Just cause this stuff is important...
The writer of the blog and these twitter posts is an Iranian that Gregg met through a friend. He is in Iran presently.
South is South
Homeboy on Twitter
There's a lot of information, misinformation, and rumor going around, and this is probably the last I will post on the matter (as I am neither there, nor informed enough to be a source of quality info). His description of the protests seems similar to what we do in Istanbul on May 1, except that paramilitaries and cops are shooting people. I watched an incredibly disturbing video on Facebook, of a woman bleeding from several bullet wounds: one to the breast, one to the eye.
She is most assuredly dead now.
The tactics and approach of the Iranian leadership are nothing short of fascist. I don't know if the term "Islamo-fascism" is being thrown around stateside, but I wanted to offer that the term is misleading. What we are witnessing in Iran is typical of how states behave, when their power is seriously challenged. Islamic, Catholic, Communist, Democratic... everything happening in Iran right now has happened before elsewhere.
From what little I know of Musavi's politics, I know that I don't like them. This is surely the situation for many protesters on the street, who are agitating for wholesale reform of the Iranian mechanisms of government and economics. Revolutions make for strange bedfellows, just as they did in Iran's previous revolution. I hope that the Iranian left has enough sense to get armed and prepare for a backlash from the political right, should the present stage of dissent succeed.
Otherwise, we will probably witness a repeat of the 1980s, with a new pro-western face for the fascism.
Showing posts with label Government. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Government. Show all posts
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Historically speaking...
A few days ago I was thinking about Columbia (it came up in a class I was teaching), and the thought led me back to Turkey. The thought was something like:
'Imagine a _____ [fill in a country] where there had been no US intervention in the 20th century. What paths would the many imaginative and beautiful people there have chosen for themselves? What lives would they be living now? What national obsessions and grass-roots initiatives would they be acting out?'
I don't think people fully realize, that an event like the Iranian revolution, in 1979, doesn't represent merely a serious change in 1980. Rather, it represents frantically dramatic and unpredictable changes for their culture in 2009. We are witnessing that play out now.
Turkey, which saw huge gains for labor and human rights in the 60s and 70s, is instead (almost thirty years after the last coup), now a country of high unemployment and authoritarian management-worker relations, a stifled press, etc. My school, for example, keeps taking parts of my paycheck, and that just doesn't happen in countries with strong unions.
The consequences of these and other historic catastrophes make me uncomfortable. I feel both a sense of powerlessness and accompanying discomfort due to the awareness that, back home in the US in the same thirty-year period, we nurtured a culture of largely playful people, who are highly digital-savvy, and for the most part, pretty cool.
There's a bit of white guilt buried there, I suppose, but more than that, I am merely aghast at how horrifyingly wrong our foreign policy has been... pretty much as long as we've had foreign policy. From where I sit, I feel that the US and Western Europe are, or rather were, securely insulated by their prosperity. A lot of beautiful things resulted from that, along with a lot of waste.
With all this in mind, I found the graphic below, which made my jaw drop...
This image represents the catastrophic failure of free-market capitalism (if not, simply, all capitalism) over the last twelve months. Looking forward, I feel this bodes ill for the United States' future prospects, particularly if we intend to continue with a modified capitalist economy. We were a country that could spend on demonstrably influential projects (even if I don't agree with all/any of them). From here on out, I don't know that we will have money to spend at all.
Here is a link to the article.
I am trying to imagine how distinctly different American culture is now, from say the oil crises of the 1970s (I'm just choosing a random crisis from roughly thirty years ago). The America my kids (God-forbid) grow up in will be distinctly less-influential than that into which I was born. Who knows whether that will be a good thing, but I doubt it.
For real though, the AIG bailout costs the same as the Marshal Plan did!?!
Jumpin' gee wilikers!
'Imagine a _____ [fill in a country] where there had been no US intervention in the 20th century. What paths would the many imaginative and beautiful people there have chosen for themselves? What lives would they be living now? What national obsessions and grass-roots initiatives would they be acting out?'
I don't think people fully realize, that an event like the Iranian revolution, in 1979, doesn't represent merely a serious change in 1980. Rather, it represents frantically dramatic and unpredictable changes for their culture in 2009. We are witnessing that play out now.
Turkey, which saw huge gains for labor and human rights in the 60s and 70s, is instead (almost thirty years after the last coup), now a country of high unemployment and authoritarian management-worker relations, a stifled press, etc. My school, for example, keeps taking parts of my paycheck, and that just doesn't happen in countries with strong unions.
The consequences of these and other historic catastrophes make me uncomfortable. I feel both a sense of powerlessness and accompanying discomfort due to the awareness that, back home in the US in the same thirty-year period, we nurtured a culture of largely playful people, who are highly digital-savvy, and for the most part, pretty cool.
There's a bit of white guilt buried there, I suppose, but more than that, I am merely aghast at how horrifyingly wrong our foreign policy has been... pretty much as long as we've had foreign policy. From where I sit, I feel that the US and Western Europe are, or rather were, securely insulated by their prosperity. A lot of beautiful things resulted from that, along with a lot of waste.
With all this in mind, I found the graphic below, which made my jaw drop...
This image represents the catastrophic failure of free-market capitalism (if not, simply, all capitalism) over the last twelve months. Looking forward, I feel this bodes ill for the United States' future prospects, particularly if we intend to continue with a modified capitalist economy. We were a country that could spend on demonstrably influential projects (even if I don't agree with all/any of them). From here on out, I don't know that we will have money to spend at all.
Here is a link to the article.
I am trying to imagine how distinctly different American culture is now, from say the oil crises of the 1970s (I'm just choosing a random crisis from roughly thirty years ago). The America my kids (God-forbid) grow up in will be distinctly less-influential than that into which I was born. Who knows whether that will be a good thing, but I doubt it.
For real though, the AIG bailout costs the same as the Marshal Plan did!?!
Jumpin' gee wilikers!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Not helping things...
I was reading this week that Turkey is using thermal cameras in airports, scanning international travelers who enter the country as part of their entry/passport control procedures. The effort is to detect those infected with swine flu, whose feverish symptoms are easily recognizable in the camera.
Libertarian concerns aside, I think it's a neat idea for finding infected people, ensure that they are treated, and containing the spread of a deadly disease.
Similar cameras are in use at the Bulgarian and Greek border crossings.
A colleague traveled to London, over the weekend, and so I asked her about the entry procedure. As she explained, there are two lines for passport control, one for Turkish nationals and another for foreign nationals. The line for foreign nationals was apparently backed up for hours, because each individual entering through this path had to pass through one of the cameras. However, it is a lucky time for Turks. They don't have to deal with the uncomfortable wait, long lines, or the thermal cameras: the only people being scanned, before entry into Turkey, are those who do not possess a Turkish passport and ID card.
I can only speculate, but the logic must run something akin to: Turkish people are Muslims and Muslims don't eat pork. Thus, Turkish people can't have been exposed to swine flu.
Libertarian concerns aside, I think it's a neat idea for finding infected people, ensure that they are treated, and containing the spread of a deadly disease.
Similar cameras are in use at the Bulgarian and Greek border crossings.
A colleague traveled to London, over the weekend, and so I asked her about the entry procedure. As she explained, there are two lines for passport control, one for Turkish nationals and another for foreign nationals. The line for foreign nationals was apparently backed up for hours, because each individual entering through this path had to pass through one of the cameras. However, it is a lucky time for Turks. They don't have to deal with the uncomfortable wait, long lines, or the thermal cameras: the only people being scanned, before entry into Turkey, are those who do not possess a Turkish passport and ID card.
