It is easy to understand why the MHP resists. The foundation that it stands on, namely Turkish nationalism, will no longer be a determining factor in statecraft and politics. But the so called “leftist” CHP has adopted its intransigent stance merely because it believes that the opening will soon prove to be a sham and the public disappointment that follows will allow the party's star to shine. This is the general state of affairs in politics at present.The other source of resistance is the bureaucracy whose sense of duty is shaped by the state's unconditional control of society, and the obedience of the nation at all levels including the delivery of its identity, political choices and culture from “above.” The bureaucracy sees its position and service as a sort of noblesse oblige. If the nation or a part of it digresses from the patterns which the ruling bureaucracy has designed for good conduct and good citizenship they punish it to do the degree that such digressions are deterred in the future.
Forced migration, extradition, massive torture and wide-spread intimidation by legal means have been the arsenal of the bureaucracy to guide or to shepherd the people. National(ist) education and laws have been the ideological instruments of the state to uphold the firm grip of the state over society.
To these, you may add the calculated resistance by groups of more sophisticated civilians, business people, etc., and the innocent resistance of the people who have lost their sons in a decades-long fratricidal war, the reasons of which were never objectively analyzed. They want justice as has been promised by the security bureaucracy and politicians who have sent them to war within their own country. Through their school education and the propagandist information they have been fed during their military service they were made to believe that only Turks live in this country and anything that defies this statement is either treacherous or a foreign plot.
Lately we have witnessed frequent examples of the resistance by these groups to the democratic opening. Two weeks ago, the Association of Working Women staged a demonstration at the Ankara martyr's graveyard (Ankara Şehitler Anıtı) (soldiers who have died in combat defending their country -- in fact şehit means those who have been slain in God's way) against war and the waste of human souls. A group of family members of the deceased soldiers became furious, insulted them and got out national flags and began to chant the national anthem in response.
Any outsider would have seen the irony in this response: The protesting women wanted to save their sons and relatives while they themselves were protesting for them to defend the nation. Indeed we have lost our sense of right and wrong in this debacle.
The public debate about making this country more democratic came to rest on an increasingly realized fact that Kurds and other minorities have been discriminated against. So to move away from this mistake is the proper thing to do. Giving Kurds the freedom to develop their culture and teach their children in Kurdish is a sound beginning. Cultural liberties and acknowledgement of a minority culture is a strong sign of equality among citizens. These are intensely debated in the public realm. Yet there are bureaucrats who act as if they live outside this world, especially outside the reality of their own country. A week ago, the acting governor of Iğdır province (northeast) and some of the district governors (kaymakams) enjoying a concert by well-known singer, Ms. Şevval Şam, spoiled the whole aura of democratic righteousness and the government's efforts to reconcile with minorities. They left the concert hall when Ms. Şam began to sing a Kurdish song upon the request of the audience. What are these bureaucrats defending? Are they really proud about protesting against the music of their country performed in one of the languages of the very country they claim to love and protect?
There is yet a third group who take the side of the defenders of the status quo, not because they do not want change, but because it is going to be led or realized by the incumbent Justice and Development Party (AK Party), for whom they harbor no trust or liking. In the light of these examples and incidents no one can claim that the needed change towards democracy, pluralism and tolerance for “others” will take place shortly or easily. Fortunately all polls show that the government enjoys considerable public support. The real test is to manage the process of change by relying on this support.
