"This is Turkey" or "Burasi Turkiye"

“This is Turkey”

Anyone that has lived in Turkey for longer than the honeymoon periods of three months has probably heard the statement: “This is Turkey,” used to defend any form of antisocial behavior. A magical statement, which can be used in any one number of situations; somewhat like the multidimensional popular phrase in India: “anything is possible in India’.

However, the major difference between the Indian and Turkish phrase is that the Indian phrase has a quirky and endearing quality to it, which can be applied to off the wall good things happening as well; thus overriding any frustration that may arise from the Western need to know everything! On the contrary, the Turkish phrase is a one-way statement, only voiced when something negative about the Turkish style should be deemed as excusable.

Now this phrase pops up everywhere and unlike many things within this diverse culture, the use of this statement is not socio economically categorised; everybody and I mean everybody uses it to excuse any number of undesirable attitudes or behaviors from: corrupt policing; queue bashing; unexplainable and sudden holes in the roads; digging up of pavements in lue of an election; numerous driving violations; abuse of poor people; back handers; tax evasions; rudeness; intolerance to difference and reactions against anybody trying to prevent a person doing as they want, regardless of the legal law or the law of respecting one’s fellow man.

Thus, Turkey operates under its own system where people live with a ghetto fear and are afraid to challenge each other, as they will inevitably be met with a “you can’t tell me what to do” attitude from the men, whose ego suddenly grows into Don Vito Corleone (The Godfather), where the risk of being punched, shot or stabbed is a real possibility.

This attitude affects both sexes and so not to be dismissed are the Cruella de Vil women, who with their dagger eyes and venomous tongue attack, can be equally horrifying.

This negative, cultish and secluded standpoint where everybody thinks they are above being straightened out and too special to be interfered with, perpetuates the negative behaviors by the mere ignoring of them. And then like the icing on the cake, the whole thing is sweetly excused with, “Oh well this is Turkey,” often said in a tone, resonating pride; somewhat like a naughty child’s satisfaction at having antagonized the adult.

Perhaps it is my Western upbringing that makes me find this intolerable, or maybe it goes deeper, since my blood line is Arabic in nature, and though I was not bought up in this culture, I am in extrinsically karmically and familiarly linked to it. Whatever the reason I cannot help but try to understand with a deeper motivation to change the acceptance of this phrase. Thus, I have questioned the underlining messages within that statement, which seem to be saying we (Turkey) are above other laws; we (Turkey) are different.

The idea of difference is associated with the ego; every being has this need to be special and separate. But what happens when a whole nation’s identity is bound by this ego? What created it and what perpetuates it? In part I wonder if it is has anything to do with pride left over from when Turkey had control of the world during the Ottoman Empire, and whether Turkey still has a need to exert that authority by holding onto the ego of that time.

This notion of separateness is of course universal but in this case, where the belief that Turkey is great; no matter what it does, whom it beats, suppresses, oppresses, or violates; it becomes a tool for control, coveted by glorified nationalism, which then breeds the statement: “This is Turkey.”

On a larger scale then, could it be possible that this statement is an adolescent rebellion against global unification? Or is it simply part of the mindset that acts like a gel to bind the people of Turkey: a country that has a lost identity.

If the latter is true, then has the lack of a national identity led to Turks becoming selfish bullies with little scruples? There is no doubt that life in Turkey is hard. The economy is unstable; the world associates it with the problems of the Middle East; people are not free to move around and be integrated with the rest of the world unless they are rich. It is difficult for the masses of public to get visas, and there is a general mistrust of Turkey; the barbarians of the past that have no major riches to exploit in the present.

One is led to believe that if Turkey had masses of oil supplies then there would probably be a Western influenced war here too. The truth is that Turkey does have these rich petrol resources but they are not using them…why? That question needs a whole other article to be discussed.

Certainly Western tourists do not report that Turks are selfish bullies with no scruples; it is quite the opposite. Foreigners are always astounded with the hospitality from the Turks (which some cynics would argue is as a result of Turks adoration with the West). Time and time again I have heard visitors say that the Turkish people are inherently warm hearted, but when you have been here long enough you also learn that amongst that there is contrary glitch: a lack of respect for each other which bleeds out into the culture as a whole.

One of the reasons why, could be that the government is less invested in social welfare, and so there is an ‘each for their own’ policy amongst the Turks. The desperate struggle and the fear that perpetuates, creates a divide that enhances separateness and breeds a lack of respect.

It is no surprise then that as a result of this lack of respect that “This is Turkey,” a statement that relieves the individual and the nation of their social responsibilities towards humanity, has become a spoken part of the culture that forms a secret (cultural) code with the same power as a ‘get out of jail’ card*.

On a more profound level this phrase has intrinsically become an umbrella to cover many dilapidating cultural codes.

One such cultural code is even reinforced by the law in article 301, which prohibits publicly "insulting" Turkish National identity. This silencing of the human voice is probably one of the subtlest but effectively disempowering and destructive modes of disabling Human Rights of individuals.

The banning of ‘YouTube’ (as a result of article 301) is just one public example of the mass censorship that Turkey imposes and people just accept by saying, “Oh well this is Turkey.”

There are many other examples of abuses of rights, accepted under the umbrella of cultural codes (and not entrenched in the law) protected by the, “This is Turkey” phrase; one of which is the attitudes towards women, who, in Turkey are considered to be second-class citizens (especially in the marital home) and in effect not culturally given the same human rights as men.

The biggest question burning on the tip of my tongue is: why do Turks accept this? Sadly, I believe that the Turks belief that they cannot change things makes them just accept it. “This is Turkey,” is a just a desperate resolution to the many unsolvable problems; it is the only logical resolution. In effect the phrase does act as a ‘get out of jail’ card - quite apt for a nation where corruption is a given.
In honoring the very real limitations, I would still insist that If Turkey wants to actually reach its potential rather than just accept that it’s a cliché that it has yet to, (another well known statement) then the Turks have to stop saying: “This is Turkey” and start to want something better. Without that vision or hope it can never materialize.

I have often wondered if there is a resistance to change since the individual and national ego of the addiction to the existing pattern, is much more comfortable (a ‘better the devil you know’ mentality) and less challenging than breaking a pattern and really being out there.

If it is true that Turks belief that ‘Turkey is great’ and vehement protection of their country, creates the idea that greatness comes from being different and forms the illusion of an identity, which Turkey struggles with, then why shouldn’t that difference be something positive? Shouldn’t they be the best at something? Then again perhaps it is this reason, which keeps the statement: “This is Turkey” so alive; Turkey has rarely been the lead (not since the Ottoman days). There have been some exceptions: Galatasaray winning the UEFA (a great footballing achievement) and Orhan Pamuk (who ironically won the Nobel Prize after he had been summoned to appear in court for the violation of Article 301 of Turkey's criminal code). With perhaps a few other exceptions Turkey has rarely matched its counterparts. Thus, Turkey has always been a runner up (or a follower rather than a leader), yet the real potential to be winners is there.

Therefore, this leads me to ask another question: is this country so used to being second best that they are actually afraid of success and what that change might bring? Or is Turkey under the influence of a more powerful Western country, which benefits from Turkey remaining as the underdog?

You decide. But from me, here is one last morsel of food for thought…The very repetition of this phrase reinforces the Turkish ness to the Turks that this is their country; it is great; it is Turkey. On the contrary, I would beg to differ and argue that their reluctance to change actually makes them chicken**.


Note*: ‘get out of jail card’ from the Monopoly game a card that enables the player to get out of jail.
Note**: chicken (slang) means coward