Turkish Delight: Disappointment

(I traveled to Turkey for vacation during first half of July,2014. Following is an account of my experiences in Ankara/Istanbul. This is the ninth installment of the series, involving an aerial journey to Istanbul and a missed flight to Cappadokia. Later I hung out with a Kurdish fellow and had a jolly good time. I hope you enjoy it)

I woke up fairly early on my last day in Ankara and was ready to get down to the airport by 8 am. My Turkish friend Yigit had promised to pick me up on his way to the airport. My flight was supposed to leave at 9:30 am. Yigit picked me a bit later than we expected him. I bid my Pakistani friend goodbye and thanked him profusely for his hospitality.

During our long journey to the airport(which is quite far from downtown), we had a good chat.I told Yigit about the number of cousins I had and how my mother used to cook when we hosted an annual party, about population explosion in Pakistan and how the population of only Punjab province is larger than whole population of turkey. We also talked about conspiracy theory culture in Pakistan and turkey (his master’s thesis was on conspiracy theories while I have written about this topic for many years). We reached the Ankara Airport just in time for me to check-in at the last moment. Pegasus airlines has the cutest pre-flight instruction videos, involving kids only. I wish more airlines used a "human" touch like that. The flight went seamlessly and I was at Sabiha Gökçen Airport, Istanbul by 10:15 am. I later discovered that “Sabiha Gökçen” was the name of Ataturk’s adopted daughter who was a fighter pilot. The airport is located almost 55 Kilometers away from Ataturk Airport from where I had a flight booked for Cappadokia. I was supposed to be there within 2 hours till the check-in counter closed. I had two options: Either take the Havataş bus service which left from Sabiha Gökçen to Taksim every 30 minutes and took almost 1.5 hours, or I could take a Taxi which would’ve cost more but was supposed to be faster.When I exited the airport, the 10:30 Havataş shuttle was full so I could either wait for the 11:00 am bus (and pay 19 TL) or ride into one of the Taxis.

 
I chose the later option and took the first available Taxi out of Sabiha Gökçen. I was unfortunate because the driver didn’t understand English and my Türkçe was not good enough to get across my message. I asked him to drop me off at the nearest Tram stations (which, in any case was pretty far) but he took me to Kabataş. The roads were very crowded and it took us almost 80 minutes to reach Kabataş station. His meter showed 85 TL, but he charged me 96 TL due to some stupid reason. I was in too much hurry to argue with him at that point. I recharged my Istanbulkart and took the Tram to Yusufpaşa from where I took the Aksaray-Havalimani line. In hindsight, I should’ve changed the trams at Zeytinburnu but I was in full panic mode at that time. The tram reached Ataturk International Airport at 12:26 pm. I ran like crazy towards the Domestic Departures lounge which is on the second floor. By the time I arrived at the check-in counter, I was 10-15 minutes late and check-in counter had been closed. I talked to a Turkish Airlines representative who informed me that I had lost the flight and my only option is to get a new ticket from their office.

I found Turkish Airline’s office on the same floor and waited for almost 40 minutes before I got a chance to exchange my ticket at the counter. I was informed that I had to pay 200 TL if I wanted the ticket on next flight to Cappadokia. I had previously paid the same amount for a return ticket and this felt too expensive (considering that I was looking forward to an air-balloon ride which cost almost 350 TL). I pondered over my options for a moment and decided that it was too much of an investment, and asked for a refund. I got 93 Liras back and I walked away dejected. I had gotten hotel booking through my Iranian friend in Istanbul but this was an unexpected turn of events so I decided to call my friend and get the reservation for another night. With a heavy heart, I strolled back and took the tram. I was extremely tired after the panic-ride on taxi and tram followed by the airport hassle. On my way to Isteklal (where my new Otel was based), I decided to take a detour of Sultanahmet and catch up with my new friends, the Ask Me volunteers. I had missed them immensly during the Ankara visit. I grabbed a Tavuk Doner from a nearby shop and reached the Hippodrome arena. I met Doğukan, Ahmet and some other volunteers near the entrance of Old Bazaar. I recounted my tragic tale of missing the flight due to terrible traffic and how I decided to stay another day in my favorite city.
After spending an hour or so with the volunteers, I collected my luggage and took the tram to Karakoy and the Tunel from there. My next hotel was located in Asmalimescit Cadessi, at walking distance from Isteklal. I was welcomed in the hotel by the reception guy with an impromptu rendition of "Jeevay Jeevay Pakistan"(means Long live Pakistan, a famous anthem back home). I was allotted a room on the 4^th floor and thankfully, there was Wi-Fi availability in the room. I rested for a while and then decided to take a detour of Isteklal Cadessi.  

