A store in Istanbul.
A store in Istanbul.
A store in Istanbul.
A store in Istanbul.


The unbearable sadness of being a Turk this summer


  • English
  • Arabic

August 02, 2021

This summer, every day in Turkey seems to bring a new outrage. The latest is the wildfires that have ravaged much of the south in recent days, killing at least six people, threatening an already troubled summer tourist season and destroying some of the country’s most beloved green spaces and coastal areas.

When Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu stepped out of his family home in Antalya to defend the government’s response, he was booed, berated and jostled by dozens of angry neighbours who had helplessly watched the fires close in. A student seemed to sum up the mood after he tweeted a video of a wall of flames surging toward Marmaris’s modern resort towers as beach-goers hurriedly gathered their belongings.

“Not a scene from a horror movie,” he said. “This is Turkey.”

A perfect storm of apocalyptic natural disasters, pandemic-driven fears and restrictions, seemingly endless economic troubles and growing government incompetence have left Turkey teetering on the edge and its people at the end of their rope.

The evidence has been right in front of our noses for some time, on Turkish streets and college campuses, on social media, at the ballot box and beyond. But until last week’s release of the annual global emotions survey from leading pollster Gallup, an observer could not be certain that Turks lived with more stress than just about every other citizenry on Earth.

Tied for last place in terms of contentment, or first in terms of dissatisfaction, are Turkey and Lebanon – the only two countries out of more than 140 in which less than half the population finds some joy in their daily lives. And since Lebanon has faced that reality since 2019 and Turkey since 2018, the latter qualifies as the darker place.

The fires almost seem like a physical manifestation of the exasperation in so many Turkish hearts: 44 per cent experience daily anger, according to Gallup, second behind only Iraq. So why are people in countries such as Iran ($12,900 in PPP per capita income) and Bangladesh ($5,200) seemingly happier than people in Turkey ($27,660)?

Start with the muzzling of free speech. Nearly 200 news outlets have been shuttered in recent years, leaving a media landscape in thrall to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). In the second quarter of 2021, journalists went on trial at a rate of 2.5 per day. And the state continues to expand its reach: a fortnight ago, it moved to end foreign funding for media outlets and civil society actors. Speak out on social media and like thousands of others you will be charged with criticising the presidency. Attend a protest and you will be detained.

Maybe it’s best to focus on making and saving money. Good luck with that: five years ago, three Turkish liras were equal to $1; today it’s eight. The pandemic has driven some 1.5 million people into poverty, the World Bank reported, and inflation increased to 17.5 per cent in June, according to the government. The latter estimate is terribly low, says the Inflation Research Group, which puts the number at a wallet-busting 40 per cent.

Turkey’s unemployment rate has hovered around 13-14 per cent for the past two years. But researchers estimate youth unemployment is 40 per cent or higher, which has driven tens of thousands of the best and brightest to seek their fortune in the West.

This helps explain why Turkey topped the Nativism Index in the latest Ipsos survey, highlighting fierce resentment towards the four million refugees, and counting, that have been living in Turkey and snapping up unskilled jobs. But having a job is not much better: according to the International Trade Union Confederation, Turkey is for six years running among the world's 10 lowest-ranked countries for workers on various parameters, including basic rights and paid leave.

Need to blow off some steam? Bars in Turkey were closed for 16 months before reopening six weeks ago. Now they may face another shutdown as Covid-19 cases spike. Late night music is still banned across the country, which has seen a spate of artist suicides.

Turkey’s cultural life is so heavy these days that when the tourism ministry last week released a video promoting a gloriously vibrant Istanbul, Turkish social media users expressed confusion. “It’s so beautiful, I wonder what country this is,” said one. “Is this Turkey in a parallel universe without the AKP?” tweeted pop star Gaye Su Akyol.

In his 2011 autobiography, Istanbul, Turkish novelist and Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk wrote of "huzun", a Turkish word he used to explain the city’s melancholy. Its origin is the decline and fall of a great empire, the remnants of which are ubiquitous in the city and across Turkey. This deep spiritual loss occurs at a communal level, he argued: a black mood felt by millions.

In summer, one might think fresh air is the answer. But much of Turkey has faced a severe drought this year, resulting in those ferocious fires, dried up lakes and horrifying images of dead flamingoes. For several weeks this spring, the shorelines of Istanbul and the Marmara region were covered in sea slime. And now comes the news that the Asian tiger mosquito, a highly invasive species that can sting through clothing and carries diseases such as dengue, yellow fever and the West Nile virus, is thriving in Istanbul’s humidity.

Add it all up and Turkish citizens have the sneaking suspicion that their government is not up to the task, whatever that task may be. On Friday, just after Turkey’s Central Bank attached an image of precariously stacked Jenga blocks to a soon-deleted tweet about interest rates, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan conceded that Turkey had no fire-fighting planes of its own and had been forced – as when one runs out of sugar – to borrow from its neighbours.

“The country is not laughing anymore, unfortunately,” exiled Turkish journalist Can Dundar told me last year. “It’s a sad country now.”

Joy always seemed to be baked into the Turkish way of life. In October 1933, in a speech marking 10 years since his founding of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk declared: “How happy is the one who says ‘I am a Turk’!” In a country driven by nationalism, this proud assertion took root. In the early 1970s, the government added it to an oath for elementary and high school students to recite every morning.

