Intersting Turkish Facts

Yes, it is true we now have a house. It also true that we may have to wait until the end of October before our household goods and car are here with us at Incirlik. So, we are comfortable - but we only have our suitcases, assorted dishes, and our papazon chair with us. Loaner furniture is provided but it is very small and cheap. Thus, the term "stick furniture." Karen and I barely fit on the same bed and the blankets we were given are only 5 feet long. We did manage to carpet the entire place for $300. I guess just a year ago the going price was $200. You can see how hard the US dollar is getting hit in Europe. Once we get our furniture things should really settle into a routine...and then we will have 19 months left before they pick it up again!

Computer access is still difficult to come by. It will probably be November before we can post any pictures. The only reason I have time to access the computer today is because they decided to shut the power off on base for 12 hours today. The Community Activity Center has a generator so here we are.

Ramadan, or Ramazon as the Turks pronounce it, started on Monday. I was awoken around 2am to the sound of drums being played through The Incirlik Village loudspeaker. The loudspeaker lives up to it's name. The drums are a reminder to everyone to get up and eat so they are prepared for the 12 hour fast. During fasting times the people have nothing to eat or drink - not even water. I have been reading a lot about Turkish history, the government, and modern Turkey. I read Ataturk: The biography of the Founder of Modern Turkey and The Turks Today, both by Andrew Mango. I also read a book about the last coup in 1980. Some interesting things about turkey you may not have known:
- The Turks are considered to have immigrated from somewhere in Mongolia
- Turkey is among several nations to have emerged from the former Ottoman Empire
- The Ottoman Empire included present day Turkey, Syria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Libya, etc
- Ataturk described Islam as a "superfluous strategic necessity"
- Ataturk admired western culture, especially German and French
- Ataturk mandated the wearing of European style hats in the 1920s/1930s
- Turkish government is mandated to be secular by design
- Turkey was able to remain neutral in WWII
- Turkey rescued many persecuted Jewish professionals from Germany
- The modern Turkish alphabet was created just 80 years ago and is ingeniously simple
- The Turkish military has overthrown the government 4 times since WWII
- The current Turkish President is a former Islamic scholar and not viewed well by Kemalists
- Kemalists are those that ascribe to Ataturk's original nationalist, statist, and secular goals
- Ataturk's born name is Mustafa Kemal
- A few weeks ago The Turkish High Command refused to salute the new Turkish President
- Turkey is the most strategically important piece of NATO; literally the "tip of the spear"
- Turkey is the bridge between Europe and Asia.
- Turkey has the second largest Armed Forces in NATO after the USA
- Turkey is the home of the fabulous Efes Beer product

And one local note: Incirlik is pronounced "injure-lick." The "c" in Turkish is pronounced with as a "j" like in the word "injure" or "gist." Apparently, Americans kept using the Turkish spelling which looks like " iNCiRLiK." So we started pronouncing the c as an "s" sound. Properly it is "injure-lick," which means a holder of figs or an area of figs.