The West's Support of Turkish Islamists
M. Orhan Tarhan
June 11, 2007
Ataturk’s reforms in Turkey (1923 – 1938) created a modern and survivable nation out of the remnants of the crumbling Ottoman Empire. Part of these reforms was to eliminate the influence of religion in public life, that is called “laicism”, outlawing the Sharia, and emancipating the women. He told the youth to preserve that system, otherwise they could go the way of the Ottoman empire. Seventy years after him an Islamist party came to power in Turkey, that precisely wants to roll back the reforms of Ataturk. Modern Turks are horrified. They do not want to go backward, but most of all they do not want to see their country crumble like the Ottoman Empire.
The West is supposed to be Turkey’s friends and allies. I would expect them to support the secularists (Laicists) in Turkey. But both the Bush Administration and the European Union are supporting the Islamists. That is incomprehensible to me. These political Islamists are the extension of the forces we are waging war against. That is contradictory to my logic, surprising, and unfortunate. Who else are supporting the Turkish Islamist? All the non-democratic Arab states, Iran, and the non-elected bureaucrats in Brussels.
I could find a sort of excuse for the Bush Administration. The American people don’t learn world history in public schools and with such ignorance the best they crafted was the “Greater Middle East Initiative”, that is, of course, destined to fail. As part of that initiative, the Bush Administration wants Turkey to be a moderately Islamic country, a model to other Islamic countries. Thus, American support for the Turkish Islamists can be explained. Like anything it touched, like Iraq, the Bush administration has failed in that policy, because it lost the love it was getting from modern Turks. They cannot be expected to love an ally that is supporting the people who will make them un-survivable. The Islamists Turks are, of course, brain-washed to hate Americans anyway, and the American press is surprised to find the high rate of anti-Americanism in Turkey.
The Europeans do study world history in their schools. In this respect they are not ignorant. Precisely, because they are not ignorant, they still remember the enmity they felt for Turks for centuries, all the way to the end of WWI. They definitely are resolute not to admit Turkey in the European Union (EU). Perhaps Ataturk’s modern Turks would not bother them, but the Turkish Islamist crowd would magnify the trouble they have with the existing 15 million Moslems in Europe. So far, all the reasons are for Europe not to support the Islamists.
However, years ago, when there were no significant numbers of Islamists In Turkey, Europe had promised to admit Turkey, but the social-democrat Ecevit did not want to have any part of it. So the EU cannot say to Turkey that now it does not want to keep its promise. That is supposed to be undiplomatic. In stead of saying “no” to Turkey, as it should have as honest people, it set conditions to Turkey’s accession, that were not asked from other applicants. It purposely asked Turkey to accept conditions that were unacceptable, so that the Turks say no, and relieve Europe of a difficult task to say “no”.
The present ruling Islamist AK Party wants very badly to get rid of the threat of the Turkish military, who’s constitutional duty it is to protect and preserve the Laic republic. AK Party hopes that if Turkey is admitted in Europe, the military will have to come under their command and that they could go ahead and Islamize Turkey with impunity. Thus, the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan wanted so badly to be admitted in Europe, that he started to accept all the unacceptable conditions. The Europeans had found a gold mine in him, they started to ask the sun and the moon and got most of it. Mr. Erdogan still hopes that he will carry Turkey into Europe. He does not see the writing on the wall. Of course Europe loves him and supports him. EU will extract all it can until there is nothing left to extract, and then will drop him.
The AK Party came to power in November, 2002, because the Turkish people were fed up with the incompetent and corrupt secular parties. The people fired them at the election. None of them , except one, could overcome the 10 % threshold and their votes enhanced AK Party’s share who, with only 34 % of the votes, got enough seats to form a government by itself. AK Party came to power by promising at the campaign to abide by the secular constitution. But, as Islamists, their promise did not mean anything. Their so-called morality dictates that they can lie and cheat without sinning as long as they do it for the good of Islam. So they started to bring small steps of Islamization such as banning alcohol in some locations, letting men and women sit separately in busses and street cars in small towns, and opening beaches and parks for women only. Their attempt to criminalize adultery and sex outside marriage backfired and had to be retracted. The Turks did not want to have the government in their bed rooms. Besides, the measure would have killed tourism. Mr Erdogan’s plans are to advance Islamization in small increments and allowing the public to “digest” them before going to the next increment.
