All He Did Was Read a Poem

If there was ever a time to have a drink, it was when Carol’s bag was recovered Sunday night. However, that was impossible. Turkey has a law just like the one which impacted guests at Andy & Kristin Mowat’s wedding in Mexico City some years back. Drinking is restricted on Election Day. This makes no sense to me, and was a severe constraint Sunday. It seems to me in some elections voters should be given a drink when they leave the booth, after dealing with the choices they were given.

Monday morning’s results were widely expected. The current Prime Minister was re-elected for five more years, receiving about half the votes. Note, the turnout was something like 80%. Democracy is alive and kicking here. This is encouraging to any pro-democracy observer since the military overthrew the government in 1980. It turns out one of the key mandates of the current PM is to re-write the constitution, which still reflects some of the military values and thought.

To keep it simple, the PM was the former mayor of Istanbul. His name is Erdogan. His party members are generally strong proponents of capitalism, privatization, and free markets. This will be discussed later. The major second party, the CHP, are the welfare party. They believe in state solving problems. I checked, and Page van Loben Sels isn’t a member.  

The PM is a key leader of the country, but I like the function of the president.  Among other things the president interprets the laws passed by  the unicameral legislature, the Parliament. If he thinks anything is not constitutional, he can reject the law. (Sounds like a job of the courts to me). The Parliament appoints the president, although some think that may shift to a public election. The 550 representatives in Parliament need 55-60% approval to pass a law, and 80% to change the constitution. I am told they do better than the Bozos in Sacramento, but I guess that could be said for just about any legislature. I am sensing that Turkey is a richly diverse political landscape. Thus, I anticipate getting 80% of the representatives to agree on anything more than what day it is may prove to be tricky.

Remember the military takeover? When all was said and done over 200 generals got a chance to experience jail first hand. That is something they have in common with the current PM. Are you kidding? Can you imagine a gaggle of Pentagon brass and the US president all being former jailbirds? As richly as some of them might deserve that distinction, it seems unlikely.

When the president was the mayor of Istanbul he was invited to speak at the Parliament in 1998. He decided his message should feature a famous poem, included  the statement “we shall assume power, either with blood or without”. That was seen as unacceptable speech (yelling fire in a crowded theater?), and he was sentenced to 8 months in the slammer.

Did I mention it is a bit after 3AM Turkish time? Most of you know my early to bed tendencies. Last night we went to bed at 10:30 or so, after a dinner on the shores of the Agean. I am not sure if it was the fact our room was slightly cooler than the Saraha in midsummer, or if it is just my goofed up time clock. I woke up and realized Carol was reading her eBook so the later gains credence.

Yesterday was Monday. We got an early start and headed south and west to see  Gallipoli and Troy. Loved her, hated him. I was uninformed about Gallipoli, other than seeing the forgettable Mel Gibson movie and hearing details of what it meant to the Aussies and New Zelanders over a pre-trip BCA lunch.

We drove to the Straights of the Dardanelles and came to a very somber and remote grass knoll which held a stone monument. That showed the words of Ataturk who spoke poetically of the events of this god forsaken land. I encourage you to google this, and read these incredible words. What happened here? In 1915, the Germans, Russians and English all were plotting what they thought should be done with Turkey. England decided it needed to invade Turkey, and was aided by a young navy officer named Churchill. This was not his or their finest hour, which came 40 years later. The Germans decided they needed to aid the Turks to resist this move. Despite being overwhelmingly outnumbered, the fiercely nationalist and proud Turks resolved to fight to the death to defend their homeland. In 8 short months, 300,000 died in essentially trench warfare. Holding the higher ground (and their resolve) proved decisive, and the Turks prevailed. What about the Aussies and NZ contingent? They were called by the Queen to help, and 15,000 young men from down under never came home. This event is evidently seared into their national psyche. Despite the great loss this event gave each of those countries an importance sense of national presence.

In one of the clearest and yet most haunting pre-battle admonitions I have ever heard, a Turkish general told his small group “Men you must die to defend your country, but die slowly”.

The challenge facing the British was to scale a hill of 1,000 feet or so. Evidently the gun fire and bombings were so intense, the ground cover and trees were destroyed, and the earth has eroded. The figure of a sphinx appears to remain. Plans are already underway for the August 2015 (100^th annual) commemoration of this battle. Well worth the visit.

Troy is closer to the Greek border. It is one of the earliest cities, dating back 5000 years. I guess because it was such an ideal location, they city essentially kept building on itself. Thus, when it was discovered, at least 6 different time periods have been unearthed. Too bad that very little has been spent to display this “dig”. Yes, there is a four story wooden horse, but is looks like it belongs at Chucky Cheeze. It is easy to see streets, houses, and gathering places in this ancient location. I hope someone wins the lottery and donates enough money to display this history as it should be seen. Start by replacing the rickety wood plank walkway which has lots of protruding nails, unstable handrails and rot. Embarrassing.

Yesterday afternoon we arrived in Assos. Consider a tiny little town 500 feet below the highway, snuggled in a protected harbor. The road is so steep and narrow our bus could not make it to the hotel. One walks or rides a small van the last several hundred yards. There are three or so hotels here and perhaps 20 fishing boats, most resplendent in some garish color and in various stages of disrepair. The hosts were smart enough to provide thatch covered areas next to the water. Here one can have a drink, snack or have a meal. We played backgammon (I was dethroned by my opponent’s double six roll in the closing stages of the game), chatted, and enjoyed to cooling breeze and light sprinkles. Yes, we did have a delicate fish for dinner. Life is good, particularly when you have a change of clothes.

Note, I have not told you about our day and one half in Istanbul. The pace of the tour has been fairly quick. This too shall pass, so that comes later, albeit out of order. Life is messy.

I will close by admitting this is our first tour. I can’t say I ever welcomed that concept. I worried about crowds of uninteresting people, uncomfortable buses, and waiting for someone who just couldn’t get it together. In all times past, we have planned our own travels, although the Wongs and we got considerable help in China. We hit the jackpot. Our group of 21 is filled with interesting and fun people from around the US and one woman from Dublin. Meals and bus travel are filled with lively conversation and laughs as we discover so many common links and experiences.

More news in a day or two. The sun is out and hot, meals are tasty, the history is rich and interesting. What else could you want?

posted 6/14