I can only speculate, but the logic must run something akin to: Turkish people are Muslims and Muslims don't eat pork. Thus, Turkish people can't have been exposed to swine flu.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Pete, Pete, and Repeat walk into a bar...
Let me try to connect the dots...
I've been listening to a podcast called "The Best of the Left", and last week there was a discussion about metaphorical echo chambers. According to Wikipedia, "the term echo chamber is any situation in which information, ideas or beliefs are amplified or reinforced by transmission inside an 'enclosed' space." I gather it is not an actual enclosed space, but instead the simple act of talking to, reading, or listening to opinions that already agree with one's own (thus reinforcing them as correct).
When you hear someone say, "you're preaching to the choir," they are basically saying to you that the echo chamber of your relationship is redundant, in this case.
The point made in the podcast, or what caught my ear, dealt with a study that sought to determine whether readers of online news were ghettoizing themselves into echo chambers, and only reading information from sources that reflected their opinions.
Turns out, they don't, defying the expectations of researchers.
The study showed that bloggers and their readers alike, prefer to read what the other side is saying. Thus, ideologies are defined dialectically, in relation to one another, rather than through echo chambers. Blogs go a step further, creating a venue where people can interact with the "other" side. Posting comments to a blog is one example of how this process works, mechanically speaking.
Another nail in the coffin of the newspaper industry!
This relates to Turkey, in a minute...
I was raised, like most Americans, on the assumption of an objective media. The idea that journalism should report "just the facts, ma'am", and that the field brought with it none of the dishonest taints which accompany academia, politics, or discussions around the water-cooler.
Thus was I in for a shock, my first summer in Turkey. Myself a young leftist at the time, I learned through leftist friends of leftist newspapers and leftist magazines. These were clearly and aggressively ideological publications, and available in most news-stands (except those owned by the political right). A magazine rack provides a number of political stances, and while searching for one, a reader inevitably learns about others. Publications are also pressed to keep each other honest, because what could be more fun than discrediting your ideological foes.
Some of these papers are sufficiently extreme, that they are constantly being closed by the government, and then re-organizing under different names. One specifically, Gündem, used to print a "Victims" column, everyday featuring a journalist, lawyer, or revolutionary killed by the Turkish "Deep State". To carry Gündem in public was to declare to other Turks your ideological stance.
I remember a man in Tatvan, who was holding up his Gündem such that any passerby could see the headline and title as they passed. I felt that he wasn't reading, so much as making a statement about his politics, a proclamation of his leftist-ness.
Certainly, it was an act of defiance. Gündem was shut down in 2005.
The New York Times seems intended for hippy-pussies by comparison.
I noticed long ago that Turks are generally more politically aware. My political persuasion often differs from those with whom I speak, but there is clearly a mutual understanding of the political spectrum, the agents of political change, and the means available for exercising power. We disagree, but we understand one another. It's like we're speaking the same language, even though we're not.
Turkey is a military state. What I find interesting, is that with political action literally paralyzed by the threat of imprisonment or extra-state assassination, dissident voices constantly emerge from all points of the political spectrum. Their contribution to the larger conversation resonates meaningfully. The closest thing we have to this is Jon Stewart getting into an argument with Tucker Carlson.
Either ours is a fundamentally conservative country, or our leadership has complete control, for the differences between liberals and conservatives never come down to ideology, but rather policy. Americans all seem to want basically the same things. I know I'm failing to define this clearly, but I'll need to think on it more. The Turkish Left and Right want radically different things for Turkey (different from each other and different from what the Turkish state presently provides).
I could be wrong (and perhaps I ran from the America of my parents' generation, and not mine), but I get the sense Americans just want a middle/upper-middle class, college educated, nuclear family, lifestyle. Something which could be described as "Compassionate Capitalism", which is maybe also eco-friendly.
My ideology leads me to want collective ownership of the means of production and democratic participation in all levels of society, also maximization of local political authority into smaller geographic areas than nations (of our size) would be appreciated.
Those are distinctly different goals...
I've been listening to a podcast called "The Best of the Left", and last week there was a discussion about metaphorical echo chambers. According to Wikipedia, "the term echo chamber is any situation in which information, ideas or beliefs are amplified or reinforced by transmission inside an 'enclosed' space." I gather it is not an actual enclosed space, but instead the simple act of talking to, reading, or listening to opinions that already agree with one's own (thus reinforcing them as correct).
When you hear someone say, "you're preaching to the choir," they are basically saying to you that the echo chamber of your relationship is redundant, in this case.
The point made in the podcast, or what caught my ear, dealt with a study that sought to determine whether readers of online news were ghettoizing themselves into echo chambers, and only reading information from sources that reflected their opinions.
Turns out, they don't, defying the expectations of researchers.
The study showed that bloggers and their readers alike, prefer to read what the other side is saying. Thus, ideologies are defined dialectically, in relation to one another, rather than through echo chambers. Blogs go a step further, creating a venue where people can interact with the "other" side. Posting comments to a blog is one example of how this process works, mechanically speaking.
Another nail in the coffin of the newspaper industry!
This relates to Turkey, in a minute...
I was raised, like most Americans, on the assumption of an objective media. The idea that journalism should report "just the facts, ma'am", and that the field brought with it none of the dishonest taints which accompany academia, politics, or discussions around the water-cooler.
Thus was I in for a shock, my first summer in Turkey. Myself a young leftist at the time, I learned through leftist friends of leftist newspapers and leftist magazines. These were clearly and aggressively ideological publications, and available in most news-stands (except those owned by the political right). A magazine rack provides a number of political stances, and while searching for one, a reader inevitably learns about others. Publications are also pressed to keep each other honest, because what could be more fun than discrediting your ideological foes.
Some of these papers are sufficiently extreme, that they are constantly being closed by the government, and then re-organizing under different names. One specifically, Gündem, used to print a "Victims" column, everyday featuring a journalist, lawyer, or revolutionary killed by the Turkish "Deep State". To carry Gündem in public was to declare to other Turks your ideological stance.
I remember a man in Tatvan, who was holding up his Gündem such that any passerby could see the headline and title as they passed. I felt that he wasn't reading, so much as making a statement about his politics, a proclamation of his leftist-ness.
Certainly, it was an act of defiance. Gündem was shut down in 2005.
The New York Times seems intended for hippy-pussies by comparison.
I noticed long ago that Turks are generally more politically aware. My political persuasion often differs from those with whom I speak, but there is clearly a mutual understanding of the political spectrum, the agents of political change, and the means available for exercising power. We disagree, but we understand one another. It's like we're speaking the same language, even though we're not.
Turkey is a military state. What I find interesting, is that with political action literally paralyzed by the threat of imprisonment or extra-state assassination, dissident voices constantly emerge from all points of the political spectrum. Their contribution to the larger conversation resonates meaningfully. The closest thing we have to this is Jon Stewart getting into an argument with Tucker Carlson.
Either ours is a fundamentally conservative country, or our leadership has complete control, for the differences between liberals and conservatives never come down to ideology, but rather policy. Americans all seem to want basically the same things. I know I'm failing to define this clearly, but I'll need to think on it more. The Turkish Left and Right want radically different things for Turkey (different from each other and different from what the Turkish state presently provides).
