Wake up, everyone, I'm bored
Claire Berlinski ·
Jun 21, 2010 at 4:02am
Hey, it's the middle of the day here in Istanbul and you're all sleeping. I don't see how I'm going to be able to perform my duties to Ricochet as a lively conversationalist unless you all get with the program. Turkey's seven hours ahead of EST. Please adjust your clocks accordingly.
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Comments :
Jun '10
Re: Wake up, everyone, I'm bored
Did you say something? I'm awake now. Time to start organizing our "Save Kurdistan" flotilla.
May '10
Re: Wake up, everyone, I'm bored
Good morning Claire. I am in Connecticut, and have been up since 6 am. You are not alone.
I visited Turkey in 1976, staying with Navy friends of the family in Ankara. The Officers' Club had been bombed a few weeks before and the windows were covered in criss-cross tape in case it happened again. I'm sure Turkey is different from what I remember.
I read everything you post because I still have strong feelings about Turkey. Thanks!
Re: Wake up, everyone, I'm bored
Actually, I hate to be grimly serious, but the PKK has been on a particularly murderous spree here lately. The Turkish conscripts they're blowing up could easily have been friends of mine. Hamas is a terrorist organization. No one should be helping them. The PKK is a terrorist organization. No one should be helping them. The idea of threatening to assist the PKK to teach Turkey a lesson is grotesque: The people who would be the victims of this policy are the civilians the PKK likes to kill.
Jun '10
Re: Wake up, everyone, I'm bored
So do we get to call you are Lady in Istanbul?
Re: Wake up, everyone, I'm bored
Claire, let me get all international-relations wonky on you. The cornerstone of British imperial policy, until the Germans ruined it, was that the Ottoman Empire had to be preserved intact for as long as possible -- both to bottle up the Russians and to keep the Middle East stable for strategic economic reasons favorable to the UK. In its vision and concept this was a rather anti-European approach -- insofar as the British had no interest in seeing Europe, and European civilization, spread east and south -- unless they were doing the job, which, let's face it, they were not. Today the question is whether Turkey can continue to successfully straddle Europe. In the old days, Turkey straddled Europe only geographically. Nowadays, that little finger of Turkish Europe is functionally irrelevant, and what counts is Turkey's political straddle act, which seems to be becoming untenable. Must it be in or out for Turkey? Or can the balancing persist? If so, what can we -- or must we -- do to preserve it? Or is it becoming necessary to force the issue?
Jun '10
Re: Wake up, everyone, I'm bored
When I look at the demographic map of the region (roughly from Turkey through the Caucasus mountains, across to Iran, and over to the Khyber Pass), I can only marvel at the diversity of peoples. Afghanistan alone features at least a dozen ethnicities. Iran is only 50% Persian, and the Caucasus region is an unfathomable blend of languages and culture. I suppose my one hope is that a globalized world will finally introduce modernity to the region. At least the Iraqi Kurds seem to be getting the hang of it.
Re: Wake up, everyone, I'm bored
Oh, now you all start talking. Folks, it's the end of the day here. This is the hour when I cease to be a Turkey expert and become a highly-unqualified martial arts expert. Please adjust your queries accordingly. I'll be at the gym, though, and far too tired to answer when I get back.
Peter, very briefly, it depends what you mean by "force the issue." How are you imagining the issue might be forced?
Re: Wake up, everyone, I'm bored
What I mean, Claire, is this: I hope we're not headed toward a moment when Turkey has to be in or out -- us or them, Europe or Asia, friend or foe. If I had it my way, Turkey would be forever just a year or two away from admission to the EU -- neither a full member of Club Europe nor a member of Club Middle East. Turkey ought to be, somewhat like Britain, primarily a member of its own club. But I'm getting the feeling that this delicate balance between the two sides is being upset. And that's making me a little upset. Forcing the issue would mean the US deciding that Turkey has to choose, or judging that Turkey has chosen, and then changing our policy accordingly.