Today’s Zaman, Turkey
June 6 2009

`Elite’ Turks unwilling to share power, prosperity with `others’

A recently released survey on the attitudes and opinions of Turkey’s
`elites’ has shown that they deem themselves the `real owners of the
country’ and are unwilling to share their power and prosperity with
other groups.

The survey, titled `Elites and Social Divisions,’ was conducted by two
academics at Ä°stanbul Bilgi University among 40 well-educated
individuals in high-level professional positions. The survey aimed at
understanding the views of such individuals, seen as `elites’ in
Turkey, regarding other people in Turkish society, including
conservatives, minorities and non-Muslims.
Professor Füsun Ã`stel and Associate Professor Birol Caymaz
discussed a wide range of topics with the 40 participants. Among these
topics was the popularity of the ruling Justice and Development Party
(AK Party), the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink,
minority groups in Turkey, steps taken to solve the Kurdish question
and a closure case against the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party
(DTP).

According to the survey, the elites divide society into two camps:
`us’ and `others.’ They see others as threats to their own existence.

The elites see themselves as the carriers and protectors of the
republic and its values. The survey revealed that the participants
considered AK Party deputies `occupiers’ who did not deserve to be
represented in Parliament.

One of the respondents said she abhorred seeing a woman wearing the
headscarf in the Ã?ankaya presidential palace, referring to the
wife of President Abdullah Gül. Almost all of the participants
in the survey said they objected to the election of Gül as
president.

One respondent said she does not like to see so many covered women
around: `I try to act as if there were no women wearing the headscarf
around me. But there are too many.’ Another respondent said she avoids
any contact with covered women. `I don’t have any business with
them. I don’t meet them. I don’t support the idea of allowing covered
students to attend universities. I detest that idea,’ she emphasized.

Many participants supported last year’s closure case against the AK
Party, saying that although they don’t like the closure of political
parties in democracies, they would find closure justifiable for the AK
Party.

A closure case was filed against the AK Party last year on the grounds
that it had become a focal point of anti-secularist acts. The
Constitutional Court, however, refused to shut the party down.

Elites point to economic reasons as cause of Kurdish question

The survey also asked participants for their views on the causes
behind the long-standing Kurdish problem.

Respondents pointed to economic problems as the main factor in the
Kurdish issue. They said they were disturbed by the representation of
the DTP in Parliament. Others said the Kurdish question arose with the
foundation of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in 1984.

`The reason I don’t like Kurds is that they lead a tribal life,’ said
one of the respondents. Another participant said he was afraid of
educated Kurds more than uneducated ones. `I know some Kurds who are
university graduates. I think educated Kurds are more dangerous than
uneducated ones. They become more dangerous based on their capacity
for thinking,’ he explained.

Another individual surveyed said the DTP had become more popular after
it was promoted and supported by the AK Party. `The DTP is an
artificial formation. It is backed by the AK Party. If the AK Party
hadn’t backed them, the DTP would not have existed and there would not
be any gap of authority in northern Iraq,’ he argued.

Another question directed at respondents was how they feel about
non-Muslims and minority groups in the country.

Almost all the respondents said they have non-Muslim friends and
friends who belong to minority groups. `But we prefer not to talk
about the problems of minority groups. We are afraid our relations may
get tense if we do so,’ many of the respondents said.

Those surveyed also said they would not support broader rights for
those groups. `They may have been subjected to injustice in the past,
but the situation is very different now. They are buying and selling
the country. They don’t pay taxes, either,’ one participant said.

06 June 2009, Saturday
TODAY’S ZAMAN WITH WIRES Ä°STANBUL