Democracy is fragile

I was in Istanbul, Turkey this past winter and I had the pleasure to walk in Taksim Square. I was impressed with the city in general as compared to major centres in Morocco and Egypt I have seen. The ancient city, once known as Constantinople for the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, was modern, clean, well organized and generally safe.
The highlights of my visit included the huge market, incredible ancient mosques, the Hagia Sophia, a historic cathedral and of course Taksim Square. It was obvious to me at the time that the square which features one of the few major green spaces in the city was a favourite meeting place for local people. Istiklal (Independance) Avenue, the wide pedestrian-only main street, featured upscale shops, cafes and antique-like trams.
This street was full of the local populace shopping and simply hanging out. There were tourists also from all over the world and many of them had come from the cruise ships docked at the nearby ancient port. The port and city have had a very interesting and colourful history dating back to 660 BC when it was founded as Byzantium. Later the Romans also ruled the city, when it was called Constantinople. When the Ottomans took over in the 14th century it became a major Islamic centre.
The most interesting thing about this city was that part of it was in Asia and the other in Europe. By simply taking a taxi across the bridge or using a ferry boat I could go back and forth between the two continents with ease. The two continents feature the meeting place of the Bosphorus, Black Sea and Sea of Marmara and this strategic location has made it a major trading centre for thousands of years.
I sat in the cafes along the port and sipped Turkish tea while most people around me sucked on huge tobacco water pipes. I was told it was apple tobacco. Apple tea is also a favourite drink. The local people seemed very western in their dress and their politics. I met many university students in the cafes and they were all very open and interested in life in Canada. In contrast I noted that in Cairo, Egypt people seemed downtrodden and oppressed but in Istanbul there was a feeling of rich culture and progressive, positive attitudes. There were many tourist attractions and arts festival posters announcing concerts and exhibitions.
I was told that although much of the country is Muslim, Istanbul has a history of being more cosmopolitan mostly due to its strategic location.
What a shock it was for me to read in the news a few weeks after my visit to Istanbul that there were riots at Taksim Square because the hard-line government had decided to develop the park near the square. I recalled my peaceful stroll through the old city and then up the pedestrian street to the lively and beautiful Taksim Square and it made me sad to think that the local people had to take to the streets to protect their most precious part of their city.
It also occurred to me as I read about the riots that beneath the facade of this incredible historic city with all the modern conveniences of a major centre there was little democracy in governance. As is the case with many countries in the Middle East and Africa, our western governments help to make sure we encourage the election or appointment of regimes that are friendly to us. That is fine for business but often creates big problems for the local people who have to put up with semi or mostly non democratic governments that in many cases are very right wing and often religiously fundamental.
This all made me think about democracy and how really fragile it is. Like the Turks in Istanbul and so many other public groups protesting in other parts of the world we also must remember that we owe it to ourselves and future generations to make sure that our freedoms, rights and liberties are not being eroded or taken away from us. I thought about the recent protests by my people across the country and it made me feel good that we have not forgotten that we do have a right to let our governments know that we are not happy with something they have done. If we care more about what sports team won the game the other night rather than what our governments are doing at the federal parliament buildings or various provincial government legislatures then we could end up in a country we never bargained on.