He is Uncle Mehmet, the grocer at our neighborhood’s Sismar Market! He sits in his corner, right beside the cash register, and chats with whoever comes and goes! We generally discuss the state of the country, the world, and Turkey with him! I have to say that these brief conversations are very pleasant. And Uncle Mehmet is a very pleasant man to talk to… The other day, we had another conversation like this: Cem KAR: Hope business is good, Uncle Mehmet! How are you?
Uncle Mehmet: Thanks, Mr. Cem. Same old grind…
C.K: How are things going?
M.A: Business is slow! The 13th-month salaries were paid today, and we thought things would pick up, but everyone is shopping on the Greek Cypriot side…
C.K: The Prime Minister made a statement about this the other day. Milk and dairy products have been banned. They’ve also introduced a €135 allowance. Hasn’t that helped?
M.A: €135 comes to 270 YTL. What is that supposed to prevent? It doesn’t affect us, and that allowance is no help… (The conversation went on like this…)
After this conversation, I think about the shopping we do for our home: our weekly shopping rarely comes to more than 200 YTL. In other words, under the allowance that’s just been introduced, we could go there and do our weekly shopping. Unfortunately, this measure won’t do much to protect small businesses!
Meanwhile, a question comes to mind: When importers on both sides buy the same goods for almost the same price, why are they more expensive here? I could think of two answers: Importing companies make very high profits!
Government agencies here charge very high taxes! As a result, costs go up.
To be honest, I’m not particularly interested in the answers; at the end of the day, either the importing companies won’t give up any of the profits they make, or the government doesn’t want to lower the taxes it collects. But the problem still isn’t being solved.
Still, I can’t help wondering, “Why was a €135 allowance introduced?” Yes, the aim is clear: the government wants to prevent people from spending very large sums. But the Greek Cypriot side tried this approach initially, then shifted its focus to pricing policy… In other words, this method has already been tried!
For some reason, I just can’t get my head around this! We have a problem, and you don’t need to be a scholar to solve it; in fact, people in many circles are talking about the solution, yet somehow no solution can be found. It’s as clear as day that the solution lies in lowering costs and increasing competitiveness. Are we really going to stop people from going there to shop by imposing bans? Especially in today’s competitive world, how can you stop people with a method based on prohibitions? And when have bans ever solved problems, so that they should solve them now!
It’s also clear that the economic measures announced most recently are intended to postpone possible bankruptcies, business closures, and problems with loan repayments that we are facing now and may face soon! Yes, these measures and loans will give business owners some temporary breathing room, but what happens after that?
Or is this “temporary breathing room” an investment in an early election?
At the end of the day, unless our businesses are given the strength to compete with the Greek Cypriot side, it won’t just be the 13th-month salaries—many more salaries will be spent on the other side.
In this situation, all I can do is say, “May God help you,” to Uncle Mehmet and the supermarket owners, and to my fellow business owners who wait for customers spending less than €135!
Until Thursday, I hope…
In the New Year, please be mindful of your surroundings and show respect on the road. I Hope in the New Year…---2.01.2009 After all, we’re all the same; we’ll just say 2009 instead of 2008, and thankfully I’m not yet saying things like, “Oh no, I’m getting old”… Even if we stay the same and time goes by, having a new date and offering good wishes with the familiar phrase, “In the New Year, may our country, our world, and so on…” does give you a bit of a lift!
With that in mind, I’d like to share my wishes for the New Year and, even though I can’t quite call myself a columnist, start my sentences with the air of a conventional writer…
_Please add the words “I hope in the New Year” before each of the wishes I’ve listed below:_ —The price of bottled gas doesn’t go up and then get taken back down. It gets ridiculous otherwise.
—No one throws a shoe at the head of any head of state (except those who deserve it)!
—The Turkish national team scores a goal or goals in the final minutes without causing any heart-rhythm problems…
—My dear neighbor, one of the distinguished residents of the back neighborhood who lives right behind my apartment building, stops leaning on the horn for minutes at a time at six in the morning…
—President Christofias of the Greek Cypriot administration, who is trying to advance the negotiation process, and our President Mehmet Ali Talat stop blaming each other, take serious steps on the Cyprus problem, and make Downer jump for joy…
—Our government and our esteemed Prime Minister, who raised prices immediately after announcing economic measures, don’t announce any more economic measures.
—The traffic lights right in front of Altınbaş Petrol in Nicosia are repaired!
—I send my article to our editors Ayşemden Akın and Selda Bektaş early, before they call me and say, “Cem, when are you going to send your article? You’ve got this many minutes left.”
—Obama doesn’t dash our hopes and does what is expected of him as soon as possible in the name of world peace.
—The new road project in Kyrenia is finally completed, and we can travel to and from work without a care…
—Israel comes to its senses, ends its disproportionate use of force, and stops killing civilians.
—We stop being a country of protests; the reasons that drive us to protest are eliminated, and we finally get down to work!
—The global financial crisis doesn’t affect us too much, and the Prime Minister is proved right.
—More of the newly issued money reaches those reading these lines.
—Someone realizes that public transportation is the solution to the traffic problem we suffer from for no good reason, and takes steps in that direction.
—The government, which for some reason just can’t believe that oil barrel prices have fallen, lowers electricity prices, which it has accepted in principle.
