“Seni seviyorum,çünkü bütün evren sana ulaşmam için işbirliği yaptı.” der Simyacı’da çoban. “İkinci görüşmemizde,dedi genç kız,bana aşkından söz ettin.Daha sonra Evrenin Dili gibi,Evrenin ruhu gibi çok güzel şeyler öğrettin.Ve bunlar,azar azar beni senin bir parçan haline getirdi.”Konuşarak yüreğinin derinliklerini birbirine açar iki kişi ve birbirinin aşkının tadına bakar.İçlerindeki güç birbirine akacak yol bulur sözcüklerden.”Aşk’tı bunun adı, evrenin saf diliydi bu,herhangi bir açıklamaya gereksinimi yoktu,çünkü Evren’in sonsuz zamanda yoluna devam etmesi için hiçbir açıklamaya gereksinimi yoktu.”Sevilecek biri yaratılmıştı ve bu hazine olmazsa insan soyunun hayallerinin hiçbir anlamı olmazdı.”Aşk’tı bunun adı,insanlardan da,çöllerden de daha eskiydi.”

Aşk’ın bilinmezliği doğru değildir çünkü herkes istediği ve ihtiyaç duyduğu şeyi ele geçirebilir hayatta.”Kim olursan ol, ne yaparsan yap,bütün .,yüreğinle gerçekten bir şey istediğin zaman,Evrenin ruhunda bir istek oluşur.”Oysa herkes bizi değiştirmeye uğraşır çevremizde.”Bizi görmek istedikleri gibi değilsek hoşnut olmazlar,canları sıkılır.Çünkü efendim,herkes bizim nasıl yaşamamız gerektiğini elifi elifine bildiğine inanır.”Ama onlar yeryüzünün dilini bilmezler.Onlar önemli olmak ve sadece sevilen olmak isterler ki dilleri bağlıdır.Kendi istekleriyle sınırlıdır yaşamları.Sadece gece yarısından sonra bir kadının koynuna giren ,konuşmayan aşıklar gibidirler. “Yeryüzünde herkesin anladığı bir dil vardır,..bu çoşkunun dilidir,arzu edilen ya da inanılan şeyi gerçekleştirmek için sevgi ve tutku ile yapılan girişimlerin dilidir.” Çoşku yoksunuysa yüreğiniz dudaklarınız öpmez, çoşkudan uzaksa elleriniz ötekine uzanamaz, çoşku sarsmıyorsa yüreğinizi kendine özlediği yüreği bulamaz.Sevgi ve tutku dilini korku ve bencillik bağlar.Toprağı ezen nalların sahibidir atlar ki üstlerinde yüreği rüzğar olanı taşırlar. “İnsanların çoğu dünyayı korkutucu bir şey olarak görüyorlar ve yalnızca bu nedenden dolayı da dünya gerçekten korkutucu bir yer oluyor.” İnsanlardan korkan, kadınlara güvenmeyen erkeklerin,mantıklı evlilik arayan kadınların ruhu güçsüz bir korkunun esir dudaklarına hapsolmuş kalebentlerdir. Koruganlarına kilitlenmiş sıska bir yaşamın çaresiz yalnızlığı. Onlar ki başkasının Kişisel Menkibe’sine burnunun sokan kimse kendi Kişisel Menkibe’sini kesinlikle keşfedemez.” Başkalarına düzen ve intizam verirken kendimizi ulaşılmaz yüksekliklere taşırız ki orası çok aşağılarda ruh bulur.Eğer bilebilseydiler ki onlar yaşamın rengi mavi bir sonsuzluktur,gecenin karanlığı yerine.Yalnızca geceleri yaşarken nasıl hissedilir mavi gökyüzü? “Sevdiğimiz zaman Evren’in bir parçası oluruz.” “-Rüzğar,bana senin Aşk’ı tanıdığını söyledi,dedi delikanlı güneşe.Aşk’ı biliyorsan,Evren’in Ruhu’nu da biliyorsundur,çünkü o da Aşk ‘tan yapılmıştır.” Güneş Aşk’ı tanımıyor muydu? “Aşk,ne çöl gibi devinimsiz durmaktan,ne rüzğar gibi dünyayı dolaşmaktan,ne de senin gibi her şeyi uzaktan görmekten ibarettir.Aşk, Evren’in Ruhu’nu değiştiren ve geliştiren güçtür.İlk kez onun içine girdiğim zaman onun kusursuz olduğunu sandım.Ama daha sonra onun,yaratılmış olan her şeyin yansıması olduğunu,onun da savaşları ve tutkuları olduğunu gördüm.Evren’in Ruhu’nu bizler besliyoruz ve üzerinde yaşadığımız dünya,bizim daha iyi ya da kötü olmamıza göre, daha iyi ya da daha kötü olacaktır.Aşk’ın gücü işte burada işe karışır,çünkü sevdiğimiz zaman,olduğumuzdan daha iyi olmak isteriz her zaman.” Ve hepsinden önemlisi Aşk’ın, hiç bir kadını ya da erkeği Kişisel Menkibe’sinden asla uzaklaştıramadığını kendine anlatan “öteki”yi bulmakta.Sahip olunan biriyle yaşanmaz aşk,yan yana yaşayanların tadına varacakları bir meyva aşk,kimsenin kendi yaşam öyküsünün önünü kesmeyen bir aşkın çoşkusu bu. “Gerçekte kendi Kişisel Menkibe’sini yaşayan kimseye karşı hayat cömerttir.” Özlem düşünce gönlüne sevdiğine koşan bir rüzgardır aşk program dışı, dünyanın her köşesine ulaşandır aşık yüreğiyle.Baştan ayağa aşk olan kadının düşlerine yetişebilseydine eğer,tüm dünyayı önüne katarak düşleri uçurabilirdin bir yardan aşağıya.Aşkın dilleri konuşulan dillerdir,ölü diller ölmüş geçmişlerin sonsuza ağıtıdır ki orada aşk bülbülü şakımaz.Herkesin aşkı kendi dili kadardır,kendi yüreği kadar. Aşkı isteyen Onun ateşten imtihanına girebilmek için kişiliğinden başka aday bulamaz.Bu hamlık imtihanını geçen aşk nehrine girebilir ancak.Yaşamın hazinesi sadece bizdedir. *Paulo Coelho, Simyacı Can yay. ‘dan tüm alıntılar

