Today’s Zaman, Turkey
March 12 2009

What message should Obama deliver in Turkey?

by Emre Uslu & Önder Aytaç*

When US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that President
Barack Obama would visit Turkey, most Turkish political observers were
caught by surprise.

However, conventional wisdom suggests that the possibility of Obama’s
visit to Turkey was in fact always there. In one of Emre Uslu’s
earlier analyses about the Obama administration’s approach to Turkey,
which appeared in The Jamestown Foundation’s Eurasia Daily Monitor,
the following facts were underlined:

"With Barack Obama, almost everyone, from the prime minister down to
the man in the street, is ready to open a new chapter in Turkish-US
relations. They do, however, have some concerns as well. They want to
know how he will handle the Armenian claims of genocide and whether he
will continue to support Turkish efforts to curb Kurdish separatist
terror activities. Given the fact that Obama’s inaugural messages were
warmly welcomed in a Muslim country like Turkey, where
anti-Americanism was on the rise, it would perhaps be a wise step for
Obama to visit Turkey in his early days in office to reinforce his
positive position toward the Muslim world." (Eurasia Daily Monitor,
Jan. 21)

Since not only Turks but most people in the Muslim world will be
closely watching what Obama says in Turkey, it is critical for Obama
to come to Turkey with a message that grasps the hearts and minds of
the Muslim world. Unlike many political observers who think that vital
American interests in the Muslim world deeply contradict the values of
Muslim societies and that lead to anti-Americanism in this region, I
believe that there is a medium in which Obama could deliver a message
that could address the basic needs of Muslim societies in this part of
the world, while at the same time helping America maintain its vital
interests.

One way to deliver such a message is to draw a parallel between the
foundation of the United States, which is not based on ethnic or
religious exclusionism or any ideology but principles that value human
rights, freedom of religion, freedom of expression and democratic
values, and the foundation of Islam, which advocates human dignity,
does not permit killing, allows women to participate in activities in
society and other things that complement Islam. Drawing a parallel
between the values that lie at the foundation of the US and the
foundation of Islam will easily grasp the hearts and minds of the
majority in the Muslim world.

One of the problems of the Middle East is that tyrants of the region
have long been manipulating their own people to maintain power. More
importantly, ethical principles and the understanding of human dignity
in this part of the world are very closely associated with Islam. In
other words, there is almost no "secular ethic" in this part of the
world. Because the society’s ethical principles are so closely
associated with Islam, any opposition group that emerges in this part
of the world, in one way or another, has to refer to Islamic values
because they are part of the social genes. Thus, the Obama
administration should understand why successful opposition groups use
Islamic references in their stance against the tyrants of the Middle
East.

Second, Obama should realize that democracy in this part of the world
is still vulnerable and that leaders, including military and civilian
leaders, could easily manipulate it. Also, the lack of institutions, a
civil society and interconnectedness with the democratic world slowed
down the process of a flourishing democracy in this region. Thus,
instead of putting too much emphasis on bringing democracy to the
region (the Bush administration made this mistake), Obama should
underline the issue of promoting civil society and institutions that
reinforce the democratic culture as well as the reform process in the
region.

Related to this, the Obama administration should know that one of the
reasons the Bush administration lost the support of Turks in general
and some circles in particular is because such circles in Turkey that
do not want the current government in power used their traditional
ties in the US, which include military and diplomatic connections (a
general went to Washington and stated that there was a possibility of
a military coup in Turkey), to topple the democratically elected
government and received the support of at least the former vice
president.

The Obama administration should be aware of the fact that ideas in
Turkish and Middle Eastern societies are not developed in "public
spheres" and then circulated by the mainstream media; rather, ideas
are developed in "community valleys" (religious networks, liberal
intellectual circles, Alevi communities, neo-nationalist circles and
Kemalist plazas) and circulated by word of mouth and by media
outlets. Whenever one or more ideas come from an alternative
"community valley" and undermines the dominant idea, a "clash of
ideas" occurs. These days, Turkey is witnessing such a trend and the
dominant idea, which was empowered by the powerful state bureaucracy,
was undermined by an alternative idea(s) that was promoted by
religious networks, Alevi communities and liberal intellectual
circles, making Turkey a "zone of confrontation" between the idea of
supporting "democracy" and the idea of supporting a "hypocrisy" that
has long claimed to be supportive of democratic values but, upon
losing power, tried everything to bring the old regime back.

Knowing that such is the fabric of this society, Obama should come
with a message that encourages nothing but democracy in which every
idea should be discussed freely and without fear of powerful security
institutions and the government in power.

All in all, Obama should understand the fabric of this society, where
ideas are developed by "clique" circles that have a great deal of
influence. Targeting those segments of society in his message is very
critical for the US if he wishes to reduce anti-Americanism in
Turkey. Once Obama gains the confidence of those "community valleys,"
or "cliques," deep state-run clandestine public campaigns meant to
increase anti-Americanism and harm the current government in the eyes
of its most critical ally will not work forever. This will not only
normalize US-Turkish relations but also normalize Turkish democracy.

*Emre Uslu is an analyst working with The Jamestown Foundation, a
Washington-based think tank. Önder Aytaç is an associate professor at
Gazi University’s department of communications and works with the
Security Studies Institute in Ankara.

12 March 2009, Thursday