As you may know I'm currently living in a dormitory in Velenjak, an upper-class district in Tehran's fancy North. There is always a cool wind coming from the impressive Alborz mountains, which are basically right in front of my balcony. I'm sure you can imagine how beautiful the view from my balcony is. :)
Across the street there are several nice restaurants that serve traditional Iranian food (ghazaha-ye sanati). You can get some really good Kebab down there. The food is a bit more expensive but believe me, it's worth to pay more. In the evenings these restaurants become really full and you can hear music and laughter coming from there. In the weekends these places are getting even more crowded and the already busy "Boulevard-e Daneshjoo" (Students Boulevard) turns into a highway where young Iranians driving up the hill to "Bam-e Tehran", a very nice viewpoint at the foot of Mt. Tochal.
A couple of days ago, I was sitting on my balcony enjoying the beautiful sunset. Suddenly I heard some very familiar vibes:
"Mavi Mavi masmaviiiii,
Gözleri boncuk mavi
Bir gördüm aşık oldum
Şu gelen kimin yariii..."
It was a very famous song of Ibrahim Tatlıses, better known as "Ibo", one of Turkey's most popular pop-folk singers. Down there someone was listening to Ibo. And apparently he liked it very much because you could hear this catchy tune literally everywhere.
I was amazed. I went out on my balcony hoping to figure out where exactly the music was coming from. I was standing there for several minutes, listening to a song I hadn't listened to in years and smiling all over my face. "What a strange feeling, I'm listening to Turkish pop-folk in Velenjak" I said to myself. :)
On another occasion I was waiting with two friends for my Bus to Mt. Damawand. It was a hot day and I went into a small shop (Baghalli) to buy some water. Once again a noticed a very familiar melody. This time however it was not Ibo but Ahmet Kaya, also a highly popular singer in Turkey who died in 2000. I have to admit that I'm a big fan of Ahmet Kaya. I know his songs very well and recognized the song immediately. It was "Şafak Türküsü", one of his best songs. A guy was sitting in the corner, listening to this very melancholic song. I went there and told him in Turkish that he has a good taste. He looked at me and said "Chiiii?" (What???). Caught by surprise I switched to my terrible Farsi whereupon another guy said that the guy who was listening to Ahmet Kaya is a Kurd and does not speak any Turkish. He begged me to translate the lyrics, an impossible task for me regarding my poor Farsi skills. :(
I wished him a good day and went to my bus realizing once again how popular Turkey is in Iran.
I knew before that Turkish pop-culture was very popular in here. Not only music but also TV shows like "Hurrem Sultan" (better known in Turkey as Muhteşem Yüzyıl), "Kuzey-Güney" or "Lale Devri". These television dramas are very popular in Turkey and in recent years they, and also many other TV shows, have become Turkey's export hit. There is a huge demand for these TV formats in the Middle East. Sometimes they are subtitled, sometimes synchronized, but in Iran people are usually watching them via satellite TV in original language.
If you know Iran, you will also know that there is a huge Azeri minority. Cities like Tabriz, Urmia, Ardabil or Qazvin, mainly located in Iran's North-West, are also known as Azeri cities. It is not surprising that Azeris have an affection for Turkey. But it is not limited to them.
You can find a lot of ethnic Persians able to speak Turkish properly (unfortunately in Turkey this is not the case). They learn it through daily interaction with their Azeri friends, colleagues or neighbors, through satellite TV but also through visiting Turkey intensively. Iranians do not need a Visa for Turkey. According to a report prepared by the Turkish Statistical Institute, almost 1.2 million Iranians visited Turkey in 2012 (Alltogether 31 790 000 Tourists visited Turkey in 2012). In other words, Iranians are among the top ten nations visiting Turkey.
As you can see there is a huge interest for Turkey in Iran. Whenever I speak to Iranians and tell them that I'm of Turkish origin they show me so much love and respect. Turkey is popular here and I think Turkey should use its soft-power in Iran to strengthen relations with its neighbor. The last thing Turkey's government would have to fear concerning a more constructive approach, is public resistance in Iran.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Impressions from Tehran: Interesting 15 minutes at Vanaq Sqare
It has been a week since I arrived in Tehran and it took me a while to get used to the daily chaos. Little by little I get acclimatized to this beautiful city. That's partly based on the fact that I'm pretty busy with my studies at Dekhoda Institute and many other things. Originally I wanted to post an article on Turkish-Iranian relations on which I was working last week. But after today I thought it would be better to write a very short blog entry about my 15 minutes at a bus station near Vanaq Sq.
I was about to meet a very good friend of mine who is living in Pasdaran (district in North-Tehran). We agreed upon meeting around 6.30 PM. That's basically rush-our in Tehran and so I said that I would take the bus from Velenjak (another district in North-Tehran) to Vanaq Sq where we wanted to go to a cafe.
