Hello. How are you folks today? I'm from Turkey, and I come bearing questions. The terminology we use for daily political discussions here can be incredibly different from what you use. What we consider Left, Right or Conservatism to be can have nothing to do with what you think these terms to represent. Sometimes. That's probably due both the difference between public and academic political terminology, and poor lingual localization during the adoption of these phrases. I have been trying to educate myself on global politics and ideologies etc. It has been confusing due to the mentioned differences in terminology, but I try to learn what I can. I figured this would be a good place to ask questions, and as I said, I have a lot of them. Like, a lot. In return, I can comment on or answer questions on pretty much anything related to Turkey. Thank you for the opportunity, and see ya.
My views support secular government, scientific education and the elimination of funding for religious institutions. I strongly advocate against(and participated in struggles to rise against) forced and/or underage marriage, mistreatment of women, children and the LGBT people, which can vary from treating them as non-human, property or lesser forms of human to outright justification of rape and murder based on disobedience, this is Turkey after all. As a non-muslim and hopefully as a concious individual, I defend the position that the dominant and extreme Turk - Islam Traditionalism that runs rampart throughout Anatolia needs to be eradicated or reformed for both the safety of the vast amount of people who have non-traditional views or life styles. I have personally experienced attempts at violent opression by both the law enforcements forces, and the civilan populace. I used to participate in the human rights struggle, and currently work as an intern for an international online news site, my exposure to the culture of Radical Islam and stubborn ignorance in Turkey has been enough that like so many young folks from around here, I am legitimately and actively trying to immigrate to the West. Out of hopelessness, anger and concerns for my career. From what I seen, I think that the participants in online debates are severely uninformed regarding Kurdish Nationalism and PKK. While I support the Kurdish efforts for equal opportunity and full integration, or an autonomous region, I can never support PKK. I was there during the Kızılay bombing, I have seen the bodies of young people fused together, still burning. PKK has been, and will always be actors for parties of interest, including states. What was revealed through the Podesta mails regarding the arming of YPG has made me incredibly concerned towards a Hillary Clinton presidency, even though I think Trump resembles Erdogan in terms of his intolerant attitude and the low quality of thought he seems to sport. I will admit however, I do not know enough about Trump. In terms of health care, taxation, ethics of property rights and economics in general, I'm only just "properly" introduced to these traditional concepts of political science, as the political atmosphere of Turkey does not really allow in anything other than a focus on human rights abuses, secularity etc. I admit that my views on these are uneducated and emotionally charged, thus I'm not in a position to offer opinions. So, what do these point make me? For a Turk-Islam standpoint, I'm most definetely a collobarator for foreign powers and getting paid to participate in demonstrations. I'm apparently a Communist for Turkish Nationalists, a Kemalist for the extreme left-wing. The thing is, what I just described about my beliefs is the mentality of a great number of people in their mid 20s in Turkey, I do not know what we can be called aside from just people trying to be kind and decent in all things in life, people whose struggle to gain enough resourses to study and to live comfortably did not leave enough time to learn how to label themselves, and to build the foundation on which they can develop complex political thought.
Welcome to PF. Ask any questions you like, just be aware that there are political ideologies here that may make the answers confusing. In the US the same people trying to eradicate religion in politics and public works are also supportive of the religious rights of non-christians. So its pretty common to see someone arguing for traditional prayer at political gatherings to be arguing against an Islamic person being given equal legal protection. I suspect that there are parallels in Turkey, so it might not be all that confusing. I'm sorry to hear about your situation. Turkey is a beautiful country, I'm sure you are proud of your home in many ways, to feel a strong need to leave must be hard. Considering the restrictions in the US and Europe where are places you'd consider for immigration?
Thank you for the warm welcome and the advice. I have noticed that about the stances on religious freedom actually, and it surprised me to my core. I may write about that at a later date. Turkey can indeed be beautiful. Well, Istanbul at the very least. Immigration from Turkey into US, Canada or Europe is incredibly challenging. I simply cannot afford the costs; and I'm not in a field that I could find a sponsor for the Skilled Worker programs, no one is really interested in learning English Language and Literature from a Turkish citizen. However, I have a few things in the works and family members in Scotland and Austria. My girlfriend here is also Bulgarian and an EU citizen; if everything goes right, we will be starting our new careers and our family in Europe a few years from now. [MENTION=69602]Gaius_Marius[/MENTION] Thank you for the welcome and the warning.
Welcome. The Mid-East is a sprawling mess. The various sects of Islam cannot and will not work and play well with others---especially Christians. I would like to see Turkey, Iraq and Syria be reshaped into ethnic and religious states, each with their own military forces. The states should have most of the power, with the weak national government controlling them. I believe the US and NATO should provide military aid and some limited humanitarian aid to our real friends in the area, the Kurds and the few remaining Christians. Anyone who attacks their new states will be crushed and flattened. The Sunni and Shia can kill each other all they want.
Well, that is well stated. We hope you learn from us. I speak against democrats. My background is that for 20 years I was one of them. I think i know them very well. I changed to republican in 1980 and am much more happy in life. When one faces up to Islam, that is a mountain to climb. What we fight over is not going to get us killed or fused together unless done to us by a Muslim.
Now note, this is how the US Democrat talks to people. You thanked him, but did you examine if it is true?
I do not yet know if what Gaius_Marius is correct or not, that will make itself clear in some time; but I'm sure his intentions are sincere. It is common decency to thank him.
I sincerely doubt "US Democrats" talk like me... A European. Of course it is true... And it won't take him long to read all your silly comments about AGW and how your pilot class from 60 years ago made you an expert on climate change. - - - Updated - - - No worries... You will learn the ropes of this place quite quickly. Don't despair...
Yes, our domestic Democrats do talk just about the same way you talk. Notice how fast you lashed out at me. As if my comments on climate are not well founded. I suppose yours are though. And you tossed in the mocking of my study of weather globally starting in 1980. While we pilots were required to study weather, nobody told us in 1980 we had to fear climate change. Wonder why not?
I once had a teaching job in a private school, and one of the texts I picked just happened to include the word "evolution". One of my collagues apparently saw it, and all of a sudden yelled: "Did you know that evolution has been debunked?" Then, of course, a fierce circle jerk followed. Everyone, and I mean everyone, was talking about that one article they saw on facebook, that one talk show, or that one "professor" friend who they talked to, how the creation was the only solution, and so on. Now, I did try to point them towards some factual information, but I was used to it at that point. Stuff like this, you come across on daily basis. So, I gave up, after seeing the fiery gazes of a dozen or so 50 year old Muslim men and women, who had no choice but to bank every single hope they had on a fairy tale. They could not tolerate scientific information; because it either had a chance to wreck their entire political stance, and they could not afford to rebuild it at that age; or it had a chance to annihilate their faith, meaning that they had endured the poor, uneventful and ultimately forgettable life of a struggling Turkish teacher for nothing, that they weren't going to be rewarded for the mediocrity of their lives, that it was too late. They lived in bubbles, they were happy in them; and there was no need to deny them of that luxury, it simply couldn't be done anyway. And then, with the help of events like these, I slowly developed a new code to live by, No disrespect sir; and I'm not judging you, I'm not in a position to judge you; but I don't discuss science with someone who approaches me, out of the blue, with the question "Did you know that global warming was halted?". But thank you for the offer.