—The inflation of speed bumps on the already potholed streets of my country goes down.
—It rains more, and we don’t have to deal with Agriculture Ministers who can’t cope with drought.
—Global warming, which has lost popularity because of the global financial crisis even though it matters more than anything, regains its former popularity…
—Politicians stop blaming one another, try to find ways to come together, and come up with policies to solve the country’s problems together.
—Galatasaray reaches the UEFA Cup final and lifts the trophy at Saraçoğlu.
—I and others like me, who are tired of hearing people say, “I want peace for the whole world in the New Year,” even though they know it won’t happen, see those who say it put the peace within their power into practice.
-…
_Note: I left the last item blank because of space constraints. Please be so kind as to fill in that ellipsis for me, too._ Until Tuesday, I hope…
I hope I won’t have to say, “In the New Year, please be mindful of your surroundings and please show respect on the road”… I’m Ashamed of Being Human---6.01.2009 I write sentences, then delete them.
My fingers move across the keyboard; I can’t find the letters I’m looking for.
I’m struggling to find the letters that will form the words to describe this cruelty.
My vocabulary isn’t enough!
The moment when dozens of civilians were killed appears before my eyes!
I get annoyed, angry, furious…
I think of Gaza! With every bomb that falls, I see little children flinch before my eyes… I hear mothers saying, “It’ll be over, don’t be afraid, my child.” I see helpless fathers punching walls. I feel those punches in my heart. I ask myself what we can do, and understand their helplessness. My anger grows…
I remember the last thing my wife and I talked about!
As we talk about “how we can heat our home more efficiently and economically,” I think of the families living in shelters in Gaza, worried about what has become of their homes… I get angry with myself and say, “At least we’re in our home.”
Then I think of our son! I think about the dreams we have for his future. I try to make sense of the struggle we’re engaged in to give him a good future as I look at photographs of children killed in Gaza… I think of those children’s families! With every bomb that falls, each of those families’ dreams for their children’s future is wiped from their minds! Their worries become my worries! I ask myself, “What kind of world awaits our sons and daughters?” The question, “What kind of future awaits our children in a world like this?” occupies my mind; I can’t get past it, and I rebel…
I think of our country!
Our beautiful, peaceful homeland! A homeland where the dreams people make don’t remain just dreams! A homeland where we can live through the good and the bad without needing shelters. A homeland where we don’t have to comfort our children when they flinch at the sound of bombs, where our only concern is making more money. I think of our homeland, where we don’t fear coming face-to-face with a bomb or a bullet! _As I write these lines, I again picture thousands more civilians fighting for their lives beneath bombs raining down death!_ Amid that struggle, I think of a young person who dreams of becoming a journalist one day. “I’ll write about what’s happening,” the young person says to themself! The young person is living in a shelter and, unaware that the world’s media is exposing this atrocity, gets angry at someone: “Why isn’t anyone doing anything? Why isn’t any of this being written about? Why is the world so indifferent to the deaths of children?” they wonder. They don’t know that the world knows everything but does nothing, that it just looks on. The young person gets angry with journalists, grows furious!
Why, I ask myself!
Something is happening there in front of the whole world, something bloody, and no one is saying stop, no one can say stop! Why?
The question, “What kind of vested interest could make someone look on as dozens of civilians die?” gnaws at my mind!
I can’t find an answer, and I’m ashamed of being human…
Yes, I’m ashamed of being human…
Until we meet in a world where bombs don’t rain down…
Please be mindful of your surroundings and show respect on the road! My Shows… ---8.01.2009 As someone who lives in this land, I no longer want to listen to promises.
The statements coming from the EU, the US, and the UN have lost their credibility for me.
I’m interested in other things now. Instead of listening to their statements, I read novels; they seem more believable.
Sometimes, when I’m bored and want to watch a “Brazilian soap opera”—you know, those series that go on forever and never end—I watch the news.
Their statements on the news remind me of those shows.
Unfortunately, the news always ends at the most exciting part.
Just when they’re about to talk about achieving world peace or acting fairly in the Cyprus negotiations, the news ends!
This time, I wait impatiently for the next day; perhaps without much hope…
I head home from work eagerly. I settle into my chair and start watching the news, which has now become a soap opera for me.
My wife interrupts me as I watch the news intently!
“Don’t get your hopes up, Cem. It won’t end today either,” she says.
She’s telling the truth, but I don’t want to accept it.
I keep watching the news intently.
As I switch from one channel to another, the news ends again, and the statements I’m waiting for never come.
I don’t lose hope…
I believe!
I tell myself it’ll end one day. I don’t lose interest; every day, I watch the news with the same hope and anticipation…
I tell myself these wars will end, and the world will become a fairer, more peaceful place…
Look, my shows are starting again…
The actors and actresses appear on screen one after another.
I watch the most famous actors and actresses from the EU, the US, and the UN.
Just when they’re about to talk about achieving world peace or acting fairly in the Cyprus negotiations, the news ends again.
In other words, these shows never end…
I wonder what kind of production this is!
Come to think of it, did The Guiding Light really run for that long?
Anyway!
Lately, everyone has their own popular shows…
These are my shows!
Until Tuesday, I hope.
Be mindful of your surroundings, and please show respect on the road…