Ch 36, Day 16: The Old Ottoman Capital

Day 18: The Old Ottoman Capital

23.3
kms, April 4, 2011

Today is a significant
day. Not only is the Edirne Chapter coming to an end, but the long
Journey through West Asia is ending as well. Tomorrow he will cross
the border into Bulgaria... and into a very different world. While
crossing the Bosphorus is officially the entrance to Europe, from the
Traveler's perspective, Europe starts at the Bulgarian border.
That's where he expects to see a major change in culture and sphere
of influence.

He
does some town hopping along the way... stopping to play music for
some well dressed schoolboys in Lilleburgaz... admiring
an ancient bridge in Babaeski... In
Havsa, as in all
other towns, there is a statue of Ataturk, except this one shows him
standing on top of the globe. Seems a bit contradictory. Ataturk
did not show any aspirations for global conquest... he wanted just a
strong country that is capable of defending itself.

Finally
the Traveler reaches Edirne. Edirne
was once the capital of the Ottoman Empire. Now it sits at the very
edge of the Republic of Turkey. In nearly a hundred years this
country has made no efforts to push its border west... or vice versa.

Edirne no longer has the
feel of a powerful city, but heading towards it's center, you still
get a taste of the grandeur of days gone by. There's a forest of
beautiful pencil minarets along the horizon, with 3 large mosques
right next to each other. Perhaps each built by a different sultan
trying to outdo the others. Here you can just sit in an open plaza
and gaze out at the panorama of monuments of a great empire that once
was.

Each mosque has it's own
distinct style. One with multiple little domes... another with a
spiral design on the minaret, another with zigzagging stripes. The
king of them all is a stunning beige and blue mosque, on the top of a
hill which might rival the Blue Mosque in Istanbul with its enormous
dome and majestic minarets.

The Traveler continues
on, wanderin through the city, where there are some half timber
buildings that preserve that old Ottoman feel... there's a cool
indoor bazaar as well... Edirne is the perfect city for the Traveler
to pause and reflect on all that he has seen and experienced
throughout his entire Journey so far... from the rugged mountains of
Afghanistan, to the modern industrial cities of European Turkey.

As the sun sets, he gazes
across the plaza with its colorful lit up fountains... hearing the
chorus of calls to prayer from every direction... as the forest of
minarets gradually fade into the horizon.

It's been an amazing
Journey so far.

Conclusion
of the West Asia Journey

But
for the Traveler, crossing this border marks an end of a journey and
the beginning of another one. It's time to pause, perhaps sip a cup
of Turkish tea and ponder on all that he has experienced in while
meandering through Western Asia.

Of
course, the cultures, landscapes and lifestyles he's seen have been
diverse. He has seen many things which have inspired him, and many
things that have troubled him. But as he patches the different
facets of the journey in his mind, there are certain themes that have
been quite obvious.

Ethnic
identity seems to be the theme in this part of the world. In every
country he's traveled to, the message has been obvious: this land
belongs to a specific ethnic group, or so they believe. Armenians
believe Armenia belongs to them. Azerbaijan believe Azerbaijan is
theirs. Kurdish Iraq is for the Kurds. Isreal is for the Jews.
Turkey is for the Turks.

Of
course, it's not that simple. This is a part of the world where 10
or 20 different tribes, kingdoms and empires have ruled over a
certain part of land, left their mark and fathered descendants. So,
more often than not, many different tribes are equally convinced that
the same land belongs to them. And
the message "this land belongs to our tribe... that other tribe
stole it from us, and we're going to get it back someday" gets
passed on and reinforced from generation to generation, planting the
seeds for more conflict and confrontation.

Then
throw religion into the mix, and the belief that God gave
this land to us... and it gets even more fun.

Of
course it's not all war and ethnic cleansing. The Traveler did come
across plenty of cases where minorities have been able to survive and
live peacefully, such as the Christians in Jordan, the Baha'is in
Israel, the Yazidis in Armenia or the (few remaining) Armenians in
Turkey.

But
their survival requires they keep their heads low and simply accept
whatever is given to them. As an Iranian pointed out, "of
course Armenians in Iran behave well. It's about survival. When
you're a minority, you've have to submit if you want to survive."

When
a minority starts to gain confidence and demands a say in their own
destiny, then the cycle of violence, oppression and ethnic cleansing
starts all over again.

I
guess, from a scientific point of view, you could say this
territorial instinct is just part of human evolution in his struggle
to survive. When resources are limited, it's only natural that
tribes try to conquer other tribes and plunder them. Then, once
they've conquered, the conquerors work out a hiearchy putting
themselves in the ruling role indefinitely and the conquered in the
subsurvient role. This is pretty much how humanity has functioned
for the last 7,000 years or so. And this constant conflict has made
us stronger, as each tribe is trying to figure out new ways to one-up
the other.

Except...
it doesn't have to be this way. And people know it. There are
rumors of other parts of the world where... it doesn't matter your
tribe, race, family connection, religion, or culture... Everyone can
have a fair shot at success. Anyone can start a business... run for
office... get hired to a good job based strictly on his credentials
and experience.... People from dozens of different tribes can live
together peacefully in the same neighborhood... In fact, after a
while people stop caring about tribes and ethnic identity any more.
People just want to prosper and live in peace. And when you aren't
carrying around with you the baggage of 1,000 years worth of grudges
towards your neighbors, that life of peace and prosperity is actually
within reach.

