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Idolizing Atatürk reheats debate in Turkey
Sunday, November 8, 2009
ŞAFAK TİMUR
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News
A model-Atatürk coming out of a cake at a Republic celebration and a crowd all wearing Atatürk masks that say, 'We are all Atatürk,' raises questions over how much Atatürk is idolized in society.
A model of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the modern Republic, wearing a black suit came out of a giant, fake cake and saluted the crowd at the official celebration ceremony of the Republic’s foundation in Istanbul. The event caused debate over the way the leader is idolized in society.
The Istanbul Gov. Muammer Güler was also at the ceremony and cut a piece from the real cake. In the period after Oct. 29 and around Nov. 10 the nation gets covered in symbols of the nation. Turkish flags hang outside windows, state institutions and schools are decorated with Atatürk pictures, people sing the national anthem while wearing Atatürk masks and of course a model Atatürk jumps out of a fake cake.
“In societies like Turkey that have a heavy ideological climate, politics centers on symbols rather than important issues,” said Koray Çalışkan, a political scientist from Boğaziçi University, who answered the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review’s questions from abroad. “Turkey has essential problems like unemployment, gender issues, women’s participation in politics and the decline of agriculture. We do not address these [issues]. Instead we complain that ‘The nation is being lost,’” Çalışkan said.
According to Çalışkan, the scene of the model-Atatürk coming out of a cake is one particular moment that “forces us to face our own nakedness, ridiculousness, and underdevelopment.”
Others do not believe that Atatürk is excessively idolized, according to Ruhat Mengi, a columnist at the daily Vatan. “Atatürk was a great leader and at the same time is a symbol that gathers the nation together. If you say we should bring him down to Earth, make him ordinary, stop idolizing him and you want to turn him into a regular man on the street, then naturally you will face a reaction from his supporters,” she said.
Mengi said Atatürk coming out of a cake is unusual in the culture of the Turkish Republic. “It is similar to a scene in Hollywood movies when a belly-dancer jumps out of a cake. When something like that is done for Atatürk, people react,” she said.
“That was a mistake,” she said, referring to the Republic celebration in Istanbul. “It should be well-thought through because our society is sensitive. Put up a picture or a bust but do not make him jump out of a cake,” Mengi said.
Veteran columnist Hakkı Devrim wrote a disapproving article about the cake incident. “It was crass or a lack of manners, whatever you call it,” Devrim said. It was not done intentionally, people do it because they do not know what is appropriate, he said. Devrim believes there are exaggerations over the symbols representing Atatürk. “My favorite characteristic of Atatürk was his merciless realism even against himself,” he said.
Historian Ayşe Hür said although the organizers did not consciously try to dishonor Atatürk, their aesthetic taste was what made them organize such an event.
Author-linguist files lawsuit
Sevan Nişanyan, a linguist and columnist for the daily Taraf, claimed he received threatening emails because of his column on Oct. 29, news agencies reported.
In his column, Nişanyan re-writes Atatürk’s Speech to Youth. He starts out by saying, “86 years is enough I think. Our language has been focused on blood-country-enemy and it has enslaved this country for years. It’s time to think new things. The climax of the blood-country-enemy literature was Ataturk's Speech to Youth. If I re-wrote it today, I would say…”
Nişanyan said he received 400 emails the day his article was published, which caused him to apply to Aegean city of Selçuk’s prosecutor office. “As you know Hrant Dink received similar threats and was killed. The same thing could happen to me,” he said. Dink, a prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist, was shot to death in central Istanbul in 2007.
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Sunday, November 8, 2009
ŞAFAK TİMUR
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News
A model-Atatürk coming out of a cake at a Republic celebration and a crowd all wearing Atatürk masks that say, 'We are all Atatürk,' raises questions over how much Atatürk is idolized in society.
A model of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the modern Republic, wearing a black suit came out of a giant, fake cake and saluted the crowd at the official celebration ceremony of the Republic’s foundation in Istanbul. The event caused debate over the way the leader is idolized in society.
The Istanbul Gov. Muammer Güler was also at the ceremony and cut a piece from the real cake. In the period after Oct. 29 and around Nov. 10 the nation gets covered in symbols of the nation. Turkish flags hang outside windows, state institutions and schools are decorated with Atatürk pictures, people sing the national anthem while wearing Atatürk masks and of course a model Atatürk jumps out of a fake cake.
“In societies like Turkey that have a heavy ideological climate, politics centers on symbols rather than important issues,” said Koray Çalışkan, a political scientist from Boğaziçi University, who answered the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review’s questions from abroad. “Turkey has essential problems like unemployment, gender issues, women’s participation in politics and the decline of agriculture. We do not address these [issues]. Instead we complain that ‘The nation is being lost,’” Çalışkan said.
According to Çalışkan, the scene of the model-Atatürk coming out of a cake is one particular moment that “forces us to face our own nakedness, ridiculousness, and underdevelopment.”
Others do not believe that Atatürk is excessively idolized, according to Ruhat Mengi, a columnist at the daily Vatan. “Atatürk was a great leader and at the same time is a symbol that gathers the nation together. If you say we should bring him down to Earth, make him ordinary, stop idolizing him and you want to turn him into a regular man on the street, then naturally you will face a reaction from his supporters,” she said.
Mengi said Atatürk coming out of a cake is unusual in the culture of the Turkish Republic. “It is similar to a scene in Hollywood movies when a belly-dancer jumps out of a cake. When something like that is done for Atatürk, people react,” she said.
“That was a mistake,” she said, referring to the Republic celebration in Istanbul. “It should be well-thought through because our society is sensitive. Put up a picture or a bust but do not make him jump out of a cake,” Mengi said.
Veteran columnist Hakkı Devrim wrote a disapproving article about the cake incident. “It was crass or a lack of manners, whatever you call it,” Devrim said. It was not done intentionally, people do it because they do not know what is appropriate, he said. Devrim believes there are exaggerations over the symbols representing Atatürk. “My favorite characteristic of Atatürk was his merciless realism even against himself,” he said.
Historian Ayşe Hür said although the organizers did not consciously try to dishonor Atatürk, their aesthetic taste was what made them organize such an event.
Author-linguist files lawsuit
Sevan Nişanyan, a linguist and columnist for the daily Taraf, claimed he received threatening emails because of his column on Oct. 29, news agencies reported.
In his column, Nişanyan re-writes Atatürk’s Speech to Youth. He starts out by saying, “86 years is enough I think. Our language has been focused on blood-country-enemy and it has enslaved this country for years. It’s time to think new things. The climax of the blood-country-enemy literature was Ataturk's Speech to Youth. If I re-wrote it today, I would say…”
Nişanyan said he received 400 emails the day his article was published, which caused him to apply to Aegean city of Selçuk’s prosecutor office. “As you know Hrant Dink received similar threats and was killed. The same thing could happen to me,” he said. Dink, a prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist, was shot to death in central Istanbul in 2007.
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