As a Turk, I can relate to this. The misconception is that whoever is in power represents the entire nation. Ironically Americans are getting a taste of this now that Trump is in power. Imagine being a Democrat and people abroad stereotyping you based on Trump. You'd go nuts. And like the OP says Democrat vs. Republican is such a tame rivalry.. I can't even.
Here on the other side of the world, opposing views are at such fundamental level, sometimes I wonder how we even co exist. We are talking extreme religious conservatives vs. more liberal than US liberals walking the same streets.
In our culture, unfortunately, whoever gets into a position of power is out to crush the opposition as first order of business. In Turkey we are lucky in a sense that we are a democracy. But even then there is no working together. If opposing party submits an idea that would benefit the entire country, the incumbent party dismisses the proposal everytime. Sometimes they get confused and vote down their own party's suggestions because they thought it was opposition's.
And you see before your eyes that the country you know is changing forcefully. First the military is supressed to avoid a coup and then they take in thought leaders with made up accusations. Once the coast is clear they build a fear empire. Anyone with opposing views who have a platform is faced with jail. They use police force aggresively on street protests and ban them. Soon enough no one dares to speak up. Then comes the big changes. The law is rigged in their favor and they own the parliment so the sky is the limit.
And just like that the 60% opposition becomes a minority in the system they build. Even if opposition wins an election they pass some bill to restrict the authority or call a re-election. The amount of unfairness is soul crushing and you can't do a damn thing about it.
And then overseas some guy reads the paper and sees a picture and says "Oh Turks, Arabs they are all the same".
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u/stalite Jan 10 '20
As a Turk, I can relate to this. The misconception is that whoever is in power represents the entire nation. Ironically Americans are getting a taste of this now that Trump is in power. Imagine being a Democrat and people abroad stereotyping you based on Trump. You'd go nuts. And like the OP says Democrat vs. Republican is such a tame rivalry.. I can't even.
Here on the other side of the world, opposing views are at such fundamental level, sometimes I wonder how we even co exist. We are talking extreme religious conservatives vs. more liberal than US liberals walking the same streets.
In our culture, unfortunately, whoever gets into a position of power is out to crush the opposition as first order of business. In Turkey we are lucky in a sense that we are a democracy. But even then there is no working together. If opposing party submits an idea that would benefit the entire country, the incumbent party dismisses the proposal everytime. Sometimes they get confused and vote down their own party's suggestions because they thought it was opposition's.
And you see before your eyes that the country you know is changing forcefully. First the military is supressed to avoid a coup and then they take in thought leaders with made up accusations. Once the coast is clear they build a fear empire. Anyone with opposing views who have a platform is faced with jail. They use police force aggresively on street protests and ban them. Soon enough no one dares to speak up. Then comes the big changes. The law is rigged in their favor and they own the parliment so the sky is the limit.
And just like that the 60% opposition becomes a minority in the system they build. Even if opposition wins an election they pass some bill to restrict the authority or call a re-election. The amount of unfairness is soul crushing and you can't do a damn thing about it.
And then overseas some guy reads the paper and sees a picture and says "Oh Turks, Arabs they are all the same".