Every Picture Tells a Story: The View From the Other Side — Selcuk, Turkey (1999)

EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY:
THE VIEW ON THE OTHER SIDE
SELCUK, IZMIR PROVINCE, TURKEY (1999)

How we view the world we share depends upon where we stand. It’s all up to the vantage point. Our outlook and our opinions are usually determined by which side of an imaginary fence we’re on. This is true for national origin. This is true for religion. This is true for gender. This is true for economic class. This is true for race.

Yet, fact is, most people are the same pretty much everywhere. We all want the same things. We have common desires and aspirations. There aren’t many differences between a mother in America and a mother on the opposite side of the world. There isn’t much that’s different between a doctor here and a doctor over there. There isn’t even that much difference between soldiers who risk their lives on the battlefield. Most just want to do their jobs, and when their service is over, to return home safe to their families.

First-hand experience taught me this important lesson. I’ve had several occasions to hang out with soldiers in three different militaries over an extended period — the United States, Romania, and Turkey. Even though these were/are three very different nations, the soldiers were/are nearly identical, that aside from race, religion, and political persuasion. When I lived there, the Romanian Army was a communist force. The Turkish Army were Muslims. Accordingly, one would expect those young men to be very different than “our” soldiers who serve in America’s armed forces. But they’re not much different, at all. Most 23-year-old young men are basically the same — everywhere.

This photograph was taken in 1999 on one of my trips to Turkey, courtesy of the Turkish Government. We hung out with locals, including soldiers in the Turkish Army. This photo was taken (I think) near Ephesus, which was an ancient city dating back to classical Greece and later, the Roman Empire.