The speed of Turkish politics

Sunday, February 26, 2006

The prominent Ottoman radical-modernist Abdullah Cevdet once had boldly claimed that what we as Turks urgently needed to do was to expedite the flow of time so as to catch up with European countries. How long had it taken the Western world to reach this level of civilization, he asked his readers, 400 years? 500 years? Did we have the patience to wait that long? No! Thus the invented solution: to speed up the pace of time. And speed it up we did.

  The prominent Ottoman radical-modernist Abdullah Cevdet once had boldly claimed that what we as Turks urgently needed to do was to expedite the flow of time so as to catch up with European countries. How long had it taken the Western world to reach this level of civilization, he asked his readers, 400 years? 500 years? Did we have the patience to wait that long? No! Thus the invented solution: to speed up the pace of time. And speed it up we did.

  To this day Turkish society and its media are startling in their never-ending capacity to and eagerness for change. We are a country of endless metamorphoses and fusions. Accordingly, the pace of politics herein can be astoundingly brisk. The rhythm and pace of time in Turkey flows as rapidly and as consecutively as in a Hollywood action movie. Every second you expect something new and something weird to happen, something to go astray, then, with an equally astounding complexity and swiftness, everything comes back to normal.

  Still to this day many a first-time diplomat to Turkey will be taken aback by the speed of events within the political circles here. Not surprisingly, this last week has been a pretty speedy one, too. First, we were discussing Turkey s unique role in the most recent cartoon controversy and in an increasingly polarized world. Straddling European culture and Islamic culture simultaneously, Turkey could and would be the perfect bridge, we were saying. Then, all of a sudden, we had some foreign visitors who were at the outset thought to be completely unexpected and shocking but then it turned out were neither unexpected nor shocking. When the Hamas leaders came to Ankara it created quite a tumult, and the instant hullabaloo in Turkish and foreign media did not cease until the U.S. ambassador to Turkey came forward and announced that America knew about the visit long beforehand.

  In between the two intervals many things happened at home and abroad. Many experts and columnists made resolute guesses about the changing intentions of the Turkish government, some going as far as claiming that Turkey was swaying toward Islam. They debated whether the Justice and Development Party (AKP) was changing its policies and whether Turkey, now cross at the EU for its constant knockbacks, had decided to be bosom buddies with Hamas and the Islamist movements in the Middle East in retaliation. I read these comments with awe. Is it this easy for a country to change its vested interests? Was it this easy for “Western observers” to suppose that, if sufficiently irritated, Turkey can become allies with the fundamentalists in the Middle East, thus abandoning its centuries-old historical policy of Westernization and modernization? Are today s “experts” so focused on contemporary stirs so as to ignore historical background altogether?

  To be fair, some in the Turkish media also joined the tumult, booming with news about the irreversibly damaging implications of the visit. They made it sound as if Turkish-American relations were damaged forever. Columnists left and right delved into conspiracy theories to fathom the intention of the government. Then, all of a sudden, the U.S. Embassy made an announcement and said they were already informed about the visit. In a flash all was quiet and serene. In the twinkling of an eye, the dust settled and everything returned to normal.

  Once the Hamas visit shock had been overcome and it was clear to foreign observers that Turkey was not swaying in the direction of the Islamists, news from another direction occupied the agenda. The European Union was asking Turkey to be actively involved as mediator in the Prophet Mohammed cartoon conflict. The Austrian EU presidency had invited Turkish Foreign Minister Gül to the "Gymnich" meeting in Salzburg. Gül was also expected to brief about the Alliance of Civilizations, which was launched by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and initiated by Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

  After this invitation from Salzburg was heard and the U.S. Embassy s silencing statement came, the “experts” who were angry at the government for getting in touch with Hamas made a full U-turn and started claiming that herein resided a golden opportunity for Turkey and that this indeed should be the role it had to play from now on. They said talking with Hamas was not that bad after all, since it suited that role. They said this visit had reinforced Turkey s mediating role in the Middle East peace process. I watched with great astonishment how the government was first maligned then praised for exactly the same reason; and all of this in no more than a week s time. To me all of these ups and downs are proof enough of the insanity and volatility of politics. It is also proof enough that should Abdullah Cevdet be alive, if not with the content, he would at least be happy with the pace of time in his country.