Chaotic East rather than boring West

Since I’ve just begun to write for the newspaper, most readers may not know of my interest in the Middle East. In fact, I have been interested in Middle Eastern politics for rather a long time though I am not an international politics guru.

Mine was no longer an interest because I had an urge to visit the Middle Eastern countries following the occupation of Iraq and feel miserable that I hadn’t had a chance to see Baghdad before the occupation. It may not make any sense, but this is how I feel.

Smooth transition

I cannot help but to write about Middle East politics here again. But I think it is better for me to make a smooth transition and not to discourage anyone.

Moreover, I’ve realized that mine is not just a political interest in the region. Let me elaborate this a little more. Although my friends see the rays of orientalism here and that hurts me, my feelings for the Middle East are very sincere.

I love to see some places yet prefer not to see others. But even just for a visit, I want to go to the Middle East, not any Western countries. I am bored with the all-knowing atmosphere in the West.

The "multi-culturalism" that the westerners hold on very tightly to as a result of globalization, of their playing the wise guy all the time and of being boring seems so very calculated, deliberate and fictitious to me.

Their even uniting all the world cuisines in beautiful and rich cities seems being greedy to me.

The difference between the feeling of seeing historic artifacts in their natural environment and of seeing them in museums equals to the feeling of having authentic foods in natural environments and the feeling of having them in these chic restaurants.

The West is the world of people who give no chance to any coincidences or opportunities and who represent everything in a good package, and just for this reason seeing all these as richness not a setback.

I don’t know about the other countries beside that of the Western. The only "East" I know is the Middle East. Almost every country in the region is the opposite of what I described for the West above. So it is good for me. And yes, none of the places are original anymore and yes there is in fact no genuine anymore. I am not a romantic or a mystical person or a woman who is after exotic corners. Still, I find very attractive and convincing the places where life meets us in an impromptu setting with its chaotic aspects or unexpected sides.

This is how the Middle East is despite all its problems and troubles. The cost of eliminating all issues in the East will be its resemblance to the West someday.

It may be unfair not to see the price people in the Middle East are paying. But to me this is a serious price to pay.

As you see I have no space to talk about Qatar, maybe some other time.



Nuray Mert is a columnist for the daily Hürriyet in which this piece appeared yesterday. It was translated into English by the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review's staff