In his speech he quoted an article titled “Addressing the Youth” by Necip Fazıl Kısakürek, a Turkish poet, novelist, philosopher and activist, and defined his ideal youth as “a youth that is the defender of its religion, language, mindset, knowledge, honor, family, resentments and heart,” which has drawn harsh criticism by some who allege that he is dreaming of a youth and a society that is full of resentment and hatred. However, there are many writers, especially from religious circles, who know Kısakürek’s character well and argue that Erdoğan’s statement should be interpreted with Kısakürek’s ideology in mind. Yeni Şafak’s Salih Tuna says it is a pity that from Erdoğan’s magnificent speech, people choose to remember only one word, “resentment,” and notes that upon hearing Erdoğan’s remarks, all of a sudden those with dislike for Erdoğan, mostly from the opposition parties, started to act like individuals who have a love for everyone. We cannot measure love or hate, Tuna says, “but let’s look at what Erdoğan has done for this country and what those ‘people full of love’ have done for it. The main opposition Republican People’s Party [CHP] killed renowned Turkish poet and writer Sabahattin Ali in 1948 and made life miserable for prominent Turkish poet Nazım Hikmet. While the CHP was in power, the Turkish military used poisonous gas to kill people hiding in mountain caves in Dersim. But what has the ‘defender of resentment’ done for this country? While he was mayor of İstanbul, he cleaned the streets of trash and took measures to tackle air pollution. When he became prime minister, he turned Turkey into a country whose economy set an example for Greece.”
However, those who have spoken out against Erdoğan’s speech cannot know thatwhat Kısakürek meant by resentment was defending one’s ideology or faith by means of standing against objections and against those attacking their ideology or faith. We have to be strong to defend our way of life, says Tuna. Yeni Akit’s Hasan Karakaya also argues that people have missed the essence of Erdoğan’s statement by being obsessed with this one word. By being a “defender of resentment,” Erdoğan and Kısakürek imply a deeper and more sophisticated idea, which is that having a strong mindset has its consequences. You must know what you are for and against and must recognize your opponents. Of course Islam is a religion of tolerance, but having anger about injustices is a source of strength in itself and renders one and their ideology more powerful. As a matter of fact, the true interpretation of Erdoğan’s statement would be that the crimes and injustices we witness today stem from two things: deficiencies in the law and the judiciary, which the government is currently concentrated on, and defects in individuals’ characters, which can be best worked on at schools. Erdoğan is obviously suggesting adopting moral values and bringing young people up to be honest.
