Well the election pretty much went as expected, with the AK party getting an even higher percentage of votes than in the 2002 election. I'm not going to write about it here because it's all over the news and I don't really have much to add except to recommend this piece which nicely summarizes the issues surrounding the secularism vs. democracy controversy.

Instead I wanted to share a song\music video that is extremely popular right now. I like the song and I think it's neat how it incorporates clips of old Turkish movies. Bu kadar. I hope you enjoy.


The singer is Nil Karaibrahimgil.

Görüşürüz...

Election this Sunday...

Things are heating up on the streets; in addition to the flags and signs there are people yelling slogans constantly out of moving vehicles and sometimes on foot:

This is the first video I've made and uploaded so don't expect too much... it just gives you an idea of what its like on the streets right now.

It's getting a little bit tense here in Ankara

On the streets, in addition to the ubiquitous glags and posters, each party has been having political gatherings with speeches and yelling and flag waving and occasionally fist-fighting. This event is called a ''miting''. For this reason the streets are being patrolled by inordinately large numbers of police. Police outfitted in riot gear. It's kind of intense, check it out:

There's a new article on BBC about the role of the Kurds in the coming election, check it out.

That's all for now.

Political Overview

I'm going to try to summarize my understanding of the political situation here without going into a complete review of Turkey's history... which is quite difficult.


The party that has the majority in parliament right now is the AK party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi= Justice and Development Party). It is often termed an 'islamist' party in the Western media but it is a conservative party with an Islamic identity that is very moderate compared to what comes to mind when one thinks of the Islamist governments of the world. Ever since Turkey transitioned to multi-party democracy in the 1950's parties that have an Islamic identity have been formed, legitimately elected, but subsequently dissolved by the military, which vehemently supports the secular nationalist party CHP (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi= Republican People's Party) whose power and dominance is threatened by the rise of these more conservative parties which have increasing support, especially in the countryside.


The CHP, which holds the symbolic power of being the party that Ataturk created, believes itself to be the guardian of the values that the Turkish Republic was imbued with at its time of creation. This party is closely intertwined with the military, with which it is ideologically aligned. As such the ideals of democracy are at times overlooked to protect the republic from what it sees are incursions upon the values which are of utmost importance to maintain. Hence the series of coups that have occurred in Turkey regularly, the last one taking place in 1997.


How much of a threat to the secularist order do these Islamist parties present? This is a matter of much controversy and the material evidence is irrelevant in the eyes of the secularists who see the issue as a slippery slope problem. There is the head scarf issue, which doesn't really seem like such a big deal, but has become symbolic and thus an intractable issue. For those who are unaware, wearing the head scarf is not required in Turkey. In fact, far from it. Women who cover their hair are prohibited from working in the public sector and studying in public schools. The head scarf issue has become a complex one and I won't try to unravel it here except to say that the so called 'Islamist' parties think that women should be able to wear whatever they want on their heads, and the secularist hard-liners believe that this will be the first step towards requiring all women to cover their heads.


Other than the head scarf issue, what else is there? Apparently in some areas conservative parties have tried to make adultery illegal and to declare areas in which alcohol is prohibited. This provoked an outcry and these measures never occurred. How serious these proposals were and how far they got I am not sure. I have not been able to find any other examples of material evidence to support the idea that the moderate Islamist parties in Turkey have a hidden agenda to Islamicise Turkish society.


As far as actual working policies, both sides seem pretty much in line with each other. The AK party has been steering the country towards accession to the EU and has encouraged economic growth and free trade. There doesn't seem, to my admittedly minimal understanding, to be any great disagreements between AKP and CHP over economic policy, international relations, etc.


I am also don't know much about the smaller parties, which I know exist because I see their election propaganda everywhere.


Then there are those who think the whole election is a sham... I guess these people would be akin to those in the United States on the far left who believe that the Democrats and Republicans are the same in their commitment to free trade and globalization, and that elections which provide a choice between these two parties are meaningless:





















''The election is not a solution. Join the fight for an independent Turkey tied with neither the USA nor the EU! The Justice and Liberty Front''

So yeah.... comments and corrections welcomed.

The Dolmuş Experience

I live about a 10 minute drive away from where I go to school, and every day, there and back, I take a dolmuş. A dolmuş is like a bus, but not. They are small, privately run (as opposed to the state run bus system), and they go along a set route but you can get on at any point by catching the drivers attention with a wave of the hand. The name dolmuş means literally 'full' or 'stuffed' and they do get full, especially during rush-hour. What really interests me about the dolmuş system is the manner in which people pay for their rides. Instead of getting in at the front of the vehicle, paying first and then sitting down, one boards the bus through a door towards the middle of the bus and immediately sits down. Then, at some point during the ride, one pays by handing the fare up, from person to person, till it reaches the driver. The driver takes the fare and puts it in his special compartmentalized coin box and makes change, all while skillfully negotiating the traffic. The change then gets handed back from person to person till it reaches its rightful owner. Often someone will pay for two passengers with, say, a five lira note . They tell the person they initially hand the note to how many people it is for, and that piece of information is also transferred up to the driver who is making change. This system works extremely well and everyone participates in the communal job of making sure everyone is able to pay and get their correct change.



Maybe I'm cynical but I just can't see this system working in the United States. Generally Americans just don't have a sense of shared responsibility. They would say 'bring your own damn money to the front of the bus, it's everyone for themselves donchta know'? I don't know maybe I'm wrong. But I definitely think that this system says something about Turkish culture... something that I can't put my finger on and that I find a lack of where I come from.

Şimdi Ankara'dayım/ I am now in Ankara

Merhabalar,

I've now been a week at my language school in Ankara and have settled in quite nicely. It is a big city, that's for sure, but qualitatively so different from Istanbul that it's hard to know where to begin. For one thing, it's all new. Sure there are some Hitite ruins scattered around nearby, but before Atatürk made Ankara the capital of the new Turkish republic in 1924 it was a dusty provincial town of no importance. It is the center of governmental administration and official international relations and is home to several of the best universities, and that's about it. There are virtually no tourists. Except for the foreigners I met at my language school (who are from all over the world) I have not seen any foreign visitors. Not once. Because of this, the way one is treated as a foreigner here is totally different. By and large Turks are extremely hospitable but in Istanbul and in the touristy Aegean coast region locals have become jaded on visitors. But here, for example, instead of trying to overcharge on the bill, restaurantuers will add an appetizer or dessert free of charge and ask interestedly where you are from, how long you are staying, etc.


There is not much going on in terms of nightlife but I am not really a party-hearty type of person anyway. I do hope to meet young Turkish people, whom there are plenty of in this university town, but I will have to find some way to do it that doesn't involve giving a man the idea I want to go on a date, which is quite difficult.


Being in the capital is particulary exciting because there is a national general election coming up. The streets are festively adorned with banners and flags proclaiming the merits of the various political parties. I will follow up with details regarding the political situation here soon, but for now here are some examples of the election propaganda:

''In unity we succeeded; don't leave ıt half done'' (AK Party)

''People's party, people's leader'' (CHP Party)

''Don't forget the 12th of September: don't give your vote to the ones who use coup d'etat'' (ESP Party)

It's all very exciting. Yes.