relativity

distance?? who says ;)

My paintings

Channel Houses of my dream country

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Giuseppe at work :D

kakadu

Birthday Celebrations

Birthday Song

The Happy Birthday song is more than one hundred years old. It was written in 1893 by two sisters, Patty and Mildred Hill, who were schoolteachers in Louisville, Kentucky. The tune was originally a morning greeting to their students entitled "Good Morning To All." The lyrics were copyrighted in 1935, 11 years before Patty's death, and the ownership has swapped hands in multi-million dollar deals ever since. The current copyright is owned by Warner Communications. They purchased it in 1989 for more than $22 million dollars.
Happy Birthday is recognized around the world and has been translated into dozens of languages. It is one of the three most popular songs in the English language.

Birthday Parties and Celebrations


The earliest birthday parties were held because people believed evil spirits were particuarly attracted to people on their birthdays.
At first it was only kings who were recognized as important enough to have a birthday celebration. To protect them from harm, friends and family would to come be with the birthday person and bring good thoughts and wishes.

Giving gifts brought even more good cheer to ward off the evil spirits. As time went by, children became included in birthday celebrations. The tradition of children's birthday parties first started in Germany, Kinderfeste.

The largest private birthday party to ever happen was in 1970 for Colonel Harlan Sanders' 89th birthday. The event was attended by over 35,000 people.



Birthday Cakes


One theory about the origin of the birthday cake is that it originated with the Greeks, who baked round cakes representing the full moon for their moon goddess, Artemis. They placed candles on the cake to make it glow, like the moon.
The Germans are also credited with the first cakes and candles. They used a sweet, layered cake and they put a large candle in the center of the cake to represent "the light of life." Some people believe the smoke from extinguished candles carries their birthday wishes up to heaven.



http://www.birthdaycelebrations.net 45

First snow of season in Southern Holland

Published Date: 23 November 2008
Thick snow fell overnight as South Holland was gripped by freezing temperatures.

Rianna - Umbrella, for true friends

.... And that is when you need me there
With you I’ll always share
Because

When the sun shines, we’ll shine together
Told you I’ll be here forever
Said I’ll always be a friend
Took an oath, I’ma stick it out till the end

Now that it’s raining more than ever
Know that we’ll still have each other
You can stand under my umbrella
You can stand under my umbrella.....

www.jango.com/music/rihannal?0.html

Republic of Turkey by Wikipedia

Etymology
Main article: Names of Turkey
The name of Turkey, Türkiye in the Turkish language, can be divided into two words: Türk, which means "Strong" in Old Turkic and usually signifying the inhabitants of Turkey or a member of the Turkish or Turkic peoples,[11] a later form of "Tu–kin", a name given by the Chinese to the people living south of the Altay Mountains of Central Asia as early as 177 BCE;[12] and the abstract suffix –iye (derived from the Arabic suffix –iyya, but also associated with the Medieval Latin suffix –ia in Turchia, and the Medieval Greek suffix –ία in Τουρκία), which means "owner" or "related to". The first recorded use of the term "Türk" or "Türük" as an autonym is contained in the Orkhon inscriptions of the Göktürks (Sky Turks) of Central Asia (c. 8th century CE). The English word "Turkey" is derived from the Medieval Latin "Turchia" (c. 1369).[12]

Republic era
Main articles: History of the Republic of Turkey and Atatürk's reforms

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder and first President of the Republic of TurkeyThe occupation of İstanbul and İzmir by the Allies in the aftermath of World War I prompted the establishment of the Turkish national movement.[6] Under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Pasha, a military commander who had distinguished himself during the Battle of Gallipoli, the Turkish War of Independence was waged with the aim of revoking the terms of the Treaty of Sèvres.[5] By September 18, 1922, the occupying armies were repelled and the country saw the birth of the new Turkish state. On November 1, the newly founded parliament formally abolished the Sultanate, thus ending 623 years of Ottoman rule. The Treaty of Lausanne of July 24, 1923, led to the international recognition of the sovereignty of the newly formed "Republic of Turkey" as the successor state of the Ottoman Empire, and the republic was officially proclaimed on October 29, 1923, in the new capital of Ankara.[6]

Mustafa Kemal became the republic's first president and subsequently introduced many radical reforms with the aim of founding a new secular republic from the remnants of its Ottoman past.[6] According to the Law on Family Names, the Turkish parliament presented Mustafa Kemal with the honorific name "Atatürk" (Father of the Turks) in 1934.[5]

Turkey entered World War II on the side of the Allies on February 23, 1945 as a ceremonial gesture and became a charter member of the United Nations in 1945.[22] Difficulties faced by Greece after the war in quelling a communist rebellion, along with demands by the Soviet Union for military bases in the Turkish Straits, prompted the United States to declare the Truman Doctrine in 1947. The doctrine enunciated American intentions to guarantee the security of Turkey and Greece, and resulted in large-scale US military and economic support.[23]

After participating with the United Nations forces in the Korean conflict, Turkey joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1952, becoming a bulwark against Soviet expansion into the Mediterranean. Following a decade of intercommunal violence on the island of Cyprus and the Greek military coup of July 1974, overthrowing President Makarios and installing Nikos Sampson as dictator, Turkey intervened militarily in 1974. Nine years later the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was established. The TRNC is recognised only by Turkey.[24]

Following the end of the single-party period in 1945, the multi-party period witnessed tensions over the following decades, and the period between the 1960s and the 1980s was particularly marked by periods of political instability that resulted in a number of military coups d'états in 1960, 1971, 1980 and a post-modern coup d'état in 1997.[25] The liberalization of the Turkish economy that started in the 1980s changed the landscape of the country, with successive periods of high growth and crises punctuating the following decades.[26]

Economy
Main articles: Economy of Turkey and Economic history of Turkey

Levent financial district in IstanbulTurkey is a founding member of the OECD and the G-20 major economies.

For most of its republican history, Turkey has adhered to a quasi-statist approach, with strict government controls over private sector participation, foreign trade, and foreign direct investment. However, during the 1980s, Turkey began a series of reforms, initiated by Prime Minister Turgut Özal and designed to shift the economy from a statist, insulated system to a more private-sector, market-based model.[26] The reforms spurred rapid growth, but this growth was punctuated by sharp recessions and financial crises in 1994, 1999 (following the earthquake of that year),[66] and 2001,[67] resulting in an average of 4% GDP growth per annum between 1981 and 2003.[68] Lack of additional reforms, combined with large and growing public sector deficits and widespread corruption, resulted in high inflation, a weak banking sector and increased macroeconomic volatility.[69]

Since the economic crisis of 2001 and the reforms initiated by the finance minister of the time, Kemal Derviş, inflation has fallen to single-digit numbers, investor confidence and foreign investment have soared, and unemployment has fallen. The IMF forecasts a 6% inflation rate for Turkey in 2008.[70] Turkey has gradually opened up its markets through economic reforms by reducing government controls on foreign trade and investment and the privatisation of publicly owned industries, and the liberalisation of many sectors to private and foreign participation has continued amid political debate.[71]


