Where is the Germany of old

My visit to Germany is nearing its end.

Following tomorrow's lecture, our Erasmus mission will be complete. After sharing our wishes and hopes over breakfast on Friday morning, I will return to the motherland.

Our meetings this time were more participatory. The other professors in the department and the dean also welcomed me, albeit half-heartedly.

In the past, they wouldn't have cared much.

Perhaps they have seen the light, out of fear of Putin.

They might even get circumcised soon.

Because it is not hard to sense that fear has reached its peak.

With high participation, the topics also became more diverse.

They do not hide the fact that they do not like your President Erdoğan, and that they did not approve of the relationship between Merkel and Erdoğan.

The Hejaz Railway, Kaiser Wilhelm, and Hitler were, of course, also discussed.

They were unaware of the letter Prof. Albert Einstein wrote to Atatürk.

Jewish scientists fleeing Hitler laid the foundations of Istanbul University, ITU, and Ankara University.

I am recounting Ottoman-German relations with great enthusiasm so that we may develop these relations again in an academic sense a hundred years later.

I showered them with quite a few compliments.

I insisted that these things cannot happen without being German, that German knowledge and technique are essential for success, and that German discipline will lead us to success as well.

The answer was short and clear.

Where is the Germany of old.