Joining samba and Turkish dance
(15/03/2007 – Kerim Balci - www.todayszaman.com)
On Monday evening, I joined a splendid evening by the Latin American and Caribbean Friendship Group. The dinner was organized by Caribbean and Latin American Trade Association board member and attorney at law Selim Sarıibrahimoğlu and was attended by the ambassadors of Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico and Cuba.
The overall message of the meeting was Latin American countries were both impressed and happy with Turkey’s willingness and success in growing out of its boundaries.
I was also impressed by the Latin American diplomats’ level of knowledge on Turkey, Turkish politics and even philosophy. In Argentinean Ambassador Sebastian Bruco Marco, I found a friend of Turkey who knows more about Ankara’s history of urbanization than me. Cuban Ambassador Ernesto Gomez Abascal informed me about their Web site presenting up-to-date news and analysis about Latin American politics in Turkish.
I had the chance to speak to the Brazilian Ambassador Cesario Melantonio Neto in depth about politics in Brazil, in Turkey and in the Middle East. On rare occasions I bemoan the fact that I did not have the chance to meet a certain personality earlier. This was one such occasion for me. The Brazilian ambassador is far more than a diplomat. To be precise, this was the first time I met a diplomat who has read about philology and philosophy at the same time. Before Ankara, Melantonio Neto served in Tehran and he knows about Persian poets like Sadi Shirazi, Hafiz and Khayyam. He has a similar level of interest in Turkish poetry and literature.
Latin American diplomats are also interested in interfaith-intercultural dialogue. The Argentinean ambassador is a religious man and has sympathy for religious Muslims. He abhors the fact that religion is an issue for politicians in Turkey. The Brazilian ambassador is a member of the prestigious group the Academy of Latinity that deals with interfaith-intercultural relations. In mid-April the Academy of Latinity will have a conference in Amman, Jordan entitled “The Universal of Human Rights -- Precondition for a Dialogue of Cultures,” and Ambassador Neto is going to present a paper on Islam and tolerance.
Why am I saying all these?
Because this shows that there is a window of opportunity in the Caribbean and Latin American region for Turkey. With its half billion population open to dialogue and ready for cooperation in both economic and cultural affairs, this continent needs the urgent attention of Turkish diplomats, politicians and businessmen. It seems that we will be received with the hospitality of Mediterranean people.
Certain steps are already being taken: Turkish Airlines is starting direct flights to Sao Paolo in its second semester. The Brazilian oil company Petrobras is searching for oil in the Black Sea and the Brazilian ambassador told me that they had already invested $300 million. The Caribbean and Latin American Trade Association Board is doing its share also. Board member and host of the event Selim Sarıibrahimoğlu told us that the trade volume between Turkey and Latin America was slightly over $1 billion and that this could be increased drastically if pretexts like distance and the cost of transport are put aside.
Sarıibrahimoğlu and other board members have several projects in mind, including an amalgamation of samba and Turkish folk dances. This can sound utopian, but keeping in mind that Arabs who live in Latin America are called Turks and Turkey’s unique trade relations with Europe provide an attractive opportunity space for Latin American businessmen, we could be optimistic.
I see the possibility of business relations coupled with cultural relations as very constructive. This negates Samuel Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations theory which foresees future clashes on the borderlines of cultures. Those borderlines can also be contact points where a give-and-take creates a higher civilization.