Istanbul (Turkey)
08 September 2016
Fear is a
psychological weapon that underlies any act of terrorism. It’s that fear, an anticipation of future acts of terror that pervades the consciousness. For
the rationalists amongst us, Barrack Obama being one of them, the truism often expounded, that you're ‘more likely to suffer an incident
in a car than be part of a terrorist incident’ belies the impact of a
terroristic act. Indiscriminate, destructive, horrific, it’s the gravity of the
event as well as the relatively high casualty rate in a one off incident that instils constant fear.
Somehow in my mind
Europe had always been relatively safe but of late European placidity has become both a casualty
and consequence of geopolitics and the rise of militant Islamic groups. Without wanting to discuss the rationality of terrorism, the pursuit of causes and objectives and the expected utility derived from acts of terror and compounding fear, I can say that my own
awareness had become more than heightened just by living in Europe. Without even mentioning
events in Istanbul, the November 2015 attacks in Paris, the Brussels airport
attack in March 2016, the Nice truck attack in July 2016 & the Berlin
attack in 2016, had all created that awareness and sense of hyper vigilance.
Arriving in Istanbul - Turkey
Arriving in Istanbul - Turkey
Istanbul itself was
an altogether different prospect. There was discord amongst the people, blatant
aggression against the incumbent government and an environment ripe for
upheaval. Terrorism it seems tends to work far better in environments either in chaos or on the verge of it, and, when there is
a distinct political goal.
I’d always wanted to
see Istanbul and of course terrorism shouldn't be THE deterrent to prevent us from doing things, but of course there’s
a tipping point. You wouldn’t go to Baghdad, Kabul or Mogadishu now would you? I of course have an issue about Obama’s comment, that the likelihood of being part of an
incident is remote is also predicated on the act being a one off. So my
question to that is, at what point does the frequency of activity act as a
rational deterrent? At what point do I need to consider my well being as opposed
to being dismissive,ignorant and be under the assumption that the attack will be an isolated one. The track record in Istanbul was already established, Blue Mosque
attack 06 JAN 2015, Blue Mosque attack (II) 12 JAN 2016, Street bombing 19 MAR
2016, Sehzade attack 07 JUNE 2016, Attaturk airport attack 28 JUNE 2016, Arena
bombing 16 December 2016 & the NYE
nightclub attacks 01 JAN 2017.
Again, you have to
ask the question, at what point should the frequency become the needed
deterrent? Especially when the country itself has placed itself into a
state-of-emergency after an attempted military coup in July 2016.
So, what to do?
The Grand Bazaar - Istanbul - Turkey
The Grand Bazaar - Istanbul - Turkey
The Grand Bazaar - Istanbul - Turkey
The Grand Bazaar - Istanbul - Turkey
Inga & I went, in
a state of hyper-vigilance, which in itself is amusing, because what can you
really do? And of course nothing happened but the tension in the city was
palpable. There was a distinct security presence at the airport and in the city
itself. Walking into the Grand Bazaar and being greeted by armed guards with
machine guards, metal detectors, X-ray machines and roving patrols, it actually
made me feel more secure than under siege. A false sense of security of course
but I guess that’s the whole idea.
We only had a day,
actually about 6 hours to discover parts of Istanbul, and I thought it was
amazing. The Grand Bazaar, one of the oldest covered markets in the world, is
both enormous and fascinating. It has 61 covered streets, over 4000 shops and
attracts between 250,000-400,000 daily. Quite unbelievable.
Istanbul - Turkey
Istanbul - Turkey
Istanbul - Turkey
Istanbul - Turkey
The city itself, or
rather, ‘the old part’ that we were walking around exists as a type of
peninsula, bounded by the Marmara Sea to the south, the Bosphorus to the east
and north. The ‘Golden Horn’ and the area of Faith, which is where we based
ourselves for the afternoon was fantastic. Not the ‘Middle Eastern’ city that
somehow I was expected but one with that type of feel. It has that ‘Middle
Eastern’ attitude of talking with fervour, being menacing in one instant and
then easy in the next, edging on being quarrelsome but at the same time
hospitable. That for me was the expected attitude and was the enduring feel.
The city however is modern, very clean and filled with culinary delights that
would be the envy of many. Kebabs, Turkish
delights, delectable food and shisha. Istanbul is an attraction, that I
know, and our few hours this time around was confirmation enough that a longer
return was absolutely needed in order to discover this enduring place of
wonder!
