Ne Mutlu Türk’üm Diyene!
BARTHOLOMEW WON THE PUBLIC

Hurriyet
Dec 23 2009
Turkey

We are arguing about Patriarch Bartholomew’s latest statement. To
tell the truth, it couldn’t have been more effective or outstanding.

The patriarch put his mark on a gorgeous PR success story. Talking
to the prime minister several times or obtaining promises from the
minister of education would not have been this effective.

I read all the papers since the statement was made. I watched TV
programs and the news and examined the statements. The result is
very clear:

– The patriarch knew how to draw the public’s attention. He put the
reopening of the Halki Seminary on top of the agenda.

– The patriarch has received support from the public that was
not anticipated to such an extent. Even those judges who view the
Patriarchate as the devil’s empire in a traditional sense have shown
sympathy and accepted that the state has exhibited a wrong attitude
in the Halki Seminary issue.

– Politicians who oppose the patriarch were forced to keep their voices
down. Besides, none were convincing. Foreign Minister Davutoglu,
with his first reaction statement, has not been accepted either. So
much so that even the prime minister was quite easygoing.

He did not exaggerate the incident and remained behind Davutoglu.

Now it is the Ministry of Education and Cubukcu’s turn

So what will happen next?

Will the same old story remain?

Will there be any steps taken toward the reopening of the Halki
Seminary?

Now it is Cubukcu’s turn. Let’s see if she will step in immediately.

By the way, one more note…

I can’t help but be happy about ongoing arguments. The best one
was the statement made by Mihail Vasiliadis, the editor in chief
of Apogevmatini, a daily primarily targeting the Greek community in
Turkey, on CNNTurk’s program “Tarafsız Bölge,” hosted by Ahmet Hakan.

I’m not sure a Greek citizen of Turkish origin would have been able to
protect his rights on any of the Greek TV channels. My congratulations
to Vasiliadis. He proved to be a genuine Turkish citizen.

Isn’t there any presentable man left in this nation?

I can’t believe what I’ve been reading and hearing.

I get the creeps whenever I take a look at what we’ve been experiencing
for the past few years. It seems we’ve been living in an empire of
fear and have not taken notice of it.

The present scenery we are facing is scary.

It seems we’ve been living in an underworld full of people preparing
coups and conspiracies, a world of political mobs and vulgar gangs.

Some may be true and some may be exaggerated accusations, but
investigations and operations done in succession reveal a completely
different Turkey and the presence of hundreds of hidden cells and
thousands of armed people running around.

Please take a look at the latest situation:

– Even if we set aside published allegations within the frame of
the Ergenekon case due to lack of evidence, those based on concrete
evidence suffice. To tell the truth, people have organized themselves
for a coup.

– Armed organizations have established associations that are
anti-Armenian, anti-Christian and anti-Greek. That’s how Hrant Dink
was murdered. Priest Santoro and others were slain because they did
missionary work. And all this happened in front of the eyes of the
gendarmerie or police, who just watched.

– Gangs have formed with the slogan “Our country is indivisible”
and are going on manhunts in order to shoot Kurds.

– Then there are also security forces that have participated in similar
events or illegal deeds. Almost every day we encounter operations or
gangs in which chiefs of security forces are involved, such as the
scandal over the skin of the slaughtered animals after the Feast of
the Sacrifice.

– And let’s not forget to add to all that the PKK with its
sub-organizations, those taking up weapons in the name of Shariah,
the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

What is this, how will we fix it?

Sometimes when we read the paper or watch news on TV, we perceive
Turkey as a country in which armed people run around killing each
other or try to rob places.

Maybe we encounter similar events in other countries. But they have
not escalated this much.

Will we be able to fix it?

Looking back at the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, I tell myself, “This will
also pass.” But still I feel very uncomfortable.