Gen.Cevik Bir, ret., Turkish Army. Image circa 1997

Çevik Bir (in Turkish spelling) was a member of the Turkish general staff in the 1990s. He took a major part in several important international missions in the Middle East and North Africa. Cevik Bir, circa 1997 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but keeping the same mind-set. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... North Africa is a region generally considered to include: Algeria Egypt Libya Mauritania Morocco Sudan Tunisia Western Sahara The Canary Islands, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Azores and Madeira are sometimes considered to be a part of North Africa, though they do not share a common culture with North Africa. ...

After the dictator Siad Barre’s ouster, conflicts between the General Farah Aidid's party and other clans in Somalia had led to famine and lawlessness throughout the country. An estimated 300,000 people had died from starvation. A combined military force of United States and United Nations (under the name UNISOM) were deployed to Mogadishu, to monitor the ceasefire and deliver food and supplies to the starving people of Somali. Çevik Bir, who was then a lieutenant-general of Turkey, became the force commander of UNISOM in 1993. Despite the retreat of US and UN forces after several deaths due to local hostilities mainly led by Aidid, the introduction of a powerful military force opened the transportation routes, enabling the provision of supplies and ended the famine quickly. Siad Barre Mohamed Siad Barre (Somali: Maxamed Siyaad Barre) (1919or 1921?, Ganane, Italian Somaliland - January 2, 1995, Lagos, Nigeria) was the self-proclaimed socialist president of Somalia from 1969 to 1991. ... Mohamed Farrah Aidid USASOC Photo Date of birth 1934 Place of birth Somalia, Africa Date of death August 1, 1996 (gunshot wounds) Place of death Somalia Occupation Military intelligence Military education Trained in Rome and Moscow. ... A famine is an phenomenon in which a large percentage of the population of a region or country are undernourished and death by starvation becomes increasingly common. ... The United Nations, or UN, is an international organization established in 1945 and now made up of 191 states. ... Mogadishu A Mogadishu boy straddles the remains of a US Black Hawk helicopter during the 1992-1995 UN peacekeeping operation Mogadishu (Somali: Muqdisho) is a city in eastern Africa, on the Indian Ocean. ... 1993 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ...

Çevik Bir became the Turkish army's second-in-command general shortly after the Somali operation and played a vital role in establishing a Turkish-Israeli entente against the emerging fundamentalism in the Middle East. Many people in Turkey accused him of actually being a Jewish donmeh. For being a staunch defender of secularism in the region, he was awarded the Secularism and Democracy Award of 1997 in Washington, DC. The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... Donmeh (dönme) is a Turkish word for a religious convert. ... 1997 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United...