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An earthquake strucked Erciş,
near the eastern Turkish city of Van, 23 October 2011. It had a magnitude of
7.3 and killed around 500 people. The rescue workers have saved many lifes
but some sad stories are also happening meanwhile.
The photo belongs to a thirteen years old boy, who was in an internet cafe during the earthquake. He survived the disaster and was stucked under the collapsed building. The dead body of another victim was on him. You can see this persons hand on the left shoulder of the young boy. The rescue work has continued for many hours. During this period the boy remained calm and was completely quiet and patient.
During the way to hospital first the boy lost his conscious and than unfortunately his heart stopped to beat. His name was Yunus. It means "dolphin" in english. Now the whole country is crying after him and he became the symbol of this disaster. From now on I will remember the young Yunus whenever I listen the song The Dolphin's Cry by Live. I will remember a life which ended so early. I will remember a life which ended before maybe even falling in love.
There are some important
decisions, which influence the rest of our lives
strongly. After spending 2 years in
MYMOSA (MotorcYcle and
MOtorcyclist SAfety) Project, I feel like a very lucky person. I got my B.Sc. degree in mechanical engineering and my M.Sc. degree in
forensic sciences. Also in 2006, I worked for a short period in production field, in which I was only using my engineering skills. When I had the opportunity to take
part in MYMOSA Project, I felt very excited. Working in an international
academic project, which aim is to provide safety for motorcyclists, is golden.
No amount of any kind of industrial product can be equal to one human life.
I am also proud of having a Ph.D. position in Ludwig Maximilian University, which has won 13 Nobel Prizes until now. I was sure that I would find the opportunities to make scientific experiments and to share valuable knowledge with qualified researchers. There was also another surprise last year. Lovely Munich was celebrating its 850th age in 2008. And I was witnessing history.
At the beginning of the project my research subject was in-depth study of rider behaviour and definition of an HMI for PTW applications. But by time it changed a little and now I concentrate more on the behaviour of the motorcyclist during emergency braking. My main purpose is to find the proper warning stimulus to get the fastest reaction time of the rider.
In the
laboratory of the Bundeswehr University in Munich, we completed with
Ioannis
Symeonidis, who is another early stage researcher, the motorcycle deceleration
experiments in the end of March 2008. We used a big mechanical sled to
simulate the braking process of a motorcycle. We had to load it before every
experiment with our hands by turning a winch. Lifting 300 kg is something
which needs effort! Doing scientific research not only with our minds but
also with our muscles was a great experience for us... The picture shows the
sled we used by our experiments.
One of my expectations for the future is that my previous institute in my home country Turkey will also take part in European projects like MYMOSA. I also want to inform you as a citizen of a country which is maybe not a part of the European Union until now, but a part of the European history and culture since centuries, the visa application hurts!
At last I want to thank every single person who created the MYMOSA Project and who gave me the opportunity being a part of it. Until now I made scientific experiments, I saw new places, I found a great Greek friend and I met Işılay, the love of my life.
* Servus is used as an informal salute in Bavaria.
* A similar version of this article was also published in
MYMOSA Newsletter Issue 3. You can read it here.
I was happy at the beginning when I first saw this year's
program of IRCOBI Conference. International Research Council on Biomechanics of Injury
selected York as hosting city in 2009. That would be a good opportunity to
see England again after many years. I had traveled to London many times with
my family in my childhood. I was also planning to visit my cousin who is
living in London since many years. Unfortunately I had to get a Visa to
enter the United Kingdom as a Turkish citizen, because England is not a Schengen Country.
Somehow European Union is not so united!
This year I also had a presentation in the pre-IRCOBI workshop. It was scheduled on September 8 at 15.10 pm as you can see here. So I made an online reservation for the visa application. First I filled the online visa application form. This form had nearly 15 pages and 100 questions. They took all my personal and financial data. If you are a EU citizen and you never filled a similar form before, you can not imagine how many details they are asking for. After filling the form and paying the money, they gave me the date for face to face application: August 19.
On 19th August I went to the office of the private company that is in charge for the British Consulate in Germany. The British Consulate is not in Munich, but in Duesseldorf. This private company sends the documents and the pass to Duesseldorf with post or if you pay extra for it with courier. I paid 30 Euro more for courier. I gave them the printed version of the online visa application form and many other documents including the invitation from IRCOBI secretariat. Although I gave biometric photos they took again my picture and they scanned my fingerprints. I was surprised that no one checked my teeth! I was also feeling lucky that they didn't took blood from me.
I an not against the self-protection rights of the countries. If they want to have the fingerprints or maybe in the future the DNA samples of the visitors, I can understand that. But I accept that only if they take these kind of information from everyone.
A criminal from EU can enter the United Kingdom and walk on the Oxford Street easily, but a Turkish researcher who is working in a German university must give his fingerprints and every detail of his life to get a visa.
And the saddest part of this story is that I missed my presentation and the whole IRCOBI conference because the British Consulate couldn't send me my visa in the right time. From 19th August until 8th September they couldn't make it!
I waited three weeks for my passport. I am not living in my home country. I can not travel without my pass and in that period I had to go to Istanbul for private reasons. Hence I was totally stressed out.
After missing the conference I canceled my visa application, because I had to go to Istanbul and I couldn't risk my travel no more. The cancellation (without back payment) also took two days. I lost my presentation, my nerves and my money thanks to the British Consulate in Duesseldorf.
I want to finish my article with an anecdote. In the year 2000 Beşiktaş JK Istanbul was going to play against Leeds United in Champions League. Pascal Nouma, the dark skinned French football player of Beşiktaş, saw the long line of Turkish people in front of the passport control area. At that moment he realized the discrimination. He said "I am also a Turk" and waited with them in the line.
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