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Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown
Turkey. Aired 9-10p ET
Aired November 12, 2015 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[21:00:00]
ANTHONY BOURDAIN, PARTS UNKNOWN HOST: Modern Turkey was founded in 1923 on the principles of secular, democratic statehood after centuries of empire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It has been the most turbulent year in a decade of Turkey's political history.
BOURDAIN: Turkey has set a new course. One that many hoped would carry it into the European Union.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's clearly a significant portion of the Turkish population that's not happy with the policies of the democratically elected government.
BOURDAIN: But things have changed. They are changing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You get clashes erupting, demonstrators throwing rocks.
BOURDAIN: And what happens next has implications far beyond Turkey.
It has been a turbulent year for Turkey. And I arrived in Istanbul at the moment of a critical election. The question on everyone's mind is whether the current president and his ruling party will win a large enough majority to change the constitution, potentially allowing him to stay in power indefinitely. These have been good times for some. Particularly in the construction and development business. And fearful ones for others. They are particularly concerned about what happens next, for instance, in the Kurdish parts of town.
AMBER LYON, FORMER CNN REPORTER: Our polls are opening. Turkey's voters choose a new parliament which could lead to big changes in the country's political system.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The ruling justice and development party expected to take most of the seats.
LYON: But how much power the president actually has will be determined by the success or failure of the Kurdish party.
BOURDAIN: The HDP, originally a Kurdish political party, has sought to unite the disparate voices calling for change in response to 13 years of what has essentially been one-party rule by the AKP. So history, whatever it might be, is about to happen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just in the past hour, polls have closed in the country's parliamentary elections.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Voters in Turkey have just shaken up the country's political landscape in a major way. They said no to placing Recep Tayyip Erdogan in push for more power over the constitution.
BOURDAIN: The ruling AKP Party did not win the majority its president had hoped for. In fact, they lost seats in parliament and for the first time, the pro-Kurdish party gained enough votes to earn a real voice in the government.
[21:05:55] ESRA YALCINALP: We are at the very tip of Istanbul next to the Black Sea, so the ships that are going by here, they're basically going to Russia.
BOURDAIN: I meet an old friend, Esra, for my first meal back in the country.
YALCINALP: I know you like your fish with the head and tail.
BOURDAIN: I do. This is perfect.
YALCINALP: I ordered some raki.
BOURDAIN: That makes me so happy.
YALCINALP: Yes, which is our national drink. It's aniseed and...
BOURDAIN: I am familiar with this, all too familiar. Cheers.
YALCINALP: Welcome back.
BOURDAIN: So since I last saw you, which was in 2000...
YALCINALP: Nine.
BOURDAIN: 2009. Wow, a long time ago. Istanbul looks a little different than the last time I was here. It looks a little more like every other city.
YALCINALP: Yeah. Well, construction.
BOURDAIN: There seems to be a lot of that going on.
YALCINALP: Yes.
BOURDAIN: Your president likes to build stuff today. He like the pour concrete.
YALCINALP: He keeps the economy going. Turkey's so much politicized since the last time you came. Like after 2011, the daily life issues like how many children you should have, advising women not to laugh out loud in public, things like these were actually suggested by the government. BOURDAIN: Right. Do you think this is coming from genuine ideological religious place or is this some political calculation?
YALCINALP: I think it's a genuine.
BOURDAIN: You're telling me that current leadership is, in his heart, is genuinely opposed to alcohol, women laughing in public?
YALCINALP: Maybe I don't feel comfortable answering that question.
BOURDAIN: Okay.
Turkey's most famous politician, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he is the power and has been the power in one form or another for more than a decade. He's the face of Turkey's ruling justice and development party, the AKP.
Erdogan has in recent years made Islamist politics mainstream and while remaining very, very popular in this extremely polarized nation, cracked down hard on media, political opposition, free speech, and, of course, demonstrations.
