Culture of Contradictions

I am no longer legally allowed to access this blog.

This post was sent to my family in America through email, and from there they were able to upload it. But if I attempt to access, the site, I get a blank page with the words “Bu siteye erişim mahkeme kararıyla engellenmiştir.” Access to this site has been disabled due to court decision. Blogspot has now joined the list of more than 4,000 other sites on Turkey’s “Black List”, sites that are banned due to material that violates some Turkish law. That sounds fairly reasonable, but then again, violations of Turkish law include such crimes as “insulting Turkishness”. The Turkish government regularly imprisons journalists and shuts down publications that voice views opposing their own. This is a country that believes it should be in the EU?

Let me be clear - I love Turkey. I really mean no offense. Yet I must admit that are some aspects of this place that, eight months of complete immersion later, still bewilder me. Actually, the more time I’ve spent here, the more deeply confused I have become. Turkey is an enigma, an entanglement of thousands of years and colliding cultures. Just as one thinks they’ve finally got it figured out, a new element appears that shatters the entire portrait they’ve attempted to create. Turkey lives in the gray area, not fitting into any of the classifications we attempt to mark it with. It is, at its very root, a culture of contradictions.

The first thing everyone, from guidebooks to textbooks to locals always mentions about this culture is that it is a “bridge between East and West”. Turkey prides itself on being the geographic, cultural and political link between the Middle East to its east and Europe to the west. Yet its self-proclaimed status of in-betweener has left Turkey somewhat excluded from both camps – a foreigner to all. It is not in the EU (despite no shortage of effort), yet also certainly not a part of any Arab alliances. The population’s Caucasian ethnicity differentiates it from its eastern neighbors while its Muslim faith separates it from the Christian western world. Yet these surface differences are only that – the surface.

The deeper reflection of Turkey’s identity as a country lies in its people. The only way to observe a people as a whole is through their culture. Yet after eight months of observing and taking part in this culture, the only conclusion I have come to is that one simply can’t draw any conclusions about Turkey. The one and only constant is that whatever you may find here, its contradiction is here as well.

Walk through one of Istanbul’s massive malls and you will find yourself following a group of women attired in full burkas, while a gaggle of teenage girls in tiny mini shorts and all bearing the latest Gucci handbags walk behind you. The malls themselves feature a glossy selection of western stores, from Starbucks to large lingerie menageries, yet just downstairs have their own indoor bazaars, bright with an infinite variety of herbs and spices and bins upon bins of colorful Turkish Delight (a gummy sort of candy). Foreigners flock here to see its rich history and ancient traditions, yet modern Turkey is most eager to show off its newest, shiniest, most Western innovations. This is the culture’s inherent paradox. One of many.

Yet it is partially these very inconsistencies that make Turkey what is, and it is precisely these fascinating contradictions that drew me here in the first place. I was (and find I still am) enchanted by this country’s fascinating teeter between Europe and the Middle East. Whatever the myriad causes and possible effects its internal tug-of-war may be, the result is without a doubt an enthralling place.