I could be wrong (and perhaps I ran from the America of my parents' generation, and not mine), but I get the sense Americans just want a middle/upper-middle class, college educated, nuclear family, lifestyle. Something which could be described as "Compassionate Capitalism", which is maybe also eco-friendly.
My ideology leads me to want collective ownership of the means of production and democratic participation in all levels of society, also maximization of local political authority into smaller geographic areas than nations (of our size) would be appreciated.
Those are distinctly different goals...
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Some Links...
I wanted to make the lives of the curious that much easier, and gathered several links about the revolution (not sure what else to call it) in Greece. They include:
Statement by Greek Anarchists/ Anti-Authoritarians
Blog of a British Anarchist
Link to pictures... everything is basically on fire.
There was a call for global solidarity protests today, and I'll be checking the newspapers tomorrow to see if anything happened in Turkey. Last night, as we strolled past the Greek consulate, along the Istiklal, I noticed a police bus parked directly in front of the entrance, several cops dozing inside.
It was a rainy day today, but I do so hope they had to earn their paychecks.
Statement by Greek Anarchists/ Anti-Authoritarians
Blog of a British Anarchist
Link to pictures... everything is basically on fire.
There was a call for global solidarity protests today, and I'll be checking the newspapers tomorrow to see if anything happened in Turkey. Last night, as we strolled past the Greek consulate, along the Istiklal, I noticed a police bus parked directly in front of the entrance, several cops dozing inside.
It was a rainy day today, but I do so hope they had to earn their paychecks.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
These folks are happy about Obama...
So happy, in fact, that in the city of Van they sacrificed forty-four sheep!
Following Friday prayers, in the village of Çavuştepe, the sheep were sacrificed in the hopes that Obama will be able to solve the global economic/political/terrorism problem (take your pick, there was a list). According to the daily newspaper, Milliyet, the villagers smeared the blood of the sheep across several posters, bearing slogans such as:
"The people of Van love Obama!"
"Obama, you are the man who will change the world!"
"You are one [a part] of us!"
After the sacrifice, portions of the sheep were combined with rice and the people of the village enjoyed a feast.
The people of Çavuştepe will also send several of the posters, and the famous Van cat, to the White House. I hope it doesn't bother Malia's allergies.
Following Friday prayers, in the village of Çavuştepe, the sheep were sacrificed in the hopes that Obama will be able to solve the global economic/political/terrorism problem (take your pick, there was a list). According to the daily newspaper, Milliyet, the villagers smeared the blood of the sheep across several posters, bearing slogans such as:
"The people of Van love Obama!"
"Obama, you are the man who will change the world!"
"You are one [a part] of us!"
After the sacrifice, portions of the sheep were combined with rice and the people of the village enjoyed a feast.
The people of Çavuştepe will also send several of the posters, and the famous Van cat, to the White House. I hope it doesn't bother Malia's allergies.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Poetry...
The collision is beautiful, the politics and the pop culture, and I can't convey enough how richly and seamlessly absurd it can all be.
This is why I keep living in Turkey:
Bülent Ersoy, on her way to court to defend herself against the medieval Turkish legal code, had the support of more than one creative fan. The charge against her, of attempting to alienate the Turkish people from military service, follows her statements denouncing the mindless waste of life caused by Turkey's unofficial war against the Kurds of Northern Iraq.
"If I had a son, I would not send him to serve in the military."
As she entered the courthouse, spectators held signs reading "Biji Diva!"
Ersoy is reknowned in Turkey as one of the nation's first openly transexual singers. The signs championing her cause, written in Kurdish, best translate as "Long live the Diva!"
This is why I keep living in Turkey:
Bülent Ersoy, on her way to court to defend herself against the medieval Turkish legal code, had the support of more than one creative fan. The charge against her, of attempting to alienate the Turkish people from military service, follows her statements denouncing the mindless waste of life caused by Turkey's unofficial war against the Kurds of Northern Iraq.
"If I had a son, I would not send him to serve in the military."
As she entered the courthouse, spectators held signs reading "Biji Diva!"
Ersoy is reknowned in Turkey as one of the nation's first openly transexual singers. The signs championing her cause, written in Kurdish, best translate as "Long live the Diva!"
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Holy Shit!
Nothing to do with Turkey, really, but sometimes I do get a question from a curious taxi driver, or there's a conversation with other expats, about whether I will vote in the upcoming election.
Truth be told, I believe that electoral and other representative political systems are anti-democratic, and for the sake of freedom, should be fought wherever they are found.
Ahhh, but there is such power in that which I have been programmed to believe is important...
So, I tended to think I would vote. I missed the last election, on account of traveling, and I logged a note somewhere in my brain that I should make up for that lapse in my civic duty by voting in the next one.
Course, then I read stuff like this:
That covers every election I have been legally eligible to vote in. EVERY. FUCKING. ONE.
The article is here, and I found out about it here...
If someone told me that, in order to select a new President, I should transform a glass of water into ice, with my mind, I probably wouldn't give them the time of day (least, not more than 10 minutes). Here I am, thousands of miles away, and I'm being asked to play craps (or worse, the lottery) with my vote.
I cast it, and maybe they'll count it.
So, the answer to the question is a definitive "no".
Truth be told, I believe that electoral and other representative political systems are anti-democratic, and for the sake of freedom, should be fought wherever they are found.
Ahhh, but there is such power in that which I have been programmed to believe is important...
So, I tended to think I would vote. I missed the last election, on account of traveling, and I logged a note somewhere in my brain that I should make up for that lapse in my civic duty by voting in the next one.
Course, then I read stuff like this:
A voting system used in 34 states contains a critical programming error that can cause votes to be dropped while being electronically transferred from memory cards to a central tallying point, the manufacturer acknowledges.
The problem was identified after complaints from Ohio elections officials following the March primary there, but the logic error that is the root of the problem has been part of the software for 10 years, said Chris Riggall, a spokesman for Premier Election Solutions, formerly known as Diebold.
That covers every election I have been legally eligible to vote in. EVERY. FUCKING. ONE.
The article is here, and I found out about it here...
If someone told me that, in order to select a new President, I should transform a glass of water into ice, with my mind, I probably wouldn't give them the time of day (least, not more than 10 minutes). Here I am, thousands of miles away, and I'm being asked to play craps (or worse, the lottery) with my vote.
I cast it, and maybe they'll count it.
So, the answer to the question is a definitive "no".
Thursday, August 7, 2008
The People I Meet When I Travel: The King of Bahrain
OK, so that's a lie, I didn't actually meet the king of Bahrain.
I did, however, become wildly inebriated within fifty feet of him.
I did not know he was there.
I was waiting for him to arrive, and my buddies were late pointing out that I'd missed him coming in.
Basically, I popped down to the hotel lobby because there was a lot of noise in front of the hotel. I was with two of the military intel people that help me pass the time, so I figured, "what the hell, let's see what this is all about".
There was quite an entourage. Security people kept wandering in, slowly. Some were dressed like tourists, except for their funny earpieces. Others had their suits. As more of these folks began to arrive, the lobby bar slowly cleared out, until only myself and my two pals were left. I actually missed his entrance because I went to the little boy's room.
If we were expected to leave, nobody said anything. Some security people just sat down next to us at the bar. I hope these people understood English, cause it would be nice to think that someone from the king's crew could follow our jibes.
Everyone comes from a birth canal, and each of those is pretty special, in its own right. So, I'm not about to regard someone who came from a 'royal' birth canal as particularly unique. Certainly, I'm not about to give any person absolute power on the basis that the birth canal from whence they were delivered is superior to those of other mortals.
