The return home (the saga continues)

Our flight was scheduled to depart at 1:30 pm, so David and I arrived at the airport by 12:00.  Our flight was not on the reader board yet for check in, so we waited.  When it finally showed up the board said "go to gate", so we immediately went to the check in counter.  After much tickety tapping, we were told there were no seats available.  She tried to take us to the "compensation office", but I put my foot down and said there must be some seats on this plane, give us business class.  She had an extended conversation with the people in that office, then said ok and took us back and gave us boarding passes.

We had to clear passport control which took forever, then we quickly passed through security and dashed (yes, we actually sprinted down the corridor) to our gate at the very end of the concourse.  We made it in time to board the bus which took us out to the plane.  We were seated very far apart.  I found my seat and sat, but soon a woman came who was also assigned my seat number.  There were several more passengers with the same problem (I think the check in lady just passed the problem on to the flight attendant).  In the end, the other lady got a seat in first class, but at least I kept my seat on the plane.

After a long 11 hr flight we made it to Chicago, claimed our luggage and took a shuttle to our hotel for the night.  We were up early for the 6:00 am shuttle to the airport for our 8:30 am flight.  On the ride there, my phone rang with an automatic message from the airline "Your flight has been cancelled.  We are sorry for the inconvenience.  You are rebooked on a flight at...6:00 pm".  We managed to get on stand by for an 11 am flight...cancelled.  We got on standby for a 3:00 flight...score!  We got home by 5:00 pm after a long day in O'hare airport, changing gates every 30 mins or so. Surprisingly, our luggage arrived with us.  I really don't want to see another airport for a long time!

Group photos

Our group was not obsessed with group photos, but we did get a few in each city.  It was pretty funny to see our efforts to pose together.  No one wanted to stand the in front row, so we inevitably would spread out horizontally in one long line.  No one wanted to bunch too close together either.  It must be something peculiar to academics because I never have this trouble when my students travel and pose for photos together.  They are always hanging on to each other, some up front, some to the back, varying from photo op to photo op.

This was our first group shot and probably our best, although we can't really see Kay. 

This is at Topkapi Palace in Istanbul

We're just not good at grouping up so we can fit everyone in!

This is in Ephesus

Random interesting facts

•  Directions in Turkey are almost always given in relation to other places, not by using directions like east, west, north and south.

•  When Turks say where they are from, they say the city where there parents are living, even if that is not the city where they grew up.

•  Standard maternity leave is 6 months.

•  The Mediterranean Sea is called the White Sea.

•  Turks can get their drivers license @ 18 so school kids take public transit or sometimes school buses for private schools.

•  Each hotel room had a copy of the Koran along with a prayer mat.

•  We like to complain about gas prices, but in Turkey it is approximately $7.00/gallon.  We should be thankful our gas prices are subsidized!

Modernization

When people have asked what has surprised me about Turkey, my first thought has been the high level of modernization that is evident everywhere. We did visit some of the largest cities and not rural districts, but western Turkey is very modernized and has undergone an obvious transformation in recent years.

In Istanbul, you can see marks on the highway retaining walls that dates when they have been constructed and much of the work around our hotel and the airport dates to 2006 or so.  The metro system is very new as is the tram.

We drove between several cities by bus and the highways systems were in good repair and clearly undergoing further upgrades.  There were stretches of highway where new trees had been planted for miles and miles, also some areas where the trees had been planted years ago and were mature now.  Very attractive.

Buses are a mix of old and new (see below).

City impressions

One of the things that David and I noticed fairly quickly was that there is very little graffiti in Turkey.  There is some, but not much.  All of the most expected places (overpasses, bridges, etc) are completely clean.  We asked if this is because graffiti is cleaned off or because it simply isn't there in the first place.  Our Turkish hosts seemed surprised about the idea that it would be cleaned up and said "no" its not cleaned up.  Our conclusion:  this is not as prevalent of a practice here as in Europe.  A nice contrast.

There is also very little trash on the streets.  Some of the districts in the city are more run down and dirty than others, but overall people seem to take pride in keeping their cities looking nice.

Banking

I'm happy to say that we had no problem with our credit cards in Turkey (unlike my last group trip to Europe where I had to call the bank 4 different times for a cost of $100!).  We charged a couple of items and also took out money from the ATM at one point.  It was funny to find a giant row of ATMs from different banks.  I guess they have high transaction fees for out of network use or something, so in high traffic places like malls every bank puts in one of their own machines...yes, a wall full of about 10 different banks' ATM machines.