As
an Armenian told the Traveler, "When we're in Russia, Armenian
and Azeris get along just fine! But when we come back to our country,
we're immersed in a society full of hatred towards Azeris... so we
just can't help but hate them as well".

As
the Traveler journeyed throuh these lands, he sympathized with the
oppression and suffering that people have gone through. People
driven from their homes... people deprived of their basic rights and
necessities... people forced to live as servants of the oppressors.

However,
he didn't sympathize with the dream of a new nation in which their
tribe would dominate. The
Traveler knew that all this would do, would be to turn the oppressed
into the oppressor, and reinforce the cycle of resentment. West Asia
doesn't need more independent countries, it just needs countries
where everyone's right are equally respected and people just learn to
get along.

But,
quite frankly, it doesn't look like people are going in that
direction. In fact, in many ways, things are worse now than they
were before. Back when they were ruled by single, vast empires,
tribes generally got along—they had to. Armenians and Azeris
shared the same land and lived together in peace under the Soviet
Union. Many ethnic and religious groups lived together in peace
under the Ottoman rule. But as soon as the shield of central
government was taken away, tribes picked up right where they'd left
off: fighting each other. And then you've got foreign powers meddling
for their own cynical purposes... and the cycle goes on and on and
on.

This
makes you wonder: the peace and equality that exists in other parts
of the world... could that just be a "temporary fix" as
well? When other central goverments fall apart, will people go back
to being tribal in those countries as well? Is tribalism "normal"
human behavior we will always revert to, or are we actually evolving
to something greater and more worthy of the intelligence we've been
endowed with?

To
answer these questions—or try to, at least—there is much more the
Traveler needs to learn and observe. The Journey is just beginning.

The
Beauty of West Asia

West Asia is not just
about war and tribal resentment. Much has inspired him as well.
Perhaps what has inspired him the most, is the feeling of optimism
and hope, even in the most daunting circumstances. It's beautiful to
see how people can adapt and find purpose and happiness—no matter
what daunting circumstances they are put in.

The Traveler recalls the
many inspiring encounters along the way... The Kurdish American in
Zakho who has moved with his family back to his homeland to help
rebuild it—even as more trouble brews on the horizon... The
Palestinian workshop in Hebron where men continue working, even as
their neighborhood is being taken over by Zionist settlers one house
at a time around them.... The Jordanian high school where student
study and practice farming, in a country that is almost entirely
desert... The Turkish "glass half full"
attitude—passionately celebrating the fact that, despite losing an
empire, at least they stayed independent...The Georgian construction
projects, creating stunningly beautiful cities and parks—even as
parts of the country are being broken off, thanks to the meddling of
Mother Russia...

Also, the welcoming he
received all throughout this region was deeply moving. Kurds, Turks,
Armenians, Azeris and Arabs all welcomed this stranger into their
homes... insisted that he join him for tea... never treated him with
hostility or suspicion. Not being a member of any of the regions
tribes allowed him the luxury of being friends with everybody.

And despite the thousands
of years of built up hostility, there were many times that the
Traveler was pleasantly surprised to see "enemies" getting
along fine in day to day activities. Like seeing the Jewish settler
sneak over on the Sabbath into Palestinian ruled territory to do his
shopping... or seeing busloads of Arab tourists coming to enjoy a
peaceful vacation in Kurdish ruled areas in Iraq... Talking to the
Palestinian in Jenin who sneaks across into Israel to work—and the
guards allow it... Talking to Kurds in Turkey who have been able to
both prosper in the Turkish system—and keep their sense of
identity.

Many times he got the
feeling that normal folks really just want to get along and live
their lives. Much of the hostility is really artificially created by
powers who see an advantage in keeping people angry and divided.

But not all government
agendas are evil here. The Traveler was also inspired by some of the
most ambitious attempts to transform these countries for the better.
Of course, the biggest attempt took place some 75 years ago, by a man
named Ataturk, who in just a couple of years tried to turn Turkey
from a stagnant country still stuck in the Middle Ages into a
dynamic, progressive, European-modeled secular nation complete with a
new alphabet, new education system, new opportunities for women—with
religion taking a back seat.

A more recent example is
Georgia, where the government has aggressively fought corruption by
firing its police force and getting a fresh start...

And then there's Israel,
one of the most unusual social experiments of the 20^th
century, trying to combine modern secular democracy with a religion
based government—a religion based on a book that clearly encourages
genocide. A fascinating paradox, being a culture both perpetually
locked in the past and eagerly embracing the new.

But the question is, will
these attempts to bring positive change last? Or will societies
eventually just go back to their old ways again?

Once again, the Traveler
wonders if the volatile tribal system is the "normal"
humans will always revert too. All other more enlightened social
constructs are only temporary. Once those constructs fall apart, we
will always go back to clumping together in groups and being hostile
towards those outside of the group.

But let's not start
trying to draw blanket conclusions yet. There's still a lot more
world to experience.