Reconsidering the Palestine Issue in the Shade of Israel’s Expanding Sovereignty Claim

The Palestine question is among the most important and longstanding conflicts in the world. A lasting solution could not be found and problems have multiplied after the foundation of the State of Israel in 1948, mainly because the sovereignty of the Palestinian people has been disregarded. Though the conflict includes complex issues such as the legal status of Jerusalem, the refugees’ right to return to their ancestral lands and the rapid increase in Jewish settlements; the root of the problem is the lack of an equal sovereign rights approach for both sides. The Palestine issue has been rendered more and more tragic over the years as Israel does not permit the Palestine Authority to exercise its sovereign rights in its own lands and the international community refrains from imposing sanctions on Israel despite its continuous violations of international law and UN (United Nations) resolutions. Especially as a result of Israel’s recent policies towards expanding its sovereignty claims over the entire Palestinian territory, an even darker period seems to cloud Palestine’s sovereignty in the near future. This study claims that the source of the longstanding Israel-Palestine conflict is the inequality in exercising sovereign rights between the two parties and discusses how Israel’s expansionist activities may shape the Palestine issue in the forthcoming years. Furthermore, the study scrutinizes how the “Jewish Nation State Basic Law” – that was recently approved by the Israeli parliament – will sabotage the ongoing search for peaceful solutions and it may destroy all hopes for establishing a lasting peace between the two peoples in the foreseeable future.

Umman dış politikası ve Umman’ın Ortadoğu’da arabulucu ve dengeleyici rolü

Oman, with its geographical location and ancient tradition, is a country that has succeeded in being a balancing factor, despite its distance from the central tensions of the Middle East and its ineffective appearance in regional politics. Especially during the 50-year reign of Sultan Qaboos that began in 1970, Oman was able to establish strategic relations with regional and global actors and adopted an exceptional foreign policy understanding in the Middle East during the Cold War period. After the death of Sultan Qaboos, Haitham bin Tariq took over the rule of the country as the new sultan of Oman. Under the new Sultan’s power, a pragmatic status quo approach has become the main pillar in the country’s foreign relations, as the traditional foreign policy understanding has been built on independence and moderation at a level that matches Oman’s will and capacity. This study presents a perspective on Oman’s foreign policy approach of Haitham bin Tariq, the Sultan of Oman, based on the analysis of traditional foreign policy framework and practices developed during the reign of Sultan Qaboos who was the architect of the country’s international relations. In this regard, this article examines in chronological order the continuities and ruptures of Omani foreign policy, which has been able to pursue effective policies, despite its low profile in the Middle East, by especially the mission it has assumed in the Gulf since Sultan Qaboos assumed power in 1970. The article also discusses the successful policies of Sultan Qaboos to remain moderate under all conditions and preserve the status quo in the Gulf. The study discusses in detail the exceptional case of Oman in the region using process tracingUmman, coğrafi konum ve kadim geleneği ile Orta Doğu’nun merkez gerilimlerinden büyük oranda uzak kalmasına ve bölge siyasetindeki etkisiz görünümüne rağmen bir denge kurmayı ve genellikle denge unsuru olmayı başarmış bir ülkedir. Özellikle 1970’te Sultan Kabus’un 50 yıl sürecek iktidar döneminde önemli açılımlar gerçekleştirerek, bölgesel ve küresel aktörlerle stratejik ilişkiler tesis edebilmiş ve Soğuk Savaş dönemi Orta Doğu’sunda istisnai bir dış politika anlayışı benimsemiştir. Sultan Kabus’un ölümünün ardından ise yerine Heysem bin Tarık gelerek ülkenin yeni yöneticisi oldu. Yeni Sultan’ın yönetimi altında, geleneksel dış politika anlayışı Umman’ın irade ve kapasitesiyle örtüşecek düzeyde bağımsızlık ve ılımlılık üzerine bina edilerek pragmatik bir statükocu yaklaşım ülkenin uluslararası ilişkilerinde ana sütun haline dönüştü. Bu çalışma Umman’ın yeni sultanı Heysem bin Tarık’ın dış politika yaklaşımına dair ülkenin uluslararası ilişkilerinin mimarı Sultan Kabus’un dış politika çerçevesi ve pratiklerine atıfla bir perspektif sunmaktadır. Bu bağlamda, makale Sultan Kabus’un 1970’te iktidara gelişinden günümüze kadar Umman dış politikasındaki süreklilikleri ve kırılmaları kronolojik bir zeminde ele almakta ve ülkenin Orta Doğu siyasetindeki zayıf görünümüne rağmen nasıl etkin politikalar izleyebildiğini açıklamaya çalışmaktadır. Makalede ayrıca Sultan Kabus’un Körfez’deki statükonun korunması ve Umman’ın her koşulda ılımlı bir aktör olarak kalmasında izlediği başarılı siyaset tartışılacaktır. Çalışmada Umman’ın bölgedeki istisnai örnekliği süreç takibi yöntemiyle detaylı bir şekilde incelenecekti