Pets

We have not visited any homes that have pets.  We have also seen almost no one walking  a dog on the street, so it is my conclusion that few people keep pets here.  We have seen lots of feral cats on the streets and even at the ancient sites.  At the Jewish museum there were two small kittens, maybe 3 months old, that were very vocal.  One kept trying to get into the security guard's kiosk and he kept shooing it away with broom.  Obviously not a cat lover.

Kitten curled up for a nap at the Ephesus library

Parks, playgrounds and fast food

There are lots of new playgrounds in all of the cities we have seen.  We haven't seen a lot of large green spaces (parks), but the green spaces along roads always have nice flowers in them.

This playground was in Manisa.  We also saw trampolines that were 1 lira to jump.  The parks really filled up after dark when it cooled off.  The large fast food chains also have large indoor playscapes. I was glad that we did not see an excessive number of McD's restaurants.  I think we actually saw more Burger Kings than McD's.  Happily Starbucks is NOT on the every street corner.

Turkish time

We have been able to cram an amazing number of activities into each day.  Much of this has been due to the diligence of our guide who has been on the phone constantly to make sure everything is lined up and ready to go.  Credit should also go to the members of the group who were always on time when we were meeting up to get going.

What has been particularly surprising though is the punctuality of our transportation.  Our hired bus drivers have been waiting for us each day as scheduled.  (Perhaps this is because they were told that our departure time was 7:30 when it was really 8:00, I don't know...) Our airport shuttle from the hotel left right on the mark though, so I'm not certain if normal Turkish time is fairly punctual or a little more relaxed like southern Europe.  Perhaps only those dealing with tourists as so time conscious...

Security checks

Its been kind of interesting to see when we are subjected to security checks in our travels around the country.  It has not been limited to the airports, but also to various museums and even some of university and business visits.  I found the university ones particularly surprising.  The business ones I can understand a bit better.  Boytek did not have any particular security.  Zaman paper did.  The Jewish synagogue  has a city policeman on duty 24/7, but did not have a metal detector.  The Jewish museum had  a private security guard and a metal detector.  Even our hotel in Istanbul had a metal detector, although it went off no matter what and the guards paid little attention to it.  We basically passed through with all our backpacks etc every day without anyone looking at us twice.  Guess we didn't fit the profile of anyone remotely threatening (and as US academics I'd say we are 'mostly harmless'.)

Police box in front the the Jewish museum

One difference in the airport is that women don't have to take off their scarves like they do in the US.  I had one around my neck which would have had to come off in the US.  Not here.  

Political Reforms

We've heard a lot about political reforms and changes in Turkey in recent years.  I know that the constitution has undergone many revisions to try to meet the standards demanded by EU members for full membership.  The constitution is a long document with very specific protections for each different group.

The repression of rights for the Kurdish population seems to be decreasing.  With Kurdish being allowed as a language of instruction in schools again, and other expressions being allowed as well.  It is the opinion of those Turks that we visited with that the incentive for the Kurds to engage in terrorist activities is significantly decreasing, which is why recruitment by the PKK is weakening.  We did not talk with any Kurds, so I can't say whether this impression is one sided or not.

We even heard talk of a complete rewriting of the constitution, but without further research I can't say what the prospects are for this.

Turkish History 101

Our visit to the Writers Association included a 45 minute lecture on Turkish history which was also very informative and interesting in the parts that our host chose to highlight.

He began with the Ottoman era from 1299 to 1923.  He noted that the Ottoman era was one of tolerance, with a multiethnic, multireligious empire.  The Sultan in 1492 took in the Sephardic Jews from Spain when King Ferdinand ousted them, and offered his protection.   He said the empire was symbolic of "political and cultural inclusiveness".

The French Revolution had a negative impact on the Ottoman Empire to the extent that it brought ideas of national self determination to the peoples of the region.  The Greeks and Serbs sought independence first and the empire began to decay.  In 1916 there was an Arab revolt from the southern parts of the empire.

In the 1850s the empire began to deliberately reform, holding the first elections in 1876 to establish a constitutional monarchy.

In WWI, the empire fought on 9 different fronts and was allied with Germany.  It lost and the Turkish army collapsed.  The Greeks invaded western Turkey.

1923-1950 there was a single party Republic formed.  Efforts were made to transform a heterogeneous empire into a homogenous country > radical secularization.  Elites did not think the masses were ready for full democracy at this time.  In 1950 a second party was created and the country has sense become a multiparty system.

