It is a well-known fact that when a person moves from his own country to another, he/she takes a part of his/her native country with him. This “cultural baggage” is a part of every migrant’s life. On my recent visit to Turkey, I discovered the cultural baggage that Pakistanis living in Turkey possessed, which, according to my experience, included three interesting things: cricket, Pakistani food and bigotry.

The strength of the bond between Pakistanis and cricket can be measured by the fact that Pakistanis form a considerable bulk of players in the national cricket teams of Turkey, Bulgaria, Czech Republic and other European countries. The fact that the host countries and their populace are not overly enamoured by cricket does not deter the cricket enthusiasts.

Pakistani food is not very different from Turkish food, but the yearning for traditional Pakistani food remains intact among expatriate Pakistanis. Bigotry towards secular attitudes (common in Turkey) is another factor that I witnessed which was quite disturbing.

The most difficult (and intellectually challenging) conversations that I had at a young diplomats’ conference in Ankara were relating the story of Pakistan. It was more difficult explaining the love-hate relationship between India and Pakistan to a Lithuanian friend than to explain to the immigration officer at Karachi Airport why a doctor was going to attend a diplomatic conference (believe it or not, the officer actually quizzed me on medical questions to make sure I was indeed a doctor.) And I didn’t even respond when someone asked which part of Africa I was from!

Getting lost on the streets of Ankara on the very first night was not a pleasant experience as in our group there were only two people who could speak Turkish and it was their first time in Ankara as well. The only solace was that we were in a group, so we could at least talk to each other while navigating the streets. Thanks to Google Maps and at least a dozen passers-byes, we found our destination an hour after we were supposed to reach there.

Being an international conference, there were ample opportunities to witness cross-cultural bonding. Thus, we had an Israeli delegate taking good care of his Pakistani roommate when he fell ill, a Lebanese delegate who helped a Pakistani delegate with his ticket issues, Indians and Nigerians dancing in their respective styles on Turkish songs, delegates from all over the world enjoying Multani halwa and so on. I also discovered during meals that basic dishes with yoghurt and desserts such as ‘firni’ are equally popular in Turkey, Bulgaria, Mongolia, Albania as they are in Pakistan!

The most common theme discussed at the conference was Middle East and the Israel-Palestine conflict. Being the oldest and probably the most prolonged territorial dispute in modern history, there were some heated arguments and even a furious walkout by a delegate at one point. Another constant discussion revolved around the relationship between Turkey and the European Union.

We also learnt about new-age diplomacy which includes digital diplomacy, track two diplomacy and cultural diplomacy. We got a chance to talk to some excellent senior diplomats at the conference, while the imminent military strike on Syria remained a hot topic among the delegates.

Apart from the activities at the conference, we had a chance to learn about other aspects of Turkish society. I was glad to observe that secularism is entrenched in Turkish society as part of Turkish nationalism, propagated by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. I got a unique opportunity to talk to the septuagenarian owner of a vineyard in Ankara who was furious with the incumbent AKP (Adalet ver Kalkinma Partisi [Justice and Development Party]) government in Turkey. He supported the Gezi Park protestors and vociferously declared that the government can’t alter their values.

Despite all its material success and development, Turkey still needs to keep moving forward. The incumbent government’s attempts at what is being called ‘Creeping Sharia’ (like a recent ban on mixed swimming pools) are not going down too well with the younger generation. Additionally, the chaos that recently engulfed the country needs to be sorted out. A general understanding of English language is very important if Turkey needs to be counted as a ‘real’ international power. In my opinion, it was the language issue and the prevailing chaos due to which Istanbul lost the bid for 2020 Summer Olympics in favour of Tokyo. All is not lost though and Turkey’s government should use this failure as an opportunity to improve their country’s infrastructure and image.

I, for one, strongly believe that Turkey has successfully shed its image as the ‘Sick Man of Europe’ and needs some minor changes to achieve its lost glory (minus the whole Empire business, of course).