In the case of King Hamad ibn Isa al-Khalifah, he was actually the emir of Bahrain, up until he changed his title to king. So much for divine right. Abandoning one's own ridiculous absolutist customs for those of the European middle-ages may, at first glance, seem desirable. Let's be honest though, everybody can see through what you're doing, and they still think you're a dick for it.
The ceremony with which the king departed the lobby drove the point home, for me. Everybody in the lobby stood (that is, everybody except me and the remaining intel guy). There were two rows of dignitaries, military men, and security, through which the king proceeded, on his way down to the hotel club. I couldn't see him until he was very close, and learning why had a pronounced effect on my reaction.
When I saw that the king comes up to about my shoulder, and has a striking resemblance to Ron Jeremy, well, I choked on my beer and began coughing... loudly.
I did, however, become wildly inebriated within fifty feet of him.
I did not know he was there.
I was waiting for him to arrive, and my buddies were late pointing out that I'd missed him coming in.
Basically, I popped down to the hotel lobby because there was a lot of noise in front of the hotel. I was with two of the military intel people that help me pass the time, so I figured, "what the hell, let's see what this is all about".
There was quite an entourage. Security people kept wandering in, slowly. Some were dressed like tourists, except for their funny earpieces. Others had their suits. As more of these folks began to arrive, the lobby bar slowly cleared out, until only myself and my two pals were left. I actually missed his entrance because I went to the little boy's room.
If we were expected to leave, nobody said anything. Some security people just sat down next to us at the bar. I hope these people understood English, cause it would be nice to think that someone from the king's crew could follow our jibes.
Everyone comes from a birth canal, and each of those is pretty special, in its own right. So, I'm not about to regard someone who came from a 'royal' birth canal as particularly unique. Certainly, I'm not about to give any person absolute power on the basis that the birth canal from whence they were delivered is superior to those of other mortals.
In the case of King Hamad ibn Isa al-Khalifah, he was actually the emir of Bahrain, up until he changed his title to king. So much for divine right. Abandoning one's own ridiculous absolutist customs for those of the European middle-ages may, at first glance, seem desirable. Let's be honest though, everybody can see through what you're doing, and they still think you're a dick for it.
The ceremony with which the king departed the lobby drove the point home, for me. Everybody in the lobby stood (that is, everybody except me and the remaining intel guy). There were two rows of dignitaries, military men, and security, through which the king proceeded, on his way down to the hotel club. I couldn't see him until he was very close, and learning why had a pronounced effect on my reaction.
When I saw that the king comes up to about my shoulder, and has a striking resemblance to Ron Jeremy, well, I choked on my beer and began coughing... loudly.
Monday, August 4, 2008
I obviously don't understand Turkish politics...
Last week, there was a historic vote by the Turkish High Court, to decide a pending case against the ruling AK Party. The decision was, basically, a 'yea' or 'nay' vote to close down the party for being a threat to Turkey's secular constitution, or some such business. I could list the charges, but I don't want to bother. Sometimes, the absurd realities here are so numerous as to bore me.
For our purposes, the important details are, there are 11 judges, one abstained, four voted 'nay', and six voted 'yea'.
So, the party was shut down...
But NO! Apparently, having the majority of votes doesn't matter, and the party was not actually closed.
The article was in Turkish, and surely, the word "unanimous" was buried somewhere there, in reference to the necessary number of votes to pass. Least wise, there was some kind of explanation and I missed it. I think I had half-finished the article, when I realized there wasn't a closure happening and started over from the beginning. This is the problem when one reads a newspaper in a foreign language: details find the massive gaps in one's fluency.
Imagine reading:
During the baseball game between the Cardinals and the Cubs, as W*@^@! caught a &%^$ !@#$ from %$!@, a @#$! @#$%& %$!@ crashed into &%^$ @#$! @#$%& &%^$ and injuring left &%^$, DeRosa. The game @#$%& %$!@, ending @^@! 4-3 %& &%^ sixth %%$#.
Which would translate as:
During the baseball game between the Cardinals and the Cubs, as Ward caught a fly ball from Pujols, a meteorite crashed into left field, leaving a massive crater and injuring left-fielder, Mark DeRosa. The game was called, ending with a score of 4-3 in the sixth inning.
Sadly, all I walk away with is the score...
For our purposes, the important details are, there are 11 judges, one abstained, four voted 'nay', and six voted 'yea'.
So, the party was shut down...
But NO! Apparently, having the majority of votes doesn't matter, and the party was not actually closed.
The article was in Turkish, and surely, the word "unanimous" was buried somewhere there, in reference to the necessary number of votes to pass. Least wise, there was some kind of explanation and I missed it. I think I had half-finished the article, when I realized there wasn't a closure happening and started over from the beginning. This is the problem when one reads a newspaper in a foreign language: details find the massive gaps in one's fluency.
Imagine reading:
During the baseball game between the Cardinals and the Cubs, as W*@^@! caught a &%^$ !@#$ from %$!@, a @#$! @#$%& %$!@ crashed into &%^$ @#$! @#$%& &%^$ and injuring left &%^$, DeRosa. The game @#$%& %$!@, ending @^@! 4-3 %& &%^ sixth %%$#.
Which would translate as:
During the baseball game between the Cardinals and the Cubs, as Ward caught a fly ball from Pujols, a meteorite crashed into left field, leaving a massive crater and injuring left-fielder, Mark DeRosa. The game was called, ending with a score of 4-3 in the sixth inning.
Sadly, all I walk away with is the score...
Thursday, July 3, 2008
When I worked with refugees...
I have a new job for the summer, something absurd and in Ankara that I'll talk about later. The job I left, was only part-time with the International Organization for Migration. I was the "airport guy," though my title was, and I'm not kidding: Identification Authenticating Officer.
I never had a badge, my biggest lament in that position. I would go to the airport, usually around 2 AM, with another IOM staffer, and we would help assist refugees with their exit procedure. This amounted to coordinating 35 refugees, usually from Iran or Iraq, and sometimes E. Africa, to get all their baggage checked, documents verified and in order, and conveyed through passport control to the airplane. It usually took between three and five hours, depending mostly on the police.
It is the kind of work that involves managing a great deal of chaos. The population I was working with was, understandably, traumatized by their experience. In short, refugees are often treated as criminals in Turkey. You don't ever want to be a refugee, and you don't want that for your family.
Having fled their homes under duress (because of war, persecution, famine, biblical-style badness, etc.), these people were subjected to the treatment of the Turkish police and legal system, which regards refugees in much the same way that the US government does illegal immigrants. People are detained, shuffled around, and occasionally they get separated from family; some are abused, subjected to extortion, or poorly fed and clothed.
The IOM, and several other organizations, are working to change this, but change is slow.
By the time I saw a refugee, they had likely been in Turkey anywhere from nine months to five years. I even met a couple who had been here for eight. So, when people are within hours of leaving to goto the US, where they have been set up with a job and a home and hope, they are a little agitated and needy. One gets lots of questions, worried looks, and I had to learn to try to be a comforting and empathetic person, while still directing the group.
Did I mention it was 2 AM?
Five plus years ago, I remember what was in the news, and what people were say, in the months preceding the Iraq war. There pro/con style arguments. There was a staunch, principled opposition. There were "hawks" and "doves" (why we anthropomorphize those positions I will never understand).
