban the puppet from “walking” through the area.Dimitris Tosidis/EPA, via ShutterstockThen, many Greeks, particularly on the Aegean Islands, pitched in to help. Over time, however, solidarity was replaced by frustration, which intensified during a standoff at the land border with Turkey in March 2020 when thousands of migrants tried to enter Greece. Since then, Greek authorities have toughened their stance, extending a metal fence at the land border and drafting legislation to accelerate deportations.During a debate in Parliament on the bill on Friday, the migration minister, Notis Mitarachi, said that Greece “will not allow itself to become a gateway to Europe for illegal migration flows, as it was from 2015 to 2019.”The local heritage association in Meteora said it was particularly worried that the puppet initiative could encourage a new wave of refugees to Greece.“How much solidarity can Greece show?” Grigorios Kalyvas, the association’s head, said. “Isn’t there a limit to what we can do and how many we can take?”In a session of the local council on Monday night, the mayor of Meteora, Theodoros Alekos, said his concern had to do with the presence of a “Muslim doll from Syria” in an area rich in Orthodox significance and popular for religious tourism. Worries that the local walk, which had been planned for Sunday, could exacerbate the spread of the coronavirus at a time of record infection levels in Greece also factored into the decision to stop it, he said.The puppet would not be prevented from crossing the municipality’s main town of Kalambaka on its way through Greece, the council decided, but would not be allowed in villages close to the monasteries.For the local heritage association, this was not good enough. “If they enter the town, there’ll be protests,” Mr. Kalyvas said, saying the puppet’s presence would be an “insult.” He added: “If they keep her wrapped up in the box, that’s fine.”David Lan, one of the producers of “The Walk,” said in a telephone interview from Greece that he had not anticipated opposition to the project, but wasn’t surprised given how some people in Europe perceive refugees. “It’s a very live issue with Afghanistan,” he added.The plan had been for Amal, whose name means “hope” in Arabic, to walk near the monasteries and have a picnic with local children, Mr. Lan said, adding that his team had secured approval from regional authorities for the event. But they now planned to go elsewhere. “If we’re not welcome, we don’t go.”“The Walk” evolved out of the “The Jungle,” an acclaimed play about refugees that had runs on London’s West End and at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn.The project involves Amal and her puppeteers traveling from Gazientep, Turkey, to Manchester, England, with numerous detours along the way. Gaziantep was chosen as it is home to tens of thousands of Syrians, and Manchester because of its high concentration of asylum seekers.Along the way, Amal joins events with local artists, children and refugee groups.In Gazientep, excited children held up lanterns to guide Amal through the city. And on the Greek island of Chios, choirs sang to welcome her as an orchestra played.“The meaning’s obvious,” Mr. Lan said, referring to the aim of the project. “It’s ‘Don’t forget about us.’”Niki Kitsantonis More

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      ‘Last Summer’ Review: Growing Pains

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      Sunny days turn to sweaty nights on the Mediterranean coast in this Turkish coming-of-age film that follows a teenage boy who pines for his older sister’s best friend.The film “Last Summer” plays like an extended montage advertising the arresting views and clear Mediterranean waters of southern Turkey. Like a migratory fish, the teenage Deniz (Fatih Sahin) is lucky to spend summers on this divine coastline beaching, discoing and bronzing in the seaside town where his family has a cottage. This gauzy coming-of-age movie (on Netflix) is set during the summer of 1997, as Deniz tags along with his cool older sister, Ebru (Aslihan Malbora), while nursing puppy love for her teasing bestie, Asli (Ece Cesmioglu).The director Ozan Aciktan is interested in exploring how Deniz’s crush on Asli, a flirtatious young woman, reflects his yearning for what he sees as the confidence and thrills of adulthood. When he accompanies Asli and her friends to a high cliff, Deniz shows off by jumping off into the sea. Although he survives the plunge, the gash he gets on his foot is a sign that while growing up is exhilarating, it is not without pain.The film’s attention to Deniz’s growing pains is useful as Asli, a lovely but hazy character, meets a charming older man, and Deniz’s shy longing takes a jealous turn. Tension builds over sunny days and sweaty nights. But upon reaching its climax, the movie fails to fulfill. Asli’s feelings seem to change on a whim, and Deniz suffers no consequences for his mistakes. For all the beauty of its dazzling vacation setting, “Last Summer” coasts, but not toward any satisfying destination.Last SummerNot rated. In Turkish, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 41 minutes. Watch on Netflix. More

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      One of Turkey’s Hottest Rock Bands Has an Unlikely Source

