Thursday, August 11, 2005

The Right to Wear Your Underwear in Public

A government movement to stop people from swimming in their underwear has brought to light some more important questions:

"Turkey is taking its campaign to join the European Union to the beaches of Istanbul.

The city is giving away free swimsuits to deter bathers from jumping into the sea in their underwear. About 2,000 were distributed last weekend and stalls were also set up to sell them for $2 apiece, a spokeswoman for Mayor Kadir Topbas said. A pair of shorts sells for $10 at local supermarkets."

" Turkey is smartening up after EU politicians including German opposition leader Angela Merkel and French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said the country doesn't share the culture of the 25-member bloc. The government's drive to dress Turkish swimmers has sparked a debate about the rich-poor divide in the country, where the minimum wage is $265 a month.

``Is this the face of modern Turkey, of the Turks who are trying to enter the EU?'' wrote columnist Hincal Uluc in Sabah newspaper on Aug. 9. ``Would any European country want a majority like this wandering around?''

Turks' income per person is just 27 percent of the EU average, after adjusting for local prices, according to the EU Statistics Office in Brussels. Almost one million people have earnings below the hunger threshold and another 19 million live in poverty, according to Turkey's State Statistics Institute.

What's more, income distribution is more unbalanced than in any European country apart from Russia, according to the United Nations Development Program's 2004 report. The richest 10 percent of Turks earn more than 13 times that of the poorest 10 percent."
Bloomberg.com: Europe

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