土耳其人不應對聖誕節投否決票
I remember vividly a scene from my childhood at my grandmother’s house in a middle-class Muslim neighbourhood in Ankara in the 1980s. It is New Year’s Eve. Grandma has prepared yoghurt soup, roasted turkey, Uzbek rice — and, for dessert, there are baklava and tangerines, which we will consume while watching a belly dancer on state TV. We wear paper hats and blow party horns. Then at midnight, Grandma goes to her room to read the Koran and pray to Allah for a good, prosperous year.
我還清楚地記得上世紀80年代我小時候在外祖母家中的一個場景。她住在安卡拉一箇中產階級穆斯林街區。那是一個新年前夜。外祖母準備好了酸奶湯、烤火雞、烏茲別克米飯，還有果仁蜜餅和柑橘作甜點。我們一邊吃着，一邊看國家電視臺播放的肚皮舞。我們戴着紙帽，吹着派對喇叭。到了午夜，外祖母回到她的房間誦讀《古蘭經》，向真主祈禱來年幸福富足。
It was a hybrid world back then. In Turkey, more than any other place in the Middle East, a collage of different traditions and customs coexisted; secularism and faith were constantly mixed, dancing a waltz. In some houses alcohol — Iraqi, mostly — would be served on New Year’s Eve. In others, there would be Coca-Cola and tea. Even conservative Turks would find a cause for celebration in the beginning of a new year. While Christmas trees in homes were rare, we loved the baubles and decorations in the shops and the streets. Religion was relatively liquid, flowing, ever changing.
回想從前，那是一個兼容幷包的世界。在中東，土耳其的兼容幷包氛圍算得上是最濃厚的：不同的傳統和風俗共存；世俗主義與信仰始終混在一起，共舞一支華爾茲。在一些家庭，新年前夜會喝酒，主要是伊拉克的酒。另一些家庭會喝可口可樂(Coca-Cola)和茶。就連比較保守的土耳其人也會在新年到來之際找到理由慶祝一番。儘管很少有人在家裏佈置聖誕樹，但我們喜歡商店裏和街道上的那些裝飾和點綴。那時的宗教是相對軟性的、流動的，始終在變化。
Today religion is solid and that hybridity is lost. We are divided into mutually exclusive cultural zones. In Istanbul, as we near the new year, different neighbourhoods have adopted visibly different attitudes towards Christmas. As one drives from one area to another it is easy to tell which municipalities are run by the CHP, the main opposition party, and which by the AK party, the government. The glittery decorations and lights are almost always in the CHP areas. The only exception are the shopping malls, of which Istanbul has too many. Inside these are gigantic Christmas trees; and, in front of those trees, nowadays, angry protesters.
如今，宗教是堅實厚重的，那種兼容幷包已經沒有了。我們被分割爲互相排斥的文化區。在伊斯坦布爾，新年臨近時，不同街區對聖誕節的態度明顯不同。當我們驅車從一個地區到另一個地區時，我們很容易分辨哪些地區由主要反對黨共和人民黨(CHP)管理，哪些地區是由執政的正義與發展黨(AK party)管理。閃閃發光的裝飾和彩燈幾乎總是出現在共和人民黨管理的地區。唯一的例外是購物中心，因爲伊斯坦布爾的購物中心太多了。這些購物中心裏矗立着巨型聖誕樹；如今，出現在這些聖誕樹前的是憤怒的抗議者。
“We are not obeying a toy-distributing Santa, we are the followers of Prophet Mohammad,” reads one of the signs held by protesters. Another displays a verse from the Koran, plucked out of context and deployed for particular political ends. The protesters claim they are delivering God’s words to the ignorant.
抗議者舉着的一個標語上寫着：“我們不會聽從分發玩具的聖誕老人的話，我們是先知穆罕默德(Prophet Mohammad)的追隨者。”另一個標語引用了《古蘭經》裏的一句話，它被斷章取義、服務於特殊的政治目的。抗議者聲稱，他們是在向無知者傳達真主的話。
Early in the year the Saadet (Felicity) party — a religious-based political party — called Santa Claus “a sinister and dirty project”, adding that “western colonialism tries to invade culturally what it cannot invade militarily.”
今年初，以宗教爲基礎的政治黨派“幸福黨”(Saadet Partisi)稱，聖誕老人是“一個陰險且骯髒的計劃”，還稱“西方殖民主義企圖對無法通過武力侵略的東西實行文化侵略”。
Through articles and distorted images, Santa Claus is vilified in Islamist newspapers. The situation is highly ironic given that the original St Nicholas was born in the town of Patara in Turkey in 260AD and to this day is regarded as part of Turkish history and culture.
伊斯蘭報紙通過文章和經過歪曲的圖片來詆譭聖誕老人。這種局面非常具有諷刺性，因爲聖誕老人的原型其實是公元260年生於帕塔拉（Patara，現爲土耳其的一個城鎮）的聖尼古拉(St Nicholas)，而且如今被視爲土耳其歷史和文化的一部分。
Not by everyone, or course. A youth association — Fatih Generation Youth Education Association — organised a protest in the suburban Maltepe district. Claiming descent from Sultan Fatih, who conquered Constantinople in 1453 and ended Byzantine rule, it said: “The charlatan that is Santa Claus is the father of Christians. Whereas we are the ummah of Prophet Mohammad. Forsake your erroneous ways. We are here to deliver you the word of God.”
