Euphorie und Wehmut

What kind of country is this, where minors sit in prison without trial? Where the vice premier wants to ban women from laughing? And where devout Muslims demonstrate alongside football fans and leftist activists against the concrete encasement of a park? Turkey likes to present itself as a perfect example of a successful synthesis of moderate Islam and Western democracy. In reality, as Ece Temelkuran points out, her country is in a schizophrenic state, oscillating between an inferiority complex and inflated self-confidence, building new bridges to Europe while simultaneously severing long-established ones. The bloody past has never been addressed, and after the brief hope brought by the protests surrounding Gezi Park, society is more than ever oriented towards conformity. For dissenters like emancipated women or atheists, it seems to be difficult.