There is a trend occurring in Turkey today, a trend toward increasing religiosity, towards fundamentalist Islam. The current ruling party is the Islamist party. More and more young women are covering themselves. Religious fervor seems to be making a comeback. But is that what it truly is? Many people view this shift toward a more religiously conservative Turkey to be a shift back to the past, to the way things used to be, but this is just not so. It is true that “as a result of geography and because of their Ottoman past,” Turkey has always has a strong Islamic population (Kinzer 24), however Turkey has forever been a secular nation. Even under the Ottoman Empire, though it was vastly Muslim, there was a large amount of religious freedom. Then with the establishment of the Turkish Republic by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, religion was further separated from the state and any ties to Islam were forced into the private sector. Those living during the twentieth century in Turkey knew it only as a secular nation. Older generations reminisce of the times when women lay on the banks of the Bosphorus in their bikinis, instead of in scarves, pants, and overcoats as many do today. In fact, a new law has just been passed banning any advertisements with bikini-clad women within the city. Clearly a change has taken place…
So what has caused this dramatic emergence of fundamentalist Islam if it is not a return to the past? I believe it is actually a result of another departure from previous ways, a departure from obedience. Although most people learn are taught to obey from a young age, to obey their parents, their teachers, the authorities, Turks have always taken the concept of obedience to a higher level. For example, “generations of Turks grew up learning that there is no virtue more perfect than obedience. They never questioned either their leaders’ wisdom or legitimacy,” neither during the Ottoman Empire nor during the establishment of the Turkish Republic (Kinzer 225). The government called for submissive citizens and that is exactly what they were, blindly following first the sultans and than Ataturk. However, with the growing push toward democracy, Turks are realizing that obedience is not the only way and are beginning to speak out. The young population of the nation (two-thirds of which are under the age of 35) are no longer willing to “obey the way they used to” (Kinzer 226). One of these ways in which they are not returning to, but revolting against the past is by asserting their rights to religious freedom. While in the United States we consider this a fundamental right, the Turkish government considers these calls for religious freedom to be “subversive attacks on the secular order” (Kinzer 12). And, in order to deal with this issue, the government has turned to the repression of these ideas, in turn leading only to stronger opposition, creating a vicious cycle. The more and more the government tries to make the people obey, they more the people refuse to do so, driving more and more people to become not just religious, but increasingly conservative and fundamental in their beliefs and practices.
Nevertheless, it must be realized that it is only a portion of the population that is turning so dramatically toward religion. Instead, most Turks want three things, “a society that is free, democratic, and secular” (Kinzer 16). Yet, it is these first two goals that is challenging the third; increasing freedom and democracy has led to an increasing threat toward secularism in Turkey. A tension between the Islamists and the secularists is rising, especially with the growing power of the Islamist party. Turkey is going to have to find a way, other than its past method of relying on obedience of its citizens, to handle this issue if it wants to continue its climb up to world ladder. The conflict between Islam and democracy is one that no country so far has been able to figure out, but Turkey is a nation full of young, educated, and motivated people, it is a state striving to establish its place in the modern world, and “if any country is going to prove that Islam can coexist with modernity and democracy, it will almost certainly be Turkey” (Kinzer 24).
So what has caused this dramatic emergence of fundamentalist Islam if it is not a return to the past? I believe it is actually a result of another departure from previous ways, a departure from obedience. Although most people learn are taught to obey from a young age, to obey their parents, their teachers, the authorities, Turks have always taken the concept of obedience to a higher level. For example, “generations of Turks grew up learning that there is no virtue more perfect than obedience. They never questioned either their leaders’ wisdom or legitimacy,” neither during the Ottoman Empire nor during the establishment of the Turkish Republic (Kinzer 225). The government called for submissive citizens and that is exactly what they were, blindly following first the sultans and than Ataturk. However, with the growing push toward democracy, Turks are realizing that obedience is not the only way and are beginning to speak out. The young population of the nation (two-thirds of which are under the age of 35) are no longer willing to “obey the way they used to” (Kinzer 226). One of these ways in which they are not returning to, but revolting against the past is by asserting their rights to religious freedom. While in the United States we consider this a fundamental right, the Turkish government considers these calls for religious freedom to be “subversive attacks on the secular order” (Kinzer 12). And, in order to deal with this issue, the government has turned to the repression of these ideas, in turn leading only to stronger opposition, creating a vicious cycle. The more and more the government tries to make the people obey, they more the people refuse to do so, driving more and more people to become not just religious, but increasingly conservative and fundamental in their beliefs and practices.
Nevertheless, it must be realized that it is only a portion of the population that is turning so dramatically toward religion. Instead, most Turks want three things, “a society that is free, democratic, and secular” (Kinzer 16). Yet, it is these first two goals that is challenging the third; increasing freedom and democracy has led to an increasing threat toward secularism in Turkey. A tension between the Islamists and the secularists is rising, especially with the growing power of the Islamist party. Turkey is going to have to find a way, other than its past method of relying on obedience of its citizens, to handle this issue if it wants to continue its climb up to world ladder. The conflict between Islam and democracy is one that no country so far has been able to figure out, but Turkey is a nation full of young, educated, and motivated people, it is a state striving to establish its place in the modern world, and “if any country is going to prove that Islam can coexist with modernity and democracy, it will almost certainly be Turkey” (Kinzer 24).
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