Turkey: the insane and the melancholy

Description

Turkey is a nation of contradictions and contrasts. Though considered democratic, the Erdogan government has increasingly begun to resemble a dictatorship, jailing it opponents and violently suppressing dissent. And though Turkey is notionally secular, the Justice and Development Partys power has fed the creeping influence of religious conservatism, with figures in the party denouncing abortion rights and attempting to criminalize adultery. Having long occupied an uneasy middle ground between a secular West and Islamic East, Turkey has been drawn into the conflicts of its neighbors, including the Arab Spring, the Syrian civil war, and the rise of ISIS. In this fascinating portrait of a nation in turmoil, the renowned Turkish journalist and novelist Ece Temelkuran provides a vivid and deeply personal account of the crisis afflicting modern Turkey. Temelkuran identifies a long-running culture of repression and authoritarianism that has plagued Turkey throughout its history, a culture she traces back to the fall of the Ottomans and the continued climate of denial around the Armenian genocide. But, she firmly believes there is still a strong voice of dissent in Turkey, and she argues that the Gezi Park protests of 2013 represented a glimmer of hope that has not yet been fully extinguished and may still grow to rejuvenate democracy in the country. Providing unique insight into Turkeys ongoing political turmoil, this is a timely look at a country that is caught at the center of many of the changes and much of the turmoil of the Middle East today.;Yesterday -- Today -- Tomorrow -- The origins of forgetting -- How is indifference learned? -- Orphans, fathers and resentment -- "Such a generation we shall raise..." -- Fascism or downright vengeance? -- Turkey's disorganised photo album -- A woman's "unindictable" murder -- "Us" and "them" -- The hour of "Long live our Padishah!" -- The bloodiest front in social projects -- A split-meaning, split-screen way of watching : news hour in Turkey -- Goddamn it! -- The grey daubs of the city proving presence through absence -- The mesmerising vulgarity -- Children of the "Zero Problem" policy : the expedient and inexpedient -- The meatballs of "the people" beat Macbeth to death -- Opposite meanings of the peace sign : Kurds and Turks -- Official memory versus actual memory -- Appetite and hope -- Down! down! down! down! -- Women and children first! -- Middle Easternisation and the question "should we go?" -- The "safety valve" that cannot be located -- Broken bridges, new bridges.