Chapter XXXVIII: Mature Spies

A 26-year-old woman wearing a modest Islamic dress is seen displaying marks of her commitment to her religion in the year 2008 AD at Sabiha Gökçen International Airport in Istanbul. She proceeded to the area of the airport designated for arriving Turkish nationals and handed the passport inspector her ID.

Speaking in Turkish, he gave it a thorough examination before turning to gaze at her face, then back at the passport once more.

-Salutations, Mrs. Solmaz Are you Turkish by birth? It seems that you just got Turkish citizenship.

-Yes.

-Congratulations! However, some standard processes must be followed before entering the nation if you get citizenship while you are outside. Please come with me.

“Please take a seat here” as they moved inside the interior office space. The police officer left her in an MIT (Turkish National Intelligence Service) office. He gave the in-charge officer her passport before leaving the office.

The officer got to work, entered the passport data into the computer, read, touched the keyboard, and read some more before turning to her and speaking to her in Turkish after a short while.

-Greetings, Mrs. Solmaz Sorry for the delay; this is a standard procedure. I do have a few inquiries.

-Certainly, sir.

-What are you studying? and what is your business like?

-I have a degree in media and journalism. Right now, I have a few different newspapers, some of which are Turkish, where I work part-time as a journalist.

-Do you have any experience returning to Turkey after having left as a child?

-Yes, I had just a few days left on my Egyptian passport two years prior, during which time I submitted my citizenship application.

-You come from a prestigious Turkish family. Your great-grandfather served as a hero for the Ottoman Empire. You were born here after your father fled to Turkey due to the political strife he encountered in Egypt. He and your mother both passed away here. When you were seven years old, you left under your aunt’s tutelage. You have a perfect command of Turkish. Why didn’t you consider coming back and staying longer?

-As I already stated, sir, I was a child in the care of my aunt and had nothing to do with myself. Growing up, I had a lot on my plate between work and school, but now that it’s all over, I’m back.

-Do you know why your father failed to obtain Turkish citizenship?

 “I suppose he tried, but then the rules here wouldn’t allow it,” the woman said.

She continued: Praise be to God, the situation has changed, and everyone who can substantiate his Ottoman ancestry is entitled to claim it.

-In Turkey, what sort of job are you planning?

-Along with my career in journalism, I’ll resurrect the tourism business that my father—may God have compassion on him—founded.

-Where is it based?

-In Taksim Tourist Square. Despite being closed since his passing, was nevertheless ideal for business when I last visited.

-With whom would you reside?

“With my mother”. After a brief period of silence, she sighed. “Not virtually she said. As you are aware, my mother passed away a long time ago, but this woman is someone I know well and who feels like a mother to me. She is stranded here without anybody to care for her; thus, it doesn’t matter if I move in with her or she moves in with me.”

-How did you come to know her?

-A lengthy story, sir. I will inform you if we have enough time. I met her in Egypt six years ago, to sum it up. May God have mercy on her because she had a daughter who was my age and she passed away a long time ago, and ever since, I have always regarded her as my mother and she has always seen me as her daughter. There were many events between us that gave each of us the right to have this place in the other’s heart.

Thoughts were racing through his head as he grinded his teeth. “I’ve got a brief note right here”, he said. “It is only a note, thus it may not signify anything to you. Yildiz is a name you may be familiar with.”

-It is true that Sultan Abdul Hamid II lived in Yildiz Palace. When I was a kid, my dad and I went there.

-The Sultan did in fact build it. Did it interest your father?

-It certainly was a routine visit, in my opinion. Not even once did we go inside. Outside of the fortifications, I observed it.

Officer: Aside from the palace, where else have you heard about Yildiz? similar to Yildz sweets, perhaps?

“Sorry, sir, I merely heard about the palace”. She laughed.

-Not Yildiz intelligence service at all?

-Sorry? What?

“Yildiz intelligence service, have you never heard of it before anywhere?” the officer asked again. “For instance, your grandfather didn’t mention it?”

-My grandfather passed away before I was born, sir. In my entire life, I have never seen him.

-Perhaps your father?

-Why didn’t you ask him before he passed away? He used to live here, why didn’t you?