Güneydoğu’da kadınlarla beş yıl çalıştım. GAP 2010 Master plan içinde görev yaptım. Batman ‘da intihar vakalarıyla ilgili ilk çalışmalardan birine katıldım. Orada gördüğüm ve işittiğim kadınlara ağır baskı ve aile içi şiddet oldu. İntiharlar konusunda kadınlar,kızlar konuşmak istemiyorlardı. Projeyi yürüten arkadaşımız aylarca orada kalarak bilgi toplayabildi.
Bu konu sosyal ve kültürel önemli bir fenomen. Bir kovboy kasabasına benzeyen Batman’da yoksulluk, kültür şoku egemen.
Tempo dergisi ise intiharların söz konusu olmadığını onun yerine kızların öldürüldüğünü iddia ediyor yaptığı araştırma sonucunda. Ayrıca Batman Kadın Danışma Merkezi de bu iddiada; “Çünkü bize gelen vakaların yüzde 80’i cinayet çıktı” diyor Süreyya Turgut. komşusu bir kızın dört duvar arasından çıkmasına izin verilmediği için Sosyal Hizmetler’e sığındığını ve bunu kaldıramayan ailenin kızı intihara zorladığını anlatıyor.
Batmanlı, tek göz odada kalan bir kızın söyledikleri insanın içini acıtıyor:
“Yarını düşünüyorum ama yarında hiçbir şey görmüyorum ki.Bana yarını yapma hakkı vermiyorlar.Aile baskısı çok büyük.Biliyorsunuz burası Doğu. Kimse o hakkı vermez size.Ailem bana gelecek,okuma ve barınma fırsatı için izin vermez. Öyle kalacak.” Bu derin umutsuzluk ve kendini ifade edememenin sancısı insan olmanın aşağılanması halidir elbette. İlkokul mezunu bu genç kızın hayalleri yok,umudu yok,geleceği yok.Öğrenmeye aç, gelişmeye açık gençler ve özellikle kızların katı kurallar ve ev hapsinde yaşaması onları intihara itiyor. Televizyonla dünyayı ve diğer kadınları,hayatları gören kadınlar kendilerinin neden farklı yaşamaya zorlandıklarını anlayamıyorlar. İçte ve dışta bir kültür çatışması doğuyor hayatlarında. Batman’ın yemyeşil bir bahçe içinde bürokratların, iş adamlarının kentli bir yaşam sürmesini çevreden izleyen seyirciler olmak kızları “neden?”sorusuna götürüyor. Doç.Dr. Bengi Semerci bu konuda yazdığı raporda; “Bu çatışmayı kaybeden ya da bunalan gence iki çözüm kalmaktadır. Evden kaçmak ya da canından vaz geçmek”diyor.
Bizim yaptığımız çalışmada erkeklerin intihar lafını duymak bile istemediklerini ve bu konuda ısrarlı soru sorulursa agresif davrandıklarını tespit ettik. Erkekler namus ve töre konusunda görevli hissettikleri için kendilerini sorunun onlar için suçlayıcı olduğunu düşünüyorlar. Kendilerinin konumlarından çok da mutlu olamıyorlar. Ancak çevre ve toplumun baskısı sonucu kadın ve kızların hayatları onların elinde. Bunun da farkındalar. Aile içi şiddet geniş ailenin de bir sonucu, dedikodusu bol okuması az bu ortamlar şiddeti körüklüyor. Dinden anlaşılan ise sadece erkek bağnazlığı ve koyu taassup. Mutlak erkek otoritesi yaşı küçük bile olsa erkeği kadından üstün kılıyor. O nedenle 17lik bir kayınbirader 25 yaşındaki bir geline tokat atabiliyor ve bunalıma giren geline kimse destek olmuyor. İslam’ı erkek bağnazlığına araç haline getiren töreler televizyon dan korkuyor. Televizyon kötü sayılarak yasaklanırken, okumak da sokağa çıkmak da kötü bir davranış. Yani kadın asosyal ve cahil kaldıkça erkek kendini güvende hissediyor. Türkiye’nin geleceği ise onu kızının geleceği gibi hiç ilgilendirmiyor. Erkeklerin acilen eğitilmesi gerektiği çok açık. Kadın eğitimi yaptığımız dönemde de kadınlar bize hep “ne olur bizi değil,erkekleri eğitin. Çünkü öğrendiklerimiz yüzünden dayak yiyoruz”diyorlardı.
Türkiye Cumhuriyeti 80. yılında kendiyle yüzleşmek istiyorsa, önceliği kadınlarına vermek zorunda. Çünkü Atatürk Avrupa ve Amerika’dan önce bir çok sosyal,kültürel ve siyasal alanı kadınlara açarken yeni yüzyılları düşlüyordu.Biz o yüzyıla geldik, ancak yöneticilerimizin düşleri kadınları kapsamıyor.
“Acı ve mutluluğun şekli aynıdır bu dünyada:
güle,açık kalp de diyebilirsin,kırık kalp de.”*
Kadınlarımızı düşlerinden, sevgilerinden uzak tutmayalım ki kırık kalpler ülkesi olmayalım.
*Delhili Hace Mir Derd
NEVVAL SEVİNDİ
 

