29th November 2006 - HCMC
Is it true that I always feel lonely because I am a writer? U. claimed this last weekend while chatting on Google talk. When I told him that I want to return to Turkey for at least a few years to try Turkey for working and writing, he replied me with this claim. According to him, I will feel lonely wherever I go because I am not interested in external world. This partial truth made me think about my final exodus. I still want to return home for other reasons if my problem of physical loneliness can not be resolved. I want to return home because I miss my family, because I miss speaking Turkish, because I miss browsing bookstores for Turkish books, because I miss Bosporus, because I miss Turkish food… I also told him that a return does not mean an end for anything. Eventually, I have a house in Bangkok and sooner or later I will go back to Bangkok either for working or for vacation. If I can not do in Turkey, there is always an option for other countries. As a teacher of seven years experience, I believe it will not be so hard for me to find a job in any country even though I am Turkish. Being optimistic makes me happy even sometimes I feel as if I am cheating myself. However, one needs to be optimistic to produce regularly. Desperate people create desperate truths and those truths cause only problems for others.
Pope is visiting Turkey now. M asked me to write something about it but I do not see anything special about this event. First, I do not have sympathy for this pope for known reasons. His eyes reminds me a man with different thoughts from the words he uses. He seems like he is scared of something or he wants to scare something/somebody. There is no kindness of previous pope in the present pope’s eyes. Of course, these are my subjective observations. It does not bind anyone and does not provoke any idea. The words he used before becoming pontiff and just after are also supporting me to some extent. His speech about Islam and violence was very unprofessional and he did not apologize for his speech. It might be because Popes are the shadows of God on the earth and they do not apologize since they do not make mistakes by definition. But in a world of globalization, there is no more small mistake! His words are considered as “commands” and people respect him for the sake of the position he holds. He kept saying that he quoted the words of Roman emperor and he did not mean any bad about Islam. But one should ask why he chose to quote those words which are both wrong and provocative. Couldn’t he find a better example? Beside this speech, his previous statements are also not so friendly in terms of religious dialogue and peaceful solutions. Everyone knows that one of the first things he has done after becoming pope is firing or sending away a Vatican scholar who was expert on religious dialogue, especially on the relationship between Islam and Christianity.
In other words, Pope is not visiting Turkey as he visits a Muslim country. He is visiting the head of Orthodox Church who resides in Istanbul for centuries. For long time, Catholic Church and Orthodox Church did not go well together. There are many problems between them and Pope will definitely look for some solution for Istanbul Fener Patriarchal. What amazed me the most is prime minister’s request for a support to Turkey’s EU entry. The government is using this visit for its own purpose. We all know that the negotiations with EU are now slower due to the problems with Cyprus and ports. However, prime minister wants Turkish people to forget this “lack of speed” and try to make people look at something else. What is he going to say after Pope leaves Turkey is quite known: Look! Even pope is supporting us! Firstly, I don’t really believe Pope supports Turkey’s EU bid and secondly I don’t think pope’s support will work for any good. PM of Turkey one more time messed up with religion-politics dilemma and hit the wrong rock. If he wants solution to the ongoing crisis with EU, he has to solve it in political arena, not in the way of religious leaders talk and negotiate. He is using Pope’s visit for coming elections and apparently he lost a lot of vote because of the problems with EU. Many people lost their faith in Turkey’s entry to EU. It seems like the governing party will not last one more term if they can not give the same spirit of EU to the people.
I resumed writing my novel again. I wrote the first three chapters long ago, before coming to Vietnam and I have been writing and editing first four chapters for the last three days. I have installed Turkish keyboard to my school computer so now I can also type Turkish in school. This makes submitting stories to the publish houses much easier. My only concern is the character in the novel looks like me a lot in many senses. I guess in the next few chapters I will spend a lot of effort to make him look different from me and have different environment/hobbies/friends etc. Otherwise, the story will not only look like my personal journal but also reveal my secrets in a way where people will not doubt about their findings.
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I would like to add Allan's thoughts on Pope's Turkey visit here. I enjoyed his thoughts and the humorus style in his article.
I have been gone from Turkey less than two weeks and stay current with on-line news, so I can give you a reasonably well-founded perspective on the Pope's visit there -- not what will actually be, of course, but what some of the "ground" is on which he will be walking.
First and foremost, the Pope missed a tremendous opportunity to score major points with much of Islam world-wide when he failed to use the word "apologize" in some form whenever he has tried to back out of and smooth over the effects of the mideval quote he used that criticized Islam. Muslims were looking for that specific word, and he should have used it several times. When he didn't, people felt slighted, felt as if they were being finessed diplomaticly rather than being treated honestly. The Turks are among this group. If the Pope were to make a clear-cut apology while he is on Turkish soil it will do much to win the hearts of Turks, somewhat less in winning the hearts of Muslims elsewhere.
