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It is not easy to be a Turk
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| 1. |
09 Feb 2008 Sat 02:24 am |
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As questions build up, people speculate eagerly. And with each new question the anxiety in the air increases somewhat. Anxiety and melancholy. These are components of the conversations of the cultural elite in Turkey. It is not easy to be a Turk.
It is not easy to be a Turk in a world that is becoming more and more polarized. A world where the number of people who believe in a “Clash of Civilizations†escalates each day. A world in which more and more hardliners claim that Islam and Western democracy cannot coexist. At first glance, Islamic fundamentalists and Western Islamophobics might seem to be poles apart. But they are not. They share the same prejudice and narrow-mindedness toward the Other and the same desire to exclude everyone who doesn't echo their views. Hardliners in one country produce more hardliners elsewhere.
“East†and “West†are relational categories, and yet, they are often used as if they were mutually exclusive. The world we are living in regards gray areas with suspicion as if life is solely composed of two colors: Black and white. Today, there is a considerable degree of fear of Islam in the West and a considerable degree of dislike of the West in the Muslim world. Biases are produced mutually, and they keep breeding one another.
In this tumultuous setting it is not easy for a country to entail both Eastern and Western elements, and to remain both Muslim and secular. It is not easy for a country to be located at the threshold of Europe and the Muslim Middle East. Turkey's neighbors are not Norway, Denmark or Sweden. Life could have been easier then. But our neighbors include Iran, Syria and Iraq. This is a difficult geography. We are at the crossroads of multiple identities.
The life of a woman writer in Istanbul is not a sterile or static life. It resembles living in a big and noisy boat. You feel like you are in a perpetual voyage. You feel like you are part of a journey. There are two tides underneath the boat, each pulling in a different direction. On the one hand there is the tide of Westernization, modernity and further democratization. On the other hand is the tide of xenophobia and insularity. The boat moves in the direction of the first tide. It has been moving in this direction for the last 100 years at least. But the knowledge of the existence of a second tide can be unnerving and discomforting.
Gloom
So the intellectuals in Istanbul have plenty of reasons to feel gloomy from time to time. They also feel resentful toward European intellectuals who are biased toward Turkey and therefore constantly misunderstand and misinterpret the country. “Why can't European intellectuals have a more sophisticated and positive view and better understand the significance of Turkey for Europe?†This is a question that many ponder.
In Turkey these days, even “small talk†has “big†topics. A Norwegian, Swiss or Italian author can afford to be a solitary person and chose to live in an introverted, apolitical, antisocial cocoon of his or her own. A Turkish writer seldom has such a luxury. Literature and culture are oftentimes intertwined with politics here. Nevertheless, it is also true that art and literature are nourished by conflicts and challenges, of which Turkey has way too many. As such, Turkey, especially Istanbul, is a treasure for writers and artists.
Sometimes I cannot help to think that had Gabriel Garcia Marquez been a Turkish author, he might just as well have written a novel named One Hundred Years of Angst. One hundred years of Westernization and modernization and secularization, accompanied by a dose of anxiety and melancholy.
http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/editorial.php?ed=elif_safak
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| 2. |
09 Feb 2008 Sat 02:47 am |
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Quoting Nobless:
It is not easy to be a Turk in a world that is becoming more and more polarized. A world where the number of people who believe in a “Clash of Civilizations†escalates each day. A world in which more and more hardliners claim that Islam and Western democracy cannot coexist. At first glance, Islamic fundamentalists and Western Islamophobics might seem to be poles apart. But they are not. They share the same prejudice and narrow-mindedness toward the Other and the same desire to exclude everyone who doesn't echo their views. Hardliners in one country produce more hardliners elsewhere.
http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/editorial.php?ed=elif_safak
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At last !
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| 3. |
09 Feb 2008 Sat 09:51 am |
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Quoting Nobless: The life of a woman writer in Istanbul is not a sterile or static life. It resembles living in a big and noisy boat. You feel like you are in a perpetual voyage. You feel like you are part of a journey. There are two tides underneath the boat, each pulling in a different direction. On the one hand there is the tide of Westernization, modernity and further democratization. On the other hand is the tide of xenophobia and insularity. The boat moves in the direction of the first tide. It has been moving in this direction for the last 100 years at least. But the knowledge of the existence of a second tide can be unnerving and discomforting. |
Hmmmm interesting article. Poor turks ya? 
Your name is nobless? 
