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Turkey hosts layers of history _ and Chevy Chase commercials

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  • Turkey hosts layers of history _ and Chevy Chase commercials

    The Charlotte Observer
    April 27, 2004, Tuesday

    Turkey hosts layers of history _ and Chevy Chase commercials

    By John Bordsen


    What's it like to live in a far-off place most of us see only on a
    vacation? Foreign Correspondence is an interview with someone who
    lives in a spot you may want to visit.

    Robert Stewart, 39, works for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at
    Incirlik Air Base in Turkey. He describes himself as an "Army brat"
    born in Baltimore; Stewart has been in Turkey for two years.

    Q. What do you see when you look out your window?

    A. Where I work, there are palm trees going out to a miniature golf
    course and swimming pool. If I turn right I can see the Taurus
    Mountains across the flight line.

    Incirlik is outside of Adana, not far from that little dogleg of
    Turkey that turns south toward Syria. It's a kind of a delta area,
    very flat and with lots of farming. Then all of a sudden mountains
    rise up that ring the area. If you drive about 45 minutes south, you
    get to the Mediterranean Sea.

    Q. That's quite an historic area, isn't it?

    A. Not far from here is a little outdoor museum where they found a
    Hittite summer palace, with tablets that had cuneiform writing. There
    were some statues, too. The Armenians were once in this area _ it was
    called Lesser Armenia _ and there are castles all over from that time
    and when the area was controlled by the Byzantine Empire.

    A city close to here was a Roman town, then a Byzantine and then an
    Armenian town. There are temples and archways that are Roman; up on a
    hill is an Armenian fortress. History is physically kind of mixed
    together here.

    Adana has a famous bridge built by Romans that's still in use. It's
    just a little two-lane cobblestone bridge crossing the Seyhan River.

    Q. Do you get many tourists or archaeologists?

    A. I don't see any. I've gone out to some of these sites, and it's
    only locals, who come running out to me with handfuls of copper
    coins. It's probably not legal for them to sell them or for me to buy
    them, but I did get a silver coin. It looks like it was manufactured
    recently. There's probably a good business in making and selling
    fakes.

    Q. Is the local population all Turk, now?

    A. It's predominantly Turkish. We're in south central Turkey, but
    everyone considers anything east of Ankara, the capital, to be
    "east." The population speaks Turkish, and some have Arabic or
    Kurdish as a second language.

    Q. What's to do there in your spare time?

    A. You can go exploring. You can go up in the Taurus Mountains. There
    are summer pasturages called yaylas where farmers take goats and
    sheep. It's a little cooler and drier in the mountains, so on
    weekends people go there to escape the lowland heat.

    Q. What's the weather like now?

    A. Chilly and rainy. We had a bit of snow recently; it didn't stick
    but was strange to see. During the day now, it can get to 55 or 70,
    be sunny or rainy. In summer, temperatures can get to 120, with 90
    percent humidity _ or worse.

    Q. What's the best thing to see around there?

    A. Cappadocia, which is a couple of hours north of here. It's a very
    dry, desert area. Over the centuries, people have dug into limestone
    cliffs and built houses and apartments in them _ there's actually an
    entire underground city. And every time some invader passed through,
    the population went to live underground for a bit. It's pretty
    famous.

    Antakya _ ancient Antioch _ has St. Peter's Grotto, one of the oldest
    churches in Christianity, it is said. It was discovered by crusaders.
    There's also a great museum with many mosaics.

    Q. It's said that Turkey is a very secular Muslim society. Is that
    true?

    A. My friends are Turkish through and through, but they drink beer
    that's brewed in Turkey, and a drink called raku, which is like
    pernod or ouzo. You mix it with water and it turns white.

    Turks are proud and respectful of Islam, but some _ especially in the
    cities _ see no harm in bending the rules a bit. They can't eat
    "pig," but "pork" is OK. Some of the best pork ribs I've enjoyed were
    barbecued in Istanbul.

    Q. What's the food like?

    A. Very Mediterranean. Like Greek food. They'd argue over who
    invented which dish, and I wouldn't want to be there when it happens.
    Lamb kabobs and meat with yogurt over it. There's fish in the coastal
    cities. That kind of thing.

    Q. How's the local radio?

    A. Turkish pop stars do Turkish songs. You go to a party and realize
    everybody knows these songs. When one's on the radio or a musician
    starts playing it, the entire room will start singing along. Must be
    old classic made new.

    Q. And local TV?

    A. There are little night-time soap operas, and American shows with
    subtitles. A lot of variety shows with Turkish singers and musicians,
    and news shows kind of like "60 Minutes." Very modern.

    I was watching Turkish TV the other day with some folks in Izmir and
    we saw this commercial with Chevy Chase! He comes home to this
    all-American family, enters the kitchen, and _ in English, with
    Turkish subtitles _ asks, "Honey, what's for dinner?"

    "I'm making biber," his wife says. That's a Turkish dish with green
    peppers, and Chevy looks confused.

    Cut to the family at the table and she comes in with this dish and
    with Cola Turka _ Turkey's answer to Coke _ and the family starts
    singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" in English.

    My friends asked, "Do Americans really sing at the table like this?"

    Well, the joke is, after a swig of Cola Turka this family starts
    singing a Turkish folk song. And at the end, when Grandma and Grandpa
    drive away, the wife throws water after them _ an old Turkish custom.
    And when Chevy turns to face the camera, he's sporting a Turkish
    moustache and speaking in a Turkish accent. We thought it was great.
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