Occupy Gezi … Occupy Turkey

Occupy Gezi … Occupy Turkey

What started last week as an effort to save Gezi Park in Istanbul from being razed to reconstruct a 19th century Ottoman Barracks, to house yet another shopping complex has grown into much more. It was the tipping point that has released years of pent up frustration and anger at the authoritarian leadership style of the Prime Minister, Tayyip Erdogan.

What started last week as an effort to save Gezi Park in Istanbul from being razed to reconstruct a 19th century Ottoman Barracks, to house yet another shopping complex has grown into much more. It was the tipping point that has released years of pent up frustration and anger at the authoritarian leadership style of the Prime Minister, Tayyip Erdogan.

Tayyip Erdogan is from an Islamist background. He had been mayor of Istanbul and was incarcerated for 4 months for reciting an Islamic poem that contained the words: “The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers.” He was prosecuted for claiming his right to free expression, his words being viewed as a threat to the state.

The reforms of Ataturk laid the foundation of the Republic of Turkey as a secular democracy, with the military entrusted as custodian. When things got out of line, the military would step in and “set things right”. Islam was kept in check to be sure that the influence it had in the days of the Ottoman Empire did not return. But as the heartland of the country, people who were more traditional and connected to their religious upbringing, became better educated and more affluent, it was inevitable that a new balance in the political life of Turkey was needed.

After his ban from politics was lifted, Erdogan struck out on his own and helped to form the Justice and Development Party (AKP in Turkish). He managed to put together a fairly wide base of political support, bringing a decade of political stability and economic growth. In the process the military has lost its job as custodian of Ataturk’s principles and has left the country with no other strength than the power of democracy.

It has taken awhile for an effective opposition to the AKP party to develop. Nationalism tried to become the rallying point for the opposition, but the heart and the minds of the people of Turkey were more inclusive and better educated. I have seen as an educator in Turkey since 1980, new generations of Turkish youth who will question authority and want the right to develop their own opinions. For a democracy to work, this ingredient in its people is essential. People wanted the freedom to express their thoughts without fearing the retaliation of some authoritarian entity. I remember the months following the 1980 coup when there was great fear to express any idea that went contrary to the military and its efforts to sacrifice the individual to save the whole. That was the role of nationalism, staunch secularism and the definition of “Turkishness”.

But something began to radically change in Turkey with the 2007 assassination of a prominent Turkish Armenian journalist, Hrant Dink. As a million people took to the streets for his funeral, young and old, rich and poor, Turk, Jew, Kurd, Armenian,  they proudly displayed signs “We are all Hrant Dink. We are all Armenian.” Nationalism was shaken because the people wanted more for their country. They wanted to become individuals who could be more inclusive of their diversity and to think for themselves. They wanted to be trusted to formulate their own opinions.

Erdogan had used this sentiment to dismantle the military and to bring reforms. But the problem is now that he has evolved into the authoritarian entity he had sought to eliminate. As his confidence and power have grown, his agenda of imposing a certain type of Islamic imprint on every aspect of the country has been accelerating. The issue over women’s right to wear the headscarf in schools and national offices was put forward as personal freedom of religious expression. But the right to free speech and personal opinion must then extend to the entire population as long as it does not jeopardize the “common good”.  But interpreting what is for the “common good” has brought Turkey to the forefront of countries incarcerating its journalists. Prosecution of individuals for expressing their thoughts is all too common.

So who can be surprised with what has happened over the last days? The long overdue development of a strong, vocal and outraged opposition has erupted.  It has been simmering for years. I have been surprised it has taken this long when I know so many people who have been critical of what was happening in Turkey. It is easy to be critical but difficult to be constructive to enable change.  Yet I need to remind myself that Turkey is a young democracy, founded in 1923. It is a country with a strong authoritarian past, based more on the concept of community rather than the individual. To tell you the truth, the caring for the community over the assertion of the individual out to benefit only his or herself has endured me to this country. I would hope for a caring community with the freedom of self-expression.

The young generations of Turkey have been taught to formulate their own opinions and to think for themselves. It took a small park in the middle of Istanbul to bring people together, people who have had enough. These people are not in search of a new authoritarian entity that tells them what to think. They are not the “extremists running wild” as Erdogan described the protestors yesterday. These are people who want to be a part of the dialogue and are claiming their freedom of expression as should be the case in any truly functioning democracy.  After all Erdogan has claimed to want the same thing for those looking for freedom of religious expression. Where things go from here is uncertain, but I am proud to see so many of our schools’ graduates active and engaged!

Selam / Shalom / Peace

Alison Stendahl serves with the Near East Mission, Istanbul, Turkey.  She is Academic Dean of and a math teacher at Uskudar American Academy in Istanbul Turkey.