Enjoy what another Turks says, and live aside whatever Kifeas has said to you so far!
The gospel according to Atatürk
Saturday, November 10, 2007
It is no doubt that Atatürk deserves utmost respect from the Turkish nation. But respecting a man is quite different to worshipping him
MUSTAFA AKYOL
DUBLIN – A few weeks ago, while driving through one of the busiest spots in Istanbul, Şişli Square, I came across dozens of Atatürk flags hanging all over the place. They were, apparently, an official prelude to Nov. 10, the anniversary of the death of the country's founder. Yet the flags included not only the usual smiling look of the national leader, but also a message that I had never came across before. “Sizi izliyorum,” it read in Turkish, which means, “I am watching you.”
Apparently the folks who had this brilliant idea have never heard of George Orwell and his classic novel “1984,” in which the Big Brother watches everybody in order to ensure the persistence of his totalitarian regime. Certainly, the state of affairs in Turkey is not as bad as that. Yet it seems no accident that the veneration of Atatürk has reached such absurd heights that its slogans started to resemble Orwellian archetypes.
Atatürk loves you! :
This veneration is visible in virtually every spot in Turkey. Wherever you turn your face, you come across Atatürk. Every piece of currency is created in his image. Every office wall carries his portrait. Almost all official speeches start or end by honoring his name. The greatest airports, boulevards and damns are named after him. School children begin the week by swearing allegiance to “The most high Atatürk, who has given us this day.” My young brother recalls the astounding way that his teacher instructed the class in the first year of primary school. “Keep silent and behave,” the teachers used to warn the seven-year-olds, “otherwise Atatürk will not love you.”
This strange belief in an omnipresent leader that oversees the nation persists in many Turkish minds well into adulthood. No wonder when our political leaders visit his mausoleum in Ankara, Anıtkabir, most of them speak not only about Atatürk. They also speak to him. Many avow that they will never abandon his righteous path and forsake his revolutionary ideals. Whenever there is a political crisis, his devotees, the Kemalists, rush to his shrine in drones and present wreaths as offerings. One of our retired generals recently said, “Whenever I despair, I read the Nutuk.” That book is Atatürk's political autobiography, and the spiritual power it transmits is apparently not too dissimilar to what the Bible gives to a devout Christian.
It is hard to avoid the ''G'' word here to explain the level Atatürk has been raised to. At least to most foreign observers, all this amounts to the deification of a political leader, which is, of course, not an attribute of democratic countries. It is rather a typical aspect of secular tyrannies such as the Soviet Union and North Korea.
In Turkey, the political system is much more open and free, to be sure, but the cult of Atatürk constantly blocks its evolution into a full democracy. Virtually every attempt for reform is opposed by hardline Kemalists who have created eternal principles from the founding father's practical policies. They have opposed privatization of state enterprises, for example, for that Atatürk created them in the 1930s. They refuse giving cultural freedoms to our Kurdish citizens, because they say pluralism contradicts Atatürk's vision of a homogeneous nation. And they can't even stand to hear about religious freedom, since they believe that the homogeneous nation must also be fully secularized.
The Kemalists also have an interesting way of reductive thinking. They try to understand the contemporary world not by analyzing it, but imagining analogies with the time of Atatürk. The pro-EU liberals are for them the reincarnations of the “British Lovers Society” of the 1920s, which the Supreme Leader swept aside. When foreign companies invest in Turkey, they see a new set of “capitulations,” the economic measures that had become disadvantageous to the late Ottoman Empire and were abolished by Atatürk.
Detachment from reality :
The result of this strict mental blueprint is detachment from reality. That's why, despite all its rhetoric on “science and reason” as guiding lights for society, Kemalism has become an irrational ideology. When its adherents are challenged by rational arguments, they respond by emotional reactions. They take extra tours to Anıtkabir and sing more anthems.
I, of course, find all this cultism bizarre and detrimental, but this is not because I lack admiration for Atatürk. He was the heroic leader of our War of Liberation, and he showed great skills in the formation of our Republic. He was a genius in many aspects and a true patriot. It is no doubt that he deserves utmost respect from the Turkish nation.
But respecting a man is quite different to worshipping him. We Turks need to understand that, despite all his brilliance, Atatürk was a man of his time. He did his best, but times have changed. Global economy and politics work differently today, and the standards of democracy and freedom have become much higher. Moreover, like all mortals, even Atatürk made some mistakes. We need to stop looking for his guidance on every single issue, and start to think for ourselves. Look, it has been nearly seven decades since his death. It is really time for us to grow up.
http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/arti ... wsid=88247
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