A person's mirror is their work...

Let's say the whole proverb: A person's mirror is their work, not their words / The measure of a person's intellect is visible in their deeds.

The issue is about inspiring trust. To inspire trust, one must look at words. But whose words? The person whose words you look at must have credibility.

We have been debating for a few days. Whether the Istanbul House opened in Paris or the Turkish House in New York is more wasteful or better.

If we look at the costs, both are worse than the other. One dimension of the spending is advertising. Furthermore, it is about inspiring trust. The goal is to attract people to Turkey, to Istanbul. What is wrong with that? The goal is quite good, but the scale of the spending is important. Moreover, when considering the opportunity cost... One cannot help but think of the alternatives.

Can the government create a positive atmosphere regarding the Turkish economy, safe living in Turkey, and democracy with the Turkish House? Can we influence the perception of Turkey in the US? Moreover, Turkey already has Yunus Emre Institutes and embassies.

The Istanbul House, on the other hand, is a rational move made with the right timing. The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality does not have embassies or overseas institutes. In this respect, the Istanbul House seems like a necessity. Furthermore, making this move at the Olympics and trying to bring the Olympics to Istanbul is quite appropriate.

However, it is certain that we would be much more effective if the municipality and the state worked together. But where? We cannot unite.

Proper Promotion Comes from Supporting Those Who Do Right

Do we want to bring the Olympics to Turkey? Do we want the perception of Turkey and the Turkish people to improve in the world? Actually, what we need to do is obvious. Look at Yusuf Dikeç. One of our athletes promoted our country more than all those advertising campaigns. The Sultans of the Net shook the world. Our national swimmer Kerem Tunçelli made us proud with his strokes in the 1500 meters, a very tough race at the age of 16. Foreign commentators spoke of these athletes with admiration.

It is hard not to go mad as one reads the claims of both sides. So much money spent on individual buildings, individual cultural centers... Yet, not enough money is spent on the people who build culture, produce art, and live sports.

Do we want to elevate the perception of Turkey and the Turkish people? Do we want people to come to Turkey? The cure for this is not pouring in huge amounts of money. It is necessary to make the right regulations and pave the way for freedom.

How aware are we of the troubles of an amateur athlete in Turkey? Many of our swimmers and athletes have quit sports because of nonsense like high school entrance exams and university entrance exams. Balancing school and sports, wasting one's life on the roads due to the lack of facilities in one's neighborhood... These are the problems we need to solve.

Commentators mention that our national athletes are not being taken care of. They are right. However, if non-national athletes and our sports in general are not taken care of, the quality of our national athletes will not rise either. Therefore, the issue is bigger. The path for sports and athletes must be cleared. Sports are a great opportunity in terms of aesthetics, health, and social peace.

Let's not deal with labels and packaging. Let's take care of our nation, our laborers, our artists, and our athletes. Let's clear their path. If we do not bury the talent in these lands, that talent will shine and introduce us as we deserve.

Do we want the Olympics to come to Istanbul? Then let's build places where our youth can play sports. The author of these lines quit sports for this very reason not even 20 years ago. A medical student who had to change two vehicles and spend 2 hours on the road to get to the pool for training burned out. Not to mention those who start sports and cannot continue... There are hundreds of thousands in our country who cannot start sports, who do not have that opportunity.

Let's stop the wordplay, the bickering, and the competition of expenses, and let's be serious for a moment. Do we want to play sports? Do we want our sports to be elevated? Then what we need to do is clear. Let's leave sports, athletes, art, and artists alone. Our country is full of jewels waiting to be discovered.

The way to combine sports with school only requires a few small adjustments. Education complexes where we gather athletes would easily solve this. Money? Sir, what do we not find money for?

Are sports complexes too expensive? Are the costs when those complexes do not exist low? Bad habits, drugs, gang fights, digital numbness... Do we know the social cost of these? We'll tell Mr. Mehmet... If he imposed tax penalties as much as "pocket change" on a few companies that do not pay taxes, we would find the money to solve this problem from the root. Come on, reach into the companies' pockets!