Van January 30, 2007
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I am in Van, east of the massive Van Gölü (Lake Van) in southeastern Turkey. I was snowed in at Doğubeyazıt and had to spend an extra day there before making my way here. The drive from Doğubeyazıt to Van exposed the viciousness of the Turkish winter to me. When stopped at a jandarma checkpoint I could only pity the soldiers forced to endure the driving snow and wind while on guard.
Doğubeyazıt was fun. There is something to be said about sitting in front of a coal furnace, trying to stay warm, while using the Internet on a computer powered by a diesel generator. Development in the southeast is very uneven, with a large disparity between rural and urban areas. Van is a fairly large city, with about a half million people. Along the main street it looks much like Ankara or İstanbul. But the outskirts of town belay any thought of even development, or development at all in some instances. It is really no wonder that there is such vast migration to the western part of the country. Beyond agriculture, there is not much in the way of industry here.
I will probably spend a day or two here in Van, hoping to see Hoşap Kalesi and other sights before continuing my journey. I haven’t planned beyond this stop, so I have to sit down and think of something to do.
Codename 301 January 27, 2007
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I have had time here in Kars to sit down and take a look at the news, and I came across something interesting. I had mentioned earlier that someone in Turkey ought to recognize the role of Article 301 in the death of journalist Hrant Dink. Apparently someone did. Here is an English translation of an excerpt from Radikal’s Erdal Güven:
The code name for the fascist mindset that created the grounds for Hrant Dink’s murder is called “Article 301.” 301, in a sense, was the order for Dink’s death, while the Court of Appeals decision was the seal on that order. In other words, Dink’s “insult to Turkishness” had been politically and legally certified. His “Armenian-ness” was already common knowledge; it was common knowledge in a country where, according to some, everyone is born a soldier, friends can only be of your own race, there is no choice between loving or leaving the nation, the Sèvres paranoia frequently resurfaces, and dissenting views are equivalent to treason. Article 301 is the box in which the archaic and pathological Turkishness fetish is concealed. It serves to strengthen this fetish while it grows with it as well; it survives because of it.
For clarification, ‘Sèvres paranioa’ refers to the treaty of the same name and which, after the First World War, would have effectively partitioned the Ottoman Empire among the victorious Allied powers, leaving only a small, landlocked Turkish state. Sèvres paranoia, therefore, is a fear of the intentions of outsiders, especially of Western nations, who, before the First World War, had long sought to pick up the pieces of a weakened Ottoman Empire. This paranoia emerges when the question of Kurdistan emerges, as many Turks fear an independent Kurdistan is just a ploy of the Western powers to dispossess Turkey of its territory for their own narrow aims. This paranoia, as Güven suggests, is very much self-perpetuating.
This all comes as Turkey’s Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül hints that it may be time to reevaluate Article 301. We’ll have to wait and see how the upcoming elections result, but I don’t see this statement as much more than rhetoric to calm the EU and the West.
Eastern Turkey January 26, 2007
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I’m sitting in an internet cafe now, eating toast, drinking coke, having a conversation with my new friends, one of whom is apparently in dire need of a Canadian wife. I’m trying to help. I’m in Kars right now, near the Armenian border. I was in Erzurum yesterday, where I tried to snowboard at a resort named Palandöken. There is no snow here, so that experience was less than fulfilling. Why I picked this winter to leave Canada is beyond me…
I am probably going to stay here for a day or two, before moving on to Doğubeyazıt. I want to see Ani, an ancient Armenian city, before heading southeast to Mt Ararat, the highest peak in Turkey and the supposed resting place of Noah’s Ark.
I should return to Ankara sometime within the next two weeks, in time to celebrate my birthday.
Political Fallout Continues January 23, 2007
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Hrant Dink’s murder has been widely condemned in Turkey and abroad. His funeral attracted thousands, waving banners that said “Hepimiz Hrant Dink’ız” (We are all Hrant Dink), and his assassination has galvanized much of the country behind his courage.
