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Turkey's Secular Vacuum


I've got no love for Tom 'Flathead' Friedman. But he makes a very trenchant point here:

Finally, there is a vacuum inside Turkey. The secular opposition parties have been in disarray most of the decade, the army has been cowed by wiretaps and the press has been increasingly intimidated into self-censorship because of government pressures. In September, the Erdogan government levied a tax fine of $2.5 billion on the largest, most influential — and most critical — media conglomerate, Dogan Holdings, to bring it to heel. At the same time, Erdogan lately has spoken with increasing vitriol about Israel in his public speeches — describing Israelis as killers — to build up his domestic support. He regularly labels his critics as “Israel’s contractors” and “Tel Aviv’s lawyers.”

Part of this is clearly Europe's fault. Turkey did everything Europe asked in the end to have Europe's latent racism come to the fore to scuttle Turkey's entry into the EU. But part of it is America's fault, too. Why? Well, dare I say our policies in Iraq (and in the pressure we put on the Turks in the run-up to the Iraq war) went a way towards radicalizing the AKP.

But mostly the fault lies with the bankruptcy of Turkey's secularists. They got complacent. They seemed, in my opinion, to fall back on the idea that the military would save them if the Islamists got too far ahead of themselves. My Turkish friends may not like hearing this, but it's true. The problem with the Islamists in Turkey, as I have explained before, is that they are very similar to the Radical Right in America: using emotional issues (like Palestine) to whip up support in the same way the Rightists in America use God, Guns and Gays in the US.

It's heartbreaking to watch this happen to Turkey.


Sean Paul Kelley June 16, 2010 - 9:07am
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The EU didn't square fairly with Turkey

Yet to just explain this with "latent racism" is very glib. Turkey is simply too large for the EU and it is not like Europe isn't already severely institutionally challenged. It was wrong to always dangle the EU membership carrot in front of Turkey's nose. But at this point, with the Euro crisis looming, it should be obvious that the EU first has to get its house in order before further expansion can be contemplated.

quax June 16, 2010 - 10:55am
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Quax, while you make an excellent point, based

on some of my observations in Europe towards Turks in Germany and Switzerland, and with conversations with Europeans, there is at the very least, a very real anti-Muslim bias towards Turkey as well.

Now, I agree with you that Turkey should never have been offered/teased with full EU membership. It should have been free-trade/associate status, but to say that Europe lacks anti-Muslim bias is rather fanciful.

"Sí che dal fatto il dir non sia diverso."

-Dante

Sean Paul Kelley June 16, 2010 - 11:01am
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... to say that Europe lacks anti-Muslim bias is rather fanciful

That's why I didn't say it :)

These sentiments, racism and Islamophobia are certainly factors but they are not the only ones and IMHO not necessarily the overarching reason why the EU simply cannot move forward with Turkey at this point.

quax June 16, 2010 - 1:06pm
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Fair enough, Quax, I think we are largely in agreement

then. :-)

"Sí che dal fatto il dir non sia diverso."

-Dante

Sean Paul Kelley June 16, 2010 - 1:27pm
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Sean Paul, I'm in Accord With Most of Your...

... observations. Certain members of the EU are over-arching hypocrites! And Quax is spot on - membership in the EU just ain't what it used to be. Having said that, important questions remain. Why can't this secular democracy acknowledge what was done to the Armenian People about 95 years ago? If one asserts the issue of the Armenian Genocide in Turkey, the assertion is a Felony for insulting the Turkish State. And what about the People that Erdogan has described as: "Just some Turks who wander around mountains"(!). The Kurds. Their communities make up what is in essence Southeastern Turkey. How many tens of thousands of Kurds were killed in brutal campaigns of repression? Even the excellent N.Y. Times reporter, Steve Tanzer, claimed in a 2000 NY Times missive, that Turkey had "razed" over three thousand - 3,000 - Kurdish Villages.

Sean Paul, I do see signs of hope. Last Year, over thirty thousand -30,000 - Turkush intellectuals, writers and artists went on line to apologize to the Armenian People for the "Great Tragedy of 1915". Sean Paul, this was an act of supreme Moral Courage, flying directly in the face of official Turkish policies. Can you imagine >125,000 (population adjusted) American intellectuals going on line - to apologize to Palestinians, or to Native Americans, or for stealing 1/2 of Mexico - for what WE have done to THEM?? Sadly, our Country doesn't have the Moral Courage of the Turks. Having said that, I pray that Turkey can break this "codependent" relationship with the Israelis. It has led to corruption, easy credit and money, and the build-up of the Turkish Security State (for the good of Israel) at the expense of the civilian populace. I find the events of the last several weeks heart-breaking, but overall hopeful to long-term future of the entire Region! JB

jbaspen June 16, 2010 - 11:44am
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There are 125,000 American intellectuals?

Sorry, couldn't resist :)

quax June 16, 2010 - 1:08pm
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