On 5/5/07, Sabri Oncu <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
New York Times:
>>>>
To Turkey's secular elite, Mr. Erdogan and his crowd want to drag the
country back to the past. But it is precisely his party's local
approach that makes it likely to that he will prevail. If he does,
power would shift to the devout middle class he represents and away
from the secular elite, which has controlled the state since its
founding in 1923.
<<<<
This is rubbish of course. Presenting those who took to the streets in Ankara
and Istanbul as the secular elite is misrepresentation of the facts. These
events were organized mainly by the fascist/neofascist nationalists supporting
and supported by the Military but this does not mean that all of the ones that
they were able to mobilize were at such extremes nor does it mean that all of
them were elites of any kind. Yes, there were elites among them too, if by that
we mean the well to do ones, but there were many "middle class" folks who were
genuinely concerned with the Islamist policies of the AKP among them as well.
The question is why such middling sorts, who are merely well-to-do,
attend the rallies for the republic organized by "the
fascist/neofascist nationalists supporting and supported by the
Military." Turkey has experienced terrorism by jihadists, for
instance, the 2003 bombings of synagogues in Istanbul for which Al
Qaeda claimed responsibility. But it's not like the middling sorts
are confusing the AKP with Al Qaeda, is it? If anything, jihadists
tend to grow in countries where Islamists are excluded from political
processes. Why don't the middling sorts try to win in the elections?
The electoral laws may be imperfect, but they, the creation of the
military as you point out, are not designed to promote the AKP or
Islamism.
It is also incorrect to claim that Erdogan represents the devout middle class.
He neither represents my in laws nor my mother and other relatives, and they
are nothing but middle class, whatever middle class means. Furthermore, Erdogan
and the AKP have been hard work in the destruction of the "middle class" that
has been going on since the mid-1980s.
Who are these New York Times authors kidding?
Well, the New York Times can't be expected to provide criticism of
neoliberal capitalism. That's not the issue between the AKP and the
military either.
By the way, the US government seems to be siding with the Military so I wonder
whether our nationalists will continue to be anti-US after this change in the
US preferences between the Military and the AKP.
I doubt that there's any big difference between the AKP and the
military with regard to the empire. About the EU, there are nuances,
but there seems to be none about the NATO. Anti-American rhetoric
that showed up in the rallies, I assume, is just rhetoric. The
military seems more concerned about how things will go in the Kurdish
area of Iraq than the AKP, though.
--
Yoshie
