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Artthe Civil War of Images in Beirut Saloondimes of Freedom r Friday, January 2, 2009 www.thenational.ae The N!tion!l Art The civil war of images in Beirut Saloon Dimes of freedom World Knocking Luxor down just to build it up Last Word The cold comfort of Jingle Bell Rock The Turkish holding company Alarko, a major conglomerate of energy, construc- The upstart newspaper Taraf has thrust tion and tourism firms, resides in a pink former psychiatric hospital up in the itself into the centre of Turkish politics hills off Istanbul’s stunning shore road, on the European side of the city, across with a series of courageous challenges from a seaside dance club called Reina. In December, I went to Alarko to meet with to the military and the government. its chairman, a Turkish-Jewish business- Eye of man named Ishak Alaton. Alaton founded Circulation is up – but the advertisers Alarko in 1954 with another Turkish Jew, Uzeyir Garih, and the two ran the firm to- are gone. Suzy Hansen reports from gether until Garih was stabbed to death in 2001 by a young soldier while visiting a Istanbul on the perils of publishing in cemetery in Istanbul. At the time the mur- der was seen as the random act of a violent the age of Ergenekon psychopath, absent religious or political motivation. But the week that I went to see the storm Alaton, prosecutors reopened the case, sive Ergenekon indictment contained lent sense of comedic timing, and punc- suggesting that the murder was linked to allegations that the group had been con- tuated his sentences with dramatic paus- a mysterious ultranationalist gang called nected to a secret intelligence unit of the es and heavy syllables, as if he admired Ergenekon, whose intrigues have captivat- military police called JITEM, which some the oeuvre of Chris Rock. “Taraf is good, ed and horrified Turks for the last year. say has carried out extrajudicial killings but I mean, Ergenekon isn’t news to me,” The cab driver who took me to Alarko in Kurdish areas. He talked about Taraf, he said. “All Kurds know about Ergene- was a Kurdish man born in the south- a one-year-old, left-liberal newspaper, kon.” (Pause.) “We’ve all known about eastern city of Mardin. In the privacy of which had distinguished itself by re- Ergenekon since we were children.” the car, he delivered a long rant about lentlessly covering the Ergenekon gang. (Pause.) “Kurdish babies know about Er- the injustices the Kurds had suffered at The goofy but handsome driver, a John genekon. Everyone’s JITEM. Everyone.” the hands of the state, which in Turkey Turturro kind of guy, threw his hands essentially means the military. The mas- around, laughing a lot. He had an excel- Taraf, continued on 4 → The N!tion!l 02 Friday, January 2, 2009 www.thenational.ae review th saloon Where freedom isn’t free Small, patriotic pieces of cardboard are common coin for US military airmen The price of freedom is a matter al bird. British banknotes feature -out wreckage. The soldiers, wear- war film. and they seem to serve a moti- open to some debate. Thomas Jef- images of the Queen and of civili- ing full combat gear, hold machine A third 25 cent coin, which can be vational purpose. ferson claimed it was eternal vigi- sation-advancing Englishmen like guns at their side. exchanged at the Pizza Hut, shows “They are strange little nug- lance. But it turns out the price of Charles Darwin. And Emirati legal Freedom, judging by this coin, three young boy scouts, probably gets of propaganda,” said freedom – or at least its exchange tender features falcons, dhows and looks like a mess, and is worth con- from the 1950s, standing in front one southern American man value – is 25 cents. – on the 20 dirham note – an image siderably less than the $416 billion of a memorial to fallen soldiers. working on the base. “In eve- That’s the case, at least, on the of the Dubai Creek Golf Club. (Dh1.5 trillion) the Pentagon con- Other pogs substitute for 5 cent rything you do, there is always base used by the US Air Force in But the US military-base pogs may firmed the Iraq War had cost up to and 10 cent coins, although those some little reminder of the Abu Dhabi, an oasis of American- be – and perhaps this is not so sur- January 2008. are more rare. agenda. ism whose precise location is not prising – among the most bombas- Another 25 cent pog – whose val- Such is the fascination with the “I find it amusing to a degree. You meant to be a matter of public tic, patriotic coins ever produced. ue amounts to a bit less than one pogs in