Turkey's Critical Choices. Part I. Self-criticism

By: Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis
[

][Post to BookMarks @ AfroArticles.com]

[ Posted On: 2007-06-12 ]

With Europe persistently hindering, through various biases, Turkey's long-expected adhesion to the 27-member Union, with America nervous in Iraq because of the US administration's dramatic failure in terms of vision, implementation and exit, with Erdogan's Islamists attempting to assault Turkey's secular state, and with an otherwise heteroclite alliance of Islamic Terrorists, French Conservatives, German Social Democrats American Neo-liberals, Armenian clergymen, and Kurdish chauvinist supporting Turkey's deeply anti-Western and ominously manipulated premier, the Turkish people, political parties and elite, Turkey's academia, intellectuals, businessmen, and military have good reasons to copiously meditate on the reasons of the problematic situation and urgently find the way out of the existing crisis.

What went wrong?

The first topic to examine would be the reasons that allowed the marginal minority of Turkey's extremist Islamists to rise and stay to power long enough to be noticed, selected and supported by Turkey's enemies. Laced with this point, the identification of Turkey's enemies is a valuable guide in the Search of an exit.

It is common knowledge that a sizeable part of those who voted in favour of Erdogan before 5 years did so because of their willingness to react – only – to an erroneous situation that pre-existed; they did not wish to put an end to that situation, but simply to shake its pillars enough so that rectifications be achieved.

As a matter of fact, any long lasting political regime faces moments of difficulty, especially when enduring weaknesses come to surface. In Turkey, the Republic is an 85 years old reality. In the case of Soviet Union, 73 years were enough for the country to reach an end. It was a totalitarian state, but age is an issue for democratic, multipartite regimes as well. The French Third Republic lasted 70 years and then collapsed. America itself had to undergo a Civil War precisely 74 years after the consecration of its constitution! Turkey reached uninterruptedly 85 years of Kemalist Democracy. It is a remarkable record that can be matched only by some Scandinavian countries, England, and America.

The long lasting regime had always wide popular support, and the average support for the secular, multipartite, democratic regime is still overwhelming. What is then the reason of Turkey's thorny problems?

The answer is double and simple: internal traits and external conditions.

Problematic internal traits

First, Turkey lived too long without necessary modifications, amendments and re-adaptations of its political environment.

Second, the Turkish political, academic, administrative, intellectual and military elite gave overdue importance to the foot of the letter of the Kemalist ideology and constitution. However, an “ad pedem litterae” approach does not guarantee the survival of the Spirit of the Ideology and the Legislation, the core of a theoretical system, and the quintessence of the theory.

By paying extreme importance to final prescriptions, implementations and political choices of the 1920s – 1930s conjuncture – which were all positive and pertinent –, the Kemalist elite of the 60s, the 70s and the 90s started losing contact with the epitome of Kemal Ataturk's diachronic message.

Said otherwise, because the Kemalist elite paid too much attention to the slightest details of the political practice of the Ataturk governments, the dedication to political ortho-praxy clouded the theoretical ortho-doxy of Kemal Ataturk's choices. Yet, anyone would agree that even more important than a decision taken by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (or any other person anytime anywhere) is the reason itself of taking it.

The absolute 'Why' of a political decision taken at a certain moment, the Secret 'Why' that stands so often hidden behind the signed official documents and papers, the pictures, the pages of the newspapers, and the volumes of books, is far more important that what we are finally left with as material vestige.

Only direct access to the reasons of the decision making, which are the best reflection of an ideology's (or thought's) implementation at a certain moment, can ensure that you preserve the real essence of an idea, an ideological or philosophical system.

Yet, this has been partly overshadowed in Turkey. A month ago, I had the honour to publish an excellent text written by Orhan Tarhan, a leading Turkish thinker whose father was personal friend of Kemal Ataturk (Orhan Tarhan, Turkey, and the Holy Cow Democracy, in: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/orhan-tarhan-turkey-holy-cow-democracy.html). Thanks to his background, knowledge and personal experience, it was extremely easy for Orhan Tarhan to write the following statement: “In 1923 Turkey was very much behind the European powers technically and otherwise. Ataturk thought that the survivability of the new republic depended on developing it to Europe's level”.

