Memory-less Turkey/amnesiac Turkey

Sunday, May 28, 2006

Societies are distinguished from one another not only by their governmental styles and their economic structures but also by their relations with the past.

  Societies are distinguished from one another not only by their governmental styles and their economic structures, but also by their relations with the past. Every nation-state rewrites its own history, and does so subjectively. But while some can be called "amnesiac societies," still others can be called "memory-bound societies."  

  For some nation-states, the collective-memory of their society is an all-important thing. Some societies take the task of remembering the past as just that: a mission that is incumbent upon them to carry out. For them, it is a citizen s duty to remember the past. This is, for example, how the Germans are. In Germany, knowing the history of the country and its people is a citizen s duty. Whether in the educational system or simply in daily life, ways of keeping the collective memory alive and well have been woven into existence. Everything is aimed at remembering. And this is not just in reference to good things, but to bad things as well. The memories which are most difficult to ponder are World War I, World War II and post-Nazi Germany.

  What is as interesting as the importance it places on the collective memory of society is how modern Germany is determined to remind its citizens of the "unpleasant periods" of its past. Without losing confidence in themselves, Germans have, over this past century, been able to find the balance in talking about the dark periods from their past, and accepting their mistakes. Critical historical knowledge and a feeling for the continuity of history have been mixed into the cultural yeast of their society.  

  With the razing of the Berlin wall, there was a new aspect added to the collective memory of the Germans. This was: How should East Germany be remembered? Some Germans recall that period with sympathy, even with nostalgia. This wave of nostalgia for Communist Germany opened the way to an explosion of interest in the sale of stuff from East Germany. Communist pins, emblems and posters sell like bread and cheese these days. But alongside this trade aspect of the memory, the archives of the East German police are also being opened to visitors, so that mistakes made and crimes against humanity can be known by all. Students flock to the museum that has opened along where the Berlin Wall used to stand. These visits have become a standard part of the curriculum in German schools.

  These days, there is another "dark history tour" that is taking place in England and France. The “Da Vinci Code” film has reawakened interest in conspiracy theories. Riding this wave of popular culture, European capitals these days are offering "conspiracy tours" to tourists. In Paris, for example, those interested can take tours that go step by step through the points where the film s scenes take place. They can set out looking for codes in the Louvre Museum. When it comes to London, it is already a habit for British people to know all about history and to be able to spot pedigree in others from the most minute details. On television, there are programs where people bring in their ancient family treasures to be scrutinized. They examine porcelain cups, trying to determine the age and through whose hands and which houses it might have passed. Or portraits, trying to decide in which mansions they may have hung. People are curious about the articles they have in their homes, about the buildings on their streets, about the stories connected to the historical squares in their cities. They value history. And so it happens that the dark corners of history, too, benefit from this interest. You can, along these lines, even take a tour in London which traces the steps of the notorious 19th century murderer Jack the Ripper.  

  But what about in Turkey? The situation here is the exact opposite. With us, the tendency towards forgetting history tends to dominate. Turkey is a society of collective amnesiacs. Can you imagine tours in Turkey which walked you through the darker parts of our history? Tours which not only praised doings from the past, but were aimed at learning lessons from the negative sides of history? What about a step-by-step tour of Istanbul that stopped to recall, for example, some horrible event that occurred here, or some saddening course of events that took place there? Could our city host such tours that examine history, whether from the Ottoman or republic period, with a critical eye? Or would someone who tried to do this be thrown in prison on charges of "treason to the nation"?