“Seni seviyorum,çünkü bütün evren sana ulaşmam için işbirliği yaptı.” der Simyacı’da çoban. “İkinci görüşmemizde,dedi genç kız,bana aşkından söz ettin.Daha sonra Evrenin Dili gibi,Evrenin ruhu gibi çok güzel şeyler öğrettin.Ve bunlar,azar azar beni senin bir parçan haline getirdi.”Konuşarak yüreğinin derinliklerini birbirine açar iki kişi ve birbirinin aşkının tadına bakar.İçlerindeki güç birbirine akacak yol bulur sözcüklerden.”Aşk’tı bunun adı, evrenin saf diliydi bu,herhangi bir açıklamaya gereksinimi yoktu,çünkü Evren’in sonsuz zamanda yoluna devam etmesi için hiçbir açıklamaya gereksinimi yoktu.”Sevilecek biri yaratılmıştı ve bu hazine olmazsa insan soyunun hayallerinin hiçbir anlamı olmazdı.”Aşk’tı bunun adı,insanlardan da,çöllerden de daha eskiydi.”

İnsan merkezli dış politika

Kırım’da sonbahar şiir gibi. Kırmızının, sarının ve yeşilin bütün tonlarını seyredebileceğiniz harika bir doğa uçuşan mısralar gibi gözünüzün önünde hızla akıyor. Karadeniz sakin, ışıltılı, sanki Akdeniz. Salkım bulutlar ve gölgeleri denizin fonunu oluşturuyor.

Bin bir dil, din ve ırkın vatanı Kırım ne acılar görmüş, ne sürgünler… Ne sevinçler, ne savaşlar…

İbranice harflerle yazılı Türkçe sözleri okuyorlar: “Canları cennette olsun, yattıkları yer pamuk olsun.” Kırım Karaylarının mabedinde giriş iki sıralı yazıtlarla dolu. Onlara Türk Yahudileri de deniyor. Onlarsa reddediyor. Bu halkın kadınları eğitimli ve entelektüel oranları yüksek. Atatürk’ün dili sadeleştirme çabası döneminde Karaimlerden 330 sözcük bize geçmiş.

Meşe ağacı kutsal burada. Her mezarın başına dikiliyor ve ziyaret sırasında meşe yaprakları tutularak ölülerin ruhuyla konuşulduğuna inanıyorlar.

Bugün yüzde 70’i Rus, yüzde 11’i Tatar olan Kırım’da Stalin’in sürdüğü Tatarlar anısına yapılmış anıtlar gördüm. Tatar ailelerin dönmesi yasak olduğu dönemde gelen ilk ailenin oğlu, anne babasının Kırım’a dönmek için ölünceye kadar yasadışı olmayı göze aldıklarını anlattı. Yaşadıkları altı yıl boyunca ne doktor, ne kimlik ne devletle bir iş yapmaları mümkün olmuş. Çünkü mezarları doğdukları Yalta’da olsun diye çekilenler. Bugün Yalta’da ebedi istirahatgâhları. Oğulları Semerkant doğumlu olsa da torunları Yalta doğumlu.

Kırım’da herkesin en büyük düşü bir ev sahibi olmak. Bir evin yapımı beş ila on yıl sürüyor. Ellerine para geçtikçe yaptıkları evleri insanların kalesi gibi. Bahçe içinde evler çok güzel görünüyor.

Çam ve selvilerin içinde yemyeşil Yalta sanatoryum cenneti. Turistik Yalta bugün modernleşme çabasında. Yüksek binalar, çirkin otel mimarileri onların da ilk hataları sanırım.

Yalta’nın meydanındaki Lenin heykeli McDonald’s a bakıyor şaşkınlıkla. Deniz kıyısı İzmir fuarı havasında oyuncaklar, çarpışan otomobillerle renk renk… Burada tartışılan plastik palmiyeler ışıl ışıl. Küreselleşme böyle bir şey işte!

