ABOUT a year ago my wife and I took early retirement and left Melksham to start a new life in Turkey.

Yesterday (October 29) we attended our local village Republic Day celebration, which is in honour of Turkey becoming a republic and the founder member of modern Turkey, Kemal Ataturk.

It was attended by all the school children from the local area. Everybody had a Turkish flag which they held with obvious pride, there were children's bands and marching around the town. The day passed without incident, as it usually does every year so we were advised. In the evening there was dancing in the village square and the evening finished with a firework show. Everybody from the mayor to the youngest child wore their national costumes with pride.

My wife and I could only reflect on the fact that if this were in England then children would not be safe to roam freely without parental supervision and misbehaviour would be rife. Drunkenness would be the order of the day, HSE rules would stifle any unofficial activities and political correctness would rule OK.

Europe has very little to teach Turkey, in fact, the reverse would probably be true. The Turks, unlike us, are encouraged to take pride in their country and display their patriotism openly without having to worry about outsiders complaining about their sensibilities. Will we be returning to the UK to live ? Not likely!!!

MD & DV Hewitt Yalikavak, Mugla Turkey