Ogün Samast, a 17-year-old from the northeastern city Trabzon, confessed to the killing, claiming that he decided to kill Dink after reading newspaper comments in which Dink ‘insulted’ Turks. Impressionable and aggressive by nature, Samast was incited to commit the murder by a friend, Yasin Hayal, who himself spent 11 months in prison for a 2004 bomb attack against a McDonald’s restaurant in Trabzon.
The assassination has brought the question of the Armenian genocide to the forefront of public debate as never before. Such was probably the intent of those who gave Samast the gun to kill Dink, as national elections approach early this year. Turkey’s EU negotiations have also been brought into question, and it is unclear what tone the negotiations will take after this event.
The Turkish government has been, and will continue to be, quick to denounce Dink’s murder. They will stress the existence of and need for fraternity between Turks and Armenians, as well as call for restraint. They will, and will continue to, distance themselves from this act.
Someone ought to admit that state policy facilitated, if not outright legitimized, Dink’s murder. Article 301 makes dissent against the Turkish Republic a punishable offense, and Dink was among many convicted under this law. Even while the Turkish government does not endorse assassination, prosecution for dissent against the state line readily identifies enemies of the state for those who will take matters into their own hands. For those like Samast—impressionable and raised on the milk of a dogmatic state-directed educational system—it is a short leap to turn to violence.
Because the state defines what is acceptable and what is not in terms of intellectual debate, it is no surprise that a violent ultranationalistic movement has been able to legitimize their actions as being in concordance with state policy.
Crazy times. It solidifies the point that we should be thankful for the peace and tranquility of home.
Prominent Journalist Murdered January 20, 2007
Posted by cpapuschak in News.2 comments
On Friday prominent Armenian-origin journalist Hrant Dink was gunned down outside of the Istanbul headquarters of the newspaper he edited. Dink received international attention after charges were brought against him by an ultranationalist lawyers group under the controversial Article 301, which punishes “insulting Turkishness”.
Dink’s legal problems began in 2005 after publishing a series of articles in which he called for the diaspora Armenians to stop focusing on the Turks and redirect their attention to the welfare of Armenia.
The murder comes at a sensitive time for Turkey, as pressure has grown from countries in Europe and the Americas (especially France and the United States) for Turkey to recognize the Armenian genocide. A small protest gathered as police removed the body, shouting such slogans as, “Hrants don’t die,” “United against fascism,” “The murderer state will pay for this,” and “Long live the fraternity of the people.” The protests continue today.
The assassin, unknown, is still at large. Columnist Ilnur Cevik fears a new wave of assassinations may emerge, and that “For some time we were hearing gossip that some people who have angered the ultraconservatives may be targets of a new violent campaign.” He added that death squads that had, in the past, been linked to groups within the state apparatus, were now said to be acting independently. It seems as though anyone not holding to the official line is a target.
A general trend of ultranationalism and xenophobia has grown in strength in recent years. While still a fringe movement, its embrace of violence is nonetheless disturbing. This movement has gained strength for a number of reasons, one of which is very likely disaffection with Turkey’s European Union succession process, which is putting pressure on Turkey to address such matters as the Armenian genocide and the domestic democratic deficit.
The Armenian government (as well as those of nearly every other country) immediately condemned the murder, and the speaker of Armenia’s parliament, Tigran Torosyan, reportedly went so far as to say “Following the murder, Turkey should not even dream about joining the European Union”.
The Cult of Atatürk January 15, 2007
Posted by cpapuschak in Politics.1 comment so far
I like living in Turkey. It provides ample opportunity to see the manifestation of what I am studying in school, particularly the creation of ‘common sense’ values and ideas that provide the foundation of the Turkish government’s legitimacy.
There aren’t many countries in the world that have such a cult of character surrounding a state leader. Communist and fascist states create such cults around demagogic leaders like Lenin, Mussolini and Hitler. The Central Asian states, on the whole authoritarian, also build society around strong leaders.
Turkey is very much the same in this limited sense. Ghazi Mustafa Kemal, later Atatürk (‘father of the Turks’), is the founder and first president of the Turkish Republic. He led the Turks successfully in the War of Independence from 1919-23. He has been a national hero since the creation of the republic in 1923.
