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Today's Zaman, Turkey
March 1 2013
Educated Ignorance
by Etyen Mahcupyan
If I had attempted to assess the political orientation of the German
government or the way it administers the country based purely on the
reports issued by some international organizations and the news
stories that appear on some papers, how would people react to me?
Possibly people would find my assessments superficial and immature
because I tend to turn a blind eye to the complexity of the politics
created by a society that has its unique history, social texture,
cultural codes and psychological perceptions. Talking about another
country or society will obviously produce only superficial
information. Even a German who has lived away from Germany for many
years does not have a better position to make sense of today's
Germany. We can add profundity to our analysis about a country only if
we live inside the social, political and cultural veins of that
country and having the intellectual endowment and intuition for an
insider analysis of what we observe closely. I would be in a
ridiculous position if I act and make a pedantic analysis as if I
understand, say, Germany.
Westerner observers and some people who showed close interest in
Turkey several years ago feel competent enough to talk about today's
Turkey. Behind their confidence can be found what we can call
"psychological Orientalism." That is, "we the Westerners" can talk
freely about the rest of world and our assessments will naturally be
correct. This confidence is enough for some people who parrot certain
cliches and figures to assume themselves as "knowledgeable." Yet their
knowledge has nothing to do with "making sense" of what really happens
in the society concerned. They merely reate popular ignorance about
any society .
With the Justice and Development Party's (AKP) coming to power,
educated ignorance in Turkey has come to the fore. Virtually once a
week, the Western media networks mark an assessment by a Turkey expert
who is reputable in his/her own country, but who is really very
amateurish as s/he repeats the same stereotypes about Turkey. They
have several common arguments. The most popular is that the AKP has
become more authoritarian and political freedoms and democratic rights
in Turkey have regressed. Second, they suggest that there are
significant pressures on the press freedom in Turkey and many
journalists are in jail. Third, they argue that the trials about
Ergenekon - a clandestine organization nested within the state trying
to overthrow or manipulate the democratically elected government - and
the Balyoz (Sledgehammer) coup plan are actually witch-hunts, and
these trials lack any basis. Interesting, all analyses parrot the same
sentences and refer to the same "evidence."
However, none of these analysts seems inclined to make mention of the
fact that it has been established that there were attempts to
overthrow the democratically elected government until 2009 and that
revolutionary steps have been taken to solve the Kurdish issue and AKP
supporters have started to promote the rights of non-Muslim
minorities, and unprecedented initiatives have been introduced in the
field of the freedom of expression including the Armenian genocide.
Moreover, no analyst acknowledges that the source of the resistance
against the ruling AKP is the highly politicized judicial bureaucracy.
They don't inquire why all of the journalists who were jailed for
their journalistic activities are Kurdish. The most ridiculous
argument from this educated ignorance is certainly that Ergenekon and
Balyoz are sham trials designed to intimidate the AKP's rivals.
Perhaps they don't know that the prime minister initially opposed the
arrest of former Chief of General Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug and he
reiterates at every opportunity that the trials are lengthy and cause
some people to be victimized. Which is not very surprising, as these
educated but ignorant experts tend to rely mainly on "objective"
commentators such as Dani Rodrik and Gareth Jenkins and the people in
Turkey who categorically oppose the AKP.
This approach has three harmful ef fects. First, it openly misguides
the Western world. Second, it closes Turkey's ears to the West as even
ordinary citizens in Turkey can detect the ignorance of these Western
experts and perceive their assessment as "ill intention." Third, the
West's potentially positive effect on Turkey is waning.
One is urged to ask: Is this a manifestation of simple convenience and
ignorance or is this a known "phobia"?
March 1 2013
Educated Ignorance
by Etyen Mahcupyan
If I had attempted to assess the political orientation of the German
government or the way it administers the country based purely on the
reports issued by some international organizations and the news
stories that appear on some papers, how would people react to me?
Possibly people would find my assessments superficial and immature
because I tend to turn a blind eye to the complexity of the politics
created by a society that has its unique history, social texture,
cultural codes and psychological perceptions. Talking about another
country or society will obviously produce only superficial
information. Even a German who has lived away from Germany for many
years does not have a better position to make sense of today's
Germany. We can add profundity to our analysis about a country only if
we live inside the social, political and cultural veins of that
country and having the intellectual endowment and intuition for an
insider analysis of what we observe closely. I would be in a
ridiculous position if I act and make a pedantic analysis as if I
understand, say, Germany.
Westerner observers and some people who showed close interest in
Turkey several years ago feel competent enough to talk about today's
Turkey. Behind their confidence can be found what we can call
"psychological Orientalism." That is, "we the Westerners" can talk
freely about the rest of world and our assessments will naturally be
correct. This confidence is enough for some people who parrot certain
cliches and figures to assume themselves as "knowledgeable." Yet their
knowledge has nothing to do with "making sense" of what really happens
in the society concerned. They merely reate popular ignorance about
any society .
With the Justice and Development Party's (AKP) coming to power,
educated ignorance in Turkey has come to the fore. Virtually once a
week, the Western media networks mark an assessment by a Turkey expert
who is reputable in his/her own country, but who is really very
amateurish as s/he repeats the same stereotypes about Turkey. They
have several common arguments. The most popular is that the AKP has
become more authoritarian and political freedoms and democratic rights
in Turkey have regressed. Second, they suggest that there are
significant pressures on the press freedom in Turkey and many
journalists are in jail. Third, they argue that the trials about
Ergenekon - a clandestine organization nested within the state trying
to overthrow or manipulate the democratically elected government - and
the Balyoz (Sledgehammer) coup plan are actually witch-hunts, and
these trials lack any basis. Interesting, all analyses parrot the same
sentences and refer to the same "evidence."
However, none of these analysts seems inclined to make mention of the
fact that it has been established that there were attempts to
overthrow the democratically elected government until 2009 and that
revolutionary steps have been taken to solve the Kurdish issue and AKP
supporters have started to promote the rights of non-Muslim
minorities, and unprecedented initiatives have been introduced in the
field of the freedom of expression including the Armenian genocide.
Moreover, no analyst acknowledges that the source of the resistance
against the ruling AKP is the highly politicized judicial bureaucracy.
They don't inquire why all of the journalists who were jailed for
their journalistic activities are Kurdish. The most ridiculous
argument from this educated ignorance is certainly that Ergenekon and
Balyoz are sham trials designed to intimidate the AKP's rivals.
Perhaps they don't know that the prime minister initially opposed the
arrest of former Chief of General Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug and he
reiterates at every opportunity that the trials are lengthy and cause
some people to be victimized. Which is not very surprising, as these
educated but ignorant experts tend to rely mainly on "objective"
commentators such as Dani Rodrik and Gareth Jenkins and the people in
Turkey who categorically oppose the AKP.
This approach has three harmful ef fects. First, it openly misguides
the Western world. Second, it closes Turkey's ears to the West as even
ordinary citizens in Turkey can detect the ignorance of these Western
experts and perceive their assessment as "ill intention." Third, the
West's potentially positive effect on Turkey is waning.
One is urged to ask: Is this a manifestation of simple convenience and
ignorance or is this a known "phobia"?