Turkey oaks are ornamental trees native to the Balkans and Turkey, brought over to Britain in the 18th century. They were planted at the Harris Gardens in Reading by George Spencer-Churchill, 5th Duke of Marlborough, when the garden used to be a part of a now demolished Victorian house. It was later discovered that the Turkey oaks are host to a gall wasp which damages the native British oaks, hence the Ministry of Defence ordered all Turkey oaks on their land to be removed in 1998. Now, only five remain at the Harris Gardens.
In the video, this information is used to signify Turkey’s relationship with Europe over the years, as it has been incredible volatile due to propaganda as well as terrorism. For example, David Cameron, former prime minister of the UK, was a huge supporter of Turkey joining the EU however this was later used as a Brexit campaign encouraging people to vote leave, perhaps because Turkey presents a threat due to its religious background. However, this is what Erdogan, the current prime minister of Turkey, keeps suggesting for religious propaganda in Turkey and part of the reason why Turkey is pushed back from being a candidate is the fact that there are uncontrollable political repercussions, such as the Gezi Park in 2013 demonstrations and the failed coup d’etat in 2015. Although Europe does not recognise most of the terrorist groups in Turkey, the terrorism is not dealt with either in Turkey or Europe to signify a step towards unity, Turkey will always be a threat for obvious realities as well as rather chauvinistic reasons.
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