Fwd from Jyri: Greetings from Istanbul

Subject: Greetings from Istanbul


> Hunter,
> Just a personal line or two to send my greetings to you and yours from
> Istanbul, where I'm spending this week. Flying back home on Saturday. .My
> wife's hosts at a conference here were generous enough to offer me free
> accommodation in a university guest house, so I was more than willing to 
> come
> along, since I found a cheap flight.
> I've tried to start conversations with some of the students here on campus
> about  the political situation and the repressive actions of the present 
> gov't
> (now in conflict with Turkey's Supreme Court about he banning of Twitter), 
> but
> either they shrug it off or are wary of talking to foreigners. The faculty
> people skirt around these matters.  We're on a closed campus and I can 
> almost
> sense the presence of, if not spies, at least people with the task of 
> keeping
> an eye on things. The place is also dry! They used to sell beer, but an 
> Islamic
> revival in recent years has banned the poison from these groves. A faculty
> member advised me to buy my beer outside the walls and to carry it in my
> backpack to our room.
>
> But the city is something else, the Old Constantinople - the Second Rome 
> (the
> Russians like to think of  Moscow as the Third Rome, but that is more than
> debatable), the later  capital of the Ottoman Empire, the source of myths 
> and
> orientalist romanticism for the West, A hub of history connecting the 
> Black Sea
> and the Mediterranean.  The history is just as palpable here as in Rome, 
> or
> perhaps even more so. I am deeply impressed.  And I like the Turks. A 
> positive
> "macho"  manly demeanor among the men and some very beautiful ladies, 
> though
> not be visually admired  for too long if they are spoken for and 
> especially if
> one travelling with one's  wife, who happens be the daughter of a former
> Finnish middleweight champion in boxing.
> Islamic culture mixed with Turkish secularism, a lot of subtleties in the 
> air.
> Visited my first mosque - nice and quiet. a feeling of reverence.  All in 
> all,
> I  was prepared for a culture shock that didn't come. Might it be due to 
> the
> old theory that the Finns and Turks had common ancestors thousands of 
> years ago
> in the Altay Mountains on the borders of Siberia and China ? Of course, 
> it's
> not true but it's a nice story all the same.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Jyri
>
> And the food ain't too bad either.
>
> 



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