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Turkish Newspaper Readers Encyclopedic Dictionary 'M' For English-speakers who wish to understand Turkish Newspapers World regions, bodies of water, land masses, mountain ranges, countries, cities, nationalities and languages -- plus notable persons, places, and things from current events and modern history, politics, art, law, business, etc. If you don't find the names, terms, or phrases you need here... click to let us know and we'll add them. Site visitors may navigate the News Reader pages using the News Readers Index Page. Turkish English Examples, supplements, and explanations M     Macellan Boğazı The Strait of Magellan Magellan (artist unknown); Uffizi Gallery, Florence ...is the waterway linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, between the southern tip of South America and Tierra del Fuego island. It was 'discovered' (Oct. 21-Nov. 28, 1520) by Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese sailing for Spain, who eventually completed the first circumnavigation of the world. Although the strait meanders widely through numerous smaller islands and has an unhospitable cold and foggy climate, it was an important sailing route before the Panama Canal (completed in 1914) shortened the Atlantic-Pacific passage by several thousand miles.66 Macaristan (Macaristan or Macaristanlı, Macarca) Hungary (a Hungarian person/thing, the Hungarian language)   mağara savaşı cave warfare See following 'Black Comedy' Cartoon... 'Black Comedy' Cartoon The sign over the terrorists' hiding-place says "Twin Caves". [a 'thinly' veiled reference to the World Trade Center's "Twin Towers"] Thanks to 'Bülent çiziyor' Hürriyet Gazetesi 9 October 2001 mahkeme law court, trial, legal hearing   Makedonya (Makedon, Makedonca Macedonia (a Macedonian person/thing, the Macedonian language)   mal varlığını assets, worldly possessions, estate   Malezya (Malezyalı, Malayca) Malaysia (a Malaysian person/thing, the language of Malaysia)   Maliye Bakanı [the] Minister of Finance March 2006 -- The current AKP Finance Minister, Kemal Unakitan, is in hot water for easing taxes on egg products -- which gave his son windfall profits. Mançurya Manchuria The historical region of northeastern China. The Chinese call Manchuria the Northeast Provinces, or more simply, the Northeast. Manş Denizi La Manche or [the] English Channel   manşet [news] headline   Marsilya Marseille [port city on the Mediterranean coast of France]   mart kedi(ler) tomcat; male cat The literal translation of mart kedi(ler) is month-of-March cat(s) and it undoubtedly alludes to the strong, Spring mating-urge of the male Felis catus -- with which the female must put up, until she catches him... maşa sb used by another to gain an end; a cat's-paw a pair of tongs Home-grown cat's-paws Left click for image enlargement. maşa gibi kullanmak; to use (someone) as a cat's-paw maşası olmak; to be (someone's) tool, be someone's cat's-paw maşlık; being someone's tool/cat's-paw In the News: Gözcü Gazetesi, 19 November 2003... Within 3 days of the simultaneous terrorist bombings of the Beth Israel synagogue in Istanbul (on November 15), Turkish police (in cooperation with seven ZAKA Israeli bomb-squad members already stationed in Turkey) had identified the wired remains of the two home-grown suicide-bombers at far left -- and their two co-conspirators at near left (who are believed to have fled to Dubai). El Kaide quickly 'took credit' for the bombings (via the Arab-based media) -- which thereby established all 4 as cat's-paws of Osama Bin Ladin's so-called organization. News update: Gözcü Gazetesi, 22 November 2003... Residents of Bingöl province (where the two suicide bombers were born) have begun banding together to block burial rights to the body-parts of the two deceased. A Bingöllü businessman said, "Because of these terrorists our dialog with Western capital sources has been cut. They identify us with the terrorists. We've already suffered enough from devastating earthquakes in our province, we don't need any more trouble. It'll kill what's left of our local economy." mayın mine [explosive weapon] mayın tarlası; mine field mayınlı arazi; mine fields mayın tarama gemisi; minesweeper meclis parliament Türk Büyük Millet Meclisi (TBMM); [the] Turkish Parliament (lit. [the] Turkish Grand National Assembly) Meclis Başkanı; Speaker of the House Medine Medina [Saudi Arabia]   medrese a Muslim religious-school (attached to a mosque) One step at a time... Left click for political cartoon enlargement. medya [the] Media ...is the newspaper and magazine press, Radio & TV, et al. See the following 'Critics of the Media' political cartoon... Critics of the Media Turkish Democracy cries out: Please help me!! Islamic Fundamentalism growls: Be quiet! Don't alarm the public about this... Turkish Media: [observes with trepidation] Caption in right hand corner reads, 'The Media is guilty again'. Thanks to: Gözcu Gazetesi, 1 June 2003 Cartoonist: Ergin Asyalı Mehmetçik the nickname used by the Turkish people to refer to any enlisted man in the Turkish army...   mekik shuttle mekik kazası; (space) shuttle accident mekik faciası; (space) shuttle disaster Mekke Mecca [Saudi Arabia]   Meksika (Meksikalı, İspanyolca) Mexico (Mexican, the language of Mexico [Spanish])   mensup connected to, affiliated with, someone with a connection to, [a] member, [an] employee   Mezar-ı Şerif Mazar-e Sharif [city in north-central Afghanistan]   Mezoamerikan uygarlıklar Mesoamerican civilizations [that dominated large parts of Mexico and Central America -- long before Spanish exploration and conquest in the 16th century. Dating from 1500 BC, the major cultures include the Olmecs, Mayans and Aztecs.] Map of Mesoamerica Left click for image enlargement. MHP See Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi...   