8-2007/ayaan_hirsi_ali
Today’s date: May 14, 2007
EU SHOULD STAND BY TURKEY’S LIBERALS
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the former Dutch legislator and woman’s activist,
recently published her memoir, "Infidel." She now lives in the United
States.
By Ayaan Hirsi Ali
NEW YORK – Secular and liberal Turks have had a rude awakening from
years of deep slumber. Kemal Ataturk’s heritage is about to be
destroyed – not by an invading power, but from within by fellow Turks
who yearn for an Islamic state.
Ever since Ataturk, Turkey has been divided into those who want to run
state affairs on Islamic principles and those who want to keep Allah’s
will from the public space.
The proponents of Islam in government such as Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
Abdullah Gul and their Justice and Development Party have been
remarkably successful. They have understood and exploited the fact
that you can use democratic means to erode democracy. With this
insight, they have employed a powerful strategy. Three pillars of that
strategy are worth discussion.
The first is Dawa, a tactic inspired by Islam’s founder,
Muhammad. Dawa simply means to preach Islam as a way of life,
including a way of government, perpetually and with conviction. Every
convert is subsequently obligated to preach Islam to others, which
creates a grassroots movement.
The secularists in Turkey have underestimated this pillar and thus
neglected competing with the Islamists for the hearts and minds of the
electorate. Now they are faced with the shocking reality of polls that
suggest that 70 percent of voters may elect Gul as president if
Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, succeeds in changing the
constitution so that the president can be elected directly. Any
protest from the secularists against this evident popular will sounds
irrational and undemocratic.
The second pillar is the improvement of the economy. No one can deny
that when the secular parties were in power, the Turkish economy was
in tatters. Ever since Erdogan took office, the growth of the economy
has been strong, with inflation down and foreign investment high.
The third pillar is taking control of two types of institutions in a
democracy: those designed to educate the civilians (education and
media) and those designed to keep law and order (police, justice and
the secret service). In other words, the Islamists control the
information that you get and have the power to shut your mouth.
After an initial attempt at Islamic revolution failed in 1997 when the
military engineered a "soft coup" against elected Islamists, Erdogan
and his party understood that gradualism would yield more lasting
power.
They surely realize that Islamizing Turkey entirely is possible only
if they gain control of the army and the Constitutional Court, the two
institutions that have – until today – lived up to Ataturk’s
expectations to preserve Turkey’s secular state.
The current Constitutional Court ruling annulling the nomination of
Abdullah Gul for the presidency after the military warned that it is
the guardian of secularism is only a temporary setback for the
Islamists. Erdogan and Gul have another trick up their sleeve.
If they show the same restraint and patience that has brought them
this far, they may achieve their aim by continuing to court EU
membership. Naive but well-meaning European leaders were manipulated
by the ruling Islamists from the onset into saying that Turkey’s army
should be placed under civil control like all armies in the EU member
states.
Seen from this perspective, Erdogan and his party have earned their
success. Condemning them for getting as far as they have is a petty
display of sour grapes, and certainly not effective in preventing them
from getting total control of all power in Turkey.
In hindsight, Turkey’s secular liberals have only themselves to
blame. They have underestimated the power of Dawa, they failed at
growing the economy under their reign, and they have not realized that
members of the EU have been manipulated.
An important trait of liberalism, however, is the opportunity to learn
by trial and error. The fact that Turkish secular liberals have erred
does not mean they cannot try again to preserve Ataturk’s legacy and
create the opportunity for progress of the Turkish democracy based on
Western values.
Turkish secular liberals must devise a plan to start their own
grassroots movement, one with the message of individual freedom. They
must restore the confidence of the electorate in trusting Turkey’s
economy to them, and they must re-conquer the institutions of
education and information, police and justice.
They must also make EU leaders understand and respect the fact that
the army and the court in Turkey – besides defending the country and
the constitution – are also, and maybe even more importantly, designed
to protect Turkish democracy from Islam.
Bringing back true secularism to Turkey does not mean just any
secularism. It means secularism that protects individual freedoms and
rights, not the ultra-nationalist kind that breeds an environment in
which Hitler’s "Mein Kampf" is a bestseller, the Armenian genocide is
denied and minorities are persecuted. Hrant Dink, the Armenian editor,
was murdered by such a nationalist.
It is this mix of virulent nationalism and predatory Islam in Turkey
that makes the challenge for Turkish secular liberals greater than for
any other liberal movement today.
Other liberal democracies in the West must stand by Turkey’s liberals
in this difficult time. It is only a seeming paradox that support has
to start by recognizing that the Turkish army is not like any
other. The military has the unique task of safeguarding Turkey’s
secular character.
© Global Viewpoint
DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC. (5/8/07)