Bahçesaray, tipik Osmanlı renk ve kokusunu taşıyan bir mekan. Puşkin’in gülleri duran, gözyaşı çeşmesi, Giray Han’ın taş kalbinin bir aşk uğruna ağlamasını temsil ediyor.

Gözyaşı çeşmesi, Puşkin’in «Bahçesaray Çeşmesi» şiirini ve Çaykovski’nin aynı isimdeki bale müziğini ilham eden dünyaca tanınmış bir eser.

Han Saray’ın avlusunda kaybedilen huzuru buluyor insan derinlerinde. Han Saray’ın içinde bir Endülüs rüzgârı esiyor sanki. Olağanüstü güzel tavan süslemeleri ve fıskıyelerin su sesi, ahşap sütunlar Rönesans–barok pembelerden süzülüyor. Hayatı temsil eden şadırvanlar ve hayat gibi akıp giden su. Ürkek, tedirgin ve kaygılı süzülüşü… Aymeme (ninni) çeşmesini harem bahçesinde görünce suyunun farklı olduğunu anlıyoruz. Bu su kadınları güzelleştirirmiş. ‘Yok canım!’ diyen herkes suya dokunup yüzüne sürüyor!

20. yüzyıla kadar Rusların oturarak uyuduğunu, arkalarını yastıkla besleyerek oturma pozisyonunda uyumayı bildiklerini öğrendim. Han Saray’da döşekler, sedirler ve yastıklar yatarak uyunduğunun anlatımıydı. 400 yıllık bir dut ağacını bahçede bırakıp çıkıyorum.

Sinir hastalarına mekan eylenmiş Zincirli Medrese’nin restore edilen, boşaltılmış hali Gaspıralı’nın mezarının yeniliğiyle başa çıkamıyor.

Bugünün Kırım’ı çok seslilik, hoşgörü konusunda ciddi adımlar atıyor. Önemli Tatar aydını Cemiloğlu milletvekili. Kırım’da yapılan sempozyumda ilk kez Türkçe resmi dil olarak katıldı programa. Türkçe filolojiye ilgi çok. Hepsi kız olan öğrenciler filolojiye Kırım’da “gelinler” fakültesi dendiğini söylüyorlar gülerek.

Karadeniz kıyısına ortak olan bizim gibi ülkelerin kültüründeki ortak noktalar şaşırtıcı. Yerel danslar, giysiler, alışkanlıklar öyle benzer ki… Komşu ülkelerin kültürlerini tanımamız gerektiğini yıllardır yazan biriyim. Çevremizdeki kültür ve insanı tanımadan siyaset yapmak sadece “kör nokta” uygulaması oluyor. Otuz yıllık İslam cumhuriyeti İran’ı siyasi olarak aforoz etmemiz yeni yeni aşılabiliyor maalesef. İnsan ve kültürün siyasetin aslı olduğunu fark etmemiz çok uzun zaman alıyor. Dış politika yeniden yapılandırılmalı. Olduğu yerin dilini bilmeyen dışişleri yönetici ve uzmanları dönemi çoktan bitti. Duyurulur.

