‫كتابات أبو الحق‬

‫سادس عشر من نيسان‬

2010

Turkish Delight

A Kurdish commentator, on Arabtimes site where I issued my

latest editorial, had mentioned something about Turkey being
the country of bribery and theft, to the degree of epidemic. I
myself am not a Turkish fellow, nor do I relate to Turkey by any
means, but I like to tackle such issues, for the sake of comparing
what we have here in Iraq to theirs .
Bribery is a common theme here and there, whether a
commission or any other term covering for it. For this
phenomena to go epidemic in one country, this indicates that the
rules and regulations are very lean ( particularly the enforcement
part of legislations, since almost every constitution is against
bribery, presumably speaking).It also indicates loss of scrutiny
and follow-up too, as well as a shallow level of salaries and
wages of state officials, compared to what is needed to cater for
living and effective market prices. It also indicates an added
criterion of radical wealth levels deviation ,that gap between
Maharajas and Castaways ,all encased within the same society. I
myself have come to realize it, that those rich ones are there
most of the times, to promote for bribing and do the lead , in
order to lubricate things, and save both time and effort, on the
expense of the poor, and sacrificing ethics for final . It all goes
like that part of Quran saying (And do not eat up your property among
yourselves for vanities, nor use it as bait for the judges, with intent that ye may eat up
wrongfully and knowingly a little of (other) people's property. )The cow-188.
Other indication include fragile modes of education and lean
enforcement of religious & state ethics, both individuals-wise
and multitudes-wise, and that is best perceived when you sense
the huge gap between the prevailing terminology, and the
individual's practices. Still, the most dominant cause that drags
people to resort to bribery is the loss of both justice and equity,
when the balance of rights and duties goes berserk. Unlike the
case with adultery, bribery is relevant to more than just a duo .If
you were to approach it in the most righteous manner, you need
to include so many partners in this crime, as explained above.
You will be ending up with the need to "stone" all those
affiliates.
It was at the Iraqi-Syrian borders, rather than the Turkish ones
,that I first knew of bribery. Having been there for the first time,
I missed to do as others did by then, inserting a one dollar worth
(50 Syrian Liras) between the pages of my passport, to
"facilitate" implementation of the routine check there. My
fellow passengers got late for two hours, waiting for my
passport to be released. Actually, I ended asking the officer
there to release it and give me one solid reason to respect his
country, compared to HKJ where I came from by then. He
responded most silently, handing it to me, a silence that was to
tell a thousand stories!!
As for Iraq, I guess there is no need to elaborate much, probing
bribery, for it is more than explicit, i.e. it is approved and
preached by all ministries .We have a unified "price" for a
passport, and for an ID, or an Iraqi Citizenship ID,…etc.
However, I have to acknowledge my gratitude here, for the
Kurdish officials at Ibraheem Al Khaleel terminal, and at other
state institutions there, their airport and customs inspectors in
Erbil, for the polite, descent and keen service that they provide.
You are to enjoy the best treatment there, unlike all other border
check points along the Iraqi borders. I am saluting them, and
pray to God that this "benign disease" is to spread all the way
out , and get their fellow Iraqi officials to be "infected and
contaminated" with it too, because a few hundred kilometers
south of it, you are destined to come across all kinds of
corrupted staff , and those who do not have the guts to ask for a
bribe, favor screwing your case in stead, through using the
regulations to serve the slutty government, rather than serving
you. This is how they understand (Patriotism) and being
honorable !!

Speaking of Turkey, once you are admitted into their territories,

you are prone to be asked by their foxy yellow cab drivers, is it
your first time to Turkey? You would most probably reply
positively, responding to the GG enzyme of your "Green
Gland", the very enzyme responsible for confessing it how it
is !! He would be leading you to an officer's office , where he
will convince you to cut a long way short, and pay a little bribe,
to "hasten" it. His justification will be making use of the fact
that you, most probably, have not arranged for bringing enough
cash to support your living there, some 50 USD per day,
multiplied into your visa duration, i.e., an amount of 1500 USD.
This is clarified at the Turkish Embassy where your passport
had been stamped and granted a visa, but most tourists do not
focus on it and forget to bring more than that amount with them.
This is the shape of the things to come onto you, but it is a case
of a Kurdish cab driver not abiding by the Quranic rule, 'Aayah
188, mentioned above .I am not quite sure what to call this
crime, dear fellow who accused the Turks of being all
corrupted!! Should we be splitting it between both of them, 50-
50, that Turkish officer and the Kurdish driver? Or do we have
to allot each part of it to each offender, proportionally!!

