Turkiye or Turkey: ten weeks of exotic adventures!

Not many people in their right mind have the desire (or privilege!) of spending ten weeks playing in a foreign country. But spending ten weeks twice traveling in the same country, does that border on insanity?

Alright, so call me crazy but we're back in Turkey to explore a different part of this vast and massive country!

It's not that the COVID-19 pandemic is over (is it really?), no, it's simply that Turkey fascinates me on so many different levels. From the Kemalist legacy to the more recent attempt to fuse with Islam with modernity by Erdogan and his Islamist party; from the beauty of Mount Ararat – the landing place of Noah's arl - to the magnificent Van Lake near the Iran border.

Van Lake in eastern Turkey 

(Photo by Leyla Helvaci: https://www.pexels.com/photo/lake-van-coast-turkey-9793024/)

Our previous travels took us east deep into the Kurdish heartlands and within a heartbeat of Turkey's borders with Iran, Georgia and Syria. (If you wish to read about my previous extended visit in 2019 please click here.)

On this visit, the plan is to travel east – if you start in Istanbul then there is no choice but to go east! - subsequently heading south towards Cyprus (hopefully taking in both the Greek and Turkish sectors!). After Cyprus we will hug the Meditarranean Sea coast and head back towards Istanbul.

At least, that's the general plan. The final itinerary is 'TBD' subject to logistics, accomodation and the enjoyability of any particular city along the way. That is, if we enjoy any particular city we may extend our stay ... a flexible travel plan has its benefits.

So what's with the fascination for Turkey? Two distinct reasons, although a discussion on the subject will be never ending.

(Photo by Kübra Arslaner: https://www.pexels.com/photo/crop-person-showing-postcard-with-photography-of-old-city-7790175/)

Firstly, the Ottoman Empire in all its forms. From the many Ottoman monuments found across the country to the indelible legacy left by an Empire that controlled territories in three continents for five centuries. (As an amateur historian, the Ottoman Empire and particularly its later ceturies from the 1800s onwards are one of my areas of interest.)

Secondly, Ataturk and the establishment of the modern Turkish Republic in 1923. The decline and ultimate dissolution of the Ottoman Empire led to a radical experiment in modernization led by staunch secularist and reformer Mustafa Kemal.

Ataturk's policies, often referred to as Kemalism, laid the foundation for today's Turkey. To be sure, much has changed in the one hundred years since Ataturk proclaimed the Republic. Headscarves have made a comeback and political Islam is no longer the taboo it was as recently as the 1990s. Indeed, a headscarf wearing first lady, Mrs Erdogan, now hosts foreign diginitaries at the presidential palace on behalf of the Turkish state. (A headscarf in the presidential palace? Blasphemous thinking until a few decades ago!)

Mustafa Kemal 'Ataturk' 

(Photo by Imran Ahmed. All rights reserved.)

To have a front seat to watch the incredible social changes and economic transformation of Turkey has been enthralling. And watching while criss crossing the country taking in the sights and gorging on delicious kebabs is an experience like no other.

I am a Singapore based Tour Guide with a special interest in arts and history. I have lived and worked in several countries during my career as an international banker. I enjoy traveling, especially by train, as a way to feed y curiosity about the world and nurture my interest in photography. I am available on twitter (@grandmoofti); Instagram(@imranahmedsg) and can be contacted at imran.ahmed.sg@gmail.com.

Eskisehir, Turkey: travel hub or hidden gem?

From Bursa our next destination was Konya. However, exploring Turkey at leisure meant the long direct journey to Konya was conveniently broken at Eskisehir. Eskisehir is on the main high speed train route to Konya from Istanbul so it made sense to spend a few days in Eskisehir then take the YHT bullet train to Konya.

Eskisehir did not disappoint; though it helped that our hotel was clean and had strong WiFi versus the dump of a hotel in Bursa (no names shall be mentioned). Yes, after spending several days in a run down hotel it was nice to be in a modern hotel with good infrastructure!

The Porsuk Cayi River runs through Eskisehir and is lines with bars, cafes and restaurants.
(Photo: Imran Ahmed)

Eskisehir or literally old (eski) town (sehir) is ironically mostly a new town. With two major universities in town – Anadolou University and Eskisehir Osmangazi University – Eskisehir is a university town.

