"Secular" Erdoğan

The Islamist movements and actors in Turkey present a portrait different than other Islamic countries. Likewise, it"s possible to see that since the foundation of the Republic, Islamic movements and actors had pretty much taken Anglo-Saxon democracies as an example. For example, Mr. Ali Sükrü, who respresented the severest opposition to Mustafa Kemal in the First Chambers and who was assassinated by him also, is being accepted as a typical Islamist intellectual and politician. Although if you take a look at his speeches at the council or his leading articles in Tan Newspaper, which was being published by him, Mr. Ali Sükrü"s primary worry was consolidating the democracy in Turkey and establishing an individual"s privileges and liberties. The Anglo-Saxon administration style had affected him so much that he had started to decorate his writings and speeches with his experiences from England, where he stayed for a while, or with literary works like "Democracy in America".

It can be said that Erdogan, who is in the leadership position of AK Party, is on a similar line since 2002. At the establishment of the Party, in order to show the progress he made in Necmettin Erbakan"s political line, Erdogan made the "We had taken the National Vision shirt off". In the following years, with his actions and words he had shown that he had adopted a different political interpretation.

In fact, if we go back even more, when Erbakan was chosen as the mayor of Istanbul from the Refah Party (Prosperity Party), the city had started to be a "party place".

According to research, between 2002 and 2012, alcohol consumption and public houses had increased in Turkey.

Under Erdogan"s rulership, abortion had been included in the social insurance and became a procedure, which will be paid by the state if a citizen had requested.

Under Erdogan"s rulership, non-Muslim foundations, which were seized by "laic" CHP, were given back to their respectful owners.

Under Erdogan"s rulership, the number of established nationwide djemevis had hit the roofs.

Again, under Erdogan"s rulership, Turkish LGBT groups, or gay organizations, had formed associations and even actualized the biggest march in the history of the country on the second day of Ramadan.

The same Erdogan, during his visits to Arabic countries like Egypt and Tunisia, had remarked that secularism is an important and necessary principle in the state government.

In the past week, Erdogan had declared his vision related to how he will administer the country as a President, in front of a crowded community.

Hande Yener, who is regarded as "Turkey"s Lady Gaga", and the transsexual singer Bülent Ersoy had attended this meeting also. Apparently, they weren"t feeling oppressed over their life styles!

The following sentences are from Erdogan"s vision statement, which was announced in that meeting:

"Similar to how a state cannot assert dominance over religion, in the same way, religious communities also cannot assert dominance over the state or other religious groups. The mission of the state is to secure the liberty of non-governmental organizations of establishments, which are formed by religions and beliefs."

However, the same Erdogan is not hiding his Muslim identity and the inspiration he gets from it, from the public.

He gives place to verses from the book he believes in, in the same way that American conservative politicians are doing in their speeches. At the end of his rallies, he says his goodbye to the crowds by entrusting them to Allah. He gives place to the Islamic countries" troubles in the first place of his agenda.

However, this can be transformed into joking matter in the mouths of authors who call themselves democrats. In order to humiliate Erdogan, they can connect to Emin Çölasan in the blink of an eye, and be on the same wavelength with Bekir Coskun.

Despite being aware of the developments I had mentioned above, they can claim that the country is becoming more religionist and that Erdogan is asserting a religious dominance. Sociology"s codes are not completely enough to understand this contingency. Although, if we look at the sociological aspect of this event, I guess the biggest discomforting occasion is not the suspicion that the country is becoming more religionist, but rather the trouble caused by being unable to assert hegemony over the country as they did before. Because, nowadays the only acceptable life style is not the ones secularists are living. Nowadays, the manifestations of pluralism, which existed in the society, are reflecting on the daily and political life. It is possible to see the signs of this by looking at the headscarved officers, increasing Ramadan programs that even take place on Dogan media, TV shows which have kerchiefed main characters, etc.

In the past ten years, a secularization, which is happening simultaneously with the liberation of the religion field in Turkey, is being experienced. Though, the intellectuals who call themselves "laic" hate the beliefs of the majority of public so much that they are being successful at shutting their eyes to the alterations in the country by embodying this hatred on Erdogan. By remaining "off topic" in the face of history, they are liquidating themselves.