…for disproving the theory that humans can be trusted to be good. Italian artist Pippa Bacca was murdered and her body dumped in roadside bushes in Gebze, near Istanbul, Turkey. She had been hitch-hiking, dressed in a white wedding dress, from Europe to Palestine in an artistic project designed to promote world peace and prove that humans can be trusted. Her sister Maria is quoted as saying:
“Her travels were for an artistic performance and to give a message of peace and trust, but not everyone deserves trust,”
Well, that’s for darn sure. I think it’s charming that any woman would consider hitch-hiking alone through Turkey and the near-Middle East in an attempt to prove the goodness of mankind. It’s such a wonderfully european notion, to think that a WOMAN could hitch-hike alone through Turkey. I would love it if she has actually made it. Because the first thing I thought when my partner read me the story was “I’d never hitch-hike alone through Turkey”. I guess that ’s the fear that’s already gotten me. As a woman, I have been trained to understand that men are dangerous, that they must be avoided/mollified/coddled/obeyed. Men have sensitive souls and soft little minds…after all that’s why a woman in a short skirt and a few drinks is asking for it, that’s why a colleague who wears flattering clothes is a slut, that’s why a woman who says no is a bitch. Sorry, I went off a little there. But I’m not going to hit the delete key cos this shit really really bugs me.
Spain has nothing to brag about when it comes to equality or the societal acceptance of violence against women. The Women in Business Club, of which I am a member, was formed in 2004 to promote awareness of violence against women in Spain. There have been 39 women killed by their partners so far this year -2008. A nice average of just over 10 per month. ARGH.
Does it make a difference that it happened in Turkey, a muslim nation? I don’t know. I’d have to understand the statistics…are there more rapes/murders of women per capita in muslim societies than in christian/secular societies? Well, reading the Chanelling Energy Blog, it looks like the problem is worldwide. I would reasonably say that in European societies, perhaps women have a better chance of getting help. Or maybe not. You see, I was hit by an ex-partner, and it took me ages to get away from him. I fell into the typical victim trap of wanting to help him/being afraid of him. I stayed three years too long…I finally got away when I realised that I was worth 10 times him and just got the hell out. Out of the country, out of the routine, out of the way.
God, It’s just so depressing. I want to be able to say ‘Bloody macho muslim Turks! You see, that’s why they shouldn’t join the EU!”, but I can’t. I’m not a racist. I’m not prejudiced. I, like Pippa Bacca, believe in the goodness of human beings. Should I?
Taclan Topal said,
April 13, 2008 at 5:35 pm
I would like to express my condolences to Pippa’s family, friends and to all of those who believe in peace. I truly feel ashamed of sharing the same nationality with such a cruel pschopath. There can’t be an apology to such a gruesome act, but yet I would like to apologise in the name of humanity. There is peace and we should continue believing in peace. I am sure Pippa would do the same. Now it’s our duty to follow her dream.
P.A. said,
April 14, 2008 at 4:06 am
I appreciate your effort on purifying yourself from the prejudices caused by national or religious differences. We need to consider Pippa Bacca’s death within a humanitarian dimension. Right now I am irriated by the way the Turkish media evaluates the murder. They say: ‘It’s a shame on our nation, now we are contempted in the eyes of the EU’.. What kind of a highlight is that? What are they trying to prove? That the Turkish nation is, in fact, comprised of innocent guys and M.K. is an exception? Arriviting at the issues of nationalism and EU candidacy after such a brutal, anti-humane event.. So contradictory to what the world peace activist was trying to do. So sad.
Metin Akbil said,
April 14, 2008 at 11:11 am
First of all, I would like to express my most sincere condolences to the family and friends of Pippa Bacca. There is just no way to explain or excuse what has happened. This event just shows the darkest side of the human animal.
Equally, this tragic event should stand out on its own and should not be used towards arguments for or against Turkey or the EU or anything else. There is an equal or higher chance of something like this happening in New York, would the New Yorkers feel the need to prove anything? I just feel comfort in the fact that the suspect has been apprehended and will pay for what he has done.
As far as the EU candidacy of Turkey is concerned, that is a long story, that has nothing to do with this topic and one that needs to be re-evaluated by both parties. Unless the attitudes of both sides change drastically, there really is no point continuing this effort which is bound to be futile in the end.
Cristina said,
April 14, 2008 at 11:49 am
I am an Italo-turk girl. And I hate to watch and listen to media and people from all over the world using the same cliché. Ready to accuse all nation. It was the same for the English girl killed in Italy? We all know how the media in Europe and Asia says differently about Turkey.