“They are both different times, Madam, as you yourself stated a while ago”, the officer grinned and added as he cast her a perceptive glance. “In Turkey today, a lot has changed, and a lot of what was formerly prohibited is now allowed”.

As soon as he finished typing, he stood up and handed her the passport.

-Go ahead; I’m sorry for the inconvenience, but it is a standard procedure; please proceed to the arrivals area once more, and you will be given instant access.

A twenty-eight-year-old man proceeded to the arrivals area reserved for people of different nationalities at Istanbul’s Ataturk International Airport three days later. He handed his passport to the passport inspector, who gave it a quick glance before turning to face him and spoke in English.

-Good day, Mr. Marwan. When did you last travel to Turkey?

-Two years ago

-Do you have a citizenship other than Iraqi?

-Only Iraqi.

The officer looked at the screen in front of him while clenching his cheeks with his palm, scratching his beard, and thinking.

-From which region of Iraq?

-Kurdistan

-Where is Kurdistan, exactly?

-Kirkuk

-Kurdish?

-Turkmen, no.

Thinking: How? Turkmen are Turkish speakers!

– I did not stay in Kurdistan long enough. I have lived in several Arab nations all of my life.

-What country is your mum from?

-a Turkish who is Egyptian but does not speak Turkish.

“Turks do not speak Turkish”, the policeman indignantly remarked in a mocking manner.

He did not wait for his response; instead, he picked up the phone, dialed, I spoke in Turkish, he heard what the other party was saying, he hung up, and then he requested him harshly to wait aside.

Five minutes later, a different police officer arrived at the inner offices, got the passport, and signaled for him to follow.

Officer: Where did you stay during your previous visit?

-I can’t recall the name of the hotel, but it was in Sultanahmet Square.

-Who was in your company?

-none

-Who did you meet when you were there?

-As you are aware, I am a tourist, so many of them are casual acquaintances rather than friends.

Officer: Have you ever encountered a young Syrian man named Walid Abdullah?

He then raised his head and moved his eyes as he tried to recall. “Yes, I could have met someone by the name of Walid, but I don’t know who his father is”, he responded.

-When?

-I don’t recall the date of my most recent visit or the day of my trip.

The officer set the passport aside and sat back down, indicating that the interview would likely last a bit longer.

-So, tell me more about him.

-I was munching on maize in Sultan Ahmed Square. Across from me, a young man was conversing in Arabic. We got to know one another. I recall that he went by the name Walid and was from Syria. A young man who is kind and respectable. I like being in his company. It was late when I made my way back. I had a lot of free time. We spent the day together after I extended an invitation to him for lunch.

-What were you talking about?

-Sir, two young visitors. We discussed a wide range of topics. Of course, women made up the majority.

The policeman sighed, moved away to face the computer, and began typing.

-You visited Turkey seven times in 2006. Why?

-Turkey is a gorgeous country. I used to only visit for a few days for tourism.

He added: I’m going to say that I haven’t gone back in two years because I’ve been so busy at work.

The officer mockingly grinned and gestured with his hand to the door, telling him to wait outside.

A police officer appeared in the office a little while later, took his passport, handed it to him, and instructed him to proceed to a designated entrance port window where he could complete the necessary formalities and enter.

Getting into a taxi, going to a hotel in Istanbul’s Taksim tourist district, gazing out the window, and reflecting on the past and the future.

The beginnings undoubtedly determine our fate.

What if Hajj Saleh had not compelled his son to go down to the crypt?

If Fatima didn’t lose consciousness?

She consented to wed the elderly man and refrained from making an escape.

What if Zainab was rushing to the oven and tripped over a tiny rock?

She wouldn’t have been overtaken by her mother, she wouldn’t have witnessed Fatima being burned, the wise man wouldn’t have looked into her eyes, and she wouldn’t have passed out.

A very small adjustment made in the early going of that day in the year 1910 AD would have prevented Hatshepsut’s existence and the Zeinab curse from ever occurring.

He continued to look out the window as the car drove through the lush highlands, grinning.

He questioned himself: What if something minor changed that day?

He replied to himself, “Fortunately, everything went off without a hitch.”

Thank God for the lack of change.

He grinned once again and said softly, “And nothing will ever change.”