Fireworks over the Bosphorus
This past Tuesday, November 10th, was the 71st anniversary of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's death. Ataturk (or "Father Turk") led the fight to establish a Republic in Turkey, finally succeeding in 1923 after the disintigration of the Ottoman Empire and years of internal struggle. It's a bit hard to explain the importance of Ataturk to the Turkish people and the absolute reverence with which they treat him. His picture is literally everywhere at all times - in small offices, stores, private homes, on cars, and even in my dorm. People have a deep respect for this man that is quite different from and, in many ways, greater than the respect Americans have for important historical or current public figures.
Not only is the date when Ataturk died important, but so is the exact time - 9:05 AM, to be precise. Having heard that "Turkey stops" at this moment, we got up early and headed down to Dolmabahçe Palace, the place where Ataturk died, to see what that actually meant. Entrance to the palace was free for this occasion and everyone received rosettes with Ataturk's picture on them to pin to their shirts. The experience was pretty amazing; at exactly 9:05, everything - people, cars, boats - came to a complete halt. Then came the sounds of every fog horn, car horn, and siren in the city wailing out over the Bosphorus. The sound was very sad and, combined with the stillness and silence of everything else, a bit unnerving. But it really enforced the fact that Ataturk, though he's been gone for over 70 years, still plays a huge role in the lives of the Turkish people.
We are now in the heart of midterm exam and paper season here at school and so far it hasn't been too horrible. The weather has been very cold and rainy, though, which I suppose is good in that it encourages studying (or at least procrastinating indoors). Hopefully this weekend will bring some sunshine and more adventures!
