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From Our Own Correspondent: Turkey and Ukraine

15/11/2012

Turkey and Ukraine

BBC World Service - From Our Own Correspondent, Turkey and Ukraine

Jonathan Fryer in Istanbul and Robin Banerji in Odessa reflect on language and history.

Pascale Harter presents insights from Jonathan Fryer in Istanbul and Robin Banerji in Odessa, reflecting on language, history and identity around the shores of the Black Seea.

Two cities on the Black Sea with parallel concerns about their histories, their language and their identity.

"The only 'multi' in Turkey is multimillionaires" 
Recently, Turkey has not been shy about flexing its newfound diplomatic muscle abroad - reaching out both to Europe and the Middle East with a new assertiveness. But attitudes to diversity of religion and ethnicity within the country seem to be harder to update. Jonathan Fryer asks: what’s Turkish for multiculturalism? And what does the answer have to do with elephants and opera?

A horribly, totally Odessan mix 
The port of Odessa also struggles with being a former showcase of empire and the inheritor of a complex set of overlapping identities and loyalties. It's still coming to terms with its time as a Soviet centre - yet there's also a lasting affection for Russian culture, and most particularly Russian literature. Robin Banerji recently visited and tried to disentangle the strands of this city's intricate story

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