Touchable or not?

I must admit I was inspired by “The Untouchables” film when writing the title. Readers will certainly remember the popular film starring Sean Connery, Kevin Costner, and Robert De Niro. Considering those who might want to watch it, without giving any spoilers, I will just say the film is a story in 1920s U.S. about the police’s struggle against crime organizations that emerged as a result of the alcohol ban. The active use of bribery in the order formed by crime organizations is one of the most important elements making it difficult for police to fulfill their duty. As they fight against the crime network, police must also pay attention within as well. Hence, they include in the team a newly graduated young police officer (Andy Garcia) from the police academy. At a time when the police make great progress, Al Capone sends his men to kill the accountant, who was expected to stand witness against him. After killing him, they write “touchable” on the wall in the man’s blood. They wanted to touch the force’s courage, determination to fight, and confidence that they will win – and they did. This is where the film gets its name. An almost untouchable group was formed. Thus, “The Untouchables.” The film focuses on the importance of personal initiative as well.

I have no idea if Ali Babacan watched this film. He was most likely in university at the time the film was released. Since he says, we will touch them, he involuntarily made reference to the film. This reference was very unlikely conscious, because those who wanted to touch were the crime organizations, and they were taking advantage of the operability of the profit network. It can be said that in terms of the current world system, we are experiencing a state in which the 1920s U.S. globalized. It is very clear that we are living in a mafia order established under U.S. leadership. Turkiye has been fighting against this global system for almost a decade now. Babacan openly declared his desire to touch right in the middle of this fight. He directly stated, without using any ambiguous expression, that he wanted to write “touchable” on the wall, against those who built the local and national drones, which can be considered the apple of the eye for Turkiye. It is another story whether he wrote this.

We know that Babacan is not alone in his desires. When he openly stated he wants to touch the architects of Turkiye’s new technology move, he drew no negative reaction from the political parties with which he is cooperating or those parties’ followers. This makes the new film much more exciting. We are in an atmosphere where those who want to touch are plenty. The demands presented during the Gezi Park events were also manifestations of the desire to touch. They too wanted to stop Turkiye’s “modernization” moves, and were trying to touch President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Hence, they touched everything but failed to reach the final stage. They too probably tried to touch the “accountant” but failed. Later, Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) members revealed their desire to touch as well. The July 15, 2016 invasion and coup attempt should be seen as a manifestation of this desire. Hence, Ali Babacan is not alone in this desire.

I really enjoyed watching “The Untouchables.” If someone had said that one of the most memorable statements in this film will have a response one day in our political life, I would never have believed them. A Turkiye with such strong ties abroad, in fact, a Turkiye that achieves this with liberal conservatives in the lead role was not very reasonable. Clearer and more reasonable opposites make opposition easier. Categories such as right-left, and secular-religious functioned as identifiers. Therefore, enjoying a film that tells the story of a struggle in 1920s U.S. was, of course, a good thing. In fact, the one-sided propaganda common in Hollywood films was not very disturbing. Yet, we had to face our own truth as well.

Unlike the 1920s U.S., it is very clear that Turkiye is going through a period in which is fighting against the international mafia order. There is no sense in seeking Al Capone in Turkiye. Only those who stand out in an environment where people who think it is a skill to talk and act on behalf of others can be excessive. This can give an idea about the most important scenes in a similar film. As you will remember, when in one of our first theatrical productions the expression “said the actress to the bishop” seemed difficult, it was changed. Such a change can be made in the film today as well:

“I didn’t say I will touch, I said someone will touch.”