Thursday, October 20, 2022

The Sons Of Kerim Bey

 The last time I was having my hair cut (Andrews, next to CITW in the High Street) the usual two TVs mounted above the mirrors were on. One showing music videos while another, with the sound down, was tuned to a 24 hour news channel, and on that channel was more bad news from Ukraine.

The barber, a Turk, sighed. "Just opposite," he said and, of course, he is right, Turkey has a maritime border with Ukraine across the Black Sea. Half distracted, and half under his breath he talked me round his country's borders. To the East of Ukraine is Russia (maritime again), then comes Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq and Syria. To the west are Bulgaria and Greece, then more sea borders;  Cyprus, Egypt, and Romania.

I can see what he was getting at I think. It can hardly be conducive to relaxation to have that bristling gang surrounding your homeland. And I am all but sure it would never, ever have occurred to me if I hadn't gone in for a short back and sides.

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