I don’t think that we can escape from the reality of interrogating ourselves when we look at the situation that our border neighbors were in ten years ago. What conditions were the Bulgarian, Greek and Russian economic and political structures ten years ago? Those who were once far behind us have now developed beyond our administration, which is focused on the power of “self.” Kazakhstan was a place struggling for a new identity ten years ago. In a country of 14 million people, food was basic, consisting of meat, potatoes and cabbage. Clothing was scarce. There were no roads, no infrastructure. At that time, no one even believed that Kazakhstan could become its own country. Believing that he had been exiled, the first Turkish ambassador bought a ruin of a building. Our member of the foreign ministry, blind to future possibilities, settled in that wreck of a building as if it deserved the name of Turkey. Now, a Turkish flag is waving on top of such a ragged building and Kazakhstan is developing. Upon reflection, this building with its unkempt yard may be a correct choice, as it shows our bleeding heart. Luckily, in those difficult days, our people had run to Kazakhstan in order to make investments, not being as pessimistic as our ambassadors. Additionally, we now have 28 schools in Kazakhstan, a country considered crucially important by all the western countries. We have two universities there as well. Everybody is literate there, with many people graduating with double diplomas. There are 110 universities in a country of 14-million. These are Egyptian, German, English-Kazakh and American-Kazakh universities. Opening a university depends on many criteria. There is no lecturer problem. You can’t open a university unless there are 140 books per student and unless you allot a nine square-meter-place per student. The quality of the state universities is very good, Al-Farabi University being one such school. The president of Suleyman Demirel University is a very interesting mathematician, Askar Cumadullayev, and it was upon his name that chairs were opened in the western universities. Askar Cumadullayev talked about his ancestor Mustafa Cokay. He [Cumadullayev] spoke of how the Russians forced the Kazakh people to abandon their language, which had been put down as a peasant language. I said, “I know that a language is the fatherland of a person.” During a recent symposium on cooperative cultures in the 21st century, a symposium attended by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and coinciding with the timing of the European Security and Cooperation Organization (AGIT) conference, the audience gave a shower of applause when Kazakh intellectuals were on the podium. Intellectuals are public heroes here in Kazakhstan. Kyrgyz Aytmatov was also honored by applause. While the parliamentarians participating in the AGIT conference spoke one or two eastern languages, the Turks were nailed down to speaking only in English. And while the United States ambassador spoke Russian in his opening address and later spoke in the Kazakh language during discussions, the Turkish foreign ministry exhibited no such command of eastern languages. Though my grandmother, grandfather and father’s mother spoke three or four languages, my mother’s generation spoke only Turkish. What a singular style of life! Fifty-two percent of the population in Kazakhstan, a country comprised of people from 130 nations, is Kazak, 30 percent is Russian and the larger remaining nationalities are German, Korean, Ukrainian, Muslim Chinese known as Dungan, Yezidi Kurds, Armenians and other Turkish peoples. The Kazakh People have developed a cooperative culture with a mature aesthetic taste, being fond of music and dance. Women are involved in every field of life. The Kazakh woman is the fundamental pillar of the country, with her music, dance, art and hard work. There are three lady ministers as well as one female national education minister in the Kazakh Parliament. Minister of Education Shamsha Berkimbayeva said, “Our closest friends are the Turkish people who were here in our most difficult days.” She continually praises the schools opened by Turkey. Also, she said that she never misses the TV series Deliyurek, adding that she enjoys Alabora a great deal. They are fond of the Turkish TV series here. I wish we could turn it into a cultural export material, as the entire Turkish world, the Middle East and even North Africa buys such things. Two Kazakh girls formed a duo, playing Spanish melodies and using the dombra as a guitar, and won an award in Europe in this year. There are lots of musicians who have succeeded in integrating western forms into their own cultures. Young people are proud of their cultures. However, the Kazakh language is a new learned language. I don’t suppose as long as the Kyryl alphabet exists, the effect of Russian culture will decrease. If the language is your homeland, the alphabet is the car taking you to the homeland. It should be said that there are many people who were defeated under the old collapsed system. In their speeches, intellectuals were very angry at the concept that presented the making money as the Kaaba of everything, under the name of free market economy. The widest avenues are full of casinos, discotheques and bars. Gambling and drinking are the most prevalent addictions. Everybody feels a desire to get rich quick. Immediately. I knocked on the door of a house together with my friends as an unexpected guest in an Armenian neighborhood. I experienced unbelievable hospitality. When there is no ideological poisoning, the human heart is a very soft corner. We drank mint tea and ate cherries and fruits from its garden. We were reminded of Yunus, who said: “72 nations are the same for us.”

One can’t but ponder the significance of the 550th anniversary of Istanbul’s conquest within the context of globalization. I wonder whether the introverted and constrictive policies of today’s politics are sufficient to understand Mehmet the Conqueror. The great Mehmet the Conqueror, who conquered Constantinople without compromising the West-East complex, was in pursuit of enormous dreams. His dreams determined his policies and expansion. The Conqueror neither touched the temples of the city that he conquered nor altered the lifestyle of the people. His master Aksemsettin prayed in the garden of the Hagiasofia and the majesty of Hagiasofia was sheltered in his shadow literally. The Turks, who could not have celebrated the conquest of Istanbul with much pride, lost their dreams, along with all their values, in the miserable introversion of leftist-rightist discrimination. I wonder if Fatih was the last bastion of the Conquest ideal. It is impossible to talk about dreams in this country if the only ideals are either the establishment of the turban in the public field or the unique dream to keep the turban out of that field. Those who are party to this fruitless dispute would do well to remember that their forefather, Fatih, gave the Kalanderi dervishes a huge dervish lodge in good faith. The Great Sultan of the Conquest protected these Heteredox dervishes, who wore earrings and navel-rings, shaved their hair, beards and eyebrows and went naked from the waist up. This great sultan, who acknowledged the splendid wealth of diversity, also protected an old church, known today as the Zeyrek Mosque. Can you tell me who would love Mehmet the Conqueror if he were alive today? With today’s narrow-minded policies and views, who would have loved this giant? The Ottoman era’s withdrawal and decline over a 300-year period left Republican history with depressive fears. We could not honor our nation state with a modern conquest. We were unable to carry a scientific, cultural, artistic or fashion conquest beyond our borders. We have forgotten our culture and tradition of conquering hearts. Go to Miniaturk and see it: The Ahrida Synagogue, established by the Jews from Ohri, pays tribute from the 15th century; numerous Sinan artifacts such as the Haseki Hurrem Bath of Sinan the Architect were used as a depot for years during the Republican period as many Sinan masterpieces in our lap. The artifacts, crafted in the wide bosom of Ottoman geography, are fluttering like our dreams’ flag. If we cannot create a single architectural wonder to advance our civilization in the Republican period, it is because we have been unable to dream beyond our borders. The barren state of our culture is reflected in our cities and architecture. Designs of the past fifty years are squatter camps of our sterile dreams. Why do fashion, art and cultural conquests elude us? Why do some fear a drought of foreign capital? While Polish leaders attracted $13 billion in foreign capital to their countries and became military leaders of the Iraqi administration, did Polish leaders happen to divide Poland? It is necessary to reflect on the reasons why the dreams of those leaders – who don’t love their countries – brought prosperity to their countries in such a short time. Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Russia were countries we used to curl our lips at. And they had also admired us. We were the advanced out-post of the West. We were a symbol for the West. We were a launching pad to the West. Now, our businessmen flock there; everybody is fleeing from Ankara, which has turned into an apple that has been sapped. The big states, which represent globalization and want to break up nation states, don’t have the power to change this situation. They can only split imaginary things and move on. One needs to ask oneself why those fearing the imaginary don’t try to realize reality. I spoke to a university student in Petersburg. He said young people are against globalization. The 22-year-old added: “It’s hollow, like everything in fashion!” Antagonism and the building of walls don’t stop the youth. Despite the multi-polar world theory being developed by Primakov, Russia shakes hands with Bush today and agrees with him on many issues. International powers yield in the presence of power. This power, whether it is harsh or soft, does not bring equal rights or alleviate all the fears of those countries. Speaking without looking at the world is like giving a lecture inside one’s head.