Meant in part to distinguish people of Turkish background from minorities such as Kurds and Armenians, it was not only a nationalist exultation, but also an assertion of ethnic superiority. It was this element that drove the AKP, as part of its peace process with Kurdish militants, to move to put an end to the student oath in 2013.

The Turkish Education Association filed suit to block that move, but eight years later it failed. In March, Turkey’s Council of State removed the oath from students’ daily routine, drawing condemnation not only from the main opposition Republican People’s Party, but also from the AKP’s far-right partner, the Nationalist Movement Party.

Yet, it does seem fitting that the AKP – which seems to abhor good times, counters Ataturk’s western-leaning secularism with anti-western Islamism and may soon disenfranchise millions of Kurdish voters – is the party that took this joyful declaration out of the mouths of Turkish children, just as Turkey emerged as perhaps the least happy place on Earth.

Trolls World Tour

Directed by: Walt Dohrn, David Smith

Starring: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake

Rating: 4 stars

The smuggler

Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple. 
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.

Khouli conviction

Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.

For sale

A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.

- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico

- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000

- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950

Revival
Eminem
Interscope

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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Chad%20Stahelski%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Keanu%20Reeves%2C%20Laurence%20Fishburne%2C%20George%20Georgiou%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20The%20Cloud%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202018%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20George%20Karam%20and%20Kamil%20Rogalinski%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hub71%2C%20Abu%20Dhabi%2C%20UAE%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Food%20technology%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%20size%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410m%2B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Middle%20East%20Venture%20Partners%2C%20Olayan%20Financing%2C%20Rua%20Growth%20Fund%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
RESULTS

2.15pm: Al Marwan Group Holding – Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (Dirt) 1,200m
Winner: SS Jalmod, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Ibrahim Al Hadhrami (trainer)

2.45pm: Sharjah Equine Hospital – Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner: Ghallieah, Sebastien Martino, Jean-Claude Pecout

3.15pm: Al Marwan Group Holding – Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 1,700m
Winner: Inthar, Saif Al Balushi, Khalifa Al Neyadi

3.45pm: Al Ain Stud Emirates Breeders Trophy – Conditions (PA) Dh50,000 (D) 1,700m
Winner: MH Rahal, Richard Mullen, Elise Jeanne

4.25pm: Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Cup – Prestige Handicap (PA) Dh100,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: JAP Aneed, Ray Dawson, Irfan Ellahi

4.45pm: Sharjah Equine Hospital – Handicap (TB) Dh40,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Edaraat, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi

The%20Super%20Mario%20Bros%20Movie
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirectors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Aaron%20Horvath%20and%20Michael%20Jelenic%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Chris%20Pratt%2C%20Anya%20Taylor-Joy%2C%20Charlie%20Day%2C%20Jack%20Black%2C%20Seth%20Rogen%20and%20Keegan-Michael%20Key%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Bio

Born in Dibba, Sharjah in 1972.
He is the eldest among 11 brothers and sisters.
He was educated in Sharjah schools and is a graduate of UAE University in Al Ain.
He has written poetry for 30 years and has had work published in local newspapers.
He likes all kinds of adventure movies that relate to his work.
His dream is a safe and preserved environment for all humankind. 
His favourite book is The Quran, and 'Maze of Innovation and Creativity', written by his brother.

US PGA Championship in numbers

Joost Luiten produced a memorable hole in one at the par-three fourth in the first round.

To date, the only two players to win the PGA Championship after winning the week before are Rory McIlroy (2014 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational) and Tiger Woods (2007, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational). Hideki Matsuyama or Chris Stroud could have made it three.

Number of seasons without a major for McIlroy, who finished in a tie for 22nd.

4 Louis Oosthuizen has now finished second in all four of the game's major championships.

In the fifth hole of the final round, McIlroy holed his longest putt of the week - from 16ft 8in - for birdie.

For the sixth successive year, play was disrupted by bad weather with a delay of one hour and 43 minutes on Friday.

Seven under par (64) was the best round of the week, shot by Matsuyama and Francesco Molinari on Day 2.

Number of shots taken by Jason Day on the 18th hole in round three after a risky recovery shot backfired.

Jon Rahm's age in months the last time Phil Mickelson missed the cut in the US PGA, in 1995.

10 Jimmy Walker's opening round as defending champion was a 10-over-par 81.

11 The par-four 11th coincidentally ranked as the 11th hardest hole overall with a scoring average of 4.192.

12 Paul Casey was a combined 12 under par for his first round in this year's majors.

13 The average world ranking of the last 13 PGA winners before this week was 25. Kevin Kisner began the week ranked 25th.

14 The world ranking of Justin Thomas before his victory.

15 Of the top 15 players after 54 holes, only Oosthuizen had previously won a major.

16 The par-four 16th marks the start of Quail Hollow's so-called "Green Mile" of finishing holes, some of the toughest in golf.

17 The first round scoring average of the last 17 major champions was 67.2. Kisner and Thorbjorn Olesen shot 67 on day one at Quail Hollow.

18 For the first time in 18 majors, the eventual winner was over par after round one (Thomas shot 73).

While you're here
Champions parade (UAE timings)

7pm Gates open

8pm Deansgate stage showing starts

9pm Parade starts at Manchester Cathedral

9.45pm Parade ends at Peter Street

10pm City players on stage

11pm event ends

Updated: August 02, 2021, 3:41 PM`