A missed trip to the Barbour

Hello again.

Flags everywhere, including massive ones draped over huge office buildings in the financial district. Every other shop, every other apartment balcony, every other car is draped in the red and white crescent and star of the Turkish flag.

Not too sure how you correctly, succinctly describe the flag actually: should I write “red background with white crescent and star” instead?.

Anyway, here’s something I didn’t know: the Turkish flag’s crescent is not that of Islam, but rather comes from the Battle of Kosova of 1389: after the fighting stopped the moon rose over the field of battle with a bright star directly underneath it and because of the vast amount of blood spilled, the effect of the comibined celestial light was to turn the whole field red.

Or something.

On the flags again, M finds them threatening and cackled when the large one they’ve draped acrss our apartment complex was tied in a large knot by the wind. I on the other hand, must adimit to finding them oddly comforting: as if the buildings are draped in big warm blankets. I also find nationslism quite sweet, for reasons I haven’t bothered to fathom yet.

I can’t be sure if it’s always like this – there were quite a few when I was last here in June/July but the country was approaching elections then – or whether it’s been encouraged to become especially prevalent due to Kurdish PKK “rebels” in the South killing the odd (dozen) commando(s) at irregular intervals.

As to the more general obsession with the flag and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, two ideas have immediately present themselves as explanations:

Option 1: It’s to do with the fact that the Turkish people essentially have sod all history as “Turkey” and so the importance of symbolism and the one big figure they have managed to produce have taken on huge importance. This is similar to my ‘China syndrome’ theory, which is, briefly, that modern day Chinese have utterly no cultural connection whatsoever with the great Chinese of the past (only a tiny minority was actually involved in the cultural achievements, everyone else was a peasant, the early twentieth century did for pretty much everyone who did have any claims to the cultured minority); and that this leads an absurdly uncritical view of themselves.

Option 2: It’s all to do with the secular elite that run things keeping the people in line by pouring on a nationalism that is meant to drown out the desire for an equitable and just redistribution of resources as well as any moves toward Islam, the presumptive default option for those unenamoured with nationalism.

S’funny, though. Lots of Turkish people have also switched their facebook profile pictures to one of the Turkish flag.

Flags aside, Istanbul is like Manila or Mexico City more than it is like any European city. It’s huge in scale, the rich cut themselves off in areas that owe more to the gods of consumerism than those of taste or history.

Lots of brands, lots of vast and vastly wealthy family-owned holding companies that do everything from bathroom tiles to banking

I may be wrong, and it has only been a week, but the economy seems to be skewed by the fact that the ’secular elite’ is both rich and big enough to sustain a consumer goods market priced way above what the average man in the street can sustainably afford.

Irritatingly, one of those men in the street happens to be me. You’re paying London prices for practically everything, the food in the supermarkets and the taxis that you pretty much have to take if you’re going to get anywhere interesting inside 45 minutes, etc.

I asked a new Turkish friend of mine what the deal is for normals, and it apparently works out as a diet of bread and yoghurt. This explains her dinners of pasta with no sauce.

Another eating option is the relatively cheap fried food that you can buy from street kiosks, the popularity of which I guess explains the horrendous skin of a number of the people one sees.

Fun is accessible, but has thus far been irritatingly drink-based. I trust this is more the result of laziness on my part rather than lack of options. Must develop a route to “kul-tcha” that is affordable, sustainable, and doable in midweek. I think I live close enough to the shores of the Bospherous to make this an attainable task.

Discovered proximity during a wander that took me down to the shores for dusk. The walk there took me down a precipitous incline lined with cute little houses on each side followed by a pleasant high street area garlanded with Istanbulus of varying religiousity, age and happiness.

Also many dogs and many fishermen.

I was accompanied by a camera, which would be an a non-event except for it being the first time. Experimented with the camera and tried to sum up the courage to take pictures of picturesque and interesting people, but failed miserably.

Note to self: get backbone.

~ by julian2000 on 16 February, 2008.