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SETTLEMENT PROCESS: 'RESTORATION' AND WHAT IT BRINGS TO MIND
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Sept 25 2014
ORHAN MÄ°ROÄ~^LU
September 25, 2014, Thursday
The significance of some of the statements made by Prime Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu derives not so much from his own political identity
and current role but rather more, I believe, from the value of his
intellectual and academic character.
Let me try to explain where we stand in terms of the solution process
by touching on some of the expressions we hear often from the prime
minister.
One example of these is Prime Minister Davutoglu's fondness for the
term "restoration." In other words, he stresses a belief that the
establishment of the New Turkey will be possible. What this term
immediately brings to mind is the various peoples with whom the
Ottomans enjoyed good relations during the serene and prosperous
years of the empire. Of course, many of those different ethnic groups
dissipated once the empire transitioned to the nationalistic stage,
and some departed from the empire in order to pursue a different
future from what would have befallen them if they had stayed. The
Armenian people were tragically forced to relocate. As for the Greeks,
many left in the midst of enormous population exchanges with Greece.
As for the Kurds, they were one example of a people who never left the
empire. In fact, they were unique in this sense. And as the republic
headed into its formative years, their existence as a people met with
denial and rejection. Later, here is what they began to think: Our
situation was much better when this was an empire. Because, starting
in 1514, we basically lived for some 350 years in an autonomous state.
It is not, of course, only the Kurds who look back on the prosperous
years of well-being under the Ottomans as a time to be missed. There
are many Turkish intellectuals who also reminisce about the better
days had by both peoples in Ottoman times. These same intellectuals
stress that in fact, for this reason and others, Ottoman times need
to stand as an example for Turkey even now.
In short, these more than 300 years of the past left behind them as a
legacy not only certain intangible values, but also a shared history,
as well as a sense of what it meant to live together. So when Prime
Minister Davutoglu talks of "restoration," I suppose he is making
a reference to a path towards the normalization of Turkish-Kurdish
relations -- which are today engulfed in such a difficult transition
period -- as a valuable opportunity.
There is definitely a positive aspect to this all. But for whatever
reason, neither the academic nor the political worlds in Turkey wish to
recall 1514. While we see a wealth of celebrations and commemorations
of events such as the War of Independence, or in memory of those
killed at Canakkale, or even for Malazgirt, there is nothing to
recall Caldıran. There is little doubt that a big role in this is
the fact that many of our Alevi citizens interpret a revival of the
Turkish-Kurdish relations of 1514 as an era that will be specifically
constructed to oppose them.
But one cannot simply abandon history to its own fate. One needs to
take lessons from history and to alter one's interpretations based
on the conditions and dynamics in place at the time.
In this sense, it seems to me that the solution settlement process
will go down in history as a time when Turkish-Kurdish relations were
carried over into a new era. In his comments about what is happening in
the Middle East, and about how the settlement process for the Kurdish
problem is the most important project of recent years, Davutoglu is
underscoring an important reality: The settlement process is a turning
point in terms of historical and political relations for Turks and
Kurds. It is a reckoning with the past.
It is an incredible opportunity to face up to all the damage that
was done to Turkey, and in fact all the citizens of the republic,
as a result of armed uprisings that came in reaction to policies of
denial and rejection.
Davutoglu affirms that where we stand now is effectively in the
middle of a river and that it would be disastrous to try and return. I
completely agree.
But in order to safely cross this river and emerge unharmed onto the
opposite bank the people who swim together must work together and
act together, persevering forward, while not becoming discouraged
by the stormy waters they may encounter. Some dangerous clouds have
gathered over this river of late.
Right now, as the only people fighting on land in territory
dominated by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the
Kurds' collective national psychology is largely fed at this point
by its war with ISIL. In the meantime, the Kurdish political front
has turned towards both Sinjar and Kobani. As for reports coming in
from those areas, they are not uplifting in any way, though I will
address these reports in a separate column tomorrow.
http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist/orhan-miroglu/settlement-process-restoration-and-what-it-brings-to-mind_359839.html
From: Baghdasarian
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Sept 25 2014
ORHAN MÄ°ROÄ~^LU
September 25, 2014, Thursday
The significance of some of the statements made by Prime Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu derives not so much from his own political identity
and current role but rather more, I believe, from the value of his
intellectual and academic character.
