MALATYA ATTACK IS NOT THE REAL FACE OF TURKEY

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
April 19 2007

Turkey was stunned by the news of an abhorrent act that came from
the southeastern city of Malatya, just as it was in the midst of
developments surrounding the presidential election, with the world
watching Turkey.

The three victims were found with their throats slit — the motive
for which has not yet been revealed — at a publishing house that
prints books for missionary work. Phrases such as "hair-raising"
do not adequately describe such an incident.

The confusion, sorrow and anger we felt in the face of this incident
poured from our mouths. "This is not the real face of Turkey; the
traditions and culture of the Turks do not set the stage for such
brutal acts," we want to say. No matter what the motive behind this
abhorrent act is, the massacre of three people, including a German
citizen, at a publishing house can never be reconciled with the values
of Turkishness, Islam or humanity.

It is essential not to look at this issue independent from the
political debates that Turkey has been undergoing recently. While the
possible presidency of a party leader who has a religious background
has been heatedly debated, suspicions that a religious president could
divert Turkey from its secular path have been pumped into the minds of
both the Turkish public and the world. It seems that certain circles
in question thought committing such an abhorrent act would be the best
way to strengthen and consolidate those suspicions in people’s minds.

Although such suspicions should be laid to rest when the acts of the
AK Party over the four-and-a-half years are taken into consideration,
an environment of apprehension was created both at home and abroad
about whether Turkey is being diverted from secularism. The world
has begun to follow developments in Turkey more closely from this
point of view. This brutal act, which has taken place at a time
when apprehension about secularism has reached its highest level,
must have been designed as the strongest way to strengthen suspicion
about Turkey’s secularism when the identity and activities of the
victims are taken into account.

There is no solid information about the motives of the perpetrators of
this brutal act for the time being, but it is necessary to evaluate
this incident as the last in of a series of incidents aimed at
non-Muslims or non-Muslim men of religion in Turkey. Although the way
this brutal act has been committed is similar to the brutal acts done
by the terrorist organization Hezbollah in the late 1990s, it seems
more likely that the incident in Malatya was motivated by rising
neo-nationalist and xenophobic fears rather than religious circles.

The fact that no trace of religious circles were found behind the
murders of Catholic priest Andrea Santoro, who was killed by a teenager
in Trabzon in February 2006, or in the murder of Turkish-Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink, again by a teenager, in January at least give
some idea about the non-involvement of religious circles in these
incidents. It cannot be a coincidence that evidence gathered from
all three of these incidents point to the neo-nationalist, xenophobic
and protectionist circles.

Despite the widespread view, it is important to note that reactions
to missionary work have always come from circles that have nothing to
do with religiosity instead of groups related to Islam or known as
religious in Turkey. It would be a serious mistake to put the blame
on the shoulders of Muslim groups for the attacks on missionaries
in Turkey.

Apart from a few marginal groups, it is not possible to come across
either feelings of hatred among Muslims against non-Muslims or attacks
targeting them. Nevertheless, we have seen in recent months that ÝP
leader Doðu Perincek or Rahþan Ecevit, an important name from the DSP,
whose connections to religion are a bit controversial, put missionary
work in their sights in an attempt to yield political gains.

The AK Party government has opened up to the outside world in order
to overcome confusion at home and in so doing has consolidated its
place in Turkish politics. It seems that some are now trying to
render this political opening unsuccessful with provocations that
have some connection to the outside world by resorting to the opposite
method. They do not show the slightest hesitation to realize a horrible
act in order to achieve their goals.

Neither Turkey nor the Turkish public, which has internalized the
belief of living together, deserve to be associated with such brutal
acts.

–Boundary_(ID_ywel4bWo2ziHoTwsTi5Fz Q)–