ISTANBUL
It’s a sprawling, beautiful city, still, in spite of the unrestrained construction where Europe and Asia meet. There’s no place like it — and for a time, until very recently, it looked like the future.
We arrived in Istanbul at a hopeful time. The election results were in and power was shifting away, it appeared, from Prime Minister Erdogan and his ruling AKP. So, our show is filled with cautiously hopeful people.
Subsequent events have failed to deliver on their optimism. Turkey is hardly the only nation I can think of where fear, xenophobia, and ethnic hatred are vote getters. There’s plenty of that around. More and more these days, particularly in times of uncertainty, people seem to look to a “man on a horse” to solve their problems — ANY man, it appears sometimes.
This week’s episode captures a particular moment in time in a beautiful yet troubled country, where it looked for a while, like anything was possible.
Now, I’m not so sure. But its a place well worth visiting, to see for yourself, to meet the people, to eat the (terrific) food, to take in the stunning architecture and scenery.
Don’t let my gloom and pessimism and general misanthropy stop you.
