Asia Times, Italy
May 7 2008
Tequila and Turkish nationalism
By Fazile Zahir
FETHIYE, Turkey – All over Turkey, on April 23, proud parents gazed
adoringly as their children leapt, sang and danced in celebration of
National Sovereignty Day and National Children’s Day. The public
holiday for the whole country was established by the country’s
founding father, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, as a reminder to boys and
girls that they are the future of the new republic.
It was a remarkable gesture by a man who had no children himself but
adopted eight and reflected the love and deep esteem he had for
children. Most kids are hugely grateful because not only do they get a
day off school but adults must to be nice to them and presents are par
for the course.
In most towns, the city council and schools organize a day of
festivities. It is usual that older children are corralled into a
rudimentary marching band and blow and bang their way along main
boulevards with ample enthusiasm if not musical talent. The nursery
classes get to wear fancy dress and all age groups wave flags, perform
folk dances and join in athletic displays at local sports
stadiums. Children are also chosen to replace the state’s highest
political personages for the day and even the president and prime
minister literally give up their seats to a younger charge.
Parliament is convened with child "MPs" and they hold a special
session to discuss children’s issues. The child premier and president
are then mandated to sign off on executive orders on what are mainly
educational and environmental policies.
For most parents it is an annual opportunity to revel in the
accomplishments of their child’s school and in the adorable behavior
of the little ones. For others, however, the day is much more
disquieting.
The date itself is telling: April 23, 1920, was the day that the Grand
National Assembly met in Ankara as Ataturk’s forces were still
fighting the Allied invasion in their efforts to establish an
independent country. The date marked the establishment (at least in
the minds of the Turkish forces) of the independence and sovereignty
of their state. To simultaneously dedicate this momentous day to the
nation’s youth was how Ataturk chose to hand down his mandate that
their future role was the continued protection of this sovereignty.
"The most important thing is to teach our children and youths to
maintain Turkish liberty and their own will and struggle with the
enemies who attack our national traditions," Ataturk said in
1922. Every year this message is hammered home in an unsubtle
manner. For any parent, perhaps Armenian or Kurdish, with doubts about
the manner in which the nation was forged, the validity of its current
boundaries and even of the jingoistic effect on their children’s
ethnically Turkish classmates, the florid celebration of Turkish
nationalism may be unwelcome.
The army marks the day by reminding citizens that it is Children’s Day
and National Sovereignty Day. This year they produced three posters,
the first shows Ataturk on the background of a Turkish flag with the
slogan "The common ground of both independence and equality is the
sovereignty of the state" (their emphasis) and has a small child
inserted almost as an afterthought into the bottom right corner of the
poster.
The second is less patriotic and has a picture of children and the
globe and simply wishes all children everywhere a happy holiday. But
the third returns to the theme of Ataturk’s legacy and features a
picture of the great man in parliament with some children hugging each
other with the strapline "Happy Sovereignty and Children’s Day to
Turkey’s modern and enlightened children".
One can only assume that the choice of the words "modern and
enlightened" is not intended to encompass those young daughters of the
nation who choose to cover their heads.
The indoctrination of nationalism is not just limited to Children’s
Day. Every Turkish school child must every day repeat an oath of
fealty to the Turkish state, normally en masse in a playground before
a statue of Ataturk. Ziya Selcuk, university professor and former head
of the government’s Training and Education Board says, "In newly
founded nation states like ours education is an effective political
lever to train and transform people … but in recent decades this
concept, which needs to be loosened, continues."
Batuhan Aydagul, deputy coordinator of the Education Reform Initiative
elaborates, "There’s still some emphasis on militarism, the importance
of being martyred, the importance of going to war, dying in war and so
on." It is a common concern amongst pro-reform teachers that children
are not encouraged to give opinions opposed to established ideas and
the idea of criticizing Ataturk risks attracting the attention of
public prosecutors.
In its latest progress report, the European Union also criticized
education materials, citing the negative portrayal of minorities such
as Armenians, and said further work was needed to remove
discriminatory language from textbooks. Turkey is still involved in a
long process to join the EU.
But there are innocent motives as well in Children’s Day and for the
past 25 years Turkey has been working hard to globalize the
event. Large numbers of foreign children are sent to participate in
the celebrations. They stay with host families, giving each side the
chance to learn about other cultures, and the visitors join in the
special kids parliamentary session giving it a unique international
flavor.
Two of this year’s international participants raised eyebrows in their
formal meeting with the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The child
from Palestine, Riyad Jabarin, was the first. He invited the whole
Turkish parliament to come to Mecca and pray for peace for Palestinian
children and the press was quick to note that Erdogan chatted to him
in Arabic. The other was the Mexican participant who presented
Turkey’s teetotaller premier with a big bottle of tequila.
The United Nations Children’s Fund, moved by the example of global
brotherhood, has also designated April 23 as International Children’s
Day. In Turkey, neither celebration, Sovereignty or Children’s Day, is
likely to be ignored or dropped any time soon, but perhaps future
generations can look forward to a time when they are not so tightly
intertwined.
Fazile Zahir is of Turkish descent, born and brought up in London. She
moved to live in Turkey in 2005 and has been writing full time since
then.
(Copyright 2008 Fazile Zahir.)
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