A Proud Turkish-American
Importance of Becoming Multicultural
In this day and age, it is necessary to become multicultural. My father became a proud Turkish-American but before that he went through transformation. He became multicultural.
Not that he was not multicultural in his old country, Turkiye. He did not remain a local person. He travelled to the big city, Istanbul. He visited it often as a youngster. Then he moved his family there.
That is how you become multicultural in your old country. What about when you migrate to your new homeland, America. One can end up becoming local, inverted, and less social. There are suffocating communities everywhere.
Much like anyone who would be born and remain in the same local community for most of their lives. They will miss the opportunity to become multicultural. In this day and age, there are more opportunities to be exposed to multiculturalism.
My father and aunt were able to do it at their latter years.
ISMAIL GUNASTI & NEBAHAT KURTULUS
My father, Ismail Gunasti and my aunt Nebahat Kurtulus.
A brother and a sister: One (93) passed, six months ago, in January. The other (98) followed him in August of this year.
They were born in Turkiye. One chose to become a naturalized American while the other decided not to. They both cherished the fact they were Americanized. Nevertheless, my father remained a proud Turkish-American.
However, both were multicultural. They were when they were in Turkiye but also when they came to America. My father lived in New England, New York, Florida, and California. My aunt was coming and going between Turkiye and America for many years.
A Proud Turkish American
Naturalized Citizen
I am a naturalized citizen. So was my father.
Our multicultural lifestyles have been affluent. We both benefited from double citizenship. Yet, we also faced shortcomings.
We always thought there was a difference between us and those that were born in the US. We also noticed, overtime, we were no longer like those we left behind.
My running for Mayor in Palm Springs reinforced this feeling. Becoming a presidential delegate in 2016 and 2020 reaffirmed even more.
So, I know.
Love of Old Country and New Home Land
A proud Turkish-American would equally love America and Turkiye. Pledging to become a citizen in America does not take away from anyone their heritage.
In retrospect, my father did not cheer for the Boston Redsox as much as he cheered for Bekistas. He was not familiar with baseball as much as he was with soccer.
Otherwise, he belonged to the “Red Sox Nation” even though we lived most of our lives in New York. It was no different in Istanbul when we lived before we migrated.
There, of the three biggest teams of the soccer league, we remained true as Besiktas fans. All the while, our home was next to the Turkish Yankee: Fenerbahce stadium.
Distance Does Not Diminish Nostalgia
Distance does not make one forget. In fact, attraction becomes even bigger over time. I lived in France, the UK, New York, Florida, Switzerland, and California. However, I am, still, a Red Sox Nation.
Today, I am a proud American. Yet, my Turkish heritage is as strong. At later stages in life, I learned well how to put both into perspective and cherish them together.
In the past, I could have been biased for one or the other. Wisdom follows immaturity. Currently, I no longer have any doubt about what is right and what is wrong anymore.
One reason for that is because I am objective. I depend on realities coming from both ends. Simply because, I am nowadays integrally part of both of them.
A Proud Turkish-American
Basri and Nebahat
Surely, my father with his double citizenship and my aunt with her permanent resident status in the US, were also exemplary for the rest to observe and learn.
Exemplary
My father, Ismail, Basri to his sister Nebahat, were the same. In their last encounter, they were still as if they were two little youngsters, full of love and respect to one another.
Even though one had been living for the past ten years in California and another ten in Florida. All the while, the other had long returned to Turkiye, for good 20 years ago.
Still, neither was too American or too Turkish anymore. It was difficult to pin either with anything. Their multicultural reflections were the by-product of the global melting pot.
Reflective
My uncle became a doctor in Turkiye, after boarding school in an American college in Tarsus, my hometown. He, then, emigrated to America in 1958.
My father arrived in America, permanently, in 1983, after the last “successful” coup d’etat by American agents. My aunt was in America a decade earlier in the 1970s.
In the past fifty years, in that respect my family transformed. However, we are not exceptions. We are exceptions because we are the biggest Turkish-American family.
That is where the comparison ends. Looking back how Turks have evolved in the same period not only answers what, when, where, but also shows how.
Turkish Women Volleyball Team: World and European Champions in 2023
Turkish women winning World and European championships in the same year this year is a remarkable achievement. In fact, it is more than that.No one has ever done it to date.
50 years ago when my aunt and my father embarked their westward migration, Turkiye was not the leading economic and military power of the region like today.
In the 1980s, we were not yet “Americans” or even “permanent residents” either. However, we all surely cherished it, for example, when the US hockey team won the gold medal in the Olympics.
A Proud Turkish-American
Cherishing Multi Culture
Basri and Nebahat, eventually, became “Americanized Turks”. They cheered for all good things in both countries no matter where they lived.
Their allegiances to two different countries, culture, people made them wealthier in heart and spirit. They were also lucky to be able to cherish them all, and well.
Why wouldn’t everyone else on Planet Earth seek the same. However, good news is they can. The world has evolved quite a bit in the past 50 years since they began their journey.