In 2013, the almost revolution in Turkey happened. A protest to contest the proposed demolition of Istanbul's Gezi Park resulted in a brutal crackdown by the police. In response, ordinary Turks unconnected by any particular ideology poured into the streets. With the whole world watching on social media, they, too, were met with force.
In the end, Erdogan remained firmly in control and there were repercussions for many who had supported the protests. From that point on, media, social media, even open discussion of issues or events became treated as hostile acts by foreign enemies.
Autocrats in general are not famous for their sense of humor so it's no surprise that comedians in Turkey like Deniz and her fiance, Khan (ph) walk a perilous lie.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE).
BOURDAIN: Are these good times to be a comedian in Turkey?
KHAN: It's definitely one of the best times because our former prime minister, support for a living.
[21:10:03] DENIZ: We don't use the names. We just call him the greatness, you know.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE).
KHAN: I guess they are running the finals.
BOURDAIN: The finals.
KHAN: Yes. BOURDAIN: All weight classes. But it's basically Greco-Roman
wrestling. Just you greased up. As I understand you can't choke with two hands, only one.
KHAN: Yeah.
DENIZ: Because you can just slip your hand.
BOURDAIN: Right down into some greasy ass crack.
DENIZ: And grab (ph) looks that's fine.
BOURDAIN: That's OK.
Tell me something. I want to know what are the rules of the game.
Turkish oil wrestling. A big freaking salad covered with oiled men in leather pants giving each other spirited and prolonged reach-arounds. Oh, geez. Can we get rights to the Barry White greatest hits record or Diana Ross "Love Hangover" or is that too obvious?
I like to be respectful of ancient tradition, but I mean the jokes write themselves. What, there's, like, ropes inside or handles? Where do I get a pair of those pants? Those are some super freaky pants.
DENIZ: And do you see the golden belts? Look good.
BOURDAIN: Well look, it's got to be because the pants are awesome. Imagine what the belt looks like.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
BOURDAIN: Does he stop yelling at some point?
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
KHAN: The announcer is called (inaudible).
BOURDAIN: Yeah.
KHAN: And in slang, (inaudible) means person who talks too much.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
KHAN: It's too loud.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
KHAN: It's time for political end. Lots changed since your last visit.
BOURDAIN: Obviously, the mood has changed a lot which is weird because everything seemed to be going so well. Things seemed to be getting more tolerant.
KHAN: Tolerance level is so low these days.
BOURDAIN: Right.
KHAN: People taking sides, don't like the other one. These people don't like our kind.
BOURDAIN: So what happens if someone doesn't like your joke? Somebody in a powerful position does not like your comedy. What happens?
DENIZ: Depending on the degree how much he doesn't like you, how much he's offended.
BOURDAIN: Let's say he's really offended.
DENIZ: You go to jail. Or being, you know, terrorist or...
BOURDAIN: Aiding and abetting the enemies of the state.
DENIZ: Yes. Enemy of the state. Being enemy of the state is most common thing you can do right now in Turkey.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
DENIZ: They're asking for more oil.
BOURDAIN: More oil.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[21:17:01] BOURDAIN: Building boom or building bubble. Architect and city planner Murat Germen has been capturing Istanbul's construction boom with his camera. He employs a unique method of compressing panoramas to create a striking reimagining of cityscapes reflecting perhaps more of the reality than a straight photo could.
MURAT GERMEN, CITY PLANNER: I've been following what's happening in Istanbul because it's my hometown, and what's happening is the new government is basing the supposedly booming economy totally on construction. So what they did is they started to build high-rise housing, shopping malls, roads, and all that, but not necessarily buildings that are related to the making of culture. So all this construction is related to consumption.
BOURDAIN: Well, are these spaces needed? At whatever income level, will somebody be living in these buildings?
GERMEN: That's a very good question. I'm asking the same question.
BOURDAIN: Yeah. First things first.
GERMEN: Yeah.
BOURDAIN: We'll save the world later. GERMEN: This is the pita by the way and it's like the Turkish version
of pizza, let's say.
