Anger, Fear, Resignation Of The NO Voters Who Believe They Were Cheated

Superficially, the heart of Istanbul, the beautiful city rich in history that sits along the Bosphorus, is hanging on – barely. The hideous tsunami of concrete skyscrapers ruining the classic silhouette of the famous city encroaches from all sides with every passing day. The drive from the airport to the city used to be one of the most beautiful anywhere. You had the sea on one side and well-laid-out flower beds on the other. Now, it’s like driving down a dark tunnel with no view of anything.

Worse than the aesthetic and historical damage are the barely suppressed anger, fear, resignation, depression among the at least 49% who voted against the constitutional changes giving President Tayyip Erdoğan total control. Convinced that victory was stolen from them by complete fraud the opponents of Erdoğan’s power grab are thrashing around trying to come up with an effective response. The one heartening note for the NO voters is that Erdoğan lost all the major cities, including previously solid Erdoğan districts in Istanbul. Perhaps this development will form the basis for a serious challenge to Erdoğan in the next election. But never underestimate the ability of the opposition to shoot itself in both feet.

 

So much for the once-beautiful skyline of Istanbul

After changing the election rules while the vote was being counted the High Election Commission has been proven to be completely useless. The courts are no better. Essentially there are no genuinely independent institutions or internationally recognized law in Turkey.

Some have given up and already moved to Europe or the United States. Many of these wisely got EU or American passports several years ago. According to Greek reports more than 200 Turkish citizens have boosted the Greek real estate market by buying houses and flats there.

As one Turkish friend with a brand new Athenian apartment put it, “Tsipras is a loose cannon, but he is tightly controlled by the EU. There is nothing at all controlling Erdoğan. He is flat out dangerous.”

 

Who knows? Your new neighbor in Kolonaki could be Turkish

Other wealthy Turks now spend their holidays in Greece’s garden spots like Spetses, or Porto Heli. The attractions of Greece extend beyond tourism, however. One major Turkish company is having its annual senior management retreat at the Grand Bretagne Hotel in Athens. One of Turkey’s leading groups, the Doğuş Group, has made major investments in Greece by purchasing the Athens Hilton, joining the partnership in the redevelopment of the Astir Palace, and buying five marinas. This is just part of a trend where Turkish companies are investing outside Turkey at much faster rate than inside Turkey.

Still others are very concerned about their children’s education, and are looking all over Europe and the U.S. for schools. “This government wants to produce a generation of morons with frontal lobotomies that simply accepts everything by rote, never questions anything and certainly never criticizes anything. My kids deserve more." As if to confirm this fear the government recently banned the internet encyclopedia Wikipedia because it contained information that was insufficiently pro-Erdoğan. Knowledge unfiltered by the Reis can be a dangerous thing according to the government.

Meanwhile, the Turkish economy continues its dangerous downward slide. Inflation and unemployment continue to raise despite government spokesmen laughingly saying the problem is ‘under control.’ The only way the government can secure funds for the public works projects that feed Erdoğan’s close circle of friends and family is the increasing resort to Treasury guarantees – guarantees that cover everything from revenue from public/private projects and debt held by the contractors of these projects, some of the private bank debt issued to exporters and small/medium sized businesses. There is even talk of making the state the payer of last resort for mandated severances payments that companies must pay each employee according to seniority when they leave. In order to save cash and make the books look better, many companies don’t set aside enough money for these payments. Now the government is considering if it should bail the companies out and assume these payments. One Turkish investment banker in London laughed when discussing these guarantees. "It's the perfect set-up. There is absolutely no way for one of the favored contractors or concessionaires to lose money. This government will make sure they get bailed out regardless of the hit to the Treasury."

The most troubling part of all these guarantees is that there is absolutely no transparency. No one, certainly not the hapless taxpayer, has any idea of the details of this potential serious hit to the Turkish treasury and ultimately to his wallet. But, then again, why would you make these deals transparent if that very transparency would undermine the fantasy that you are trying to get the Turkish people to believe?

However, before people start thinking that any looming economic collapse will shake Erdoğan’s throne they should recall some other countries where dictators have not been affected by weak economies.