She was a woman. A human. And the other one was a Killer. Other adjectives (nationnality etc.. ) don’t change the situation. It might happen every where in the world and God, still happening! I am so sad so sad for her that I do not even care for all the Media and politic stuff and stupid primitive, racist comments…
Dave said,
April 15, 2008 at 4:24 am
What a dumb-ass!!! She should have known better than insult the “religion of peace”. When are these stupid hippiies going to learn that muslims will kill a liberal quicker than they can mutilate a vigina with a rusty knife. Stupid woman.
sustainablespain said,
April 15, 2008 at 9:20 am
Well Dave, I hear what you’re saying. I suppose that she wasn’t that naive to not understand the inherent risks in such a journey, but hoped to make a point or a statement. And that’s why the Turkish and international press are all over this story: precisely the inevitability of her attack and death. You’re right – women don’t stand a chance in countries with a muslim majority. Even moderate and secular muslim states such as Turkey and Malaysia control the behaviour of women by laws or societal approval/diapproval.
Having said that, I have three Spanish female friends who’ve each spent an entire University year in Istanbul through the Erasmus project. Each has told me how lovely the people are and that they did not feel threatened or judged in their time there. And as for Female Genital Mutilation, the perpetrators are usuall women – the mother or a female relative cuts the little girl’s vagina.
But over all, yes, the picture painted by events in the (muslim) world does bode well for women or liberals
Flora said,
April 15, 2008 at 9:01 pm
This crime could have happened in any country and it is still happening somewhere at this moment. It’s dangerous to hitchhike alone, more dangerous to hitch as a woman, more dangerous still to hitch as a woman in a country where a large part of the culture doesn’t see women as equal to men. Pippa was old enough to know the risks. But she didn’t deserve this.
As for FGM, I don’t know the statistics on how much is done by women, how much by men. Those women do it because of men– their daughters won’t be marriageable without it. Perhaps some do it just for money.
In the UK last year, there were 66,000 REPORTED cases of FGM. How much goes unreported? Check the statistics on rape in Sweden and who is doing it.
I’m not making a racist comment— it’s a cultural thing. Within one country can be more than one culture. All of the Turkish men I’ve met have been wonderful gentlemen—- but I wouldn’t travel alone as a woman across the Turkish countryside. And I wouldn’t hitch anywhere ever.
Metin Akbil said,
April 16, 2008 at 8:51 am
The only thing I will say to Dave’s post is that he has exactly the same mentality as the people he accuses. You can dress an idiot any way you like, once a bigot always a bigot and religion does not seem to be the determining factor here.
sustainablespain said,
April 16, 2008 at 11:51 am
Flora, I found a resume of the ethnicity of rape perpetrators in Sweden at the Viking Observer. Another website reports similar statistics here, although in a rather hysterical tone (I’d be hysterical too if I were that poor girl in the photo). Basically, Flora, you’re right – it seems that in Sweden, muslim male immigrants are attacking Swedish secular females in statistically significant numbers. To all the earlier commentators, sorry if that hurts but numbers are useful tools when analysing this issue.
So what’s the deal? I’ll recount a few incidents that I experienced during a stay in Berlin’s mainly Turkish Kreutzberg district in 2005. Travelling alone and wanting to enjoy the nightlife that Berlin offers, I often found myself walking back down the main street alone at night. On more than one occasion (read: many) groups of Turkish-looking men (3,4,5, 6 or more) crossing me in the opposite direction would approach me WAY inside my personal space to hiss-whisper things in my face. I don’t speak Turkish, but I don’t think they were asking for directions to the nearest metro station. In the end, I felt compelled to cover myself with a baggy jacket and keep my eyes firmly averted to the pavement. I was mad as hell but what the heck could I do? I felt invaded, threatened and eventualy coerced into behaving in a manner foreign to me. Just like the muslim ladies who wear veils to protect their modesty when really they are protecting themselves from the unwanted attention and possible threat of their menfolk, says me.
So dudes, moderates, bloggers, thinkers. What was going on there? If that can happen to me in Berlin, what is it REALLY like for women in Turkey or other muslim countries?
bon said,
April 16, 2008 at 8:43 pm
im a friend of her cousin, the family is in a great deal of pain,
i do hope they don’t run in to too many sencitive types like dave.
she was a wonderfull spirit
she wasn’t a stupid person.
she gave up her life
he is caught
now some one elce won’t have to feel that manz rage
now some one elce won’t be kill’d in a little boys tantrum
because she gave up her life
for some one elce is peace.
Turkish citizen said,
April 16, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Unfortunately, the Turkish population in Germany are not representative of the Turkish people in general. They immigrated to Germany after World War II and have been living pretty much in a closed society. Considering that they were the most uneducated group who could not find work in Turkey at that time, I mostly blame the German governments for not taking the effort to educate and integrate them into their society. All I can say is that they would be pretty much out of place here in Istanbul as well.
Similarly, I would not advise anyone, male or female, to go to the Jamaica district of New York, day or night. So what would that tell us about the super power of our time? It’s not easy to generalize on such topics, if you start doing that you could end up where all Germans are nazis, all French are guilty of genocide…You could fit a similar fault to almost every country in Europe.