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyOne of Turkey’s Hottest Rock Bands Has an Unlikely SourceAltin Gun’s fans say the band does more for Turkey’s image than the government. No one seems to mind that it’s actually Dutch.From left, Erdinc Ecevit, Merve Dasdemir and Jasper Verhulst of Altin Gun performing in Amsterdam in 2019.Credit…Ben HoudijkMarch 2, 2021, 11:29 a.m. ETLate one night in 2016, Jasper Verhulst was sitting on his balcony in Amsterdam, pondering his next career move.The Dutch bass player had been playing in an indie band, he recalled in a recent video interview, but its singer had decided to stop touring, and Verhulst needed a new project.That night, he put on a playlist of his favorite Turkish rock songs — tracks written in the 1970s that combined traditional Turkish melodies and instruments with psychedelic rock, to make a funky sound all their own. Suddenly, he was struck by thought: “This is what I want to do.”Turkish rock songs like these would sound great at a music festival, he thought, yet he’d never heard that before. So he decided to fill the gap. He just had a few problems to overcome first: He didn’t speak Turkish, and he didn’t play any Turkish instruments.Soon, he was posting “Wanted” advertisements in Turkish grocery stores and restaurants around Amsterdam, as well as on Facebook, looking for musicians to play cover versions of the most famous tracks from the 1970s. “I really didn’t know if there would be any Turkish people who would like the idea,” Verhulst said. “But I thought, ‘I would love to do this, so let’s just try.’”Five years later, the six-piece band Verhulst formed, Altin Gun (which means “Golden Day” in Turkish), is arguably the world’s most prominent Turkish-language rock band. Two of its members, Merve Dasdemir and Erdinc Ecevit, both of Turkish descent, joined thanks to his Facebook post. The other members are Dutch, or British, and the band rehearses in Amsterdam.In 2019, the band became the first Turkish-language act to be nominated for a Grammy, leading Hurriyet, a Turkish daily newspaper, to call them “our pride on the red carpet.” They regularly play sold-out shows in Istanbul, and they have also become a sight on festival posters across Europe and the United States. They were scheduled to play the Coachella and Bonnaroo festivals last year, before the coronavirus pandemic stopped both events.The band’s new album, “Yol,” released last week, is already being lauded by fans in and outside Turkey. “These individuals do a better job than our minister of tourism and foreign affairs to strengthen our foreign relations,” one Turkish fan wrote on YouTube beneath one of Altin Gun’s recent videos. Another fan simply wrote the Turkish word for “Beautiful!” and followed it with Turkish flag emoji.Verhulst said he found the group’s growing popularity, especially in Turkey and its diaspora, overwhelming at times. “It’s kind of weird when something’s bigger than you feel,” he said. Dasdemir, in a video interview, agreed it could be odd. Playing sold-out shows in Istanbul “feels like conquering my own country,” she said.Turkish psychedelic rock is undergoing a resurgence, said Cem Kayiran, the music editor of Bant Mag, a Turkish youth magazine, in a telephone interview. The style emerged in the 1970s, when some of Turkey’s biggest pop stars took old folk songs and updated them with modern instruments, he said.In the early 2000s, several record labels, notably Finders Keepers in Britain, began reissuing records from that time, bringing the music to a Western audience, he added. Now, acts like Altin Gun and Gaye su Akyol, a Turkish rock star, were revitalizing the genre all over again. “It’s really hype right now,” he said.Altin Gun were so good at what they did, Kayiran added, that some younger Turkish people didn’t even seem to realize the band was covering old folk tunes. “I’ve got Turkish friends in the United States who’ve sent me YouTube links of their songs going, ‘You have to hear this band, they’re really cool,’” he said. “I have to send them links to the originals back,” he added.Dasdemir, who was born in Turkey but moved to the Netherlands as a young adult, said she didn’t think twice about joining Altin Gun after seeing Verhulst’s advertisement. “I was tagged in his Facebook post and just couldn’t believe my eyes that this Dutch guy wanted to make music from my culture,” she said. “I thought it was so cool.” A handful of people have accused the group of cultural appropriation, she said, but this didn’t make sense to her. “I’m 100 percent Turkish,” she said. “If I’m not going to cover my own culture’s music, who’s going to do it?” she added.Fans agreed it didn’t matter where the band’s members were born. “You literally could dance to their music at a Turkish wedding, in rural Turkey,” said Ozgur Muslu, a fan living in Massachusetts, in a Facebook message.“I ultimately look at the final product, and I am seeing a rainbow of influences,” Muslu said, including electronic elements that are far from typical Turkish rock music.Altin Gun in Amsterdam in 2019. “We’re a folk band,” Verhulst said, just like the ones who used to wander their countries and bring old songs to new audiences.Credit…Ben HoudijkDasdemir and Ecevit, the band’s Turkish members, often choose which songs to cover. But Verhulst said he suggested tunes, too, despite having no idea what the lyrics were about, picking tracks from his own record collection, or YouTube. This doesn’t always go according to plan. “Sometimes Merve and Erdinc are like, ‘We can’t sing that, it’s a wedding song!’ or ‘No, this is too religious,’ or ‘These lyrics are really lame,’” he said.He always accepted their decision, he said. “I’m the bass player. It’s not like I’m going to sing Turkish songs to Turkish people,” he added.Gaye su Akyol, one of Turkey’s most famous rock musicians, said she would like to see the band branch out from covers and release its own material. “Musical genres need new compositions to develop and expand,” she said in a telephone interview. Altin Gun were great musicians, “faithful to the soul of Turkish psychedelic music,” she said, but she was sure they could push the genre into new places if they wanted to.Dasdemir said that wasn’t the plan for now. For a start, she’d find it hard to write an original song in the old Turkish style, she said, as the lyrics were often old-fashioned and highly poetic. Original music was also just not what Altin Gun was about, Verhulst said. “We’re a folk band,” he said, just like the ones who used to wander Britain, the Netherlands or, indeed, Turkey, bringing old songs to new audiences.He loved music from all over the world, he added, and Turkish music was “just 5 percent” of his record collection. But for now, he added, it was all he wanted to play. “There’s all these beautiful songs written in Turkey, some of them more than 100 years old, where the composers are totally unknown,” he said. “It’s nice to keep that tradition going.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More