New York Times, NY
July 21 2007

Turkish Group Wields Wit as Tool for Political Change

By SABRINA TAVERNISE
Published: July 22, 2007

ISTANBUL, July 21 – In the growing pains of Turkish democracy, the
Young Civilians are part nurse and part comedian.

The group is one of several starting to openly question the hierarchy
in Turkey, which, as the Young Civilians see it, goes something like
this: The secular state elite and the military, which have steered
the state since its beginning, are on the top. Elected officials
deposed every decade or so by military coups are on the bottom.

The Young Civilians want that to change. Wit is their principal
weapon.

When Turkey’s political class was in a battle this spring over who
should become president, the Young Civilians came up with their own
"candidate" – a pastiche of every quality the secular old guard
detests most. Named Aliye Ozturk, she was supposed to be a Kurdish,
Armenian, Allewite woman who wears a head scarf and takes a keen
interest in classical Turkish string instruments. (Ataturk, the
founder of the modern Turkish republic, preferred Western music.)

"I will be a modern, civilized president who communicates with all
segments of the society," Aliye Ozturk says in the nomination
statement the Young Civilians posted on the Internet at
/content/view/62/146. "I will not think
that I am a feudal lord just because I live at the palacelike
residence."

The Young Civilians began as a group of students, and held one of
their earliest protests in 2003, when they took aim at the annual May
19 Youth and Sports Day, which features schoolchildren marching in
sport stadiums around the country. The ceremonies are far too stiff,
too Soviet and, frankly, too dull, they say, and they held a small
press conference proposing to "rescue the festival from the
stadiums."

"It’s a kind of Stalin festival, a dogmatic thing," said Ilhan Dogus,
a rail-thin finance major at Bilgi University whose sense of humor is
behind some recent protests.

It was the small protest in 2003 that brought the Young Civilians
their name and their notoriety. An article in Cumhuriyet, a
pro-establishment daily, cited the students’ protest in an article
titled "Young Officers Are Concerned," said Nezir Akyesilman, a
member. The group responded sarcastically, in a statement posted on
the Internet, saying that "the young civilians" were also concerned.

The Young Civilians are a diverse group, both religious and secular
with a variety of political affiliations, who are drawn together by
their passionate belief in democracy. In a written statement this
month they exhorted the leaders of all the political parties to abide
by the results of Sunday’s parliamentary elections, in which both
independents and nationalists are expected to do well. But aside from
serious work, they also indulge in comic asides. They won admirers by
rewriting Turkey’s much-despised college entrance exam as a democracy
quiz.

"Which of the below would elevate Turkey’s status to a contemporary
civilization?" one question asks.

"(A) Listening to classical music. (B) Waving flags at Republic
rallies. (C) Dancing ballet. (D) Standing against military coups and
warnings. (E) Holding a slogan that reads, ‘Turkey is secular and
will remain so.’ "

Turkish society has undergone sweeping changes in recent decades.

Large-scale migrations from rural areas to the cities starting in the
1980s have led to a rising religious middle class, whose
representatives are now fighting with the state elite for power.

In addition, Turkey has made major changes to some of its crucial
institutions to qualify for European Union membership, removing much
of the military’s influence from government and rewriting criminal
and civil codes, encouraging more openness in society.

"People are trying to rethink their identity," Mr. Dogus said. "The
one the state gave us is being deconstructed."

It is a little like lifting the cover of a long-closed book.

For most of Turkey’s history, there was little room for society to
question the official model of a Turkish citizen – a Muslim with no
ethnic identity or strong political opinion. The education system
reinforced that prototype.

Now history is being rethought in new books. Documentaries are
exploring Turkey’s past military coups. There has even been a
conference that touched on the genocide of Armenians during World War
I, a topic that has been fiercely taboo in Turkish society.

But coming to terms with the past is painful, and some Turks,
bewildered by the changes sweeping the country, are retreating along
the well-worn path of nationalism. While the European Union reforms
have pulled Turkey toward the West, the rejection of Turkey by
Europeans, as well as campaigns by nationalist politicians in Turkey,
threaten to close the country back up.

"Breaking this link with the West, this would be very dangerous for
us," said Nil Mutlver, a Young Civilian.

What is really at issue is trust, argued Mehmet Sobasi, one of the
group’s founding members. For generations, the state elite held
itself above the traditional, rural peasant class of the countryside,
imposing coups occasionally to keep Turkey on track. Now, Mr. Sobasi
contends, Turkey needs to let go of that crutch to become a truly
modern democracy.

"It’s the stage we’ll arrive to first," Mr. Sobasi said, sitting in
an office in central Istanbul. "Without getting there, we can’t
discuss anything."

The state does not want to face the problems that groups like Young
Civilians are bringing up, Ms. Mutlver said.

By the state’s thinking, she said, "we all like Armenian food, so you
see, we all live together quite happily."