BOURDAIN: Pita has some similarities. I mean, there's cheese in it. Dough. But it's more like a calzone maybe. I don't know. It's an efficient delivery vehicle for this case ground meat, cheese, and onions a not so little torpedo straight from I was going to say flavor town, but no, that would be wrong. I want to see what you do with this. I want to see how you eat this. What do you do with that -- you dip in the egg? Pour it in?
GERMEN: Yeah, yeah pour yeah exactly.
BOURDAIN: Mm. This is...
GERMEN: Cholesterol bomb we call it.
BOURDAIN: There's a remarkable lack of sentimentality about really one of the most uniquely glorious looking spaces anywhere. Why don't they care?
GERMEN: I agree. There's a lack of sentimentality and there's also a lack of vision, I believe, hometown vision. We have very short-term visions. Mostly based on money making.
BOURDAIN: When people look at the work you do see and do you stop them, what do you want them to see?
GERMEN: First of all, I really value the sustainability of our particular culture. I want my work to show, hey look, this is what we had. I think we are already losing it, so why don't we stop here and maybe consider doing something else?
[21:20:31] BOURDAIN: (inaudible) Pazara, long home to tradesmen, Greeks, Jews, and Armenians. Groups whose populations are these days a tiny fraction of what they once were. This neighborhood like many in Istanbul is slated for redevelopment in the name of urban renewal.
Wow. Look at that. It's a lot of food.
Cesar and his family have been running a restaurant here for nearly 20 years.
CESAR: The way that we make the food, it's our own language. That's the whole idea about it.
BOURDAIN: So your family is Armenian?
CESAR: Yes.
BOURDAIN: Is the food Armenian?
CESAR: This is my mom's food whatever we eat at home.
BOURDAIN: Authentic esnafs or tradesmen's restaurants are getting harder and harder to find. Most are family-owned businesses, the kind of place where you can get a classic home-style meal of traditional dishes.
You're clearly romantic. Do you think there is a place in modern Istanbul for romantics or will they slowly be crashed by modernity?
CESAR: Almost all the protesters they were (inaudible). They were romantics. They keep those people. They use real guns, but they will still continue to protest, nothing else.
BOURDAIN: So what's the future of Armenians in Turkey? Will it be more Armenians in Istanbul in 20 years or fewer?
CESAR: Of course, it will be less.
BOURDAIN: Less?
CESAR: Yes.
BOURDAIN: This turn towards a more conservative, more Islamist, is this a political calculation or do you think this is generally genuinely how people feel now?
CESAR: It's the way that people feel now. Because of the way that our president, the way that he talks, it's not only political issue, it's the reality itself.
I don't know what he has in mind, our president, but somehow he let people fight freedom, you know, hate. What I believe that hate will be, you know, it will make an end soon. That's what I'm afraid of. That's why I'm telling you that young generation, Armenians, they will definitely leave this country.
BOURDAIN: Wow. I hope you're wrong. I like to be -- I mean, I'm not really an optimistic person, but I hope you're wrong about Istanbul because it's an amazing place.
CESAR: I hope you will be the one who's right.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[21:27:05] EZAN, CAB DRIVER: Hold on. Give me help and not crash my car. Not today, maybe tomorrow. I have to pass this bus, if I don't pass this bus...
BOURDAIN: It is a long-held belief that if you want to know the real deal, what's really good about a town...
EZAN: What a life.
BOURDAIN: ...if you want to know where to find the good stuff, you ask a cab driver.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
EZAN: I don't know wrong way, right way. Life is life. What is what? Take it easy.
BOURDAIN: I don't know if that's true. Not in my town, anyway. But in Istanbul, I know a cab driver, my old friend, Ezan (ph).
Hello, my friend. Good to see you.
EZAN: Oh, after all those years to meet you again.
BOURDAIN: What a coincidence.
EZAN: Those are nice. I love that.