We Don’t Have to Be the Grocer of the Middle East The period between 1718 and 1730, which includes the revolt of Patrona Halil, is called the Tulip Age in the history books. What was outstanding about this period was the existence and development of an extraordinary culture of the tulip in Istanbul. During this period, when Europe was still in the Middle Ages, the Ottomans had transformed the tulip into a unique treasure trove of culture with its poems, songs and dances. There is no other example on earth in which such a wealthy economic sector and rich culture developed around a single flower. The tulip is no ordinary flower. Its shape contains the divine secrets of mysticism; its leaves hide the secrets of a period; and its red color bears the cry of the pleasures that were beheaded. The secret contradiction of Turkey’s history is hidden in the tan mark at the bottom of its leaves. But we underestimated the value of the tulip in these lands that loved and exalted it so highly. We lost it to the Dutch. Now Holland exports tulips all over the world and holds international tulip festivals. It makes you want to ask, “O Hollanders, have you ever had a Tulip Age? Have you ever written poems and songs about the tulip? Have you ever called your daughters “Tulip”? Have you ever beheaded grand viziers who cultivated tulips? Have there been times when you plundered tulip gardens, when you were afraid of cultivating tulips? Do you really know the tulip, the love of the tulip, the cry of the tulip?” It was we who did all of this: we — the gentle, noble, angry, capricious and blooded children of these lands. We loved the tulip very much, and we killed it as we killed many other things we loved. Every year in April and June, more than 1 million tourists travel to Holland’s tulip center, Kokinhof, to look at tulips. This is tulip tourism, which brings in an income of millions of dollars. Today, the tulip is the Dutch identity. I went to a place in Amsterdam where tulips are sold at auction. Flowers from all over the world flow into an area of 7,000 square meters. Separate auctions are held in tens of halls. Flowers coming from Turkey, too, are worked on and resold to Turkey at very high prices. They cultivate their flowers in greenhouses. There is incredible organization. This tiny country gets its highest revenue from agriculture. Cultivated areas constitute 26 percent of the country. But the word “tulip” in Western languages as well as the bulb itself came from Turkey. “Tulbendi Turcica” means Turkish muslin. The Dutch word “tulip” was derived from its association with the Turkish turban. We destroyed an enormous culture, and they claimed ownership of it. We talk about it as the age of enjoyment and pleasure in our history books. At a time when Holland didn’t know anything about tourism, the Ottomans used to organize tulip festivals in palace gardens, set up tables selling tulip bulbs and silk to people coming to Istanbul from all over the world. Istanbul was then the capital of the unnamed tulip festival. Now I dream of a “Tulip Renaissance” in the 21st century. We will orient tulip tourism towards Istanbul. We will give these admiring tourists books in every language explaining that the tulip is the “flower on which God reflected” according to the mystics. We will translate Nedim and other poets of this age. We will export to every place possible those beautiful tulip vases displaying the fine taste of Ottoman architecture. Then we will conclude the tulip festival with a tulip garden drawn by lasers in the sky. A symphony orchestra will play that immortal composition based on the poem by Nedim: “It’s the time of festival. Tulip gardens are cheerful because of it.” We can tell this secret again if we estimate the value of our own culture and open our hearts to the tulip once again. Though Ottoman tulips have vanished genetically, let’s create new Turkish tulips. The businessman who doesn’t know his own culture cannot win over the world and production. Cultural preferences and values are the basis of the national identity and the source of our strong and weak points in economic terms. We can create a trademark only with our culture. And to be able to make a synthesis of this, we must stop being narrow-minded.