“Think about places like Zimbabwe, Russia, North Korea and Venezuela. All these economies are suffering and the ordinary people are in tough straits. The ruling clique stays in power by throwing the democratic rule book out the window and making its friends rich. Essentially the people are stuffed.”

Despite all the turmoil and disappointment one young NO voter estimates that most of his fellow NO voters will hunker down and try to make the best of a bad situation. Family ties, professional lives and a strong loyalty toward a vision of what Turkey could be will keep them in their native country, and perhaps form the core of resistance to turning Turkey into just another 3^rd world dictatorship. One can hope.

Forget Politics For A Moment. Food Is The Real Passion In Most Of France.

LIBOURNE, France – This town in the heart of the Gironde region of southwestern France sits on the bank of the broad Dordgone River and is surrounded by some of the most expensive vineyards in the world.  Names like Petrus, Cheval Blanc, or Figeac are just some of the names that attract very deep-pocketed wine buyers from all over the world.

But most of the time vineyards are a sedate sort of business. Major activity seems to come in spurts at different times of the year, and there is almost a reverential attitude toward the vines. The vines and the red gold that comes from them are discussed in the hushed tones that one might expect in a church or a Swiss bank vault. But then again, you might have to open that vault to buy a bottle or two.

No, for real activity and a real sense of La France Profonde – Deep France -- one must visit the open air market that takes place three times a week in the arcaded center of the town. In this market and others just like it across the country you get a real sense of what  French people consider important – food. It’s not just food, however. If the spirit moves you can pick up a nifty hat, a pair of shoes, a shirt, a couple of plates or just about anything you can think of.

Food markets have been held in this square for centuries

Seeing the food is one thing. Actually getting what you want, however, is something altogether more difficult. You are competing against experienced French housewives with massive carrier bags or pulling trolleys the size of your basic Range Rover intent on getting that luscious looking entrecôte you had your eye on. Their strategy and aggression would put the French national rugby scrum to shame. Just as you think you have caught the eye of the butcher a sharpish elbow to the ribs takes you momentarily out of the game. A few more incidents like that and you might just join their husbands who have long ago learned the futility of offering an opinion on a certain vegetable or piece of meat. They have now been relegated to a special section where they sip their coffee while waiting to be told where to go next.

Good luck getting that cut of meat you wanted

And the food is discussed with real passion. The different cuts of meat or poultry, the quality of the animal or what it ate are discussed with an almost religious fervor that the Jesuits would appreciate.  And the debate is no less fervent for the fruits and vegetables. “Well, of course, you do understand, don’t you, that while the Spaniards do produce strawberries, one isn’t quite sure exactly where they come from or how they’re grown.”  The stall holder will then inform you of the provenance of his own strawberries and how they come from a long line of good respectable French strawberries.

If you don't want the meat there's always the daily fresh fish catch

            And then there are the cheeses. None less than Charles de Gaulle moaned about the difficulty of running a country that had at least 246 different types of cheeses. He had a point. Just about all of those varieties, and then some, are on display, and you are encouraged to sample the subtle – very subtle – differences between this brie or that brie, Comté aged for different lengths of time, and many, many more.

Is this what makes France difficult to govern?

           Now that the taste buds in your mouth are clanging like church bells you move on to the shell fish. Huge baskets are over-flowing with oysters, clams, or scallops from the Bay of Arcachon about an hour away on the Atlantic coast. You think about buying some. And then you think again about your skills of opening an oyster without slicing off at least one of your fingers. Best leave that task to the experts.

            While my wife is off haggling about the price of fresh asparagus – white or green -- in her perfect French, I head to the nearby stalls filled with fresh paté. My French isn’t awful, but I have to admit that the names of some of the ingredients of these patés escaped me. I just nodded sagely, took the offered sample, tried not to gag and moved smartly onto the instantly recognizable foie gras.

            By this time your shopping bag is feeling a little heavy and it’s time to look around for a friendly patisserie that would offer a chair and a coffee to go with that nice looking, fresh pain au chocolat.  The first one went down so well that it had to be followed with another. Finally, it was time to lug the stuffed shopping bag, now containing the obligatory baguette or two, back to the car and head home.

            Now the real challenge begins. Just what do you do with all your purchases that seem to include enough food to feed several small countries? Well, this is France, after all. And figuring out what to do with food is something they do very, very well.