I was a "dove," because I thought the war was a bad idea. I even went to a protest in Washington D.C., to be the best possible dove I could be.
In all the talk I heard about the coming war, the planning, the opposition, etc., I don't remember anyone mentioning the potential plight of refugees. I know I never thought about it, at the time.
I was with the IOM for about six months, before moving the Ankara. It is work I'd would like to continue... except 2 AM is a strange hour to be up several times a week. Anyhow, my experience there was really informative, and I'll have more to say about it. With the total Iraqi refugee population topping two million, it will continue to be a problem for Turkey, and the region as a whole. Long after the Iraq war ends, there will probably still be talk of the "Iraqi diaspora".
I just reckoned I oughta preface my connection to it, before I said any more. While I still worked the job, I was taking notes on the experience, and there are some funny, as well a some sad stories, that I mean to publish here.
I never had a badge, my biggest lament in that position. I would go to the airport, usually around 2 AM, with another IOM staffer, and we would help assist refugees with their exit procedure. This amounted to coordinating 35 refugees, usually from Iran or Iraq, and sometimes E. Africa, to get all their baggage checked, documents verified and in order, and conveyed through passport control to the airplane. It usually took between three and five hours, depending mostly on the police.
It is the kind of work that involves managing a great deal of chaos. The population I was working with was, understandably, traumatized by their experience. In short, refugees are often treated as criminals in Turkey. You don't ever want to be a refugee, and you don't want that for your family.
Having fled their homes under duress (because of war, persecution, famine, biblical-style badness, etc.), these people were subjected to the treatment of the Turkish police and legal system, which regards refugees in much the same way that the US government does illegal immigrants. People are detained, shuffled around, and occasionally they get separated from family; some are abused, subjected to extortion, or poorly fed and clothed.
The IOM, and several other organizations, are working to change this, but change is slow.
By the time I saw a refugee, they had likely been in Turkey anywhere from nine months to five years. I even met a couple who had been here for eight. So, when people are within hours of leaving to goto the US, where they have been set up with a job and a home and hope, they are a little agitated and needy. One gets lots of questions, worried looks, and I had to learn to try to be a comforting and empathetic person, while still directing the group.
Did I mention it was 2 AM?
Five plus years ago, I remember what was in the news, and what people were say, in the months preceding the Iraq war. There pro/con style arguments. There was a staunch, principled opposition. There were "hawks" and "doves" (why we anthropomorphize those positions I will never understand).
I was a "dove," because I thought the war was a bad idea. I even went to a protest in Washington D.C., to be the best possible dove I could be.
In all the talk I heard about the coming war, the planning, the opposition, etc., I don't remember anyone mentioning the potential plight of refugees. I know I never thought about it, at the time.
I was with the IOM for about six months, before moving the Ankara. It is work I'd would like to continue... except 2 AM is a strange hour to be up several times a week. Anyhow, my experience there was really informative, and I'll have more to say about it. With the total Iraqi refugee population topping two million, it will continue to be a problem for Turkey, and the region as a whole. Long after the Iraq war ends, there will probably still be talk of the "Iraqi diaspora".
I just reckoned I oughta preface my connection to it, before I said any more. While I still worked the job, I was taking notes on the experience, and there are some funny, as well a some sad stories, that I mean to publish here.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Deep Shit...
This will take some explaining.
In my first semester here, way back in 2004, there was often political talk, the sort which sounds unmistakably like "conspiracy theories". I'm gonna have to keep those words in quotes, cause I know it's often a derogatory phrase. Try to understand that I'm attempting to articulate phenomenon, which people actually believe to explain their world. Sometimes, when people speculate about possible interests and agendas within an organization, they come up with some absurd stuff:
"Sean, did you know that the Jews control the world?"
- "No, I didn't. I'm not a Jew, but I'm Jew-ish, do you think they will give me a job?"
"Sean, did you know that the Jews planned and carried out the Sept. 11th attacks?"
-"I can believe it, they also eat puppies, right?"
"Sean, did you know that America is run by the Jews?"
-"Huh, so are Jews in general poor administrators?"
And so on... The concept of who is a "Jew" is an interesting one here, and the term is generally synonymous with "Israeli". I can understand why, but that doesn't make it sound any less preposterous. Admittedly, AIPAC, the US alliance with Israel, and Israeli spies in the White House, all feed these "theories".
The bait and switch with the above conspiracy theory is that it creates the impression of unseen and impregnable ethnic forces honing American policy, distracting from the fact that a long-time ally willfully compromised US national security and is being investigated for it. There is a conspiracy, but the associated theory is nonsense!
Apologies for the long explanation. "Conspiracy theory" is a genre that I had to learn to negotiate while conducting my Fulbright research. I think it is a legitimate way that people deal with the unknown shadows of their governments. It happens everywhere, and all the more frequently in societies or circumstances of questionable democratic openness. The theory is confirmed by a real event, though the event may be evidence of some other possible theory. Either way, I regard it as important that people, who are prevented from knowing/trusting what goes on in their country, are making an effort to explain it.
Seriously though, can we stop with UFOs?
That said, if evidence were presented today that confirmed UFO conspiracy theories, I would probably crap my pants and become a believer.
This is what happens in Turkey, often.
Turkey has many "conspiracy theories", and perhaps I'll explain some of the absurd ones later. Right now, I want to talk about history (which is, anyway, just a PC term for "conspiracy theory").
The household theory in Turkey, the one known by EVERYONE (I'm always shocked by this, like it's part of the school curriculum), is called the Derin Devlet, or "deep state". It describes the money and power interests that are formed by the intersection of military, government, radical right wing, mafia, and capital agendas. S0me of them were "trained" my the CIA as part of Operation Gladio. These people are generals, journalists, assassins, businessmen, police, terrorists, chefs, etc., all plotting Turkey's future behind the scenes. As the theory goes, this group manipulates public opinion through media control, disappears key opposition, leads all the major arms of government and the military, and so on.
In short, they are in charge and unknown... and probably Jewish, depending on who you ask.
Here is a short list of events, attributed to the Derin Devlet, that made international news:
Assasination of Father Santoro
Assasination of Hrant Dink
Murder of Journalists and Academics (generally on the political left)
The Taksim Square Massacre in 1977
There is even a version that projects the Derin Devlet as starting back in WWI, tying it into the Armenian Genocide.
The thing about a theory, is that it is related to evidence. In this case, I don't know which came first, the chicken or the egg, but the evidence is definitely startling (I'm loving up on Wikipedia today, cause you probably can't read Turkish):
"The Susurluk scandal was an affair that rocked Turkey between 1996-1997, and pointed to an illicit relationship between the government, the armed forces, and organized crime in the country, a connection sometimes attributed to the Deep state."
Basically, there was a car crash in 1996. When authorities arrived on the scene, they found the bodies of an Istanbul deputy police-chief, the leader of militant right-wing gang, and a mafia hit-woman. The only survivor of the crash was the Şanliurfa leader of the "True Path Party". I recommend following the link, cause the description of the grab-bag which the crash offered up is amazing, and pretty damning.
So, why am I covering all this old news? Context.
Starting in January, "some 33 people, among them former generals, lawyers, two “mafia” leaders, rank-and-file soldiers and even a journalist [were] apprehended in a nationwide operation...", members of another secret organization, Ergenekon. The following weekend, thirteen more were arrested. Yesterday, according to TDN's print edition, twenty-five more of these douche bags went down.
