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PEACE AND THE TURKS
Cihan News Agency, Turkey
June 11 2014
ISTANBUL - 11.06.2014 10:28:08
Some wonder if there will ever be peace in the Middle East, or for
that matter, in Turkey.
In this piece I aim to help the average Westerner understand a little
bit about who the modern Turks are and the present situation.
Not all parts of Turkish society are supportive of the rule of the
Justice and Development Party (AKP). Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan is accused by his opponents of being dictatorial, which led to
major protests across Turkey in early summer of last year. The country
is now polarized between secularists Turks who support Ataturk's
social revolution and those Turks who can be characterized as having
more conservative Islamic values.
Some are concerned about the Constitutional Committee, which has been
set up with the aim of rewriting the Constitution, the current one
dating from the era just after the last military coup. The eyes of
both government supporters and protesters are on this project.
Often I am asked about the Kurds in Turkey. The AKP has been
responsible for a major effort to bring the decades-long conflict in
the Kurdish-dominated Southeast to an end. Talks have been going on
with the terrorist Kurdish separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
organization, and many have begun to lay down their arms. The chance
for peace has seemed better than it has been for many years. But more
recently there seems to be setbacks.
Turkey, owing to a high birthrate and traditionally poor government
healthcare, is a very young nation by Western standards. You will see
young people everywhere, and this gives the country great dynamism
and an enterprising spirit. It is astonishing to realize that only
7.5 percent of the Turkish population are over 65!
http://en.cihan.com.tr/news/Peace-and-the-Turks_5642-CHMTQ2NTY0Mi81
Eighty percent of the population are ethnic Turks; 18 percent are
Kurds; other ethnic groups include the Laz people in the Black
Sea region, Christian minorities (Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians,
Suryani) and Jews. Ever since the founding of the republic, the
Turkish government has downplayed ethnic, linguistic and religious
distinctions, fearful that a divided country could become the scene
of ethnic violence and civil war. Thus the 1965 census was the last
one to list linguistic minorities.
The Kurds, the country's largest minority, have posed the most
serious and persistent challenge to national unity. Kurdish people
traditionally have lived in an area encompassing southeastern Turkey
and northern Iraq. The Turkish state has always sought to minimize the
differences between Turks and Kurds, often describing the latter as
"mountain Turks," and its policies have received both the approval
(for citizenship, education for all, etc.) and disapproval (for
limitations on the use of the Kurdish language, etc.) of the West.
The greatest fear of the Turks is that Kurdish nationalism will result
in secession, similar to that seen in the former Yugoslavia in the
late 20th century, and the breakup of their state. Many Kurdish people
have assimilated into Turkish society and are successful businessmen,
and in recent years there have even been prominent politicians of
Kurdish origin. However, radical Kurdish groups have taken up arms
in the Southeast and perpetrated violent acts in Turkey's major cities.
The most well-known Kurdish terror group is the PKK. Since a cease-fire
in the late 1990s and the capture and conviction of the PKK leader,
there has been relative peace in the region. As part of the process
of adapting to the requirements of the European Union, greater rights
have been granted to minorities, such as broadcasts in the Kurdish
language, but change is gradual. Many Turks still fear that foreign
powers wish to encourage Kurdish nationalism and keep a wary eye on
the development of Kurdish autonomy in neighboring Iraq.
A foreign visitor in Turkey would be well advised not to take sides in
the debate on nationalism, or to voice opinions about certain events
in Turkey's past, such as the sensitive issue of whether or not there
was an Armenian massacre. All Turkish schoolchildren are taught about
the Treaty of Sèvres and the attempted partition of Turkey by the
victorious Allies, and about the encouragement given to seditious
and often violent minority groups at that time. Turks are sensitive,
almost to the point of paranoia, to the possibility that foreign powers
might still wish to destabilize the country through the promotion of
nationalism among ethnic minorities. One right-wing political party
regularly uses the slogan "our land is an indivisible whole." Beware
of political debate: It will lose you friends and could result in a
run-in with the authorities.
Turkey has much potential and could benefit greatly from a united
and peaceful environment.
