The Fromson File

III. TURKEY: A CULTURAL VIEW   On my recent visit to Turkey, I was able to savor a country that Americans could not possibly appreciate without seeing it for themselves. It is unique among Muslim countries, perhaps unlike any other in a culture whose influence is felt from the continent of Africa to Morocco and then Indonesia.   Looks can be deceptive. Some Turkish women wear headscarves and some even burkas, head to toe, but not because of a religious custom but a cultural one. It is a country where from Istanbul on the Bosphorus, west to Izmir on the Aegean coast, its European origins are so apparent. The political, intellectual and economic forces are concentrated in that part of the country.    Turkey is rich in tradition, history, art and archeological splendor. Museums, ancient ruins and spectacular mosques  seemingly meld into the landscape. From Ankara past the awesome geological formations of Cappadocia to the ancient sites of Konya, Antalya, Kusadasi and Ephesus and through the mountains to the sea, the setting often is breathtaking. Istanbul  is a wonder all by itself from the first glimpse of the Blue Mosque to the Topkapi Palace and the Grand Bazaar, a chaotic shopper’s dream, or nightmare depending on your like or dislike of crowds. It is the gateway, separating European Turkey from Asia Minor.    While crowded with 14 million people and squashed by endless traffic jams, Istanbul blends ancient civilizations with a sense of modernity and freedom that truly is impressive. It has an up to date transit system including tramways imported from Sweden and a modern Metro system.. It has dozens of newspapers, magazines, book stores, Internet cafes, glitzy shops and elegant restaurants aside from the predictable junk food offered bt MacDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets.   The owner of one restaurant was overjoyed to razz me when the Detroit Pistons overwhelmed the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA finals in June; his loyalty to the Pistons  motivated largely by Detroit’s 6’-11” power forward from Turkey..   To understand the evolution of Turkish society, one yardstick was to stroll through some of the working class neighborhoods in the heart of Istanbul and compare them with the dazzling condominiums and homes owned by the middle and upper classes that can be seen from a ferry ride on the Bosphorus heading toward the Black Sea. On several evenings my wife and I attended a number of concerts that were part of an ongoing International Music Festival in Istanbul. We mixed with young and mostly middle-aged men and women who had arrived in their Mercedes and other luxury cars to hear music of Bach, Mussorgsky and other European composers performed by musicians from Berlin, London and Moscow. Each concert was played to a capacity audience in a hall that had been a church restored from the Byzantine era.    Turkey’s under-appreciated cultural richness is matched only by what one analyst described as its strategic importance to the United States and Europe because of a geographical link to the Balkans, the Caspian Sea and the Middle East.