BOURDAIN: So how are things in Istanbul? It looks very different. They're building stuff everywhere.
EZAN: I don't know what happened, but I look up hotel, I look up shopping center open, more restaurant open, more disco open.
BOURDAIN: More discos?
EZAN: More disco.
BOURDAIN: So I thought this is a conservative government.
EZAN: Government conservative, but people, and they have to shake, they have to drink. Life is too short.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
EZAN: Most people ask me, did you make an accident? And I say, yes, I killed two people, three people, hospital and then I pass cemetery. I said this is (inaudible) section. They are scared. Really?
How can you ask the taxi driver, did you make any accident?
BOURDAIN: Right.
EZAN: Again, we cross the Galata Bridge. I love here. Look at this city here, Santa Sofia there, Topkapi Palace there, new malls for the Armenian, Golden Horn. I love this city, yahoo. Come on, everybody. Istan has got crazy. Taxi driver is nice job. I love this job because you meet every time new people.
BOURDAIN: Right.
EZAN: And on the way, you never get upset.
BOURDAIN: Right.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
EZAN: I wish I dance, but I dance belly dance.
[21:30:17] What's in there? Come on. Everybody say this is not normal and I study about Ottoman, how to read, learn in Ottoman languages. When you ask why Ezan want to learn this, because I want to read history, original.
BOURDAIN: Probably not while driving though. EZAN: Yeah, yeah, not driving but the traffic already stopped a lot. If you -- I talk too much and you boring, and I go, take another taxi because I talk too much.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
EZAN: This is my home area.
BOURDAIN: Oh, yeah, you live in this neighborhood?
EZAN: Yeah. We call this area Lokanta.
BOURDAIN: So this is a local favorite of yours, this restaurant?
EZAN: This restaurant I know since 30 years.
BOURDAIN: So it's cow foot, tripes.
EZAN: Tripes.
BOURDAIN: Very nice. That looks good. Man, this is just delicious.
Are the young people more conservative or less conservative?
EZAN: My daughter, Mary, religious person and she has the scarf. Another daughter, Yank (ph) and 18 years old, short and moderate. They walk together. One is scarf, one is not.
BOURDAIN: Right.
EZAN: Maybe one day you invite me to America and I will be making...
BOURDAIN: Dance.
EZAN: Belly dance on the American main road (inaudible).
BOURDAIN: Probably you get arrested for that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[21:36:15] GUNDUZ VASSAF: The voice of Istanbul. I've had at least 30 names on your own to Istanbul.
Now they say I'm between the east and the west, an identity crises. I know there's enough for this nonsense. Take the labels off and just look at me.
You won't need a guidebook. Like all cities, I have my own sense of time. I'm a labyrinth of layers that only makes sense without a compass.
If you're hesitant, not sure which way to go as you walk about, follow one of my cats. They will lead you to places, introduce you to people, point out secrets they keep even from me. They, more than anyone, are the longest continuing residents of the city A challenge to those who see their future in my past, I'm an obstacle for those who see only the future. I see change with the patience of centuries. Look at my silhouette from the bridge on the Golden Horn. Time has not passed me by. It has protected me. I ask of you the same.
BOURDAIN: An hour ferry ride and a world away are the Prince's Islands in the Sea of Marmara. Gunduz Vassaf and his friend, Serra Yilmaz have invited me for lunch.
Actor? Translator?
SERRA YILMAZ: Yeah.
BOURDAIN: Philosopher? Poet? Are these good times to be a poet in Turkey?
VASSAF: It is, actually, because it's a way to bring down the noise in a way because so much words are exchanged especially in heated political discussions.
BOURDAIN: I have become very used to and fond of this drink, by the way. Maybe too used to it and too fond of it.
VASSAF: I used to call it lime's milk. In a famous Turkish poet it is known for saying I wish I could be a fish in a bottle of liquor.