Anyways, I arrived there around 6, took a seat at the bus station and started reading my tremendous book (Jenny White: Muslim Nationalism and the New Turks). The bus station was very crowded. Men and women were waiting in separate rows for the buses. Everything looked very organized and rehearsed. Young fashionable girls, business men, hipsters etc. patiently waiting for their turn. Some girls sat next to me and suddenly I was surrounded by women, so that I became concerned whether I was sitting at the women's area of the bus station. But nobody seemed to be disturbed by my appearance and so I kept on reading my book. After I while I took out my note-book to write down some interesting parts that I've read. A girl in a red "manto" was sitting on my right. I noticed she was spiking in my note-book. Suddenly she said: "You are not Iranian?". "No" I replied, "I'm from Germany.""Ahan, I knew it" she said.
I was surprised by that answer. Normally people here think I'm Iranian because apparently I look pretty much like an ordinary Iranian guy. However, according to Azadeh (the girls name) I wasn't dressed like an average Iranian man and I was reading a book which is (unfortunately) not a very common thing for men in Iran (I was wearing sun-glasses, a white T-shirt with the Union Jack on it and grey jeans).
Anyways, Azadeh is a 20 years old student of electrical engineering at an University in Tehran. Her English was not great but also not too bad which is often the case with young Iranians (my personal experience). She was very curious and I had the feeling that she enjoyed speaking to me very much. I had to answer the "usual" questions, like for instance "What are you doing in Iran?", "Why do you want to learn Farsi?", "Do you like Iran?", "What do the people in your country think about Iran?" etc etc.
After I answered her questions I asked her if she ever met a foreigner. She giggled and said no, further admitting that I'm the first foreigner she was talking to. "My brother and my sister are in America and I want to go there too, but my English has to improve", she continued. I asked her whether she likes Iran and if it's the case, why she wants to leave. She claimed that she loves her life in Iran, even if it's hard sometimes but in the US she would have a greater chance for success and "isn't success what makes life worth living?" she asked me in return. Once again caught by surprise I said "Sure, together with other things."
I think Azadeh is not an exception in Iran. Young, beautiful and self-confident despite all the difficulties she has to face in her daily life. She was very convincing and I had the feeling that she is truly happy. I hope she will achieve her aims and become even more happy. Good luck Azadeh...
I was about to meet a very good friend of mine who is living in Pasdaran (district in North-Tehran). We agreed upon meeting around 6.30 PM. That's basically rush-our in Tehran and so I said that I would take the bus from Velenjak (another district in North-Tehran) to Vanaq Sq where we wanted to go to a cafe.
Anyways, I arrived there around 6, took a seat at the bus station and started reading my tremendous book (Jenny White: Muslim Nationalism and the New Turks). The bus station was very crowded. Men and women were waiting in separate rows for the buses. Everything looked very organized and rehearsed. Young fashionable girls, business men, hipsters etc. patiently waiting for their turn. Some girls sat next to me and suddenly I was surrounded by women, so that I became concerned whether I was sitting at the women's area of the bus station. But nobody seemed to be disturbed by my appearance and so I kept on reading my book. After I while I took out my note-book to write down some interesting parts that I've read. A girl in a red "manto" was sitting on my right. I noticed she was spiking in my note-book. Suddenly she said: "You are not Iranian?". "No" I replied, "I'm from Germany.""Ahan, I knew it" she said.
I was surprised by that answer. Normally people here think I'm Iranian because apparently I look pretty much like an ordinary Iranian guy. However, according to Azadeh (the girls name) I wasn't dressed like an average Iranian man and I was reading a book which is (unfortunately) not a very common thing for men in Iran (I was wearing sun-glasses, a white T-shirt with the Union Jack on it and grey jeans).
Anyways, Azadeh is a 20 years old student of electrical engineering at an University in Tehran. Her English was not great but also not too bad which is often the case with young Iranians (my personal experience). She was very curious and I had the feeling that she enjoyed speaking to me very much. I had to answer the "usual" questions, like for instance "What are you doing in Iran?", "Why do you want to learn Farsi?", "Do you like Iran?", "What do the people in your country think about Iran?" etc etc.
After I answered her questions I asked her if she ever met a foreigner. She giggled and said no, further admitting that I'm the first foreigner she was talking to. "My brother and my sister are in America and I want to go there too, but my English has to improve", she continued. I asked her whether she likes Iran and if it's the case, why she wants to leave. She claimed that she loves her life in Iran, even if it's hard sometimes but in the US she would have a greater chance for success and "isn't success what makes life worth living?" she asked me in return. Once again caught by surprise I said "Sure, together with other things."
I think Azadeh is not an exception in Iran. Young, beautiful and self-confident despite all the difficulties she has to face in her daily life. She was very convincing and I had the feeling that she is truly happy. I hope she will achieve her aims and become even more happy. Good luck Azadeh...
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