Deadly Eggs in Your Pockets: News and Noteworthy Events, 3

Sir Willie the Wise, Fall/2011 

Esteemed Readers,

I arrived to my other home, on the west side of the Atlantic, in February. Let me start with the bad news:

* The climate change is upon us! I was stuck at the airport in Ankara for 3 hours, and then in Istanbul for 7, due to excessive snow. Turkey is supposedly the land of sun and fun.  This much snow belongs to Buffalo or Chicago!

* The bright side is: contrary to the last bloody winter, there is almost no snow in Iowa this year. The weather is really nice, which makes me feel all bubbly and perky!… 

But, a quick glance at the Turkish papers on-line lets the grim realities sink:

* Turkey is having yet another round of Constitution Drafting… Yep, it is that time of the year… Yet, there is hardly an atmosphere of deliberation, which would ideally lead to a new social contract, and we can live democratically and happily ever after...

* Instead, there is a subtle atmosphere of bullying and submission. The number of students, academics and journalists behind bars –without any indictment, as of yet- has passed thousands long ago!

* A university student caught with 3 eggs (in writing: THREE EGGS) that he meant to use at a protest is behind bars, waiting for his verdict. The prosecutor demands that he stays behind bars for 11 years! That makes almost 4 years in prison per egg! Hence, my cautionary title: When in Turkey, beware of walking with eggs in your pockets!

* Another group of students who threw eggs at the leading members of the Constitutional Committee (from both the government and opposition parties) are also arrested. If the prosecutor gets his way, they'll be behind bars for 48 years! (in writing: FOURTY-EIGHT YEARS)

*Meanwhile, police officers that shoot and kill students/activists cannot even be brought in front of justice…

* Even if Turkish Courts were to consider broken eggs as infringement of the life of unborn chicken fetuses, I still think this is a highly disproportionate and unfair punishment. 20-some year old kids die, the killers walk free…. Eggs broken, 48 years behind bars!

* If the Prime Minister thinks your speech has offended him, he sues you. The courts generously grant you at least one-year in prison, if they feel charitable that day…. Plus, you pay financial compensation to I-Don't-Accept-Anything-But-Yes Minister…

    We need many things in Turkey. But above all, a decent system of justice…

    Wishing you all conscientious judges and prosecutors,

    The permanent opposition, Academic Mommy

PS: and what’s with the photo, you may ask. 

There is a Turkish expression; the finger that’s cut by the sword of justice wouldn’t hurt. Above is my son’s sword of justice. At 6 years old, he displays a much more sophisticated sense of fairness, than the judges involved in the above mentioned cases.

The GOOD, The BAD, and the UGLY:

Another Historic September 12th in Turkey

Ladies and Gentlemen!

September 12th will no longer be remembered solely as the notorious anniversary of the 1980 coup in Turkey. 30 years after the coup, we just had a referendum on the very same day! The subject of the referendum: whether or not to amend some articles of the 1982 Constitution.

The ballot itself was simple enough, with only two choices: Yes or No to the amendments.

And below are the results...

The yellow and red map here is used by the most popular Turkish daily, Hurriyet.

As seen from their dichotomous choice in colors, Hurriyet has a tendency to avoid nuances. It projects almost every political issue in Turkey as black and white! No matter how convoluted, layered and complicated the subject is...

From reading Hurriyet's analysis of the referendum results, an average reader would get the idea that Turkey is a terribly split country!

Just detach the coastal provinces neatly along the perforated lines...

I remember a similar color coding for the 2004 US election results, when G. W. Bush won the second time. The most popular US map that circulated around was showing the solid blue (Democrat) coastal states surrounding a massive red (Republican) continent in the center. In fact, some e-mail jokes circulated around for a while, showing the blue states uniting with Canada in a larger "United States of Canada" and the red states alone establishing the "United States of Jesus!"

The Turkish map above in many ways harks back to that kind of a US style stereotyping in the form of "culture wars". The country at hand is split between the enlightened, progressive and more affluent coastal voters, and the lesser- educated, conservative and more rural voters of the heartland.

Based on the referendum results, Hurriyet and most of its columnists paint a black and white picture of Turkey: From their perspective, the enlightened coastal region voters bravely casted "No!" votes, and thus, tried to prevent the looming threat of Islamic authoritarianism, whereas the dull-witted conservatives in the Anatolian heartland and the poor, gullible Kurds of the East spoiled the whole thing by saying "Yes!"