BOURDAIN: Serra prepares a traditional spread of meze. Turkish meze are extremely tasty, very diverse assortment of dishes originating at every corner of the former Ottoman Empire.
The Ottomans like to eat and entertain and they employed armies of cooks to dazzle them with ever-changing menus, variety being key. Circassian chicken, faba beans, rice with mussels, eggplant, stuffed grape leaves, poached eggs with yogurt, all classic and all delicious.
YILMAZ: What shall I give you? A few of everything?
BOURDAIN: Yes, please.
[21:40:15] YILMAZ: I'll put some or maybe I could give you some chicken already.
BOURDAIN: Make room for that I think. Here we go. Wow. It's really pretty. Am I getting a distorted picture of Turkey by spending all of my time in Istanbul? It's very different than the rest of the country. How different?
YILMAZ: But I think in Istanbul, you have all the different parts of Turkey also.
BOURDAIN: What does it mean to be Turkish? What do you think?
VASSAF: Serra, are you Turkish?
YILMAZ: Yes, but it's not my fault. BOURDAIN: Man, this is so -- let me say, this food is extraordinary. I mean, really, really, really amazing.
When I was here last, it was a very different mood. Now at least, the tenor of the things said by the government are increasingly ugly.
VASSAF: Yeah.
BOURDAIN: An intolerant. You have this social activism that's very unusual. Certainly, the government is sort of appealing to traditional Islamic values whether it's for show or not, there seems to be some reevaluation of how much of a party town do we want to be?
VASSAF: These days, the powers that be don't like it and...
BOURDAIN: Do they genuinely not like it, or are they appealing to a political base?
VASSAF: Oh, no, it's populism. It's a political base. And lots of people, of course, play along saying that they don't want to drink, et cetera, because that's the way you get your contracts. That's the way you get things done.
BOURDAIN: But I mean, nationalism seems to be working internally.
VASSAF: Yes.
BOURDAIN: Nationalism and xenophobia, it's a vote getter almost anywhere.
VASSAF: Well, it's a vote getter, but it's a vote loser as well in the sense that there's so much backlash.
BOURDAIN: What do you think's going to happen?
VASSAF: Get back to normal.
BOURDAIN: You think it will go?
VASSAF: Oh, yeah.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[21:46:48] BOURDAIN: Walking down Istanbul streets, it's easy to forget or not take seriously the slow but certain change in attitude towards this kind of freedom. The right, for lack of a better term, to party. The AKP is in power because the majority of voters put them there. Their attitudes for better or worse reflect the attitudes of a great number of Turks.
NURI: All right, man.
BOURDAIN: This is Nuri, a Turkish businessman.
I'm glad we met you because you are an AKP supporter. You voted for AKP. NURI: Yeah, I did.
BOURDAIN: Right. Why?
NURI: Before, economy was so bad. No foreign investment. Interest rates were so high. Inflation was about 100 percent per year. So it's very hard to make business in such circumstances. In 2002, I had 78 employees. Now it's 250.
BOURDAIN: Since I got here, I've been talking to a lot of people who are very upset about the environment, they're upset about the destruction of old, beautiful buildings. To a great extent, they do not like what much of the world would call progress. So when you saw people running out in the streets and demonstrating, what was your feeling?
NURI: They said they went there for the trees. They went there for the environment. But at the end, they worked together, we did terrorize people. We have to accept Istanbul like this. You got nothing to do. I cannot change it. No one can change it.
BOURDAIN: No going back.
NURI: Fifty years ago, they could do some things, but not now.
BOURDAIN: You're not sentimental about the old neighborhoods, the old?
NURI: No. I've got used to it.
BOURDAIN: This is a party town. This is a nightclub town. The impression is that there's some ambivalence there. Ten years from now, will we be able to come to this bar or a bar like it and drink lots of gin drinks and misbehave? No problem?
NURI: No problem I think. This is a party town.
BOURDAIN: Right.
NURI: We drink hard.
BOURDAIN: So it's all about money.
