With these questions in mind, it seemed a good idea to attend a dinner/debate on Jan. 30 organized by the Beşiktaş branch of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party). The participants included not just party faithfuls, but a wider cross-section of society, including academics, artists, civil activists and journalists.During his time as education minister, Hüseyin Çelik at times caused controversy. As deputy head of the ruling party, he delivered an impassioned speech that sought to clarify in the minds of the audience what the democratic initiative is really about. While the Kurdish issue was of course mentioned, he focused on the wider goal of creating a more inclusive form of citizenship that does not see any citizen as an enemy or simply as “the other.”
To illustrate a mentality the government is seeking to overcome, Çelik quoted from a letter written in 1941 by Nihal Atsız, a prominent figure of the nationalist right, to his infant son (who is today a columnist). Here’s a rough translation:
Yağmur my son!
Today you are just one-and-a-half years old. I have finished my will. I conclude. I am leaving you a picture as a memento. Follow my words, be a good Turk.
“Communism is our enemy. Understand this. Jews are the secret enemies of all nations. Russians, Chinese, Persians and Greeks are our historical enemies.
Bulgarians, Germans, Italians, British, French, Arabs, Serbs, Croats, Spaniards, Portuguese and Romanians are our new enemies.
The Japanese, Afghans and Americans are tomorrow’s enemies.
Armenians, Kurds, Circassians, Abkhaz, Bosniaks, Albanians, Pomaks, Laz, Lezgians, Georgians and Chechens are our domestic enemies.
You have to be well prepared to face so many enemies.
May God help you!”
One may question the relevance today of words written nearly 70 years ago, but the recent intelligence documents and nefarious plots recently revealed by the Taraf newspaper suggest that a similar worldview still permeates parts of the establishment and the society, which yearn for the golden years of the early republic.
This approach, Çelik said, had created a “learned helplessness,” which has fostered internal divisions and prevented Turkey from fully engaging with the world.
He mentioned “empathy” -- the ability to see things from another’s perspective -- as a feeling that needed to be developed further in Turkey.
The former minister’s speech was well received, but participants had plenty of questions. Why, for instance, did the government wait until it had been in power for nearly seven years to launch its initiative? One businessman welcomed the move but asked the government to do more to decrease the tension, which has a negative effect on the whole country.
The authorities have now produced a booklet which tries, in a few questions and answers, to explain what the government is trying to achieve. The problem is that politicians themselves, including the prime minister, have fueled the confusion with messages that are not always consistent. The ruling party is now trying to erase the red lines that crisscross society, but in the not-so-distant past, AK Party politicians were also prone to making nationalist comments and some still favor a more statist approach.
The ruling party could, and should, do more to build consensus as it moves toward constitutional reform. In the absence of cooperation from reticent opposition parties, it needs to establish a dialogue with civil society to ensure that all views are reflected.
Çelik likened the current uproar to the noise on a construction site. For a while, he said, disturbance was unavoidable. But eventually, everything would fall into place, he affirmed.
Let’s hope his hopeful assessment proves correct. After all, as he rightly pointed out, the government has no choice but to press ahead in spite of resistance. “We are condemned to succeed. There is no other way out.”