Actually I have described those drivers as being "foxy" most

deliberately. They have lots of tricks to make money through
smuggling tea sacks and foreign cigarettes, using the
passengers suitcases and baggage. They add too much to that
140 USD that they are accustomed to charge, to carry you to
Diyarbekir, north of the borders, not to mention the use of your
own passport, to shop for more foreign cigarettes from the Duty
Free shop there .
This is what awaits you there, not necessarily of course. I myself
had been taken once .Next to that first time of mine, I would
always start a little chat ,using my humble vocabulary of
Turkish language, informing the driver through it all that his
luck is a bit bad this time, and it is "onwards" that he would be
driving all frowningly, not much to be said!
It is most likely that one driver, here or there, is to rob you of
more cash, using a hoax like pretending to have paid for an
entry ticket to the Autogar of theirs, or using the old trick of the
preset meter of his cab. Acquiring the least fluency of Turkish
language is essential, otherwise, you will find yourself helpless,
although realizing what the driver is planning for, but it is about
the typical tricks of all hopeless drivers all around the world.
Back when I was in the army, we used to mimic both (signals
operators and transport corpse drivers, as (Wire & Tyre), for all
the tricks that they used to invent, to dodge any mission or duty
of theirs.

Turkish drivers are used to employing an improvised

mechanism to improve the mileage of their expensive fuel. We
,in contrast to them, have opted to add all kinds of yellow
liquids (!!) to the gasoline we sell to our fellow Iraqi citizens, as
a reaction to any shortage of fuel supply. I felt very sad seeing
all those Turkish gas stations along the way from Silopi extreme
south of Turkey, to Ankara. Such clean and tidy stations of fuel
and lubricants supplies , offering pure fuel of all kinds at the
predetermined tariff , pure gas, yet, almost abandoned with no
much trafficking to nourish them while in my country, there is
hardly one, hardly any single gas station owner, that is neither
into adding water to the fuel, nor keeping his station closed all
the time of the day , having sold the whole delivery to black
market traders at extra-reasonable profits , caring none for the
faggot government that allows all kinds of foul plays like these!!

This is what I used to see along the way between Iraqi towns
and governorates, and the inner image is far worse than that .
Most of the stations are abandoned, for no justified reason, and
the only one tenth operable, has too many pumps inoperative !!
This seems to be the only part of the whole planet, where the
operators pay a salary to the owner of the station , and the more
you offer, the best your chances of being employed are !! Is
there any trace of a state or a government amidst all this chaos?
How much does it cost to repair or even buy, a petrol pump, you
cheap SoB's? How many more years are we to live before seeing
any progress? Is it any possible to make use of stem cells to
create a valid and effective conscience within you? Will you
ever get enough with money? Any chance of getting that sick
"ego' of yours, as you mistake yourselves for another Mahathir
of Malaysia, while all that you are ever capable of , is leading
the people who had elected you, for a deeper downfall?

This is how it is round here. I have elaborated much about it,

only to give you an idea why my nerves are all set on fire all the
time, and why I am always using harsh styles to defend my
points of view .We have had enough, of life that is always
deteriorating more and more, where our yesterdays are always
far better than our anticipated tomorrows. This is how it is, can
you tell me now, who is more eligible to acquire this oil wealth?

I had been to those weird acts of taxi drivers, in Amman too, so

many years ago. The taxi driver robs you through tampering
with the meter reading. Even in Lebanon too, the driver would
be circling around the spot, to bluff you. In Shanli Urfa of
Turkey too, where there is a shrine of Prophet Abraham, and the
majority of its drivers are but Arabs and Kurds. They are
accustomed to bluffing the customers , alleging that their
vehicles are equipped with air conditioning (Qlima, as they
pronounce it, derived from "Climate, Climattizatta of those
FIAT cars).Once the car moves on, you will be discovering it
that there is no air conditioning service and the hot winds of
summer will be hitting your face all the way. Lacking any
fluency of their language, you would be just quitting any
argument, and cling to enjoying the inevitable rape of
Confucius!! The bluff can be addressed "Turkish", or "Kurdish,
or even an "Arabic" one ,it all applies well, but either way you
choose, it would be your inherent intentions that is to dictate it !!
Speaking of theft, I should be telling you that I had never been
robbed there. Neither by their hotel maids, nor while using their
transport , not even in their crowded markets. I beg your pardon,
forgive me for this one . I am sure that they have thieves like all
countries do have , but we could never generalize it, that they all
are thieves, dear Kak Saman. What we already have here in Iraq,
entitles us none of this so-called "right",( I prefer to call it
"wrong", in stead !!). I had been robbed of my car, and of my
car tyres too, my land line had been hijacked , and my mobile
picked from my pocket too, my achievements too, even those
papers and projects that I had contributed through them to serve
my country, they had all been robbed , a jerk hijacked them and
attributed them to himself ,showing no remorse at all!! He was
one of those chameleon human beings who camouflage their
skin appearance to fit the new era, yet, I am taking the blame for
him and his likes, that ex-Ba'thi transformed opportunist ! This
can explain to you most of what we are fighting about . The ex-
bad guys, are part of the current government now, and are re-
practicing the same old tactics, robbery, bribery, ass-kissing and
treason .