Case Report of An Incidental Unicentric Castleman Disease

DergiPark: 889347tmsjAims: To emphasize the hardship of diagnosing Castleman disease and present a potential treatment method. Case Report: A sixty-three-year-old male patient was admitted to the outpatient clinic with an attack of acute cholecystitis. The patient’s abdominal computed tomography revealed an incidentally detected lipid dense solid mass (64x53x37 mm) at the level of right renal hilum with 29x13 mm solid components in the middle. The patient was admitted to the urology department and underwent surgery where the mass was totally excised due to suspicion of a malignancy (liposarcoma). Histopathological examination later on resulted with unicentric Castleman disease, hyaline vascular subtype. Conclusion: Since unicentric Castleman disease has an asymptomatic clinical course and is quite rare, it is necessary to rule out many potential possibilities before reaching a proper diagnosis. However, unicentric Castleman disease usually exhibits a good prognosis after the removal of the affected lymph node. Still, Castleman disease should be a candidate considered in the differential diagnosis of patients with incidentally discovered lymphadenopathy. On the whole, for a better understanding of underlying pathophysiology, there still lies a gap to be filled with knowledge acquired through further studies

A study on public spotlight advertisements as a social marketing tool and determining the attitudes and tendencies towards those advertisements

Kamu Spotu Reklamları (KSR) kamu ve kar amaçsız kurum ve kuruluşlar tarafından yapılan sosyal pazarlama araçlarından biridir. KSR ücret talep edilmeden yayınlanması zorunlu olan reklamlardır. Son yıllarda Türkiye’de yaygın şekilde kullanılan bu reklamlar toplum yararına odaklanmaktadır. Toplumun yararı için yapılan bu reklamların toplum tarafından nasıl karşılandığının, insanların bu reklamlara karşı tutum ve eğilimlerinin bilinmesi önem arz etmektedir. Bu kadar çok hazırlanan KSR’nın etkisinin bilinmesi hem bu reklamları hazırlayanlar kurumlar açısından hem de bu reklamlara maruz kalan insanlar açısından önem arz etmektedir. Bu çalışmanın amacı, televizyonda sıkça karşılaşılan KSR’na karşı lise öğrencilerinin tutum ve eğilimleri belirlemek, bu reklamlara ne kadar önem verdiklerini belirlemek, bu reklamlara karşı duygu, düşünce ve eylemlerini nedenleriyle birlikte tespit etmektir. Araştırmaya katılan kişilerin KSR’na karşı önerilerini almak da araştırmanın amaçları arasındadır. Çalışmanın örnek grubunu Kayseri ili Melikgazi, Kocasinan ve Talas merkez ilçelerinde bulunan 11 okul oluşturmaktadır. Bunların 6 adedi Meslek Lisesi ve 5 adedi Anadolu Lisesi’dir. Örnek olarak her okuldan 20 öğrenci olmak üzere toplam 220 öğrenci seçilmiştir. Araştırmada verilerin elde edilmesinde yarı yapılandırılmış anket yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Çalışma keşifsel araştırma niteliğinde olduğu için veriler basit istatistiksel yöntemler kullanılarak analiz edilmiştir. Ayrıca analiz kısmında bazı deneklerin söyledikleri aynen aktarılmıştır. Araştırma bulguları, deneklerin KSR’na karşı genel tutumlarının olumlu olduğunu göstermektedir. Araştırmada genel olarak kız öğrencilerin erkek öğrencilere göre KSR’na karşı daha olumlu tutum içinde olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Denekler KSR’nı gerekli, faydalı ve önemli bulurken; aynı zamanda bu reklamları bilgilendirici, bilinçlendirici ve uyarıcı olarak görmektedirler. KSR’ndaki olaylar gerçekçi bulunurken, kişiler yeterince gerçekçi bulunmamaktadır. Denekler KSR’nı orta derecede etkili ve işe yarar bulmaktadırlar. KSR’nda olayları yaşamış kişiler, ünlülerden daha etkili bulunmaktadır. Denekler genelde reklamlarda oynayan ünlülerin dikkat çektiğini ancak reklamların inandırıcılığını azalttığını düşünmektedirler. Araştırmada deneklerin KSR’nı olumlu karşılamalarına rağmen genelde eyleme geçmedikleri belirlenmiştir. Araştırmada en fazla hatırlanan KSR sigara ile soba ve doğalgaz kullanımı konusundakiler olurken; en az hatırlananlar, kredi kartı kullanımı ve tasarruf konulu reklamlar olmuştur. Denekler genelde konu çeşitliliğinin artmasını, daha ilgi çekici ve etkili reklamların yapılması gerektiğini düşünmektedirler.The Public Spotlight Advertisements (PSA) is one of the most commonly used tools in social marketing made by public and not for profit instutions. The PSA are the (spotlight) advertisements without payment. Those advertisements, recently commonly used in Turkey, have mostly been focused on public benefit. It is important to know how people welcome these advertisements, and their attitudes towards them. It is also important for both instutions which make those advertisements and people who are exposed to these advertisements to know how effective they are. The aim of this work is to point out the attitude of high school students how important those advertisements are to them. The work is based on a literature review and a field survey applied on a sample of students drawn with two stage sampling methods from the high schools in the city center in Kayseri province. The sample includes students from eleven high schools in Melikgazi, Kocasinan, and Talas counties, of those six are vocational high schools and five are Anatolian high schools. Each school has contributed to the sample 20 students, chosen randomly, producing 220 students in total in the sample. A semi-constructed survey questionnaire form has been used to collect the data, which then has been anaylsed by using simple statistical methods, since the research has already been defined as an explorative study. Research findings show that subjects’ attitudes to PSA are positive, where the attitudes of female subjects are more positive than those of the males. While subjects consider PSA to be useful and important; they also regard them as informative, make them conscious of something and stimulating. While the subjects in the PSA are regarded as realistic, the people acted roles in the PSA are not regarded as realistic enough. Subjects think that PSA are moderately influential and beneficial. The real people who are acting in the PSA are thought to be more effective than the famous (actors and actresses). Subjects think that famous ones draw attention but they decrease convincing the credibitliy of the PSA. The findings reveal that subjects welcome PSA positively but they generally do not act according to those in contrary to what is expected. Additionally, the research finds that while the most remembered PSA are about smoking, heating stove and natural gas; the least remembered ones are about use of credit cards and (money) saving. Subjects think that more interesting adverstisements are needed to be made to increase the effects of PSA

Conflict in family - owned companies and resolution methods: A research at OSTİM Organized Industrial Region in Ankara

