Turkey,
a Model for the Islamic World
By Dr. Syed Amir
Bethesda, MD
The Muslims of undivided India
had developed a special and highly emotional bond
with the Ottoman Caliphate, especially during
the empire’s declining days. The advent
of the 20th century brought perilous times for
Ottoman Turkey, dubbed the sick man of Europe
by Europeans powers, as it found itself engaged
in a desperate struggle (1912-1913) to hold on
to its remaining possessions in the Balkans.
The Turkish military was suffering severe reverses
and experiencing extensive loss of human lives
at the front. These disheartening reports, as
they reached India, caused much anguish and pain
among Indian Muslims. Living under colonial rule,
there was not much they could do to support the
beleaguered Turks. However, in December 1912,
a medical team was organized under the leadership
of Dr. Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari, one of the most celebrated
physicians of his time, to tend the sick and wounded
soldiers returning from the Balkan front. Both
Muslims and Hindus gave a warm send off to the
Red Crescent medical mission as it embarked on
its humanitarian journey. A year later, having
successfully fulfilled its mission, the team returned
home to a heroes welcome.
Turkey eventually lost much of its European empire,
and even though it hardly had time to recover
from the Balkan disaster, in October 1914, it
unwisely entered the First World War on the side
of Germany. When the war ended with German defeat,
the Ottoman Empire had lost most of its territories
in the Middle East; and, even more ominously,
its heartland was being threatened with dismemberment.
Alarmed at the prospect that the long-revered
Islamic institution of the Caliphate might be
dismantled, Indian Muslims launched a powerful
movement under the leadership of Maulana Mohammed
Ali and Shaukat Ali, to ensure its preservation.
Known as the Khilafat Movement, it gained enthusiastic
public support, forging an unprecedented unity
between the Hindu and Muslim masses (1919-1924).
The movement, however, fizzled out when in 1924
Kamal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, officially
abolished the office of the Caliph and banished
the last Caliph, Abdülmecit II, from Turkey,
sending him into permanent exile. The last Caliph
died in Paris in 1944, unmourned and unnoticed,
his death not meriting even a simple obituary
in any prominent newspaper. His remains were finally
taken to and buried in Medina, the only Ottoman
Caliph to be laid to rest there.
The Khilafat movement once so powerful, so popular
in India has long since been forgotten, now largely
relegated to the pages of history books. Nevertheless,
Muslims of the subcontinent have never severed
their emotional ties with Turkey and their interest
in its political fate has never waned. Following
the birth of Pakistan, relations between Turkey
and the newly independent Muslim state got even
closer and warmer.
Turkey is currently undergoing a political turmoil,
unparalleled in gravity since the founding of
the modern Republic in 1923. The unfolding political
situation is being watched with much interest
by the whole world, since the makeup of the future
Turkish Government is likely to have broad implications
for the region, especially the Muslim world. Importantly,
it may have major relevance to Pakistan, since
the two countries share many of the same problems.
Turkey with a population of 74 million has been
characterized as the bridge between western and
Islamic civilizations. However, for at least a
century it has combated the problem of self-identity.
Kamal Ataturk who saved Turkey from dismemberment
in the devastating aftermath of the First World
War instituted a number of reforms and modernized
its constitution, laws and educational system,
giving voting rights to women and opening new
career paths to them. While redirecting Turkish
politics from religion to nationalism, unfortunately
he also established a secular system, in some
respects so oppressive that it has not been fully
accepted by the people. While the contemporary
Turkish political parties do not question the
principle of separation of religion from the state
functions, some of the intrusive symbols of secularism,
such as the banning of headscarves from universities
and government offices have left a simmering resentment
among a segment of the population.
Until recently, Turkey was ruled by a succession
of secular politicians, elitist in outlook and
exclusive in approach, who had rigidly adhered
to the principles and ideals laid down by Kamal
Ataturk. The recent economic success of the country,
however, is transforming the political, cultural
landscape and demographics of the country. It
has conferred on the erstwhile economically-deprived
electorate in the rural heartland new prosperity
and a sense of power, and they tend to be more
religious and traditional in their lifestyle.
