Kulüp (The Club) (No.2/2)

Vahe H. Apelian

Kulüp (The Club)  is a  Turkish television miniseries that is aired on Netflix in English as The Club.  The first season, consisting of six episodes (1 to 6), was released for viewing on November 5, 2021. Currently, the second season is being aired and it consists of four episodes (7 to 10). 

I had noted in my earlier blog about the miniseries ( see http://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2021/11/kulup-vahe-h.html) that I was drawn to watch the first season after I stumbled upon a review about the mini-series in Al Monitor, an online journal that claims to be the pulse of the Middle East. Al Monitor noted that “The second season is expected to pick up with the riots in which clearly pre-organized Turkish mobs took to the streets, attacking and plundering homes and shops owned by non-Muslims, mainly Greeks.” 

True to Al Monitor that is how the second series started.

I quote verbatim the opening conversation of the first episode (no. 7) of the second season.

[A Turk]: “When the Entente Powers seized Istanbul, the French general d'Espèrey(1), the conqueror of Macedonia, was among them. d'Espèrey asked for a while horse. A snow-white horse. Just like the one Mehmed the Conqueror (2) rode when he entered Istanbul; and on  that he horse he paraded through the Grand Avenue of Pera and arrived at the French Consulate. Never had the avenue borne witness to such joy and such happiness, such a crowd. 

But who was the crowd applauding general d'Espèrey?

It was the people who we called countrymen. People with whom we had lived for centuries, the non-Muslims. What do you think about that?

In 1940 when Germany invaded France, a German commander had general d'Espèrey thrown out. In his sadness poor old d'Espèrey had a stroke and everyone was too afraid to help him. So he died all alone, on the roadside.

So, what can we learn from this story?

Time, time is unforgiving. Some of our non-Muslim citizens are grumbling about wealth tax. And they believe it should not exist. 

But what would you say about that Solomon?

[Solomon]: I must admit that it has put us in a difficult situation. But we have always supported the State.

[the Turk]: Supported the State? You know Solomon, when they were applauding that general, none of them were supporting the State. Not the GREEKS, ARMENIANS or YOU.”

The miniseries is a carefully crafted and constructed screenplay. During the first season, the Turkish and Jewish relations are played in a much more subtle tone bordering to discord among family members who none the less appreciate each other. 

The bombshell is thrown in the first episode of the second season when the Turkish official justified the wealth tax being imposed on the non-Muslim minorities of Turkey who allegedly not only did not support the State in its time of need but cheered the occupiers who took over Istanbul and paraded their victory in the same manner the Turk conqueror did centuries ago, on a snow white horse.

And what does Turkey do? Turks do what the Germans did in the Second World War to the French General who humiliated the Germans in the First War. They cast him on the streets and no one dared to come to his help. And now, much like  the Germans, the Turks are doing the same to those who did not support the State in its time of need and imposing on them the wealth tax.

Who were those who did not help the Turkish state in its time of need but cheered the foreign occupiers? The Turkish official names them. They are their non-Muslim countrymen, the Greeks, the Armenians and the Jews.

But those who have been watching the miniseries since episode one, have already established an understanding, an amicable bond if you will with the Jewish community. Consequently, the ill fated omen allegedly of having not assisted the state in its time of need thus squarely falls on the Greeks and the Armenians.

At a time when the representatives of Armenia and Turkey are going to meet to come to an understanding for opening the boarders for trade, such screenplay, especially is concerning.

As to the ministries, you may read about it by clicking the attached link: http://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2021/11/kulup-vahe-h.html

 

 

Note 1: Louis Félix Marie François Franchet d'Espèrey was a French general during World War I. As commander of the large Allied army based at Salonika, he conducted the successful Macedonian campaign, which caused the collapse of the Southern Front and contributed to the armistice.(Wikipedia)

 

Note 2:     Mehmed II, commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror, was an Ottoman sultan who ruled from August 1444 to September 1446, and then later from February 1451 to May 1481. (Wikipedia)