Tuesday, March 26, 2013

'Backwards Day' in Istanbul: a news junkie's paradise

I have a Kurdish friend, now of European citizenship, who says, "when I lived in Germany, I tried to be interested in everything happening there but it was all so boring. It just wasn't engaging." Having lived in Istanbul for a couple years now, I completely understand.

The Levantine area is a news junkie paradise. There is more absolutely fascinating news happening in any one week here, than in a year somewhere else. This last week had to be THE MOST fascinating week since I first came here in 2010.

Indeed, it felt like an event teenagers often create called "Backwards Day." The teens do everything backwards for one day from wearing their clothes backward to saying the opposite of what they usually do. The news that happened last week was so unexpected and so "backwards" of what one normally hears and it all happened in the same week!

An Israeli apology


The Mavi Marmara
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized to Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for the Mavi Marmara incident. As an American citizen, I frequently feel that if a US citizen ever has an opinion that is contrary to the Israeli point-of-view and they publically express that view, they will be bullied into silence. The American media never has an honest dialogue about Israel and it rarely explains to Americans that Israelis are settling on land that belongs to someone else in violation of international law.

So when Israeli military forces boarded the Mavi Marmara and shot Americans and Turks at close range, killing nine of them, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan demanded an apology.

An apology never seemed like an unreasonable request. Erdoğan's been demanding an apology for three years. He sought justice for the Americans and Turks killed much more vocally than my own government did.

This week, Erdoğan got that apology when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called him up and expressed regret. Apologies are so powerful! It was like hearing Netanyahu and his nation say "we accept responsibility for this. We were wrong." It was the exact opposite of what a bully would do.

Backwards Day.

The PKK declares a cease-fire

The PKK, declared a terrorist group by both the Turkish and American governments, declared a cease-fire with the Turkish State. This opinion piece from Friday, March 23rd,  "Hurriety Daily News" explains just how different this is than the normal course of events in Turkey.

Backwards Day.

The Patriarch of the Orthodox Church attends the Ordination of the New Pope


When something happens for the first time in 959 years, that's amazing. Such was the excitement with the Istanbul-based Patriarch of the Orthodox Church was welcomed so warmly by the new Pope Francis when Barthalomew went to the ordination. Just even the idea being expressed that various strands of the Christian Church could be reunited is fascinating. Also worthy of note, Turkish newspapers expressed not one iota of anxiety over this. In America, if there was specualtions about Sunnis and Shia reuniting in some future generation, it would send Islamaphobia anxiety into overdrive.

Backwards Day.

Cyprus Decides to Give Bank Depositors a Hair Cut

The Flag of Cyprus
Holy Cow, what a fascinating story. It was incredible to watch it unfold and of course, it's still unfolding. If you need any proof that one should never trust a government that says "your deposits are insured" this is the story. The depositors in Cyprus banks, who had thought their deposits were insured up to 100,000 Euros, were told instead that there would be a tax on all deposits held in Cypriot banks because of all the bad loans these banks made to Greece. The depositors didn't make those choices, the bank's owners did!

As Planet Money put it, "it is like your car insurance company, like Allstate, running up to your Suburu, smashing the window, and stealing your stereo."

The odd place this put this Cypriots with their money is beautifully summarized here.

The EU was supposed to make the Cypriots feel safer.

Backwards Day.

Does this mean I want drama in my own domestic news? It does not.


I agree with Rolling Stone Magazine writer Matt Taibbi (who is so eloquent on all things financial-crisis related) who wrote this about the American budget sequestration:  "The whole situation reminds one of a family so dysfunctional that its members can't communicate except through desperate acts."

 I want my domestic news to be boring. That means there are adults in the room, taking care of business, and the citizens can spend their time creating, discovering, and solving problems in a way that moves the economy forward and not worrying about stuff like whether or not their money is safe in a bank.

In case anyone hasn't noticed, those Germans with their boring news, are kicking everyone's butt economically.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

6 comments:

Senior Dogs Abroad said...

Karen, It sure was backwards week in Turkey last week but in such a happy way. The joy over the possibility of ending the war with the PKK, the Israeli apology - all happening with the coming of spring.

Germany may be kicking butt and it's not only everyone else's butt in Europe but, according to a German friend, their own population's butt as well. The much touted German generous social welfare system and high wages, we understand, has been fairly well gutted over the last few years. So maybe the news isn't so boring after all to Germans.

Karen said...

Yes, it was happy. Wonderfully happy. Your comments are well said.

I think every country will go through the "austerity blues," including ours. I'm ready. We all know it is coming.

BacktoBodrum said...

Such a backwards day that I feel I may wake up in the shower and find that it has all been a dream.

Karen said...

No, no, it can't be a dream! Maybe Israel and Turkey are going to be BFFs for the next generation.

chaplain.cz said...

Hi Karen - sorry for not visiting here for some time.

Three of your four items of 'backwards news' are all very good news. I welcome the fact that the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch attended the inauguration of Pope Francis, much as I also welcome the new Pope's first words & actions

A permanent cease fire between the PKK & the Turkish authorities is likewise welcome & I hope it brings about an appropriate settlement that recognises the rights, culture & language of the Kurdish minority in Turkey.

And certainly, an Israeli apology for the massively excessive force & violence used in the Mavi Marmara incident has been long overdue. You make an extremely valid point regarding the total unwillingness of any American government to criticise the actions of Israel - always out of a fear of offending the Jewish lobby & vote in the US. Sadly with regard to Israel, the oppressed have become the oppressors.

Karen said...

It makes me uncomfortable that America never has open discussions of these issues. It makes me feel that we are not in charge of our own policy.

 
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