TCDD high speed trainThe GDP growth rate from 2002 to 2007 averaged 7.4%,[72][73] which made Turkey one of the fastest growing economies in the world during that period. The World Bank forecasts a 5.4% GDP growth rate for Turkey in 2008.[74] Turkey's economy is no longer dominated by traditional agricultural activities in the rural areas, but more so by a highly dynamic industrial complex in the major cities, mostly concentrated in the western provinces of the country, along with a developed services sector. In 2007, the agricultural sector accounted for 8.9% of the GDP, while the industrial sector accounted for 30.8% and the services sector accounted for 59.3%.[75]

The tourism sector has experienced rapid growth in the last twenty years, and constitutes an important part of the economy. In 2007, there were 27,214,988 visitors to the country, who contributed 18.5 billion USD to Turkey's revenues.[76]


Etox is a Turkish sports car brand, based in AnkaraOther key sectors of the Turkish economy are banking, construction, home appliances, electronics, textiles, oil refining, petrochemical products, food, mining, iron and steel, machine industry and automotive. Turkey has a large and growing automotive industry, which produced 1,024,987 motor vehicles in 2006,[77] ranking as the 6th largest automotive producer in Europe in that year; behind Germany (5,819,614), France (3,174,260), Spain (2,770,435), the United Kingdom (1,648,388), and Italy (1,211,594), respectively.[78] Turkey is also one of the leading shipbuilding nations; in 2007 the country ranked 4th in the world (behind China, South Korea and Japan) in terms of the number of ordered ships, and also 4th in the world (behind Italy, USA and Canada) in terms of the number of ordered mega yachts.[79]

In recent years, the chronically high inflation has been brought under control and this has led to the launch of a new currency, the New Turkish Lira, on January 1, 2005, to cement the acquisition of the economic reforms and erase the vestiges of an unstable economy.[80] On January 1, 2009, the New Turkish Lira will be renamed once again as the Turkish Lira, with the introduction of new banknotes and coins. As a result of continuing economic reforms, inflation has dropped to 8.2% in 2005, and the unemployment rate to 10.3%.[81] In 2004, it was estimated that 46.2% of total disposable income was received by the top 20% income earners, while the lowest 20% received 6%.[82]


Esenboğa International Airport in AnkaraTurkey has taken advantage of a customs union with the European Union, signed in 1995, to increase its industrial production destined for exports, while at the same time benefiting from EU-origin foreign investment into the country.[83] In 2005, exports amounted to 73.5 billion USD while the imports stood at 116.8 billion USD, with increases of 16.3% and 19.7% compared to 2004, respectively.[84] For 2006, the exports amounted to 85.8 billion USD, representing an increase of 16,8% over 2005.[85] In 2007 the exports reached 115.3 billion USD[86] (main export partners: Germany 11.2%, UK 8%, Italy 6.95%, France 5.6%, Spain 4.3%, USA 3.88%; total EU exports 56.5%.) However, larger imports amounting to about 162.1 billion USD[87] threaten the balance of trade (main import partners: Russia 13.8%, Germany 10.3%, China 7.8%, Italy 6%, USA 4.8%, France 4.6%, Iran 3.9%, UK 3.2%; total EU imports 40.4%; total Asia imports 27%).[88][89]

After years of low levels of foreign direct investment (FDI), Turkey succeeded in attracting 21.9 billion USD in FDI in 2007 and is expected to attract a higher figure in following years.[90] A series of large privatizations, the stability fostered by the start of Turkey's EU accession negotiations, strong and stable growth, and structural changes in the banking, retail, and telecommunications sectors have all contributed to a rise in foreign investment.[71]

Ottoman Empire by Wikipedia

Rise (1299–1453)
Main article: Rise of the Ottoman Empire
With the demise of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rūm (circa 1300), Turkish Anatolia was divided into a patchwork of independent states, the so-called Ghazi emirates. By 1300, a weakened Byzantine Empire had seen most of its Anatolian provinces lost to ten Ghazi principalities. One of the Ghazi emirates was led by Osman I (from which the name Ottoman is derived), son of Ertuğrul in the region of Eskişehir in western Anatolia. Osman I extended the frontiers of Ottoman settlement towards the edge of the Byzantine Empire. He moved the Ottoman capital to Bursa, and shaped the early political development of the nation. Given the nickname "Kara" (Turkish for black) for his courage,[5] Osman I was admired as a strong and dynamic ruler long after his death, as evident in the centuries-old Turkish phrase, "May he be as good as Osman." His reputation has also been burnished by the medieval Turkish story known as "Osman's Dream", a foundation myth in which the young Osman was inspired to conquest by a prescient vision of empire. In this period, a formal Ottoman government was created whose institutions would change drastically over the life of the empire. The government used the legal entity known as the millet, under which religious and ethnic minorities were able to manage their own affairs with substantial independence from central control.

In the century after the death of Osman I, Ottoman rule began to extend over the Eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans. The important city of Thessaloniki was captured from the Venetians in 1387, and the Turkish victory at the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 effectively marked the end of Serbian power in the region, paving the way for Ottoman expansion into Europe. The Battle of Nicopolis in 1396, widely regarded as the last large-scale crusade of the Middle Ages, failed to stop the advance of the victorious Ottomans. With the extension of Turkish dominion into the Balkans, the strategic conquest of Constantinople became a crucial objective. The Empire controlled nearly all of the former Byzantine lands surrounding the city, but the Byzantines were temporarily relieved when Tamerlane invaded Anatolia with the Battle of Ankara in 1402, taking Sultan Bayezid I as a prisoner. Part of the Ottoman territories in the Balkans (such as Thessaloniki, Macedonia and Kosovo) were temporarily lost after 1402, but were later recovered by Murad II between the 1430s and 1450s.

The capture of Bayezid I threw the Turks into disorder. The state fell into a civil war which lasted from 1402 to 1413, as Bayezid's sons fought over succession. It ended when Mehmed I emerged as the sultan and restored Ottoman power, bringing an end to the Interregnum. His grandson, Mehmed the Conqueror, reorganized the state and the military, and demonstrated his martial prowess by capturing Constantinople on May 29, 1453, at the age of 21. The city became the new capital of the Ottoman Empire, and Mehmed II assumed the title of Kayser-i Rûm (Roman Emperor). However, this title was not recognized by the Greeks or Western Europe, and the Russian Czars also claimed to be the successors of the Eastern Imperial title. To consolidate his claim, Mehmed II aspired to gain control over the Western capital, Rome, and Ottoman forces occupied parts of the Italian peninsula, starting from Otranto and Apulia on July 28, 1480. But after Mehmed II's death on May 3, 1481, the campaign in Italy was cancelled and the Ottoman forces retreated.


[edit] Growth (1453–1683)
Main article: Growth of the Ottoman Empire
This period in Ottoman history can roughly be divided into two distinct eras: an era of territorial, economic, and cultural growth prior to 1566, followed by an era of relative military and political stagnation.


