Ankara is a very different from Istanbul. I like Istanbul better. Maybe I said that already in an earlier post. Our hotel in this city is decent, not the worst that we’ve been in, but the internet is extremely slow. That’s what gives all the other hotels an edge over this one. Its painful to not have that, especially when we’ve been traveling as a group for the past three weeks and still have two more weeks to go. I need other people to talk to out of sheer necessity.
After breakfast this morning, a very good one by the way, we made our way to Ataturk’s tomb. This was the last big thing that I wanted to see in Turkey. Everything else is just icing on the cake and all the other big things that I wanted to see were in Istanbul and Troy.
The tomb as the video will explain is huge. Something like 36 acres. It was strange to see the connection between the Hittites and ancient Egypt to Ataturk’s tomb. Every culture does this. Its been copied from other cultures for centuries and slightly changed to adapt new ideologies. It always revolves around elevating someone, a hero or central character, into a god like symbol. That’s how fascism works at its best. We do it in the USA too, but it is way more subtle. Think of the Washington Memorial, LINCOLN MEMORIAL and the Jefferson Memorial. All of them make someone look god like. So it was no shock that we had to pass several huge statues at the beginning of the mausoleum with female statues on one side and male statues on the other. Then we had to pass through 24 lion statues, 12 on each side, which lead to an open courtyard that had the tomb of Ataturk on the left side. This could have been a tomb anywhere…Egypt, Iraq, Greece, Spain, or Chine. The design and layout would have been same but the statues and lions would have been changed for the customs of that culture. It was very Russian like, I have to admit. Lincoln memorial has columns as well with a huge courtyard and pool. The Washington Memorial has flags, not lions.
Now, I’m not obsessed with Ataturk. I’ve been to many tombs. I simple wanted to see if I’d have the same reaction like other tombs that I’ve visited, from Sadat to Tutankhamen and others. Would I get that chill? Would I feel an emotional connection to them, stand and see the world and how they influenced it? I did with Ataturk, but it was not like all the others. It was cool, but I cannot admire him the way the Turks do. He’s great and all, but I won’t look up to him as they do. So nice trip, glad I saw the tomb and had my moment, but well, you’ll see it in the video. No huge shock. Not a huge connection. Sorry Ataturk, just not feeling it brother.
We moved on to an early lunch, which is killing me. One day we eat lunch at 3:30, the next day 1:30 and then today at 12. I can’t keep up. I need consistency people! Anyways, we ate and then went to the U.S. Embassy to speak to three representatives of the U.S. State Department on US-Turkish affairs from political, military and economic affairs. Just to get to the embassy was an issue. I noticed that the U.S. embassy is right in the middle of the military district of Ankara. The Navy, Air force, Army and Marines of Turkey all have their headquarters there. That’s on purpose. The U.S. Embassy is one of the most difficult to protect. If there were an attack of some kind then Turkey would be able to respond to it immediately. So who would attack in the first place, right? Makes sense to me. Getting inside was a battle. We had to submit a list of all the Americans who would be going, give them our passports ahead of time, couldn’t bring any cameras or cell phones, and no bags. There was airport security in the main gate entrance where we were all give ID cards. Then we followed workers to the next security check point further inside the complex. Tough stuff. Once inside we were greeted by pictures of Biden, Clinton and of course, Obama. Glad to see that they’ve already redecorated.
Our speakers were great. They were super informative on Turkey and US relations,, Turkey and the EU, Armenia, Greece (eyes rolling) and Cyprus (big sigh), but I learned a heck of a lot. They didn’t give us the boring political garbage. They told us openly what they though and there was very little cover up. They didn’t insult US policy but they answered our questions truthfully. It was much appreciated.
We then went to meet with an Islamic scholar at the Divinity School of the University of Ankara. He was a nice man, but an extremely boring lecturer. His English was weak and I personally found it insulting. I wish these “scholars,” would be picked more carefully. When we went to the synagogue we met people who spoke perfect English even though there are only 30,000 Jews in Turkey! You’re telling me that in a country that is 99% Muslim that there isn’t one scholar who speaks better English to properly explain my religion to 18 other American teachers!?!?!? Not acceptable. He tried hard, but jumped around and struggled with this language stills to the point where no one got complete answers to their questions. I understand that religion is complicated to explain, but people do it everyday. I do it everyday and on top of that the guy is Muslim! Come on!
Ok. I’m done venting. No more of that, just positive energy now. Only good thoughts. He did speak Arabic and Turkish, which is cool. He was also very hospitable and had had tea made for everyone. There, that’s my good deed for the day!
Quote of the Day:
“Listen, you’re a mental giant!” – Doug to Frankie. Frankie was showing his doctoral side and wouldn’t respect Doug’s thoughts or see the other side of the debate over Ataturk’s tomb.
No comments:
Post a Comment