Sensory Overload

Layers upon layers of buildings, roads, rubble, and people.  Old, new and everything in between piled on top of one another.  There is so much to take in, I want to take pictures of everything, but my better instincts are restraining me.

I arrived at Ataturk international airport at about 930am local time today.  I am going to be writing about Ataturk and his position as a demagogue in Turkey when I return so I was curious to see how he was represented at his namesake airport.  Surprisingly, I only saw one large (but unobtrusive) portrait as I was exiting the terminal.  The airport was dominated by advertisements and shopping venues- no different than those in the US.  On my way to my hostel, I also noticed many billboards bearing English words and slogans and my taxi driver was listening to a song with English lyrics (I believe it was American, but I didn't recognize it). Perhaps this all says something about the outlook of modern Turkey.

Despite the trappings of modernity, the city has an undoubtedly ancient feel to it.  Minarets are still a dominant feature of the skyline.  The call to prayer goes out like clockwork, a hauntingly beautiful sound.  Men sell twisted bread, holding their wares on wooden planks attached to long poles so customers can see them coming.  Narrow streets at 45 degree angles twist and plunge toward the Bosporus. 

One of the most interesting things (for me) is observing how the ancient and the modern coexist.  I saw one of the above mentioned bread sellers at a busy merge point on the highway.  Glass towers rise next to homemade concrete structures and crumbling wooden buildings.  An advertisement for stilettos shares a corner with a pink minaret and banners in support of the Republican People's party (the party of Ataturk, but not currently in power).

My wonder and enthusiasm was tamped down a bit by a New York Times article in my inbox today.  There was a (relatively) small bombing in an Istanbul shopping district yesterday morning that wounded 8 people.  This comes in the wake of a recent possible assassination attempt on the prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan,which killed a member of his convoy and a bombing last year in Taksim Sqaure, a major transportation and cultural center.  Erdogan is blaming Kurdish separatists for this bombing, which is a fair assessment considering the heirs to the PKK have taken responsibility for the convoy attack.  I just hope the violence doesn't begin to escalate in the next weeks leading up to the election.

In other political news, today was apparently the 51st anniversary of the first of several coups Turkey experienced during the 20th century.  The army has, for most of the history of the Turkish Republic, been widely regarded as the guardians of democracy.  For years Turks have cited it as their country's most trusted institution.  Recently however the army's power and popularity has been greatly diminished.  Military officials are currently standing trial for allegedly planning a coup and today's anniversary was marked with protests.  This is an important demonstration of the fact that not only has the state gotten the upper hand against the military but that, unlike in the past, even if a coup was staged it would not have the kind of public support past coups have been given.

In lighter news, I had a visitor this evening. I heard bells on my balcony, and opened the door to find this little sokak kedi (street cat).  He proceeded to waltz in, take a comfortable seat on my bed and start purring like a machine.  No wonder my allergies have been acting up since I got here.