Turning point

We have now spent the first half of our trip mainly on building an understanding of the cultural and historical context in which 21st-century Turkey exists. Turkey is a naturally rich land. Civilization has flourished here since ancient times. At various points, Anatolia and what is now Istanbul were dominated by Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Selcuk, and Ottoman Islamic rulers.

At their height, the Ottomans built glorious physical structures, amassed great wealth, and established the traditions of inter-ethnic and intercultural tolerance that underlie the modern Turkish gestalt. Like America (until recently) they "had it all" and seemed poised to go on forever. A series of military misadventures, combined with corruption and dynastic rule (sound familiar?) led to the decline of the Ottoman empire. By the early 20th century, Turkey was known as the "sick man of Europe."

Turkey fared badly in WW1. After the war, Turkey was defeated, colonized, impoverished, and left with a negative self image. In 1923, Mustafa Kemal led a nationalist revolution. Kemal was an army general in the Ottoman time, and had a particular genius for social engineering. After throwing the colonial forces out of Turkey, he established the modern Turkish Republic. His grateful countrymen renamed him "Ataturk," which means something like "father of Turkey." Since the revolution of 1923, there has been turmoil in the country, culminating in the most recent military coup and new constitution, circa 1980. Tensions remain high, and there is currently conflict between the ruling party and elements of the judiciary.

When I was in school, the standard line taught to us in the US was that the role of the army in Turkey was to "protect the people from Islamic extremists." They would overthrow governments that they considered a threat to the strict secularism central to Ataturk's vision of a modern Turkey. Clearly, the reality of Turkish polity is much, much more complicated than we (in America) have been told. To comment much further than that would put me out of my depth, not to mention embarassing me and/or my hosts. Current politics aren't really germane to the "turning point" subject of this post anyway, except to say that we've been given a good introduction to where Turkey came from, and a glimpse of where it is now at the national level.

So, the tour now turns away from stones, bones, and national history, and onto a more personal, heart-to-heart level. As I write, we're in the mountains of central Anatolia, descending
into our next destination, the city of Konya. Konya is the small city where the great 13th century Sufi poet Rumi is buried. We'll be less touristic and more interactive from here, including more "meeting visits" and even an overnight home stay or two. Internet access may be sparse for a while, but I hope to have a rash of posts ready to upload whenever I can see the net.