Mısır (Mısırlı, Arapça) Egypt (an Eygyptian person/thing, the language of Egypt [Arabic])   Midilli Adası [the Greek] island of Lesbos   miğfer [battle] helmet In the news: 28 March 2003... In fierce fighting on the Iraqi war front, British Royal Marine Eric Walderman (see below) was saved from certain death by his helmet made of 'Kevlar' (by Du Pont). Walderman's helmet deflected four direct hits to his head from enemy fire. Royal Marine Walderman and his super helmet... milli national milli güvenlik stratejisi; national security strategy Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi MHP logo... Party nickname -- Boz Kurtlar The Gray Wolves National Movement Party [usually referred to by its MHP acronym] Supporters identify themselves with a hand-sign that looks like the head of a 'Gray Wolf'... Hover your cursor for a figurative translation (of the comment below the picture) MHP leader, Devlet Bahçeli (2002) A distinctly conservative Turkish political party with an unsavory past...The MHP supports the court-decreed death sentence (in 2000) for Kurdish terrorist and PKK-leader Öcalan (aka, Apo) -- and, at odds with its governing coalition partners, would like to see the execution carried out. The MHP situation as of June 2002... The party, led by Devlet Bahçeli, placed a surprising second in Turkey's last General Election in 1999 (with 18% of the votes cast). The MHP is the 'deputy' member of the 3-party coalition (together with DSP and ANAP) that struggles to govern Turkey at this time. The MHP situation in October 2002... In the lead-up to next month's election, the MHP seems to be losing ground and may not be able to achieve the required 10% minimum vote-count to qualify for representation in the post-election Parliament. milletvekili [a] Turkish parliamentarian, member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey   milli gelir [the national] per capita income   milyar [a] billion   milyon [a] million   Moğolistan (Moğul, Moğolca) Mongolia (a Mongolian person/thing, the Mongolian language)   Mora Peloponnese [peninsula of southern modern Greece] Morea [Medieval name] Site of the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC) -- between Athens and Sparta with her allies, won by Sparta. won Moskova Moscow [Russia]   mösyö [The Turkish phonetical way of saying and writing the formal French address...] Monsieur ...is sometimes used to address English-speakers, to mean 'Mister'. See example usage in the cartoon at yabancı. muhafazakar [a political] conservative When does Conservative Prime Minister Erdoğan distress the AKP party faithful? Left click for image clarity and enlargement. bir muhafazakar demokrat; [a] conservative democrat Muhafız Taburu [the] TBMM's Battalion of Guards ...has a history dating back to the Turkish War of Independence. After the war, and upon Atatürk's own directive, the battalion became the Parliament's official guard. In the News: 29 December 2003...in a statement to Milliyet Gazetesi, AKP Member of Parliament Husrev Kutlu said, "From morning til evening in my office, even at prayers at mealtime, I have to listen to the sound of marching soldiers. It's like I'm in the field [of battle], not in the Parliament." Kutlu's remarks (and another he made disparaging a portrait of Atatürk that hangs in the TBMM) lead Orgeneral Hilmi Özkök to be "deeply concerned". muhalefet [the] opposition muhalefet partisi; opposition party ana muhalefet partisi; main opposition party muharebe [a] battle, military engagement muharebe grubu; [a] [naval] battle group muhtar the elected head of a village or of a neighborhood -- within a town/city in Turkey Elected Leading Lady from the USA Left click for image enlargement. In the News: 24 April 2004... Tip O'Neil's now famous proverbial quote, "All politics is local", couldn't have been truer in this case... A long-time USA citizen has been elected muhtar in Turkey. Ms. Gülay Dayican, who was born in Turkey but who has been a citizen of the USA these past 25-years, has been elected township leader for Aktaş village (in Balya township of the Balıkesir province) in the 2004 local elections -- and she may tell her village's story soon on the Internet Service Provider (ISP) at Akbas.com.tr. (Attibuted to Hürriyet Gazetesi in the complete photo-article at left.) In other places, however, there is No Girl Power... Musevi Jew Jewish Musevilik; Judaism Musevi Cemaati; Jewish Congregation Musul Mosul [Iraq] In the news: 11 April 2003, Oil-rich Mosul falls to coalition forces in the Iragi Freedom conflict. mücahit 1. fighter for the Islamic faith 2. fighter (for a sacred cause/ideal)   mülteci refugee   müsavat equality   Müslüman [a] Muslim Muslim, Islamic   müsteşar undersecretary   müttefik ally, allied Müttefik Devletler; the Allied Powers [in WW II] Myanmar (Myanmarlı, Birmanca) Myanmar [formerly Burma] (a person/thing from Myanmar, the language of Myanmar)