From the democracy league to the Middle East league

We are experiencing the aftershocks of Turkey having chosen the Middle East league over the democracy league. The deep chasm between the legal, political, and administrative landscape before and after November 3, 2002, is a striking indicator of the radical change that has been undergone. The problem has deeper historical roots than is assumed or apparent. In short, Turkey is experiencing the conflicts, pains, and polarization of fixing its sociological clock 500 years back to the Middle Ages, both domestically and abroad.

In the early 19th century, Ottoman modernization, which began with Selim III, was based on the West. During the reign of Selim III, the representative of the Sultanate and the Caliphate, the Ottoman modernization attempted under the umbrella of theocratic institutionalism would encounter resistance from the madrasas at the center and local power centers in the provinces. The Caliph Sultan's modernization attempts would be characterized as anti-Sharia; the Madrasa/Janissary alliance, with the slogan “Sharia is slipping away,” would raid the palace and take the heads of some administrators, including the Sultan!

Mahmud II, who narrowly escaped being killed in the uprising that cost Selim III his life, is the sultan who institutionalized modernization. He would make radical changes in the bureaucracy, the military, and the administration, and would try to establish the authority of the central state against the madrasa at the center and the feudalism outside the control of the center in the provinces. With the Clothing Regulation published in 1828, he would ban the wearing of turbans, fezzes, and robes, and introduce the rule of jackets, trousers, and the fez. He would appear before the public in contemporary attire for that period by trimming his beard. He would have his portrait hung in government offices, conduct the first census in 1831, and publish the first official Turkish newspaper (Takvim-i Vekayi). He would lay the foundations of the bureaucracy, which is indispensable for modern state institutionalism. The introduction of compulsory primary education and the establishment of schools providing Western-style education, such as the Mekteb-i Tıbbiye-i Şahane (Medical School) and Mekteb-i Harbiye (Military Academy), would be realized during his reign. The first steps of the Council of State and the Court of Cassation would be taken, and in 1838, the Meclis-i Vükela (Council of Ministers) would be formed to replace the Imperial Council (Divan-ı Hümayun).

The Ottoman modernization, the foundations of which were laid during the reign of Mahmud II, is undoubtedly not limited to what we have written. The Madrasa, which could not prevent the Caliph Sultan's modernization attempts, would label Mahmud II as the “Infidel Sultan”! The reason we have spoken at length about the pioneering sultan of Ottoman modernization is to show that two centuries after Mahmud II, instead of closing the gap between us and the civilized world in terms of the rule of law, democracy, independent judiciary, and freedom of thought and expression, that gap has widened even further!

The roadmap of the Republic was to reach the level of contemporary civilization pointed out by Atatürk. Unfortunately, today's Turkey, in the vortex of a chronic regime/state crisis, appears to have lost its historical sense of direction and collective common sense. Turkey is experiencing exactly what would happen if an understanding that is incompatible with the values represented by the Republic were to seize power.

Turkey, which has been relegated from the democracy league, will not find what it is looking for in the Middle East league, to which it has transferred with great enthusiasm. Those who govern the country are looking for the image and prestige lost in the civilized world in the wrong place. It should be known that the futile efforts to seek what was lost in the civilized world outside of the civilized world will serve no purpose other than to humiliate the country!