Let me try to explain where we stand in terms of the solution process
by touching on some of the expressions we hear often from the prime
minister.
One example of these is Prime Minister Davutoglu's fondness for the
term "restoration." In other words, he stresses a belief that the
establishment of the New Turkey will be possible. What this term
immediately brings to mind is the various peoples with whom the
Ottomans enjoyed good relations during the serene and prosperous
years of the empire. Of course, many of those different ethnic groups
dissipated once the empire transitioned to the nationalistic stage,
and some departed from the empire in order to pursue a different
future from what would have befallen them if they had stayed. The
Armenian people were tragically forced to relocate. As for the Greeks,
many left in the midst of enormous population exchanges with Greece.
As for the Kurds, they were one example of a people who never left the
empire. In fact, they were unique in this sense. And as the republic
headed into its formative years, their existence as a people met with
denial and rejection. Later, here is what they began to think: Our
situation was much better when this was an empire. Because, starting
in 1514, we basically lived for some 350 years in an autonomous state.
It is not, of course, only the Kurds who look back on the prosperous
years of well-being under the Ottomans as a time to be missed. There
are many Turkish intellectuals who also reminisce about the better
days had by both peoples in Ottoman times. These same intellectuals
stress that in fact, for this reason and others, Ottoman times need
to stand as an example for Turkey even now.
In short, these more than 300 years of the past left behind them as a
legacy not only certain intangible values, but also a shared history,
as well as a sense of what it meant to live together. So when Prime
Minister Davutoglu talks of "restoration," I suppose he is making
a reference to a path towards the normalization of Turkish-Kurdish
relations -- which are today engulfed in such a difficult transition
period -- as a valuable opportunity.
There is definitely a positive aspect to this all. But for whatever
reason, neither the academic nor the political worlds in Turkey wish to
recall 1514. While we see a wealth of celebrations and commemorations
of events such as the War of Independence, or in memory of those
killed at Canakkale, or even for Malazgirt, there is nothing to
recall Caldıran. There is little doubt that a big role in this is
the fact that many of our Alevi citizens interpret a revival of the
Turkish-Kurdish relations of 1514 as an era that will be specifically
constructed to oppose them.
But one cannot simply abandon history to its own fate. One needs to
take lessons from history and to alter one's interpretations based
on the conditions and dynamics in place at the time.
In this sense, it seems to me that the solution settlement process
will go down in history as a time when Turkish-Kurdish relations were
carried over into a new era. In his comments about what is happening in
the Middle East, and about how the settlement process for the Kurdish
problem is the most important project of recent years, Davutoglu is
underscoring an important reality: The settlement process is a turning
point in terms of historical and political relations for Turks and
Kurds. It is a reckoning with the past.
It is an incredible opportunity to face up to all the damage that
was done to Turkey, and in fact all the citizens of the republic,
as a result of armed uprisings that came in reaction to policies of
denial and rejection.
Davutoglu affirms that where we stand now is effectively in the
middle of a river and that it would be disastrous to try and return. I
completely agree.
But in order to safely cross this river and emerge unharmed onto the
opposite bank the people who swim together must work together and
act together, persevering forward, while not becoming discouraged
by the stormy waters they may encounter. Some dangerous clouds have
gathered over this river of late.
Right now, as the only people fighting on land in territory
dominated by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the
Kurds' collective national psychology is largely fed at this point
by its war with ISIL. In the meantime, the Kurdish political front
has turned towards both Sinjar and Kobani. As for reports coming in
from those areas, they are not uplifting in any way, though I will
address these reports in a separate column tomorrow.
http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist/orhan-miroglu/settlement-process-restoration-and-what-it-brings-to-mind_359839.html
From: Baghdasarian