Our host explained that there were coups in 1962, 1974, 1980 and 1996.  Failled efforts in 2004 and 2009.  The democracy is well consolidated and a successful coup is very unlikely because 1) there is a large private sector that wants less state intervention 2) there is a growing civil society 3) there is a diversified media that will not say only what the govn't or military wants.  He also noted that Turkey is not radicalized and anti-Western like some countries in the Middle East are because it never fell under western colonization like the rest of the Middle East (after WWI).  

Camlica Hill

Our final site seeing stop was Camlica Hill, which is full of communication towers and is the highest point in the city.  It is on the Asian (south) side of the Straights and has a magnificent view of the city and the Bosphorus bridge.  It was a bit hazy and the setting sun made picture taking a challenge, but you get the idea...

David and I strolled and I got ice cream.  Then we found a comfortable place to sit in the shade and just enjoy the view.  There were lots of small tables around and small stools that could be moved into groups to accommodate different sized gatherings.  I took my stool out on the lawn to get away from the crowds and cigarette smoke.

Kimse Yok Mu Relief Agency

We traveled to the outskirts of the city to visit Kimse Yok Mu relief organization.  The name of this organization translates into "Is Anybody there?"  It was founded in 2002 following relief efforts from the disasterous 1999 earthquake in Turkey.  Its first international relief efforts were in 2004 with the Indonesian tsunami.    It has since provided assistance in many places, including Palestine, Lebanon, Peru, Bangladesh, Sudan/Darfur, Georgia, Myanmar, China, and Haiti.  It is a recognized NGO within ECOSOC in the UN.

Its mission goals include:  building a more peaceful world while fighting poverty and inequality;  protecting innocent people in war zones; and helping people from all over in order to "spread kindness around the world and to create and follow social support models".  

The principle of voluntariness is important - people doing good for each other.

We learned that the government regulates the amount of money that can be used for operations/overhead in NGOs to 10%.  Kimse Yok Mu is at 6%.  Its not quite clear to me how this is counted if large donations such as their headquarters building is donated by corporations. 

Corporations get a 100% tax write off for their charitable giving.  The standard corporate tax rate is 20%.  I don't know how much that changes under certain conditions.  Individual tax rates are between 15-35% (FYI)

We visited their shiny new headquarters in Istanbul.  The funding for their entire 6 story building was provided by 5 or 6 corporations.  

We saw their warehouse as well as volunteers who were packaging emergency food shipments.

This is an example of the shelters that they have ready to ship in cases of emergencies.  The transportation costs for the agency are often sponsored by corporations as well.

This is their rescue vehicle, specially designed to extract people from collapsed buildings from earthquakes (Turkey is prone to earthquakes).  The value of the equipment is about $500,0000.

Gulen Movement

Our next stop was at the Journalist and Writers Association.  Warning, a lot of details in this post!

One of the reasons we decided to come on the trip was because it was by invitation and all of the in-country costs were being paid for by a foundation (of sorts).  We just paid for our airline tickets.  After some queries before the trip, we were told that local associations inspired by the Gulen movement (or Hizmet) were sponsoring our visits in each of their cities.  We did not hear a lot about this Gulen movement directly, but each school that we visited was inspired by the movement and supported by generous contributions from patrons who were part of the movement.  With our visit to the Writers association we finally got the 'big picture' of this movement which was inspired by Fethullah Gulen starting in the late 1970s.  During this period  Turkey was very much a divided country with Marxist movements on the left and ultra nationalist groups on the right.  Mr. Gulen had a vision for a more unified country.

The movement is very loosely and locally organized without any strong overarching hierarchy.  There are five sectors in which people are organized:  education (like the universities and high schools we visited), dialogue (consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council), relief organizations (like Kimse Yok Mu), business associations, and media (like Zaman - seeking moderate views and being solution oriented).  

This movement is not really ideological in the rigid sense of a specific set of beliefs, but is based on guiding principles including tolerance and mutual understanding, learning to love others, and respect for all.  It allows for personal interpretation, understanding and application of these ideals.  It is focused on commonalities, not differences, and seeks solutions to problems faced by people around the world on many fronts. 

One of the things we have grappled to understand throughout our visit has been where the intersections are of politics and religion.  Americans aren't well equipped to understand the nuances in this system.  We tend to think in a bipolar sense because we have a two party system and a constitution that permits freedom of religion and a separation of religion and politics.  Turkey seems to be trying to achieve a similar balance.  It is a multiparty system, although the current majority party (the party of the Prime Minister) received over 50% of the votes in the last parliamentary election (a very strong endorsement).  People's stance on things crosses party lines depending on the issues, rather than being so polarized as in the US.  

