You will be shocked when you see that what we call a city is actually a big mess. And please share your observations with me.

The other day I saw map of Baghdad. Incidents that had resulted in deaths were marked on it with red dots. Hardly a day goes without a car exploding or a terrorist attack in the city. Can you imagine what it would be like to raise a child in such an environment? Don’t just say, “Thank God we don’t have such terrorist attacks anymore. It was three decades ago, before the 1980s. I can’t even imagine what that is like.” I think we can well imagine what it is like. The terror of the urban-fast-tracks-downtown launched by Turkish municipalities is in no way different than the terrorist attacks in Iraq when it comes to the problems they cause for children. I look at Turkish cities and see this: the terrorist attacks in Baghdad and the fast, urban roads in Ankara affect the lives of children in the same way. The mavens of the region should know which lobby has caused the mess in Baghdad; but here in Ankara, it is the municipality that has surrendered to the automobile lobby that endangers the life quality of children. End of story. Don’t just call me unfair; hear my words first.

A two-page piece on Baghdad by Christine Spolar was in The Financial Times last weekend. Spolar, who was the chief of the Baghdad bureau of a paper in 2003 and 2004, paid a visit to the city a decade later. She met with her former colleagues as well as locals. She asked them what had changed in their lives over the past decade as they had aged and started families. The story of Maryam Adhem has stuck in my mind. Nine-year-old Maryam is the daughter of Sinan and Hiba Adhem. During her visit, Christine joined the family for Mayram’s birthday party. Maryam had a chocolate birthday cake topped with a likeness of Dora the Explorer. Just like birthday cakes in Ankara. The first thing in common is that children in Baghdad and Ankara grow up watching similar cartoons. Later, Sinan told her how Maryam lived almost entirely indoors. They could not imagine letting her walk to her school or play in the streets since they were afraid of kidnappings and terrorist attacks. He longingly added that it had not been the case when he had been a child. So, be honest and tell me, don’t you parents have similar concerns for your children in Turkey, especially for Ankara and Istanbul? Don’t you yearn for the good old days when you could play and wander in the streets as kids? I do. This is the second commonality between Ankara and Baghdad.

The part that struck me the most was about how Maryam had learned how to rollerblade across the living room carpet. Maryam, as a nine-year-old, thinks that rollerblades can be used only indoors. So, be honest and tell me, isn’t this the same house-oriented life style to which children in Turkey are condemned? Back to Maryam, she has a bike, as every child should, but her bike is kept by the side of her bed. She in a way sleeps with her bike. She rides it in the car park area surrounded by high walls. Her parents don’t allow her to ride it in the street. I used to ride my bike everywhere, but Maryam does not have the chance. Do you allow your child to ride in the street? Say that you live near the new ODTÜ Road, the latest layer of Ankara Municipality’s immense contributions to the urban traffic terror. Can you even imagine letting your child ride his or her bike in the street? I don’t think so. Fast urban roads are like walls between the city center and children. It is bad city planning.

Do you know what the worst part is? It’s that we think the mess we live in is a city. Those of you who live in Ankara, please take a look around. There is no need to go to the outskirts of the city; just go to Çukurambar at the centerity. Walk the street filled with top-class restaurants down to the Eskişehir highway that cuts through living spaces like a national border with all-independent shopping malls and residences in violation of public spaces. Those who live in Istanbul can do this exercise between Kanyon in Levent and Zorlu Center. At the end of the walk, you will be shocked when you see that what we call a city is actually a big mess. And please share your observations with me. It is a big shame that for children, there is no difference between the Ankara and Istanbul of Turkey, blessed with stability, and the Baghdad of Iraq, surrounded by instability. This shame is enough for Turkey for the twenty-first century. We have already wasted one-fourth of the century. The clock is ticking.

This commentary was published in Radikal daily on 11.03.2014