Ask any Turk who Atatürk is and this is the answer, with very little variation, you will receive. I have a little game of asking random people, especially students, who Atatürk is, just to see the response I get. Every time, the same answer. Even at universities like ODTÜ, students are reluctant to question what has been undeniably true for all their lives.
Similar to the way we in North America and the West have been socialized to believe implicitly in the ‘common sense’ notions of individualism and private property, Turks have been socialized to unquestioningly follow the model laid down by Atatürk. Throughout civil society – the media, educational and legal institutions, political parties, trade unions, and so on – the model of ‘Kemalism’ is perpetuated.
The argument has been made that Turkey’s secularism and devotion to Atatürk is imposed by the central government. To a certain extent, I agree, but the real power is in civil society – it is in the media (cinema, literature, etc.), educational institutions, and political parties – not the state. The state no doubt holds a great deal of coercive power over peoples’ lives, especially in Turkey. Yet, having been persuaded of the ‘common sense’ of Kemalism, the people have largely consented to the attachment to Atatürk, secularism, Westernization, and modernization. The creation of common sense norms in civil society has done more than state coercion could ever do to convince the people of the state’s legitimacy.
As an outsider it is easier to see this. It is more difficult to look critically at the ‘common sense’ values that you yourself believe to be true (in my case, individualism, private property, and capitalism). They are only true because someone told you that they are, and you believed them.
Egypt Photos January 10, 2007
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I just posted some of the photos from Egypt. Some came out sideways, but still worth a peek.
Many of the other exchange students have left, or are leaving within the next couple weeks. It is difficult saying good bye to the friends I have made in Turkey. Surely the experiences we had here will be tied to those who we shared them with. Our conception of “Turkey” will be interconnected with the people with whom we shared these experiences, and so one has to realize that visiting Turkey at some later date will probably not result in the same kind of feeling that we have attached to the country.
A new group of exchange students arrives in early February. Kas and I might be host students for some of them. We have somehow survived the gauntlet of Turkish bureaucracy thus far, so we might be able to do the job.
Walking Like an Egyptian January 4, 2007
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It has been a while since I updated this blog. WordPress’ server was down yesterday and I haven’t had much downtime. Here is my story, in reverse chronological order. A second post documents the somewhat more entertaining story of our bus experiences in this country – what a mess.
Today is our last day in Cairo. Today I went with Stephanie for a tour of the American University of Cairo campus, which I decided to schedule for this week, seeing as we were in the neighborhood. It was good, but I am no closer to committing myself to living in Cairo for any extended period of time.
Cairo – that is, the part of Cairo we have seen thus far – is heavily polluted and impoverished. With anywhere between 18 and 22 million residents, Cairo is said to have sixteen square centimeters of ‘green space’ per resident. I would believe it. There are richer areas in Cairo, but we did not see them.
Yesterday we toured the pyramids at Giza and Sakkara. It was a busy and tiring day, but that’s one more ancient wonder that I can strike off the list.
The day before yesterday we toured Coptic Cairo. Egypt actually has a fairly large Christian population (Copts) and there are a number of churches and monasteries of significance importance in Cairo. We even visited the remains of the place where the Holy Family sought refuge after their flight from Nazareth.
We spent New Years in Sharm el Sheikh, a tourist resort on the Red Sea coast that was the site of Egypt’s worst terrorist attacks in July 2005. Needless to say, security was evident. I was supposed to meet up with Brendan, but that didn’t work out. He weaseled his way into Pasha, a bar with a 290 pound cover, while my group spent the night in a bar overlooking the madness of Na’ama Bay.
We spent two days in Sharm, before which we traveled to Luxor, further south of Cairo along the Nile. There we saw the Karnak and Luxor temples, build during the New Kingdom years. Their condition, even after thousands of years, was impressive. We also saw the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens, on the opposite bank of the Nile.
Before Luxor was my arrival in Cairo from Istanbul. There I met Brendan at the airport and was presented with a care package of chocolate, maple syrup and my iPod.