[edit] Expansion and apogee (1453–1566)

Mehmed II enters Constantinople with his army by Jean-Joseph Benjamin-ConstantThe Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453 cemented the status of the Empire as the preeminent power in southeastern Europe and the eastern Mediterranean. During this time, the Ottoman Empire entered a long period of conquest and expansion, extending its borders deep into Europe and North Africa. Conquests on land were driven by the discipline and innovation of the Ottoman military; and on the sea, the Ottoman navy aided this expansion significantly. The navy also contested and protected key seagoing trade routes, in competition with the Italian city states in the Black Sea, Aegean and Mediterranean seas and the Portuguese in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. The state also flourished economically thanks to its control of the major overland trade routes between Europe and Asia. This lock-hold on trade between western Europe and Asia is frequently cited as a primary motivational factor for the Queen of Spain to fund Christopher Columbus's westward journey to find a sailing route to Asia. The world had been speculated to be round for generations before 1492, but Columbus's expedition was the first real effort to short-circuit the dangerous land-locked journey through the Muslim-controlled Ottoman Empire to trade with Asia. The resulting dominance of Europe in the new world and the riches it brought were almost directly due to the Ottoman Empire's heavy taxation on Christians and Jews in their territory.

The Empire prospered under the rule of a line of committed and effective sultans. Sultan Selim I (1512–1520) dramatically expanded the Empire's eastern and southern frontiers by defeating Shah Ismail of Safavid Persia, in the Battle of Chaldiran.[6] Selim I established Ottoman rule in Egypt, and created a naval presence on the Red Sea. After this Ottoman expansion, a competition started between the Portuguese Empire and the Ottoman Empire to become the dominant power in the region.[7]


Battle of Mohács (1526) and the Ottoman conquest of HungarySelim's successor, Suleiman the Magnificent (1520–1566), further expanded upon Selim's conquests. After capturing Belgrade in 1521, Suleiman conquered the Kingdom of Hungary and established Ottoman rule in the territory of present-day Hungary and other Central European territories, after his victory in the Battle of Mohács in 1526. He then laid siege to Vienna in 1529, but failed to take the city after the onset of winter forced his retreat.[8] In 1532, another planned attack on Vienna with an army thought to be over 250,000 strong was repulsed 60 miles (97 km) south of Vienna, at the fortress of Güns. After further advances by the Ottomans in 1543, the Habsburg ruler Ferdinand officially recognised Ottoman ascendancy in Hungary in 1547. During the reign of Suleiman, Transylvania, Wallachia and, intermittently, Moldavia, became tributary principalities of the Ottoman Empire. In the east, the Ottomans took Baghdad from the Persians in 1535, gaining control of Mesopotamia and naval access to the Persian Gulf. By the end of Suleiman's reign, the Empire's population reached about 15,000,000 people.[9]


Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha defeated the Holy League of Charles V under the command of Andrea Doria at the Battle of Preveza in 1538Under Selim and Suleiman, the Empire became a dominant naval force, controlling much of the Mediterranean Sea.[10] The exploits of the Ottoman admiral Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha, who commanded the Ottoman Navy during Suleiman's reign, led to a number of military victories over Christian navies. Among these were the conquest of Tunis and Algeria from Spain; the evacuation of Muslims from Spain to the safety of Ottoman lands (particularly Salonica, Cyprus, and Constantinople) during the Spanish Inquisition; and the capture of Nice from the Holy Roman Empire in 1543. This last conquest occurred on behalf of France as a joint venture between the forces of the French king Francis I and those of Barbarossa.[11] France and the Ottoman Empire, united by mutual opposition to Habsburg rule in both Southern Europe and Central Europe, became strong allies during this period. The alliance was economic and military, as the sultans granted France the right of trade within the Empire without levy of taxation. In fact, the Ottoman Empire was by this time a significant and accepted part of the European political sphere, and entered into a military alliance with France, the Kingdom of England and the Dutch Republic against Habsburg Spain, Italy and Habsburg Austria.

As the 16th century progressed, Ottoman naval superiority was challenged by the growing sea powers of western Europe, particularly Portugal, in the Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean and the Spice Islands. With the Ottomans blockading sea-lanes to the East and South, the European powers were driven to find another way to the ancient silk and spice routes, now under Ottoman control. On land, the Empire was preoccupied by military campaigns in Austria and Persia, two widely separated theatres of war. The strain of these conflicts on the Empire's resources, and the logistics of maintaining lines of supply and communication across such vast distances, ultimately rendered its sea efforts unsustainable and unsuccessful. The overriding military need for defence on the western and eastern frontiers of the Empire eventually made effective long-term engagement on a global scale impossible.


[edit] Revolts and revival (1566–1683)
Suleiman's death in 1566 marked the beginning of an era of diminishing territorial gains. The rise of western European nations as naval powers and the development of alternative sea routes from Europe to Asia and the New World damaged the Ottoman economy. The effective military and bureaucratic structures of the previous century also came under strain during a protracted period of misrule by weak Sultans. But in spite of these difficulties, the Empire remained a major expansionist power until the Battle of Vienna in 1683, which marked the end of Ottoman expansion into Europe.

European states initiated efforts at this time to curb Ottoman control of overland trade routes. Western European states began to circumvent the Ottoman trade monopoly by establishing their own naval routes to Asia. Economically, the huge influx of Spanish silver from the New World caused a sharp devaluation of the Ottoman currency and rampant inflation. This had serious negative consequences at all levels of Ottoman society. Sokullu Mehmet Pasha, who was the grand vizier of Selim II, began the projects of Suez Channel and Don-Volga Channel to save the economy but these were later cancelled.


Battle of Lepanto in 1571In southern Europe, a coalition of Catholic powers, led by Philip II of Spain, formed an alliance to challenge Ottoman naval strength in the Mediterranean Sea. Their victory over the Ottoman fleet at the Battle of Lepanto (1571) was a startling blow to the image of Ottoman invincibility. However, historians today stress the symbolic rather than the strictly military significance of the battle, for within six months of the defeat a new Ottoman fleet of some 250 sail including eight modern galleasses[12] had been built, with the harbours of Constantinople turning out a new ship every day at the height of the construction. In discussions with a Venetian minister, the Turkish Grand Vizier commented: "In capturing Cyprus from you, we have cut off one of your arms; in defeating our fleet you have merely shaved off our beard".[13] The Ottoman naval recovery persuaded Venice to sign a peace treaty in 1573, and the Ottomans were able to expand and consolidate their position in North Africa.[14]


Second Siege of Vienna in 1683By contrast, the Habsburg frontier had settled into a more or less permanent border, marked only by relatively minor battles concentrating on the possession of individual fortresses. This stalemate was mostly caused by the European development of the trace italienne, low bastioned fortifications built by Austria along the border that were almost impossible to capture without lengthy sieges. The Ottomans had no answer to these new-style fortifications that rendered the artillery they previously used so effectively (as in the Siege of Constantinople) almost useless. The stalemate was also a reflection of simple geographical limits: in the pre-mechanized age, Vienna marked the furthest point that an Ottoman army could march from Constantinople during the early-spring to late-autumn campaigning season. It also reflected the difficulties imposed on the Empire by the need to maintain two separate fronts: one against the Austrians (see: Ottoman wars in Europe), and the other against a rival Islamic state, the Safavids of Persia (see: Ottoman wars in Near East).

