Turkey looks to capitalize on its 'Beijing 2008 moment'
| Istanbul
鈥� A local, slice-of-life story from a Monitor correspondent.
It was a night of music, fireworks, and ethnic controversy. The weekend of Jan. 9 and 10 brought a glitzy opening ceremony to mark Istanbul as the 2010 European Capital of Culture.
Turkey has seized on a little-known institution to showcase its cultural gems, such as the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra, and beef up its candidacy for the European Union while highlighting its emergence as a regional power. At a time when local newspapers talk of a 鈥渘eo-Ottomanist鈥� foreign diplomacy, some are calling the coming year of cultural events Turkey鈥檚 鈥�Beijing 尘辞尘别苍迟.鈥�
In a modern conference hall built next to the Halic Strait separating the two shores of Ottoman Istanbul, Turkish singers, dancers, poets, dervishes, a choir, and a full orchestra serenaded 5,000 politicians, VIPs, and journalists in a spectacle intended to underline the city鈥檚 multicultural heritage. At the show鈥檚 conclusion, guests streamed out into the rain to the strains of Beethoven鈥檚 鈥淥de to Joy鈥� to take in a dazzling 15-minute fireworks display launched from the seven hills on which the city is built.
But Turkey鈥檚 uneasy coexistence with its minorities has drawn criticism of Istanbul鈥檚 city government from several sources: Gypsy populations are upset at being forced to leave a prime piece of real estate abutting the walls of Byzantium that they have inhabited for a millennium to make room for a residential development. Disenfranchised Kurds feel the city鈥檚 municipalities are not addressing their needs.
The opening ceremony represented Istanbul鈥檚 Gypsy population through a dance number titled 鈥淓ast Side Story,鈥� featuring rival Gypsy gangs staging a choreographed brawl.
鈥淲e have double standards,鈥� said Ali Murat Yel, a professor of sociology at Istanbul鈥檚 Fatih University. 鈥淥n the one hand we say we鈥檙e tolerant of minorities and [are] multicultural, but as the Manisa events [in which a squabble over smoking spiraled into 1,000 locals attacking a Roma community] show, this is not the case. We have to know how to tolerate others who are different.鈥�
