TURKEY: AT THE CROSSROADS OF ISLAMOFASCISM’S RISE IN THE WEST
By Susan MacAllen
Family Security Matters, NJ
May 7 2007
On Sunday April 29, the Associated Press reported that over 300,000
Turks had taken to the streets of Istanbul in a mass protest demanding
resignation of the government. In Ankara, at least 300,000 rallied two
weeks earlier, citing the same complaint: that the Turkish government,
while priding itself on maintaining a secular society, is nevertheless
Islamic-based, and is increasingly fundamentalist. That which Turks
see as the government’s increased cooperation with radical Islamic
elements may be undermining modern Turkey, forcing it back into the
type of medieval life in play in nearby Islamic countries. "They
want to drag Turkey to the Dark Ages!" complained one elderly
protestor. A banner read, "Neither Sharia (Islamic Law) nor coup,
but fully democratic Turkey!" The crowd chanted that the government
was now "closed to imams".
Westerners should watch the conflict in Turkey closely in coming
months – for the situation in this one country reflects the greater
conflict across Europe and Middle East. The ways in which Turkey
resolves or cannot resolve the issue may predict coming conflict with
Islamic communities across the globe for the next several years or
even decades.
Turkey is unique in the world of Islamic nations, and indeed in the
history of the world. It is tied closely to the histories of all
three great monotheistic religions: Christian, Jewish and Muslim. As
Anatolia, it was the cradle of the early Christian church, seeing the
birth of official Christian doctrine at the Council of Nicea in 325
A.D. St Paul crossed Anatolia several times during his missions, and
popular Christian belief is that Mary spent her last days there. The
seven major churches mentioned in the New Testament are all in
modern-day Turkey. The Roman Emperor Constantine established it as
the Christian Byzantine capitol, a position it enjoyed for over 1000
years before falling to Muslims in 1453. Last November, Pope Benedict
XVI caused an international stir when he visited Turkey to advocate
openly for unity of Christians and better treatment within Turkey of
its Christian, Jewish and other religious minorities.
After 1453, the Muslim Ottoman Empire in Turkey tolerated religious
differences. Jewish and Christian communities existed in great numbers,
and were allowed to establish their own community governments, their
religious heads being responsible to the Sultan for the behavior of
the community. However, the Islamic principle of Dhimmi prevented
their full equal treatment with Muslim citizens.
With the coming of Islamic "ethnic-religious nationalism" in the 19th
century, the safety of these minorities was further compromised, and
most fled to newly-established nation-states like Armenia, Bulgaria,
and Greece, leaving modern Turkey 99% Muslim. In the 1920’s women
were granted the right to vote, Islamic dress was banned, and Turkey
began its romance with Western progress.
Since, Turkey has strived to establish a reputation unique amongst
Islamic countries for promoting a secular state. Recently, it has
emphasized its history of secularism when struggling with economic
membership into the European Union. EU member countries argue that
although modern Turkey has indeed been secular in government, religious
minorities are treated badly. Dhimmitude trumps religious freedom in
the Turkish mind: while minority communities are allowed to exist,
they are not helped to exist. Like Dhimmitude did in the Middle Ages,
it establishes laws which make it impossible for a religious minority
to thrive and, in fact, cause it to dwindle and die out over time.
The problems with the modern Turkish government may have begun in the
1970’s, with the seeds of the rise of modern Islamofascism. While
other Islamic countries became increasingly religious in nature
(let’s not forget that Islam is a political as much as religious
system), Turkey fought to remain secular. Today for example, the
wearing of religious garb in public places – even universities – is
prohibited. The government supervises all religious activity, and major
clergy of any religion is considered employed by the government. All
funding for religious activity and property comes from the government,
and is administered by the same. Proselytizing is prohibited by law.
But the modern seeds of radicalization couldn’t be resisted entirely,
even in Turkey. The 1970’s saw, for example, the forced closing
of Christian seminaries. The enigmatic nature of the conflict is
illustrated by the conviction of a radical philosopher Islamist
– Fethullah Gulan – to three years in prison for "pro-Islamic
activities". (Gulan had been granted something called a "State
Preacher’s License" in 1959 – the Islamic loophole for free
proselytizing.)