YÖK Tez ID: 419156Çatışma insanoğlunun etkileşiminin doğal bir sonucudur. Çatışmalar hem sosyal hayatta hem de iş hayatında kaçınılmazdır. Diğer örgütlerden farklı olarak aile şirketlerinde, çatışmayı tetikleyen birtakım dinamikler vardır. Çünkü aile şirketlerinde, çatışmaya neden olan şirkete ait durumlara ek olarak, şirketi yöneten kişilerin aile üyesi olmasından kaynaklanan ilave çatışma nedenleri oluşabilmektedir. Aile üyeleri arasında ki ilişkiler, uzun süreli ve vazgeçilmesi çok zor boyuttadır. Bunun sonucu olarak şirket yönetiminin yanında, bu ilişkilerinde yönetilmesi gerekmektedir. Aile ilişkilerinin ve şirketin birlikte yönetilmesi başarılamazsa, hem aile üyeleri arasında huzursuzluklar olabilir, hem de şirketin varlığı tehlikeye girebilir. Aile veya şirketlerin dağılmasına kadar gidebilen neticeler veren bu çatışmaların nedenlerinin doğru tespit edilmesi ve tedbir alınması çok önemlidir. Dünya ekonomisinin önemli bir bölümünü oluşturan aile şirketlerinin varlığını tehdit eden bu durum, şirketlerin kurumsallaşması ile büyük oranda çözüme kavuşturulabilir.Conflict is a natural outcome of human interaction. Conflicts are inevitable in both social and business lives. Unlike other types of organizations, in family owned-companies there are certain dynamics that prompt conflicts. Because in family owned companies, there are some additional causes of conflict that stem from the fact that executives of the company are also family members. The relationship among members of the family is a long-term one and difficult to sacrifice. Therefore it is necessary to manage this relationship besides the company itself. If the company and family relationship are not managed together successfully, there will be unrest within the family as well as the company will be put in danger. It is significant to identify the causes of these conflicts that may lead to the disintegration of families and companies and take necessary precautions. This problem that threatens family owned-company which constitutes important part of world economy can be resolved by institutionalization of the company

Determining The Continental Surface Water Mass Changes Using Satellite Gravimetry

