October 8

(in which our heroes become Ataturk fans)

Didn't sleep well on the train... so few brain cells were active for today's stuff.

First stop was the Ankara Anatolian Archaeology Museum. Alp seems to be all over the research; for one exhibit referring to the oldest human dwellings (built, that is... I think anyway... brain so tired...), he mentioned that there was soon-to-be-published research that would change the exhibit. A continuing theme at the museum is references to stuff that has been taken out of the country, which they would like to have back.

The Ataturk mausoleum and museum is a very well-done monument to the father of the Turkish republic. It's big - make no mistake - but not grandiose or flashy. We tried to find the right word, but it's hard. One thing I can say is that it seemed tastefully restrained given how large Ataturk looms in the popular psyche here. The comparison that the Turks make is with George Washington. I think it's a good starting place, though the differences are important.

It reminded me of the Lincoln Memorial, in reverence and grandness, but about three times as much so in a very different (non-GrecoRoman) style. Plus a huge museum.

Ataturk (the honorific, actually - real name Mustafa Kemal, and one of those, I forget which was also an accretion) and Washington were both the military leaders who provided the drive and cohesion required to win a war on a shoestring. Both established a state based on pretty high-minded ideals. But of course, Washington laid down power within his lifetime, while Ataturk did not.

Washington got to be one of the Founding Fathers - maybe the biggest - but here there's just Ataturk. The military leadership of Washington, the idealism of Jefferson, the damn-it-all-we-are-going-to-do-this-thing of Adams... can you tell most of my own history is 1776? Plus, women's suffrage!

The question was raised on the bus - why isn't there a stronger sense of political kinship, or whatever, between the US and Turkey. A few answers - we've always been more strongly motivated by geopolitics than ideals (maybe more true in the Cold War era than before); and just as importantly, while Ataturk's rule did ultimately lead to a functioning Republic, there was no way to be sure of how it would go until the next generation was in control. In the 1930s, dictators reorganizing their countries was all the rage. Dictators who claim to be reforming towards representative government are far more common than ones that actually do it. Almost every dictator clings to power because he's sure that he's irreplaceable (At least, that's part of what they tell themselves). Obviously, the country survives Ataturk's death; but he did have one very enormous amount of work to do. Arguably, he was trying to jump his country from a state that was nowhere near ready for modernity, all the way to the forefront. Think of some countries that have tried that - Russia, China, pre-WW2 Japan. Suddenly, Turkey looks pretty good.

Anyhow... I got too mesmerized by the Revolution exhibits, so didn't spend much time in the wing describing his reforms, which I knew about from reading a biography, but Laura mostly didn't.

I could have spent less time in the archaeology exhibit and twice as much in the Ataturk museum!

Bus ride to Mustafapasa. Very relaxing. I'm feeling better, but Laura is sick. :(

(This was a cold rather than the Drank The Water distress, but it stuck around for the whole trip).