In all the above thinking, I assumed that the Bush administration would think logically, as I do, and it disturbed me to observe that they were not. But in that respect I am definitely wrong. While we are waging war against political Islam, the Bush administration is very cozy with the Saudi Arabian government, the motherland of Osama bin Laden, the country that provided 16 of the 19 terrorists who attacked us on September 11, 2001. If a country that Islamist, such as Saudi Arabia, can look pleasant and likable to President Bush, there is no wonder that he should like a much less Islamist country such as Mr. Erdogan’s Turkey.
Meanwhile, a new phenomenon emerged in Turkey. Several weeks ago I wrote that Turkey’s psyche is brewing. The following came out of it: The laicist (secularist) Turks started to make huge meetings in various cities to denounce Islamization and to shout that “Turkey is laic, will remain laic”. It is remarkable that (1) more than half of these crowds consisted of women and (2) they were not organized by any party or any organization and (3) had no obvious leaders. They were absolutely peaceful. Most families took their children with them and they all took Turkish flags. The government police regularly underestimated these crowds to 700,000, but more accurate estimates showed several millions. I say this is very remarkable, because in the past we all complained that Turks have been too lethargic and apathetic to protest things they don’t like. This sudden change of mood, mainly by women, is very encouraging and hopeful. Many Turks from Europe or even from the United States flew to Turkey to attend these meetings. Now they have to translate this meeting energy into votes in the next election.
Until now, the people did not move a finger to solve political problems, so the military had to step in to save laicism. The awakening of the people will hopefully change this situation and the people will take care of their own problems in the future and relieve the military from an unpleasant duty.
By next year it is hoped that the U.S. policies towards Iraq and the Middle East will change a lot, with it the American support of the AK Party will also change. The next election in Turkey might bring a shrinking of the AK Party’s share in Parliament. A coalition might result. In that case all the promises given to the EU by the eager Mr. Erdogan might have to be renegotiated or dropped entirely and Turkey might finally accept that it will never be admitted and might withdraw its application. Then relations with Europe will have to be re-established with the participation of all major Turkish parties. All these things also depend to a great extent on the results of the next election and on who will be elected President of Turkey.
The West is supposed to be Turkey’s friends and allies. I would expect them to support the secularists (Laicists) in Turkey. But both the Bush Administration and the European Union are supporting the Islamists. That is incomprehensible to me. These political Islamists are the extension of the forces we are waging war against. That is contradictory to my logic, surprising, and unfortunate. Who else are supporting the Turkish Islamist? All the non-democratic Arab states, Iran, and the non-elected bureaucrats in Brussels.
I could find a sort of excuse for the Bush Administration. The American people don’t learn world history in public schools and with such ignorance the best they crafted was the “Greater Middle East Initiative”, that is, of course, destined to fail. As part of that initiative, the Bush Administration wants Turkey to be a moderately Islamic country, a model to other Islamic countries. Thus, American support for the Turkish Islamists can be explained. Like anything it touched, like Iraq, the Bush administration has failed in that policy, because it lost the love it was getting from modern Turks. They cannot be expected to love an ally that is supporting the people who will make them un-survivable. The Islamists Turks are, of course, brain-washed to hate Americans anyway, and the American press is surprised to find the high rate of anti-Americanism in Turkey.
The Europeans do study world history in their schools. In this respect they are not ignorant. Precisely, because they are not ignorant, they still remember the enmity they felt for Turks for centuries, all the way to the end of WWI. They definitely are resolute not to admit Turkey in the European Union (EU). Perhaps Ataturk’s modern Turks would not bother them, but the Turkish Islamist crowd would magnify the trouble they have with the existing 15 million Moslems in Europe. So far, all the reasons are for Europe not to support the Islamists.
