BURAK BEKDIL
Mamma li Turchi!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
BURAK BEKDIL
Every fresh piece of scientific evidence in the shape of “Turkey by the numbers” verifies what anyone with an IQ higher than my cat’s should empirically know: You can push for better laws for European Union accession, but the social engineering in favor of conservatism is swiftly making the Turks unqualified for the club they wish to join.
We already knew that two-thirds of Turks believed EU membership would never happen; and only one-third thought they shared common values with the West. We knew that 50 to 70 percent of Turks refused to have Christian, j_e_w_ish, American or atheist neighbors, depending on the chosen “other.” We also knew that 78 percent of younger Turks wished to live abroad (and we know that in this phrase “abroad” does not mean Saudi Arabia, Iran or Pakistan).
More recently, we learned that 54 percent of Turks either tolerated torture or thought torture must be absolutely legal. And most recently we have learned from research by two professors from Sabancı University, under the framework of the International Social Survey Program, that:
1. There has been a significant increase since 1999 in the number of people who identify themselves as religious.
2. Of the 43 countries surveyed, Turkey, Poland, the Philippines and the United States are among the most religious.
3. Although 89 percent of Turks say they tolerate non-Muslim faiths, only 13 percent had positive views of Christians, 10 percent for j_e_w_s and 7 percent for non-believers.
4. Almost half of them say they would either absolutely or most likely not accept political candidates from different religions.
5. Only 13 percent say they would respect laws contradicting religious (Muslim) teachings.
It’s a pity the pollsters did not ask the Turks about anti-Semitism. The results would have read something like this: Survey X found that only 2 percent of Turks have anti-Semitic sentiment, although it revealed that 92 percent of Turks say they hate j_e_w_s. We don’t hate j_e_w_s unless they are j_e_w_s!
But is self-contradiction not a traditional Turkish pastime? Did Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan not say that he viewed Middle Eastern disputes with a Muslim’s approach? Did he not say that he viewed the plight of Palestinians as a prime minister and as a Muslim? And has he not often accused the EU of being a “Christian club”? It’s up to you to see the merit in the Turkish proverb “Balık baştan kokar” (the fish smells from the head).
Can we really blame the Europeans who would not like to sit in the same club with 35-50 million Turks who would refuse to have Christian, j_e_w_ish and atheist neighbors? With 35 million Turks who would not accept political candidates from non-Muslim religions? Or with 38 million Turks who think torture is fine? Or with 60 million Turks who say they would not respect laws if they contracted Islamic teachings? Or with 46 million Turks who think they don’t share common values with the West? Or with 60 million Turks who don’t have positive views of Christians or 63 million Turks with a negative opinion of j_e_w_s? Is this really what Europe is about?
We all wholeheartedly support the EU’s cliché prescriptions like democratic control of the military, curbing the military’s role in politics, better cultural and political rights for the Kurds, better religious rights for non-Muslim minorities and good neighborly relations with Armenia. But Turkey looks like an unpredictable student trying to memorize textbook sections to please his teachers and get passing marks in final exams but at the same time metamorphosing into a bully who terrorizes most its classmates. And he gets generous pats on the shoulders because he really tries hard to memorize textbook sections.
Saudi Arabia is not a democracy merely because its military has no role in politics, nor is either of Egypt or Jordan a democracy because they treat their non-Muslim minorities well. And Iran certainly would not qualify to join the EU because it has good relations with most of its neighbors.
No doubt, meeting the cliché requirements is fine; that is being — hopefully — done. But the heart of the matter is missed: the social engineering that makes the Turks increasingly conservative both ethnically and religiously.
You can always pass new laws for the better. You can amend laws for the better too. But you cannot easily “make or amend” nations so that they fit well into established civilizations.
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