Spotlight on Estonia: musical diplomacy

Luhtsalu first stressed Estonia's expertise in information and communication technology (ICT). Estonian engineers invented Skype as a prototype for no-fee Internet telephony. More recently, when hackers penetrated Estonia's Internet infrastructure, the tiny nation fielded the talent and high-end skills that cleverly plugged the vulnerability and strengthened global awareness of cyber criminals.

Estonia is top-heavy with technology firms and many are Microsoft Gold Certified Business Partners. Another claim to fame is the eight-by-11-millimeter sub-miniature spy camera famously used by James Bond in the film "On Her Majesty's Secret Service." This had its origins in Estonia's capital, Tallin, where a prototype was designed and built by Latvian Walter Zapp in 1936.

Besides technology, music and melody underpin Estonian culture, if not its very existence. The tradition of the massed male-voice choir dates back hundreds of years and, during the period of Russian occupation (1939-1989), this swelled to a powerful subversive movement. Encouraged by activist Heinz Valk, Estonians sustained their partisan spirit using ancient vocal melodies as a collective rallying call to resistance. A book and a film were made about "The Singing Revolution."

Luhtsalu himself is an integral part of Estonia's musical heritage. Music was a cultural anchor; he earned his Ph.D. in music at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. Estonia's celebrated composer Eduard Tubin (1905 - 1982) had previously attended the prestigious academy. These were heady days, with Estonia emerging as an independent republic in 1991, after 50 years of German, and then Soviet, annexation, and beginning the integration process with neighboring European countries. Luhtsalu graduated as a virtuoso cello player. Due to deep-rooted musical traditions, Estonia has more than a fair share of contemporary composers and conductors, such as Neeme Jarvi, scattered around the globe.

However, a dreamed-of professional musical career ended for Luhtsalu due to an injury. Coaxing the mellow harmony out of the temperamental cello became a super-human effort. This was a tough choice for a dedicated musician who once said, "My heart belongs to music," but Luhtsalu entered the Estonian foreign service and his first posting was to Ankara in August 2006.

At the Kaş-Lycia Festival in June, Luhtsalu performed a solo cello concert in the Hellenistic theatre, playing a number of Bach suites. This was after completing a four-hour swim from Castellorizo (Meis) to Kaş in the morning! He has twice competed in Antalya's Eurasia Marathon.

"I first saw Kaş in 2007, when I entered the annual Mediterranean swim, and the romantic theatre, steeped in the spirit of ancient artists, was ideal for classical concerts," he recalls. The Kaş-Lycia Festival features more showy fireworks than culture and a much advertised piano concert was cancelled at zero hour due to the lack of a piano. Luhtsalu, however, is captivated by the setting, scenery and ambience of Kaş and sees the town as a unique venue for world class performances. Estonia has a 200-year-old tradition of producing "investment-grade" pianos -- which, it was suggested, could help with "orchestration" in the future.

"Well, yes, give us the covered concert hall with professional acoustics and we'll gladly provide the piano," Luhtsalu quipped.

He further added that if the Kaş-Lycia Festival were organized professionally and punctually by experienced, nonprofit NGOs, it would attract high-profile talent and vibrant audiences and open up exciting cultural avenues in Turkey.

Turkey has gained twofold in hosting this superb musician and enthusiastic cultural ambassador. Luhtsalu said it was a six-month learning curve for him to fully absorb the impact of the "other door" that swung open for him. He is thrilled with Turkey's fascinating history and inimitable culture. "I'm reading a book about Byzantine history at present," he told Today's Zaman.

The Turkish language, loosely related to Finnish and Hungarian, has similarities with the Estonian language, too, in the use of add-on suffixes and the placement of verbs at the end of sentences. Like many foreigners posted to Turkey, Luhtsalu has been taking Turkish lessons. However, he added that his hosts are often less enthusiastic about learning English. He observed that Turks are determined to pursue potential, but rather cautious when it comes to being blown off course by the winds of change.

Some 25,000 Estonians, about 1.5 percent of the population, visit Turkey each year. Most of these visitors holiday in Antalya. Luhtsalu rates the climate as one of Turkey's best attributes. "Summer is hot enough to lap up the sea, the al fresco life and the robust cuisine, but winter is cold and one can enjoy alpine and cross-country skiing. Turkey really has it all," he enthused.

İstanbul will be the European Capital of Culture in 2010, but it will be Tallin's turn in 2011 and the two countries already have plans for mutual transitional projects to bridge the successive years. Sweden is often listed as Turkey's only Baltic friend. But since 1993 Turkish has been taught at Tartu University and Estonia has welcomed Turkish language teachers via the Turkish-Estonian Friendship Society (TELLFA). The two countries have conducted student exchanges through the Erasmus program.

As Turkey never recognized the occupation of Estonia by the Soviet Union, mutual diplomacy goes back a long way. In 1935, as a fledgling republic, Turkey opened an embassy in Tallin, one of only 10 resident foreign missions at the time. It was not until 2004 that an Estonian ambassador presented his credentials in Ankara.

Estonia remains a staunch supporter of Turkey's EU bid. Asked if this support would remain firm if the ruling party Justice and Development Party (AK Party) is closed at the end of an ongoing case at the Constitutional Court, Luhtsalu said: "We always encouraged Turkey to meet the full EU criteria for the acquis process. Estonia is not imposing any additional barriers or conditions on Turkey and Estonian politicians have no interest in using Turkey's EU bid for political gain."

Over the last seven years, trade between the two countries increased 10-fold to about $200 million in relatively lackluster commodities. They are actively seeking partnerships and consultancy work in high-technology ventures, especially ICT.

"I think we may be the only embassy in Turkey to have an ICT showroom. The image of embassies is often enigmatic, but we have an open-door policy and want to put out the welcome mat on our state-of-the-art informatics and communication skills," Luhtsalu explained. There are e-government applications on stream in Turkey, but they would also like to promote the model of Estonia's e-patient medical-record system.

In this small-is-smart country, music and information technology may seem odd mates. But why not? Both lit the fuse for Estonia's thriving and vibrant democracy.