Tez (Doktora) -- İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi, Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü, 2013Thesis (PhD) -- İstanbul Technical University, Institute of Science and Technology, 2013Yeryuvarı gravite alanının belirlenmesi ve modellenmesi jeodezinin en önemli çalışma konularından biri olmuştur. Gravite alanına ilişkin bu modellere, jeodezik çalışmaların yanısıra jeofizik, oşinografi ve uzay araştırmalarına ilişkin çalışmalarda da ihtiyaç duyulmuştur. Yeryuvarının dörtte üçünü oluşturan okyanus kitlesi üzerinde herhangi bir gravite bilgisi bulunmadığından, daha önce kullanılan yersel gravimetriyle elde edilen gravite alanı modellerinin güvenilirliği düşüktü. Öte yandan, homojen nitelikte olmayan ölçülerden global bir modelin parametrelerinin kestiriminde de sorun yaşanmaktaydı. Uydu gravimetrisinin gelişimiyle birlikte global gravite modellerinin belirlenmesi çalışmaları hız kazanmıştır. Böylece, Yer’in gravite alanında zamana bağlı değişimlere neden olan ve modellenebilen etkilerin arındırılması ile birlikte zamana bağlı değişime katkısı belirgin olan su kütlesi değişimlerinin izlenmesi mümkün olabilmiştir. Küresel iklim değişimi orta enlemlerde ve orta ve düşük yükseklikteki bölgelerde kuraklığı artırarak milyonlarca insanı su kıtlığı gibi büyük bir problemle karşı karşıya getirmektedir. Bu bölgedeki Orta Doğu ülkeleri gibi ülkemizi de ilgilendiren bu sorunun çözümü için, su havzalarındaki su seviyesi değişimlerinin sık aralıklarla gözlemlenmesi önemli bir bilgi sağlamaktadır. Böyle bir izlemenin yersel ölçülerle yapılması hem yüksek maliyetlidir hem de havzanın tümünü temsil etmez. Diğer taraftan, klasik uzaktan algılama uyduları gerek düşey çözünürlükleri bakımından gerekse yeraltına ilişkin bilgi sağlayamadıklarından kara hidrolojisi çalışmalarında yetersiz kalmaktadır. Klasik uzaktan algılama tekniğinin bu eksikliğini gidermek, yine yapay uydulardan, başka bir yöntem olan uydu gravimetri tekniği ile mümkündür. Bu çalışmada, 30-48 Kuzey Enlemleri ve 20-47 Doğu Boylamları arasında kalan, ülkemizi ve komşu ülkelerin bir bölümünü kapsayan bölgede statik bir gravite alanı modeline (GGM03C) göre olan su kütlesi değişimleri, GRACE (Gravity Recovery And climate Experiment) uydu gravimetri verilerinden hesaplanmış ve bu kütle değişimleri farklı çözünürlükte eşdeğer su kalınlığı (EWT) haritaları olarak hazırlanmıştır. Söz konusu EWT haritaları aylık zamansal ve 300 km ve 600 km gibi iki farklı mekansal çözünürlükle, GRACE uydu misyonunun aylık olarak hesaplanan global küresel harmonik gravite alanı modellerinden (GRACE seviye-2 ya da L2) ve aylık ve yarı aylık zamansal ve 165 km gibi yüksek mekansal çözünürlükle GRACE yörünge üzeri KBR (uydular arası uzaklık değişimleri) ve ivmeölçer verilerinden (seviye-1B ya da L1B) belirlenmiştir.The total gravity field of the Earth consist of two components: Static gravity field and time-dependent gravity field. Although the static gravity field is changing very long period of time, it is possible assume it stable. Tides caused by the gravitational force of the Sun and the Moon are temporary gravity signals. Hydrology, ocean, cryosphere and atmosphere affect the gravity field of non-tidal and time-varying component. These effects are well known in sizes ranging from minutes to longer temporal scale, generated from measurable (modeled) signals. The basic problem is the information about temporal component of the global gravity field. How much mass is displaced and re-distributed? In the past years, it has been a basic principle to determine the global and regional scale gravity field using the artificial satellites moving on a specific orbit of the Earth. Since the orbital motions of satellites largely determined by the forces of gravity, as a reverse approach, precise orbit solutions can be used to determine the gravity field. Since the time varying signals change fast enough, the source of this change is thought to be occured on the surface of the Earth rather than the depths. This signal is largely caused by the atmosphere, the oceans and above or