Turkey

Okay, confession time. I always forget the capital of Turkey. Which is Ankara. I think of a Turkish city, and it’s Istanbul that springs to mind. And this is partly, I guess, that Istanbul straddles Europe and Asia, as well as the fact that it’s the third largest city in the world. We all know size counts, right? And I guess I’m not the only person in the so-called “Western World” who has an ingrained Euro-centric view of things. I try to work against that—this whole project is about working against it—but it’s been part of my whole life… Today is Republic Day in Turkey. Celebration ensues.

So. Turkey. Well, there’s the Byzantine Empire, the successor to the Roman Empire: and, yes, Byzantium became Constantinople, which in turn became Istanbul. The Turks had their victory over the Byzantine Empire in 1071, and they began to abandon their nomadic ways, giving rise to the Seljuk Empire… which didn’t last long, thanks to the Mongols. But out of this the Ottoman Empire eventually emerged, and this was a huge political entity, only come apart after World War I.

After the Ottoman Empire? The republic. The Turkish War of Independence started in 1919, ending on 29 October 1923 with the declaration of the Republic. After siding with the Germans in World War I, Turkey was on the Allied side in World War II. (Turkey’s World War I showing is important to Australians, as Gallipoli is etched in national memory.)

Adjusting to its new place in the twentieth century wasn’t always easy in Turkey—the country has seen a number of military coup d’états since the start of the multi-party period.

My parents have been to Turkey twice—visiting Gallipoli both times. The first time they brought me back a small Turkish carpet. (My cat used to delight in playing with its corners… thank goodness I weaned her off that habit.) The second time they brought me back an Aladdin-style lantern.

I also want to go to Turkey. Among other things, I desperately want to go to the traditional location of Troy… Someday. I also want to go inland. I want to go—well, everywhere.

Today’s poem is by the wonderful Nâzim Hikmet—I didn’t note it down at the time, but I’m assuming it comes from The Vintage Book of Contemporary World Poetry. And while you could read the small selection of his work in that wonderful anthology, why limit your reading? His Selected Poems are available in English too!


Angina Pectoris

If half my heart is here,
    half of it is in China, doctor.
It’s in the army flowing to the Yellow river.
Then, at every dawn, doctor
    at every dawn, my heart
      is riddled with bullets in Greece.

Then when our convicts get to sleep
     retreating from the ward
          my heart is in a broken down old manor in Çamlica,
       every night,
            doctor.

Then for all those ten years
all I have to offer my poor people
  is this one apple I hold, doctor,
       a red apple:
        my heart…

It’s not from arteriosclerosis, nor nicotine, nor prison,
that I have this angina pectoris,
 but because, dear doctor, because of this.

I look at night through iron bars,
despite the pressure in my chest,
my heart beats along with the farthest star. 

—Nâzim Hikmet
translated from Turkish by Ruth Christie, Richard McKane and Talât Sait Halman