I am back from my vacation to Tukey. I visited Bodrum (Beautiful) and Marmaris (crass, mass tourism, targeted at Brits). As a tourist, you never really get to know about the real life of a country, but I have been following the political developments in Turkey for a while. While in Turkey, I also made sure to read their English dailies: Turkish Daily News and Today’s Zaman (which was only launched this year by the way, as Turkey’s 3rd English daily).
Unlike our beloved Jordan Times, these Turkish daily newspapers have actual online archives. That yet another thing the Turks can do better than Jordanian 
(oops.. I just found out the JT has launched a new website WITH ARCHIVE. Congratulations).
Actually I enjoyed buying the paper copies of those papers to read them beside the pool and in the hotel lobby.
I think Jordanians don’t know enough about Turkey. In school we are taught about all the bad stuff the Ottomans did to the Arabs and how Atatürk destroyed the Caliphate and it sort of stops there.
Between us and Turkey there is only Syria. An hour’s flight away there is a country that is very advanced, with a vibrant export economy exports (we all know the Ãœlker biscuits and, more recently Turkish Labaneh from Pinar, don’t we).
Every little village in the part of western Turkey I saw had a neat looking mosque with traditional minaret, yet at the same time had a grocery shop selling Efes beer.
The newspapers were busy with Abdulla Gul’s bid for presidency. He, coming from the moderately Islamic Justice and Development Party (which rules Turkey) will, most probably, become the first president in modern Turkey with a wife who wears an Islamic scarf (she recently commissioned a famous Vienna-based fashion designer to design a new headscarf for her). Yet this moderate Islamist future president is assuring everyone that he will uphold the secular state in Turkey.
The photo above was snapped by me in the old streets of Bodrum. A street vendor was selling these refrigerator magents, which I though perfectly represented the Turkish identity: National pride in the flag, reverence for Atatürk as father of the modern secular Turkish nation, Allah, and Islam..
In Marmaris I found this neon sign..
I am telling you: Turkey is fascinating.
Next time I go there I want to go to Istanbul. And i will try to be less of a dumb tourist and more of an educated traveller.
Comments
6 responses to “Turkey: Secularism, Islam and Nationalism in one shot”
turkey IS fascinating ….
You should go to istanbul BY BUS next time
! in order to catch up 1200 Kms of variety in less than 24 hours 
Wonderful, Awesome…..
for real,
Istanbul is fascinating
if you want to experience the country in a way that is not limited to the tourist perspective, check out couchsurfing.com. A brilliant experience!
Yes Ahmad, but unfortunately all I know of Turkey is stuck in the pages of Orhan Pamuk’s books and these stories from friends! I admire how diverse the country is, how the population is open minded enough to accept both Islam and Secularism. I also like the fact that Turkey is very self-sufficient and that it is one of the newly-industrialized countries in the world. I love how the Turks have a flourishing media, where CNN and National Geographic are both in Turkish, but also there is plenty of room for English media.
We should learn a lot from the Turks, and sometimes, I wished that the Arabs never revolted against the Ottoman Empire; at least Jordan would’ve been secular now!
Hey, I write all the way from Bangalore. I’ve been following your blog for a couple of months now. You’re doing a great job to promote cross-cultural insight.
I was travelling in Turkey four years ago. I decided to blog about my experience during those 10 days. Wherever I went, I managed to find a cybercafe or borrow a laptop and make a quick post with images every single day! Not bad for Nov 2003! Turkey is just amazing, whether you’re a cultural explorer or a stupid tourist.
Hi Ahmad! I know you’re probably super-busy, but perhaps you’ll be interested in turning this post into a full-fledged article…? It doesn’t have to be long!
E-mail me if the idea tickles your fancy.
no pheras, Jordan wouldn’t be secular by now. The dissolve of the Ottoman rule lead to Ataturk establishing an independent Turkey. We didn’t revolt against Ataturk, he didn’t want to take over our countries into little Turkish countries – We revolted against the OTTOMANS.
I greatly appreciate what Ataturk’s done for Turkey, before his revolution the Ottoman Empire was titled “The Sick Man” because of it’s weakness. He did stuff most people won’t be able to do in decades but he also discarded a huge amount of valuable Oriental culture that to him was related to Ottomans and he asked his population to dance “Waltz”…Ya3ni, a bit of both in this man but still – his virtues prevail.
Ahhh I miss Istanbul and Buyukada!