CHARLOTTE MCPHERSON (Cihan/Today's Zaman)
Cihan News Agency, Turkey
June 11 2014
ISTANBUL - 11.06.2014 10:28:08
Some wonder if there will ever be peace in the Middle East, or for
that matter, in Turkey.
In this piece I aim to help the average Westerner understand a little
bit about who the modern Turks are and the present situation.
Not all parts of Turkish society are supportive of the rule of the
Justice and Development Party (AKP). Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan is accused by his opponents of being dictatorial, which led to
major protests across Turkey in early summer of last year. The country
is now polarized between secularists Turks who support Ataturk's
social revolution and those Turks who can be characterized as having
more conservative Islamic values.
Some are concerned about the Constitutional Committee, which has been
set up with the aim of rewriting the Constitution, the current one
dating from the era just after the last military coup. The eyes of
both government supporters and protesters are on this project.
Often I am asked about the Kurds in Turkey. The AKP has been
responsible for a major effort to bring the decades-long conflict in
the Kurdish-dominated Southeast to an end. Talks have been going on
with the terrorist Kurdish separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
organization, and many have begun to lay down their arms. The chance
for peace has seemed better than it has been for many years. But more
recently there seems to be setbacks.
Turkey, owing to a high birthrate and traditionally poor government
healthcare, is a very young nation by Western standards. You will see
young people everywhere, and this gives the country great dynamism
and an enterprising spirit. It is astonishing to realize that only
7.5 percent of the Turkish population are over 65!
http://en.cihan.com.tr/news/Peace-and-the-Turks_5642-CHMTQ2NTY0Mi81
Eighty percent of the population are ethnic Turks; 18 percent are
Kurds; other ethnic groups include the Laz people in the Black
Sea region, Christian minorities (Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians,
Suryani) and Jews. Ever since the founding of the republic, the
Turkish government has downplayed ethnic, linguistic and religious
distinctions, fearful that a divided country could become the scene
of ethnic violence and civil war. Thus the 1965 census was the last
one to list linguistic minorities.
The Kurds, the country's largest minority, have posed the most
serious and persistent challenge to national unity. Kurdish people
traditionally have lived in an area encompassing southeastern Turkey
and northern Iraq. The Turkish state has always sought to minimize the
differences between Turks and Kurds, often describing the latter as
"mountain Turks," and its policies have received both the approval
(for citizenship, education for all, etc.) and disapproval (for
limitations on the use of the Kurdish language, etc.) of the West.
The greatest fear of the Turks is that Kurdish nationalism will result
in secession, similar to that seen in the former Yugoslavia in the
late 20th century, and the breakup of their state. Many Kurdish people
have assimilated into Turkish society and are successful businessmen,
and in recent years there have even been prominent politicians of
Kurdish origin. However, radical Kurdish groups have taken up arms
in the Southeast and perpetrated violent acts in Turkey's major cities.
The most well-known Kurdish terror group is the PKK. Since a cease-fire
in the late 1990s and the capture and conviction of the PKK leader,
there has been relative peace in the region. As part of the process
of adapting to the requirements of the European Union, greater rights
have been granted to minorities, such as broadcasts in the Kurdish
language, but change is gradual. Many Turks still fear that foreign
powers wish to encourage Kurdish nationalism and keep a wary eye on
the development of Kurdish autonomy in neighboring Iraq.
A foreign visitor in Turkey would be well advised not to take sides in
the debate on nationalism, or to voice opinions about certain events
in Turkey's past, such as the sensitive issue of whether or not there
was an Armenian massacre. All Turkish schoolchildren are taught about
the Treaty of Sèvres and the attempted partition of Turkey by the
victorious Allies, and about the encouragement given to seditious
and often violent minority groups at that time. Turks are sensitive,
almost to the point of paranoia, to the possibility that foreign powers
might still wish to destabilize the country through the promotion of
nationalism among ethnic minorities. One right-wing political party
regularly uses the slogan "our land is an indivisible whole." Beware
of political debate: It will lose you friends and could result in a
run-in with the authorities.
Turkey has much potential and could benefit greatly from a united
and peaceful environment.
CHARLOTTE MCPHERSON (Cihan/Today's Zaman)