The GMEP, Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations, the identity issue, and Turkey...

We continue to say and write this, tirelessly. The Greater Middle East Project (GMEP) and the green belt (political Islam) project are moving forward...

Samuel P. Huntington, the author of the thesis he published in Foreign Affairs magazine in 1993 under the title 'The Clash of Civilizations' and later expanded into a book titled 'The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order', defined civilization as 'religion-based'.

In 'The Clash of Civilizations', Huntington also refers to the famous American political scientist and historian Bernard Lewis. Lewis is one of the masterminds behind the Greater Middle East Project (GMEP). He is someone who knows Turkey and the geography we are in (the Islamic world, the Middle East) well. His book 'The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror' is important in this sense. In his work, Lewis, who recounts how imperialist countries like England and France divided the Ottoman Empire, argues that the abolition of the caliphate had negative effects on the Islamic world. He leans toward the view that Turkish modernization has not achieved success. He stated that the US invasion of Iraq, the 'moderate Islam' project, and the GMEP should be continued.

Returning to Huntington's The Clash of Civilizations, he evaluates Turkey as a 'torn country', a 'divided and indecisive country' on the basis of civilization and identity. According to him, Turkey, stuck between Islamic and Western civilizations, could find peace if it became the leader of the Islamic world as part of Europe. Of course, it would also need to reject Atatürk's legacy!

"…Kemalism is the acceptance of both modernization and Westernization. This reaction is based on the assumptions that modernization is necessary and desirable, that indigenous culture is incompatible with modernization, that it must therefore be abolished and destroyed, and that total Westernization is necessary to modernize successfully. ...To modernize, that is, to Westernize Turkey, Mustafa Kemal rejected the country's Islamic past (and its multinational imperial structure), making Turkey a 'torn country': A country whose religion, traditions, customs, and institutions are based on Islam on one hand, but which has an elite leadership that wants to Westernize, modernize, and make the country one with the West on the other..." (The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, pp. 190-197).

Because according to Huntington, 'Kemalism is the fundamental source of the efforts made to distance Turkey from its Ottoman and Muslim past on the path to Westernization and modernization.' He also argues that the modern Republic, which he attacks as an 'imposition' and an 'import of civilization' and claims has created 'traumatic effects' on the public, has overturned the centuries-old traditions and established order of the people!

In his theses on Turkey, from which we have quoted a part, Huntington advocates for the abandonment of secularism as a future perspective and solution(!), arguing that this is how the leadership of the Islamic world would be attained:
"Atatürk's clear definition of Turkey as a secular society prevented the Republic of Turkey from inheriting this role from the Ottoman Empire. Due to its commitment to the principle of secularism in its constitution, Turkey could not even become a founding member of the OIC (Organization of the Islamic Conference/Organization of Islamic Cooperation). As long as Turkey defines itself as a secular country, there is no possibility of it aspiring to the leadership of Islam. However, what happens if Turkey redefines itself? At some point, Turkey may stop playing the frustrating and humiliating role of a beggar pleading for membership in the Western world and become ready to reassume the much more impressive and honorable historical role of the West's primary Islamic interlocutor and adversary." (The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, p. 263).

THE NEVER-ENDING ‘IDENTITY ISSUE’

Even if its name changes from time to time in our country, the 'processes' initiated prepare the ground for questioning the nation-state and the unitary structure, paving the way for the 'identity issue' to constantly occupy the agenda.
Imperialism's ambitions over Turkish lands do not change, even if years pass and conditions change; only the projects and tools change!

When the national struggle led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk against the occupation was crowned with victory, the Treaty of Sèvres, which tied the Ottoman Empire to the administration of imperialist countries, was thrown into the dustbin of history. The Treaty of Lausanne, which made Turkey independent, sovereign, and equal with all countries, was signed.
Atatürk evaluated the Treaty of Lausanne with these words: "It is a document that announces the collapse of a great act of annihilation that had been prepared against the Turkish Nation for years and was thought to have been completed with the Treaty of Sèvres, and it is a monument of political victory unprecedented in history."

Imperialists have not been able to digest the War of Independence and the diplomatic victory we won at Lausanne, and they have never forgotten it! They are carrying out political projects to establish dominance over our country and other countries in our geography. To reach their goals, they use some people, regardless of which segment or faith they belong to. What matters for the imperialists are the goals, priorities, and needs...

Those who defend true independence, unity, peace, and brotherhood in Turkey, in our region, and in the world must act by seeing the plans of the imperialists, especially the US, and must strive to ensure that national policies and main choices are not allowed to be formed by the suggestions and pressures of foreigners.

Great duties fall to the patriots and intellectuals of Turkey, which achieved the first victory against imperialism, in this field!


Bibliography:

- Atatürk’ün Bütün Eserleri (All Works of Atatürk), Vol. 20, Kaynak Yayınları, Istanbul, 2007.
- Bernard Lewis, The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror, Trans. M. Murteza Özeren, Kronik Kitap, Istanbul, 2023.
- Barış Doster, “ABD ılımlı İslam’dan vaz mı geçti” (Has the US given up on moderate Islam), odatv.com, May 20, 2014.
- Bülent Şener, “Bölünmüş ve Kararsız Ülke’: Huntington’un Türkiye Paradigması” ('A Torn and Indecisive Country': Huntington's Turkey Paradigm), 21st Century Turkey Institute, February 21, 2014.
- Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, Trans. Mehmet Turhan, Cem Soydemir, Yusuf Eradam, Okuyan Us Yayınları, Istanbul, 2002.
- Emre Kongar, Küresel Terör ve Türkiye-Küreselleşme, Huntington, 11 Eylül, Etnikçi ve Mezhepçi Terör Kapanında Türkiye (Global Terror and Turkey-Globalization, Huntington, September 11, Turkey in the Trap of Ethnic and Sectarian Terror), Remzi Kitabevi, Istanbul, 2016.