On the battlefield, the Ottomans gradually fell behind the Europeans in military technology as the innovation which fed the Empire's forceful expansion became stifled by growing religious and intellectual conservatism. Changes in European military tactics and weaponry in the military revolution caused the once-feared Sipahi cavalry to lose military relevance. The 'Long War' against Habsburg Austria (1593-1606) created the need for greater numbers of infantry equipped with firearms. This resulted in a relaxation of recruitment policy and a significant growth in Janissary corps numbers. This contributed to problems of indiscipline, effectiveness and outright rebelliousness within the corps which the government wrestled with but never fully solved during (and beyond) this whole period. The development of pike and shot and later linear tactics with increased use of firearms by Europeans proved deadly against the massed infantry in close formation used by the Ottomans. Irregular sharpshooters (Sekban) were also recruited for the same reasons and on demobilisation turned to brigandage in the Jelali revolts (1595–1610) which engendered widespread anarchy in Anatolia in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.[15]With the Empire's population reaching 30,000,000 people by 1600, shortage of land placed further pressure on the government.[16]

However, the 17th century was not simply an era of stagnation and decline, but also a key period in which the Ottoman state and its structures began to adapt to new pressures and new realities, internal and external.

The Sultanate of women (1648–1656) was a period in which the political influence of the Imperial Harem was dominant, as the mothers of young sultans exercised power on behalf of their sons. This was not wholly unprecedented; Hürrem Sultan, who established herself in the early 1530s as the successor of Nurbanu, the first Valide Sultan, was described by the Venetian Baylo Andrea Giritti as 'a woman of the utmost goodness, courage and wisdom' despite the fact that she 'thwarted some while rewarding others'.[17] But the inadequacy of Ibrahim I (1640-1648) and the minority accession of Mohammed IV in 1646 created a significant crisis of rule which the dominant women of the Imperial Harem filled [18]. The most prominent women of this period were Kösem Sultan and her daughter-in-law Turhan Hatice, whose political rivalry culminated in Kösem's murder in 1651.

This period gave way to the highly significant Köprülü Era (1656–1703), during which effective control of the Empire was exercised by a sequence of Grand Viziers from the Köprülü family. On September 15, 1656 the octogenarian Köprülü Mehmed Pasha accepted the seals of office having received guarantees from the Valide Turhan Hatice of unprecedented authority and freedom from interference. A fierce conservative disciplinarian, he successfully reasserted the central authority and the empire's military impetus. This continued under his son and successor Köprülü Fazıl Ahmed (Grand Vizier 1661 - 1676).[19]. The Köprülü Vizierate saw renewed military success with authority restored in Transylvania, the conquest of Crete completed in 1669 and expansion into Polish southern Ukraine, with the strongholds of Khotin and Kamianets-Podilskyi and the territory of Podolia ceding to Ottoman control in 1676.[20]

This period of renewed assertiveness came to a calamitous end when Grand Vizier Kara Mustapha Pasha in May 1683 led a huge army to attempt a second Ottoman siege of Vienna. The final assault being fatally delayed, the Ottoman forces were swept away by allied Habsburg, German and Polish forces spearheaded by the Polish king Jan Sobieski.[21] at the Battle of Vienna.

The alliance of the Holy League pressed home the advantage of the defeat at Vienna and 15 years of see-sawing warfare culminated in the epochal Treaty of Karlowitz (January 26, 1699) which for the first time saw the Ottoman Empire surrender control of significant European territories (many permanently).[22] The Empire had reached the end of its ability to effectively conduct an assertive, expansionist policy against its European rivals and it was to be forced from this point to adopt an essentially defensive strategy within this theatre.

Only two Sultans in this period personally exercised strong political and military control of the Empire: the vigorous Murad IV (1612–1640) recaptured Yerevan (1635) and Baghdad (1639) from the Safavids and reasserted central authority, albeit during a brief majority reign[23]. Mustafa II (1695-1703) led the Ottoman counter attack of 1695-6 against the Habsburgs in Hungary, but was undone at the disastrous defeat at Zenta (September 11, 1697)[24].


[edit] Stagnation and reform (1699–1827)
Main article: Stagnation of the Ottoman Empire
During the stagnation period much territory in the Balkans was ceded to Austria. Certain areas of the Empire, such as Egypt and Algeria, became independent in all but name, and subsequently came under the influence of Britain and France. In the 18th century, centralized authority gave way to varying degrees of provincial autonomy enjoyed by local governors and leaders. A series of wars were fought between the Russian and Ottoman empires from the 17th to the 19th century.

The long period of Ottoman stagnation is typically characterized by historians as an era of failed reforms. In the latter part of this period there were educational and technological reforms, including the establishment of higher education institutions such as Istanbul Technical University; Ottoman science and technology had been highly regarded in medieval times, as a result of Ottoman scholars' synthesis of classical learning with Islamic philosophy and mathematics, and knowledge of such Chinese advances in technology as gunpowder and the magnetic compass. By this period though the influences had become regressive and conservative. The guilds of writers denounced the printing press as "the Devil's Invention", and were responsible for a 43-year lag between its invention by Johannes Gutenberg in Europe in 1450 and its introduction to the Ottoman society with the Gutenberg press in Constantinople that was established by the Sephardic Jews of Spain in 1493. Sephardic Jews migrated to the Ottoman Empire as they escaped from the Spanish Inquisition of 1492.

The Tulip Era (or Lâle Devri in Turkish), named for Sultan Ahmed III's love of the tulip flower and its use to symbolize his peaceful reign, the Empire's policy towards Europe underwent a shift. The region was peaceful between 1718 and 1730, after the Ottoman victory against Russia in the Pruth Campaign in 1712 and the subsequent Treaty of Passarowitz brought a period of pause in warfare. The Empire began to improve the fortifications of cities bordering the Balkans to act as a defence against European expansionism. Other tentative reforms were also enacted: taxes were lowered; there were attempts to improve the image of the Ottoman state; and the first instances of private investment and entrepreneurship occurred.

Ottoman military reform efforts begin with Selim III (1789–1807) who made the first major attempts to modernize the army along European lines. These efforts, however, were hampered by reactionary movements, partly from the religious leadership, but primarily from the Janissary corps, who had become anarchic and ineffectual. Jealous of their privileges and firmly opposed to change, they created a Janissary revolt. Selim's efforts cost him his throne and his life, but were resolved in spectacular and bloody fashion by his successor, the dynamic Mahmud II, who massacred the Janissary corps in 1826.


[edit] Decline and modernization (1828–1908)
Main article: Decline of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman decline (loss of huge territories) is typically characterized by historians also as an era of modern times. The Empire lost territory on all fronts, and there was administrative instability because of the breakdown of centralized government, despite efforts of reform and reorganization such as the Tanzimat. During this period, the Empire faced challenges in defending itself against foreign invasion and occupation. The Empire ceased to enter conflicts on its own and began to forge alliances with European countries such as France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Russia. As an example, in the Crimean War the Ottomans united with the British, French, and others against Russia.


