French Cultural Center’s director challenges elitism of Francophone Turks

Bouchard is both open-minded and brave because she is courageously dealing with the legacy of the French language and culture in Turkish society; this language and culture are widely considered as belonging to the upper classes of society.

The young director, who is also the mother of two children, is currently managing the transformation of the French Cultural Center as it recently moved to a new location in the Yıldız district. The new building was opened to members of the media last week in a modest reception held at the center. The French ambassador to Turkey, Bernard Emié, who follows activities at the center with interest, participated in the reception.

The center gives language courses to 300,000 students each year, and 80 percent of those students come from Turkish universities in Ankara. Although the majority of patrons come from universities, the center also gives language courses to staff in the ministries, the Directorate of Religious Affairs, the Delegation of the European Commission to Turkey and the Secretariat-General for EU Affairs (ABGS) -- the main state body that specializes in coordinating the process of harmonization with the EU’s extensive regulations, called the acquis communautaire.

“So 15 percent of the students are memur [public servants] and the rest are people like you and me -- interested in French,” Bouchard, who commonly uses Turkish words while speaking in English, said in an interview with Today’s Zaman.

When asked whether there has been a decrease in interest in learning French in recent years, Bouchard honestly admitted that there certainly has been.

“We think that this decrease is due to the importance of English. When I discuss this with my colleagues from the Italian institute or the German institute, they have the same problem. That’s why we launched a campaign in town with posters saying in Turkish ‘Herkes çatpat İngilizce konuşuyor, sen Fransızca öğren [Everybody speaks passable English, you learn French]. The idea is to say that everyone learns English at school, be different and learn French,” Bouchard said.

“We also have consultations with banks and big companies, and there is a real advantage for Turkish people in knowing German, French or even Spanish; I mean another language in addition to English, they can earn more money and they can have an advantage over the other applicants for the same job. And also with Turkey being a future member of the European community, one should remember that French is an official language of the EU. That’s why we work a lot with the Turkish ministries,” she continued.

According to Bouchard, the new elite in Turkey now speaks English. However, she admits that there is an elitist tendency among the Francophone society as well.

“I myself try to learn Turkish and I have Turkish friends. And we try to organize events that would interest all Turkish people, not only the Francophones. So, for instance, when we produce a theater play, we use subtitles. We don’t just present a play to the audience in French knowing that 80 percent of them wouldn’t understand what’s going on. When we screen movies, we use subtitles, when we organize concerts, we try to find partnerships between French and Turkish musicians. For example, during the International Music Festival we organized a rare concert by Şefika Kutluer with a French orchestra. So this is how we bring a part of French culture to all the people here, not only to the Francophones,” Bouchard explained, referring to a concert by Kutluer who is dubbed “The Magic Flute” in the world music scene. Kutluer also interpreted “Yunus Emre” and “Mevlana” concertos for the Season of Turkey in France in Paris.

Reaching to Diyarbakır

Bouchard made a frank confession at this point: “If I can tell you the truth, I was very surprised because some Francophones just don’t support me. We produced a play with Devlet Tiyatrosu [State Theater], and all 100 people in the theater hall understood the play, but among them 20 were able to understand without subtitles.”

The French Cultural Center in Ankara, which was first opened in 1962, is set to offer various activities that will make the center a unique place to visit.

“They are so proud to speak French and this is great, actually. I admire that, but I was surprised to see that even Turkish people would like me to continue proposing events only in French. This is not my idea,” Bouchard continued.

“The thing is I also try to organize events that are more social, to give our students and our friends the opportunity to meet French people in a more casual atmosphere. This is why we opened this brasserie here and we organize a sort of party every Friday. It could be about French styles, it could be a quiz or an evening with just cheese. This is a more casual, relaxed way to discover French culture. I want to stop organizing events just for the elite.”

When she was told that she presented a highly open-minded approach, Bouchard said bitterly, “I feel a little bit lonely sometimes doing that.”

Yet, she said she also felt the pride of bringing French culture to all parts of Turkey. She is in contact with institutions in various cities such as Eskişehir, Adana, Konya, Antalya and Diyarbakır to hold activities there.

For example, Bouchard will be travelling to Diyarbakır this week and will proudly watch a performance by a string orchestra. Proudly because 30 amateur musicians playing in the orchestra have been receiving training from three professional French musicians since November.

“We have a strong cooperation with the belediye [municipality]. Since November three French musicians have been going there to play with people from the town and their first concert is next week [this week]. This is not for the elite, this is not for the stars, of course the orchestra is not very experienced and it will be their first concert. It took us almost a year to do that and it won’t be the best orchestra in Turkey but I think this is also something we should do, bringing three professional musicians from France who can help people there to work at becoming a professional orchestra.”

The French Cultural Center: de Gaulle’s legacy The new building of the French Cultural Center located in the Yıldız district of Ankara is calling on lovers of the language of Moliere to discover opportunities and materials provided at the center, which include 20 periodicals, 3,500 novels in French and translated into Turkish and 460 comic strips. There is also a brasserie, a pedagogical document center and a bookstore in the seven-floor, 1,600-square-meter building, which reflects a simple and modern understanding of architecture. The French Cultural Center in the Kızılay district of Ankara was opened in 1962 after cooperative agreements signed during a visit to Turkey by French President Charles de Gaulle. The center was open until the devastating 1999 Marmara earthquake, which killed over 17,000 people and left thousands homeless. The tragic earthquake affected the center in Kızılay as well, which halted their services for a time while looking for a safer building. Even though the center did not have a permanent home for almost a decade, it offered services at various temporary locations. It will be a challenge for the new center to attract visitors since they have moved away from downtown Ankara. Aware of this obstacle, the center will offer various activities and make the center a unique place to visit. The center will incorporate the influence of French literature on Turkish literature and cultural life as a visual element in the building. The fact that around 5,350 Turkish words originate from French is a concrete sign of the interaction between the two languages and cultures. There are classrooms that offer French classes, and each room is named after a prominent French writer and/or philosopher, such as Émile François Zola (1840-1902), Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850), Victor-Marie Hugo (1802-1885), Charles Pierre Baudelaire (1821-1867) and Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778). Their names are written on the glass walls of each classroom. There is also a modest conference hall on the top floor. On a glass wall separating the room from the terrace there is a quote from legendary movie director François Roland Truffaut (1932-1984), one of the founders of French New Wave who remains an icon of French cinema. “La vie a beaucoup plus d’imagination que nous,” says Truffaut, translated as, “Life has a lot more imagination than we do.” One can learn about the services provided by the French Cultural Center, which also has branches in İstanbul and İzmir, from their website: www.ifturquie.org. Ankara Today’s Zaman

When reminded of the fact that some analysts have accused France of implementing a sort of “language nationalism,” Bouchard said one of the main reasons for that is the fact that French people don’t speak foreign languages very well.

“Especially Turkish. If you take an American diplomat or a German diplomat, he is taught Turkish before coming here. We come here and start immediately. I was very lucky, because I came a year earlier and I had the time to learn Turkish and this makes a very big difference, of course, because my relations with my partners here are completely different because I can speak their language. And then I also have a better understanding of the way you live and what you think and your habits and everything.”

A small footnote: The French government wants to show the importance it attaches to cultural relations with Turkey through Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner’s participation in an official opening ceremony for the French Cultural Center. The date has not yet been confirmed, but will either be in June or in the autumn.