Second, a few Turks have some tolerance for Christianity and some understanding; many Turks are simply indifferent to Christians and Christianity; and a lesser number are anti-Christian with feelings that usually lie just below the surface, like water that is almost ready to break into a boil. Of the second group, a small part could break into a boil rather easily, as is illustrated by the rally in Istanbul on Sunday. A few of these hot-heads may actually make an attempt on the Pope's life while he is in Turkey.
Third, there is a widely held belief that Christians want to unite and take or re-take lands and nations now held by Muslims, sweeping first across the East from Iraq through Iran and on to the Turkic Republics, finally uniting with Christianity's not too secret effort to capture or control Afghanistan. The Pope's main stated purpose in coming to Turkey is to meet with the head of the Orthodox Church, who lives there, and talk about a rapproachment between the major blocs of Christians they represent. This fans Muslim paranoia.
Fourth (or 3.1), the Pope is expected to urge the release of various Christian properties being held by Turkey, including the headquarters of the Orthodox patriarchate and an old Orthodox seminary, and to urge fair and equitable treatment for all Christians throughout Turkey. Such treatment includes the repeal of a law that says only native born Turkish Christians may serve in any administrative capacity in the Orthodox Church in Turkey. This has strangled the growth and life of the Orthodox Church (intentionally) in the country where it feels strongly that it has its roots. All of these pro-Christian considerations lend fuel to the belief that the Pope wants to unify Christianity, etc.
Fifth, after the Pope met briefly yesterday with Turkey's Prime Minister, Recip Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan said the Pope had given his clear support to Turkey's bid for membership in the European Union. Turks know this is a reversal of the Pope's previous position and appreciate it. If Erdogan misunderstood or misstated what the Pope said or intended to say, and the Pope corrects him publicly, rather than letting it go, there will be a tremendous loss of face for Turkey and a corresponding rise in anti-Christian sentiment.
Finally, I am afraid that an attempt will be made on the Pope's life. That would strengthen the divide between Christians and Muslims. If the Pope were to die, he would be a martyr of the first order, the world's most prominent Christian symbol attacked and destroyed, and we would be well on our way to Huntington's "clash of civilizations." Let's all hope the Pope's visit to Turkey is a positive one.
--Allan
Is it true that I always feel lonely because I am a writer? U. claimed this last weekend while chatting on Google talk. When I told him that I want to return to Turkey for at least a few years to try Turkey for working and writing, he replied me with this claim. According to him, I will feel lonely wherever I go because I am not interested in external world. This partial truth made me think about my final exodus. I still want to return home for other reasons if my problem of physical loneliness can not be resolved. I want to return home because I miss my family, because I miss speaking Turkish, because I miss browsing bookstores for Turkish books, because I miss Bosporus, because I miss Turkish food… I also told him that a return does not mean an end for anything. Eventually, I have a house in Bangkok and sooner or later I will go back to Bangkok either for working or for vacation. If I can not do in Turkey, there is always an option for other countries. As a teacher of seven years experience, I believe it will not be so hard for me to find a job in any country even though I am Turkish. Being optimistic makes me happy even sometimes I feel as if I am cheating myself. However, one needs to be optimistic to produce regularly. Desperate people create desperate truths and those truths cause only problems for others.
Pope is visiting Turkey now. M asked me to write something about it but I do not see anything special about this event. First, I do not have sympathy for this pope for known reasons. His eyes reminds me a man with different thoughts from the words he uses. He seems like he is scared of something or he wants to scare something/somebody. There is no kindness of previous pope in the present pope’s eyes. Of course, these are my subjective observations. It does not bind anyone and does not provoke any idea. The words he used before becoming pontiff and just after are also supporting me to some extent. His speech about Islam and violence was very unprofessional and he did not apologize for his speech. It might be because Popes are the shadows of God on the earth and they do not apologize since they do not make mistakes by definition. But in a world of globalization, there is no more small mistake! His words are considered as “commands” and people respect him for the sake of the position he holds. He kept saying that he quoted the words of Roman emperor and he did not mean any bad about Islam. But one should ask why he chose to quote those words which are both wrong and provocative. Couldn’t he find a better example? Beside this speech, his previous statements are also not so friendly in terms of religious dialogue and peaceful solutions. Everyone knows that one of the first things he has done after becoming pope is firing or sending away a Vatican scholar who was expert on religious dialogue, especially on the relationship between Islam and Christianity.
