The weather in Istanbul today was cold and rainy. I had planned to spend the day walking many miles to see an ancient Church with well-preserved frescoes, the wall built by the emperor Theodosius, and to experience a Turkish bath. But when I walked outside to go and get breakfast, the cold rain changed my mind, and I decided to instead stay in the hostel to get work done (mostly marking papers). Around mid-day, the owner of the hostel asked me whether I would like to accompany his son and his son's friend to a town a few hundred kilometers away. He had to go there to pick up some documents from the local university. I immediately decided to go because I saw it as an opportunity to spend the day with locals who I could query--about their lives, and their views on Turkish politics. I also thought it would be nice to get out of Istanbul for the day.
The trip was worth it. The locals who I was with spoke passable English. They are close friends who went to school together, and one is an ethnic Kurd, the other an ethnic Turk. Whenever the Western media speaks about the Kurds and Turks together, it is usually about the problems that the Turkish government has in its attempts to accommodate the wish of the Kurdish minority for more autonomy. It was therefore delightful to see these two young men interact as genuine friends and nothing more; their separate ethnicities did not seem to matter at all. They were very friendly and affectionate towards me and perhaps a bit intrigued about my genuine interest in their lives and beliefs. I asked them questions about their experiences as youngsters in Turkey, their religious views and political beliefs, and their life goals. This conversation took place during a two hour car ride to our destination, and on the way I noticed several things worth mentioning. The first is the sheer size of Istanbul; it took us almost three quarters of an hour to finally reach the city limit and get on the freeway that took us to the next town. Signs of Istanbul's breakneck growth and huge population are everywhere. There are cranes dotting the panorama which attest to the hundreds of new high rises being built, and this is on top of the sprawling and high density already-inhabited buildings and houses that mark the huge landscape. The darker side of this growth was evident as well: when driving on an elevated part of the road one could see clouds of smog below covering entire neighborhoods. I also saw truck drivers relieving themselves on the side of the road--twice. One defecated, and the other urinated, and they seemed pretty nonchalant about it, suggesting that it is considered normal. I am not surprised, since the traffic in Istanbul is so bad that it is easy to imagine a situation whereby nature calls and, because cars are crawling forward very slowly, one cannot wait to reach a toilet and hence must pull over and do their business.
We arrived at our destination and parked the car in a lot where cars seemed to be parked wherever it was convenient or where they could find space; it was not the kind of orderly parking someone from North American is accustomed to. When entering the university, the first thing I noticed was that there are pictures of Mustafa Kemal (or Attaturk, meaning "Father of the Turks") everywhere--in all the hallways, in all the offices, even in the eating area. It really gives the impression that Kemal and his successors built a cult of personality that even the current Islamist government would have a hard time extirpating. One of the questions I have asked people here in Turkey is what they think of Kemal, and the range of responses are interesting. My Kurdish friend told me that he does not like Kemal because he killed a lot of Kurds, while my Turkish friend said that he really liked him. The other day I had dinner with a professor of American origin, and his response was the most interesting. He told me that the omnipresent images of Mustafa Kemal are, to him, a comfortable reminder that Turkey is still a secular republic and that the legacy of Kemalism is one of the only constraints that prevents the current Islamist government from bringing Turkey towards an Iranian-style theocracy. He also said that the current government is slowly dismantling the Kemalist institutions that helped to preserve Turkey's secular political order, such as the army, which last year was purged of secularists and replaced with cronies of Erdogan who are sympathetic to his Islamist agenda. The most intriguing thing he told me was that if he starts to see the omnipresent images of Mustafa Kemal being removed, it would be a sign that the days of the secular republic are numbered and, at that point, he would have to leave the country.
As we were leaving the university, we said our goodbyes to some of the staff with a distinctive Turkish salutation that expresses affection in a very Mediterranean fashion. It is similar to the Italian way of greeting or saying bye: kissing twice on the cheeks while holding the others' hand and placing the other hand on the others' shoulder or upper arm. The Turkish version also has contact with the hands, but rather than kissing on the cheek, there is a contact of the temple area of each others' heads, just above and to the side of eyebrow. I did it for the first time, and it was a bit awkward because I was wearing my glasses, and the salutation ended up misaligning my glasses, forcing me to re-adjust them, but this was a minor issue. I rather appreciated experiencing this distinctive cultural practice which is not that different from the one I am used to using especially with other Italians.
The conversation with my Turkish friends went in many directions, and they mostly expressed the things that youth everywhere are concerned with: jobs, love, and security. They seemed to be cautiously optimistic about the future. One just graduated and was starting a new job, and soon to be married. The other just finished his first degree and plans on pursuing a doctorate in economics. They told me that they oppose Turkey's entrance into the EU. To my question of why, they responded that Europe is a mess and that they do not want Turkey to be liable for the problems of the weaker members. Ten or fifteen years ago, they said, it might have been a good idea for Turkey to join, but not now. I could not help but be amused at this response, because it was remarkably similar to the responses I received from some British euroskeptics who I interviewed for my PhD thesis two and a half years ago, who told me that most Britons want to leave the EU because "they could see what a fucking mess it is".