NURI: It's all about money. Everything is all about money in the world.
BOURDAIN: Who will be Turkey's bestest (ph) town? Internationally? Which way are they looking, to the east or the west?
NURI: East, Russia, China, Vietnam and the Arabic countries. Of course at west, Europe is getting weaker and weaker day by day. The next 50 years, it's going to be the era of the east, not the west.
[21:50:11] BOURDAIN: So these notions of like freedom of the press, these are not eastern concepts?
NURI: No. No, no.
BOURDAIN: They're not. OK I'm going to ask you something. Is freedom of the press overrated?
NURI: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's overrated.
BOURDAIN: You think tightening up on the press is a sacrifice that you're willing to make for a good economy. I don't want to put words in your mouth or prosperity for the majority.
NURI: It is. It's the same all over the world. It's not typical for Turkey.
BOURDAIN: Right.
NURI: That's life.
BOURDAIN: So, thank you.
NURI: Thank you.
BOURDAIN: This is a really bad idea. OK. Cheers.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
[21:55:] YALCINALP: Hi?
BOURDAIN: Esra, of course, good to see you.
YALCINALP: Welcome to our park.
BOURDAIN: Oh, man. I'm glad I haven't eaten yet. That is pretty awesome looking.
YALCINALP: So have you ever had Turkish breakfast before?
BOURDAIN: With you. I love it, you need to do eggs in the park, pretty impressive.
YALCINALP: Yeah. This place is called (inaudible) Park. It's one of the last remaining parks in the vicinity.
Since 2013, people have been gathering here in what we call forums to talk about their ideas for different -- how can I say?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Debates, chats, different people gathering here at night after work. And then talking, trying to find solutions, right? We didn't have any other place to go. So we came here.
BOURDAIN: Why is it so important?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's not just for us, for future residents of Istanbul.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This space turns into a space of politics, a space of hope against the system which seems to be like impossible to break, actually.
BOURDAIN: Is it impossible to break?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. Not now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was impossible a few weeks ago.
BOURDAIN: A few weeks ago it was impossible. So you're feeling optimistic?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The hope is the revolution, you know? If you lose your hope. then there is nothing to do.
YALCINALP: I think the tide is turning.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But for the -- if you compare Arab Spring and this park, I think -- I mean, in the Arab Spring, they are protesting against a dictatorship. But in Turkey I think we can say there is democracy.
BOURDAIN: Esra and her friends, previously unlikely to have known much less come to like one another were brought together by circumstances.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you been gassed?
YALCINALP: Not that much but yeah.
BOURDAIN: By gas, are you talking about pollution?
YALCINALP: Yes, and also tear gas.
BOURDAIN: Oh, tear gas?
YALCINALP: When you are getting gassed together, you really connect through a life or death situations. You hold each other and run away together. It was a very actually emotional thing for me because all my life, I was taught to keep away from different types of peoples, like I never had a Kurdish friend. I never had a people around me were all like me. And I was lacking so much richness in my life. Thanks to (inaudible), I saw everyone is the same.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are at real democracy in guessing people learn to speak. Like, this is tear gas connecting people.
YALCINALP: Tear gas connecting people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is one way together.
BOURDAIN: Democracy is always a fragile thing. Ninety two years ago, modern Turkey was assembled from the fragments of the Ottoman Empire.
It has always struggled to find a balance between those in power and the consent of its widely diverse population.
Since the filming of this episode, Turkey's newly elected parliament failed to form a coalition. And President Erdogan quickly called for new elections.
At the same time, his revved up military action against Kurdish opposition forces in both Southeastern Turkey and across the border in Kurdish, Iraq.
Many claimed that he effectively plunged Turkey into conflict in a bid to take advantage of an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty. And improve his party's chances of success. This is not an unreasonable assumption on anyone's part. Fear works. Fear gets votes. The opposition had hoped that the tide was turning. It remains to be seen if they have any reason to hope.