No need to read the rest, if you buy this interpretation.

Now, if you are still with me, let's try to paint the same results with slightly more subtlety. Below map might be somewhat more informative, for it provides us the "shades" of Yes and No votes.

As seen above, when we include the actual percentages of Yes and No votes, the clear distinction between the coasts and the heartland blur significantly.

Still, in both these maps above, there is a very important group of voters that are not taken into account: Those who never went to the ballot box in order to boycott the referendum.

Even though the ballot itself had only two options, we had three separate political campaigns across the country: The Yes Campaign by the ruling AKP, The No Campaign by the opposition parties CHP and MHP, and the Boycott Campaign by the Kurdish party, BDP.

So, here is another map for you below. This one shows the preference of the majority votes in each province. Blues=Yes, Reds=No, and Yellows= Boycott.

I know, this last map makes things even more complicated... The cities in the southeast which seem to be the most pro-Yes, hence pro-AKP above, suddenly turn out to be the most pro-boycott, hence more pro-Kurdish provinces below!

With these three maps, I just wanted to lay out the most recent puzzle in Turkish politics.

If there could be so much variation in just displaying the results, imagine how much variation could exist in interpreting them.

Good luck in your efforts to make sense of the referendum results. Let me know if develop something more sophisticated than this "a nation split in two/three ways" argument...

Hope you're enjoying the cool days of fall without a sore throat or runny nose,

The referendum averse Academic Mommy

Constitution Making: “What Not To Wear!”

There has been a long tradition of associating Turkish Constitutions with dress sizes: The 1961 Constitutions was “two sizes too large” –read: too liberal in terms of individual rights and liberties.

Or take the most recent, 1982 Constitution. It’s considered to be way too small and bursting out from the seams. According to some, the 1982 Constitution is more like a straitjacket that holds back any democratic initiative in the country.

Spring is here and so is another season for the debates over constitutional reform. With the fabulously funny BBC show “What Not to Wear!” in mind, this author is going to make some suggestions about a reformed or altogether new Constitution of Turkey. Here we go:

1. Look for a classic, timeless piece: Very often we get carried away by the spurs of the moment. However, most of these impulsive decisions turn out to be unsuitable, inappropriate, or down right hideous. Think about the ‘80s… Yep, those terribly puffed up hair does, perms, and the OMG-what-were-we-thinking shoulder pads! With hindsight, most of us who has photos from this wacko era that are tucked deep in our closets would agree that we would’ve been better off with more classic and timeless outfit choices. Now, the same principle could easily be transplanted to the world of constitution making. Instead of a fashionable, contemporary text that would please the crowds now but would stick out like a sore thumb in a decade or two, why not try to come up with a classic and subtle look that covers the basics and can be adapted according to the future needs? Indeed, I am trying to make the case for that little black dress. It is never out of fashion and would save your rear end both in weddings and in funerals. Just find the right accessories for the particular occasion and you are good to go!

2. Less is More: Please, please avoid the unnecessary, dangling pieces at all costs. Try to come up with a neat and clean look. Layers and layers of clothing with lots of jewelry and a heavy make up would most likely make you look like a clown, no matter how expensive the price tag on each item is. Also, piling up all that expensive stuff upon your body would be the definite sign of tackiness rather than sophistication. Same principle applies to the constitutions. Try to avoid the temptation to include everything about everything. Keep it to a basic minimum. More articles would mean more detail and if you go down that slippery slope and keep adding, you’d inevitably compromise the quality of the text. Keep it to a minimum.

3. Get a Second Opinion, A Third or even Forth, if You Can: This is why wise shoppers go shopping in the company of honest, reliable friends. No matter how much faith you have in your own taste in style, it is always good to have a second pair of eyes to comment. This is where the tough love approach of the What Not To Wear folks comes in handy. When you hear their outrageous statements, such as “Oh darling, you really need something to cover that enormous bum of yours!” Or “Sweetie, you have a fabulous cleavage, why don’t you show it?” it is all for the better. In the end, having a second and more critical opinion would definitely improve your choices. And the same goes for the constitutions. You might like the text you have. You might be terribly proud of it. But do not hesitate to expose it to a critical review if you really want to improve its quality and appeal.

This is my humble advice to all those who are busy with sketching a new constitution in this spring season.

Goodbye and good luck,
The Reform-Weary Academic Mommy