Country with No Animals

That time of year is approaching again, Eid ul Adha or Kurban Bayrami as it is called in Turkey. It is fitting that it is called "Kurban Bayrami" (Fest of Sacrifice) in Turkey because the celebrations of this religious occasion has turned into an event where pretty much only sacrificing animals is cared about.


The scenes of animal sacrifice become truly gruesome all over the country on this occasion, which is NOT actually one of the mandates or pillars of Islam. When Islam was born, animal sacrifice was only practiced to remind humanity about the sacrifice Prophet Abraham was about to make by killing his son in the name of God. It was never a rule or a requirement.

Another reason behind this practice is to show to God that we are sacrificing or letting go something we love, we are attached to, we care about for God' sake. It makes me wonder each time I witness carnage in Turkey, this time of the year. People in the country sacrifice more than one animal, just buy them and cut them. Do they really get attached to them, do they really love them or do they simply go through the motions of murdering God's other creatures?

One last purpose of this festivity is to feed the poor with the sacrificed meat because this may be the only time in the year, they get to eat protein. Valid point. But how much of that meat really reaches the poor and the hungry, I really question.

I have visited other countries with large Muslim populations during Eid ul Adha, such as Egypt and Bangladesh. I haven't seen the murder and carnage I witnessed in Turkey all my life. Moreover, it is considered a sin to sacrifice, ever kill or eat female animals and animals below a certain age even in countries like Bangladesh, which is one of the poorest countries in the world and has suffered her share of famine crises in the past. In Turkey, there is no such belief. All animals, be it female or a baby are sacrificed and eaten!

This year a scandal regarding the death of Turkish animal industry erupted. It was realised that there is no animal left in the country! This is not a joke, this is a reality. Turkey used to be a country taking pride in its farming and animal industry. It no longer can be so. Now Turkey imports its animals from Europe and Australia, especially for sacrifice during Kurban Bayrami!

The Head of the State Office of Religious Affairs recommended a couple of weeks ago that due to the shortage of animals in the country, no animal should be sacrificed during Eid ul Adha. Two days later, he was warned by government officials and had to retract his recommendation because the country had already committed to paying Australia to export their animals to Turkey for the special occasion!

The same official also only "advised" that female animals should not be sacrificed. He only advised. Why doesn't he simply state that it is sinful to sacrifice female animals?

Shame on anyone who sacrifice the animals just to go through the motion, who do not share the meat with the poor, who kill the females and the babies and who do not get attached to or love these beautiful creatures!

How about sacrificing something else you really care about for God's love, such as donating your second home, second car, your spare time, your love for the needy, poor and hungry?

The Republic of Fear

Namely the Turkish Republic of Fear...Now that officially we are a theocratic dictatorship. The iron fisted Erdogan's constitutional changes brought by the influences of shady character Fethullah Gulen, have been approved in a referendum yesterday by the people. Well every nation deserves the sort of regime they voted for.

Erdogan now has total control over the judiciary system. God protect anyone from falling into the judiciary system in Turkey from now on. Because if you are against Erdogan, Fethullah Gulen or AKP, you certainly will not have a fair judgment passed on you.

The phone tapping, dehumanisation of women, human rights and social crimes and attacks toward secularism, which have been escalating in the last 8 years will now  simply becommon occurrences that we just have to accept.

I don't feel safe. I don't have any hopes for the future of Turkey. How can I even think of having and raising children in Turkey? How can I even conceive the idea of raising a daughter in this land where the future is dark, where she will be forced to cover up? How can I trust the environment to establish a business? Why should I pay into my pension fund since people like me are clearly not wanted and will soon be extradited or psychologically forced to leave the country?

Desire to be in the limelight...

Yet another time has come, which makes it impossible to remain silent. The current Turkish "prime minister", whilst refusing to spare 10 minutes to talk to the farmers who are the backbone of the country's survival and yet who are becoming poorer and poorer every year, just had a meeting with Bono of U2 for one and half hours (!) at the prime ministerial office of Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul.

There are so many contradictions and tragic elements in this picture:

I. How come the "prime minister" of Turkey finds one and half hours to have a meeting with Bono and not with the country's citizens? The population of citizens who live below the poverty line has increased to 14 million since he and his political party came to power. Why not spare one and half hours of his day to solve this problem?

