Research has shown that one of the most important reasons for these occurrences was that the foundations of buildings where the death and destruction occurred were not strong.
Our political and social foundations are likewise not strong these days. The Sept. 12 Constitution is a coup-time Constitution; it provides a rotten and unhealthy basis for our society and state to exist upon, and yet we continue to use it to maintain our system. We talk of initiatives and democratization, and yet the system is locked. There is a practical lock in place. No matter what direction Parliament moves in to change, the Republican People's Party (CHP) automatically heads to the Constitutional Court. Inevitably, the Constitutional Court renders a decision along the lines of what the CHP desires. You could label this just a coincidence, or the synchronized form of official ideology, but the general photograph looks like this: Every constitutional institution we have is experiencing internal bleeding.
But why is our foundation rotting? Because errors made initially continue to plague us. The mentality of the ruling elite does not sit in harmony with the values of the society. What makes for a strong and healthy foundation are our values. These values are also what define us. Of course there is a problem when the leadership of the republic does not base itself on the values of the republic, instead belittling these values. And what's more, if authority and unfairness are used to sustain this path, things get even worse.
The military has a wonderful saying: “An error made at the headquarters affects all fronts.” The basic error in Turkey is one made at the headquarters. A system which does not look to the people of the nation, or to the will of the people, has instead embraced an official ideology as its point of departure. And failing to take the people of the country as its basis, it instead set out to create a new people of the nation which would be more in harmony with it. This is something akin to trying to get water to flow backwards. It is simply not possible. Translating the ezan (call to prayer) into Turkish, intervening in the imam-hatip school system, changing the upper age limits for studying the Quran -- these were all forced moves. The forced use of secularity as a weapon against our people and values has been, yes, a mistake made at the headquarters. All of these actions have been forced, and all of them have been the result of fearing the values of the people of Turkey.
And it is solely for this reason that the elite ruling class, despite labeling themselves as “modern,” have actually taken the greatest steps backward in their lives. Let me cite just one example here. Becoming European and Western has been the greatest goal of their modernistic ways. They thought that by making the society more European and Western, they could distance us further from our essential ways and values. But as the years went by, the West turned more and more toward universal values, particularly in the wake of World War II. And so the supremacy of justice, transparency in justice, the obligation of those previously untouchable by the law to answer for their actions -- all of this raised the bar on Westernization. And so our “modern” factions found their plans ruined. Which is why they now stand as the greatest barrier blocking our way toward EU membership.
Of course, the EU foundation also includes freedom of religion and conscience. And so the ruling elite is panicking, believing that if Turkey becomes a member, they will lose their positions, lose their traction.
For example, could we ever expect anything similar to the all-embracing societal stance displayed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan from these abovementioned “modern” figures in our society? No, they remain silent. Could we ever expect them to make speeches like those delivered by President Abdullah Gül? Instead, they accuse Gül of “discrimination.”
The Ergenekon case, precisely because it displays all of these contradictions plainly for everyone to see, is fulfilling a more and more illuminating function. Think about a certain mentality for a moment. It carries out its business in the background, over a rotten and darkened foundation. This dirty, bloody, illegal, merciless business uses newspapers, television channels and a number of different vehicles to reach the citizens of the nation. But right at that moment, the spotlight turns to the backstage, and suddenly our eyes become wide open to what is happening. Yes, we are headed toward a healthier foundation, with the determination not to stay on the current rotten foundation but with a resolute desire to head toward a better one.
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