Turkey has a secular government, but is a 99% Muslim population.  For decades the military has protected the enforced secular nature of the state to the point of engaging in several coups.  This had included banning women from wearing head scarves in universities, as well as banning Kurdish as a language of instruction (not a religious issue, but an effort to enforce "Turkishness").  The last coup effort actually failed in part because the media did not provide the legitimation that the military needed to succeed (as it had in the past).

Our host at the Writers Association tried to explain that Gulen is a blending of "tradition" embracing modernization.  So the tradition reflects the Islamic culture of the people, but the modernization reflects the dedication to democratic principles and equal treatment for all.  The focus of the movement is not overtly political, but has clear political impacts.  The movement is focused on service and social responsibility - it is an altruistic civic movement.  To the extent that the government is pursuing policies that extend rights to all people in Turkey, they support the government.  When rights are curtailed, they are critical of the government (but clearly supportive of the democratic process).

I had mixed feelings about being invited on a trip sponsored by an organization with an agenda of sorts.  If the overarching purpose of bringing us here was to show us a different Turkey than we see in the media and help us understand that Turkey is much more than most Americans recognize, then the trip was certainly successful in this effort.  Do I feel like I've gotten the whole picture?  No. Do I know where to draw the line on truth and propaganda?  No.

I've read a few more articles since arriving that are critical of the Gulen movement, some of what they say resonates with what we've seen to an extent (that children the schools are under significant pressure to conform to the beliefs of the movement - we heard about how teachers are mentors and counselors to the students for example, this could be involve unnecessary pressure, or it might not).  I don't tend to lean toward believing in grand conspiracies, so I discount commentaries that talk about a plan to impose an Islamic govn't in Turkey when the right people come into power.  I can't discount the degree of good that these wealthy businessmen are doing in the country and around the world.  Education is a powerful and lifelong gift that they are giving to many disadvantaged children, as well as the emergency relief efforts.

Our host was an extremely well spoken man who served as a physics instructor in a school, then as a writer, now as a PR person for the association.  He is going to school for his MA in International Studies at the moment and who knows where he will end up. 

Suleymaniye Mosque

We got to visit one more famous mosque today:  the Suleymaniye Camii.  It is about 50 years older than the Blue Mosque and designed by the same architect (Sinan).  It is the largest mosque in the city.  It was built in just 7 years.  The interior is very different from the Blue Mosque.  Instead of tiles, it is painted and quite beautiful.  I actually liked visiting this one more, in part because it wasn't nearly so crowded and had a more peaceful feeling without so many tourists.

Four minarets

Courtyard

All worshippers must observe a ritual cleansing before entering the mosque to pray.  This is the men's area, the women's is actually in the women's restroom area (private).  The washing involves just the hands and feet.

Courtyard

Inner dome

Painted walls

An ostrich egg hanging on the chandeliers.  They apparently keep spiders (and thus spiderwebs) away.

Each red spot on the carpet marks the prayer space for one person.  They kneel on the back edge of the square and then bow their heads to the top part of the space.  As you can tell from the long stretch of red squares, many people can pray at the same time in this space.

Trip to a Newspaper

We started the day with a visit to the Zaman newspaper.   Zaman means "Times".  It has the largest circulation in the country (about 1 million copies daily and also online viewing).  This is about twice as large as its next competitor.  We were shown a brief film on the history of the paper, founded in 1986, the first Turkish paper to go online in 1995, committed to giving high quality news not propaganda or tabloid news (which can be found in many other publications).

We were given a brief tour which included seeing a youth conference in progress.  They bring in several hundred university journalism majors every year for a special one week conference with the top people in journalism and work to instill a commitment to quality reporting in these journalists-to-be.  They focused on particular aspects including the basics like asking/answering: who, what, where, when, why and how? as well as working on visually appealing design layouts.  Apparently part of the Turkish culture is to expect beautiful newspapers.  The paper is in full color everyday on all pages (and does look pretty good!)  At the end of the conference the students present their own edition of the news.

Zaman publishes in several languages, including English (Todays Zaman.com).  It is not a translation of the Turkish version of the paper, it is a separate publication.  They hire journalists from many different countries because they particularly value different points of view and the one way you can get this is by  having different people contribute.  