II. This "prime minister" is in such a desperate need to become a "political celebrity" that he would do anything to be in the limelight, to be considered as a "world leader" along the lines of Obama, Sarkozy, Medvedev, even the Pope. He very well knows that in today's celebrity-pop culture world, what he needs to do is to grab the opportunity to be photographed with Bono.

III. I really wonder if Bono, who claims to be so concerned with human rights and who has indeed done more than his share of helping the poor across the world, has any idea of the human rights and other political and social crimes that this "prime minister" and his people have been committing in Turkey over the past decade.

IV. The "prime minister" and Bono's meeting could not have been in a more symbolic setting! The "prime minister" and his party, AKP are keen to engrave neo-Ottomanism. They take more pride in the Ottoman history (of course there is a lot to be proud of) than the history and achievements of modern Turkey. Don't get me wrong. Of course there is a lot to be proud of the history. But please understand that they do not care about the values of a modern republic and democracy, such as secularism, women's rights, equal opportunity to education etc. Rather, they yearn to return to the conquest filled days of the Ottoman Empire with a single Sultan in power who takes advantage of his people's religiosity for his political gains. So it is quite fitting that the meeting took place in Dolmabahce Palace!

When AKP first came to power, the sceptics voiced their concern by indicating that AKP would eventually change the constitution in their favour. The domestic hopefuls and international media refuted these concerns. In their eyes, AKP was a "reformed" version of Islamists. It was yet to be seen that they would try to change the political system in Turkey.

Well, the time has now come! They are changing the constitution with clauses that work in their favour; such as allowing their people to stay in power for longer and getting rid of the checks and balances (three layered) system, which is the fundamental element of every democracy.

The constitution will be going to referendum this Sunday. The people will be asked to vote "Yes" or "No" for the new constitutional changes. If you happen to be in Turkey nowadays, you will see the regurgitation of billboards every other square metre with the "prime minister's" picture and the word "Yes" next to it. And the captions read, "For more democracy, vote YES", "To travel across Europe without a visa, votes YES" etc.

What the billboards don't mention are the real changes that they are going to make in the constitution.

What you need to know about the majority of the Turkish population is that, unfortunately, they do not bother to read or do their own research. There is a large group in the country who find the "prime minister" to be a very charismatic man with a strong wrist. And this appeals to the psyche of the Turkish population.

A recent research conducted by Hurriyet, a daily Turkish newspaper showed that the women in the East of the country will vote "Yes" because "AKP provides them with food supplies, coal and money." When asked if they knew what the new constitution will entail, they said that they didn't know!

God help us!

Turkey is in a devastating landslide en route to becoming a theocratic dictatorship and internationally, the media and other "politicians" are turning a blind eye and deaf ear to it. I worry that it is already too late.

About the Truth About Turkey

This blog is all about Turkey…simply an outcry of frustration with where the country and its people have come to, over the last 50 years and particularly recently. It simply consists of the blogger’s personal views and is not meant to be rude, forceful or disrespectful towards anyone or institution.


The aim is to clarify what the country is going through from the perspective of a citizen…a citizen who calls oneself a child of modern Turkey, a Kemalist. Now, we, the modernists – Kemalists- are considered as the “fascists” by those who do not have a deep understanding of Turkey’s historical, sociological and political dynamics – mainly non-Turkish media. And this is exactly why this blog is written in English…so that non-turcophones can also follow and try to understand if they wish to do so.

Let me point out first and foremost that from where I stand, it is incredibly saddening to be framed as a “non-liberal” for not wanting the country to lose the secularist system, which grants religious freedom and diversity as opposed to being subjected to psychological pressure to be and act religious and for following the basic ideology of a man whose motto in life has been “Peace at home, peace in the world.” At the end of the day, it is all for universal peace, mutual understanding, harmony and L.O.V.E. I wish everyone could try a little bit to implement it.

No Food For A Penny

Finally the day has arrived! For decades, Turkish citizens appeased themselves by thinking that Turkey is an agriculturally self-sufficient country. This was supposedly – in many and my opinion insufficient- a trade-off for not being a country who manufactures its own heavy industry.


