Istanbul
The Final Word

In the same way that Berlin is not Germany, London is not England and New York is not America, Istanbul is not Turkey. These are city-states with their own seperate identity.

This can be demonstrated when you meet someone from these places and you ask "Where are you from?" and they say "New York."

Then I usually say "That is in the US isn't it? I am from Perth." and they give me a strange look and ask "Where?" - but that's my bitch.

The point of the story is, I can tell you about life in Istanbul rather than life in Turkey - I have been to Turkey a couple of times and it seems to have little in common with the former capital.

Many of my students describe two Turkeys – one the modern western model from Ankara to the west and the traditional, more Islamic one to the east of Ankara. I cannot really tell you much about the latter, as I have not been there.

I know it has been said before and it sounds naff but it is true - this is a city of contradictions. East meets West, old meets new, Secular meets religious with all the contradictions that come along with this.

Here are a few observations I would like to make before I sign off on this blog:

People

I know it is wrong to make sweeping generalizations, but there are definitely some national characteristics that can be observed in every culture.

Maybe it is best to use the students’ own words to describe themselves. These are a few adjectives I have heard:

Friendly – people have been very good at trying to help and I have benefited from their hospitality on many occasions.

Passionate – I have never seen so many raging arguments and lover tiffs in the streets. No one seems to pay any attention.

Nationalistic – “this is the best country in the world!”

Well dressed – Istanbul is the home of big hair, fad fashions and the peacock male.

Modern – Istanbullus pride themselves on being part of a modern secular republic, enjoy new (and very expensive) technology and all the benefits of the modern world.

Traditional – you will live your parents until you are married and make babies.

Proud – of their country, of their children, of their history, of their new car etc etc.

Jealous – This might be the cause of all the arguments, don’t look at another man’s woman and expect a lot of phone calls when you have a Turkish boy/girlfriend.

Smelly – In summer this can be murder on the tightly packed buses. Enough said.

Selfish – They do seem to put themselves before anyone else if given the opportunity whether this is queuing up at the post office or trying to get through traffic.

Homophobic – odd scene.

Xenophobic – “I don’t like Greeks, or Arabs, or the French, Kurds, Americans”; “German and English people are cold”; “black people are all thieves and drug dealers” etc etc.

This said they are a Mediterranean people who love to party and have a good time. I have spent many a night in a folk bar with everyone singing along to traditional songs and getting up to dance.

Photo from Mark

Religion

Islam is to Istanbul as Christianity is to Australia. This is the best way to sum it up.

Turkey is the worlds only secular Muslim state which many (America mainly) propose as a model for the Islamic world; but what is the cost of this?

When Ataturk set up his secular republic he put a great influence on the military, when the political leaders got too far from secularism the military was charged with returning it to his vision – in the form of a coupe of which there has been many: 1960, 1971, 1980 and 1997.

Most of the people are not very religious. Everyone said they believed in god but when asked about religion, they said that it was between them and god. Good answer.

Religion here, as in most places, takes the form of culture: people celebrate the bayrams (religious holidays) even though they are not very good at telling you what they are about (a lot like western countries) and people don’t eat pig products. All the people I met only spoke with scorn of extremism and terrorism.

The state does not recognise a marriage conducted in a mosque and if you do take this option, you can have the maximum number of wives that the religion allows. So marriages take place in the registry office and then followed by a party somewhere else.

When you go you will see lots of mosques, but not many people in them. Five times a day you will hear the Ezan or call to prayer but you won’t see many people stopping what they are doing.

Something you will see today in Istanbul is headscarves even a lot of those cover all black ninja outfits. When you look at photos of the city fifty or sixty years ago, it would be hard to spot one. Today they are many fashionable silk numbers covering the hair of the devout.

Ataturk banned the fez and the headscarf shortly after coming to power; its resurgence in popularity has been attributed to the “political Islam”: a sign of rebellion against modernisation and a return to traditional values. Still one wonders whether it is the free choice of the women or that of their fathers and husbands. It is difficult to tell.

Still in the secular state, if you want to hold public office or go to a public university you are not allowed to where a headscarf. This said, the wife of the prime minister wears one.

From my point of view, I could not care less what you wear, as long it is by your own free will. You should be judged by your actions rather than your fashion sense. As for men who force their wives and daughters to put a bag over their head when they go out – they must not have very high opinions of their choices in life.

Photo from Trey

Really, the only religion that is faithfully followed here is football.

Language

This was one of the biggest changes that Ataturk made to Turkish society after coming to power. He changed Turkish from Arabic script to Roman. Not the easiest task in the world, so he had to add a few extra letters and create a few new words. Apparently he did this more or less by himself, and so much so, that some of his most famous speeches were comprehensible to only himself and a few of his closest aides.

The syntax, expressions and grammar seem to have remained the same from Ottoman times. It is definitely not the most attractive language in the world. I often wondered if people were arguing or exchanging pleasantries.

I also found most people to be very unforgiving with the pronunciation. Now, when I am listening to someone trying to speak English I do my best to get the gist of what they are saying. The Turks on the other hand, never seemed to get what I was on about. Most likely, they were not really expecting me to say it.

Politics

The history of the Turkish Republic has been a rocky one. The secular state that was Ataturk’s legacy put the military in charge of keeping it that way. The coups mentioned earlier are evidence of this.

To keep the military in their position of power there is an ingrained programme of nationalist indoctrination from birth. Every home has an image of the great leader and every car has a flag. It is extended even further by the 9-18 months of military service for all males.

At the same time corruption is rife. People pay huge taxes and seem to get very little in return. Dodgy police, no health care, little welfare but free education even if you have 50-60 kids in a class.

The same as most places however there are a few people with vast wealth and the majority who have nothing.

Then there are the Kurds. Some people believe that when Saddam gassed the Kurds in Iraq, and Turkey opened its borders to the refugees, that is when the trouble began.

The problem goes further back, to when the new republic banned their language, dress and culture. This continues today. On the up side, the first Kurdish radio station was opened earlier this year.

The military still has a strong presence in the Kurdish east and when my students are asked about the situation the unanimous reply is: we are right and they are wrong.

Personally, I see the way forward as relinquishing of nationalism on both sides and the government working to improve the quality of life for all its citizens. While the Kurds attack Turks and vice versa, I cannot see this happening.

The political situation today is that the President Sezer is a popular, secular leader and Erodgan is the less popular but economically successful Islamist Prime Minister.

Soon the President must step down and Erodgan is looking ready to take his spot. In this case you would have an Islamist party in both the House of Representatives and executive where they might start making changes that the military and the majority won’t like. A coup seems likely if this happens.

This will also set back the countries planned addition to the European Union which has been on the cards for a long time, but don’t hold your breath for that one. Most people do not think it is a good idea. Why should this Muslim country join a Christian club?

Photo from The Economist

Lifestyle

Meanwhile life continues as normal for most people in the city, which was the capital for five empires. People seem to work very long hours but not all that hard (from what I can see) for very little money. The rubbish piles up on the streets and people sit down every night in front of the cheapest and most popular entertainment – TV. Turkish TV is a novel in itself.

“Every man must have a gun, a wife and horse” or so the saying goes. This seems to be true. Gun ownership is very high. They are cheap and easy to get (a reason I never wanted to argue with anyone). Getting married seems a very popular life-choice and divorce is fairly common. The horse today seems to have been replaced with the car. In a city of 15 million people it is a dangerous combination when mixed with 1500-year-old roads, passionate personalities and handgun ownership.

My parting thought is to go. Don’t take my word for it; discover it for yourself. It is an amazing country with a rich history and good food. You will not be disappointed.

Photo from Mark