below water, snow and ice masses of the lands. Except showing the annual cycle, some movements on Earth crust change this signal rapidly. The only exceptionsare tidal effects which can be modelled with a better accuracy than the GRACE gravity measurements and the response of the solid Earth to the loading effect of the surface mass. As soon as the Earth’s gravity field is formed of the mass distirbution of the depths and surface of the Earth, these mass distirbutions are changing permanently. Ocean and solid earth tides cause large mass changes in 12 and 24 hour intervals. Synoptic storms, seasonal changes etc. related to atmospheric disturbances leads to significant changes on the atmosphere, ocean and the water mass distirbution stored on land. Although, mantle convection compared to climate change causes larger amplitude changes throughout the mantle, it follows slower process. Global climate change has been increasing drought in mid-latitude and semi- and low altitudes, and exposing millions of people to water stress. Frequent monitoring of the water level changes in water reservoirs provides valuable information for the solution of this problem which concerns our country as well as the countries in the middle east. Such a monitoring based on terrestrial observations is not economical and does not represent the whole basin. On the other hand, classical remote sensing satellites have shortcomings for land hydrology studies because of their low vertical resolutions as well as their inability of providing information related to the underground. These shortcomings of the classical remote sensing techniques can be met by using another method based on artificial satellites such as satellite gravimetry. It have lead to incorrect and incomplete interpretion about the processes of the Earth system because of the difficulties with monitoring the mass distirbution of the Earth and its movement, and insufficiency of obtaining data from the high orbit satellites. However, this situation has been changed by satellite gravity missions which provide solutions globally to a few hundred kilometers-resolution such as CHAMP (Challenging Minisatellite Payload), GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) and GOCE (Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer). Low-orbiting gravity field satellite mission CHAMP was launched in July 2000. Satellite is a nearly circular orbit and very close to the pole with an initial height 454 km. The main aim of prefering to obtain a homogeneous and whole global orbit which is important for high spatial-resolution global gravity field modeling. In order to calculate the parameters of gravity field, CHAMP is equipped with a GPS receiver to obtain low-orbiting satellite data from high-orbiting satellites. Therefore, satellite orbit can be determined with high accuracy. Since low-orbiting Earth satellites (LEOs) are affected from anomalies while passing through the masses, which cause to disturb satellite orbit. Thus, Earth’s gravity field is obtained from satellite orbit by measuring the position of the satellite and gravity dependent acceleration measured by star camera and three-axes accelometer. Since hl-SST (high-low satellite to- satellite tracking) data is especially sensitive to the inaccuracies at medium and long wavelengths, CHAMP mission has considerably developed the accuracy of gravity field models at these wavelengths. However, CHAMP satellite could not achieve a gravity field depending on time as presumed. Therefore, all attention has been directed to another gravity mission, GRACE. On the other hand, another vital gravity mission, GOCE satellite launched in March 2009 has determined average Earth gravity field with few centimeters geoid accuracy that has not been achieved until now. GOCE has been planned to operate for two years in a sun-synchronous orbit that is close to the pole with an inclination of 98.5. Although GOCE continue to operate effectively, it has been reached to expected accuracy with obtained 2 year data. NASA/GFZ (GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam)’s