TURKISH COMMENT REFLECTS ON SOME CIRCLES’ MIXED REACTION TO OBAMA
Radikal website
Nov 9 2008
Turkey
[Column by Cengiz Candar: "Debates on Obama…"]
It was inevitable that the election as President, with 60-some million
votes, of a black man with the name of Barack Hussein Obama in a
country like the United States of America, would create excitement,
and would trigger a number of debates. Nothing could be more natural
than the debates and discussions over Obama that are currently taking
place in every corner of the world, Turkey included.
It can be felt that, in Turkey, a very large portion of the people
feel sympathetic towards Obama’s having been elected as President
of the United States of America. In spite of this, there is also a
question of an "Obama uneasiness" among some Turks – to a degree and in
a proportion that could only be expected. The "allergic reaction" felt
among some circles in Turkey to the election of Obama Enhanced Coverage
Linkingelection of Obama can also be encountered to his election in
a similar fashion in some of the poorest and indeed most backward
southern states of the United States of America. [passage omitted]
Since America, in spite of everything, is "the world’s only
superpower," and since with this characteristic it possesses the power
to determine the entire international system, it is inescapable that
the American election results will impact the future of every corner
of the world. Including Turkey.
One of the circles in Turkey in which the "Obama allergy" shows
itself is crippled by incurable anti-Americanism. Because these
people start from the proposition that "America is evil," it makes no
difference to them who is elected as the American President. In fact,
the strength of the election of a black man, since it goes against
their "received wisdom," can make them even more irritable. Because
these people do not know all that much about American history, and
have not bothered to think very much about it, they are unaware of
the role played by the thinking of the European Enlightenment at the
foundations of America. Similarly, they have not given much thought to
the way "religious freedoms" constituted the leaven for America. They
pay no attention to the emergence of the American Constitution, the
correspondence between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, the
"Federalist Papers," the writings of Alexis de Toqueville during the
period when American democracy was being born, or to the importance
of these writings. America is imperialist and evil. It is impossible
for anything good to happen there. And the discussion ends there.
Consequently, it is not very useful to debate things with these people.
There are also Turks who see the election of Barack Hussein Obama as
the 44th US President as a "restoration" effort by American finance
capital, which has been dragged into a financial crisis after America
lost its world hegemony due to the Iraq War, in particular, and who
for this reason look "coolly" upon this latest development.
These people are of the view that Obama essentially indicates the
beginning of the collapse of the "American Empire." In other words,
the "Black President" is a reflection of the crisis into which America
has fallen, and the "opening stage" of the inevitable process of
collapse of the "Empire."
This is certainly one viewpoint. Of a type that deserves discussion.
Additionally, one also has to put those who hold "statist/nationalist"
views, and who have fallen into concern at the fact that Obama could
mention the words "Armenian Genocide," into the category of those
Turks who have an allergy towards the black President.
It cannot be said that the concerns of people like this are entirely
groundless. Obama may well say the words "Armenian Genocide." There
is no guarantee that he will not. But here, perhaps the real thing
that should be discussed may be "whether he ought to or not." Indeed,
a more essential and more serious point of debate may be the issue
of making the Turkish-US relationship hostage to whether or not an
American President utters the words "Armenian Genocide," or freeing
it from this "hostage situation." [passage omitted]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
