The more Turkey is encouraged to remember the pain of the past, the more likely it is for people whose past has been hidden by the incredible suppression and punitive measures which have marked large segments of the republic’s history to speak out. A quick reminder is the simple fact that for decades emergency rule was kept in place even in times of relative political calm. These were interesting times, and they have become even increasingly more interesting. Two decades after the end of the Cold War, Turkey feels somewhat ready to talk about what really happened here and there.
While the opposition -- particularly the Republican People’s Party (CHP), which more than any other has to engage in self-scrutiny of those times of torment because most of it happened while it was in power -- is seeking shelter in what many see as a shameless denial coupled with a threatening offensive, the leader of what some see as the “ultraconservative government,” Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is intensifying his boldness in talking about the shameful past. In his most recent speech we could hear him developing further, again emphasizing the “mothers who have cried” theme, but this time adding the infamous Alevi massacre in Sivas in 1993 and large-scale bloodshed in sectarian violence between Alevis and Sunnis in Çorum and Kahramanmaraş in the late ‘70s.
When he said “in the last 30 years there have been mothers who have cried in all of the 81 provinces,” Erdoğan was not only right, he also paved the way to an enhanced and free debate over the crimes of humanity. One certainly wishes for these words to not only remain words but to turn into action: Erdoğan’s primary and most urgent goal should be to lift articles in the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) and its Internet Law which limit freedom of expression. What Turkey needs from this moment on is a courageous debate in the entire national arena. People must be made aware, fully, that they can speak without fear of arbitrary prosecution.
This is because almost every family has a story to tell. They have been kept locked for far too long. The other day, just to give an example, an assistant of a vet friend of mine, told him, out of the blue, that she had recently discovered her parents were ethnic Armenians. She told him she was still in a sort of shock, but also relieved that some things she suspected had proven to be right. Yet, it would be impossible for anyone with this kind of past to reveal to a stranger his or her true identity.
In this land of enormous complexities, the politics of representation often leave strangers in confusion. What looks like a left or progressive libertarian is not to be found within the left or socialist bloc; instead, it has been latent in the conservative right, a segment associated with devout Muslims and conscience. The latest Kurdish initiative and promising contacts with non-Muslim minorities help the Justice and Development Party (AKP) stand out as the extended arm of traditional European left or liberal flanks. Such a mind-boggling paradox remains part of Turkey’s reality.
Last Friday I was invited by the Journalists and Writers Foundation to meet a large group of German colleagues. The foundation, as is well known, is strongly affiliated with the Gülen movement. Also invited to the meeting were representatives of Armenian and Assyrian churches who, upon the invitation of the foundation’s secretary-general, spoke freely about their problems, suffering and hopes. I turned to my neighbor, an academic and expert on Alevis, at the table and whispered in his ear: “Isn’t it just amazing to see a devout Sunni group help non-Muslims enjoy free speech? Would it not in any other country normally be up to a progressive, reformist party of the center-left to organize such meetings?” He nodded and smiled.
Certainly, there are now real reasons to be optimistic. But people will not feel safe and free unless words are followed by deeds. People here are used to heroic rhetoric but have been disappointed too many times. It is fine for Erdoğan, Bülent Arınç and others to air what they truly feel, and more is expected, but together with real freedom of speech, steps should follow in terms of reforms to secure the well-being of the oppressed and to expose those who were responsible for past crimes.
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