Turkey - Then and Now

The modern nation of Turkey has a rich and ancient heritage. One of the the earliest ethnicities of Turkey was a group known as the Hittites. They developed a sophisticated literacy and left behind expansive libraries of complex clay tablets. Their intellectual heritage, however, was trampled beneath the boots of invading armies - the Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans, all of whom subjugated the territory long before the pacifistic teachings of Jesus. Eventually confined under the rule of the Ottoman Emperors, Turkey was not to taste cultural independence until the early 1920s. Although it seemed that Turkey was finally emerging into the societal sunshine, recent events have raised the hypothesis, according to the Washington Times,

that the semi-secular state founded by Ataturk in 1923 was merely a quaint experiment of the 20th century, and that the new millennium may witness a return of the Islamist orientation that defined the preceding Ottoman Empire for 600 years.

Would Turkey really step back from the hints toward civil rights, human rights, and democracy which it enjoyed for approximately eighty years?

This is hardly a foregone conclusion because Turkish politics teeter-totters through cycles of moderation and radicalism, but Turkey’s oft-neglected history is relevant no matter which direction the republic turns.

So there may yet be hope for the people of Turkey. But why would the leaders or the people of Turkey toy with the notion of returning to the darkness of the brutal medieval regime which so harshly crushed any flickering spark of the cultural glory that once was the original nation of Turkey? Why would there be even the possibility of anyone accepting this gigantic step backward into gloom which overshadowed the nation for centuries? Perhaps because it offers the lure of expansionist glory: the citizens might be content to surrender their chances at personal liberty and individual freedom for a chance to conquer neighboring territories. The Turks remember

the long and bloody history of Turkish conquest in Europe, which culminated in the siege of Vienna in 1683. The cautionary tale is that Islamic jihadist armies made it that far into the heart of Europe and nearly prevailed. Many fear a new invasion is in the works. And indeed, in the Islamic world, the expansionist vision is not a relic of the past. Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the spiritual guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, declared that, “Islam will return to Rome conquering and victorious.” Religion is thus still central to this old conflict.

Will Turkey continue to nudge itself toward a social structure which values peace and human life? Or will it trade that option for a chance to dominate parts of eastern Europe? At this time, nobody knows.