It's fascinating for me, to say the least, because the Deep State is part of the fabric of so many political discussions. Like I said, it's as though all that "evidence" on UFOs, that just couldn't be believed, were suddenly confirmed as the truth. At the same time, though, it is hard for me to be optimistic. The words of a friend, spoken after the first round of arrests, are ringing in my ears:
"This is nothing to get excited about. One-half of the Deep State just decided to arrest the other half. They'll be replaced soon enough."
In my first semester here, way back in 2004, there was often political talk, the sort which sounds unmistakably like "conspiracy theories". I'm gonna have to keep those words in quotes, cause I know it's often a derogatory phrase. Try to understand that I'm attempting to articulate phenomenon, which people actually believe to explain their world. Sometimes, when people speculate about possible interests and agendas within an organization, they come up with some absurd stuff:
"Sean, did you know that the Jews control the world?"
- "No, I didn't. I'm not a Jew, but I'm Jew-ish, do you think they will give me a job?"
"Sean, did you know that the Jews planned and carried out the Sept. 11th attacks?"
-"I can believe it, they also eat puppies, right?"
"Sean, did you know that America is run by the Jews?"
-"Huh, so are Jews in general poor administrators?"
And so on... The concept of who is a "Jew" is an interesting one here, and the term is generally synonymous with "Israeli". I can understand why, but that doesn't make it sound any less preposterous. Admittedly, AIPAC, the US alliance with Israel, and Israeli spies in the White House, all feed these "theories".
The bait and switch with the above conspiracy theory is that it creates the impression of unseen and impregnable ethnic forces honing American policy, distracting from the fact that a long-time ally willfully compromised US national security and is being investigated for it. There is a conspiracy, but the associated theory is nonsense!
Apologies for the long explanation. "Conspiracy theory" is a genre that I had to learn to negotiate while conducting my Fulbright research. I think it is a legitimate way that people deal with the unknown shadows of their governments. It happens everywhere, and all the more frequently in societies or circumstances of questionable democratic openness. The theory is confirmed by a real event, though the event may be evidence of some other possible theory. Either way, I regard it as important that people, who are prevented from knowing/trusting what goes on in their country, are making an effort to explain it.
Seriously though, can we stop with UFOs?
That said, if evidence were presented today that confirmed UFO conspiracy theories, I would probably crap my pants and become a believer.
This is what happens in Turkey, often.
Turkey has many "conspiracy theories", and perhaps I'll explain some of the absurd ones later. Right now, I want to talk about history (which is, anyway, just a PC term for "conspiracy theory").
The household theory in Turkey, the one known by EVERYONE (I'm always shocked by this, like it's part of the school curriculum), is called the Derin Devlet, or "deep state". It describes the money and power interests that are formed by the intersection of military, government, radical right wing, mafia, and capital agendas. S0me of them were "trained" my the CIA as part of Operation Gladio. These people are generals, journalists, assassins, businessmen, police, terrorists, chefs, etc., all plotting Turkey's future behind the scenes. As the theory goes, this group manipulates public opinion through media control, disappears key opposition, leads all the major arms of government and the military, and so on.
In short, they are in charge and unknown... and probably Jewish, depending on who you ask.
Here is a short list of events, attributed to the Derin Devlet, that made international news:
Assasination of Father Santoro
Assasination of Hrant Dink
Murder of Journalists and Academics (generally on the political left)
The Taksim Square Massacre in 1977
There is even a version that projects the Derin Devlet as starting back in WWI, tying it into the Armenian Genocide.
The thing about a theory, is that it is related to evidence. In this case, I don't know which came first, the chicken or the egg, but the evidence is definitely startling (I'm loving up on Wikipedia today, cause you probably can't read Turkish):
"The Susurluk scandal was an affair that rocked Turkey between 1996-1997, and pointed to an illicit relationship between the government, the armed forces, and organized crime in the country, a connection sometimes attributed to the Deep state."
Basically, there was a car crash in 1996. When authorities arrived on the scene, they found the bodies of an Istanbul deputy police-chief, the leader of militant right-wing gang, and a mafia hit-woman. The only survivor of the crash was the Şanliurfa leader of the "True Path Party". I recommend following the link, cause the description of the grab-bag which the crash offered up is amazing, and pretty damning.
So, why am I covering all this old news? Context.
Starting in January, "some 33 people, among them former generals, lawyers, two “mafia” leaders, rank-and-file soldiers and even a journalist [were] apprehended in a nationwide operation...", members of another secret organization, Ergenekon. The following weekend, thirteen more were arrested. Yesterday, according to TDN's print edition, twenty-five more of these douche bags went down.
It's fascinating for me, to say the least, because the Deep State is part of the fabric of so many political discussions. Like I said, it's as though all that "evidence" on UFOs, that just couldn't be believed, were suddenly confirmed as the truth. At the same time, though, it is hard for me to be optimistic. The words of a friend, spoken after the first round of arrests, are ringing in my ears:
"This is nothing to get excited about. One-half of the Deep State just decided to arrest the other half. They'll be replaced soon enough."
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
You, me and the AKP...
I don't support their politics, their policies, or their vision of Turkey, but the Justice and Development Party (AKP) seems to have the support of the Turkish people, and I won't just shrug that off. Islamist parties have, in the last twenty years, been the only recognized and "acceptable" political opposition to the secular and liberal military/elite leadership, and as their democratic support has grown, so has their acceptability declined.
The Islamists, again and again, get organized, recognized, and voted into power on platforms based on the very same traditional, religious, family values, that the evangelical right has been famous for in the United States. It just has an Islamic twist (it comes with head scarves!). All the time, these parties are hounded by the military and elites, who claim that "secularism is under attack", "Atatürk's legacy will be undone", and "they will have us all wearing head scarves!"
Any or all of these claims may be true, and probably are. I'll make a list of what the AKP has done later. Yet, given the crimes that the military and wealthy elites have inflicted on the rest of the populace, I don't really trust them to be the healthy alternative for the future of the Turkish people.
There was a time when widespread, popular support for both political and militant leftist groups gave the wealthy minority serious cause for concern. The force required to instate Turkey's most recent constitution (circa 1982), was directed primarily against labor unions, leftist lawyers and journalists, and most anyone else trying to resist the coup d'etat. I have spent hours writing about this period, as it was the subject of my Fulbright research. Instead, I'll just say that it invoked my sympathy. Wikipedia has a reasonable, quick-and-dirty on the subject.
In the aftermath of the violence, there frankly wasn't much of the left left, at least not as an activist political body that could be a foil for the right. Many of its leaders were banned from politics and the unions were not permitted to organize. During the period, two revolutionary reforms were initiated: Islamic religious classes were made a mandatory part of the school curriculum, and the rapid (indeed catastrophic) liberalization of the economy was undertaken. The idea was prop up Islam as the opposition to class-based ideologies, and with the help of foreign investment, create an Islamic capitalist-class (known as "Green capital"). Turkey went up for sale, and it worked...
... for the most part. It has had the unforeseen consequence of creating an empowered, well-funded, traditional and religious political bloc, that more than fills the vacuum of the left. The first generation of post-coup children graduated from high school in 2000. They are going to universities and advocating for the right to wear the headscarf on campuses. They even succeeded briefly, this year, before the courts reinstated the ban. This group will continue to be very politically active, as they perceive themselves (and probably are) both the majority and the oppressed.
