Tanıl Bora, who quietly reads, translates, and writes books, suddenly became a target last week after Özgür Özel and Ekrem İmamoğlu announced that they were reading his book “Cereyanlar” (Currents of Thought).
The assault came mainly from sections of the left associated with nationalists. And it came on social media. Before turning to why Tanıl Bora became a target, it is perhaps necessary to underline the identity he himself attaches great importance to: that of the “Typical Ankaran.” This column will focus mainly on that identity.
THE ANKARAN
Although Tanıl Bora attended high school in Istanbul, he spent the rest of his life in Ankara — happily. We could call him a “typical, classic Ankaran,” yet we have also heard him take it a step further and say, “I am an Ankaraist.” When he says “Ankaraist,” one should not miss the quiet — sometimes deliberate — note of defiance toward Istanbul embedded in the word. This is a portrait of the “Typical Ankaran” that goes back perhaps fifty years. Of course, we are not speaking of a single uniform type. The aim here is to reflect the common traits of those Ankarans who do not resemble Istanbulites.
The Ankaran’s demands are modest. They do not care for flamboyance. They are not hedonists. In a sense, they are people who, as the Turkish saying goes, “extend their feet as far as the blanket goes.” They do not favor excessive consumption; they believe more in production. And Tanıl Bora, although not an academic, has produced an extraordinary number of works for the world of political thought.
They keep their distance from nightlife. They may go out for entertainment once a week, once every two weeks, even once a month. Large sums of money make them uneasy. They do not wish to change their homes or neighbors unless absolutely necessary. They are not enthusiasts of constant change and renewal; they are more protective and preserving. They love the biting Ankara wind that rips clouds from their mouths as they breathe — and they love it even as their legs tremble in the freezing cold. They go home, put on their pajamas (especially if they are striped), chat, and read books.
We called this a history stretching back nearly fifty years: these Ankarans find joy in going to the Mülkiyeliler Union, walking along Atatürk Boulevard before the previous mayor chained off the streets, and stopping by the Dost and İmge bookstores. And they take great pleasure in conversation.
Ertuğrul Özkök managed Hürriyet daily — once called the flagship newspaper of the Turkish media — for long years. He is from İzmir, but he also has an Ankara past. Reflecting on the turbulent period Turkey has gone through in recent decades, he once said:
“I lived my whole life with the fear of losing my job. Sometimes I still see myself on the ‘Etlik–Çinçin Bağları’ minibus. I remember the pale yellow destination signs of those minibuses. Everyone has their fears. That one is mine.” The Etlik, Yenimahalle, and Çinçin Bağları he refers to are neighborhoods in Ankara’s Mamak district.
Typical Ankarans like Tanıl Bora do not carry such fears. A car is not a necessity for them. They take minibuses and buses. But what they love most is walking.
SO WHAT WAS IT? “NOT ENOUGH, BUT YES”
They targeted Tanıl Bora with the slogan “Not Enough, But Yes” that emerged during the 2010 constitutional referendum. In that referendum — which the Gülenists also strongly supported — left-liberals voiced this slogan. Yet I searched carefully, and among Bora’s countless sentences I could not find a single one explicitly supporting “Not Enough, But Yes.”
And even if he did say or write it — so what? Sixteen years have passed. For some people, this slogan and those who uttered it seem to have become the sole explanation for every unhappiness in their lives. I do not think that’s the case.
I think I have found the reason. The source of their anger is that Tanıl Bora is, quite simply, an “Ankaran.”
