The Last Thing We Need Nowadays is "Pride and Prejudice" of Our Western Friends
Turkey is facing an existential crisis and trying
to heal its wounds. It is not only the state, but the people who are suffering
from post-traumatic stress disorder. The people are staying together and helping
each other through these painful times. A few weeks ago, I wrote an English
article; some of the comments stimulated me to write a follow-up. One of our foreign friends wrote:
“I hope one day the Turkish people wake up
and realize what is happening. Also, the Christian voice and I doubt any other
minorities, like the Alawites, were not invited and welcome at the rallies.”
This is certainly a very popular way of
looking at things in the West. It categorizes Turkish People’s minds into one
pot, and this is judged by Western standards. This way of looking at things
certainly reflects a great deal of pride and prejudice, anachronism and
anti-Erdogan rhetoric.
I am not a historian or a sociologist. But
I am an Istanbulian. My grandmother was an Arab from Damascus and came to
Istanbul in 1921 when she was 4 years old. My other grandmother had ancestors
from the Marmara region and Crimea in Russia (Tatar). My grandfather and his
father were at the fortress of Mecca in the first World war and were held
captive by the British for 4 years in the Sid-i Bishr concentration camp, close
to Cairo; they came to Istanbul in 1921. This is a very common story for most
families of Turkey.
So I will try to explain my points…
Pride
and Prejudice
Some Europeans and most Americans do not have
any idea of who the Turkish people are, what their backgrounds are, which
experiences shaped their way of thinking, and what drives lead to their behavior.
Most of European perspective is influenced by the Catholic literature about
Islam, accounts of “Barbaric” Turks trying to invade Europe in the 15-17th
century, and more recently the “Gastarbeiten – Guest workers” who went to
Europe after the 2nd World War to supply the need for manpower. Unfortunately the
“Gastarbeiten” left for Europe from their villages in Turkey, having not lived a
moment in the urban areas of Turkey. They were very traditional and became even
more so in the face of the very dominant European culture.
One of our visiting professors from northwest
Europe, a man who is a very good friend and a great mentor said;
“Hasan, according to Islam if you do good
deeds, will you get 70 virgins in the after life?…”
This was not said to offend me, but he was
Catholic and this was what he was thought about Islam. And when we were in his
home country he further added:
“So Hasan, if Turks had taken Vienna in
1689, we would all have been Muslims, is that correct?”
I told him to look at Bulgaria, Serbia and
Greece which had been under Ottoman rule for 526, 478 and 382 years
respectively and which were all still overwhelmingly Christian.
The Ottoman Empire was the great historical
result of the experiences of the Turkish people. The Turks are proud of their
ancestor Oghuz Khan in Central Asia; it is assumed that he established the
basic organizational principles for an army (10 soldier units). This
organizational system allowed us to carry 200K men to the Gates of Vienna in
1689, an incredible proof of logistical organization and military might.
We learned how to reign and govern first from
the Persians (Turkish Seljuk empire) and then from the Byzantians (East Romans). We mixed
with the native people of Anatolia (Minor Asia) which was home to oldest
civilizations of the world, Hittites, Phrygians, Lydians, Assyrians, etc. Our
literature was under influence of Indian, Persian, Arabic and Greek literature.
Interestingly, Turks were administrators, soldiers, clergy and peasants in
Ottoman society, while most of the non-Muslim population dealt with the
economy, craftsmanship, entertainment and medicine. In 1908, most of the
bakeries in Istanbul were owned by Armenians and restaurants by Greeks!
Also the elite infantry of Ottomans, the
Janissaries (which means new soldier in Turkish) were mainly Bektashi-Alawite.
Bektashi means urban Alawite; most Alawites used to live in villages. Alawites have
always been considered to be equal citizens in Turkish society; the problems
arose mainly when the Alawites took sides with the Iranian influenced Safawid's
during the struggles between the latter and the Ottomans. In contemporary Turkish
society, despite disagreements and prejudice between Sunnis and Alawites, there
is a significant effort towards reconciliation and empathy. Alawites can freely
express themselves in society, can open civil organizations and their own
places of worship. There are many things still needing to be done by the Sunni
majority (like accepting Alawite worship places), but it takes time to fix issues
that have lasted for centuries; however, there has been significant progress in
the last two decades.