However, the influence of Islam on the political
process is not new in modern Turkey; it was already
evident in the eighties and early nineties when
the Welfare Party led by Necmettin Erbakan, who
briefly became the prime minister in 1996 in a
coalition government, won a significant number
of parliamentary seats. Turkey’s powerful
armed forces which consider themselves guardians
of secularism and Ataturk’s legacy intervened
and banned the Welfare Party in 1998, disqualifying
Mr. Erbakan from participation in the political
process for five years. Since 1960, the military
has four times dismissed civilian governments
considered insufficiently dedicated to the secular
doctrines. However, unlike Pakistan where generals
tend to cling to power, the Turkish armed forces
have mostly retreated to barracks fairly quickly.
Turkey’s present government was elected
with a huge majority in 2002 and is led by Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who built his political
career as a member of the Islamist Welfare party.
However, in 2000 he started his own Justice and
Development Party (AK), promising to keep his
personal beliefs separate from the business of
government. The AK party holds a majority of 351
seats in the parliament, out of a total of 550
members, enough to amend the constitution. The
ruling party since coming to power has implemented
a number of changes to conform to human rights
standards needed to satisfy conditions for admission
to the European Union (EU). The government has
also kept its promise to abide by the principle
of secularism to the degree that neither the wife
of the prime minister nor of foreign minister,
both of whom wear headscarves, attend any official
functions, since the current law prohibits wearing
of Hijab in public buildings and schools. Most
of all, unlike the rampant inflation and corruption
that plagued the country in the past, Erdogan
has presided over a clean and efficient administration
and a robust economy. The country has achieved
a remarkable annual economic growth rate exceeding
7 percent that has ignited a veritable economic
explosion. Furthermore, the party’s broad
populist appeal and its Islamic roots have reduced
the feeling of alienation felt by Kurdish citizens.
The country’s national elections were not
due until November this year, but a crisis was
precipitated by the need to elect a new president
in place of the retiring president, Ahmet Neecdet
Sezer, a dedicated secularist, whose seven-year
term ends this year. Although largely a ceremonial
position, the president does have the power to
veto legislative bills, and can block the appointment
of influential military and civilian officials.
The secularist parties became alarmed when Prime
Minister Erdogan nominated his foreign minister,
Abdullah Gul, also with Islamic credentials, to
be the new president. They accused the AK Party
of pursuing a hidden agenda to replace the present
secular constitution with the Sharia. They argued
that, with Abdullah Gul as president, the AK party
will have no one to stop them from pursuing their
agenda. However, the ruling party has categorically
refuted these charges, maintaining that they fully
respect the principle of the separation of religion
from politics and have no desire to impose their
religious convictions on the country.
Recently, there have been huge demonstrations
in the major Turkish cities in support of preservation
of the secular character of the constitution.
Many women are concerned that they may be forced
to wear a veil and denied education and career
opportunities. Even the Turkish military made
a veiled threat to intervene if the country’s
secular ideology was subverted. Nonetheless, the
generals were upbraided by the EU, American Secretary
of State and Mr. Erdogan himself, and advised
to stay out of politics. So far, they have respected
the civilian control and have stayed in their
barracks.
Meanwhile, Mr. Gul’s election to the presidency
was declared invalid by the Turkish Constitutional
Court, which agreed with the opposition party’s
claim that the assembly that elected him lacked
a quorum. To break the political impasse, Mr.
Erdogan ordered early elections on July 22, and
most observers expect him to return with an even
greater parliamentary majority. He is also moving
to amend the constitution so that the future presidents
would be elected by popular vote, not by parliamentarians.
Why is Turkey’s political fate so important
to the Muslim world at large? Today, when many
Muslim countries are being tormented by suicide
bombers targeting the innocent, extremists and
Jehadists with an agenda that would take our societies
backward into the medieval times, Turkey, under
the AK Government, presents to the world a face
of an Islamic country that is moderate, tolerant,
progressive and democratic, and that at the same
time proudly adheres to its Islamic faith and
traditions.
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