One fine morning the Turks discovered an interesting report in one of the country’s best-known dailies about a closed-door meeting, attended by lawmakers of Justice and Development Party (AKP), in which Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan reportedly floated an idea to do away with mixed-sex dorms.
The report stirred a heated debate in Turkey. Initially, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc tried to shrug off those reports, now he is trying to distance himself from the decision. Arinc has even announced his plans to withdraw from active politics after disagreement with Erdogan over the issue. Erdogan’s move has touched a nerve among those who accuse him of trying to force his “conservative” values on Turkey. It has become a hot issue being deliberated upon by people belonging to all political hues. Everybody is coming up with his/her own interpretation. The traditional right is expecting repressive measures, while the seculars see it as a move against their secular ideals and imposition of Islamic values on the country.
Undoubtedly, the government has come under fire from all quarters. The cause of the simmering anger remains the same as has been witnessed during the Gezi Park protests. The Turkish people get tetchy when it comes to their personal freedoms.
They have all the reason to get angry as this anger is rooted into their fears of seeing their society getting radicalized. In the current global scenario, their fears are justified. They do not wish to see radicals impose their skewed interpretation of Islam on Turkey. Turks are very well aware of the havoc that these radical have wreaked in the neighboring countries in the name of so-called Arab Spring. Whatever happened in Egypt is an eye-opener. The Turkish people, who have lived with democracy and freedom for nearly a century, are thus justified in their concerns.
Amid all the fears and anger, people somehow did not get the drift. The decision to do away with mixed-sex dorms has been taken amid various complaints. According to sources privy to the issue, a large number of unofficial student dorms have sprung up in parts of the country. Reports say they are increasingly becoming hideouts of elements associated with communist and terror groups. Moreover, reports of prostitution rings doing brisk business in those unregulated dorms have also prompted the authorities to look into this matter.
The whole issue is about checking such activities and bringing such dorms under government supervision. And wherever necessary, the authorities may order closure of certain dorms. All this makes perfect sense. The media, apparently unnecessarily wary of Erdogan’s policies, blew the issue out of proportion and caused uproar in Turkey. The Western media, which never miss an opportunity to malign AKP for its leanings toward Islam, also joined the chorus.
Turkey is a unique country and the Turkish people are devoted to their traditions, loyal and obedient. At the same time, however, they are democratic, freedom loving and despise extremes, and they have little patience for repression and restrictions. This may stem from their being a nation that has lived under democracy for 90 years. It may also have come from close contact with the West but in contrast to the West, it has made them more devout rather than turning them away from religion.
It has made them all the more religious because freedoms open the way to faith. We have gone through many phases. The fear of radicalism has always been strong in this country. Coups took place for that reason and believers were persecuted; wearing of headscarf was banned. The current government has successfully put Turkey on the road to progress; eradicated a terror organization, which existed within the state itself and has taken measures aimed at resolving communist terror.
It was applauded when the ban on wearing headscarf in public offices was lifted this year. Those applauding it included secularists, neo-nationalists, leftists and even atheists. They were ideologically opposed to the headscarf, but were applauding the country being freed from a restriction. They were applauding liberty.
In my understanding, improper education leads to immoral behavior. It is the materialistic mindset that often misleads people and drives them away from the path of God. Until and unless, we overhaul our education system we won’t be able to get rid of these social ills. We must address the root cause of the problem. Turkey is not alone; this has become a global phenomenon. Materialism is the root cause of many ills facing Turkey and the entire world. We must do away with this materialistic mindset. For that we must educate our youth their true purpose in life. It is not all about material progress. There is more to it that needs to be understood.
The writer is a commentator on Turkish TV and a columnist.