On my way back from Taksim I square I found the stall of a socialist party (it had a long name which I don’t recall but their flag called for promotion of socialism, income equality and feminism). They didn't have anyone there with English language skills so a Kurdish guy became my interpreter. They showed me their newspaper (more of a newsletter actually) and despite the language barrier, were quick to dissociate themselves from "Turkish Communist Party". Later on, I accompanied the Kurdish guy across Isteklal and we ended up having a long conversation about Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Iraq.He told that he was studying cinema at Erbil University and was working in the youth and culture ministry of KRG. He was in Istanbul to work in a stage production. One was his brothers was in the Peshmerga force (KRG's national army) and he showed me a lot of pictures of Peshmagras and himself in a Peshmerga outfit (as he had portrayed them in a drama).

He mentioned the natural beauty of Erbil, KRG's capital and how victims of chemical weapons (used during the Saddam era) were still suffering from the after-effects. He emphasised his strict dietary habits (lots of water, some fish, oranges and lemon juice) because he wanted to stay fit as an actor. We talked a bit about situation of Turkish and Iranian cinema during which I name-dropped Antonioni, the only legendary producer I had heard of, from some film aficionado friends. 

He used the word "very" quite a lot and had difficulty in explaining some terms but my cursory knowledge of Arabic was enough to keep us away from a communication blockade. We shared contact information and had Turkish coffee at a chic coffee place in the Galata area.

I finished the wonderful evening by having an "Aaloo paratha" at an Indian restaurant run by Turkish owners. They were playing Bollywood songs in the background, probably to emphasize their "Indian connection". I had a lot of difficult sleeping that night (despite my tiredness) because of strong Turkish coffee. I chatted with a Pakistani friend who was visiting the United States in those days and a Greek friend who told me about “Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response”, a technique to help insomniacs. It probably helped and I finally slept around 3:30 am.   

Trouble in Mesopotamia

Thoughts on the rise of ISIS(Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) and the possible reasons for this upheaval according to history.

(Originally published in The Nation on 23rd June, 2014)

The looming threat of civil war in Iraq can be traced back to at least three different historical events. The Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) surprised most observers by seizing control of cities and towns in Western and Northern Iraq in the last few days. Using the northern part of Syria as a springboard and training ground, ISIS attacked Iraq’s second largest city-Mosul-and Saddam Hussain’s hometown, Tikrit. Iraq’s national army did not defend the cities and two divisions of the force (almost 30,000 men) simply turned and ran in the face of the assault. In December 2013, parts of Fallujah and Ramadi (in the Anbar province) were overtaken by the ragtag army made up of militants from around the world; an “Islamist” legion of sorts.

The first fault line of this conflict was drawn more than fourteen hundred years ago in the Arabian Peninsula. The conflict that arose after the death of the Prophet Muhammad regarding the right to succession as Caliph blew out into a schism that continues to this day. Sunnis believe that Abu Bakar, the senior most companion of the Prophet was rightly chosen as Caliph while Shias are of the view that Ali, the Prophet’s cousin and a member of his clan deserved the position. This internecine conflict has caused innumerable deaths whenever one group has gained ascendancy over the other. The Umayyad Caliphs were ‘Sunni’ and Shias suffered heavily under their reign. When the Abbasids (who claimed to be descendants of Abbas, Ali’s Uncle) rose to power, they unleashed a wave of terror towards the Umayyads. The last Umayyad caliph was tracked down to a church in Nile Delta, where his head was chopped off and his tongue was fed to a cat.