On another note, I’m amazed that the EU wants to protect the pro Islamic party currently in power in Turkey against the secular judicial system that wants to protect out secular way of life. We fought hard after WW I to establish a secular democratic country free from the backward influences of countries like Saudi Arabia with their twisted wahabi version of Islam. During the past 6 years this has been systematically attacked by fundamentalist forces supported by the avengelist Bush administrations notion of “moderate Islam”.
If we want things to improve, we need to forget about following hidden agendas and work together to educate and improve the quality of life for these people. Gradually things will begin to improve but it will take time.
Please do not mistake Turkey with the other Islamic Arab countries, women here have the same rights as men. Turkey has its own set of special circumstances, currently its illegal to cover your head in the universities or other government offices. Some Europeans see this against human rights but as I said, for the time being that is how it has to be. Even democracy needs to take measures to protect itself.
Metin Akbil said,
April 16, 2008 at 10:35 pm
@sustainablespain, you are aware that none of these criminals you quote from the Viking Observer and the other site are Turkish right? They are listed as being from Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia… So what’s your point?
sustainablespain said,
April 17, 2008 at 5:37 am
Hi Metin. You’re absolutely right – none of the perpetrators mentioned in the articles cited earlier is Turkish. The point wasn’t mine; I was clarifying Flora’s comment. I guess that the point is this: can two radically different value systems co-exist? Nationality aside, if one espouses the teachings of the prophet Mohammed, can that person live peacefully beside, say, a twice-divorced non-muslim mother who likes a drink at the weekend?
And yes, the Turkish population in Germany has, by all accounts, been marginalised. Timothy Garton Ash makes an interesting analysis of the muslim ‘question’ in various European states, arguing that the country of origin of the majority muslim immigrant population radically changes the nature of the ‘question’. And yes, the Turks of Germany are compared very favourably with the Pakistanis in Britain.
Turkish citizen, when you write “On another note, I’m amazed that the EU wants to protect the pro Islamic party currently in power in Turkey against the secular judicial system that wants to protect out secular way of life.”, to what are you referring?
Turkish citizen said,
April 17, 2008 at 1:30 pm
sustainablespain, just follow the announcements of the EU parliament, they are close to calling the constitutional court’s indictment against the ruling pro-islamic party on grounds of acting against the secular constitution “a political coup by the judicial system”. This is not acceptable begaviour and clearly shows the prejudice and hidden agenda of the EU (and the US)- or their outright ignorance. Now everyone should think real hard what benefit they will get if Turkey transforms from a secular democracy to an islamic republic.
Just to put things in correct perspective, the Turkish military is by law the guardian of the secular constitution and they are the only establishment that have the trust and respect of the great majority of the Turkish people. This concept is a little difficult for Europeans to comprehend but we all trust the Turkish army to protect the principles of Ataturk.
I am deeply disturbed when I see the images of the current Turkish prime minister and the president with their wives covered. Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t care but they want to make a political statement, one with which I do not agree and find dangerous.
This image does not reflect the country Ataturk and our ancestors left us when the Turkish republic was founded after WW 1. It’s almost as if the European countries want to complete what they weren’t able to achieve in 1915 at Gallipoli. It’s very difficult to understand their behaviour.
Metin Akbil said,
April 17, 2008 at 8:49 pm
sustainablespain, I have quite a few friends in Istanbul who have been divorced and they lead perfectly normal lives.
I think part of the problem is the misconception westerners have about Turkey. Turkey is not an Arab country and is the only democratic country with a predominantly moslem population. Not being an Arab country, Turkey does not have many of the backward customs of tribal Arabs of the desert. In this case, the two value systems as you put it do coexist in the form of laicism, which is the mutual exclusion of religious affairs and state affairs. Laicism in Turkey (and France) is different than secularism, it means religion has absolutely no place in government establishments and public places such as universities – hence the ban on turban in these places. And this is why trying to lift this ban has caused the constitutional court to open a lawsuit for closing the pro-Islamic ruling party.
I do not mean to belittle the Arab people in any way, I just want to point out the differences in customs and traditions.
Back in the late 70s, I traveled through most of southern and western Anatolia by hitchhiking, I don’t know if I would be brave enough to try today. The times have certainly changed for the worse since then, not only in Turkey but I think throughout the world.
Turkish citizen said,
April 18, 2008 at 1:34 pm
The EU parliament has opened a statement for signature by its members that they are “worried” by the Turkish constitutional court’s indictment against the AKP, the ruling pro islamist party. It makes one wonder why the EU is so keen to have a pro islamist party in power as opposed to a secular party, doesn’t it?
Metin Akbil said,
April 18, 2008 at 10:07 pm
The 11.th Flying Broom Women’s Film Festival to take place in Ankara between 8-15 May, is hoping to contribute to Ms. Bacca’s peace project with films that promote peace over war.
Metin Akbil said,
April 20, 2008 at 11:46 am
A symbolic funeral ceremony for Ms. Bacca was held at the Taksim square in Istanbul.