The battle for Turkey's secular future
Students protested against a referendum that could threaten the country's secular roots before the vote earlier this month. Photo by Akshan de Alwis
Akshan de Alwis is a freshman at Noble and Greenough School
Turkey is at the crossroads of continents and civilizations and the place where cultures cross fertilize. Over centuries, Turkey has been the gateway to Asia and Europe, and continues to be the crucible of many different cultures. Since Mustapha Kemal, fondly revered as Aturturk, the father of modern Turkey, revitalized the country as a republic, Turkey has been a bastion of secularism.
In the last few years though, conservative ideologies have begun to clash with secularism and the Turkish people are faced with balancing the two.
I traveled to Istanbul on Aug. 30, the eve of the anniversary of Turkey’s independence day, and witnessed the buildup to a constitutional referendum in which these political tensions would come to the fore.
As I drove from the airport, crescent shaped domes of mosques were juxtaposed with billboards urging Evet, or yes, in large letters. On every square was a van with the word Evet. That night, when I left my hotel for dinner, I came face to face with student protesters carrying large banners proclaiming the word Hayir, or no. Every night for the next five days, I watched vibrant young students marching through the streets.
On my first afternoon in Istanbul, I visited Arda, an academic institution focused on strengthening democracy in Turkey with a membership of over 500 youth organizations. I met with the head of their youth branch and quizzed him on the referendum. He told me that since the government did not get the required two-thirds vote in Parliament for a series of constitutional reforms they had to put the proposed changes to a referendum.
The proposed laws would remove immunity for top military officials responsible for war crimes in the 1980 coup and the two years of martial law that followed. While most Turks support the proposal, which was demanded by the Kurdish population, it is bundled together with other proposed reforms that would limit the power of the Turkish constitutional court and give the president the power to appoint judges.
The Turkish justice system is considered to be the bulwark against erosions of secularism in Turkey. The Republican Peoples Party (CHP), the more secular party, opposed the referendum, which is being propelled by the Justice and Development Party (AKP). The CHP fears that this will be a turning point in Turkey’s history and a shift away from a secular state.
I talked to a few students who felt strongly that the government had disingenuously packaged disparate proposals and that people were only aware of the one to hold the military accountable for coup-related crimes.
Turkey, though a predominately Muslim country, is the only one in the Middle East in which secularism is decreed by its constitution. The headscarf is banned in public places, including schools. The constitutional court has upheld the ban on headscarves, even when it meant that women in headscarves were expelled from medical school.
Although no one wants a return to a military state, many students feel that Turkey’s strong constitutional court and secularist notions are the cornerstones of its strength. They believe that Mustapha Kemal’s dream of a secular state should not be replaced by one in which religious liberties are politicized and society is deeply polarized.
A week after I returned, on Sept. 14, voters approved the referendum proposals. I asked the youth leaders of Arda how they envisioned their future now. "We need to engage with our leaders on an equal basis,” they told me. “Till then, they cannot speak for us.”
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