I just arrived back in the hostel, and soon I will be having dinner with an academic who teaches in the US and who happens to be in Istanbul for similar reasons as me. Tomorrow I will go and do the things that I had planned on doing today: seeing the ancient frescoes, the Theodosius wall, and getting a Turkish bath.
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| My new friends in Turkey. I am in the middle. |
The trip was worth it. The locals who I was with spoke passable English. They are close friends who went to school together, and one is an ethnic Kurd, the other an ethnic Turk. Whenever the Western media speaks about the Kurds and Turks together, it is usually about the problems that the Turkish government has in its attempts to accommodate the wish of the Kurdish minority for more autonomy. It was therefore delightful to see these two young men interact as genuine friends and nothing more; their separate ethnicities did not seem to matter at all. They were very friendly and affectionate towards me and perhaps a bit intrigued about my genuine interest in their lives and beliefs. I asked them questions about their experiences as youngsters in Turkey, their religious views and political beliefs, and their life goals. This conversation took place during a two hour car ride to our destination, and on the way I noticed several things worth mentioning. The first is the sheer size of Istanbul; it took us almost three quarters of an hour to finally reach the city limit and get on the freeway that took us to the next town. Signs of Istanbul's breakneck growth and huge population are everywhere. There are cranes dotting the panorama which attest to the hundreds of new high rises being built, and this is on top of the sprawling and high density already-inhabited buildings and houses that mark the huge landscape. The darker side of this growth was evident as well: when driving on an elevated part of the road one could see clouds of smog below covering entire neighborhoods. I also saw truck drivers relieving themselves on the side of the road--twice. One defecated, and the other urinated, and they seemed pretty nonchalant about it, suggesting that it is considered normal. I am not surprised, since the traffic in Istanbul is so bad that it is easy to imagine a situation whereby nature calls and, because cars are crawling forward very slowly, one cannot wait to reach a toilet and hence must pull over and do their business.
We arrived at our destination and parked the car in a lot where cars seemed to be parked wherever it was convenient or where they could find space; it was not the kind of orderly parking someone from North American is accustomed to. When entering the university, the first thing I noticed was that there are pictures of Mustafa Kemal (or Attaturk, meaning "Father of the Turks") everywhere--in all the hallways, in all the offices, even in the eating area. It really gives the impression that Kemal and his successors built a cult of personality that even the current Islamist government would have a hard time extirpating. One of the questions I have asked people here in Turkey is what they think of Kemal, and the range of responses are interesting. My Kurdish friend told me that he does not like Kemal because he killed a lot of Kurds, while my Turkish friend said that he really liked him. The other day I had dinner with a professor of American origin, and his response was the most interesting. He told me that the omnipresent images of Mustafa Kemal are, to him, a comfortable reminder that Turkey is still a secular republic and that the legacy of Kemalism is one of the only constraints that prevents the current Islamist government from bringing Turkey towards an Iranian-style theocracy. He also said that the current government is slowly dismantling the Kemalist institutions that helped to preserve Turkey's secular political order, such as the army, which last year was purged of secularists and replaced with cronies of Erdogan who are sympathetic to his Islamist agenda. The most intriguing thing he told me was that if he starts to see the omnipresent images of Mustafa Kemal being removed, it would be a sign that the days of the secular republic are numbered and, at that point, he would have to leave the country.
As we were leaving the university, we said our goodbyes to some of the staff with a distinctive Turkish salutation that expresses affection in a very Mediterranean fashion. It is similar to the Italian way of greeting or saying bye: kissing twice on the cheeks while holding the others' hand and placing the other hand on the others' shoulder or upper arm. The Turkish version also has contact with the hands, but rather than kissing on the cheek, there is a contact of the temple area of each others' heads, just above and to the side of eyebrow. I did it for the first time, and it was a bit awkward because I was wearing my glasses, and the salutation ended up misaligning my glasses, forcing me to re-adjust them, but this was a minor issue. I rather appreciated experiencing this distinctive cultural practice which is not that different from the one I am used to using especially with other Italians.
The conversation with my Turkish friends went in many directions, and they mostly expressed the things that youth everywhere are concerned with: jobs, love, and security. They seemed to be cautiously optimistic about the future. One just graduated and was starting a new job, and soon to be married. The other just finished his first degree and plans on pursuing a doctorate in economics. They told me that they oppose Turkey's entrance into the EU. To my question of why, they responded that Europe is a mess and that they do not want Turkey to be liable for the problems of the weaker members. Ten or fifteen years ago, they said, it might have been a good idea for Turkey to join, but not now. I could not help but be amused at this response, because it was remarkably similar to the responses I received from some British euroskeptics who I interviewed for my PhD thesis two and a half years ago, who told me that most Britons want to leave the EU because "they could see what a fucking mess it is".
I just arrived back in the hostel, and soon I will be having dinner with an academic who teaches in the US and who happens to be in Istanbul for similar reasons as me. Tomorrow I will go and do the things that I had planned on doing today: seeing the ancient frescoes, the Theodosius wall, and getting a Turkish bath.
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