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The Clash of 'Nations' in Turkey: Reflections on the Gezi Park Incident

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The Clash of 'Nations' in Turkey: Reflections on the Gezi Park Incident COMMENTARY THE CLASH OF ‘NATIONS’ IN TURKEY: REFLECTIONS ON THE GEZİ PARK INCIDENT The Clash of ‘Nations’ in Turkey: Reflections on the Gezi Park Incident TAYFUN ATAY* ABSTRACT This article argues that the devastating mass demonstra- tions triggered by a humble environmentalist protest in the Gezi Park of İstanbul cannot be understood without taking into ac- count the notion of ‘culture’. The driving force behind the demon- strations, which turned into an extensive social outburst, is cul- tural and rooted in the worries of the secular people of the country about the shrinking ground of their lifestyle as a result of govern- ment pressures. What happened during the weeks of Gezi Park demonstrations was actually a reaction of these people to the ‘offi- cial’ trend of intensification toward religious morality in daily life and the public space. “One cannot flatly deny the probabil- A group of sensitive environmental ity that there will arise two nations in activists took a stand against a recon- Turkey, one secular, the other Islamic. struction plan in Gezi Park, Taksim, The possibility of a violent confronta- sincerely for the sake of the trees. tion between these two clusters seems However, an overly aggressive and vi- distant but might become realistic in olent police response to their peaceful the future.”1 resistance sparked an outrage, partic- ularly within the secular segments of Professor Şerif Mardin made the Turkish society against the religiously above spine-tingling prediction inspired authoritarian policies of the about the future of Turkey nearly 25 ruling Justice and Development Par- years ago, and he very well might feel ty (AK Party). These policies, clearly 2 that time has confirmed his warning. visible since 2011 when the AK Party * Professor Indeed, the recent social outburst in had its third subsequent electoral vic- of Social Anthropology Turkey, which stemmed from a small tory by taking nearly half of the votes, and Columnist park in İstanbul and spread to all ma- had long caused resentments among in Radikal jor cities of the country, has many these people, as they felt their non-re- Insight Turkey indications that it can be taken as a ligious (but not ‘irreligious’) lifestyle Vol. 15 / No. 3 / proof for Mardin’s ‘far-sightedness.’ was threatened. 2013, pp. 39-44 2013 Summer 39 COMMENTARY TAYFUN ATAY People stand on the flashpoint Taksim square in Istanbul In fact, the AK Party had come to this to be filled by the AK Party cadres during a wave of new point by following a very different – essentially, the Party replaced the alternative protests. path – one far from the recent au- Army! The AK Party moved away EPA thoritarian line. Its striking success in from being the leading force for civ- Turkey can be explained by its abili- il-plural democracy to being the ar- ty to convince many liberal-minded chitect in the construction of a new (surely, secular) people of its loyalty identity and culture in Turkey. Noth- to the principles of liberal democra- ing illustrates this change of orienta- cy. On this basis, it recruited consid- tion more perfectly than the words of erable support from the non-conser- Aziz Babuşçu, the provincial chair- vative segments of the society, among man of the AK Party for İstanbul, which were the liberal, leftist and who emphasized in a speech that the socialist circles, in its fight to defy second decade of the AK Party power the military-bureaucratic tutelage, would be a period of “construction.”3 particularly after the unsuccessful Small wonder then that some new attempt of military intervention on codes related to education, or at- April 27, 2007 (popularly called the tempts to bring new regulations over ‘e-coup’). very private matters such as abor- tion, alcohol consumption, and even The prosecutions, detainments, and public displays of affection, are all charges of a large number of military linked with this ‘will of construction.’ officials and civilians who were ac- No doubt, these new regulations all cused of planning a coup against the caused frustrations in the secular cir- AK Party government signaled the cles of the society. end of military-bureaucratic author- itarianism and a decisive turn toward These frustrations were deepened a genuine democratic setting. Alas, by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Er- the vacuum of authoritarianism left doğan’s personal views over these is- by the military bureaucracy seemed sues, which were manifested through 40 Insight Turkey THE CLASH OF ‘NATIONS’ IN TURKEY: REFLECTIONS ON THE GEZİ PARK INCIDENT The main thrust of the demonstra- AK Party moved tions led by the ‘laicist elite’ in 2007 was political and ideological, aimed away from being the at ousting the AK Party government leading force for while favoring the establishment, then civil-plural democracy based on military