In other words, Pope is not visiting Turkey as he visits a Muslim country. He is visiting the head of Orthodox Church who resides in Istanbul for centuries. For long time, Catholic Church and Orthodox Church did not go well together. There are many problems between them and Pope will definitely look for some solution for Istanbul Fener Patriarchal. What amazed me the most is prime minister’s request for a support to Turkey’s EU entry. The government is using this visit for its own purpose. We all know that the negotiations with EU are now slower due to the problems with Cyprus and ports. However, prime minister wants Turkish people to forget this “lack of speed” and try to make people look at something else. What is he going to say after Pope leaves Turkey is quite known: Look! Even pope is supporting us! Firstly, I don’t really believe Pope supports Turkey’s EU bid and secondly I don’t think pope’s support will work for any good. PM of Turkey one more time messed up with religion-politics dilemma and hit the wrong rock. If he wants solution to the ongoing crisis with EU, he has to solve it in political arena, not in the way of religious leaders talk and negotiate. He is using Pope’s visit for coming elections and apparently he lost a lot of vote because of the problems with EU. Many people lost their faith in Turkey’s entry to EU. It seems like the governing party will not last one more term if they can not give the same spirit of EU to the people.
I resumed writing my novel again. I wrote the first three chapters long ago, before coming to Vietnam and I have been writing and editing first four chapters for the last three days. I have installed Turkish keyboard to my school computer so now I can also type Turkish in school. This makes submitting stories to the publish houses much easier. My only concern is the character in the novel looks like me a lot in many senses. I guess in the next few chapters I will spend a lot of effort to make him look different from me and have different environment/hobbies/friends etc. Otherwise, the story will not only look like my personal journal but also reveal my secrets in a way where people will not doubt about their findings.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I would like to add Allan's thoughts on Pope's Turkey visit here. I enjoyed his thoughts and the humorus style in his article.
I have been gone from Turkey less than two weeks and stay current with on-line news, so I can give you a reasonably well-founded perspective on the Pope's visit there -- not what will actually be, of course, but what some of the "ground" is on which he will be walking.
First and foremost, the Pope missed a tremendous opportunity to score major points with much of Islam world-wide when he failed to use the word "apologize" in some form whenever he has tried to back out of and smooth over the effects of the mideval quote he used that criticized Islam. Muslims were looking for that specific word, and he should have used it several times. When he didn't, people felt slighted, felt as if they were being finessed diplomaticly rather than being treated honestly. The Turks are among this group. If the Pope were to make a clear-cut apology while he is on Turkish soil it will do much to win the hearts of Turks, somewhat less in winning the hearts of Muslims elsewhere.
Second, a few Turks have some tolerance for Christianity and some understanding; many Turks are simply indifferent to Christians and Christianity; and a lesser number are anti-Christian with feelings that usually lie just below the surface, like water that is almost ready to break into a boil. Of the second group, a small part could break into a boil rather easily, as is illustrated by the rally in Istanbul on Sunday. A few of these hot-heads may actually make an attempt on the Pope's life while he is in Turkey.
Third, there is a widely held belief that Christians want to unite and take or re-take lands and nations now held by Muslims, sweeping first across the East from Iraq through Iran and on to the Turkic Republics, finally uniting with Christianity's not too secret effort to capture or control Afghanistan. The Pope's main stated purpose in coming to Turkey is to meet with the head of the Orthodox Church, who lives there, and talk about a rapproachment between the major blocs of Christians they represent. This fans Muslim paranoia.
Fourth (or 3.1), the Pope is expected to urge the release of various Christian properties being held by Turkey, including the headquarters of the Orthodox patriarchate and an old Orthodox seminary, and to urge fair and equitable treatment for all Christians throughout Turkey. Such treatment includes the repeal of a law that says only native born Turkish Christians may serve in any administrative capacity in the Orthodox Church in Turkey. This has strangled the growth and life of the Orthodox Church (intentionally) in the country where it feels strongly that it has its roots. All of these pro-Christian considerations lend fuel to the belief that the Pope wants to unify Christianity, etc.
Fifth, after the Pope met briefly yesterday with Turkey's Prime Minister, Recip Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan said the Pope had given his clear support to Turkey's bid for membership in the European Union. Turks know this is a reversal of the Pope's previous position and appreciate it. If Erdogan misunderstood or misstated what the Pope said or intended to say, and the Pope corrects him publicly, rather than letting it go, there will be a tremendous loss of face for Turkey and a corresponding rise in anti-Christian sentiment.
Finally, I am afraid that an attempt will be made on the Pope's life. That would strengthen the divide between Christians and Muslims. If the Pope were to die, he would be a martyr of the first order, the world's most prominent Christian symbol attacked and destroyed, and we would be well on our way to Huntington's "clash of civilizations." Let's all hope the Pope's visit to Turkey is a positive one.
--Allan
Do you think that loving literature makes people feel lonely and different from the world??? =)
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