But it is much more than simply a university town. It is, after all, a city of almost one million people. For a city of that population, Esiksehir is remarkably compact.

Like many ancient cities - Eskisehir's history can be traced to at least the Byzantine period - it is located on the banks of a river. The Porsuk Cayi River runs through Eskisehir's center. Both sides of the river are lined with cafes, bars and restaurants making it pleasant to stroll by the river. There were even gondolas and river cruises for tourists operating on the river!

One of the many bridges across the river. (Photo: Imran Ahmed)

The highlight of the Eskisehir trip was a walk to Odunpazari District. Odunpazari is an amalgamation of fresh produce street markets, hotels, cafes, restaurants and traditional Turkish style coffee houses. The bazaar is a place to wander, sip coffee and browse souvenirs while taking in the traditional Turkish architecture of the area's houses.

Another unexpected though pleasant surprise was coming across an Aviation Museum in the vicinity of our hotel. However, one should not be too surprised given the city's links to aviation. There is a large Turkish Air Force base on the outskirts of the city. (Fighter planes streaked through Eskisehir skies routinely.) Additionally, the city houses much of Turkey's burgeoning airplane parts manufacturing and maintenance industry.

Eskisehir's Aviation Museum is a great place to see the evolution of the Turkish Air Force and many of it has planes flown from past to present. (Photo: Imran Ahmed)

Eskisehir is a pleasant town with its own subtle charm. Being a university town gives the city a particular character. Following a short stay, Eskisehir came across as a great place - perhaps providing a glimpse into modern (Kemalist) Turkish society outside of the country's main centers of Istanbul and Ankara. If you have a few days to spare and, especially if you like fighter planes, then Eskisehir's your city!

Imran is a Singapore based Tour Guide with a special interest in arts and history. Imran has lived and worked in several countries during his career as an international banker. He enjoys traveling, especially by train, as a way to feed his curiosity about the world and nurture his interest in photography. Presently, Imran is spending ten weeks (March – May 2019) in Turkey exploring the country. He is available on twitter (@grandmoofti); Instagram(@imranahmedsg) and can be contacted at imran.ahmed.sg@gmail.com.

Ataturk's withering Istanbul?

Istanbul is one of my favorite cities. I first visited Istanbul in February 2003, on the eve of the US invasion of Iraq. From 2003 onwards, I have visited Istanbul regularly.

In Istanbul, one cannot take more than a few steps without running into a historical monument or place of worship. Istanbul, after all, was the home of the Ottoman Empire – the Sublime Porte. An Empire which attempted to synthesize modernity and Islam, ultimately leading to the personality of Ataturk and ideas associated with Kemalism.

A painting of Ottoman era Istanbul. The Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia are visible in the background. 

For me, Turkey is Ataturk's Turkey. A nation pursuing a staunch, fascist-like, secular vision believing secularist thought is a prerequisite for modernizing society. Headscarves were not permitted in government institutions. Islamist tending politicians were persona non grata in Ankara, the nation's capital. Any deviation from Ataturk's path and the military flexes its muscles to remind society of the correct way. Remember Turkey's 'post-modern' coup and the fate of Erbekan's Islamist government in 1997?

Since 2003, Istanbul's character has changed. Along with the rest of the world, Turkey has seen a resurgence of religiosity in the post 9/11 environment. Ataturk's secular ideals have withered with time. Secularism is all but dead.

A process helped on its way by three successive governments formed by the Islamically inclined Justice and Development Party (AKP). Since the AKP's first election victory in 2002, the party swept the polls again in 2007 and most recently in 2011.

Tayyip Erdogan, in his capacity as Prime Minister from 2003-2014 and from 2014 as President, has presided over many far reaching changes in Turkish society. The headscarf debate is history. His wife – as Turkey's First Lady - adorns the headscarf at state functions. The AKP's symbolic victory in the headscarf debate underscores the increasing influence of religion in Ataturk's secular Turkey.

