Sunday, September 12, 2010

Sunday, September 12, 2010 - No comments

A house divided cannot stand...but Sport is the great unifier.



It's a historic day in Turkey on multiple fronts. We've just come out of Seker Bayrami - the "Sugar Festival" that marks the end of Ramazan, and all weekend over baklava and tea, the conversation has centred around today's Referendum. Turkey is headed to the polls to decide whether or not to change the constitution that has stood since the coup of 1980, and the vote has, naturally, caused months of debate and controversy, and turned into something of a party war. Essentially, a "yes" would mean more democracy, which everyone would agree is a good thing, but the trouble is that there are dozens of items included in the package, and some would give the current Islamic-leaning ruling party new levels of power, which terrifies the nation's secularists and motivates many would-be "yes"es to vote "no." And round and round we go.

Ironically, though, on a day when the nation is split down the middle on matters of rights and politics, last night's glorious basket with a half second left gave our 12 Dev Adam (12 Giant Men - the national basketball team) a victory over Serbia, meaning tonight we face the great USA in the World Basketball Championship Final! In Istanbul, no less! And the "evet"s and the "hayir"s (the "yes"es and the "no"s) shall gather in living rooms and cafes and cheer with one voice, "Turkiye, Turkiye, Turkiye!"

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