the outside world they can know, I am buying a sandwich, I knowledge. Behind the well-guard- The face of one 25 cent pog fea- dirham, for those minding the sell online for more than eight don’t need to be reminded to be ed entrance, dollars are exchanged tures not a historic American fig- freedom exchange rate – commem- times their value on a base, even a patriot all the time, so lay off as freely as they are from Alabama ure, but the proud words “Opera- orates Operation Enduring Free- though they are not legal tender in for two minutes,” he said. “No- to Wyoming. The problem arises tion Iraqi Freedom”, boldly printed dom, the US military operation in the civilian economy. One pack of body is going to forget the mis- when an airman needs change for over the image of two seemingly Afghanistan. It shows two soldiers, 12 Middle Eastern-themed pogs, sion.” the drink he just bought at The shell-shocked soldiers standing in one male and one female, staring which includes one five-cent pog Thirsty Camel, the on-base bar, or the rubble of a bombed building, into the distance of the desert, as if featuring a dolphin equipped with Roland Hughes for the greasy slice of pepperoni with flames still licking the burnt attending roll-call in a blockbuster a spy-camera to scout under ships, * wolfed down afterwards at the Piz- is on sale for $17 on an aficionado za Hut. US coins are generally not website. Pogs for the British Army in circulation on the base, so the feature camels and famous foot- solution is simple – the Air Force ballers such as Steven Gerrard and makes its own. Frank Lampard. But they gener- Just as UAE supermarkets some- ally sell for much less than their times give shoppers chewing US equivalents online. gum when they have no change, The discs were first used on customers on the base are giv- military bases during the en small “pogs” – discs of thin Vietnam War. But the word cardboard that stand in for the “pog” originated in Hawaii, different denominations of from a children’s game that American coins, which can be used bottle tops from Pas- redeemed only at certain base sionfruit, Orange and Guava retail outlets. (POG) drinks. It’s not unusual for the images Why not use actual coins? on currency to veer towards nation- Apparently, cardboard pogs are al self-promotion. American coins cheaper to ship around the world display the heads of dead presi- than considerably heavier metal dents, monuments and the nation- dimes, quarters and nickels. That, Rich-Joseph Facun / The National Not on my watch Looking for a Rolex embossed with a bureaucratic seal? Try Abu Dhabi’s second-hand gold shops It’s a collector’s dream: a delicate, Mauritanians who have worked vintage, gold Piaget watch, set with a long time in the army,” Habib sparkling diamonds, from the ear- says. Less expensive embossed ly 1980s. Very rare, Habib assures timepieces are sometimes given to " me – especially the markings on graduating police or army cadets. If my salary is low, Who you know the watch-face. A close inspection Other people who pawn their like a couple of reveals the colourful, intricate logo watches – like one woman who of the Gulf Cooperation Council, brought in a diamond-bejewelled thousand a month, commemorating a summit held piece with Sheikh Zayed’s image how can I wear a in Bahrain in 1982, a year after the on the face – have worked directly council was formed. for high-profile families. “Some- Dh20,000 watch? I Dozens of other pieces in Habib’s times maids or drivers are given have to sell it locked display case also appear to the watches as gifts,” says Habib. helps. What have special markings: some em- “But if my salary is low, like a cou- bossed with flags and horses, oth- ple of thousand a month, how can ers with police-, ministry- and gov- I wear a Dh20,000 watch? I have to ernment department crests. sell it.” Frequently given as gifts to long- Though many people pawn le- serving employees, customised gitimate gifts for quick access to and commemorative watches cash, the stores are also wary of you know sets often wind up in gold shops in other possible, more unsavory rea- the capital, where high-end ho- sons behind a hasty bid to sell. A rological pieces can fetch tens of system has been developed by the thousands of dirhams. The asking police to trace stolen items: if you price for the Piaget, for instance, is don’t have an original receipt for Dh25,000. the watch you’re selling, a quick Some of the watch owners might visit to the on-site CID officer is you apart.
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