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THE CHICAGO WAY
amanda rivkin

Feb 14

Friday, November 12, 2010 - FORTNIGHT 2 OF 6

THE MOMENT

PROPAGANDA MAKES AN IMPACT ALONG OIL PIPELINES. A PRIME MINISTER DEPLOYS TO AMANDA, PHOTOJOURNALIST.

read the essay now >>

The Moment:
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan
Throws a Book at My Head
Erzurum, Turkey on August 13, 2010, 4:04 P.M.

I was in Turkey, following the route of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline from Azerbaijan through Georgia until its end in the mouth of the Mediterranean bay of Yumurtalik, on a Young Explorers Grant from the National Geographic Society. Erzurum, Turkey was by far the most conservative point we had come across along the route. It is the most conservative of Turkish cities in a country where the secular designs of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk prevail. Unlike the rest of Turkey, accommodations regarding principles of faith are scant in Erzurum.

Aug. 13 was the third day of Ramadan and almost everyone in the city fasts for the occasion. To eat in Erzurum, we had to inquire in restaurant after restaurant if they would serve us. When they did, they hid us far from the windows where potential customers could not complain that they were un-Islamic for serving a cafir, or infidel—something that is in fact haram, or forbidden, according to the strictest of interpretations. Technically, the Koran permits travelers to interrupt their fasts.

Erzurum is a town that strongly supports Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Approximately 10,000 people had attended the rally held by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan in Erzurum that day to promote a “yes” vote to the forthcoming Sept. 12 referendum calling for constitutional changes. The official rhetoric of AKP pins the vote as a “yes” to democracy and a “no” to coups; it would give AKP more authority over the constitutional court and make permanent changes that would undoubtedly have a short-term political benefit.

Turkey’s secular elite is likely to vote against the changes, whereas it is anticipated that those in the poorer east, who are more conservative, are going to vote in favor of them. Part of this is the result of consistent efforts to build roads and launch other development projects in a long-neglected region.

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