ABSTRACT
This chapter starts with an anecdotal close-up on cultural politics via the European-mediated influence of Rabindranath Tagore, the Indian poet, on Bulent Ecevit, the Turkish politician. It discusses three themes that have attracted scholarly interest are national liberation struggles, concomitant foreign policy choices and the political role of secularism. Bulent Ecevit was five-time prime minister from 1974 to 2002. He was one of the most important political figures in Turkey. No other politician affected the language of politics as much as he did. The chapter emphasizes that Esat Bey made his trip, like many of his contemporaries, not through the Suez Canal, but via the traditional land route until sailing off from Basra. Among the numerous cities his name was given, Alexandria, at the crossroads of East and West, survived as the center from which the Hellenistic civilization radiated outwards.