Mahmud II started the modernization of Turkey by preparing the Edict of Tanzimat in 1839 which had immediate effects such as European style clothing, uniforms, weapons, agricultural and industrial innovations, architecture, education, legislation, institutional organization and land reform.During the Tanzimat period (from Arabic Tanzîmât, meaning "reorganization") (1839–1876), a series of constitutional reforms led to a fairly modern conscripted army, banking system reforms, and the replacement of guilds with modern factories. In 1856, the Hatt-ı Hümayun promised equality for all Ottoman citizens irrespective of their ethnicity and confession, widening the scope of the 1839 Hatt-ı Şerif of Gülhane. The Christian millets gained privileges; such as in 1863 the Armenian National Constitution (Ottoman Turkish:"Nizâmnâme-i Millet-i Ermeniyân") was Divan approved form of the "Code of Regulations" composed of 150 articles drafted by the "Armenian intelligentsia", and newly formed "Armenian National Assembly".[25] The reformist period peaked with the Constitution, called the Kanûn-ı Esâsî (meaning "Basic Law" in Ottoman Turkish), written by members of the Young Ottomans, which was promulgated on November 23, 1876. It established freedom of belief and equality of all citizens before the law.


Punch cartoon from June 17, 1876. Russian Empire preparing to let slip the Balkan "Dogs of War" to attack the Ottoman Empire, while policeman John Bull (UK) warns Russia to take care. Supported by Russia, Serbia and Montenegro declared war on the Ottoman Empire one day later.The Empire's First Constitutional era (or Birinci Meşrûtiyet Devri in Turkish), was short-lived; however, the idea behind it (Ottomanism), proved influential as a wide-ranging group of reformers known as the Young Ottomans, primarily educated in Western universities, believed that a constitutional monarchy would provide an answer to the Empire's growing social unrest. Through a military coup in 1876, they forced Sultan Abdülaziz (1861–1876) to abdicate in favour of Murad V. However, Murad V was mentally ill, and was deposed within a few months. His heir-apparent Abdülhamid II (1876-1909) was invited to assume power on the condition that he would declare a constitutional monarchy, which he did on November 23, 1876. However, the parliament survived for only two years. The sultan suspended, but did not abolish, the parliament until he was forced to reconvene it. The effectiveness of Kanûn-ı Esâsî was then largely minimized.

The rise of nationalism swept through many countries during the 19th century, and the Ottoman Empire was not immune. A burgeoning national consciousness, together with a growing sense of ethnic nationalism, made nationalistic thought one of the most significant Western ideas imported to the Ottoman empire, as it was forced to deal with nationalism both within and beyond its borders. There was a significant increase in the number of revolutionary political parties. Uprisings in Ottoman territory had many far-reaching consequences during the 19th century and determined much of Ottoman policy during the early 20th century. Many Ottoman Turks questioned whether the policies of the state were to blame: some felt that the sources of ethnic conflict were external, and unrelated to issues of governance. While this era was not without some successes, the ability of the Ottoman state to have any effect on ethnic uprisings was seriously called into question. Greece declared its independence from the Empire in 1829 after the end of the Greek War of Independence. Reforms did not halt the rise of nationalism in the Danubian Principalities and Serbia, which had been semi-independent for almost six decades; in 1875 the tributary principalities of Serbia, Montenegro, Wallachia and Moldavia declared their independence from the Empire; and following the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, independence was formally granted to Serbia, Romania and Montenegro, and autonomy to Bulgaria; Bosnia was occupied by the Austrian Empire, with the other Balkan territories remaining under Ottoman control. A Serbian Jew, Judah Alkalai, encouraged a return to Zion and independence for Israel during this wave of decolonization. Following defeat in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, Cyprus was lent to the British in 1878 in exchange for Britain's favors at the Congress of Berlin. Egypt, which had previously been occupied by the forces of Napoleon I of France in 1798 but recovered in 1801 by a joint Ottoman-British force, was occupied in 1882 by British forces on the pretext of bringing order; though Egypt and Sudan remained Ottoman provinces de jure until 1914, when the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers of World War I, and Britain officially annexed these two provinces as a response. Other Ottoman provinces in North Africa were lost between 1830 and 1912, starting from Algeria (occupied by France in 1830), Tunisia (occupied by France in 1881) and Libya (occupied by Italy in 1912.)

Economically, the Empire had difficulty in repaying the Ottoman public debt to European banks, which caused the establishment of the Council of Administration of the Ottoman Public Debt. By the end of the 19th century, the main reason the Empire was not entirely overrun by Western powers came from the Balance of Power doctrine. Both Austria and Russia wanted to increase their spheres of influence and territory at the expense of the Ottoman Empire, but were kept in check mostly by the United Kingdom, which feared Russian dominance in the Eastern Mediterranean. Over the centuries, the ottoman empire grew weak. It fought wars constantly to hold on to it's empire. By the 1800's, the empire came close to bankruptcy several times. It also had trouble competing in trade with industrialized Europe.


[edit] Dissolution (1908–1922)
Main article: Dissolution of the Ottoman Empire

Public demonstration in the Sultanahmet district of Istanbul, 1908The Second Constitutional Era (Turkish: İkinci Meşrûtiyet Devri'') established after the Young Turk Revolution (July 3, 1908) with the sultan's announcement of the restoration of the 1876 constitution and the reconvening of the Ottoman Parliament marks the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. This era is dominated by the politics of the Committee of Union and Progress (Turkish: İttihâd ve Terakkî Cemiyeti), and the movement that would become known as the Young Turks (Turkish: Jön Türkler). Profiting from the civil strife, Austria-Hungary officially annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908. During the Italo-Turkish War (1911-1912), the Balkan League declared war against the Ottoman Empire, which lost its Balkan territories except Thrace and the historic Ottoman capital city of Edirne (Adrianople) with the Balkan Wars (1912–1913). The Baghdad Railway under German control became a source of international tension and played a role in the origins of World War I.[26] The Ottoman Empire entered the First World War after the pursuit of Goeben and Breslau and took part in the Middle Eastern theatre on the side of the Central Powers. There were several important victories in the early years of the war, such as the Battle of Gallipoli and the Siege of Kut; but there were setbacks as well, such as the disastrous Caucasus Campaign against the Russians. The Arab Revolt which began in 1916 turned the tide against the Ottomans at the Middle Eastern front, where they initially seemed to have had the upper hand.


Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk) at the trenches of Gallipoli (1915)The interior minister of the period, Talat Pasha, expressing the fear that the ethnic Armenians of the Empire would form a Fifth Column, ordered the arrest of Armenian leaders with a circular on April 24, 1915 and sent a request for the Tehcir Law on May 29, 1915, which initiated large scale deportations and massacres of the Armenians. In response was the creation of an Armenian resistance (April 1915) movement in the province of Van and the establishment of an Armenian Administration. The Ottoman government had accused the Armenians of being in collaboration with the invading Russian forces in eastern Anatolia against their native state because of the Armenian volunteer units in the Russian Army.