Neither the Islamists nor the secular elite appear particularly concerned about the economy. The present show-down between the military and the AKP, which has scared foreign investors and caused a drop in the lira, is an indication that the the elite establishment thinks it is more important to harry Islamists than it is to yield to democracy.
As a leftist friend likes to say, when the traditional and liberal elements of the political right are fighting, "İtler ve köpekler birbirine yiyorlar". Turkish has two words for dog, so roughly: "The dogs are eating the dogs".
The Islamists, again and again, get organized, recognized, and voted into power on platforms based on the very same traditional, religious, family values, that the evangelical right has been famous for in the United States. It just has an Islamic twist (it comes with head scarves!). All the time, these parties are hounded by the military and elites, who claim that "secularism is under attack", "Atatürk's legacy will be undone", and "they will have us all wearing head scarves!"
Any or all of these claims may be true, and probably are. I'll make a list of what the AKP has done later. Yet, given the crimes that the military and wealthy elites have inflicted on the rest of the populace, I don't really trust them to be the healthy alternative for the future of the Turkish people.
There was a time when widespread, popular support for both political and militant leftist groups gave the wealthy minority serious cause for concern. The force required to instate Turkey's most recent constitution (circa 1982), was directed primarily against labor unions, leftist lawyers and journalists, and most anyone else trying to resist the coup d'etat. I have spent hours writing about this period, as it was the subject of my Fulbright research. Instead, I'll just say that it invoked my sympathy. Wikipedia has a reasonable, quick-and-dirty on the subject.
In the aftermath of the violence, there frankly wasn't much of the left left, at least not as an activist political body that could be a foil for the right. Many of its leaders were banned from politics and the unions were not permitted to organize. During the period, two revolutionary reforms were initiated: Islamic religious classes were made a mandatory part of the school curriculum, and the rapid (indeed catastrophic) liberalization of the economy was undertaken. The idea was prop up Islam as the opposition to class-based ideologies, and with the help of foreign investment, create an Islamic capitalist-class (known as "Green capital"). Turkey went up for sale, and it worked...
... for the most part. It has had the unforeseen consequence of creating an empowered, well-funded, traditional and religious political bloc, that more than fills the vacuum of the left. The first generation of post-coup children graduated from high school in 2000. They are going to universities and advocating for the right to wear the headscarf on campuses. They even succeeded briefly, this year, before the courts reinstated the ban. This group will continue to be very politically active, as they perceive themselves (and probably are) both the majority and the oppressed.
Neither the Islamists nor the secular elite appear particularly concerned about the economy. The present show-down between the military and the AKP, which has scared foreign investors and caused a drop in the lira, is an indication that the the elite establishment thinks it is more important to harry Islamists than it is to yield to democracy.
As a leftist friend likes to say, when the traditional and liberal elements of the political right are fighting, "İtler ve köpekler birbirine yiyorlar". Turkish has two words for dog, so roughly: "The dogs are eating the dogs".
Monday, June 23, 2008
Correction...
I previously posted that the Turkish court system has banned Youtube.com twice, for violations (by users) of various laws, which forbid denigrating Turkey, Turkishness, the Turkish government, courts, or military, or Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. There are several laws that YouTube could have been charged with violating... not actually sure which one, but most likely Article 301. Read about it here and here.
The Turkish court has, in fact, protected me from YouTube on no less than five occasions. This, according to the Turkish newspaper, Radikal, which I was attempting to read through sometime last week.
Thanks to these benevolent assholes, I'm having difficulty watching George Carlin clips, which seemed like a good way to remember the man. I'll try to dig around and find out which seven words cannot be spoken or written in Turkish...
The Turkish court has, in fact, protected me from YouTube on no less than five occasions. This, according to the Turkish newspaper, Radikal, which I was attempting to read through sometime last week.
Thanks to these benevolent assholes, I'm having difficulty watching George Carlin clips, which seemed like a good way to remember the man. I'll try to dig around and find out which seven words cannot be spoken or written in Turkish...
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Are there leftists in the United States?
Turkish leftists, most of them anyway, do not believe that there are leftists in the United States, and I have been hard pressed to prove them wrong.
Since much of my own ideological development took place in Turkey, and is thus more informed by Turkish definitions, I should probably define the terms "left" and "leftist". Mine isn't a narrow definition, but it is more narrow than Wikipedia's (which is cute in a lot of ways). Simply, I believe the terms admit a rejection of capitalism as a desirable economic system.
I can't place things on a political line, though I used to find this really nice, and then later, really convenient. Now it seems, well, childish. I think that Americans view the political spectrum like this:
A critical take on the line reveals the lack of any fixed political value, so the whole thing is only relative to itself. It wanders. For instance, Republicans can rail against universal health care, now, but to President Nixon it was a peachy idea.
Also, the line mentions only the major American political parties and assumes that basic American political and bureaucratic structures are necessary, if not desirable (i.e. bicameral legislature, executive and judicial branches, standing army, capitalist economics). The line dismisses the parties' espoused political values or goals, and fails to account for the structures of power within the political discourse. In short, the line tells me nothing.
The line's usefulness lies in the ability, of people in power, to ascribe moral values (usually Good and Bad) to the objects on the line, and thus frame their political opponent(s) accordingly. If Left = Bad, and Democrats = Left, it follows that Democrats = Bad, and so on. In mathematics, this is called the transitive property, and it comes up fairly often in our absurd political theater.
I basically became a leftist when I watched how American small towns were being taken by the WalMart phenomenon. I was 20 and living in a small town. I had no ideology, just a budding sense that people with little control over their local economy, over their home, well, just aren't really free people. I didn't grow into my own as a leftist until I had lived in Turkey. Time spent studying the Turkish left helped me gain a sense of ideology where I am comfortable with the history of the global movement, the questions it answers, and those it does not. So, I find a different political line practical, though anything practical or efficient is hardly democratic or honest. Anyhow, here it is:
I won't talk about other political spectra, which are many and more complicated than just political lines. I want to get to the story:
I've heard talk of several conversations in which American leftists were pushed to prove that they really were true Leftists, or "Solcu", (I capitalize this because it sounds like a Platonic Form). I generally find Turkish people are much better informed about the political/ideological spectrum. This is probably a result of the myriad forces that have acted on Turks in the last century. Several, in no particular order: etatism, the Turkish military, other militaries, capitalism, colonialism, Islam and Political Islam, the left (everything from Lenin to Mao), ethnic conflict, etc. Go through all that, and I suppose a person would have a broader view of things. Then again, I may just have smart friends.
I've never been pressed to prove my ideological commitment, as such. Turks just seem to know where I'm coming from. On two occasions, Turkish friends have outed me as a leftist without my having said so to them, and both times when the subject of conversation wasn't remotely political. The reference to my politics seemed part of a strangely nationalist narrative.
"Look here, this is Democracy. Americans can learn from Turkey." The narrative goes. "We have Turks and Americans sitting and talking together; you are a socialist, I'm a Muslim, and he's a police officer. Where else could such diversity mingle than in Turkey?"
Even more telling was the reaction I once got when asking for directions. As I wandered in Kadıköy, on the Asian side of Istanbul, I got lost with a Turkish girlfriend. We were looking for the Nazım Hikmet Cultural Center, a beautiful memorial to the Turkish and communist poet, Nazım Hikmet. Someone was passing out political pamphlets nearby, and we asked for directions to the center, while taking one. The boy, who was my age but with a thick mustache, narrowed his eyes and in a rude tone said simply, "Why would I know that?"