The animosity between the Umayyads and Abbasids was apparently political in nature but the underlying cause was sectarian. The second event that casts a shadow over the emergence of ISIS is the Sykes-Picot agreement that was signed during the First World War. It was a secret agreement signed between the governments of the United Kingdom and France, with the assent of Russia, defining their proposed spheres of influence and control in the Middle East should the Triple Entente succeed in defeating the Ottoman Empire in 1916. Mandates from the League of Nations gave France control of Syria and Lebanon. Britain held mandates over Palestine, Iraq, and the newly created Transjordan. In this way, new countries were created out of an existing monolith based on no particular parameters. There were no physical boundaries (like a river or mountains etc) between the new countries and arbitrary lines drawn in sand divided them. As a result, there are no well-defined, internationally recognized boundaries between countries in the Middle East till today (Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990 was based on the fact that the boundary between the two countries was never properly established).

The last piece of this puzzle is the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. Saddam Hussein was ruling only through sheer force, and not because he was immensely popular amongst the common people. His Ba’ath party favored the Sunni minority of Iraq and oppressed the Shia majority. Saddam’s regime targeted Shiite groups such as the ‘Dawa Party’, of which the current Iraqi Prime Minister, Nuri Al-Maliki was a member. His forces used chemical weapons against the Kurdish population during their reign of terror. But Iraq did not possess any weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), which was the raison d’être presented by the United States before launching their war. In February 2011, the defector who convinced the White House that Iraq had a secret biological weapons’ programme admitted that he lied about his story, as reported by The Guardian.

Following the war, American policymakers made huge tactical errors, which resulted in a Shia-Sunni armed conflict that is yet to be resolved. Gideon Rose, in his book “How Wars End: Why We Always Fight the Last Battle,” is of the view that, “wars actually have two equally important aspects. One is negative, or coercive; this is the part about fighting. The other is positive, and is all about politics. And this is the part that, as in Iraq, is usually overlooked or misunderstood.”

In the 2010 parliamentary elections in Iraq, a secular Iraqi leader named Ayad Allawi gained the majority of votes but he was not allowed to form the government due to a contentious court ruling. The Americans could intervene and point out how this contravened the Iraqi constitution but they hedged their bets by supporting Maliki, who spent most of his life as a violent Shia activist.

ISIS and its methods are so extreme that even Al-Qaeda distanced itself from the group. They were initially bankrolled by Sunni Arab states including Saudi Arabia. A recent news report mentioned that before capturing Mosul, ISIS’s total cash and assets were $875 Million. Afterwards, with the money they robbed from banks and the value of military supplies they looted, they could add another $1.5 billion to that. They recently released a series of photos titled “The Destruction of Sykes-Picot.”
Iraq’s neighbors, including Iran, Turkey and Syria are alarmed by the rise of ISIS and at least Iran and Turkey are contemplating the use of direct or indirect force to stall their advances. Turkey is supporting the Iraqi Kurds who seem to possess the only military force that has defeated militants and taken control over the vital city of Kirkuk. Iran’s clergy has called upon able-bodied men to take up arms and defend the holy sites of Shi’ism.

The most worrying aspect of this conflict is the potential for a Shia-Sunni civil war as ISIS fighters gain control over Sunni-dominant areas in Iraq; the Iraqi forces that deserted without fighting also had a lot of Sunni members. Sunni groups such as Majlis Thuwar Al Anbar, Jaish al-Mujahideen and Jaish Ansar al-Sunnah are providing tactical support to ISIS. It would seem that deep trouble now brews in Mesopotamia.