One thing is for certain: Regardless of the political background, almost everyone in Turkey feels sympathetic for the uprising of Greek youth. Don't get me wrong, if, God forbid, there was a natural disaster such as an earthquake, Turks -- who share the sovereign political culture -- would sincerely feel the Greeks' pain. If Greece was winning any championship in which Turkey was not participating, Turks in general would support Greece, although they would be jealous of them. But this time the situation is a little different.Turkey's rightists are happy to see Greece in trouble while its leftists remain jealous, though neither side voices its feelings. However, one thing is clear: Most people in Turkey think they understand Greece's youth.
This understanding and sympathy are a little different from the understanding and riots in France, in which mostly immigrant youth set parts of French cities and towns ablaze. Turkey's sovereign political culture was happy to see French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who openly spoke out against Turkey's membership in the EU, in trouble. The riots in France carried with them a feeling of "revenge," if you will. Secondly, Turks felt that they had many things in common with the immigrant, mostly Muslim youth of France -- the same feeling of being sidelined. But when it comes to riots in Greece, the feeling of empathy is deeper.
Members of the sovereign political culture do not admit to this for many reasons, but they know very well that Turkey shares with Greece more than just baklava and cacık; though we pretend to be different politically, we have many similarities in this respect, too.
I don't think there is any parent, politician or youth in Turkey whose mind it did not cross what Turkey would do if these riots were taking place in Turkey. This attempt is not only a simple effort of being emphatic but derives from the fact that the Turkish youth are as desperate as Greece's.
Turkish youth have the same problems that their Greek counterparts have: The future was never so dark and uncertain and preparing for it is almost impossible. The unemployment rate among youngsters is high, with the same nihilism capturing the spirit of both countries' youth. Those thinking that Turkey's teenagers are apolitical are certainly mistaken.
Being pessimistic is one of the pillars of being a teenager and even the most well-adjusted teenager has this feeling, though it has never run as deep as it does today. Being violent has almost become an indispensable part of being a teenager, even if we don't admit to knowing that many teenagers carry knives or similar objects capable of being used to attack.
We, however, were not brave enough to discuss all these problems until the riots in Greece broke out. We still shy away from discussing our own problems and instead continue this discussion on the backs of Greeks.
Writers who did not show a sensitive approach to the teenagers recently detained for participating in demonstrations in predominantly Kurdish areas are almost praising the teenagers of Greece. Most of the writers who were silent in the face of the killings of those in custody when they were happing are now almost proud of Greek teenagers for protesting the killing of a 16-year-old by a police bullet. TV stations that did not mention even once Turkish revolutionist high school students (Dev-Lis) -- although they held many peaceful demonstrations in the past -- but suddenly discovered the group when it protested against the Greek government in front of its consulate in İstanbul.
It is high time for Turkey and its sovereign political culture to give up the hypocrisy and muster up the courage to discuss problems faced by our teenagers. Doing otherwise may lead us to wake up to İstanbul or Ankara burning as Athens is today.
