|
|
|
|
|
|
AYŞE KARABAT
a.karabat@todayszaman.com |
 |
|
|
Dining in solecism
|
|
| Sometimes it is very painful to read newspapers, but not because they contain truly heartbreaking stories about topics such as another victim of honor killings, a small child who died in a traffic accident, a lynching attempt somewhere, increasing tension in predominantly Kurdish areas or the economic crisis. |
|
These are the realities of life, and as individuals living on earth, we have to know about them. It is possible to avoid reading the second-degree disturbing stories about who divorced whom and what Madonna did recently. But there are certain stories that you have to read; it is inevitable that you will at least see their headlines since they are written in very large font. Reading newspapers was painful for me this week because I had to read stories, or at least see headlines, regarding an event that, according to my tastes, does not even deserve to be a story: Some intellectuals dined with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the house of Justice and Development Party (AK Party) deputy Nursuna Memecan. Don't misunderstand me; of course, if the prime minister is having dinner with a group of people and if the discussions and conversations at this dinner are important to the future of the country and politics, the dinner should be a story. But this was not the case at all. The only things we learned about this dinner were nonsensical issues, including the menu. Simply for one reason: the dinner guests who spoke about the dinner do not have the ability to understand politics. The dinner guests who preferred to remain silent about the dinner are, first of all, polite people and, secondly, aware of the fact that the dinner should stay private and that it is nothing to boast about. Unfortunately, we were forced to learn many other things besides the menu: details about the decoration of the house and the whisky label that was served. And yes, we know something else: Some of the dinner guests are really ill mannered and far from having intellectual courtesy, they were pathetically provincial since they thought they were the most important people in this country since they are able to dine with the prime minister. The highlight of the stories about this very unfortunate dinner was the one that mentioned that one of the guests accused another of being ugly, dirty, a liar and having an inferiority complex. While some of the participants were attacking each other in this very vulgar manner, other columnists or people who thought they deserved to be invited but were somehow forgotten attacked everyone who was at the dinner. There were even articles claiming that the hosts made the prime minister eat pork since one of the dishes on the menu contained jelly. Others claimed that the reason behind the dinner was Ms. Memecan's desire to be the chief negotiator for the European Union accession. Another painful thing about this dinner is that it could only be a story in Turkey. In countries where democracy is not as developed as it is in Turkey, no one would ever dare to write or talk about the dinner. In countries whose democracies are more developed than Turkey, people would not fail to be polite and would obey the rules of etiquette, especially if the dinner is with the prime minister. Newspapers would not give space to all these shameful discussions. In a real democracy, first of all, everyone would know that the rules of governance are very clear and transparent and that dining with the prime minister would not lead to any nepotism. If the culture of democracy were improved, everyone would know that the prime minister is a human being, too; he can have friends, he can dine with them and the guests do not have to humiliate each other or be disrespectful to their hosts in order to prove how important they are. Yes, of course, in a country where the culture of democracy is improved, the gossip pages of newspapers would not be full of stories about this dinner. Nowadays, Prime Minister Erdoğan is criticized more than ever for being "one man" and not listening to anyone. But I wonder if even a simple dinner turns into a very vulgar discussion because of some of the other guests, and if people commit solecisms and almost kill each other in order to be dearest to the prime minister, why he should pay attention to these types? Despite all these awful dinner stories, do not hesitate to dine with Turks. They are very good hosts; they love guests and love serving them. In most cases, dinner guests are very careful not to talk about each other after dinner. Dining etiquette in Turkish culture has never ever allowed solecisms. And yes, the prime minister should not listen to these vulgar dinner guests, but should lend his ears to those who know how to dine. The prime minister himself comes from a place where people know how to dine. The people of this place are not apple polishers but are those who know how to share the apple in a very modest, polite and wise way. |
|
|
|
