Too Late for A Secular Turkey? The Coming of Islam...

Is Turkey turning its back on the West? Has it become an Islamic state, shariah-driven and autocratic? It certainly looks like it. The way Prime Minister Erdogan brutally squelched the latest wave of protest in Taksim Square and Gezi Park in the heart of Istambul, a protest that had spread to dozens of cities across the country, - resulting in over 4,000 wounded and four dead -  certainly bodes ill. 

On June 13, 2013, the Huffington Post published a long comment by Stanley. E. Weiss, Founding Chairman of Business Executives for National Security, a nonpartisan organization based in Washington, DC that I consider a must-read to understand what is happening in Turkey.  Here are the highlights (to read the whole text, click here):

 As has been expressed repeatedly in this space, since taking power in 2003, Erdoğan's Islamist Justice and Development Party has imprisoned more journalists than any nation on earth.  For good measure, it has also incarcerated more than 2,800 students, most for the crime of exercising free speech.  Similar offenses have led to more than 20,000 complaints filed against Turkey's government in the European Court of Human Rights
 

[...] Erdoğan has used public funds to build more than 17,000 mosques while announcing plans to create a super-mosque overlooking Istanbul.

Last month, to celebrate the 560th anniversary of Istanbul's conquest by the Ottomans, Erdoğan broke ground on a third Bosphorus Bridge linking the Asian and European sides of the city, naming it after the controversial conquering Sultan Selim I-who adopted Sunni Islam as the official religion of the Ottoman Empire, and then ordered the murder of 45,000 Alevites for not being Muslim enough.  Along the way, he has ordered the separation of boys and girls in primary and secondary schools; lowered the age requirement for religious schools to 11 while tripling enrollment; and ruled that tens of thousands of graduates of Islamic madrassas have the equivalent of college degrees so they can be hired for high civil service posts.  

What upsets secular Turks the most is what Turkish scholar Seyla Benhabib calls Erdoğan's "moral micromanagement of people's private lives."  Saying he wants to create a "pious generation," Erdoğan has spoken out in favor of keeping men and women apart on beaches; supported announcements last month urging subway passengers to refrain from kissing in public; and led the passage of surprise legislation to ban the sale of alcohol while publicly calling Atatürk a "drunkard."  After famously overturning a 90-year ban on headscarves in public, Erdoğan also called on all Turkish women to have three children while restating his opposition to day-care centers, interpreted by the Economist as "women should have babies and stay home."  Erdoğan is precisely the kind of Islamic fundamentalist that Ataturk warned against, and the very reason he entrusted Turkey's military with the responsibility of safeguarding the nation's secular traditions. 
 

Indeed. Erdogan has worked on several fronts. He has systematically thrown dissident journalists and students in prison, he has brought to justice and jailed the most prominent generals on trumped up accusations. When he had attacked the army, it had been viewed at first as a liberal move and many among the young and the intellectuals supported him. They saw it as a measure meant to defend democracy and one demanded by the European Union...

Well, he had everyone fooled. 

Once the secular forces in Turkish society were stymied, there was only one way out, and as Weiss wrote, this is why secular Turks took to the streets two weeks ago:  it's the only forum for redress they have left...As Erdoğan undertakes a high-profile campaign to bring the most extensive changes to Turkey's political system since Ataturk - re-writing the Turkish Constitution to give the President more power while brilliantly working to end a 30-year war with Kurdish separatists to win the support he needs to pass it - he will be in position to run for President in 2014, just as he is term-limited out as Prime Minister.  If this month's protests don't derail those efforts, there is no telling what Turkey will look like - or who it will be allied with-by the end of two likely terms of an Erdoğan presidency in 2024.

Since Weiss wrote, as we now know, the protests were derailed. What is seriously disturbing is that protesters were not just dispersed, they were thrown in jail. Exactly who was locked up and what happened to them is not known. Erdogan was lucky, just as he moved against the leaders of the protest, the world media was full of the news of Brazilians taking to the street. Everyone started to forget about Turkey. How convenient for Erdogan! Yet he is clearly following the example of Iran when it successfully ended the liberal revolt in 2009.  

In all likelihood Erdogan will succeed now in his intent to islamize Turkey and return it to its Ottoman past. If only the access of Turkey to the European Union had been accelerated some 10 years ago when the process was started, we might have avoided this outcome. But we all know how Merkel and Sarkozy did their best to slow it down and discourage Turkey...

Now it is probably too late, what we will soon have at the doors of Europe is an Islamic colossus, 90 million people strong, following the rule of the Shariah, as imposed by Sultan Erdogan. 

Post scriptum:  For the moment, I am only publishing a post once a week (on Sunday) because of the work I must do on Forever Young, my new science fiction serial novel. Part Three, The Immortality Trip, is now at the editing stage...But Part One,I Will Not Leave You Behind and Part Two, You Will Not Take My Place are already available on Amazon, here and here (priced at 99 cents each, like WOOL).  The novel, which was ranked at the top in Science Fiction/Adventure in May 2013 (Kindle free bestseller list), will have 5 parts and once they are all published, an omnibus edition will become available. 

 
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Comments

I'd like to add a comment about what this all means for America. There is no doubt that to have a Shariah-driven Turkey as member of NATO and as one of America's closest allies, strategically positioned in the tinder box that is the Middle East, is a cause for concern. It is obviously going to be a game-changer...With what results? I leave you to tell us what you think!
Claude, I read your article very carefully. The perspective of revitalizing the Islamic consciousness and government order is not what the World wants. I don't want to get very political here, but I understand it on a very deep, may be DNA level. I am from Bulgaria and I think you know that we have been under Ottoman slavery for 5 centuries.