But now the day has arrived! No no, don’t get me wrong. We are not now a country who manufactures its own heavy industry. Oh no! Instead, we are no longer agriculturally self-sufficient.

Yes yes, I know that the rules of global economics do not play that way. You need to be an open market and progressive. That’s all fine.

But how is it that a Mediterranean country, so fertile where everything grows, now has to import all fruits and vegetables? It doesn’t stop there! Now we have to import meat as well, as there is none left in the country! I am not exaggerating. This is what’s being reported in Turkish dailies for the last couple of weeks. What’s next? As a Mediterranean country, will we need to import fish as well, as we will not be able to fish anymore?

Here’s the catch! The imported agricultural products and meat are not necessarily cheaper for the citizens. Not only Turkish citizens pay the most expensive fuel tax in the world, now they have to buy their food (which they can normally grow) for higher prices as well.

We are all aware of the sad effects of global warming on agriculture. However, what’s happening in Turkey is not only that.

The ruling party in government, AKP (beloved by so many outside of Turkey for supposedly being more “liberal” and yet inside the country we feel more and more trapped by the iron fist of Erdogan dictatorship) has its eyes on infiltrating every bloodline of the country. The public sector tenders are open and won only by groups and institutions supporting the AKP. Similarly, countries with somewhat similar Islamic agendas as AKP win a foothold in the country through international tenders. One wonders why and how…and yet for ones who live in or are from the country and who understand its dynamics, it is so clear.

The current constitution surely needs updating with the times we live in. And yet, what we are experiencing is an AKP who works tirelessly to create a set of laws, which work only in their benefit and not the people. And each time they pass a law with the help of AKP MP votes, they cheer and hi5 as if they are in a football match.

The sad part is that even 30 or 40 million of us cannot get together to make one inspirer and change maker for the better like Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Where is Montesquieu’s separation of powers? This is the core of democracy. With all its faults, hiccups and imperfections, the Turkish democracy, at least, used to have separation of powers. Now with their new constitution, AKP are erasing the separation between judicial, legislative and executive powers whilst infiltrating their people in all public institutions. Their perseverance, commitment and organisational skills are praiseworthy.

Yet, they are not doing anything to increase employment, help the manufacturing industry, improve peace in the country, offer equal opportunity of education for the poor, assist the farmers, advance women’s, children’s and animal rights, ameliorate the good old diversity we used to have in the country. Quite the opposite actually…

The new constitution will go to referendum and it should do. It will be interesting to see the results as the socio-political trend in Turkey right now is to vote with pure fanatical emotion. One hopes that people will study each and every new law and make an erudite decision over their benefits and disadvantages for the people.

Let me also point out here briefly that all the economic success stories, which the non-Turkish analysts and commentators relate to AKP coming to power, have their base in the 2001 financial crisis that the country had to endure. At the time, AKP was not in the scene yet and the left-right coalition government had implemented very strict measures and policies, which have cleaned up the financial industry. Now, AKP are reaping the benefits…

What I am going to write next doesn’t come from a place of suspicion, anger or fanaticism as some non-Turkish analysts and commentators may think. For years, I have supported Turkey’s efforts to become an EU member, albeit knowingly it would never happen because let’s face the truth: the EU wishes to remain as a Christian club and does not want to border with Iran, Syria and Iraq as Sarkozy said it himself.

Nevertheless, I had always thought that it was good for Turkey to at least aspire and make efforts to comply with the requirements to improve its human rights conditions, economy, so on and so forth.

What’s happening in neighbouring Greece now proves once again the weakness of this congregation and vulnerability of Euro.

Don’t get me wrong; if it was up to me, there would be no borders, no nations, no religion (I am not referring to belief in God). In the bigger picture of things, we need togetherness and harmony. We need to forget our differences and live in peace. At least, this is my utopia. So in theory, EU was almost a dream come true for the region.

But not only the EU has acted discriminatively toward Turkey, now the EU is the “sick man of Europe” as some British papers have put it and there is no reason why Turkey should wish to join. Again, this doesn’t come from an ultra-nationalist place. Simply an observation.