Job Discussion Forums

[eclectic]

Don't think what has just happened is just fluff and mirrors this time. We're talking a major international violation here. israel has boarded the Turkish-sponsored ships and MOD EDIT 11 CIVILIANS who were Europeans, Turks, Italians and Palestinians, who were DELIVERING FOOD AND MEDICINE to Gaza.

Turkey has recalled its ambassador to israel and the entire country is in a wild uproar against israeli actions today. LIke I said a few weeks back, which caused others to poo-poo (or is it pooh-pooh?) my warnings, BIG AND SUDDEN GEOPOLITICAL EVENTS are happening, and it seems to get bigger and more shocking by the day. Let's all keep our eyes open and always prepare for the worst.

[Otterman Ollie]

Does this mean the inevitable clash of civilizations has come to Turkey?

Or are we and any other pro- Jewish people going to get stoned (metaphorically speaking) in the street?

[eclectic]

Well, I think it means that these events--and others like them--can quickly develop into dangerous situations for anyone who is in one of the countries involved and may be perceived as an instigator.

When you say "we", please leave me out! Thank you. I don't support stealing other peoples' land like in 1948 and creating a country out of thin air based on nothing but a religious text written 4 thousand years ago, which claims that that land there is the promised land of israel.

YOu may get stoned in the Turkish streets (haha! I like your choice of words ], if you go around advertising you are pro-israel. I think that is very clear. Just like you shouldnt go around in Pyongyang advertising you are pro-Seoul.

Hey Otto, you dont really get stoned I hope?

[Henry_Cowell]

[Mr. Kalgukshi]

As long as this thread focuses on how the situation can or does affect teachers in Turkey, it will be permitted. This assumes that the thread will also remain in compliance with other board guidelines, ToS, rules, etc.

The thread will not be permitted if it is used to discuss the general politics of the area or as a repository for inflammatory comments.

Members that post in contravention of the above will be sanctioned.

[eclectic]

I think teachers in Turkey--by that I mean teachers from western nations like USA, England, etc.-- could be affected immediately in the following very realistic scenario:

*making political statements in the classroom/outside the classroom at a time when it may be very tempting to voice our dismay about what is happening. Students may try to bait teachers into taking a position on the issue--anything like this is 100% feasible.

Turkey has been known to become very nationalistic and protectionist to the point of what some have deemed "paranoid" during int'l crises like this flotilla-massacre crisis. Teachers who express open contradiction AT ORGANIZED RALLIES for example to Turkey's position on the issue COULD be viewed as problematic--OR THEY MAY BE PERCEIVED to be a threat for being vocal dissenters, whether in blogs or publications or even attending rallies, etc.--and this could lead to a crackdown or even a change on bringing foreigners from western countries into Turkey at this EXTREMELY SENSITIVE TIME.

Remember when things get extremely sensitive--LIKE LAST MONTH REGARDING THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ISSUE--the Turkish leadership has NO PROBLEM WHATSOEVER making very bold and shocking statements like "maybe we should deport all the illegal Armenians from Turkey", etc.

It is but a very small step from this latest crisis--which I think is much MUCH worse geopolitically than the vote in the US Congress about the Armenian genocide bill--for the Turkish government to act against any foreigners PERCEIVED to be "aiding" the enemy.

Teachers need to be VERY WELL ACQUAINTED WITH GEOPOLITICS these turbulent days, and to remember every time they open their mouths in public that "WHEN IN ROME, DO AS THE ROMANS DO".

We are guest workers and cannot always enjoy the freedoms we have in our home countries to express ourselves very vocally and "incitefully" in our host countries. We must be very internationally-aware, more than eer before, of the delicate environment we are in.

[007]

[Otterman Ollie]

Yeah its been a while since I got stoned in the street if I ever did. Seriously though folks, politics religion sex and football are TABOO topics in the class room. You bring them up at your peril!
I won't even begin to debate the rights and the wrongs of the whole incident, but I have polled my collegues and the overwhelming comment from guest worker and local alike is that Israel made a seriously wrong judgement!

[eclectic]

007 glad to read your agreement here. Didnt know you spoke Turkish! Good, man!

Ollie, yes I agree, and hope you never actually got stoned in the street, tho u r confusing me a bit with that expression!

Yes this was a great thread and I truly believe it is useful to review this kind of thing for us westerners who are quite used to voicing our opinions ad nauseum, I being most guilty of this phenomenon I quite readily admit.

Yes, as I get older, the "when in Rome" bit gets more and more essential it seems. "When in Byzantium" is the modification at this point in time.

[dragbag]

I was a grad student in Turkey in 1998 at METU in Ankara. Spent the year dodging political discussions. When they cornered me I would just say "I agree with Ataturk" to be safe. The one political conversation I got into with a friend was over raki, it ended in a fist fight, broken glass table, and a few stitches to my back....

The fight was a draw officially

[eclectic]

well thats exactly what I mean. Now imagine MY potential predicament: Im an Armenian-American whose grandparents escaped Turkey in 1915 and came to New York City.

Will I get drawn into any political debates about this?...hmmmmmm....

I highly doubt it. Remember Hrant Dink?

[dragbag]

In hindsight I should add, I love Turkey, I call it my second home, go there every year and have Turkish friends I call brothers, habibi if you will. One of them is the dude I went through the table on top off. Good advice in the thread though cause things can get hot around politics.

[eclectic]

yeah man, thanks, glad to see some people can recognize that the topic is quite relevant and realistic.

Our cerebrums are all independent bubbles and the cognition is 100% isolated in its own universe by synaptic transmission along the NOdes of Ranvier, as I learned in Psychobiology at Rutgers College way back in the 80s when that field was beginning to burgeon, blossom, explode, effloresce. It means despite our sincere attempts at melding, mixing, interacting in open-minded fashion, we are hopelessly boxed-in by seratonin, epinephrine, norepinephrine, and guanyline on a personal level, and this will undoubtedly and inadvertently cause us to, at the wrong times it always seems, put our foot in our mouth.

[billy orr]

The portrayal of Turks as violent, aggressive brutes who will beat up anyone who expresses an opinion they do not like is absurd and extremely offensive. I discuss politics on a daily basis here and have done for years. I hear others discussing politics too, never any violence.

It is not taboo for a teacher to talk politics to a class, it is unethical, because of the power imbalance between teacher and students, especially so when the power imbalance is magnified by the teacher using L1 and the students using L2.

Please do not use Dave�s to propagate views that vilify and demonise Turks. Those views are based on racist stereotypes and personal prejudices, not on the realities of every day life here in Turkey.