Ataturk the Spitting Llama

My sister Lale Lovell, who lives near Denver, brought this to my attention earlier in the week. Apparently, my favorite comic strip "Pearls Before Swine" took a jab at Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, a heroic figure in my late father Mehmet Gokbudak's native Turkey. Ataturk defeated British forces at Gallipoli in WW I and later went on to form the Turkish Republic. In the process, Ataturk turned back Greek forces in the city we call Izmir and they call Smyrna_ which is not to confused with Smyrna, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta. In two "Pearl" strips that ran earlier this week, there is a spitting llama diplomat character, who happens to be named Ataturk. Now, before anyone assumes that I am going to rant about Stephen Pastis' (the cartoonist) intentions, I will say "Pearls" is a very funny, hip strip. He once made fun of how few people bother to actually read blogs such as these. But, Pastis is a Greek-American, and one does have to wonder what does this all mean? I have nothing against Greek-Americans, and I am under the assumption that Pastis has nothing against us. And, this is a comic strip_ not "Midnight Express." This is also a very mild (alleged) jab compared to a "BC" comic strip which featured an outhouse that had a crescent moon on it a few years back.. Many Muslims took that strip to be anti-Islamic. Johnny Hart, the cartoonist for "BC," denied any such anti-Islamic intentions in a "Washington Post" article though the outcry was quite intense. I suppose there is this certain doubt that exists in people when they take in a creative work. The irony is that perhaps more people will learn about Ataturk from this strip, and as P.T. Barnum once said: "Any publicity is good publicity." But, those of us who are of Turkish heritage, are quite sensitive about these things. If you wonder why, then perhaps you should see "Midnight Express," then again perhaps you shouldn't. As for "Pearls..," I may prefer "Sherman's Lagoon" for a while, but there are other things of more important concern and it does not change my respect for the strip or the artist. Ataturk did many great things for Turkey, including developing better education, transportation and political systems. But, he  has been a controversial  figure  in the  West  since  Lord  Kinross  wrote  a biography about him 30 years ago.

For those who want to see the first of the two "Pearl" strips, the link is:

http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/pearls/archive/pearls_20070109.html