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Today's Turkey
By John Overington
As
we pulled through the Bosporus straight, I
began to
realize exactly why for the last thousand years, civilizations
have been
battling over the area that the modern Republic
of Turkey covers today. Both the European and Asian sides of the Bosporus
are extremely beautiful and are covered with signs of vernacular from
the past
three empires that ruled portions or majorities of the whole known
civilized
world. Turkey
does have much evidence of transnational influence but has been able to
disguise or integrate it into the pre-existing landscape.
One
example of transnationalism that was seen by most SAS students were the
numerous vending machines located outside of mosques and other
historical
sites. The products within these
machines ranged from Coca Cola to candy bars made in France. The ability for citizens of Istanbul
to access products that are produced across the world is a good example
of
transnational influences leaking into to a more vernacular based
society.
Another
example of Turkey
being more transnational than most of the other ports that the Explorer
had
arrived in is the news stands that lined the streets.
As I left the Topaki
Palace, a headline
caught my eye
from the USA Today that was sitting on the news stand.
It was the mid term election results in which
the democrats regained the house and senate (thank god), and it made me
realize
that this is the first port in which the citizens are in touch with
European
and American issues. For the first time
in a month and a half, I was in a place where I could begin to relate
to the
citizens and their political situation.
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