One of their PR people came to speak with us and I asked him about the future of Zaman. Did it intend to expand globally like Al Jezeera?  He remarked that his wife was Arab and that they would compare the news stories in the Arab version of Al Jezeera with the English stories and that they were NOT the same spin at all.  Arabic versions were always pro-Arab.  English versions were more balanced.  (I can't say I'm particularly surprised by this).  He reiterated that the philosophy at Zaman is to represent all views (not necessarily to be neutral).  They want a forum for everyone with respect > share views > find solutions.

Perhaps a bit idealistic and definitely a PR job, but good sentiments and aspirations just the same.

[A footnote after our visit to the Writers Association:  the government does not need to restrict/censor newspapers, they do it themselves because the media outlets are part of larger corporate conglomerates that seek large government contracts and they cannot afford to have their media outlets be critical of the government.]

Fancy new building!

Beautiful interior

The presses

Workspace.

Youth conference attendees.  Really spiffy technology capabilities!

I took this picture because I thought it was funny that today we were served tea for the first time in PAPER cups instead of the lovely glass ones used everywhere else!

Grocery Store

Although I enjoyed all the different aspects of the trip, some of my favorite times whenever I travel are when we get to see "everyday life" in the country we are visiting.  This happened on our next to last day when we stopped by a grocery store (not a corner market, but a big one).  Our guide had been purchasing various Turkish food items (like snack foods) throughout the trip and sharing them around the van.  One member of the group wanted to buy some of the cookies he had provided at one point.  We all wandered through the store looking at the variety of goods, and eventually ended up on the chocolate aisle, purchasing Turkish chocolate for friends at home.

Watermelon is big here.  It is in season and was served at nearly every meal and snack.  I asked our guide if they had melon flavored jam or watermelon juice and he wrinkled his nose and said "no"!  I thought it seemed like a reasonable question to me, but I guess watermelon must be served fresh and only fresh : )

The orange color scheme reminded me of Home Depot.

One of two brands of Turkish chocolate that we found.

One of the favorite drinks of the group was Kayisi nektari (apricot juice).  Wisne nektari was also very popular  (cherry juice).  These were available at every restaurant.

The national drink in the country is called Ayran (pronounced I-rahn).  Its a liquidy yougert drink that I was not particularly fond of.  Again, I asked if it came in different flavors...no, of course not.  Ayran is ayran : )

Dinner and dessert

After our boat ride we headed for an early dinner.  The special meal for the night was Iskander kebab.  Pieces of flavorful meat on top of diced bits of bread, served with a large dollop of yougert.  I really liked this meal!

We were taken to a specialty dessert shop afterwards called Farugulluogul.  Or as a colleague called it "Gorilla Glue"!  The name is a mouthful, but so is the food.  We got sampler platters of 4 different kinds of baklava.  I always thought that baklava was baklava and it just came in different shapes with more or less honey to make it sticker.  I was wrong.  All four types that we sampled were totally different and totally delicious.

Our baklava would not have been complete without pistachio ice cream.

Some of the specialty cakes that were on display at 'gorilla glue' shop.  Five tiered wedding cakes too! Wow.

A boat trip on the Straights

After the Jewish museum we headed out for a two hour boat ride up the Straights. Since we had been eating non-stop, we decided to just skip lunch and head straight to the water front.   The day was beautiful and sunny, the driver cranked up some good tunes and we sat on the upper deck and just enjoyed the sites.  It was a wonderful, relaxing afternoon!

Dolmabahce Palace.  Apparently Ataturk (founder of the Turkish Republic 1923) lived here in his final days.  This is the palace where the Sultans moved the court when they left Topkapi Palace.

There were swimmers.  They would run and jump off the concrete pier.  The current would quickly carry them down toward the ladder where they would climb out.  The water was pretty choppy and probably pretty cold.  I was content to be on the boat not in the water.  If they missed the ladder I don't know what they would have done, there was not a second ladder in sight and the current was strong enough that I doubt they could swim back to the ladder if they missed it.

We got to see a floatilla of protestors on the water going past us in the other direction. There must have been at least 75 small water craft like this one.  We were told these were environmentalists.  The sign says "Security before the disaster" according to Google translate, but I wouldn't take that translation with great confidence.

These were the old fortifications at a narrow place in the Straights.  They came right after the second bridge that goes from the European side to the Asian side of the city.  We asked a Turkish friend who was on the trip if he knew much about the walls.  His response was "I wasn't that good in history" (ha!)  With over a thousand years of history I think I would be a bit challenged to tell which Sultan built this structure too!