當然，並非所有人都這樣認爲。一個名爲“Fatih Generation Youth Education Association”的青年協會在位於伊斯坦布爾市郊的馬爾泰佩區組織了一場抗議活動。該協會成員宣稱他們是1453年征服君士坦丁堡、終結拜占庭統治的穆罕默德二世(Sultan Fatih)的後裔。該協會表示：“聖誕老人這個騙子是基督徒的父親。而我們是先知穆罕默德的子民。放棄你們錯誤的做法吧。我們來這裏是爲了向你們傳達真主之言。”
Some of the protesters held up placards that said: “Muslims do not celebrate Christmas”. The same hashtag quickly trended on Twitter. Turkish social media today is replete with such messages. “Father Christmas is the symbol of a culture that rains toys upon their own children but rains bombs upon the children of Syria,” says one tweet. These political messages are accompanied by disturbing images of suffering Syrian and Palestinian children.
一些抗議者舉着標語，上面寫着：“穆斯林不過聖誕節”。這個話題標籤迅速在Twitter上流行開來。今天的土耳其社交媒體上充斥着此類信息。一條帖子寫道：“有種文化爲他們自己的孩子送去大量的玩具，卻向敘利亞的孩子們投下大量炸彈，聖誕老人就是這種文化的象徵。”與這些政治性話語相配的，是痛苦的敘利亞和巴勒斯坦兒童等觸目驚心的圖片。
The chairman of an association of religious officials made a statement inviting all Turks to celebrate the conquest of Mecca instead of New Year’s Eve. His call must have resonated with some as in the same week a citizen dressed up as Santa Claus was chased by another man dressed up as a Janissary — a member of the sultan’s elite infantry.
一個宗教官員協會的會長髮表聲明，邀請所有土耳其人慶祝對麥加的征服，而非慶祝新年前夜。他的呼籲肯定引起了一些人的共鳴，因爲就在同一周，一名裝扮爲聖誕老人的市民被另一名裝扮爲蘇丹親兵(janissary)的市民追打。
Turkish nationalism is a hall of mirrors. It distorts reality. Even though Turkish nationalism is powerful and pervasive it behaves as if it is constantly under threat. So many minorities have left Turkey along the course of history. But the fear that the Greeks or Armenians or Jews pose a serious threat runs too deep. The state, even though it is huge and robust, perceives itself to be in need of protection from individual citizens. Meanwhile, in southeastern Turkey there are violent clashes between Kurdish militants and the army. Turkish democracy has urgent problems but we are busy these days discussing Santa Claus.
土耳其的民族主義是一個裝滿了鏡子的大廳。它扭曲了現實。儘管民族主義在土耳其非常強大且無處不在，但它卻表現得彷彿自己始終受到威脅。歷史上有那麼多的少數民族離開了土耳其。但有些土耳其人卻有一種深深的擔心，怕希臘人、亞美尼亞人或猶太人會對土耳其構成嚴重威脅。儘管土耳其的國家機器龐大而強健，但它仍認爲自己需要受到保護，以免遭公民個人傷害。與此同時，在土耳其東南部，庫爾德武裝分子與土耳其政府軍存在激烈的衝突。土耳其民主有着迫切需要解決的問題，而我們這些天卻忙着討論聖誕老人。
This being a highly polarised country, the secularist camp has launched a counter campaign. Many young people post images of Palestinian fathers dressed up as Santa Claus just to give their children a bit of joy. A columnist in the daily Hurriyet titled his article: “Don’t celebrate New year’s but you can marry child girls” to show the hypocrisy and criticise underage marriages, which account for 14 per cent of all marriages in Turkey.
土耳其的民意遠稱不上是“一邊倒”，世俗陣營已經發起了反擊。許多年輕人貼出了巴勒斯坦父親裝扮成聖誕老人的圖片（這些父親只是爲了讓他們的孩子高興一下）。土耳其《自由日報》(Hurriyet)的一名專欄作家在該報發表了一篇題爲《別慶祝新年，但你可以娶少女》的文章，以突顯箇中的虛僞並批評未成年人婚姻。在土耳其，未成年人婚姻佔到所有婚姻的14%。
As a Turkish writer, I respect Christmas, I respect Hanukkah, I respect Diwali and I respect Ramadan. I see them as one. Against the rising tides of an aggressive rhetoric that reduce us to a single identity and divide humanity into artificiality camps, I celebrate pluralism. Happy new year everyone.
作爲一名土耳其作家，我尊重聖誕節，我尊重光明節，我尊重排燈節，我尊重齋月。我對它們一視同仁。某種激進的言論使我們陷入單一認同，並把人類劃分爲不同的人爲陣營。在這種言論愈演愈烈之際，我要讚美多元化。祝所有人都新年快樂！
