2017-01-18T13:26:00-08:00
There is a famous saying spread among neo-secularists: We need Ataturk to impose secularism in the state. This incorrect statement stems from a cognitive deficiency in history and a superficial understanding of secularism.
Firstly… Ataturk did not bring secularism to Turkey, meaning that Ataturk’s imposition of secularism and fighting all forms of Islam that link Turkey to Arabs and Muslims did not come from an awareness of the importance of secularism to modernize Turkey and make it ride civilization or as a Turkish need to address internal problems that required him to work on secularism. …This was not the reason at all. Secularism was imposed on Turkey, the sick man, by the victorious countries of World War I, France and Britain, and all Islamic forms that linked Turkey to its surroundings were banned, and Ataturk only implemented those conditions, and among their manifestations:
1- Abolishing the caliphate and declaring a secular constitution based on Turkish nationalism, until he called himself Ataturk, which means father of the Turks, as the founder of the new state that would be based on Turkish nationalism, and he would be the icon of the new ideology.
2- The manifestations of Islam in its Arabic form were abolished, and Islam was Turkified. So he abolished the Arabic letters and replaced them with Latin letters in writing, he abolished the call to prayer in Arabic and made it in Turkish, and many other things.
It was not truly secularism based on an internal Turkish need to solve problems in society, or the result of a political and cultural movement interacting with the new reality. Rather, it was only an external demand on Turkey, and it was not secularism in the appropriate manner. Rather, it was a process more like fighting all forms of ties with… Turkey’s surroundings only, meaning it was an external need and not an internal need to suit the outside.
Question: Why did the victorious countries impose these conditions on Türkiye?
When you impose these conditions on Turkey, you establish a historical, intellectual and spiritual rupture between Turkey and its geographical surroundings, and this rupture is important for the victorious countries that will seize the legacy of the sick man, Turkey, and its areas of influence, so that the victorious countries are reassured that Turkey will not seek to return to its influence and block any path forward. Her return.
Not only that, but Turkish nationalism was imposed as the common general framework that unites the new state. Therefore, there will be a barrier for Turkey in its relationship with its surroundings on the basis of nationalities only, there is no other partner.
To be sure, look at how Turkey was absent from the region, but after the rise of Erdogan, it has a presence in the region, circles linked to it, and an audience that supports it through the link of an Islamic party that brings it together in the region.
Secularism was imposed on Turkey to cut it off from its previous legacy in the region, and it caused weakness for Turkey and problems as well. On the one hand, it cut off Turkey from its surroundings, and on the other hand, it caused the problem of nationalism because there are other nationalities in Turkey, such as the Kurds. After Turkey had its general framework, Islam, it could It reunited everyone within that framework, but after it became Turkey, it turned into a problem for the Kurd, being Turkish and Kurdish at the same time.
And if you believe that secularism, in the view of the Turks, is a source of strength, then you are delusional. They only look at interest. If the Turks find in the Islamic constitution a source of strength from which they will gain interest, they will adopt it without argument. And look at what is happening now in Turkey. After the Turks despaired of entering Europe, all that remained for them was the region, and in order to enter the region, their framework must be Islamic to attract the region. Erdogan began talking about amending the constitution and making it Islamic, and he began speaking to the countries of the region about the necessity of abandoning the idea of the Arab League and that we must talk about an Islamic university as a framework for the entire region. Now, constitutional amendments are being made to the state structure to expand the powers of the president, and I believe that this is a step before declaring the establishment of a new entity for Turkey separated from the Ataturk era.