We are quoting famous Turkish people this month since October 29th is Turkish Republic's Day. I happen to be a Turkish-American, and unlike novelist Elif Shafak, whom I am quoting today, I actually try to avoid ethnic politics. But, as it is, a Facebook called "Armenians for Jesus" put me in their group without asking me first! The central conflict is not only my ethnicity, but also the fact that I am a human secularist!
While researching this piece, I was surprised to learn that Shafak, who turns 40 on Oct. 25, is actually a year younger than I am. She is not to be confused with Elif Batuman, a Turkish-American writer who published an excellent personal narrative called "Possesed..." about Russian writers last year.
Shafak has written essays, but she is primarily known as a novelist. She has arguably been the most controversial arts figure in Turkey since the late filmmaker/novelist Yilmaz Guney whose works in the 1970s and early 80s (he died in his late forties in France at a relatively young age) usually had very overt pro-Kurdish secterian views.
For her part, Shafak has encountered legal problems in Turkey for her her highly controversial 2006 novel "The Bastard of Istanbul," which unlike her contemporary Orhan Pamuk's works, was originally written in English.
Shafak decided to tackle the Turkish-Armenian controversy directly and she politically expressed her desires to see Turkey recognize those disputed events as a genocide.
Since I have had my own quicksand moments, such as the Armenians for Jesus Fiasco, I will refrain from my views on the matter here, which is certainly not inherent in my nature!
But, we will quote Shafak with a line from her latest novel "The Forty Rules of Love," which is ironically a best-seller in Turkey:
"Every true love and friendship is a story of unexpected transformation. If we were the same person before and after we loved, that means we haven't loved enough."
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