All of this sent me scurrying to my archives to find how some costs might be cut. Perhaps the actual cutting scene can be cut? Perhaps a cast member can be cut? Perhaps? Perhaps? I leave the reader to judge. As luck would have it, right next to my Atatürk biography by Andrew Mango, I found my copy of Jarrahiya Ilhaniye a tome about royal surgery by 15th century surgeon Serafeddin SabuncuoÄlu. It deals with everything one would want to know about Ottoman surgical techniques, particularly as applied to circumcision, more sharply applied to Prince Mehmet. I have read the details of the actual procedure. It might be sufficient to just peruse the following and decide for yourselves whether this event is worth all the time and millions.
The author, Dr. SabuncuoÄlu, suggests a scissor with slightly curved blade tips. He also recommends that two ligations be made for health and safety. No argument from me. He advises that "the surgeon cut the perpetual skin between the ligatures so that there will be no flow of blood and the glans won't be wounded." Again, this sounded like good advice to me. But then he began to discuss a complication that often occurs. Oh-oh, I hate complications, particularly"well". Okay, it's about"never mind, I'll let the doctor tell the story*"
(Note: The bold-faced comments in brackets are mine and were recorded on a listening device in the prime minister's office while I was reading Dr. SabuncuoÄlu's book. I thank the prime ministry for the use of the tape. Such understanding people.)
"If a part or whole layer of the foreskin slips from your hand"[YIKES!], SabuncuoÄlu cautioned, "and is inverted during the operation [INVERTED? HOW"? LET ME OUT OF HERE!] draw it out immediately with a hook or a crochet [A HOOK? OH MAMA! ANNE! Ä°MDAT!] and make your incision before the place swells." [WHAT INCISION? WHAT PLACE? WHAT SWELLS?]
SabuncuoÄlu seems unusually calm about such things. He adds, "If you fail to do this, let it be." [LET IT BE? WHAT KIND OF A DOCTOR ARE YOU?].
Not to worry says SabuncuoÄlu. [I'M WORRIED! I'M WORRIED! IT'S MY PENIS FOR ALLAH'S SAKE!] "Allow the swollen part to subside, and then gently peel the skin." [SUBSIDE? WHAT AM I? A PATLACAN? PATLICAN MIYIM?].
"Be careful not to cut the tip of the penis," warns the doctor, "but if it is cut there is no harm done." [EASY FOR HIM TO SAY! ALLAH KAHRETSÄ°N! HE SOUNDS LIKE ERDOÄAN AND HIS TEÄET ECONOMIC POLICY!]
"Dress the wound with flesh-generating powders." [YOU QUACK! ÅARLATAN HEKÄ°M!]
"Should the foreskin be cut away more than needed and the skin is wrinkled up that will do no great harm either." [AAAGH!!! LANET OLSUN!!! AHMAK! DANGALAK!!!!]
But perhaps I overreacted.
Nevertheless, this great leap backward by the AKP, typical as it is, should be thwarted on the grounds of defamation of the character of the Turkish people. We live in a dangerous, difficult age. And that's the point. We are not Ottomans who kept their women enslaved beneath the veil and behind the lattice, and all their people ignorant and illiterate. Our cultural reference is not their dark-mindedness. We, all of us, are modern, vital citizens of Turkey. Our cultural reference point is the Enlightenment not the corruptions of the Ottoman Empire. That's the message that should be conveyed to Europeans, and indeed, the world. But first we need to convey it to ourselves. It is far, far better thing to light a candle than continue to curse the darkness. And that is the one sure way to dispel the murk of AKP-ness.
Cem Ryan, Ph.D.
Ä°stanbul
http://forreasonsunknown-cem.blogspot.com/2009/10/k-p-ness-condition-of-being-akp.html
* Consult the below address at MuslimHeritage.com for more "ceremonial" details.
http://www.muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=1078
