Erin Ruffin’s Weblog

It was utter abandon and recklessness contained in the four walls of the city, or not really walls…the banks of the Hudson and East Rivers, more accurately. A playground that stretches up not out. A maze of dark alleys with buzzing streetlights, immigrants and shadows of immigrants from decades ago that crammed beds into a box for a house. Nickels dropped in the 5 cent video machine ten blocks away when they had a nickel to spend on a video. Their lives twisted in grungy frenzies with a roll of bread in their pocket in case they didn’t get a meal tomorrow. Their choked dreams were just unleashed, wings grew in the dark corners of the one room apartment shoulder to shoulder with sisters and brothers.
Stay silent on certain city blocks because it reveals your language and ultimately where you came from and slots you well below the others that came before you from somewhere else, somewhere better and set up camp
on that block
competing with you for a job and food and life.
Sewing machines in the dark, sleeping until the sun woke up with notches on the walls when a dress was finished. Inventory taken on the wooden planks.
Years and years later I walk their hallways and finger their gas lamps that lit the pages they read for food and faith when home was across an ocean but here had promised their children a future.
And I question if maybe I could be brave like them. At all costs, with everything to lose?
Today.
The stylish girls with cigarettes and throw-back heels.
Boys with effortlessly messy hair and skinny legs.
It crawls with the latest, the new, the hip.
But it whispers of struggle
and strength
and a people that would not let go
on common ground
with the same map
on the same quest
to navigate the Lower East Side.

I’m Jewish because love my family matzoh ball soup.
I’m Jewish because my fathers mothers uncles grandmothers said
“Jewish,” all the way back to Vitebsk & Kaminetz-Podolska via Lvov.
Jewish because reading Dostoyevsky at 13 I write poems at restaurant
tables Lower East Side, perfect delicatessen intellectual.
—Allen Ginsberg, “Yiddishe Kopf”

As Turkey steps closer to EU membership, the advantages and disadvantages to having Turkey as a member state are magnified. Every move of Turkish authorities is under close scrutiny and everyway that Turkey is different from the rest of Europe gets watched, analyzed, and debated over. An obvious indication of the gap that separates Turkey from the rest of Europe and the West is the contrasting idea about social expression and freedom of speech. At this point, it is illegal for anyone to express his or her opinion of Turkey if it is negative or condescending. Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code states that “Insulting Turkishness” is a crime.

America and Western Europe are saturated with different opinions, some fiercely opposed to the others, some in direct alignment, but certainly never lacking. This ability for the people to form and express their own opinions leads to innovations and ideas of how to improve issues such as waning international relations or aid to developing countries. There is an innate human desire to put our thoughts and ideas out there to be heard. When this happens, yes, it can spark debates, fights, even violence, but it can also be the vehicle that allows even just a few people to improve something that needs it, or to expose something that is wrongly hidden. This freedom must never be encroached upon. Or is that a strictly western idea?

In December 2005 a column in Yeni Aktuel titled “Conscientious Objection is a Human Right,” written by Perihan Magden, sparked more than just a debate. Magden, a renowned and successful Turkish novelist and somewhat controversial columnist, is an advocate for Turkey’s membership in the EU. Her support of Turkey’s bid to join the EU is not to promote a particular political view or agenda, but because she realizes the potential for Turkey to become an international player on multiple levels. At first glance she would appear to be a hero in Turkish society and politics since her influence in the whole of the European literary community could be used to gain even more support for Turkey. This, however, is not the case. Her opinion column published by Yeni Aktuel in support of a young man who wished to conscientiously object to military service placed her in the courts to face 3 years in prison on the basis of “alienating the people from military service.” On July 27, 2006 the courts ruled in Magden’s favor and her case was dropped.

This case, along with the roughly 60 other similar cases that have faced Turkish journalists and writers in the past year, have been troubling to the top officials of the EU as well as those in Turkey that support freedom of speech. The root of these trials is Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code which states that “Insulting Turkishness” is a crime. This law prohibits anyone from challenging a commonly-held belief or law in Turkey. Many argue this law squelches the ability to think and speak for yourself when it comes to Turkish politics, military, social issues etc.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has indicated that he may lift Article 301 from the Turkish Penal Code in an attempt to satisfy the EU officials that have put talks and negotiations with Turkey on hold. Many ultra-nationals in Turkey believe that the freedom to think and especially say whatever you think could be a threat to the peace of Turkey as well as give way to traitors and terrorist groups. They also believe it is a sign of acceptance of the “Western” way of life and thinking. However, many Turks are in favor because of likelihood that this move could bring Turkey closer to EU membership and the stability that the EU has to offer Turkey.

In Istanbul; Memories and the City, Orhan Pamuk wrote about four of his personal heroes (Yahya Kemal, Resat Ekrem Kocu, Abdulhak Sinasi Hisar, and Tanpinar) by saying “these four melancholic writers drew their strength from the tensions between the past and the present, or between what Westerners like to call East and West; they are the ones who taught me how to reconcile my love for modern art and western literature with the culture of the city in which I live.” Orhan Pamuk, a Turkish writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2006, knows firsthand the tensions between the East and West especially in regards to freedom of speech. Only a year ago he was put on trial under Article 301. He was acquitted but because of his statements about the Armenians being massacred by the Ottoman Turks during World War 1, he has lost incredible support by the general public in Turkey.

The rope between Turkey and the rest of Europe is currently pulled tight in regards to freedom of speech and expression. The debates are endless and the outcomes are unpredictable. However, one thing is for certain, the opinions about the subject aren’t lacking, it’s the ability to express them that is in question.

I live in New York City. I’m almost to my 6-year mark which makes me nearly legitimate.

I was born and raised in the sleepy Midwest state of Iowa. I love being from Iowa. No one knows where it is.

Last year I lived and worked in Istanbul, Turkey.
My apartment looked out over the Bosphorus. The water was a different color every morning.
I taught English and Social Science courses.
I was researching and writing about the generation gap between the X’ers and Y’ers.
I studied and interviewed and wrote about Turkey joining the EU.
I lived and ate and breathed the arts movement happening in that incredible city. It all started with graffiti artists.
I miss Istanbul everyday.

I’m addicted to airports and passport stamps.

Now I’m back in NYC.

I’m writing a book.

I’m working on a documentary film.

I’m working on a non-profit.

I design visual marketing campaigns and displays for companies around North America. My job keeps me insane.

My love for the Middle East & Balkans keeps me up at night and wakes me up in the morning.