But we survived as Christians. However, may be 15% of my country are Turkish speaking. They tried to change religion and beliefs, so the generations to come to be Muslims.

Let us hope for a good outcome. Thank you!
Cara Claude, bene ma cercherò di fare il punto su uno dei grandi problemi che non vediamo perché gli estremisti come Erdogan non vogliono far conoscere dal momento che gestiscono il potere pro domo sua. Il Credo Mussulmano (Maometto 570 d.c.)così come é nato nei VII secolo D.C. era una Religione che si imperniava nella Parola di Dio che trasmette il messaggio rivelato agli uomini attraverso Maometto. Un messaggio di pace e di convivenza con le altre Religioni al punto che Gesù era un Profeta e gli Ebrei non erano dei nemici.
Durante i Secoli i nemici erano piuttosto quelle tribù o popolazioni che come gli Aluiti, gli Scihiti ed i Sunniti si facevano una guerra per il potere dandosi di retico l'uno all'altro. Il Messaggio invece andava interpretato come un messaggio di pace e di coesistenza e aggiornato ai tempi. Siamo noi occidentali che cadiamo nel tranello degli estremisti come Erdogan. Nella magggior parte dei Paesi Mussulmani, il problema non é l'Islam, ma l'assenza dei valori di libertà, democrazia e diritti umani.E' un problema complesso che necessita un lungo processo di riforme che Erdogan, attaccato al potere, non vuole dare. Il sapere e gli scrittori, la coscienza sociale possono fare il cambiamento del messaggio ricevuto da Maometto. Essi non devono essere visti come eretici ma come interpreti del cambiamento storico dal VII secolo ad oggi.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment, Margarita. Yes, I do know about Bulgaria's past under the Ottoman empire. Erdogan is certainly thinking of that, there is nostalgia in his mind for the splendors of the Ottomans, or else, why would he have insisted on calling that new bridge like that? What is more worrying is his insistence on building mosques and spreading madrassas...in a country that, thanks to Ataturk, everyone thought such things had been put behind. A very worrying return to the past, but as you say, let's hope for a good outcome!
This is an interesting comment, Giuseppe, and a timely reminder - because you're right, people like Erdogan make us forget it - that Mahomet's message was one of peace and "convivenza", a wonderful word that if you analyze its roots means "living together". Living in peace with others. As you rightly point out, following the birth of Islam in the 7th century, various tribes, often living in mountainous, distant areas like the Karakorams, are the ones that started the long season of internecine fights between Moslems, principally the Shiites vs. the Sunnites, but others were drawn in too, notably the Alawites, as we now see it unfold in Syria.

I totally agree with you that bottom line the problem is NOT Islam but the absence of democratic values like freedom and human rights. The problem is complex and as you say, requires a long process of reform - something Erdogan is not willing to undertake. He is too attached to remaining in power and in particular strengthening his personal power to even think of it. Or allow Moslem intellectuals and scientists to move the process forward and link back to the original message of peace that was Mahomet's. That single aspect is surely the one that is most preoccupying in Turkey today: because Turkey could have acted as a liberal torchbearer but seems to have given up on that role for the moment - or at least until Erdogan goes away. Now the ball is back in Egypt's courtyard. We'll see how things play out on June 30 when the opposition to Morsi's government plans to take to the street - all 15 million of them!
La colpa é anche degli occidentali che hanno sempre appoggiato una tribù contro l'altra al fine di controllare il territorio. Lo fanno e l'hanno fatto gli USA con Saddam Houssein e l'Arabia Saudita con l'appoggio di Bush e l'hanno fatto i Francesi e gli Inglesi nel 1917 con "l'accordo segreto" Di Sykes-Picot che stabiliva le zone di influenza della Francia e dell UK sulla Palestina sulla Siria, sul Libano e l'Anatolia (sotto la Francia),Giordania, Iran ed Irack all'Inghilterra, e Palestina, Gerusalemme in condominio. Gli Alawites erano sulle montagne verso il mediterraneo ed i Francesi ne fecero uno strumento di potere. Una volta per governare gli Alawites si appoggiavano sulle altre Religioni per far fronte a Shihiti e Sunniti. Ma come sempre se usi la Religioni come strumento di separazione e non di coesistenza il risultato é quello che abbiamo sotto gli occhi in Siria. (it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accordo_Sykes-Picot) ‎
Anonymous said…
This is a great analysis Claude. I had no idea things had gone so far.

Priscilla
Wow, Giuseppe you went to town! Or rather you dug into History! Yes, I totally see that: we in the West are also guilty. Certainly the French and the English since the so-called "secret" Sykes-Picot agreement in 1917 that established zones of influence for each, leaving Palestine and Jerusalem in "condominium". And more recently the Americans. What have we done that's so wrong? We've supported one tribe against another, one religious group rather than another - the French notably supported the Alawites that way. But you're right, whenever Religion is used as an "instrument of separation" (your words)instead of coexistence, it results in war like the on-going one in Syria...
Thanks Priscilla for dropping by. Yes, things have gone way too far and I consider this one of the world's most serious rising crisis...Principally because of what Turkey is - an ally of the US, a candidate for the European Union and a NATO member - and where it is located, the Middle East, quite literally a tinder box. What Turkey's role will be in future matters terribly: it could be one for peace if things turned out well - for war, if they didn't.