I don't know whether you're experiencing this too, but lately, the conversations I've had about the country's problems have been ending with the sentence, “Nothing will ever come of this country.” Of course, it's not right to say this sentence, which expresses hopelessness! But as we talk about what is happening and/or being made to happen, it's inevitable that we end up saying it. Unfortunately, our country has plenty to offer on this front…
One example is what's happening at customs…
There's no doubt you've heard a lot about what goes on at customs, or experienced it firsthand. I hear about it constantly, too. But yesterday I had a long conversation about this with a friend who works as a customs broker. Now I'll pass along what my friend, who is on the inside, told me. Let's see whether, after reading it, you'll say “Nothing will ever come of this country,” just like we do.
Here's what my friend told me:
“Cem, you wouldn't believe what's happening at customs! First of all, you should know that if you're bringing in a product, you have to be prepared to do certain things to get it out of customs. For one thing, the product you bring in won't get released easily. It may be released after 2 p.m. Because the customs officer who's there for overtime won't do their job. The process gets dragged out so they can get overtime pay. You have to pay the state for the officer's overtime. You may also end up having to give some of the product you brought in to an officer there. For example, if you bring in clothing or shoes, you should know that you'll have to hand some over. If you want to get your product out, you'll have to be prepared for these things. These are just a few of the things people bringing in products have to deal with! As for us, we have to do all sorts of things, from buying them meals to sending them on vacation to Turkey. Of course, I'm not saying this applies to all customs officers, but there are officers who do business this way. We encounter things you wouldn't believe. I've come across officers who go out to eat, bring back the meal receipt, and ask for money. Some are supposed to open the warehouse at 9 in the morning but open it at 10:30 and close it at 2 in the afternoon. No one oversees anyone. They set their own working hours. A complete lack of control and a mafia-like system have taken hold.”
That was what my friend told me.
Perhaps it's not right to write this based on one-sided accounts, but none of us lives in outer space. These are things we hear about often, and I can say that the fact that nothing has been done about them to date is what prompted me to write this.
Of course, just as my friend said, you can't claim that every officer is like this. The people I've encountered so far haven't been like that. But customs offices are places that are very open to abuse.
For this reason, Minister of Finance Mr. Zeren Mungan has a lot to do. Even if nothing is going on at customs, because it's a place so open to abuse, a proper system of discipline and work should be established and enforced immediately. Otherwise, many people will continue to suffer…
By the way, it's not just Mr. Mungan; the new ministers, too, need to start taking action immediately to stop us from saying, “Nothing will ever come of this country.” It's impossible to say that the ministers have done anything apart from receive congratulations! And after every news story about them receiving congratulations, people say even more, “Same people coming in, same people going out… Nothing will ever come of this country.” That's why they need to get to work. They need to make us say, “Anything is possible in this country”…