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| 4. |
09 Feb 2008 Sat 11:01 am |
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Quote: Quoting peace train: At first glance, Islamic fundamentalists and Western Islamophobics might seem to be poles apart. But they are not. They share the same prejudice and narrow-mindedness toward the Other and the same desire to exclude everyone who doesn't echo their views. Hardliners in one country produce more hardliners elsewhere. |
At last ! |
At last? At last what? Personally, I do not know any "Islamophobes". Most people, myself included, willingly tolerate and embrace any culture or religion which does not advocate oppression, death and hatred.
However, I can see how you think they are the same. Even as I look out of my window I can see young Islamaphobes in terrorist training camps 
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| 5. |
09 Feb 2008 Sat 06:16 pm |
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Quoting Nobless: As questions build up, people speculate eagerly. And with each new question the anxiety in the air increases somewhat. Anxiety and melancholy. These are components of the conversations of the cultural elite in Turkey. It is not easy to be a Turk.
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im not surprised at all. but being born to be the intellectual elite isnt meant to be relaxed. actually they carry a huge burden for the whole nation. its up to the elite what would happen to the entire nation. they have a huge authority. they write and the nation reads, they teach and the nation listens.
Quoting Nobless:
It is not easy to be a Turk in a world that is becoming more and more polarized.
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therefore i feel sorry for turks in this aspect, for being in a center of clash.
Quoting Nobless:
A world where the number of people who believe in a “Clash of Civilizations†escalates each day.
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its not about a faith in the fact, but its about the fact itself. believe or not theres a clash, unfortunately not avoidable. the gap has grown up much, the west has moved forward on a high speed natural ways, and the east held by dictators, tightened with backward traditions or religions.
Quoting Nobless:
A world in which more and more hardliners claim that Islam and Western democracy cannot coexist.
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this is a fact, the fact that has proven itself in our everyday life in every sphere.
Quoting Nobless:
At first glance, Islamic fundamentalists and Western Islamophobics might seem to be poles apart. But they are not. They share the same prejudice and narrow-mindedness toward the Other and the same desire to exclude everyone who doesn't echo their views. Hardliners in one country produce more hardliners elsewhere.
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well, this part is absolutely not true. i as an anti-islamist i speak and state what i see and what i think. and i dont call anyone to kill or destroy.
so comparing me to them is like comapring a fontain against a flood.
the islamists cant stand any criticism and they are ready do slit throats of any who speaks against islam.
so islam is dangerous to co-exist with.
Quoting Nobless:
“East†and “West†are relational categories, and yet, they are often used as if they were mutually exclusive. The world we are living in regards gray areas with suspicion as if life is solely composed of two colors: Black and white. Today, there is a considerable degree of fear of Islam in the West and a considerable degree of dislike of the West in the Muslim world. Biases are produced mutually, and they keep breeding one another.
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well, the islam has proven its ability to co-exist by thousands of examples like 9/11 and 7/7 throughout its very beginning.
lets not put islam and the western civilization as equal. one is absolutely barbaric, ther other tries to find comprimising dialogue (though islam doesnt know what is dialogue on the partnership base, in islam its always my way or highway).
why do people wonder of why the west dislike islam? what makes islam demand from the west an understanding? what does the west owe to the east?
Quoting Nobless:
In this tumultuous setting it is not easy for a country to entail both Eastern and Western elements, and to remain both Muslim and secular. It is not easy for a country to be located at the threshold of Europe and the Muslim Middle East. Turkey's neighbors are not Norway, Denmark or Sweden. Life could have been easier then. But our neighbors include Iran, Syria and Iraq. This is a difficult geography. We are at the crossroads of multiple identities.
The life of a woman writer in Istanbul is not a sterile or static life. It resembles living in a big and noisy boat. You feel like you are in a perpetual voyage. You feel like you are part of a journey. There are two tides underneath the boat, each pulling in a different direction. On the one hand there is the tide of Westernization, modernity and further democratization. On the other hand is the tide of xenophobia and insularity. The boat moves in the direction of the first tide. It has been moving in this direction for the last 100 years at least. But the knowledge of the existence of a second tide can be unnerving and discomforting.
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completly agree!
Quoting Nobless:
Gloom
So the intellectuals in Istanbul have plenty of reasons to feel gloomy from time to time. They also feel resentful toward European intellectuals who are biased toward Turkey and therefore constantly misunderstand and misinterpret the country. “Why can't European intellectuals have a more sophisticated and positive view and better understand the significance of Turkey for Europe?†This is a question that many ponder.
