If the Prime Minister respects books that much, why can't I buy books easily on Amazon?

Recently, when talking about the spread of electronic books, I said, "I have been using www.amazon.com to order books for a long time now. They somehow find and send the books right to my desk in just a couple of days." I think I spoke too soon and overlooked a system that had been ­ functioning perfectly for years. They can no longer send the books I order right to my desk. The customs administration has introduced a new regulation that makes the process difficult if the number of packages delivered from abroad to you exceeds a certain limit. This is a new process design that raises additional financial and time costs. It is books we are talking about. Of course, the number exceeds the limit. People write a tremendous number of books. What can we do? Moreover, Turkey does not have an industry that earns profits from publishing books in English that we might aim to protect. In brief, I cannot not understand the purpose of this new regulation. My failure to understand it is even more reinforced after I wandered around the new party building of the Justice and Development Party (AKP).

These are my impressions: The AKP is a party which has spent more time and effort on its library then on its cafeteria. This was quite interesting to me. As far as I know, the Republican People's Party (CHP) and the AKP moved to their new party buildings at around the same time, but I do not remember seeing a library in the CHP's building. So, here is the deal: If the Prime Minister respects books so much, why do I face difficulties in purchasing books from abroad? Let me tell you why.

In the second half of the 1980s, the new building of the Motherland Party (the ANAP) was amazing. It was a unique building in the Ankara of those years. Such is the AKP's building today. The ANAP building of the 1980 looks like a shack compared to the AKP building. I wish someone would illustrate Turkey's development process in association with the changes in buildings in terms of functionality. It would be nice to see such a study. The buildings of ruling parties could serve a good basis for comparison. Let me state what I know: in the early 1980s, the value of Turkey's exports was US$3 billion, 10% of which constituted industrial goods. Today, exports have reached US$120 billion and more than 90% of exports are industrial goods. This is a significant structural change. The headquarters of the ruling party of a country also must reflect the changes through which that country has gone. I wonder if there is a book about this. Let me check it on the Amazon, like it will ever be delivered. Let this be the first point.

On the other hand, it is not only Turkey that has changed. The world's construction technology also has been changing. In a recent meeting, President of Pakistan Zerdari referred to Turgut Özal and said, "Years ago, he took me and my wife to a small shopping mall in Ankara. He was very proud of the changing silhouette of the city." The emphasis here was on the size of the mall. Then he added, "But we must note that it was the construction technology back then. Now huge malls like those in Dubai are constructed so rapidly." Therefore, the glorious buildings of today are related not only to the prospering of the nation, but also with the developments in the construction sector. Let this be the second point.

Why limit books?

The library of the AKP is on the fourth floor of the building. The cafeteria is on the ground floor. Even the positioning of the two facilities is interesting, right? I was of the opinion that Turkish people cared for cafeterias, but ignored libraries. So I have to admit that I was surprised. It was quite interesting for me that the headquarters of a political party has a 600-square meter, tranquil reading area. It was also remarkable to see the book on the 1907 bankers' panic in the US that I had looked for everywhere and had not been able to find. I finally had bought that book on Amazon and had it right on my table. It was so easy back then.

While I was browsing through the books, I asked MP Reha Denemeç from the AKP, "What does this series of technological innovations do in this library?" "It was among the initial directives of our Prime Minister when we first moved in this building" he answered.  That beautiful library would be gone if the Prime Minister did not protect it. But if he respects books that much, why can't I ­ buy books easily from Amazon?

This commentary was published in Radikal daily on 28.06.2011