This reality has been partly shadowed in Turkey. In fact, Ataturk was a theorist and pragmatist who was able to match his ideals with down to earth reality; his ideals emanated certainly from the circle of the Enlightenment, but his political realism drove him to the conclusion that this was the only way for Turkey to become a new, strong, dynamic, self-confident and survivable state. Ataturk opted for what would allow Turkey to be able to cope with the world's leading nations.

The ideals Ataturk shared had been earlier implemented in Western Europe and America and contributed tremendously to the rise of these powers to global supremacy.

In fact, progressive ideals correctly and timely implemented help countries rise; otherwise they fall, decay, disappear. Ataturk's thought was rich in Historical Determinism, a fundamental pillar of Hegelianism. And this is a perfect historical conclusion. If for a reason or another, tomorrow after 5 or 10 years, Europe or America plunge into religious indeterminism and fanaticism, these countries will sooner or later disintegrate.

To offer an example of Turkish elite's predilection to ortho-praxy instead of ortho-doxy, we will refer to the Turkish European relations, and the perspective of Turkey's adhesion to the EU.

Since the early 60s, the second Turkish Republican generation concluded that Turkey's national interests and the Kemalist ideals would be better served through an adhesion to the then rising European Community. This was correct; but Kemalist spirit involves adaptation to circumstances and constant re-examination of the political - ideological environment. This has not been properly performed in Turkey since the early 90s. Sizeable part of the Turkish political establishment failed to early identify rising trends in Europe that transform the minds and the beliefs of average people throughout the continent.

External conditions dramatically changed

The collapse of the Soviet regimes unleashed a religious fanaticism, extremism and messianic eschatology that have shaken the foundation of traditional pillars of the European Secular Enlightenment; the word 'anticlerical' that had been widely used in France – considered as positive of connotation – is being driven to oblivion. The rise of the religious revisionism is even felt in England. In America the Great Old Party has almost been invaded by the Evangelical paranoia of millions of psychologically wrecked voters who expect a … Rapture to take place, extraterrestrials to arrive in force, and empires to be formed here and there for use by an Antichrist, and plenty of other aberrations because simply all this suits best their interpretation of some verses written before 2500 years!

This is not the world Kemal Ataturk had envisioned for Turkey!

The Kemalist ortho-doxy would therefore suggest in this regard to put a hold on the European Union adhesion folder. Turkey should rather freeze it altogether. It is not a matter of national pride to be served through an answer to those who pathetically want their Europe without Turkey. It is rather the precise evaluation of what trends are reflected in the words of people like Giscard d' Estaing, Angela Merkel and others.

Closing the door to the continually disintegrating EU, Turkey would not be more 'alone' than in the 20s ad 30s; secular ideals are not under attack in various parts of the world, and the world has become a global village. If alive, Kemal Ataturk would have seriously taken into consideration this dimension. His emblem 'Peace in Turkey, Peace in the World' bears witness to the fact that, instead of caring much about developments in the Balkans or the Middle East, he was a Globalist even before the formation of the term! Today, he would certainly understand that for Turkey the World matters far more than Europe. He would then care very little about adhering to the explosive world of the still 'unconstitutional' EU; Turkey should mainly follow the leading global trends to be Kemalist. In the next article we will focus on the way this can done.

Article Source: http://www.afroarticles.com/article-dashboard

About The Author: Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis - is Orientalist, Assyriologist, Egyptologist, Iranologist, Islamologist, Historian and Political Scientist. Dr. Megalommatis, 49, is the author of 12 books, dozens of scholarly articles, hundreds of encyclopedia entries, and thousands of articles. He speaks, reads and writes more than 15, modern and ancient, languages.

| View Profile & All Articles By: Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis |

		Post Comment
		Blog This Article!
		Discuss Article in Forum(s)
		Publication \| Reprint Terms

Please Rate this Article

Not yet Rated

Click the XML Icon Above to Receive Ideology Articles Via RSS!

| Category Feeds | All-in-one Feed | Other Feed & Syndication Options |

Additional Articles From - Home | Politics | Ideology

	Print This Article
	Post Comment
	Add To Favorites
	Email To Friends
	Ezine Ready \| Syndication
	Make PDF Article
	Post To del.icio.us
	Post To Furl
	Add To Google Bookmarks
	Submit To Netscape

	Add To Yahoo! My Web
	Add Main Feed To Outlook
	Post to BookMarks @ AfroArticles.com

	Post To BookMarkAfrica.com

Site Home

Article Categories

More Search Options

Site Map

Submit Articles

Top Authors

Most Recent Articles