‘THE TERRIBLE TURK’ TO BE DRIVEN INTO THE SEA
C. Cem OÐUZ
Turkish Daily News, Turkey
June 13 2007
Do you not think, dear friends, those from Europe in particular,
that your policies on Turkey are increasingly being held hostage by
the irrational stance of some of our beloved neighbors?
A good friend of mine from Australia told me a few months ago he was
troubled that the innocent idea of nationalism he grew up with is far
removed from the existing variety he has come to see here in Turkey
and its neighboring countries.
"In Australia," he said, "it was one of pride when the anthem was
played after another Aussie had won Olympic gold in the pool or us
beating the English yet again at cricket."
He was right. In this part of the world, even simple sporting events
between neighboring countries resemble the bloody and dark battlefields
of the distant past. What matters is merely victory. The reason in
my view is very simple: nationalism of every people in this region
is simply positioned against the "other."
The situation is more complicated particularly among ex-Ottoman
subjects. In the Ottoman case, the two most important traits of the
nation building process of successor states has become a sense of
communal victimization as well as the notion of the "bloody other,"
but particularly "the terrible Turk," who is held responsible for
every single historical disease.
It is precisely for this reason that I have continued to argue for
a while now, dear readers, that the final settlement of the Ottoman
Empire has pretty obviously not been accomplished yet, particularly
among the conflicting nationalisms of the ex-Ottoman subjects.
Neither in the Balkans and the Caucasus, nor in the Middle East and
the eastern Mediterranean … In this part of the world, the ghost of
the Ottoman legacy still haunts reason and common sense. We all are
slaves to history. Those from my generation, for instance, grew up in
this country with the concepts of Enosis, Megali Idea, and Greater or
Lesser Armenia constantly in our minds. Our time will eventually end,
but I regret that my children will unfortunately not have a different
or better destiny, with one big exception. To these concepts a new
one is being increasingly added: "Greater Kurdistan."
Mamma mia, the Greeks are coming!
What prompted this extremely pessimistic judgment to come to mind?
Is it, as some notorious and illustrious experts, both in and outside
Turkey, claim it to be, the Turkish paranoia? No, not at all… I
rather must have been inspired by a recent opinion poll conducted
by the Greek Political Research and Communication Center of 2,000
Greek participants.
For those of you who have missed it let me relate its most striking
parts: Asked if there is still "Greek soil under foreign rule waiting
to be liberated," 38 percent of those surveyed pointed at Istanbul.
While 36 percent indicated the Aegean coasts, 32 percent mentioned the
coastal regions of Turkey along the Black Sea. Almost 60 percent stated
they regard the island of Cyprus merely as Greek soil. What is most
paradoxical, however, is the fact that 31 percent of the interviewees
subsequently maintained that the rivalry between the two countries
basically derives from "Turkey’s hostile stance toward Greece."
Turkey’s hostile stance toward Greece?
My purpose in touching on the results of this survey is really not
an attempt to simply tease my sensible Greek friends and/or readers.
They shouldn’t feel the need to defend themselves and say the poll does
not reflect the Greek people in general. As a matter of principle I
always try to avoid generalizations, keeping in mind what Alexandre
Dumas wisely wrote: "All generalizations are very dangerous, even
this one." If they do, nevertheless, I can present a more concrete
example that will help us better understand what I am asserting.
Just recently, three Turkish banks were sold to Greek companies. At
first, it stirred up discontent among the Turkish public but soon
Turks, by and large, became acclimatized to this reality. It was
part of Turkey’s apt attempts for a proper market economy and global
integration nonetheless. Do you know what happened to a Turkish bank
(the state-owned Ziraat Bankasý) in turn which applied to the Greek
Central Bank for the opening of two branches in Greece, one in Athens
and the other in Komotini (Gumulcine in Turkish)? Let’s just say that
they are still waiting to get permission. They are still walking
for the "El Dorado" they were promised. Eventually, in retaliation
to this highly controversial move by the Greek Central Bank, the
Turkish Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency has not approved
the transfer of the last of these three banks (namely, Anadolu Bank)
to its new Greek owners.
‘The terrible Turk’ again…
In such a milieu, some of our Greek friends insist on the recognition
of Pontic "genocide." But only a few choose to recall that Turks were
not immune to mass deportations, killings or having their property
confiscated by those who claim to have suffered such atrocities. Those
who are interested in the other side of the coin as well may read
of the Turks’ own tragedy in Professor Justin McCarthy’s brilliant
account entitled "Death and Exile: The Ethnic Cleansing of Ottoman
Muslims, 1821-1922."
And do you think that the situation in our other neighboring countries,
in Armenia, for instance, is actually any different? In response
to my analyses on the "Armenian genocide" or Armenian-Turkish
relations, I sometimes receive inspiring remarks from Armenian
readers. Unfortunately, some of them are indeed hopeless cases. They
even have the temerity to ask the Turks, on behalf of myself, to
"get out of their homeland."
With sorrow I witness that a new people is increasingly being
added to this group: our northern Iraqi neighbors, or the Kurds of
"southern Kurdistan," as they choose to call themselves in messages
they are sending me. I cannot believe my eyes when I see the content
and substance of these messages profoundly removed from reality.
And Turkey is believed to have a hostile stance towards Greece…
Be sure, my criticism on that point is really not a tactic to undermine
dissent or defend the prevailing status quo in Turkey that our dear
western friends as well as some of my beloved intellectual compatriots
have been complaining about for quite some time. But please tell me
how is it only the Turks who are accused of being (ultra)nationalist,
fascist, racist, ego-centric, irredentist, tyrannical, reactionary,
or whatever you choose to describe them further? How it is merely they
who are assumed to be persistently resisting reconciliation with the
past? Have I lost to that extent touch with the reality I encounter,
or the society I live in? Or is this profound contradiction simply
politically motivated? Do you not think, dear friends, those from
Europe in particular, that your policies on Turkey are increasingly
being held hostage by some of our beloved neighbors’ irrational
stance? Do you not realize that you are increasingly being caught up
by a kind of Stockholm syndrome, in which the hostage shows signs of
loyalty to the hostage-taker, regardless of the danger in which the
hostage has been placed?
I regret to say it, but the more you insist on your campaign, the more
the Turkish people will become either what you are complaining about,
or what you are zealously and in a self-sacrificing way trying to
"save" them from.
Have you indeed missed ‘the terrible Turk’ to that extent?..
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