Prime Minister [Tayyip] Erdogan delivered a very important message during a meal which he had with French President [Jacques] Chirac: “Our people already deserve to take a place in a modern and contemporary civilized society.” I am an intellectual, who has made this determination for years, as well as being an individual trying to take the pulse of society and agreeing with it with it all my heart. I wonder, if modernization is a negative concept, or a positive concept, as some people insist on? Modernization had been preached only as an imitation and adoption of Western norms for many years. Modernization was not liked because of this. When the definition of modernization was made as being tantamount to an unbeliever, it became a concept attracting anger. Modernization was presented as replacing the former better life and norms with bad habits. In my opinion, modernization is an attempt of trying to be free from primitive and underdeveloped obsessions. It contains “becoming free” with a focus on humans. It is a phase of a more aesthetic, more productive and a more developing process of cultural life and forms. The organizational form of the mosque in the neighborhood of Muradiye, which I visited at the weekend in Bursa, represents modernization. The mosque was not only a place of worship but it was also a social foundation with a place where the administrative power “Divan” gathered, with its guestrooms, small restaurants and boys’ school in the 1300s. The Muradiye Primary School is an extension of the boys’ school today that was founded by Mehmet the Conquerer’s mother. The first “Bedesten” was established. The closed bazaar in the 1300s was like today’s mega malls. The free trade modernized daily life. This means that Islam is a transformation of the modernization of that period, in my opinion. Modernization is a response to the demand for a renewal in life-style. Mimar Sinan is the name of a genius synthesizing the contents of the modern West and East in architecture. We need to realize this synthesis today. The Turkish people want to benefit from the blessings of a better life and modernization. I see that women are making great efforts on this subject. They are rushing from one place to another in order to improve themselves. I saw this at the exhibiton in ISMEK’s “Feshane”. Modernization means the determination of the place of women [in a society], anyway. Improving the status of women is closely related to women having the right of speaking in the family. Six million illiterate people out of 7 million in our country are women and this is very thought-provoking. Keeping the mind only on external appearance does not mean modernization. For example, if the president would have recognized the modern world more, he would have known the importance of the cooperation of businessmen, trade and culture and he would not have spent his foreign trips, like his private trips, at the museums. We need lobbies. The modern world is the [arena for the] war of cultures. Whose culture will be loved?.. In my opinion, that is the work to do. I saw the roots of a modern understanding in many places in Anatolia. The Turkish culture comes from an open past that loves renewal and development. This root does not dry out whatever it experiences. However, it can be delayed [in growing up]. Our power is to carry it as soon as possible to the point which it deserves. Because the world turns fast. I hope that the government grasps that point. Turkey expects lots of things from them. As a matter of fact, our people combine tradition and modernization in their own bosoms. Bursa’s Emir Sultan is an unbelievable folkloric place. All the brides don’t cover their heads, covering their heads or half covering them whenever they come here. During the children’s circumcision ceremonies, they have their photographs taken near the tomb of Emir Sultan and they continously walk around with video cameras at the center. Our extraordinary cultural heritage awaits modernization. The old forms want their interior to be filled with modernization. Then, the Mimar Sinan masterpieces will get out from this culture and the rest will be to market them to the world. I met with people coming from Izmir, Ankara, Isparta while visiting places in Bursa, which were the nucleus of our culture. I wished we had taken this heritage nucleus and shown it to more of our people and our youths and had told the stories. Unfortunately, there was no guide in the center. It is necessary to know the past in order to seize the synthesis; however, that is what we have to do is to load it on the future ship instead of casting anchor to the past. How much we need to the intellectuals and academic personnel, who will produce our own theory… June 24, 2003

I frequently remember the words of Benjamin D’Israeli in our country where politicization is high: “I am a Conservative to preserve all that is good in our constitution, a Radical to remove all that is bad. I seek to preserve property and to respect order, and I equally decry the appeal to the passions of the many of the prejudices of the few” [1] Viewpoints, which have no integrity, define only the angles of the views since you either need to be leftist or Islamist, Easterner or Westerner, party standard-bearer or trimmer, EU fan or Eurasia fan, in this country. When I said Iran was a very important culture and a country, Turkish intellectuals held Iran in contempt. There was no leftist except a few people who were curious to know Iran profoundly. Because what they understood was that it meant defending the mullah regime. Unfortunately, it has not been accepted that everything is just one inside the other as a life chain, a human body and spirit. Medical, political or media members are all prisoners of this one angle. Turkey does not have a road map. Some may consider the existing single units one by one as a road map; however, that does not change the reality. For instance, the relation between education and profession is bad in Turkey. Architects or nuclear scientists don’t practice their professions, they only get the diplomas. A pharmacist loans out the certificate. Suitable arrangements are not made according to the demands and development of the society. Unemployed people with diplomas complain. Hopeless young people who could not gain admission into universities and high school graduates are unqualified. That is, they are jobless. Vocational high schools have been in effect in Turkey for years. As far as I know, theological high schools were opened within this framework. Now, there is a 15,000 imam (Muslim preacher) shortage. I wonder what people who graduated from the theological high schools do? Vocational high schools are very important educational planning methods in other countries, particularly in Germany. People, who are not admitted into universities, are trained according to their abilities and desires. Nobody even considers providing them an opportunity to go to university; professionals do not consider that a chance either because the university career and professional education are like athletes running on different tracks. Nobody says to a sprinter, ‘come here, I will give you a chance to run in the 800 meters’ because it is against science and planning. In Turkey, people are constantly left alone with the wrong choices. And our most important source, the human resource, is wasted in this mess. The society somehow cannot see the future. If sectoral priorities are not planned and if there isn’t any development plan, what is the meaning of focusing on vocational high schools? India focused on the software sector and planned an education system to be a basis for this subject. Maybe, we need more computer experts for e-state transformation. Now, Ford and Fiat companies have moved their production facilities to Turkey and Turkey is fast becoming an automotive base. It is the same for durable goods and textiles. These are coming [into Turkey] due to the cheap manpower. However, the manpower is unqualified. We need to close the qualified personnel deficit. Another reason why vocational high school students want to go to university is the compulsory military service. Military service is a nightmare for men, even for police officers. But no one thinks about caring for the thousands of people. People are forced to do everything they do not like. There is hindrance by persisting, rather than producing solutions for people, in the country. Persistence is not a policy. Why is there no entrepreneur vocational high school in our country, where KOBIs (small and medium size businesses), are commonplace? Even the European Commission initiated a campaign around Europe to support KOBIs, enabling them to use the job opportunities, which will emerge from the EU enlargement. The campaign is conducted by the ‘Euro Info Centers.’ Four hundred activities within the scope of the campaign, together with various data like national markets and regularities concerning certain sectors and exportation of guidance, will be provided. We can create original models by making a synthesis of Akhism [2] and the new world. The important thing for young people is not only profession but also mental and spiritual understanding. The only power that can bring young people a hopeful future is learning about their own cultures, history and the world they live in, all at the same time. Youths who has no direction map and excluded from the decision mechanisms, do not only rely on education. Hostilities against foreigners had increased in The Netherlands between 1970 and 1973. They were told, ‘when the number of Turkish people who died after being pushed into a canal was made known, Turks began to learn how to swim.’ Today everyone has to learn how to swim. Benjamin D’Israeli, campaign speech at High Wycombe, England, November 27, 1832 [1] Akhism: An organized brotherhood in Anatolia related to trade guilds [2] July 1, 2003

