Power Games: Luxury Cars With Sirens On Ankara Streets

In recent years Ankara has been increasingly terrorized by multiplying numbers of luxury cars with civilian license plates rigged with flashing hazard lights and sirens.
Alright, so we've accepted official state cars as such, but what sort of privileges are we meant to extend to these -- outwardly at least --civilian cars? These are cars, it should be pointed out, that tend to travel flanked by security escort vehicles, many of which use “jammers,” meant to disrupt telephone signals and the like in the area. And so normal citizens find their cell phone signals blocked as one of these convoys head down the street and they realize that one of the “privileged” must be passing by. These sirens and flashing-light bearing cars do not respect normal traffic rules and are aggressive towards other cars. On larger highways, they often prefer to use emergency lanes to the side of the road to get more speed. But who are these people? Some are mid or high-level government officials who work at ministries, while others are business figures who, claiming they are under “threat,” get police escorts for themselves. Others might be political consultants, fair-weather intellectuals, or really just anyone who has gotten that precious taste of privilege and can no longer let go. These cars with their flashing lights have become fashionable in a way; the lights and sirens symbolize power and privilege.
Private security services are another symbol of power and privilege in Turkey. This particular symbol made its way into the news recently when villagers in Manisa, who were guarding olive trees from destruction, were attacked by private security units. In short, Turkey has become a country where mayors at the helm of towns with populations of just a few thousand now travel around with private security details and municipal police escorts. Signboards announcing the “rector” at universities or the “head doctor” at hospitals have begun to be written in larger letters than the signboards announcing the names of those institutions. And in fact, these days it's nearly impossible to gain entry to university campuses or residential complexes due to the presence of private security units. Walls have ironwork surrounding their tops, and as if that were not enough, these have razor wire atop of them. Little doubt the next step will be to feed electricity into that security wiring.

Another widespread show of privilege in Turkey is the ostentatious use of VIP lounges at airports. Turkish Airlines (THY) now gives automatic upgrades from economy class to business class for all deputies, regardless of whether they are current or former deputies. Not including deputies who the government -- and thus THY -- wishes to punish, of course. Those who don't receive upgrades seem to see this issue as Turkey's most pressing matter. Some bureaucrats and politicians board their flights surrounded by flanks of guards. Some bureaucrats, on trips abroad from Ankara, choose not to fly with AnadoluJet directly to their destinations, because of its lack of business class, instead switching in İstanbul to THY. My question then becomes, when Turks obtain power, do their body sizes change, leading them to literally “need” the extra centimeters provided by business class?

Meanwhile, in Ankara one can see the accumulation of power and position in bureaucracy reflected in the size of people's offices. Chauffeurs, bodyguards, servants, tea-servers... you name it. If these luxuries are all provided by the purse strings of the state budget, all the better, because after all, there is no tradition among Turkish citizens of questioning the use of state funds. Of course, citizens throughout the country are well aware of the power of the state. But rather than protest against the reckless spending of this state budget, citizens work to become a part of this power and this spending, which is why so many young Turks aim to be part of the bureaucracy one day. After all, when you are a government clerk in Turkey, you can never lose your job. In fact, you do not have to have expertise to work in any particular department.
One recent poll of university students in İstanbul revealed that in response to the question “What sort of job do you want to have after you finish university?” more than one-fourth of these students replied, “Something powerful.” One-third replied, “Something with money.” The remaining few replied, “Something I love.” When the pollsters asked which Turkish TV series characters were their favorites, young men replied, “Polar Alemdar from ‘Valley of the Wolves',” while young women tended to say, “Hurrem Sultan from ‘Suleiman the Magnificent'.” In other words, the replies centered once more around power.
One more note: Turks with power tend to start fights by saying, “Do you have any idea who I am?!” And Turks who long for power warn others, “Ah, the moment I get my hands on some power, do you have any idea what I would do to you?!”

HASAN KANBOLAT (Cihan/Today's Zaman)