In Turkey these days, even “small talk†has “big†topics. A Norwegian, Swiss or Italian author can afford to be a solitary person and chose to live in an introverted, apolitical, antisocial cocoon of his or her own. A Turkish writer seldom has such a luxury. Literature and culture are oftentimes intertwined with politics here. Nevertheless, it is also true that art and literature are nourished by conflicts and challenges, of which Turkey has way too many. As such, Turkey, especially Istanbul, is a treasure for writers and artists.
Sometimes I cannot help to think that had Gabriel Garcia Marquez been a Turkish author, he might just as well have written a novel named One Hundred Years of Angst. One hundred years of Westernization and modernization and secularization, accompanied by a dose of anxiety and melancholy.
http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/editorial.php?ed=elif_safak
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the eastern mentality doesnt allow the bright minds to work independently.
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| 6. |
09 Feb 2008 Sat 07:47 pm |
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Quote: Quoting AEnigma III: Quoting nobless: At first glance, Islamic fundamentalists and Western Islamophobics might seem to be poles apart. But they are not. They share the same prejudice and narrow-mindedness toward the Other and the same desire to exclude everyone who doesn't echo their views. Hardliners in one country produce more hardliners elsewhere. |
At last ! |
At last? At last what? Personally, I do not know any "Islamophobes". Most people, myself included, willingly tolerate and embrace any culture or religion which does not advocate oppression, death and hatred.
However, I can see how you think they are the same. Even as I look out of my window I can see young Islamaphobes in terrorist training camps |
My mistake, wrong paragraph. should have been this one.
“East†and “West†are relational categories, and yet, they are often used as if they were mutually exclusive. The world we are living in regards gray areas with suspicion as if life is solely composed of two colors: Black and white. Today, there is a considerable degree of fear of Islam in the West and a considerable degree of dislike of the West in the Muslim world. Biases are produced mutually, and they keep breeding one another.
You don't have to explain yourself to me. I have never accused you of racism or being an islamaphobe, nor do I allude to it, or think it. My opinion of you has only ever been about your agenda at times to heat up arguments, you have said yourself you will argue for arguing's sake, because you like to argue.
If you think of some of the issues discussed on this forum as a contnuum, black at one end, white at the other, I would say most people are in the grey area but all that gets pulicised is the black and white and this perpetuates the divide between the 2 poles. Being in the grey area doesn't mean one suffers from apathy, it doesn't mean atrocities or views of either end of the spectrum are condoned.
I saw this paragraph and it summed up what I feel very succinctly. As you have in the past accused my silence about issues you raised as condoning what you are against, I wanted to address it and that paragraph does it for me. Unfortunately I pasted the paragraph that preceded it in error.
In fact IMO the best mediators will be somewhere on the grey area of the continuum, simply because they aren't intransigent. They are versed in the views and practices of the black and the white, they form opinions, but they also have the vision of what is needed to bring about reform. I'm not saying everyone in the grey area is capable of this though.
Finding an answer to today's problems is not going to happen overnight, but it will happen if we want it badly enough and simply bashing each other won't get the world anywhere.
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| 7. |
09 Feb 2008 Sat 07:57 pm |
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anti-islamists and anti-turks are here still...what are your problem with Turkey. go and chose your country's problem.ppl in your country are trying to move to Turkey .criticise your own people, not Turkish...if you dont like Turkey or Turkish, leave here we are trying to help ppl who need help in Turkish...we dont wanna see your racist posts...
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| 8. |
09 Feb 2008 Sat 09:09 pm |
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Quoting Lapinkulta: .criticise your own people, not Turkish... |
We do both 
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| 9. |
09 Feb 2008 Sat 09:12 pm |
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Quoting Lapinkulta: anti-islamists and anti-turks are here still...what are your problem with Turkey. go and chose your country's problem.ppl in your country are trying to move to Turkey .criticise your own people, not Turkish...if you dont like Turkey or Turkish, leave here we are trying to help ppl who need help in Turkish...we dont wanna see your racist posts...
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Buaaahahahahhaha! 
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| 10. |
09 Feb 2008 Sat 09:19 pm |
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Quoting Lapinkulta: we dont wanna see your racist posts...
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Go do something useful. You are not helping anyone saying those, actually, you are just confirming our thoughts on men infected with Turkishness.
There is nothing racist in criticism. However, I strongly recall racistic words from you about Kurdish people.
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