However, years ago, when there were no significant numbers of Islamists In Turkey, Europe had promised to admit Turkey, but the social-democrat Ecevit did not want to have any part of it. So the EU cannot say to Turkey that now it does not want to keep its promise. That is supposed to be undiplomatic. In stead of saying “no” to Turkey, as it should have as honest people, it set conditions to Turkey’s accession, that were not asked from other applicants. It purposely asked Turkey to accept conditions that were unacceptable, so that the Turks say no, and relieve Europe of a difficult task to say “no”.
The present ruling Islamist AK Party wants very badly to get rid of the threat of the Turkish military, who’s constitutional duty it is to protect and preserve the Laic republic. AK Party hopes that if Turkey is admitted in Europe, the military will have to come under their command and that they could go ahead and Islamize Turkey with impunity. Thus, the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan wanted so badly to be admitted in Europe, that he started to accept all the unacceptable conditions. The Europeans had found a gold mine in him, they started to ask the sun and the moon and got most of it. Mr. Erdogan still hopes that he will carry Turkey into Europe. He does not see the writing on the wall. Of course Europe loves him and supports him. EU will extract all it can until there is nothing left to extract, and then will drop him.
The AK Party came to power in November, 2002, because the Turkish people were fed up with the incompetent and corrupt secular parties. The people fired them at the election. None of them , except one, could overcome the 10 % threshold and their votes enhanced AK Party’s share who, with only 34 % of the votes, got enough seats to form a government by itself. AK Party came to power by promising at the campaign to abide by the secular constitution. But, as Islamists, their promise did not mean anything. Their so-called morality dictates that they can lie and cheat without sinning as long as they do it for the good of Islam. So they started to bring small steps of Islamization such as banning alcohol in some locations, letting men and women sit separately in busses and street cars in small towns, and opening beaches and parks for women only. Their attempt to criminalize adultery and sex outside marriage backfired and had to be retracted. The Turks did not want to have the government in their bed rooms. Besides, the measure would have killed tourism. Mr Erdogan’s plans are to advance Islamization in small increments and allowing the public to “digest” them before going to the next increment.
In all the above thinking, I assumed that the Bush administration would think logically, as I do, and it disturbed me to observe that they were not. But in that respect I am definitely wrong. While we are waging war against political Islam, the Bush administration is very cozy with the Saudi Arabian government, the motherland of Osama bin Laden, the country that provided 16 of the 19 terrorists who attacked us on September 11, 2001. If a country that Islamist, such as Saudi Arabia, can look pleasant and likable to President Bush, there is no wonder that he should like a much less Islamist country such as Mr. Erdogan’s Turkey.
Meanwhile, a new phenomenon emerged in Turkey. Several weeks ago I wrote that Turkey’s psyche is brewing. The following came out of it: The laicist (secularist) Turks started to make huge meetings in various cities to denounce Islamization and to shout that “Turkey is laic, will remain laic”. It is remarkable that (1) more than half of these crowds consisted of women and (2) they were not organized by any party or any organization and (3) had no obvious leaders. They were absolutely peaceful. Most families took their children with them and they all took Turkish flags. The government police regularly underestimated these crowds to 700,000, but more accurate estimates showed several millions. I say this is very remarkable, because in the past we all complained that Turks have been too lethargic and apathetic to protest things they don’t like. This sudden change of mood, mainly by women, is very encouraging and hopeful. Many Turks from Europe or even from the United States flew to Turkey to attend these meetings. Now they have to translate this meeting energy into votes in the next election.
Until now, the people did not move a finger to solve political problems, so the military had to step in to save laicism. The awakening of the people will hopefully change this situation and the people will take care of their own problems in the future and relieve the military from an unpleasant duty.
By next year it is hoped that the U.S. policies towards Iraq and the Middle East will change a lot, with it the American support of the AK Party will also change. The next election in Turkey might bring a shrinking of the AK Party’s share in Parliament. A coalition might result. In that case all the promises given to the EU by the eager Mr. Erdogan might have to be renegotiated or dropped entirely and Turkey might finally accept that it will never be admitted and might withdraw its application. Then relations with Europe will have to be re-established with the participation of all major Turkish parties. All these things also depend to a great extent on the results of the next election and on who will be elected President of Turkey.
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