Friday, April 25, 2008 | Mehmet Ali Birand

ANK - The same song has been playing in my head since childhood: “ 23 Nisan, neşe doluyor insan...” meaning, “it’s the 23rd of April, it always gives one a thrill,” (‘joy’s a better word, but it doesn’t rhyme!). We always like to sing this song even at times when we don’t believe much in it. 

I was in Ankara on Wednesday.  I first took the pulse of the capital. Then I attended the reception held by Speaker Toptan. 

Joy was nowhere to be seen. To the contrary,  the place was full of sulking faces and hostile looks, especially before the cameras.

It was a very weird reception. Ninety percent of the guests were men. Especially towards the end, it became an army of red faced, sweating — and some stinking of it — men who tried to kiss you by force and got your cheeks all wet.

It feels funny to be pounced on and kissed by strangers who hug you to their chests with the force of a champion wrestler.

Some lunge forward as if to kiss you, pass and clink heads with you. Some do it lightly, while others almost butt you. Head clinking can lose its charm for inexperienced clinkers. Squeezed into a corner by all these men, women looked somewhat dazed by this view and chatted to each other.

At such receptions, it is very easy to pinpoint each leader. All you have to do is approach any group of men huddled together to see one of the leaders standing in the middle, surrounded by his close associates that some might call his  lackeys.

Each leader, usually giving the illusion of being wrapped in a rainbow, stands there accepting praise, while others are frantically trying to kiss his hand or to show themselves or to deliver an “I love you” of somewhat doubtful sincerity.

For a great number of guests, the reception is their only chance to approach a leader. Hence, the attempts to touch him continue until the very end.

The most repellent view was the state of the tables 15-20 minutes after the buffet was opened.  Eggplant, sweet desserts, artichokes and rice were jumbled together like in a garbage can. That’s when I realized that the majority of the guests had never heard of eating etiquette.

“Was anything positive at all?” you might wish to ask. The most positive thing I can remember was that “no smoking” signs were observed.

Putting satire aside, Speaker Toptan was a sight for sore eyes as usual with his smiling face, especially in that environment. Another nice thing about the reception was the opportunity to come together with a lot of friends. The best part was when Erhan Karadağ and I managed to get out of there after a short stay.

Bahçeli looks much nicer when he smiles:

At the reception, I found the opportunity to have a brief chat with MHP Leader Bahçeli. Most of us know him as a stern, angry man with a loud voice, because we only get the chance to see him on TV, addressing the MHP group or a demonstration meeting. However, he is a polite, modest man. He is most attractive when he smiles.

Deprived of the slightest smile or lenience throughout the 23 April celebration, Bahçeli’s natural and  courteous approach to DTP Representatives Hasip Kaplan and Ahmet Türk  was like a  much-needed ray of sunshine and a newsworthy event. We’d really missed seeing that.  We had grown so tired of continuous fighting and bickering that the sweet expression on Bahçeli’s face made us all happy.

No scarves and generals:

There were a couple of  things about the reception that disturbed me.  One of them was the absence of turbaned women. Obviously, the AKP leadership had issued a democratic order for them “not to attend” and their subjects had kept away (!)

Why? Wasn’t the turban important after all? Or did they do this out of their wish to “avoid tension?” I fail to see what they were trying to prove.

The second one was the conspicuous absence of the military, coupled with  the prime minister’s insistent refusal to shake the hands of DTP members. Rumour has it that the general staff refrained from going in order to avoid being in the same room with the DTP members. As for the prime minister, his attitude is supposedly caused by the refusal of the DTP to disown the PKK. 

I also criticize the DTP’s relations with the PKK. Let’s not forget, however, that these people were elected by millions of voters. Doesn’t this isolation policy aggravate the Kurdish issue? Doesn’t it serve to push the DTP closer to the PKK?  Isn’t this reaction a little exaggerated?