This is but a few of what I have experienced here. How much

more am I supposed to enumerate ? We have gone way beyond
any reasonable limit. We need to review and consider all
education & religious courses and curriculums in order to
survive the plight that did hit our lives much like a plague , and I
mean the process of creating muggers and queers out of pious
couples in legitimate matrimony!!
And like mentioned by Mr. Madhloom, the size of trade in
balance between both Iraq & Turkey is very ample and on a
daily basis , which suggests a high degree of trust in Turkish
providers and traders. I myself am no Turkman and have no
reason to defend them except for the right thing to do, truth has
no relatives, you know. Their industries are excellent , same as
their agriculture, and their products are up to the highest
standards like the ISO parameters , for they long to join the Euro
region as we all know. Their DURU soap industry is very good,
for instance, but rest assured that it is our Iraqi Ministry of
Trade which insists on having the poorest 30% concentration
brands , in Ghazi Antep industrial area , to be exported to Iraq in
particular !! Who is to blame, in your opinion? As for us, try
asking any mechanical or electrical engineer, or any industrial
investor, up to a minister may be , " What does the ISO stand
for? What is required to acquire its certificate?". I am pretty sure
the reply will be in the order of "It is that CE sticker that is
stamped on most imported gadgets and equipments !!"

This is a nation that is capable of lending their national and folk

theme to all aspects of life abroad. They are pretty well in
playing all genres of music, to let them speak in Turkish using
their own folk instruments. Their labor guys are always there
" down the cellar ", like said by Iraqi immigrants, for a long
daily session of work, to produce goods that match the top
brands of European models . I believe that we have not been
witnessing any thing resembling that for ages!! We are
undergoing a perpetual hibernation !!

I know that my lines cause some irritation and harassment for

some of my Iraqi readers, but this is the undisputed truth. Our
country is very much retarded , and doomed in fact .We may be
doing the right thing disclosing things as they are . The
"Alfresco" sports playgrounds in Kurdistan are but a copy of
what the Turks already have. Even the colors of paints of their
buildings resemble those out there across the borders. Gas
stations, supermarkets , and malls too, are all following the
Turkish patterns. These are some modern life styles and patterns
that have become worldwide . It is not favored here for the mere
cause of prestige and modernization, but rather for the added
advantage of " softening" the hard and harsh tempers of our
people, bringing them to a lean and more patient style of
conduct, rather than pushing and racing in those local markets,
where every body is for himself all the time. It is no use having
the old establishments renewed each year, without getting
people to upgrade their mentality and their sense of art and
beauty, in parallel . We have been turning in circles for too long,
all because of this, with sick phenomena like those brokers and
middle guys!

In fact, most of the grace prevailing in Kurdistan owes much of

it to the Turkish architecture here and there. They have opted for
the best when they invited Turkish contractors and construction
companies to implement their projects, stuff like the university
dormitories on Kirkuk road, and those Anikawa-Erbil Airport
residential complexes ..etc.