Local cultures are trying to compete in the global platform, to become globalize. Local cultures and trademarks now understand that they would only exist if they fight in the global platform. Without leaping from local competition to the global one, it is impossible to become a brand. The Mado ice cream has begun to sell its brand in the United States and Russia. Ulker has now entered the cola market with Cola Turka. It is striving to get cola out of being an American symbol. Okay, now where is the identity in Cola? Is it inside it, or outside it? The surface of it is the tin box. No difference. I have not known the inside of it yet. However, the identity is more than material existence related to the meanings put on it and related to cultural identity. How do we understand that? We understand it through the text of the commercial. Turkish is spoken (the main component of the identity), values of the Turkish cultural identity are being tried to be conveyed to the Americans. We understand that one who drinks the cola will have those values. Moreover, he will absorb it so much so that in the end, transforming into what is physical and it will have a moustache [as a Turkish man's stereotype]. And that is of course the life style and representative of the fashion. Tarkan is a world brand. When he made his works in the tendency of the domestic market, he was criticized, because he is the representative of a global trend. Turkey is not yet on that level. However, it should both market itself as a brand and create brands. The most important sector on this subject is football. It is not enough for any local football team to become the champion at home. Turkish teams desire to win trophies in Europe and to make a name in the world market. Football is a global sector. Today football is also the representative of the global values at neighborhood level. In neighborhood matches, the children playing dream of Rustu [Recber] and Nihat [Kahveci]. They set global targets for themselves even in the neighborhood games. This is observed very clearly in matches between rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona. Because of their different languages, Spanish Madrid people and Catalan Barcelona people consider themselves as sides of a different culture and an identity war. Real Madrid is the symbol of Spain and State sealed. Catalans are in pursuit of independence. Football players are bought to display those identities. Rustu is the representative of an independent, free and rebellious Catalan soul. Rustu being a Turk, is an independent, free and macho symbol. At the same time those values represent national honor. As for [David] Beckham, marketed by the other side, he is the representative of a city-dweller, cute and modern world. What Rustu is saying ,”I’m a fan of Barcelona and Fenerbahce since I was seven,” is the best proof of that the smallest local unit who is in pursuit of global values, I guess. Instead of crying for our disappearing local values, it is required of us to think how we could convey them to the world stage and to work on that. Football is the most regular “show” of the world. It is now “show business.” It is a feast and a show presented every weekend. That is why football has become people’s inseparable passion. The other two very important elements in our identity struggle are literature and our architectural environment. In the field of literature we have lost Tomris Uyar adding precious stories to our cultural identity and describing us. How many of our young people have read that storyteller whom I love very much, that elegant woman? The second name is Celik Gulersoy. He was a man, who endeavored all alone to make brand city Istanbul the heart of our cultural identity.” He was not an architect, he had no academic title,” and with such kinds of words that hurt the “certificated/lecturer” cadre, Celik Gulersoy saved many things that might have come to an end — and he died just the way he loved it. May both of them rest in peace. If you love your identity it is not a solution to remain closed in it, it requires opening it to the world and to compete. Since nothing good in Turkey has returned without a punishment, certainly you shouldn’t forget that you would encounter many difficulties. There will be many obnoxious people trying to block you. Nevertheless, we should carry on. July 8, 2003