(First published in my column, The Alternative, in today’s ThisDay).
I
have just returned from a trip to Turkey, where I was on a pilgrimage to some
of the seven churches of Asia, also known as the seven churches of Revelations.
I
visited Smyrna (now known as Izmir), Pergamum (now known as Bergama,
and Ephesus (now known as Efes). Prior
to this visit, I had visited Laodicea
(now known as Laodikeia). There are
no remnants of some of the other churches, but I did get to see Cappadocia.
And
then I went to Istanbul and the city blew my mind. It was my third visit to
Istanbul, but my first time staying on the Asian side.
Istanbul
has a rich history that can probably bring you to tears. This city used to be
known as Constantinople, and was the
center of orthodox Christianity, until on 29 May 1453, when it was conquered by
the Muslim Ottoman Empire. Note I said Muslim Ottoman Empire, not Islamic
Ottoman Empire.
“…Today we have again come face to face with
a destructive and barbarous ideology, and we must not allow
these modern-day dark forces to attain their goals.
“We must stop our debates and forget our differences
to build a common anti-terrorist front that will act in line
with international law and under the UN aegis.
“Every civilised country must contribute
to the fight against terrorism, reaffirming their solidarity, not
in word but in deed.
“This means that the terrorists must not be given
refuge anywhere. There must be no double standards. No contacts with terrorist
organisations. No attempts to use them for self-seeking goals. No
criminal business with terrorists.
“We know who are stuffing pockets in Turkey and letting terrorists prosper from
the sale of oil they stole in Syria. The terrorists are
using these receipts to recruit mercenaries, buy weapons and plan
inhuman terrorist attacks against Russian citizens and against people
in France, Lebanon, Mali and other states. We
remember that the militants who operated in the North Caucasus
in the 1990s and 2000s found refuge and received moral
and material assistance in Turkey. We still find them there.
“Meanwhile, the Turkish people are kind, hardworking
and talented. We have many good and reliable friends in Turkey. Allow
me to emphasise that they should know that we do not equate them with
the certain part of the current ruling establishment that is directly
responsible for the deaths of our servicemen in Syria.
“We will never forget their collusion with terrorists. We
have always deemed betrayal the worst and most shameful thing
to do, and that will never change. I would like them
to remember this – those in Turkey who shot our pilots
in the back, those hypocrites who tried to justify their actions
and cover up for terrorists.
“I don’t even understand why they did it. Any issues
they might have had, any problems, any disagreements even those we knew nothing
about could have been settled in a different way. Plus, we were ready
to cooperate with Turkey
on all the most sensitive issues it had; we were willing to go
further, where its allies refused to go. Allah only knows, I suppose,
why they did it. And probably, Allah has decided to punish
the ruling clique in Turkey
by taking their mind and reason.
“But, if they expected a nervous or hysterical
reaction from us, if they wanted to see us become a danger
to ourselves as much as to the world, they won’t get
it. They won’t get any response meant for show or even
for immediate political gain. They won’t get it.
“Our actions will always be guided primarily
by responsibility – to ourselves, to our country,
to our people. We are not going to rattle the sabre. But,
if someone thinks they can commit a heinous war crime, kill our people
and get away with it, suffering nothing but a ban on tomato
imports, or a few restrictions in construction or other
industries, they’re delusional. We’ll remind them of what they did, more
than once. They’ll regret it. We know what to do.
“We have mobilised our Armed Forces, security services
and law enforcement agencies to repel the terrorist threat.
Everyone must be aware of their responsibility, including
the authorities, political parties, civil society organisations
and the media...”
–Russian
President VladimirPutin in his State of the
Union address on Thursday, December 3, 2015
I was
always skeptical about flying to Ghana on Turkish Airlines. Many
things have been said about the airline. It is commonly known that transit in Istanbul sometimes took
about 24 hours and passengers had to spend a night in a hotel. I also felt that
Turkey was so close to Iraq, and that the long standing dispute between
Iraq and the Turkish Kurds
could suddenly spark off terrorism which could affect planes flying from Turkey.
All these things frightened me and I always said
to myself never to fly Turkish Airlines. This year, at the time I was about to
travel to Ghana,
Turkish Airlines happened to have the cheapest rates of all the airlines I
checked. I was tempted and decided to give them a try.
A bit of facts about Turkey:
They have been trying hard to be counted among the developed countries of Europe and want to join the EU. They hype their
achievements and one of their prides is Turkish Airlines. They have
advertisements in major international media saying how good the Airline is and
the awards they have received.
Some major footballers in the world have appeared
on some of these ads. One popular and funny one pits Drogba against Messi in an
epic food battle featuring many exotic dishes served on the airline which you
are not likely to get on the Accra
journey. It is evident in my personal opinion that what they say in these ads
did not meet up with their services as I experienced when I travelled in their
aircraft to Ghana.
I get the impression that they have different and better services to the developed
world but poorer services to the third world.
Through inefficient management of the Airline or
absolute and deliberate corruption, Ghana Airways collapsed never to rise
again. Ghanaians have been travelling very much with airlines which are better
known to them, and these are: British Airways, KLM and Lufthansa. These
companies use huge aircrafts for long distance journeys. These are wide-bodied
passenger jet airliners.
The article will mainly be talking about Turkish
Airlines and the uncomfortable treatment meted out to passengers travelling to Ghana. In July
there was an urgent need for me to travel to Ghana. Since their rates were some
thirty percent lower than the next cheapest airline, I chose to travel with
them for the first time despite the mixed feelings and suspicions I have for
the airline. The plane left very early in the morning and we were to transit in
Istanbul. The
immigration process was simple and waiting period to board another plane to Accra was just three
hours.
A personal note. I’m not writing from my usual location, comfortably at home on my desktop - currently hospitalized, hopefully released soon.
I’ll be briefer than usual, conserving strength - thankful to maintain daily communication with readers, best as able when less than par.
*Obama and Putin (pix: vox)
Let’s not mince words. Washington is no Russian partner. Its policy is adversarially hostile, notably during the Cold War, especially throughout Putin’s leadership years - a preeminent world leader/peace champion polar opposite rogues running America, perhaps one day able to turn the tide against their hegemonic agenda.
Saving humanity from the scourge of another devastating global war - potential nuclear armageddon - depends on his efforts to prevent it.
Washington’s rage for endless wars threatens world peace, security and humanity’s survival. Bipartisan US policymakers tolerate no independent countries, especially Russia, China and resource rich ones like Iraq, Libya, Iran and Venezuela - two down, two to go plus others.