I looked at the pamphlet, and realized it was for a MHP (Nationalist Movement Party) rally. The kid knew what we were looking for, and that if we were looking for a communist library and cafe, we were probably communists, too.
On the subject of proving yourself, a friend told me a story about his experience in Samsun. He was talking politics with the owner of a "menemenci". The place was, quite literally, a closet-sized shop, with some stools and a counter, behind which two men were cooking a Turkish scrambled egg dish on a propane stove. The dish, menemen, was the only one on the menu, and it is generally associated with the working class. My friend sized up the place, and the people patronizing it, and gambled he would meet some folks from his own political ilk.
The men couldn't believe my friend knew anything about the left, generally, much less about the Turkish left. After the formality of accusing him of being a spy, they settled down to actually discuss his politics and why he was a leftist, and his experience of being a leftist in the United States (Turkish leftists regard the US as a frightening and unstoppable fascist behemoth).
Their first question: "How long were you imprisoned?"
I haven't met a Turkish leftist who didn't go to jail, and most of them were tortured or spent several years in prison. It casts my own political beliefs, and those of others', in a new light... the subtext of course being, if you don't go to prison, you're not being politically active. Instead, you just have opinions. What good are opinions when you need to change the world?
Since much of my own ideological development took place in Turkey, and is thus more informed by Turkish definitions, I should probably define the terms "left" and "leftist". Mine isn't a narrow definition, but it is more narrow than Wikipedia's (which is cute in a lot of ways). Simply, I believe the terms admit a rejection of capitalism as a desirable economic system.
I can't place things on a political line, though I used to find this really nice, and then later, really convenient. Now it seems, well, childish. I think that Americans view the political spectrum like this:
A critical take on the line reveals the lack of any fixed political value, so the whole thing is only relative to itself. It wanders. For instance, Republicans can rail against universal health care, now, but to President Nixon it was a peachy idea.Also, the line mentions only the major American political parties and assumes that basic American political and bureaucratic structures are necessary, if not desirable (i.e. bicameral legislature, executive and judicial branches, standing army, capitalist economics). The line dismisses the parties' espoused political values or goals, and fails to account for the structures of power within the political discourse. In short, the line tells me nothing.
The line's usefulness lies in the ability, of people in power, to ascribe moral values (usually Good and Bad) to the objects on the line, and thus frame their political opponent(s) accordingly. If Left = Bad, and Democrats = Left, it follows that Democrats = Bad, and so on. In mathematics, this is called the transitive property, and it comes up fairly often in our absurd political theater.
I basically became a leftist when I watched how American small towns were being taken by the WalMart phenomenon. I was 20 and living in a small town. I had no ideology, just a budding sense that people with little control over their local economy, over their home, well, just aren't really free people. I didn't grow into my own as a leftist until I had lived in Turkey. Time spent studying the Turkish left helped me gain a sense of ideology where I am comfortable with the history of the global movement, the questions it answers, and those it does not. So, I find a different political line practical, though anything practical or efficient is hardly democratic or honest. Anyhow, here it is:
I won't talk about other political spectra, which are many and more complicated than just political lines. I want to get to the story:
I've heard talk of several conversations in which American leftists were pushed to prove that they really were true Leftists, or "Solcu", (I capitalize this because it sounds like a Platonic Form). I generally find Turkish people are much better informed about the political/ideological spectrum. This is probably a result of the myriad forces that have acted on Turks in the last century. Several, in no particular order: etatism, the Turkish military, other militaries, capitalism, colonialism, Islam and Political Islam, the left (everything from Lenin to Mao), ethnic conflict, etc. Go through all that, and I suppose a person would have a broader view of things. Then again, I may just have smart friends.
I've never been pressed to prove my ideological commitment, as such. Turks just seem to know where I'm coming from. On two occasions, Turkish friends have outed me as a leftist without my having said so to them, and both times when the subject of conversation wasn't remotely political. The reference to my politics seemed part of a strangely nationalist narrative.
"Look here, this is Democracy. Americans can learn from Turkey." The narrative goes. "We have Turks and Americans sitting and talking together; you are a socialist, I'm a Muslim, and he's a police officer. Where else could such diversity mingle than in Turkey?"
Even more telling was the reaction I once got when asking for directions. As I wandered in Kadıköy, on the Asian side of Istanbul, I got lost with a Turkish girlfriend. We were looking for the Nazım Hikmet Cultural Center, a beautiful memorial to the Turkish and communist poet, Nazım Hikmet. Someone was passing out political pamphlets nearby, and we asked for directions to the center, while taking one. The boy, who was my age but with a thick mustache, narrowed his eyes and in a rude tone said simply, "Why would I know that?"
I looked at the pamphlet, and realized it was for a MHP (Nationalist Movement Party) rally. The kid knew what we were looking for, and that if we were looking for a communist library and cafe, we were probably communists, too.
On the subject of proving yourself, a friend told me a story about his experience in Samsun. He was talking politics with the owner of a "menemenci". The place was, quite literally, a closet-sized shop, with some stools and a counter, behind which two men were cooking a Turkish scrambled egg dish on a propane stove. The dish, menemen, was the only one on the menu, and it is generally associated with the working class. My friend sized up the place, and the people patronizing it, and gambled he would meet some folks from his own political ilk.
The men couldn't believe my friend knew anything about the left, generally, much less about the Turkish left. After the formality of accusing him of being a spy, they settled down to actually discuss his politics and why he was a leftist, and his experience of being a leftist in the United States (Turkish leftists regard the US as a frightening and unstoppable fascist behemoth).
Their first question: "How long were you imprisoned?"
I haven't met a Turkish leftist who didn't go to jail, and most of them were tortured or spent several years in prison. It casts my own political beliefs, and those of others', in a new light... the subtext of course being, if you don't go to prison, you're not being politically active. Instead, you just have opinions. What good are opinions when you need to change the world?
Monday, June 16, 2008
A disturbing pattern...
This is what appears when I try to visit bianet.org, home for the Bağımsız İletişim Ağı (the Independent Communications Network).
Engellenmiştir - Forbidden
Erismek istediginiz sayfa savcilik karari ile engellenmistir.
Access to this page has been blocked by law court decision.
BIA has a slew of projects relating to media accountability, legal assistance for journalists, promotion of pluralism and democracy, and the usual terrorist-loving baby-killing human rights interests that would cause any reasonable government to ban access to BIA's website.
They have an English language version, about as clearly written as the Turkish Daily News, but infinitely more relevant.
Two ways to circumvent government controls over the web:
Open DNS
Free Proxies Network
Write those down for later... maybe homeboy will tag me, too.
Engellenmiştir - Forbidden
Erismek istediginiz sayfa savcilik karari ile engellenmistir.
Access to this page has been blocked by law court decision.
BIA has a slew of projects relating to media accountability, legal assistance for journalists, promotion of pluralism and democracy, and the usual terrorist-loving baby-killing human rights interests that would cause any reasonable government to ban access to BIA's website.
They have an English language version, about as clearly written as the Turkish Daily News, but infinitely more relevant.
Two ways to circumvent government controls over the web:
Open DNS
Free Proxies Network
Write those down for later... maybe homeboy will tag me, too.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Big Brother 2, You Tube 0
I never stop getting a kick out of this, though it is irritating. This is the second time, that I know of, that youtube.com has run afoul of the Turkish Republic. The crime... I dunno. Some Greek 15-year-old probably made a video calling Ataturk a "fag".
Anything to be 15 again...
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