When the Armistice of Mudros was signed in 1918, Yemen, together with Medina, was the only part of the Arabian peninsula that was still under Ottoman control. However, the Ottomans were eventually forced to cede Yemen and Medina following the armistice, along with parts of present-day Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan which were gained by the Ottoman forces during the final stages of the war, following the Russian Revolution of 1917. Under the terms of the Treaty of Sèvres, the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire was solidified. The new countries created from the remnants of the Empire currently number 40 (including the disputed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus). Given the fact that the Turkish peasantry of Anatolia dropped to 40% of the pre-war levels, regardless of the method used in calculations, the Ottoman Empire's casualties during World War I were significant.[27]


Departure of Mehmed VI, last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, 1922The occupation of Constantinople along with the occupation of Smyrna mobilized the establishment of the Turkish national movement, which won the Turkish War of Independence (1919–1922) under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Pasha.[28] The Sultanate was abolished on November 1, 1922, and the last sultan, Mehmed VI Vahdettin (reigned 1918–1922), left the country on November 17, 1922. The new independent Grand National Assembly of Turkey (GNA) was internationally recognized with the Treaty of Lausanne on July 24, 1923. The GNA officially declared the Republic of Turkey on October 29, 1923. The Caliphate was constitutionally abolished several months later, on March 3, 1924. The Sultan and his family were declared persona non grata of Turkey and exiled. Fifty years later, in 1974, the GNA granted descendants of the former Ottoman dynasty the right to acquire Turkish citizenship.

2012 VE ÖTESİNDE FARKINDALIK
Dördüncü/Beşinci Boyuta girdikçe bilinçte de bir değişim hissetmekteyiz. Dördüncü boyut fiziksel bir gerçeklikten çok bir zihin halidir. Dördüncü boyut, hayatınızı bütün çakralarınız açılmış bir halde yaşadığınızda ve çevrenizdekiler de bunu deneyimlediklerinde ortaya çıkacaktır.. Dünya planeti ve sakinleri için ortaya konan gündemler bir çok farklı kaynaktan gelmektedir ve bunların bir kısmı da medyada yayınlanmaktadır. Çeşitli dünya dışı kaynaklar 5 ya da 10 yıl içinde gerçekleşmesi olası bir çok senaryodan bahsetmekte. Bazıları hükümetten, DNA ve zihin kontrolünden, 2003 yılından sonra kurulacak Yeni Dünya Düzeninden, negatif Dünya dışı varlıklar tarafından gerçekleştirilecek yok edilişten bahsediyor. Kimileri de muhtemelen çoğumuzun pozitif varlıkların yardımıyla, Dünya planeti ile Yükselişinden... Bütün bu senaryolar kendi realitenize bağlı olarak olasılık dahilinde. Mesaj aklınızı değil, yüreğinizi, iyi hislerinizi, sezgilerinizi takip etmektir. Aldığınız, kullandığınız bilgilerin sizinle uyumlanmasına dikkat edin. Gezegeni ve kendinizi şifalandırmak için çalışın ve bizi kontrol etmeye çalışanlara hayır deyin.

1. İnsanlık ve Dünya Gezegeni, şu anda büyük bir değişimden; bilinçte ve gerçekliği algılamada bir değişimden geçmektedir.
2. Orta Amerika'daki Maya Medeniyeti, geçmişte de bugün de zaman-bilim ilişkisine dair bilgide en ilerlemiş medeniyettir. Dünya üzerindeki en doğru takvim onlarındır. Bugüne kadar asla yanılmamışlardır. Evrende ve Solar Sistemdeki zaman devrelerini içeren toplam 22 takvimleri bulunmaktadır. Bazıları henüz ortaya çıkmaktadır.
3. Mayanın 5. dünyası 1987 yılında sona ermiştir. 6. dünya 2012 yılında başlayacak. Yani şu anda “dünyalar arasında” bulunmaktayız. Bu zaman dilimi “Apokalipse” ya da ortaya çıkış diye adlandırılır. Bu zaman ayrıca “görevimizi” kişisel olarak ve topluca yerine getirme zamanıdır.
4. Maya 6. dünyası boş bırakılmıştır, bu demektir ki yardımcı yaratıcılar olarak, şu anda istediğimiz dünyayı ve medeniyeti yaratmaya başlamak bizim elimizde.
5. Mayalar ayrıca 2012 ile;

• Bildiğimiz teknolojinin ötesine geçeceğimizi,
• Para ve zamanın ötesine geçeceğimizi,
• 4. boyuttan geçtikten sonra 5. boyuta gireceğimizi,
• Solar Sistemin ve Dünya Gezegeninin Evrenin geri kalan kısmı ile senkronize olacağını,
• DNA’larımızın galaksimizin merkezi tarafından yeniden programlanacağını (Hunab Ku) söylemektedirler.
“Bu Gezegen üzerindeki herkes dönüşüme uğramaktadır. Bazıları diğerlerine göre bunun daha çok farkında. Fakat herkes bunu gerçekleştirmekte.” Dünyadışı Dünya Misyonu

6. 2012 yılında Solar Sistemimizin düzlemi, Galaksimiz Samanyolu'nun düzlemi ile aynı hizaya gelecek. Bu döngünün tamamlanması 26000 yıl sürmüştür Ayrıca Virgil Armstrong'a göre bizimkiyle aynı anda iki galaksi daha aynı hizaya gelecek. Kozmik bir olay!
7. Zaman gerçekten hızlanmaktadır (çökmektedir). Binlerce yıldır Schumann Rezonansı ya da Dünyanın nabzı saniyede 7.83 devirdi. Ordu bunu güvenilir referans olarak kullanmaktaydı. Her nasılsa, 1980’den beri bu rezonans yavaşça artmaktadır. Şu anda saniyede 12 devire ulaşmıştır. Bu demektir ki bir gün (24 saat) eski zamana göre 16 saatte tamamlanmaktadır.
8. Apokalipse ya da “dünyalar arası” süreci boyunca bir çok insan kişisel/bedensel değişimlerden geçecek. Bu değişimler çok ve çeşitli olacak. Bütün bunlar, buraya öğrenmek ve deneyimlemek için gelişimizin bir parçası. Değişimlere örnek olarak: ilişkilerin son bulması, ikamet yerlerinin değişmesi, iş değiştirme, davranış ve düşüncede değişim.
9. Unutmayın, her an büyük ya da küçük kararlar almaktayız. Her karar ya SEVGİye ya da KORKUya dayanır. Sevgiyi seçin, aklınızı değil, sezgilerinizi takip edin, tutkularınızı takip edin, içinizde yanan arzuyu. Akışına bırakın.
10. Düşünce şekilleri çok önemlidir ve günlük yaşantımıza etki ederler. Kendi gerçekliğimizi düşünce şeklimizle yaratmaktayız. Diğerleri hakkında negatif düşünürsek, kendimize çekeriz. Eğer diğerleri hakkındaki düşüncelerimiz pozitif olursa, pozitif insanları ve olayları kendimize çekeriz. Sonuç olarak düşüncelerinizin farkında olun ve gereksizce negatif ve yargılayıcı olanlardan kurtulun.
11. Medyanın büyük bir kısmının kontrolünün az sayıdaki belirli kişilerin elinde olduğunun farkına varın. Seçici olun. Olayların altında gizlenmiş gündemler arayın. Bu bilgi size neden sunuluyor? “Onların” gerçek gündemleri ne? Belirli problemlere karşı tepkilerin azaltılması için mi oluşturuluyor? Problemi “onlar” mı yaratıyorlar ki böylece “biz” de tepki gösteriyor ve çözüm istiyoruz sonra “onlar” da kendi çözümlerini sunuyorlar! Çözümleri ilk sırada olmasını istedikleri şeylerdir.
12. Unutmayın hiçbir şey kazara gerçekleşmez, neredeyse bütün “olaylar” bazı güçler / otoriteler tarafından planlanmaktadır. Buna rağmen, bu yaşamak için en heyecan verici zaman.
Gerçek sizi özgürlüğe ulaştıracak.

