Turkish Delight

Introduction

The year 1776 was by no means an ordinary year. Oh yes, it was a leap year! May we allow ourselves the prerogative to ask the inevitable – why is leap year of such consequence, whatever year it might be? The answer lies in the fact that this was not just any leap year, this was 1776! This particular leap year fell on a Monday – a new week, a new month, and a new year. Bravo! Though Auld Lang Sine would not be written until 1788 by the Scottish poet Robert Burns – truly in retrospect, how appropriate this might have been in 1776.

However, if a leap year was the singular thing worth writing about in regard to 1776, it would seem somewhat undistinguished, even trivial. But it was not. Thomas Paine published his much acclaimed book, “Common Sense” on January 15. Edward Gibbon published the first volume of “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire”.

And most significantly for America – its prospective citizenry would soon lay claim to the benefits of the land of the free and home of the brave, – the significance was legion! Indeed, it was on July 4, 1776 that the United States declared its independence.

However, as important as it might be – for all practical purposes, this book is not about America per se – it is about “Turkish Delight”. Ironically in faraway Turkey – the country, not the fine-feathered bird Americans eat and enjoy on Thanksgiving holiday each November – 1776 was also to become a sort of red letter year.

It was Bekir Effendi who invented the delicious confectionary, the world renowned Turkish candy, Turkish delight. The British in particular become quite fond of the confectionary – gave it as presents and offered it to guests at gregarious gatherings. Effendi would move from his home town of Kastamonu to Istanbul and open his confectionary shop in 1776. Quite obvious was the fact that this Turkish entrepreneur knew a good thing when he saw it.

Surely Turkish delight is designed with the sweet tooth in mind. The candy
built its reputation on a product that continues to be considered as one of the world’s most compelling confectionary pleasures. Eaten in moderation it belongs on the shelf of kitchens in every home.

What is it that makes this candy so pleasing to the palate? My hunch is that the ingredients play a major part. The confectionary components include chopped dates, pistachios and hazelnuts bound by gel, flavored by rose water, mastic, or lemon.

The confection is often packaged and eaten in small cubes dusted with icing, sugar, copra, or powdered cream of tartar, to prevent clinging. The sweet candy is produced in cinnamon and mint flavors as well. Or, as we found when we were in England, we could buy it covered in chocolate for 185 fun-filled calories!

As we shall soon discover, this story is not about candy – as sweet as it might be – but about the country and its characters. Both are equally sweet in the various and sundry scenarios of our story – Turkish Delight.

Chapter 1

Midnight Express

Midnight Express is a 1974 American film directed by Alan Parker and produced by David Putman. It is based on Billy Hayes’s 1977 book and was adapted into the screenplay by Oliver Stone. Hayes was a young American student sent to a Turkish prison for trying to smuggle hashish out of Turkey.

The movie deviates from the book’s accounts of the story – especially in its portrayal of Turks – and some have criticized the movie version, including Billy Hayes himself. Later, Hayes expressed his regret on how Turkish people were portrayed in the movie. The film’s title is prison slang for an inmate’s escape attempt. One of the chief complaints about the book is that it unfairly criticized the Turkish people as “terrifying” and “brutal.”

James and Valerie Quinn were school teachers in a small river town in western Pennsylvania – Dusselton, PA. James and Valerie were both English teachers at Dusselton High School. Although he earned his bread and butter teaching English, Jim was somewhat of a history buff. Val was deeply interested in archeology and anthropology. Jim and Val were anticipating an opportunity to use their training and satisfy their interests in a different part of the world – Turkey.

Though their experience with the Turkish people would not include smuggling hashish or a prison sentence – it can be said unequivocally that the Quinn’s time in Turkey would be pure Turkish delight. No prisons, no run-ins with the law, no threat on their lives – as far as they knew.

And yes, this was 1981 when the country was under martial law. Rather than feeling threatened, they felt safe under the watchful and protective eye of the Turkish Army.

A highly valued ally in NATO, Turkey is most hospitable and helpful to tourists and the numerous foreigners who live there for a time. So then, why not respect Turkey for its strengths rather than reproach it for unfounded, untrue stereotypes. No, Turkey is not perfect – it grapples with the same problems that other countries do.

However, the Quinn’s time in Turkey was to be educational, enriching, exciting and exceptional. And yes, they were enlightened, as they too had been exposed to century’s old misinformation and misrepresentation. It has been said that “A lie can run around the world six times while the truth is still trying to put on its pants” – Mark Twain. Of course, Mark Twain hit the nail on the head.

Midnight Express, a story about a prison escape attempt, was published as a book and made into a movie. Permit me the prerogative to use it in a different way. Henceforth, we will use the term as the family’s departure from JFK International Airport at sunset on a Boeing 747 with their destination being Frankfurt, Germany. There, they will change planes and fly to Istanbul, Turkey – with the final leg of the journey culminating at Izmir, Turkey.