satellite mission GRACE (Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment) has been launched on March 2002 with the primary science objective of measuring the static gravity field of the Earth and its time variation and understanding its relation to the climate change. The global gravity field computed from the variations in the accelerations and the positions of the two identical satellites freely moving on the same circular orbit, as well as the high precision (± 10 m) inter-satellite range measurements and their variations in time have improved the accuracy of the best known global gravity fields prior to 2002 (EGM96) by a factor of 50. Since the well known effects such as ocean, solid Earth and pole tides, atmospheric mass redistribution and barotropic ocean response to atmospheric loading were forward-modelled and removed from the GRACE observations prior to the calculation of the spherical harmonic model coefficients using the monthly GRACE observations, the differences between these coefficients of consecutive months are caused primarily by the variations of the continental water storage (river, lake, ground water, soil moisture etc.). Moreover, the orbital dynamics of the GRACE twin satellites are also affected by the variations of the continental water storage. In this study, which is aimed to precisely determine the variations in the water levels in lakes, dam reservoirs and in particular in ground water, the water level variations in the region between 20-47 North Latitudes and 30-48 East Longitudes covering Turkey as well as the northern countries in the middle east were estimated from GRACE in monthly and sub-monthly periods with <200 km spatial resolution from GRACE in-situ KBR ranging and accelerometer data (GRACE L1B). Iterative least-squares estimation was enforced using the regional inversion of GRACE L1B data to determine equivalent water thickness (EWT) within a thin layer of the Earth. Potential diference data which were used to estimate water level changes in the region of each of a 1.5°×1.5 grids are selected on a more narrow area (22 -45 longitude and 32 -46 latitude). However, EWT was estimated for larger region (20 -47 longitude and 30 -48 latitude). Total number of grids or in other words the total number of unknowns is 216, and the mean number of observations are approximately 2000 for monthly solutions. The main objective of this selection is to consider aliasing effect within the boundaries of the study area, which is called edge effect , and to minimize this effect. This is the main reason of obtaining 1-2 cm accuracy for monthly solutions. Thus, water level changes with homogeneous accuracies were obtained for the solutions of each month or higher temporal (10 or 15 days) resolutions for all the grids within study area. The other data derived from GRACE observations ismonthly time series of global geopotential models in terms of spherical harmonic coefficients (SHC) which is named level-2 (L2) data products. As the well-known effects on the orbital perturbations such as the planetary bodies, ocean tides, solid Earth tides and other high-frequency variations in ocean and atmosphere are forward modeled prior to the estimation of monthly SHC, the difference between the SHC mainly represents the changesof climate sensitive signals such as hydrology, ice sheet mass balance and ocean mass change. Although the SHC still include the residual effects of tides and atmosphere due to imperfect models and temporal aliasing, recentstudies have shown that the hydrology signal can be estimated with an accuracy of several cm in equivalent water thickness and a resolution of several hundred km. The raw data should be processed by removing PGR effect, decorrelation filter, Gaussian smoothing function with different radiuses and removing leakage. After these processes EWT maps could be produced with monthly temporal and different spatial resolutions, i.e. 300 km and 600 km, based on monthly mean global spherical harmonic gravity field models of GRACE satellite mission.DoktoraPh