The Ottoman rout that has happened over more
than two centuries, starting from the 1700’s, has left deep scars in a society that
has an Imperial pride (particularly upon the ethnic Turks); this has had an impact
on the way the Turkish people think. We still recall dramatic stories of the
immigration and/or massacre of Turkish Muslims from the Balkans, Middle East
and Northern Black Sea. Each of us were touched by the sound of the Mehter,
Ottoman Military band, much like the Scots being moved by the sound of the
Great Highland Bagpipes. The sound of the Mehter even influenced world famous
composers such as Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven. The founders of the modern
Turkish republic were the last well educated and courageous officers of the
Ottoman Empire.
So despite we are a modern Western style
republic, our roots are centuries old! We are not a Duchy in the heart of the
European continent…
Anachronism
The urbanization of Turkish society has not
yet been completed. 20% of us are still dealing with agriculture in villages; in
Western societies this is only 5%. Urbanization was very slow at the beginning
of the modern Turkish Republic, with 18% of people living in urban areas in
1923, 21% in 1945, 35% in 1960, 60% in 2001 and 80% in 2015. This zip-file like
transformation has compressed a long process, making it feel as if it happened
overnight. Turkish GDP per person is roughly 9-10 K US dollars, which is almost
a fifth of the amount in developed Western countries, like USA, Canada,
Germany, Scandinavian countries, France, Italy…
Thus it is not justified to demand that Turkish
people behave similarly to the developed Western nations. This nation, on the
other hand, has always been welcoming in history, taking in 3 million Syrians,
almost 1 million Kurds from Northern Iraq, 100K Armenians and thousands of people
from Bosnia, while the developed nations did almost nothing about it.
I have travelled to Northern Iraq, Lebanon,
Dubai and several places in the Middle East. They are much less developed
sociologically compared with the contemporary Turkish society.
There is a very striking line in the film
“Body of Lies” where Russell Crowe tells Leonardo di Caprio;
“Who likes the Middle East?”
Our Western friends are criticizing Turkey
with 21st century criteria, sympathizing/antipathizing with Turkey with middle
age Christian-Judean values and judging Turkish behavior with fears of Ottoman
stories.
This is pure anachronism…
The anti-Erdogan
Rhetoric
This is obviously an intentional strategy
to shift the focus of Turkish people.
In my specialty, medicine, for decades a
single cause was sought as the causes of diseases such as cancer. However, we
are now very well aware that most diseases are multifactorial. Current Western perspective
tries to persuade everyone that the single problem in Turkey is Erdogan and if
Turkish people get rid of him, all their problems, including democratization
will be fixed. He is presented as the single major obstacle…
Even this argument is enough to prove that
it is false.
Turkey has many major problems, from its
judiciary to education, from its political system to urbanization… We still do
not have a widely accepted constitution. The current constitution is the
product of the military coup of 1980. So even if Erdogan was out of the way,
there is a huge amount of work to be done through cooperation and public consensus.
Erdogan made mistakes in the past, but he
is learning from them. He may not be a Harvard Law graduate, but he is clever
in his choices and shows his leadership when needed. After 15th of July, he
noticed that only the Grand Assemby can fill the gap of trusted institutions, and
this by giving messages of tolerance and consensus with the opposition. In
Turkish society, the most trusted institution was the army! So I believe that
his attitude will be permanent one. If he allows any gap, people will feel
extremely insecure…
Double standards by our Western friends have been evidenced in the past. Let’s not forget that two million people died in Syria and Iraq during the last decade and this was caused by the invasion of Iraq based on falsified claims of “weapons of mass destruction” by the leaders of the two major countries in the world.
If Turkey descends into anarchy or civil
war, Europe will be more insecure than ever. The immigration of millions will
ensue.
…
So stability of Turkey matters… We just need our Western friends to take a look at Turkey on a 3D screen with their glasses on. Current attitude of our Western friends makes us feel that Europe and West are still enjoying their victory against the Ottomans and do not trust modern Turkey as a friend or long-term partner.
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