People from different parts of Turkey relocated to bigger cities and started to live closer together. Before, these groups of different people would rarely see each other. They were brought together by associations set up for people from the same town, religious communities or Islamic movements. Our society experienced three major waves of migration, one in the 1950s, one in the 1970s and another in the 1990s. During these waves of migration, Islamic movements rehabilitated migrants. But after 2000, religion was removed as a source of reference for people; it became incapable of expressing itself in politics and was suppressed in social life. Likewise, with the Feb. 28 postmodern coup, important actors within Islamic movements instantly denied their own tradition and Islamic heritage.Around 65 percent of the Turkish population lives in slums and shanty homes. Prior to 2000, religion was dominant in these areas. Religion kept people together and provided a sense of comfort for them. Let us compare the shanty areas in Turkey and the Muslim world with shanty areas in Latin America. The slums in Latin America are riddled with chaos, filth and high crime rates. But in the shanty areas of Istanbul there is order, a cosmos and civility. This was brought by Islam. After religion stopped being used as a source of reference and lost prestige in Turkey, a lumpen new population that engages in violence, commits suicide, goes mad, wants everything he sees on television, commits honor killings and does not follow any rules emerged. When religion became weak, unable to express an identity, provide protection and bring people together, it is necessary for it to be replaced with something else.
It must be noted that the growth of conservatism in society does not mean that religion is being practiced in a correct manner. Conservatism kills authentic religion. As conservatism develops, religious life deteriorates. Nature does not allow emptiness and therefore other things start filling in the gap left by religion.
Nowadays, something called nationalism is filling that gap. However this is not the kind of Turkish nationalism we are familiar with, nor is it political or cultural nationalism. This is a much different and dangerous thing. Cities have turned into places filled with hooligans and violence. We are headed towards an urban life that is devoid of security, purpose, contentment and tolerance.
But it’s difficult for cities to be safe when society is unraveling. This process is ambiguous and “subjectless.” It is unclear if the actor behind this is really the American president (Bush, Obama or someone else). Then who might the real actors be? Is it oil companies, arms dealers or multinational firms? Who manages these issues and decides on them? One of the most important indications of globalization is that it ensures a major fluidity that transcends all national borders. What is it that is flowing? About 97 percent of the fluidity is capital between countries. In additional to capital, knowledge and culture also flow. But knowledge is shallow knowledge and culture is worthless pop and magazine culture.
On the other hand, obscurity has started to appear in biology and physics (quantum physics). Among the topics being discussed in gene technology are the fragmentation of the atom, which is the building block of matter, and whether electrons and protons are waves or particles. Behind this deep and profound uncertainty lies a crisis. This is such a far-reaching crisis that to suppress it and prevent it from erupting, wars and invasions are being pursued. The legalization of the crisis means turning everything we know upside down. It is for the reason that the problem should be researched in greater scope and depth because the issue does not consist of just national or nationalist reactions. First, we need to analyze the concepts of nationalism, the nation-state and nation and then evaluate Turkish nationalism. Actually, violence is a part of nationalism’s nature. As modernity tries to maintain its existence over extreme urbanization, rapid migration and globalization, it intensifies crises which subsequently intensify and globalize violence. This is another factor that fosters nationalist violence.
