This city used to be most European city in Turkey, the most open to the West. It used to be the country’s most liberal city. What happened to this city?Today I see in this city the Turkey of some 30 years ago. It is as if it fears opening to the world, developing and seeing new things. Every day, it grows tenser and lonelier.
But 15 years ago, İzmir meant laissez faire, laissez aller, laissez passer. Or more precisely, it meant let them live as they like. No one would care about what ideologies other people were entertaining or how they were living. Everyone would lead their own life without nurturing any interest in others’ lives. Naturally, this created an environment suitable for the improvement of free thought. Even in those years when the headscarf ban was being aggressively implemented, Ege University opted for freedom. The support of Professor Gönül Öney, the dean of the faculty of letters at Ege University, for freedom is still fresh in my memories.
The reason why İzmir came to be called “gavur,” or non-Muslim, was its advocacy for this liberalism and freedom. Compared to Anatolian cities, where people’s lives are closely scrutinized, İzmir would defend that liberalism and individualism.
Thanks to this free environment, İzmir served as a cradle for many political and ideological movements in recent years. Many movements including İttihat Terakki, the Democrat Party (DP), the National Order Party (MNP) and the Akevler movement first developed there. It is considerably meaningful that Fethullah Gülen started his education movement in İzmir. Choosing a method never used by the conservatives, Gülen began his innovative education activities in İzmir, which gave considerably support to the idea of opening schools where the medium of instruction was English. Gülen was able to overcome the right wing’s resistance to new methods in the 1970s thanks to the support İzmir gave. Obviously, it would be very hard to make these schools be accepted in other cities. In all other cities, people would be concerned about whether other people are secular or religious. In other words, they would interfere with every part of other people’s lives. In contrast, the people of İzmir would not meddle with behaviors or activities of other people and would not impose a specific lifestyle on them. Secular people would lead their lives. So would the religious.
But today it has failed to foil a small provocation.
In her recent article, Ece Temelkuran could not make herself call İzmir fascist. Instead, she opted to make the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) the target of the recent stoning incident in the city, as she thought this would seem more befitting. She argued that it was not Kurds who were stoned, but the AK Party.
She failed to assert as a person who grew in İzmir that İzmir does not stone anyone or that no one is condemned for his/her lifestyle or ideology here.
Unfortunately, there is a rising neo-nationalist wave in İzmir which cannot be denied. The ghost of reactionaryism has sent İzmir to a tunnel of fear, and the city is moving toward a dark place in this tunnel. Today the inhabitants of İzmir are represented by Yılmaz Özdil; think about this.
İzmir, fascist actions do not suit you. Don’t worry, no one can meddle with your lifestyle because you have taught all of Anatolia how to think liberally and respect other people’s right to live. But today, you seem to have abandoned these ideas you taught the country, becoming a toy of fascism.