HIZLANIŞI HİSSEDİYOR MUSUNUZ?
Çağların değişimi başladı...
Kadim kehanetler bunu daha önceden bildirmişti. Yerli gelenekler onurlandırdılar. Dünya içinde gerçekleşen değişimler, uyuma düzenlerinizi, ilişkilerinizi, bağışıklık sisteminizi düzenleme yetinizi ve zamanı algılayışınızı etkilemekte. 2000 sene önce belirtilmiş, bizi bedenimizde olağanüstü değişimleri kabullenmeye hazırlayan bir inisiyasyon yaşıyoruz. Bu değişim şu anda gerçekleşmekte.

DEĞİŞİMİN MUHTEMEL ETKİLERİ
 Yoğun baş ağrısı, yorgunluk hissi
 Kollarda, bacaklarda, dizlerde ve omurgada elektriklenme hissi
 Kaslarda ve eklemlerde kramplar
 Grip benzeri semptomlar
 Güçlü rüyalar
 İnsan bedeni yeni titreşimlerin bir sonucu olarak daha hassas olacak
 Dünyanın rezonansı (Schumann Resonance) binlerce yıldır 7.4 Hz.’di. 1980li yıllardan beri 12Hz’e ulaştı. Bu, bugün yaşadığımız 24 saatin eski zamanda 16 saate eşit olduğunu göstermektedir. Zaman hızlanıyor.
 Fiziksel beden değişmiş durumda; Yeni bir ışık beden yaratılmakta.
 DNA’mız Evren tarafından yeniden programlanmakta (Maya kehanetlerinde belirtildiği gibi) 2 sarmallı DNA’mız tekrar 12 sarmallı DNA’ya dönüşüyor.
 Daha büyük önsezi ve şifa yetileri ortaya çıkacak.
 Gözler dahi yeni atmosfer ve ışık için değişime uğramakta.
 Yeni doğan tüm bebekler muhtemelen doğdukları andan itibaren telepatik olacaklar.
 90’ların tüm hastalıkları, AIDS de dahil, yok olacak.

http://www.tilburg.com/tilburg_camera/cam.asp?camera=1

tilburg - the netherlands webcam

My paintings

1- 60 x 40 cm
2- 50 x 30 cm
3- 50 x 30 cm
4- 50 x 30 cm

all made by acrilyc

Baba Vanga

Biography

Vanga was born in Strumica, Ottoman Empire (today in Republic of Macedonia), and after 1942 lived in Petrich (Bulgaria). Her birth was a premature one and the baby had been suffering from some health complications. In accordance with local tradition, the baby was not given a name until it was likely to survive. After the baby's first cry-out, a midwife went out in the street and asked a stranger for a name. The stranger proposed Andromaha, but it was not accepted for being "too Greek", so the second stranger's proposal, Vangelia (Greek: Βαγγελία, short for Ευαγγελία, "herald of the blessed word"), was accepted — also a Greek name, but popular in the region.

In her childhood, Vangelia was an ordinary girl. Her father was conscripted into the Bulgarian Army during World War I, and her mother died when Vanga was quite young. The girl depended on the neighbors for a long time. Vanga was smart, with blue eyes and blond hair. Her inclinations started to show up when she herself thought out games and loved playing "healing" – she prescribed some herbs to her friends, who pretended to be ill. Her father, being a widower, eventually married a good woman, thus providing a stepmother to his daughter.

A turning point in the biography of Vanga is a story about a storm which lifted Vanga up and threw her in the field (this claim has not been verified with meteorological records or other accounts from that time). She was found after a long search. She was very frightened, and her eyes were covered with sand and dust, so she couldn't open them because of the pain. No healing gave results. There was money only for partial operation,[1] so her eyesight was failing.

In 1925 Vanga was brought to a Blind House in the city of Zemun (Serbia), where she spent three years, and was taught to read Braille, play the piano, as well as do knitting, cooking, and cleaning.[2] After the death of her stepmother she had to go back home, in order to take care of her little siblings. Her family was very poor, and she had to work all day.

In 1939 Vanga caught pleurisy, although she had been quite healthy in the previous years. The doctor's opinion was that she would soon die but she recovered quickly.

During World War II Vanga attracted more believers — a number of people visiting her, hoping to get a hint about whether their relatives are alive, or seeking for the place where they died. On 8 April 1942 the Bulgarian king Boris III visited her.

On 10 May 1942 Vanga married Dimitar Gushterov, a man from a village near Petrich, who had come asking for the killers of his brother, but had to promise her not to seek revenge. Shortly before marriage, Dimitar and Vanga moved to Petrich, where she soon became well-known. Dimitar was later conscripted and had to spend some time in Greece. He got another illness in 1947, fell into alcoholism, and eventually died on 1 April 1962.[3]

Vanga died on 11 August 1996. Her funeral attracted large crowds, including many dignitaries.

Fulfilling Vanga's last will and testament, her Petrich house was turned into a museum, which opened its doors on 5 May 2008. [4]

Philosophy and Predictions

Vanga was illiterate or semi-literate and she did not write herself any books. Her speech was difficult to distinguish and she spoke a heavy dialect (recent TV recordings used subtitles for the Bulgarian audience). What she said or allegedly said has been captured by staff members. Later numerous esoteric books on Vanga's life and predictions were written.

Vanga claimed that her alleged extraordinary abilities had something to do with the presence of invisible creatures, but she couldn't clearly explain their origin. She was saying, that those creatures were giving her information about people, which she could not transmit to them, because, distance and time didn't matter. According to Vanga, the life of everyone standing in front of her, was like a film to her, from birth till death. But changing "what was written on the generation" was beyond her power.

Apart from prophesying, Vanga was believed to be a healer, but only through herbal medicines. According to her, people had to heal themselves only with herbs from the country they live in. She prescribed washing with an infusion of herbs and spices, claiming some beneficial effect on the skin. Vanga did not oppose mainstream medicine, although she thought that taking too much medicines is bad, because "they close the doors, through which nature restores the balance in the body with herbs".[citation needed]

Vanga attempted prophesies of newborn or unborn children. She claimed that she was "seeing" and "talking" to people, who had died hundreds of years ago. Vanga talked about the future, although she did not like to. In her words, in 200 years man will make contact with brothers in mind from other worlds.[citation needed] She said that many aliens have been living on the earth for years. They came from the planet, which in their language is called Vamfim, and is the third planet from the Earth.[citation needed]

Followers of Vanga believe that she knew the precise date of her own death, and shortly before that she had said that a 10-year-old blind girl living in France was to inherit her gift, and that people would soon hear about her.

There are not many people who believe in clairvoyants’ predictions. However, such beliefs stay strong until those predictions begin to come true. As for the predictions of the Bulgarian remote-viewer and healer Vanga (Vangelia Gushterova), people began to listen out for her words long ago. Vanga presumably became known for her predictions of global disasters.

For example, Vanga predicted the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States, when she said that American brothers would fall under attacks of birds of steel. The clairvoyant also predicted the beginning of WWII, the perestroika in the USSR, the death of Princess Diana and even the sinking of the Kursk submarine.

