Is There a Single Complaint from 110 Countries?

Last Updated on Thursday, 25 December 2008 09:22 by Hüseyin Gülerce, Today's Zaman Thursday, 25 December 2008 00:00

We continue to discuss the study titled "Being Different in Turkey - Alienation on the Axis of Religion and Conservatism." No one can deny that there is a polarization in Turkey. What is wrong and dangerous is to aggravate this polarization and add fuel to the fire. There is no need to go too far back in time to find examples of this. In this country, a political party in power which had received the support of 47 percent of voters was punished on charges of "being the focal point of anti-secular activities." It was as if the Constitutional Court was forced to give this decision - six members saying yes, five members saying no. This alone is enough to give an idea about the source of this polarization, isn't it? If the ruling elites label one person out of every two people in society as potentially criminal just because the party that has been elected to power is not to their liking, then this necessarily leads to the creation of polarization in that society. Examples of alienation of minorities are abundant throughout history, but the example of how the majority is alienated can only be seen in our country.

If you claim to be a country where 99 percent of the population is Muslim and assert that there has been a return to religious life around the world, with the number of devout people having increased in our society as well, but at the same time, contradict yourself about "ever-increasing numbers of people greeting each other in the Islamic way," "visiting holy places" and "disapproving of the mingling of university girls and boys," then this comes to mean a disrespect for the very society that you live in, and also a great unfairness toward it.

In a society of 70 million people, you may find hundreds of thousands of harsh, inconsiderate, rude, intolerant and ill-mannered people. What did Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal say to those women in Antalya who criticized him about his chador initiative? He said, "Please, show respect." There are many people among the leftists, rightists, Sunnis, Alevis, Turks, Kurds, intellectuals, deputies, writers, editors-in-chief, professors, top judicial officials — let me stop here — to whom we may utter these words, "Please, show respect." Now when this truth is well known, how can it be reasonably explained or justified to call this study on alienation "scientific," interview 410 people, quote many false or wrong stories and, with this, add some more coal to the burning fire? Isn't this a great injustice against science and our society?

There is also an attempt to carry out this injustice against the "Gülen community," i.e., the people who are living representatives and symbols of tolerance, solidarity, conciliation and dialogue. In the study, it claims: "It seems that the 'democratic and moderate' attitude adopted by the guiding leaders and media organizations of the community in metropolitan cities is being replaced with conservative and discriminatory personalities. It is our opinion that the activities of these people in rural regions aggravate further the repressive conservatism existent in Anatolian cities."

How can a study be conducted by picking up hateful people who claim to be oppressed by devout people? How can it arrive at such conclusions? Are scientific conclusions expressed using the phrases "it seems that" or "it is our opinion that"?

The volunteers' movement known as the Gülen community is famous around the world with its activities promoting education and dialogue. It is regarded as an important movement with respect to the alliance of civilizations and universal peace, so it is accepted and supported. This is a movement that instills fresh hope for a bright future for the entire world in 110 countries in the Americas, Europe, Africa, Australasia and the Turkic republics. Moreover, our language, Turkish, is becoming a world language.

Suppose several people act in the wrong way because of their nature. Will it be a good thing to stress these individual cases in order to defame this unsullied and exemplary movement? We are talking about millions. These people exist in all towns and cities in 110 countries. Has there been a single complaint filed about any of these people from any of these 110 countries? Please have some common sense. Isn't it a big success ─ with God's help — that no bad cases have emerged among such a big and widespread movement in Turkey?

Isn't it high time we stop being inconsiderate toward these people who can express themselves to the entire world? Please, be fair.