TURKEY AT THE INTERNET CROSSROADS
by: Kent Foster
Few countries can boast the extremes that Turkey has both culturally and geographically, where traditions are retained for centuries while living side by side with the encroaching modern world.Accordingly, where else but Turkey, crossroads between ancient and modern, would you see the tug-of-war most clearly between old and new?The latest outside force to enter the fray
is the Internet.Its effect is evident in unexpected ways.
It may be assumed that in a Muslim country where men have long
reigned, only young males would be embracing the new technology,
but the reality isn't so simple.The riddle is, Why does a
grandmother in Turkey want an email address despite not having
Internet access?
Born in Turkey, Bianka Cubukkeryan is a contract accountant,
currently working with WiredCapital in Redwood City, California.
After her most recent visit home Eyemine got her thoughts on Turkey today.
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Eyemine: Bianka, I want to thank you for spending some time with us today.
I'd like this interview to be on two levels: one is the personal changes, the visual
changes you saw when you were in Turkey and especially Istanbul.The other is how
Turkey is coming to terms with the advent of the Internet.Maybe you could just tell
us what struck you the most when you were in Turkey recently.
Bianka: Probably the traffic.And the streets…I don't
know if it was having moved here and grown up here, if that had anything to do with
it, but the streets looked so small.They were all one-way streets, with cars parked
on both sides, and you had nowhere to go!It's got way too many cars than it can handle.
It's a growing city, I can tell you that.It's a gorgeous city.
E: Yes.The thing that I loved when I was there is you literally see the
coming together of the East and West.I mean, you can go to the Hagia Sophia and see
these beautiful mosques that have been around for hundreds of years and then you see
the modern public transit system.I was really struck by that.
I also want to ask and get your insight:how do you see the changing role of women in
Turkish society?
B: It's definitely getting better.I noticed my cousin was driving when I
was there, whereas my aunt was not.And I think it's just because my aunt grew up in
a society where a woman didn't drive; a woman stayed home and did the cooking and
cleaning.If you needed to get around, you took the bus or taxi or any other means
of transportation, and men did the driving, but nowadays women are also driving.
It's not much different than the U.S.
E: What is happening in business and industry? How do you see women
getting involved?Now that there are so many opportunities for entrepreneurs to
work from home, do you see this as an avenue for Turkish women?
B: I don't know about working from home.I don't think they're there
yet.But I do see a lot of women working.My cousin actually took over the business
that was built by my uncle.And one of her friends, who's also married, has her own
cafe which 15 years ago was unheard of.
E: We hear a lot of things about the new economy and the information
superhighway.Do you think that Turkey is there yet?
B: It's getting there; the people are just not advanced enough
knowledge-wise.I noticed a lot of people were trying to get into the Internet,
and yet they didn't know why.They had an email address, they gave it to me,
but when I tried emailing, I couldn't get through.I think it's just fashion
and they don't want to miss out or lose out on an opportunity.
E: You mean that, it was acceptable to get an email address, and
yet it was something they rarely used?
B: Exactly.(One example) was my cousin's friend; I think he
is 14 or 15 years old.He has an email address, though he's barely starting to
use the computer.It was from his father's workplace.
E: Is it still the case, which is what you find in a lot of online
communities, that it's the students that have a lot of affordable access, and only
a few at work, and even fewer at home?
B: Yes, and there are a lot of people who are so used to the old way
of life over there where they don't bring the work home and not everybody has
computers at home.If I wanted to do an analogy, I'd probably say Turkey today
is like fifteen years ago in the U.S.
E: Where do you see Turkey positioning itself? And I still want to
get back to the fact that Silicon Valley seems to be influencing so many cultures.
They emulate the information technology, the truncated time frame in which a small
business can be successful.What I'm getting at is, when I was in Turkey I was
really amazed at the level of entrepreneurialism, and the networks.It seems as
if everyone is sharing in the tourism business.The people who were part of our
tour service--this was in Cappadocia--their cousins owned a rug factory, and we
were encouraged to go and buy stuff.His wife happened to be the owner of a
restaurant, and we were encouraged to eat in the restaurant.His children were
dancing there and also happened to be selling arts and crafts.It was interesting,
and I'm curious if you think that that's a pretty common picture, that there's a
real strong network structure of family and friends all working together and
getting a slice of the pie.
B: Oh, yeah.There's a huge network.And a lot of the families
that I see that come here, what they do is, they all get together and everybody
lives in one house.Everybody pools their income into one account, puts all the
savings in there, and then they buy houses as their savings increase.
E: Do you think that's still true today?
B: Yeah, because I'm actually related to those families!The father
started the business, and believe it or not, in a world like Turkey, his daughter
is now taking it over.
E: You've mentioned that twice now, that the daughter is taking over.
Do you think that's because she's the most educated or was it her choice?
B: I think it was her choice, because she's not educated.I'm not sure about
her husband.He is involved in the business, so I can't say he's sitting at home
or in another business.But they're still together as a team.For example, there
was a three-month period where my uncle left the country and he visited us.
During that time, his daughter took over the business and she was doing all
the management.
E: Do you feel there is an entrepreneurial spirit in Turkey?
B: Oh, definitely.I actually think that Turkey is going to grow
in the next ten years, probably grow fast enough to catch up with the U.S. just
because I met a lot of people who opened up their own businesses.They were small
businesses, but they actually took the first step in actually opening up their own
business.They took that risk.
E: One of the reasons I wanted to talk to you is to get a sense of the
Global Eye.What are the things that are really fresh and dynamic?If I asked you,
what are you most excited about and optimistic for in Turkey, what would you tell me?
B: Let me think about that.I'm probably going to have to say computers
and their willingness to learn.One thing I can tell you is that in the U.S. a
lot of people our age learn computers, get involved, learn the Internet, blah,
blah, blah, and our parents debate it and try to live life without it if they can.
Over there, I see people who are the same age as our parents getting involved,
actually getting an email address, even if they don't get on the Internet.They
learn about it, they're actually excited over it.(But) there's more of a relaxed
environment.There are eight-hour working days in Turkey, but people go home during
lunch and they have their peace and quiet during the weekends.
E: Do you think in the next ten years Turkey will really catch up?
How though?Does there have to be a change in attitude?
B: I think the only things they're behind on now is women getting
involved in the business world and also computers.Those two things in the
last five or six years have really started to catch up with the U.S.Probably
five or six years ago, you wouldn't find any women working and I don't think
you'd find anyone having a computer in their home.
E: The vision with Eyemine is to get a sense of different niche
communities, the things that are of special interest groups online and offline.
Is there something that we should keep in mind if we were to watch Turkey?
B: Probably the fact that the people are very traditional.Even
though the younger generation's thoughts and minds are open, the older generation
is still thinking more traditionally.(However,) just to add on, my parents
don't use a computer or the Internet, but my mom's cousin just gave me his
email address.He just bought a computer and he's definitely using it.
And I believe he's older than she is, so people in Turkey are (becoming) a
lot more open.