By 1997 the Turkish military had secured its reputation for being
the enemy of radical Islam, when it helped to end the attempted
establishment of the first real Islamist government and ended two
other attempts since the 1960’s. In 2000 a major scandal occurred
in Turkey, when some audio tapes were released of Gulan’s sermons,
which suggested that he aimed to overthrow the government in favor
of Islamic fundamentalism and to impose Sharia Law. In these tapes,
he spoke directly to supporters within the government, cautioning them
to put on a deceptive face of diplomacy and cooperation while working
to undermine the structure, waiting for the day when the government
would fall to Islamism.
It is helpful for a Westerner to consider the parallels here between
Gulan’s stance and historical and current efforts to overthrow
non-Islamic governments. Gulan was simply following an age-old
formula: use the Islamic doctrine of taqiyya – that is, deliberate
and morally-sanctioned deception in order to advance the cause of
Islam – to undermine a society and overthrow its government. The same
principal is in play when a modern mullah says one politically correct
thing to national media, painting Islam as "the peaceful religion"
and terrorist-funding organizations as "charities", and then goes
into a mosque and preaches hatred and war in Arabic.
This principal is in effect when mullahs buy property, control
banks and social organizations, and insinuate themselves into public
education, undermining a society even as they pretend to be a friend.
When Gulan’s tapes were made public, he fled to the U.S. for
"medical treatment" but in fact did not return to Turkey and was
tried in absentia. A long legal process ended when in 2005 Turkish
law was amended to soften the criminal code against acts of terror:
Gulan was acquitted. Gulan runs a $25 Billion (USD – 1999) project,
which has established over 500 educational institutions in many
countries outside Turkey, including a University in Virginia. He
publishes newspapers and owns radio and TV. He owns banks, employees’
unions and runs student organizations. To believe his schools devoid
of Islamist ideological influence is naive: Gulan’s earliest years as
a "preacher" targeted teens and young people. He is known to have –
while expressing heartbreak over the events of 9-11 – openly denied
the existence of "Islamic terror". (Taqiyya at its finest.) He remains
a thorn in the side of a Turkey trying to find a place in a modern
economy and political forum, and he remains high on their military’s
list of troublemakers. Still, in a world where radical Islamic support
is easy to find, he remains a powerful influence.
Today, Turkey finds itself in increasing conflict, wedged between
the hope of modern economic power with EU membership, and the rise of
fundamentalist factions within its borders. Mullahs are increasingly
visible in the government machinery. The wife of one official
appears at state functions in Islamic headdress, infuriating the
populace. Says one elderly woman at Sunday’s protest, "We don’t want
a covered woman in the presidential palace. . . we want civilized,
modern people there."
Today, Pope Benedict XVI decries the laws in Turkey which forbid
the building of Christian churches, allow confiscation of church
property, forbid the import of non-Muslim clergy or the training of
new clergy. Authorities report youth who attend any Christian meeting,
and those who leave Islam, are persecuted, even violently.
In 1981 it was a young Turk who shot John Paul II in St. Peter’s
Square. This past February, a teen Turk shot a Catholic priest kneeling
in prayer in his church in Turkish Trabzon, killing him.
The radical youth was angry over the publishing in Europe of cartoons
of Mohammed.
Turkey is at a crossroads. The path it chooses will not only map
its own future, but that of the rise of Islamofascism in the West,
the rise of Islamist nations, and the safety, freedom and survival
of Muslims and non-Muslims living in Muslim societies and communities
all over the world. We would be wise to stay tuned.
# #
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Susan MacAllen writes
a political blog, , and has written on an
extensive array of subjects for over 20 years. She has lived overseas
and been intimately involved in the French culture since the Muslim
immigrant population emerged in the south of France. A Certified
Veterinary Technician, she currently resides in the American West.
http://askew.blogharbor.com