Ray Brinzer

We’ve been in Istanbul for some time, now; I’d intended to write a good deal earlier, but I haven’t had much time online. We settled pretty quickly into a boring routine: from the hotel to a practice venue and back twice a day, and three meals a day in the hotel restaurant. I haven’t been in this part of the world for some time, but it’s very familiar to me and I became comfortable rather quickly. I like the food, I survive the traffic, and the style of buildings is pretty close to what you see in Bulgaria and Greece. So even though I hadn’t been to Turkey since 1992, it was an easy adjustment.

In fact, it all seems so normal that I began to feel that my previous concern over the security situation here was overblown. Turkey is, after all, a modern country, mostly filled with decent people. I believe I’ve seen at least as many women in sleeveless shirts as chadors, which doesn’t suggest a hotbed of religious extremism, either.

But, I reminded myself, how things seem isn’t the point. Besides the political crisis and coup plot I mentioned earlier, there was a gunfight at the American Embassy here, which left 3 good guys (Turkish cops) and 3 bad guys dead. And, thwarting my hopes that we’d be out of here before the case started, the Constitutional Court begins deliberation on the dissolution of the AK Party today. So, I decided, there is good reason to remain concerned and alert, however things may seem.

Well, this evening things turned worse. Two bombs went off in the Güngören district a few hours ago, killing 15 (a number sure to go up) and injuring 150. According to the fellow at the front desk, who seemed not to have heard the news yet, Güngören is about 10 kilometers, or 6 miles, from here.

Now, even so, the odds of any given person here being hurt in such an incident are exceptionally low. We are, however, about to begin a high-profile international event, which surely doesn’t help matters. We are probably still at greater risk from automobiles than from bombs or guns, but given the way people drive around here that’s not exactly comforting.

There’s nothing to do but go forward, however, and act with due caution. The team went out to visit the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, and the Grand Bazaar the other day; I expect that will be our last outing. The tournament is about to begin anyway, so it’s time for business. Three medals, and Steve Frasier owes me dinner at a restaurant of my choice — I shall drive the athletes mercilessly.

The Junior World Championships are being held in Byzantium Constantinople Istanbul, this year. It seems there’s a lot going on over there, right now.

The ruling party, Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi or “AKP”, has been charged with anti-secularism. It seems the party, which holds 341 of 550 parliamentary seats, may be disbanded. According to Reuters:

The Constitutional Court is expected to rule within three to six weeks on whether or not to close down the AK Party for allegedly seeking to turn Turkey into an Islamic state. The court will also decide on whether to have [Prime Minister] Erdogan and 70 other leading figures, banned from party politics for five years.

We arrive in Istanbul on July 23rd… 19 days from now. We head for home on the 31st, almost four weeks from now. Nice timing.

But it gets better:

Turkish media said a secret plan, including launching illegal protests on July 7 across 40 provinces, assassinations and clashes with security forces, had been seized during a swoop on suspected members of the so-called Ergenekon organisation.

Twenty-one people, including two retired senior generals, journalists and politicians, were detained on Tuesday for links to the group suspected of planning a series of events to force the army to stage a coup. All were critics of the government.

Ergenekon seems to be a rather mysterious organization, and there is apparently some debate as to whether the coup plot was real, or a political device by which the AKP could strike back at their opponents.

Adding to the fun, there’s also a great hubbub about headscarves, which university students are forbidden to wear. Hats and hairstyles have been of political significance in Turkey for hundreds of years, so it’s actually a rather serious matter.

On the bright side, our State Department hasn’t issued any travel advisories or warnings. They do note that “The possibility of terrorist attacks, both transnational and indigenous, remains high.”

Looks like a fun trip. Last time I was in Europe, a Catalan separatist rally turned rowdy just outside our hotel in Barcelona. I just seem to be lucky.