MAMMA LI TURCHI!
Hurriyet Daily News
Nov 19 2009
Turkey
Every fresh piece of scientific evidence in the shape of "Turkey by
the numbers" verifies what anyone with an IQ higher than my cat’s
should empirically know: You can push for better laws for European
Union accession, but the social engineering in favor of conservatism
is swiftly making the Turks unqualified for the club they wish to join.
We already knew that two-thirds of Turks believed EU membership would
never happen; and only one-third thought they shared common values
with the West. We knew that 50 to 70 percent of Turks refused to have
Christian, Jewish, American or atheist neighbors, depending on the
chosen "other." We also knew that 78 percent of younger Turks wished
to live abroad (and we know that in this phrase "abroad" does not
mean Saudi Arabia, Iran or Pakistan).
More recently, we learned that 54 percent of Turks either tolerated
torture or thought torture must be absolutely legal. And most
recently we have learned from research by two professors from Sabancı
University, under the framework of the International Social Survey
Program, that:
1. There has been a significant increase since 1999 in the number of
people who identify themselves as religious.
2. Of the 43 countries surveyed, Turkey, Poland, the Philippines and
the United States are among the most religious.
3. Although 89 percent of Turks say they tolerate non-Muslim faiths,
only 13 percent had positive views of Christians, 10 percent for Jews
and 7 percent for non-believers.
4. Almost half of them say they would either absolutely or most likely
not accept political candidates from different religions.
5. Only 13 percent say they would respect laws contradicting religious
(Muslim) teachings.
It’s a pity the pollsters did not ask the Turks about anti-Semitism.
The results would have read something like this: Survey X found that
only 2 percent of Turks have anti-Semitic sentiment, although it
revealed that 92 percent of Turks say they hate Jews. We don’t hate
Jews unless they are Jews!
But is self-contradiction not a traditional Turkish pastime? Did Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan not say that he viewed Middle Eastern
disputes with a Muslim’s approach? Did he not say that he viewed the
plight of Palestinians as a prime minister and as a Muslim? And has
he not often accused the EU of being a "Christian club"? It’s up to
you to see the merit in the Turkish proverb "Balık baÅ~_tan kokar"
(the fish smells from the head).
Can we really blame the Europeans who would not like to sit in the
same club with 35-50 million Turks who would refuse to have Christian,
Jewish and atheist neighbors? With 35 million Turks who would not
accept political candidates from non-Muslim religions? Or with 38
million Turks who think torture is fine? Or with 60 million Turks who
say they would not respect laws if they contracted Islamic teachings?
Or with 46 million Turks who think they don’t share common values with
the West? Or with 60 million Turks who don’t have positive views of
Christians or 63 million Turks with a negative opinion of Jews? Is
this really what Europe is about?
We all wholeheartedly support the EU’s cliché prescriptions like
democratic control of the military, curbing the military’s role
in politics, better cultural and political rights for the Kurds,
better religious rights for non-Muslim minorities and good neighborly
relations with Armenia. But Turkey looks like an unpredictable student
trying to memorize textbook sections to please his teachers and get
passing marks in final exams but at the same time metamorphosing into
a bully who terrorizes most its classmates. And he gets generous pats
on the shoulders because he really tries hard to memorize textbook
sections.
Saudi Arabia is not a democracy merely because its military has no
role in politics, nor is either of Egypt or Jordan a democracy because
they treat their non-Muslim minorities well. And Iran certainly would
not qualify to join the EU because it has good relations with most
of its neighbors.
No doubt, meeting the cliché requirements is fine; that is being —
hopefully — done. But the heart of the matter is missed: the social
engineering that makes the Turks increasingly conservative both
ethnically and religiously.
You can always pass new laws for the better. You can amend laws for
the better too. But you cannot easily "make or amend" nations so that
they fit well into established civilizations.