Specialists also say that the renowned fortune-teller also predicted the events connected with the armed conflict in South Ossetia. Vanga supposedly said that the Third World War would break out as a result of attempts on the lives of four government heads and after a conflict in Hindustan.

(Also read: Vanga predicted most horrible catastrophes)

The presidents of four countries – Ukraine, Estonia, Lithuania and Poland departed to Georgia in the middle of the conflict to see the situation with their own eyes.

Vanga predicted that the Third World War would break out in 2010.

Vanga was illiterate or semi-literate and she did not write any books herself. Her speech was difficult to distinguish and she spoke a heavy dialect (recent TV recordings used subtitles for the Bulgarian audience). What she said or allegedly said has been captured by staff members. Later numerous esoteric books on Vanga's life and predictions were written.

Vanga claimed that her alleged extraordinary abilities had something to do with the presence of invisible creatures, but she couldn't clearly explain their origin. She was saying, that those creatures were giving her information about people, which she could not transmit to them, because, distance and time didn't matter. According to Vanga, the life of everyone standing in front of her, was like a film to her, from birth till death. But changing "what was written on the generation" was beyond her power.

Apart from prophesying, Vanga was believed to be a healer, but only through herbal medicines. According to her, people had to heal themselves only with herbs from the country they live in. She prescribed washing with an infusion of herbs and spices, claiming some beneficial effect on the skin. Vanga did not oppose mainstream medicine, although she thought that taking too many medicines is bad, because "they close the doors, through which nature restores the balance in the body with herbs".

Vanga attempted prophesies of newborn or unborn children. She claimed that she was "seeing" and "talking" to people, who had died hundreds of years ago. Vanga talked about the future, although she did not like to. In her words, in 200 years man will make contact with brothers in mind from other worlds.[citation needed] She said that many aliens have been living on the earth for years. They came from the planet, which in their language is called Vamfim, and is the third planet from the Earth.

Followers of Vanga believe that she knew the precise date of her own death, and shortly before that she had said that a 10-year-old blind girl living in France was to inherit her gift, and that people would soon hear about her.

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

Many [heads of government], including Hitler, visited her and it is reported that "der Führer" left her house looking upset.

Vanga’s most shocking prediction include:

“At the turn of the century, in August of 1999 or 2000, Kursk will be covered with water, and the whole world will be weeping over it.” (1980)

The prediction did not make any sense back then. Sadly, twenty years on, it did make a lot of sense, when a Russian nuclear submarine sunk in an accident in August of 2000. The submarine was named Kursk. Kursk - the city (after which the submarine was named), could by no means have been covered with water (probably that’s why her prediction seemed so unrealistic at first).

“Horror, horror! The American brethren will fall after being attacked by the steel birds. The wolves will be howling in a bush, and innocent blood will be gushing.” (1989)

Happened as predicted. The World Trade Center Towers in New York collapsed following terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The WTC Towers were dubbed “Twins” or “Brothers.” The terrorists drove passenger planes –“the steel birds”- into the towers. “The bush” obviously relates to the surname of the current U.S. president.

Below I’m including a big article about the predictions that she made about the future, and for visitors who don’t speak Russian, I’ve translated each prediction she had made word to word, with text in ( ) being not my comment but the comment by the editor of a newspaper… You can either laugh and dismiss it, or take it word to word and become paranoid. The fact is no one knows whether any of it is going to come true or not, so i guess we’ll have to wait and see, but your comments are welcome.

2008 - Assassination attempts on four heads of states. Conflict in Indonesia. That becomes one of the causes for the start of WWIII.

2010 - The start of WWIII. The war will begin in November of 2010 and will end in October of 2014. Will start as a normal war, then will include usage of nuclear and chemical weapons.

2011 - Due to the radioactive showers in Northern Hemisphere - no animals or plants will be left. Muslims will begin chemical war against Europeans who are still alive.

2014 - Most of the people in this world will have skin cancer and skin related diseases. (as a result of chemical wars).

2016 - Europe is almost empty

2018 - China becomes the new world power.

2023 - Earth’s orbit will change slightly

2025 - Europe is still barely populated

2028 - Development of a new energy source. (Probably controller thermonuclear reaction) Hunger slowly stops being a problem. Piloted spaceship to Venus deploys.

2033 - Polar ice caps melt. World ocean levels rise.

2043 - World economy is prosperous. Muslims are running Europe.

2046 - Any organs can be mass produced. Exchange of body organs becomes the favorite method of treatment.

2066 - During it’s attack on Rome (which is under control of the Muslims) U.S.A. uses a new method of weapons - has to do with climate change. Sharp freezing.

2076 - No class society (communism)

2084 - The rebirth of the nature.

2088 - New disease. - People are getting old in few seconds.

2097 - This disease is cured.

2100 - Man made Sun is lighting up the dark side of the planet Earth.

2111 - People become robots.

2123 - Wars between small countries. Big countries don’t get evolved.

2125 - In Hungry the signals from Space are received. (People will be reminded of Vanga again)

2130 - Colonies under water (advices from aliens)

2154 - Animals become half-humans.

2167 - New religion

2170 - Big drought.

2183 - Collony on Mars becomes nuclear nation and is asking for independence from the Earth. (same way as U.S. did from England)

2187 - Successfully two volcano eruptions are stopped.

2195 - Sea colonies are fully supplied with energy and food.

2196 - Full mixture between Asians and Europeans.

2201 - Thermonuclear reactions on the Sun slow down. Temperatures Drop.

2221 - In the search of Alien life, human beings engage with something very freighting.

2256 - Spaceship brings a freighting new disease into Earth.

2262 - Orbits of planets start to change progressively. Mars is undera threat of being hit by a comet.

2271 - Physic properties are calculated over, since they changed.

2273 - Mix of yellow, white, and black race. New race.

2279 - Energy out of nothing (probably from vacuum or black holes)

2288 - Travel through time. New contacts with the aliens.

2291 - Sun cools. Attempts to fire it up again are taken.

2296 - Bright flashes on the Sun. Force of gravity changes. Old space stations and satellites begin to fall

2299 - In France, there is a partisan uprising against Islam.

2302 - New important new laws and mysteries about the universe are uncovered.

2304 - The mystery of the Moon is uncovered.

2341 - Something frightening is closing in with Earth from the space.

2354 - Accident on one of the man made suns, will result in drought.

2371 - Mighty hunger.

2378 - New and fast growing race.

2480 - Two man made suns will collide. Earth is in the dark.

3005 - War on Mars. Trajectory of planets changes.

3010 - Comet will ram into the Moon. Around Earth there is a belt of rocks and dust.

3797 - By this time, everything living on Earth dies. But humans are able to put in the essentials for the beginning of a new life in a new star system.

P.S. She also predicted:

“Everything will melt away like ice yet the glory of Vladimir , the glory of Russia are the only things that will remain. Russia will not only survive, it will dominate the world.”(1979)

The prediction was made in Soviet times when just a few people were using the term “Russia”. It remains to be seen which Vladimir Vanga had referred to. There are three real candidates: The Prince Vladimir, Vladimir Lenin, the Vladimir Putin, or the future one…

http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/cgi-bin/blogs/voices.php/2008/09/27/p29076