WHAT DOES GERMANY WISH TO SEE IN TURKEY?
Daily Sabah, Turkey
May 23 2014
Markar Esayan 23 May 2014, Friday
The Western mentality is eminent for its alleged objectivity and
its institutions praise themselves for flourishing through the
rationality of the Enlightenment. As Kant says, the Enlightenment
implied the Europeans’ salvation from their immaturity. In other
words, it hinted an individual’s shaping his own school of thought
without needing the guidance of others. In another respect, Karl
Feyerabend remarks that the Enlightenment now falls far behind the
point that Kant praises. In fact, the West’s claims of objectivity,
science and rationality have become rather problematic and they have
turned into a means of enforcement.
Yet still, there is an influential intelligentsia in the West that has
a strong tendency toward self-criticism, and we attribute remarkable
achievements of the West to them. We do not avoid giving the West
its dues on the matters of civil rights, freedom of thought and
independence of media. We leave no room for this categorical approach.
Otherwise, while evaluating the West, we cannot go beyond reiterating
the Western colonialists’ monolithic standpoint on the East. And
this does not lead us to a meaningful conclusion. This is the true
way of thinking for those who are concerned about sharing the world
altogether in an equal and liberal manner.
Actually, Germany is the closest face of the Western world toward
Turkey. It was written in the Ottoman Political Document – adopted
as a doctrine by Reich at the end of the 19th century – that nobody
should object to the Ottoman Empire for any reason. At that time,
Abdulhamid II was massacaring the Armenians and the documents of
these massacre flowed into the German Foreign Ministry. But Germany’s
national interests required it to side with the Ottomans. For them,
the Armenians were nothing but a trivial detail. Furthermore, they
were a community to be eliminated for the sake of Russia’s greed for
seizing control of strategic shipping routes in the Southern seas. In
short, it was Germany that supported the unionists logistically and
ideologically for the “final settlement” about the Armenians in 1915.
In return, in the strictest sense of the word, the Unionist
Ottoman Empire paid its debt to Germany and came to the threshold
of disintegration by being an instrument for the imperialist goals
of Germany.
In brief, the close relationship between Turkey and Germany is tied
with more historical bonds; it is not only based on the issue of
expatriates. Previously, aside from the 1895 and 1915 incidents,
Germany was supporting Turkey’s approach in the political turmoil
of the 1980s and 1990s. So, what happened now to change Germany’s
attitude toward Turkey that Erdogan is seen as an enemy and “Fuhrer,”
despite Turkey’s unprecedented reform process?
Why is Germany so eager to create a mass demonstration against Erdogan
ahead to his visit to Germany on May 25? Why do news outlets such
as the Bild and Der Spiegel insult Erdogan with imputations of “Go
to hell” or “Fuhrer” in a manner contradicting Western objectivity
and imperturbability? Fortunately, we can make a distinction between
critical and operational broadcasting policies.
In this anti-Erdogan psychology, there is an odd exuberance that is
in contrast with Western standards of objectivity. Following German
President Gauck’s prejudiced statements during his recent visit to
Turkey, everybody cracked a joke that Gauck will presumably run as a
candidate from the Republican People’s Party (CHP) in the upcoming
Turkish presidential election. His statements were too far from
objectivity and credibility. It was reproached as a German president
was so ignorant about Turkey. There are two ways of lying: The less
dangerous is to explain a sheer lie. But, what is worse is to only
talk about the realities that only appear on one side of the coin,
while overlooking the other side.
Nobody says the AK Party or Erdogan should not be criticized. Today,
including the pro-government newspapers, everyone in Turkey can
criticize Erdogan cavalierly. Anti-Erdogan groups that constitute 65
percent of the media go beyond criticism and push Erdogan too far with
a discourse that can be regarded as hate speech. Hurriyet is a media
outlet that is well acknowledged by the Germans. It is the flagship
of Dogan Media Group that is a co-partner of the German Axel Springer.
Columnists of this newspaper can overstep the limit and say “I will
spit on Erdogan’s grave.” Following the recent Soma coal mine disaster,
the same newspaper stated that “Coal miners deserved this bitter end
as they voted for the AK Party.” The same mentality had used the word
“mule” to describe those who passed away in Uludere.
I don’t think the German press or politicians are unaware that in
Turkey there is a power struggle between Erdogan, who represents the
people, and the pro-tutelage powers that stand for oligarchy. They
must also be aware that the Gulen Movement has turned its coat and
engaged with those pro-tutelage groups.
Apparently, it is important for the West that Erdogan learns a
hard lesson and he is expulsed from power. To this end, they are
so comfortable to distort the realities and exploit and undermine
democracy, freedoms of expression and thought. This means the West
contradicts and disproves itself through its policy toward Turkey
and Egypt. Indeed, Turkey’s elusion from semi-colony status thanks
to Erdogan’s genuine policies has negative meanings in the eyes of
Germany and other Western countries. What is called real politics
repudiates both objectivity and morality. But what if this way of
thinking falls short of preserving the West’s interests? And what if
the West is consuming its values, for which it dedicated hundreds of
years, to protect their national interests? There are other ways of
preserving them rather than resorting to rotten and inhuman politics.
They have achieved their aim in Egypt for the time being, but this
unscrupulous approach of the West will backfire in a much more
severe way. The Westerners mishandled their apparently democratic
intervention in Ukraine. In Turkey however, Erdogan and the public
continue to withstand them.