tutelage. Howev- er, the driving force behind the re- to being the architect cent demonstrations is, as mentioned in the construction above, cultural and rooted in the wor- ries of the ‘secular masses’ about the of a new identity and shrinking ground of their lifestyle as a culture in Turkey result of government pressures. In fact, it would seem that the 2007 demon- strations have less in common with the ones started by the Gezi protests, his hardly popular exclamations: “We and are more comparable to the ones do not want a drunk youth,” and “Go, organized by the AK Party as a coun- drink at your home, not outside!” Or, terattack. Notwithstanding differences regarding the abundance of young in their connections with the opposite couples kissing and hugging in pub- poles of the sociopolitical spectrum, lic areas, “I don’t imagine any mother both sets of demonstrations share the who wants to see her daughter on the same context – that is, the context lap of a man.” of power. As in the case of the 2007 demonstrations called Cumhuriyet The devastating mass demonstrations Mitingleri (Rallies for the sake of the triggered by the Gezi Park incident Republic), the demonstrations orga- need to be evaluated with this back- nized by the AK Party and called Millî ground in mind. It otherwise will not İrade Mitingleri (Rallies for the sake of be easy to understand the rise of an the National Will) had the character- extensive social outburst from such a istics of ‘power mobilization.’ The fact humble environmentalist protest. Is that the former appealed to a minority isn’t useful to explain what happened while the latter to a majority, does not in terms of dirty games of outside make a difference in qualitative terms. forces (or, the so-called ‘interest-rate Further, as far as the AK Party is con- lobby’ of foreign investors); provoca- cerned, its principal figures that were tions by opposition parties; attempts once subject to coercive power in 2007 by illegal extremist groups; efforts by now appear as the practitioners of the remnants of ‘coup-seekers’ with power and coercion. And this brings their expectation of return to the an- them in line with the conduct of once cient regime of military tutelage; and, effective, but now overthrown, guard- finally, a last cry of ‘laicist’ national- ians of the regime of military tutelage. ists who were extremely active on the streets in the period preceding the By now, I have attempted to clarify e-coup of 2007. that the Gezi Park outburst was a re- 2013 Summer 41 COMMENTARY TAYFUN ATAY sult of the desperation and helpless- middle and upper class urbanites ness the secular people of Turkey felt of secular orientation; the Alevis of under the increasingly authoritarian Turkish, Kurdish, and Arabic origins; rule of the AK Party . These feelings and a considerable part of the nomi- were elevated by a perception that the nally Sunni Kurds leaning toward the government, particularly Prime Min- secular Peace and Democracy Party, ister Erdoğan, did not consider the whose political agenda is based on secular people a “decent” component defending the Kurdish identity and of society vis-à-vis the religious-con- the cultural rights of the Kurds. servative majority – whom he re- Be that as it may, the most significant and impressive portion of the partici- Only 10 percent of the pants in the demonstrations were the youth born in the 1990s. They can protesters said they were in be called “children of popular cul- Gezi Park for the trees. Ninety ture”, particularly to emphasize their percent of them expressed distance to politics. Popular culture most notably flourished in Turkey at that they were disturbed the turn of the 1990s with the intro- by and unhappy with the duction of private television channels authoritarian discourse and into society. Loosely speaking, being part of the culture of everyday life in attitude of Prime Minister an urban, capitalist, industrial set- Erdoğan, and were therefore ting, it is also organically connected with a secular space. in the streets and public squares Throughout this text, I prefer using the term ‘secular’ (seküler) instead of the more common Turkish term, laik- ferred to throughout the demonstra- lik (laicity, from laïcité in French). The tions as “the 50 percent,” the reins of reason for this is to draw a distinction whom, he added, were “hardly” held between a ‘culture’ and a ‘state (also by himself (implying that they would elitist) ideology’. In the Turkish sense, attack and harass the protesters). As the term laiklik has more resonance a matter of fact, all press conferences as an ideological stance relating to of- held by Erdoğan subsequently in ficial control over a religious culture. this process of unrest seemed to help Therefore, I refrain from using it and nothing, except to clarify the message turn to the term secular; etymolog- that he ceased to be the prime minis- ically derived from the Latin word ter of the whole country, but of those saecularis as an opposite to the term who “faithfully” supported him.
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