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  • Charm Offensive, A La Turca

    CHARM OFFENSIVE, A LA TURCA

    By MassisPost
    Updated: April 28, 2014

    By Bulent Kenes
    http://www.todayszaman.com/

    This is how things work in this country. A thing is done not because
    it is the correct thing to do or because someone is entitled to it or
    because it just must be done. Things that may be done or steps that
    must be taken are done or taken in response to an emerging need or
    affair. Usually, a thing is done out of a necessity, but not because
    our principles or attachment to moral or ethical values or our respect
    or ability to have empathy for others entail it, or because we are true
    democrats. And more often than not, what needs to be done is done at
    the eleventh hour. Moreover and worse still, sometimes what needs to
    be done is not done with sincerity, but with the pretense of sincerity.

    This tradition didn't change regarding the tragic events that occurred
    during World War I and especially in 1915. Turkey has always sought
    to save face instead of coming up with a humanitarian approach based
    on human rights, laws, morality and civility, and with a permanent
    solution that would satisfy both sides to a reasonable extent. And
    to save face, we always acted at the eleventh hour. The message of
    condolences issued by the Prime Minister's Office of the Turkish
    Republic on April 23, addressed to the children and grandchildren of
    the Armenians who lost their lives during the forced relocation and
    massacre of 1915, falls within this category although it claims that
    Turkey understands and shares in their sorrows.

    Still, we need to acknowledge that this historic statement, issued
    in nine languages including Turkish and two Armenian dialects and
    undersigned by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is a very bold
    step in the right direction. But this does not save it from being a
    tactical move in the final analysis.

    This is because this message does not aim to solve the problem and
    ensure a confrontation with the past and bring to daylight the truth,
    even if we may not like it. Rather, it seeks to temporarily get rid
    of a big, imminent problem and buy time. The fact that the statement
    was issued on April 23, i.e., one day before Armenian Genocide
    Commemoration Day on April 24, lends credence to this thesis.

    On April 24, not only US President Barack Obama, but also many
    presidents, governments and parliaments around the world tend to
    make statements about the 1915 tragedy. Everyone knows that in their
    consciences, they are close to seeing this tragedy -- which occurred
    in the context of World War I -- as "genocide," even if they may
    not officially acknowledge it as "genocide" due to their political,
    diplomatic or economic interests. Here I must note that those who
    are close to the "genocide" approach also include the countries,
    administrations and powers that seek to instrumentalize this sorrow
    to attain certain pragmatic goals or that seek to settle accounts
    with Turkey via the great sorrow of Armenians.

    Actually, this year's April 24 is not the worst experience we will
    have. It is just a small rehearsal for the real test for Turkey
    in 2015, which will be marked as the "Centennial of the Armenian
    Genocide," which Turkey cannot escape or ignore. The prime minister's
    statement may help to alleviate the preliminary shockwaves of this
    impending event, but it can hardly be a complete solution to this
    indispensable event, which will be here in 365 days.

    >From another perspective, the statement of condolences, undersigned
    by Prime Minister Erdogan, is a carefully prepared text. It is such
    that we would never expect Erdogan to issue such a statement. Indeed,
    he is so indifferent to the pain he causes or is responsible for, and
    he has recently been so busy sowing the seeds of hatred among diverse
    segments of society that we would never believe that he nurtured any
    empathy for those who were jeopardized in a tragedy that occurred 99
    years ago. As a matter of fact, it is really hard to bring ourselves
    to believe that the person who was totally indifferent and insensitive
    to the Uludere tragedy -- in which 34 civilians were mistaken for
    terrorists and killed in military airstrikes in Sirnak's Uludere
    district due to false intelligence -- or to the protesters who died
    during the Gezi Park protests is the same person who undersigned
    this statement.

    However, it is quite natural for us to expect a prime minister to
    develop long-standing strategies based on certain moral values and
    principles, be it in the name of the national interest or personal
    political plans. But this does not apply to our case. Rather, Erdogan
    gives the impression of being a man of short-sighted tactical moves
    geared toward saving face. Therefore, we need to analyze in depth
    Erdogan's real intentions with this statement. It should be noted
    that this message seeks to restore Turkey's deteriorating image in the
    international arena rather than to share in the sorrows of Armenians.

    With this move, which can be described as a PR effort, we can say
    that Erdogan has launched a charm offensive a la Turca.

    Even if it is intended as a charm offensive, this historic move is not
    stripped of its conjunctural and contextual spiritual value. But at
    the same time, it brings the lack of sincerity into broad daylight. Of
    course we need to question the sincerity and intentions behind an
    isolated positive move by one with a despotic mentality, who pays
    no regard to the rights and freedoms of diverse social groups in
    the country and is in an effort to establish an arbitrary rule with
    total control over democratic institutions and is ready to crush any
    dissident or opposing group.

    Actually, it is a grave act of naiveté to assume that a repressive
    leader -- who use all his power to push aside fundamental rights
    and freedoms, democracy and rule of law and turn them into a tool of
    oppression, thereby creating a deep-rooted sociopolitical problem with
    effects that will last for decades to come -- will take well-meaning
    steps to solve a problem stemming from a tragedy that occurred 100
    years ago.

    Having emerged as a political figure who is no longer expected to
    pay respect to rights and freedoms and who will never act as a true
    democrat, Erdogan has made anti-democratic attitudes part of his nature
    and this has the potential to make his statement regarding Armenian
    sorrows meaningless. Given all the tests of sincerity Erdogan has
    failed so far, it is hard to say whether he is being sincere with
    this move.

    If we are to expect any sincerity from Erdogan, his level of sincerity
    now could be equal to, not more than, the sincerity he shows with
    regard to the Kurdish issue, in which he takes steps only to the
    extent that they are beneficial to his political career.

    Alternatively, we can look at how he promised to draft a new,
    civilian constitution ahead of the general elections, but he did
    everything to build himself a strict and lawless rule after the
    elections. Perhaps we should expect this latest move to end like
    the so-called Alevi initiative, for which numerous workshops were
    held but which was eventually abandoned after he realized that it
    would not be politically beneficial to his party. Or we can expect
    the same sincerity as that of his move to make the reopening of the
    Halki Seminary on the island of Heybeliada near Istanbul a matter of
    bargaining with Greece, although he had promised many times to open it.

    What I am trying to get at is that our expectations for a leader who
    has developed a lawless, anti-democratic personality, who seeks to
    socio-culturally and economically lynch certain social groups that
    are selectively antagonized and who causes great social problems
    by spouting ever more hatred should be kept at a low level. Indeed,
    any disillusion from expecting a person who is the source of great
    tragedies today to solve a historical tragedy will only lead to
    grave disappointment.

    [email protected]

    http://massispost.com/2014/04/charm-offensive-a-la-turca/

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