Buses in Egypt January 4, 2007
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Hokay, time for some education. Having spent less than a week in Egypt, yet more than 33 hours on buses, I have decided that I must completely write off the Egyptian bus system as an effective means of transport. Our combined experiences have been less than pleasurable, and here’s why:
1. Cairo to Luxor, 2200 – 0900 – The heroes of our tale leave Cairo in the dead of night, already freezing, hoping for a warm bus to sit in. Numbering six, Team Germany is represented by Ann, Claudia and Jessica, the Commonwealth by myself and Thomas, and Team America World Police by Marissa. Taking two taxis to the bus terminal, only one taxi arrives – the other drops Marissa, Tom, and Jessica a mile away from the bus stop. They entrust their lives in the slums of Cairo to a ten-year-old to get them safely to their destination. Colin, Ann and Claudia wonder what the devil is going on. They arrive 20 minutes after the bus was supposed to leave, but “time” is an arbitrary concept meaning nothing here. We get on the bus. It is bloody cold. The bus driver insists on keeping his window open. Jessica curses in German. The music is loud, the driver oblivious to the fact that it was, indeed, night time. Claudia asks for the volume to be turned down. She is given tissue to use as ear plugs. Jessica curses in German. The closer we get to Luxor, the more frequent security checkpoints become. Colin can’t remember how many times he was asked to produce a passport or bus ticket, and curses quietly to himself. The heroes arrive late.
2. Luxor to Sharm el Sheikh, 1700 – 1000 – The heroes now number eight, joined as they were by the remainder of Team America World Police, Stephanie and Shafiq. The bus is, again, excessively cold. The bus driver screams at everything inside and outside of the bus – passengers, motorists, donkeys. No one knows what he is saying, but he is always mad. The air conditioning smells of old cheddar cheese. Colin curses. Tom becomes hungry. A French girl forgets her purse filled with money on the bus at Hurghada. At 0400, somewhere along the way, the bus driver receives a call informing him of this, and proceeds to go on a tirade throughout the bus, screaming on his mobile as he goes, waking up everyone in his path. We found the purse, and try to show him this. He ignores us, and continued to scream. Jessica curses in German. Security checkpoints become evermore frequent, stopping the bus on a near hourly basis. Marissa is kissed by the driver’s assistant and walks away confused and violated. Shafiq is asked to put his shoes back on by the man beside him. His feet apparently smell bad. So do Jessica’s. The heroes arrive late.
3. Sharm el Sheikh to Cairo, 2200 – 0400 – The journey to the bus station was in a cab driven by a one-man barnyard. After becoming incensed at our bargaining, he began to make animal noises – roosters, horses, cats – all while petting Tom’s knee. Tom becomes nervous, Marissa jealous. The heroes look at a six hour bus trip with scorn. Having survived 13 and 14 hour trips, they feel there is little left to surprise them. They are sorely mistaken. Never has the call to prayer been so loudly blasted in a single vehicle as in this night. Apparently Muslims don’t sleep at night. In the morning, a random man awakes the bus by entering the bus and screaming along with the call. Jessica curses in German. Stephanie grumbles quietly to herself. Once again, security check after security check impedes their progress. At one, the heroes are forced to vacate the bus, pull their luggage off, assuming it will be searched by soldiers at the checkpoint with a radio transceiver. Shafiq, a visible minority, prepares for the inevitable cavity search. Of all the luggage present, Marissa’s purse proved the most threatening. The soldiers laughingly searched her purse as everyone froze in the cold desert night. Shafiq breathes a sigh of relief. The heroes arrive late, again, this time at 0530. Wtf.
A ridiculous bus trip is followed by a taxi ride in a car that barely starts, by a man who is apparently someone’s blind father, who must be babysat. After six attempts, the engine starts. All of a sudden, the heroes hear gunshots. Shafiq ducks. It’s not a gang shootout in the middle of Cairo…it’s the engine backfiring. The taxi doesn’t exceed 50 kmh. The back hatch will not stay closed. Despite several suggestions from Team Germany that perhaps the bags ought to be put in the roof rack, the driver decides it’s better to stop more than a half dozen times to close it. Our heroes decide the best course of action is to reach around the back of the car and hold their bags, hoping they won’t fall out onto the freeway. Shafiq suggests the driver pays the heroes.
Well…I think that is our collective experience so far. And we thought the buses in Turkey were less than pleasurable. I will never again criticise Turkey’s bus system.