Last February, I had a chance to indulge into protests of labor, at

Qizilay(Red Crescent) square, Ankara, they were asking for
better employment opportunities . The well organized people
were marching next to policemen alerted till after midnight ,
with posters and caricature drawings to support their case , and
hundreds of them spending their days inside tents ,warmed by
kerosene heaters to survive the extreme cold of the season, and
too much chat and tea sessions to clear their demands and
convey it to all media correspondents. Their fierce and zealous
folk dances late night reminded me of "Sacco & Vanzetti"
movie in those seventies. It was very vivid and heart warming to
me and to all spectators there, who kept clapping and
applauding all night long . It was their 103 rd day by then, far
from their homes and endeared families. This is what I can call
"Democracy", and getting all the world to know what you are
after, unlike our savage government , killing and dumping
people for sectarian conflicts. We need to quit talking about the
past, for the present is here and it is far more insistent to find a
cure for the open wound that we are living. This is the seventh
year in a row, and we haven't witnessed any progress. Not a
single new bridge to start, not one street that hadn't been spoiled
and made to close. All doctors are prone to kidnapping, killing
and battering by police squads .I am talking about something
that all of us Iraqis are complaining of, whether Sunni, Shiite,
Christians, or Turkmen. I feel attached, and that is why I am
tackling these painful issues. We would all be losing ourselves
and integrity, if we were not to stalk those assassins and punish
them. All Iraqis are requested to roam the streets and shout their
hearts out, so that the world be knowing it, what we are
undergoing here.
The followings are a few images of some of those nice people
whom I met there, Jailan from Izmir, and her mates too. The
young guy is in his final year of Computer Engineering, she
herself is studying German language and arts.
I couldn't help comparing that protesting march with a little one
here in Mosul. Sadly, I have no images for it, because showing a
camera there might suggest detention !! A few junk sellers
raising the poorest and ugliest signs asking the governor,
himself, to allow them a second chance before banning their
ugly chambers, selling second hand shoes and clothes here and
there. This is how democracy is demonstrated here !! In a
country that has the greatest wealth of all, how come we allow
our people to be using what the American people had consumed
and wiped clean before discarding with it !!. Isn't it a crime to
remain the poorest nation on earth, after all these years? What
benefit did we have after seven years of liberation and alleged
democracy?
Some might mistake it all for a democracy that is really worth it,
but do I stand a chance of asking the local council here to take
care of all destroyed roads, garbage dumping sites right between
the houses, extreme smoke of generators, as well as all weird
atrocities of government and state staff ? Is their democracy any
able to receive my complaints and react accordingly? I am really
desperate as to when will we be quitting all these hideous
scenes! Each time a humble project is to be commenced, a few
bunch start wailing and pretending to be a victim of it , asking
for another second chance. In Duhok, they erased a whole slum
at the very entrance to their beautiful town, right at Aloka
bridge, and arranged for a descent complex to home those
people in stead, those who have been there for decades. Try
comparing it with what we have right at the five entrances of
Mosul, and you would surely be shocked to see the
environmental crisis prevailing there. It requires a hell of
funding and honest efforts to clear it all, almost millions of (man
.hour) units, this same parameter that had been overlooked
completely, when this miserable governorate implemented
Sinhareeb bridge, taking tens of years to implement it, and using
no more than 3 men to finish it! In fact, it took them half a man,
multiplied by millions of hours!! Great people in deed!!

The final thing to poise is what had been mentioned about the
Turks being very radical and chauvinist. I myself think that all
people around our Arab homeland ,except Arabs of course , are
prone to this feature, and I mean Iranians and Israelites . The
Turks do not ban Arabic language like said somewhere else on
Arabtimes site. Actually, the 15% percentage of illiterate
women in Turkey is attributed to the south east part of the
country, where tribal culture prohibits women from going to
schools. All Turkish towns adjacent to Syria are known to speak
Arabic and teach it . The Turkish language itself, which is the
official language for all Turkey, lends itself to Arabic language
very much . You can understand it most easily, but it still is hard
for you as an Arab fellow, to communicate with them and speak
Turkish. They have some pretty hard pronunciation of their
own, and their way of sequencing the verb, the object, and the
subject, is quite bizarre ,compared to our own. That is why they
do not follow your moves, if you were to try composing a
sentence, on your own. The difference between their language
and ours is exactly like that between French and English, where
the adjective comes first in English, unlike French.

But their endearment for their nationality is not just a negative

luxurious trend, nor it is meant for hostility issues. It had led
them to adopt their own advances in all aspects of life. It is a
part of a mass ID system, relying on a vast and deeply rooted
history , and great achievements back then when ottomans ruled
over half the world, and all Tsars and Sultans were afraid to
harass them. It got them to dispense with importing . They are
there to manufacture things, or at least, assemble them in stead.
Almost each province of theirs has its own icon and identity, for
instance, Ghazi Antep pistachio , referring to the town that
defeated the French occupation, and Urfa with its Urfali pigeons
and Urfali kebab. The Turks do not force others to use their
language, in stead, they are coming back for Arabic terminology
in Izmir, Istanbul and Ankara. The way I see it is that when our
voltage , as neighbors of theirs, is very low compared to theirs,
then we are destined to have their current flowing from their
side into ours, not the other way round. This is most true from
the point of view of electricity, and that of Mr. Norton, and his
friend Kirchhoff, too .Actually, it is the same point of view of
Mr. Bernoulli, viewing things from a perspective of fluids !!
This was how we learned English back when we were kids at
school, and this is why we are mandated to learn Latin medical
terminology too. The Europeans themselves had to do so, back
in those eras of Abbasid caliph, Al Ma'moon, and Andalusia
times, voltage gradient rules OK !!.
Their march of life , in general, is worth much respect, as I see
it. Let's be frank and have the guts to admit our own fallacies.
We had been on the course of wasting all those chances granted
to us by God himself, things that too many nations had been
deprived of . This may be the first step to take, in order to
ascend that long stairway up. Forgive me Mr. Ramadhan
Mubarak for too much elaboration on this. You may pick
shorter editorials in stead of mine, and switch for other writers
to skip any boredom. These writings have their own audience,
and they blame me once I am late, and blame me once more, if
my editorials were to come out missing its rich blend !!