|
It took 38 hours to
reach Istanbul from Budapest. The train entered Turkey's largest city
almost at walking pace. For more than an hour building grew ever denser.
We saw multi story housing with balconied pastel fronts in wide roads
and narrow streets with old style (ottoman) wooden houses at oblique angels,
darkened by brown coal fumes. The weather was bright during our first
two days in Istanbul. A blue sky provided the backdrop for the multitude
of minarets and domes of the mosques and high-rises; it made the water
of the Bosphourus-straight tingle with luminescence. It was the weekend
and hundreds of men had gathered on the waterfront with their fishing
rods and buckets to catch the small fish that have become abundant since
a cleanup of the once gravely polluted water was ordered by the authorities.
The following weeks the region would be encapsulated in endless rain and
wind as well as freak snow storms that also got the Greek islands in the
vicinity.
Our first impression
of the current state of affairs and a gloomy outlook on the near future
in Istanbul was provided by the many near unemployed tourist touts, restaurateurs
and carpet salesmen who took every opportunity to convey how the war in
Afghanistan had ruined their business. "Bin Laden and America, they kill
my business." No one was willing to put odds on tourists returning en
mass any time soon. Hope for improvement of the situation by summertime
was cautious at best.
 |
|
Our first interview took place at the Sultan Ahmet mosque in the old
town. The Imam there spent the hours between the afternoon and the sunset
prayer, explaining some of the principles of his religion. He also drew
a picture of a future dominated by strife between nations, driven primarily
by America's surge for hegemony in Islamic regions of the world. Later
we interviewed several devout Muslims who seemed mostly confused by the
situation and unhappy with their country's position in the Afghan-American
conflict. A distinct displeasure could also be recognised in the statements
of intellectuals such as, Aseguk Baykan, a sociologist at Koç University
and Semma Suvarioglu, a psychologist who runs her own business and teaches
at several reputable colleges around town. They suggested that while Turkey's
actual geopolitical positioning holds potential for a conciliatory role
in current world politics, Turkish politicians had done nothing to exploit
this potential and assert the countries significance on the international
level.
With Baykan we also talked about the changing urban environment of Istanbul,
Turkey's largest and fastest growing city. The conversation with Semma
on the other hand, concentrated mostly on the conflict between material
and spiritual values in a society faced with rapid modernisation. With
Zia Önis of the Koç University we talked about the significance of the
potential of EU-membership in the countries internal politics, and the
cyclical nature of evolutions in relation to this. He discussed his mid-range
expectations for the (diminished) role of the military and his worries
about developments concerning the Islamist and Nationalist movements.
With the help of a final year student of the Bosphourous University
(where courses are taught entirely in English), we conducted five full-length
interviews with people from the general population in a lower middleclass
suburb of Istanbul. Their hopes and wishes for their personal future varied
with their specific circumstances (from building a house to having more
grandchildren or being able to travel around more easily). Their views
on Istanbul's future concerned the bureaucratic nature of local government,
the dwindling national economy, mobility within the city, increased immigration
form rural areas and the earthquake potential in the region. On a world
scale, all expressed concerns about the war being waged in Afghanistan.
Some talked about ecology and development. Although we had been led to
assume that we would find great reluctance in Muslims to discuss events
in the future, we found most respondents very forthcoming and happy to
present educated guesses on the world of tomorrow as well as to formulate
desires and fears.
Later we spent a day in the old town on brief question-and-answer sessions
with our interpreter and the video camera. The first half of the session
took place in the Grand Bazar and the second on the Blue mosque's Ramadan
book fair. On this occasion most respondents referred primarily to the
countries poor economic condition.
Finally, since so many respondents had talked about their fears of earthquakes
in Istanbul, we looked up a seismologist. Serdar Ozalaybey works at the
Marmara research centre. During the morning we spent with him, he talked
about his research into the likelihood of further earthquakes hitting
Istanbul and their estimated strength. On the basis of his research, he
explained the tools and methods used for prediction in seismology. In
the afternoon we explored the set-up of the whole research centre and
its 'technology free zone'. The free zone is an area where businesses
and individual researchers can develop new technology and applications
with definite perks. Tax benefits (no TVA and advantageous regulation
for import and export) are enjoyed and sharing facilities and infrastructure
reduces overhead costs.
|