To the AKP's credit, Turkey has seen its status and image in the world transformed. With the largest standing army within the NATO alliance, Turkey was always an important state militarily. However, Turkey is now an economic powerhouse too. At the end of 2012, Istanbul had twenty-four billionaire residents, ranking it at number seven in the list of cities with the most billionaires. According to compiled by the CIA, Turkey's economy is the seventeenth largest in the world. It's GDP per capita on a purchasing parity basis is over USD 15,000. Turkish companies are global players with large overseas investments, particularly in neighboring Central Asian and Balkan states.

Politically, Turkey now pursues a more muscular and independent foreign policy – often bringing the country into conflict with its traditional US and NATO allies. Consider Turkey's vacillations over supporting Kurdish militias in battling extremist Islamic State fighters lodged in the Syrian city of Kobani. Or Turkey's increasingly active role in regional conflict zones such as Libya and Palestine.

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkish Republic, seen in his military uniform (1918)

Perhaps all of these changes simply represent a maturing of Turkish society? Or maybe the shift towards Islam is a belated recognition of the European Union's non-acceptance of Turkey as an European state? (Turkey has virtually abandoned the formal process of becoming an EU member state.) More likely, it is a combination of several factors. Whatever the reasons, the changes are unlikely to stop me from visiting Istanbul again in the coming years – as often as I possibly can. It remains a charmingly, beautiful city with many hidden secrets I have yet to uncover!

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Imran is a Singapore based Tour Guide with a special interest in arts and history. Imran has lived and worked in several countries during his past career as an international banker. He enjoys traveling, specially by train, as a way to feed his curiosity about the world and nurture his interest in photography. Imran can be contacted at imran.ahmed.sg@gmail.com.

The Death of the Secular Islamic Polity

The death of secular nationalism across the Islamic world is a painful occurrence. It's not simply the rise of political Islam but also the weakness of secular (left wing?) intellectual thought which adds fuel to the fire. 

Perhaps it was the death of communism which left Muslim nationalists orphans in a world fueled by God-fearing capitalists. Perhaps it was the increasing gap between urbanized, westernized elites and mainstream populations in much of the Muslim world. (It could not have been easy for many Afghanis to accept local women parading around in miniskirts in 1970s Kabul when no more than the eyes of a 'traditional' rural Afghani woman show through her burqa while she is in public!) 

Female Kabul University students walk around campus in 1970s Afghanistan

To many, left wing nationalists such as Saddam Hussein or Hafez al-Assad were bestial tyrants ready to kill their own people given even the most trivial of excuses. Surely, Iraq and Syria were not model societies. However, neither were their counterpart right wing dictatorships found in many Latin American or developing countries. In many instances, capitalist, US supported strongmen were just as lethal to their own people as Soviet supported leaders. 

Nonetheless, the death of Islamic nationalists did not occur with the passing of these two brutal leaders. It is progressively taking place even as these words are being written.   

Of particular note are the two bastions of secularism found on either pole of the Islamic world: Turkey and Indonesia. Arguably, the two nations tasked with 'protecting' the Western and Eastern most physical and ideological borders of the Islamic world. 

Turkey: the birthplace of the first Muslim Republic in the world. A nation which banned headscarves for women and the fez headgear for men; a nation where one can sit in a bar nursing a glass of wine while watching (and listening) to people praying in a nearby mosque. 

After over a decade of rule by an Islamically inspired political party, today's Turkish state is intent on rolling back Ataturk's secular markers from Turkish society. 

A copy of the first Koran printed in the Turkish language after the formation of the secular Turkish Republic in 1923

And so with Indonesia: the most populous Muslim nation in the world. Hitherto a staunchly secular republic, now a fertile playground for the bearded brigade to attack public art and impose 'Islamic' moral standards at will. 

For Islamic modernists, the importance of secular societies lies in the enabling intellectual environment it fosters. A socially liberating ecosystem permits otherwise pious Muslims to question established archaic conventions, many of which are ripe for modernization. 

Islam is a dynamic belief structure. Hobbling it with strictures and 'out of bound' markers is destined to fail. The depth of Islamic intellectual strength will ultimately overcome these obstacles. The only question remains how many more lives must be lost in defeating the die-hard battling Muslim obscurantists.   

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Imran is a business and management consultant. Through his work at Deodar Advisors and the Deodar Diagnostic, Imran improves profits of businesses operating in Singapore and the region. He can be reached at imran@deodaradvisors.com.