Borders and Incursions

The Post ran this article the other day about Turkey v. ISIS on the Syrian border (reported from the small Turkish city of Reyhanlı, which will definitely not be on our excursion agenda). I thought it was one of the better Post articles on Turkey in recent memory--it captured how easy it is for temporary alliances in of convenience to turn toxic in the cauldron of the border region’s sectarian war. I won’t be as rash as to say it was ever thus, and certainly the nature of ISIS’s transnational recruiting via social media adds a substantially new pernicious element to the mix. But certainly the reach of empires and states in this corner of the Levant has always exceeded their grasp.

I can’t quite reconcile the excitement I feel about going to Istanbul, Ankara and Alanya (along with all the other enticing spots on our agenda) with this raging war on the border and refugee crisis in another corner of Turkey.

Alanya faces its own foreign incursions, of course, not limited to Georgetown students and faculty. We are prepared to encounter Russian and German holidaymakers and the occasional Danish beach volleyball camper.

Were we going to Brazil, where I feel a sense of quasi-citizenship after decades of study, I would feel a responsibility to be, if not at the heart of the action, at least much more in tune with the suffering and knowledgeable about the shifting course of events. On my maiden voyage to Turkey, I can’t help but feel a little relieved to be insulated.