'Red Sunday' in Istanbul

A few images of a particular event in Istanbul today:


Murad Sezer / The Associated Press


Reuters



Hürriyet


Hürriyet

Looking at these images, one might think that it is national holiday in Turkey at the moment, or that Turkey just won the FIFA World Cup, the Eurovision Songfestival, or the Miss Universe beauty contest. In the worst case one might think that Turkey just gained its independence after a mythical war against imperialist powers... But none of these are the reason for this 'Red Sunday' in Istanbul.

The pictures above are taken during a demonstration¹ in favor of secularism and against the ruling AK Parti.² Surprised? You shouldn't be! In a country like Turkey it is quite normal to combat 'religious threats' with national symbols like flags, war veterans and pictures of the founding father (did you notice that I used the singular form?)!

It doesn't make sense to you, does it? Well, let us continue then. Drawing the Turkish flag on your cheeks and walking together with war veterans, while holding a massive picture of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, surely won't topple the AK Parti government! But these things do represent the issue as a matter of national existence (!), especially if you do this on a massive scale, like in the demonstration today.

So, what happens if national existence is threatened? Apparently, this question was asked much earlier by some very special people: read this.

I'm eagerly waiting for the moment the generals will say: "We have changed!".

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1. For more about the demonstration see:
- "Hundreds of thousands rally against government in Istanbul" (IHT, 29/04/07)
- "Massive pro-secular demo in Turkey" (Al Jazeera, 29/04/07)
2. The AK Parti (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi; English: Justice and Development Party) is a political party founded by former members of the Fazilet Party and the Refah Party, the latter being the predecessor of the former. Both of these parties were suspected of anti-secular activities and were subsequently closed down by court decision. The AK Parti, under the leadership of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, declared that it was following another path than its predecessors and regularly expressed its attachment to the secular establishment. Especially Erdoğan's historical statement "I have changed!" became very popular in the Turkish political scene. Many secular Turks, however, have been rather sceptical about these statements.

The Ponentines

A Westerner permanently living in the Eastern Mediterranean is not a very common phenomenon nowadays, but in the past sizable communities of Westerners existed in cities like Istanbul (Constantinople), Izmir (Smyrna), Beirout, Cairo and Alexandria. These Levantines¹, as they were called, were usually descendants of traders from various backgrounds and in some cases even of the inhabitants of the Crusader states.

Pay attention to the fact that they weren't called Orientals², which was a term to denote the native population. However, they weren't considered Westerners either and were actually explicitly distinguished from Westerners temporarily residing in the Levant. While remaining attached to the culture they brought from their country of origin, many of the Levantines had also adapted to their societies, fluently speaking the language, being familiar with the local customs and values and even marrying locals, mostly Christians like Greeks, Armenians or Maronites. Due to their foreign background and often also because of their occupations, the Levantines had strong ties with the West (and in particular with their country of origin). Yes, the world of nations was not fully developed yet, but they were already fairly transnational.


A Levantine family in Istanbul
source: www.levantine.plus.com

A similar migration occurred in the second part of the 20^th century, yet in the opposite direction. Immigrants from the Levant initially arrived as 'guest-workers' in Western European countries, but they soon decided to settle here with their families. They too established sizable communities and have become an essential part of Western European societies. They are fluent in the languages, have adopted many of the customs and values of their host countries and have also married locals. They have maintained their ties with their country of origin and have travelled back and forth on a regular basis. In the course of time they have even adopted the nationality of their host countries, while still keeping their original one. In this respect, these immigrants have been, just like the Levantines, both bicultural and transnational. In fact, they could be considered the Levantines of today! ³

Even though the two immigrant communities differ from each other with regard to social class, they have very much in common as mentioned above. The Western immigrants were no 'Westerners' anymore, but neither were they 'Orientals'; they were Levantines. Similarly, the Eastern (and Southern) Mediterranean immigrants are no 'Orientals' anymore, but neither are they 'Westerners'; they must be Ponentines⁴ then!

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1. From Italian 'Levante' and French 'Levant' meaning 'East', or more precisely: 'The lands where the sun rises'
2. From Italian 'Oriente' and French 'Orient' also meaning 'East' or 'The lands where the sun rises'.
3. This is obviously also true for Eastern Mediterranean immigrant communities in the Americas.
4. From Italian 'Ponente' and French 'Ponent' (archaic?) meaning 'West' or 'The lands where the sun sets', after the example of 'Levantine'.