Winner for Nov. 22: Fate of the Turkish countryside

The voting is closed.

Two of our three member-suggested ideas focused on the fascinating and picturesque country of Turkey. The winner came from Stephen R. Douglas, who requested a close look at the future of Turkish villages -- an interesting question at a time when traditional rural life around the region under transition. Here's how Mr. Douglas framed the idea:

"I would like a story about small Turkish villages. I visited Turkey this spring and was truly disappointed in the few opportunities we had as a package tour group to spend time in a small village, the soul of rural Turkey. An example would be Sanfranbolu, or Devrigi where a new otogar is under construction . How do village youth and old timers view the future of small villages? Why are so many high rises sprouting next to old village centers? Thanks."

Here's the article:

In Turkey, villages are becoming thing of the past

Stephen R Douglas suggests:


	Stephen R Douglas suggests:	I would like a story about small Turkish villages. I visited Turkey this spring and was truly disappointed in the few opportunities we had as a package tour group to spend time in a small villagethe soul of rural Turkey. An example would be Sanfranbolu, or Devrigi where a new otogar is under construction . How do village youth and old timers view the future of small villages? Why are so many high rises sprouting next to old village centers? Thanks.
	Laura Duffy suggests:	I am interested in Turkey's changing profile. Their economy is robust, and they're playing a larger Middle Eastern diplomatic role. This is surprising given their Islamist government, of which many initially were suspicious. They seem not to need membership in the European Union, although they've long hoped to join. Turkey seems unstoppable, which is a good for the U.S., as well as for countries that seek to become democracies.
	Mike D. suggests:	My work place (I'm an engineer) has been more and more international in the last 20 years. The the typical engineering workplace has lots of Indians and Chinese plus smatterings of many other nations (Lebanese, Pakistani, Irish, Vietnamese, among others at my workplace). Of course the waves of latino immigration is also well known. I find this new and growing breed of global citizen very facinating. I haven't been able to consolidate this into a concrete story proposal, but I'd love to hear more about this topic. What are the implications to nations when growing numbers of people are transnational? What about native born US citizens? We don't go move abroad in nearly the numbers that move here. Does this mean we'll be at a competitive disadvantage? Of course we have large numbers of immigrants who maintain ties abroad, but many of these people even if technically US citizens may be more appropriately thought of as global citizens. Thus as nations such as China and India surge, maybe we'll see the brain drain that has benefitted the US reverse and start to damage the US. I guess my viewpoint is the polar opposite of those on the right who fear waves of poor latinos, and those on the left who fear loss of "American" jobs. I see these immigration flows almost like the flows of money they call "hot money" where there is a pool of talented people who flow whereever opportunity exists, but a pool that can just as easily abandon the US if we decline as a power. At any rate, sorry for the rambling post. My thoughts aren't clear and concise enough to be an official story idea to be voted on, but nonetheless, I wanted to send my feedback to the editors as to one of the topics I've been interested in.

I would like a story about small Turkish villages. I visited Turkey this spring and was truly disappointed in the few opportunities we had as a package tour group to spend time in a small villagethe soul of rural Turkey. An example would be Sanfranbolu, or Devrigi where a new otogar is under construction . How do village youth and old timers view the future of small villages? Why are so many high rises sprouting next to old village centers? Thanks.

Laura Duffy suggests:

I am interested in Turkey's changing profile. Their economy is robust, and they're playing a larger Middle Eastern diplomatic role. This is surprising given their Islamist government, of which many initially were suspicious. They seem not to need membership in the European Union, although they've long hoped to join. Turkey seems unstoppable, which is a good for the U.S., as well as for countries that seek to become democracies.

Mike D. suggests:

My work place (I'm an engineer) has been more and more international in the last 20 years. The the typical engineering workplace has lots of Indians and Chinese plus smatterings of many other nations (Lebanese, Pakistani, Irish, Vietnamese, among others at my workplace). Of course the waves of latino immigration is also well known.

I find this new and growing breed of global citizen very facinating. I haven't been able to consolidate this into a concrete story proposal, but I'd love to hear more about this topic. What are the implications to nations when growing numbers of people are transnational? What about native born US citizens? We don't go move abroad in nearly the numbers that move here. Does this mean we'll be at a competitive disadvantage? Of course we have large numbers of immigrants who maintain ties abroad, but many of these people even if technically US citizens may be more appropriately thought of as global citizens. Thus as nations such as China and India surge, maybe we'll see the brain drain that has benefitted the US reverse and start to damage the US.

I guess my viewpoint is the polar opposite of those on the right who fear waves of poor latinos, and those on the left who fear loss of "American" jobs. I see these immigration flows almost like the flows of money they call "hot money" where there is a pool of talented people who flow whereever opportunity exists, but a pool that can just as easily abandon the US if we decline as a power.

At any rate, sorry for the rambling post. My thoughts aren't clear and concise enough to be an official story idea to be voted on, but nonetheless, I wanted to send my feedback to the editors as to one of the topics I've been interested in.

Winner for Nov. 22: Fate of the Turkish countryside

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