Adam McConnel

U.S. elites also have fears concerning the masses, but their relationship to religion is often ambiguous. At least it is not a blanket matter of the” enlightened, science-minded” elite versus the “religious, i.e. ignorant and superstitious” people.

In the previous essay I discussed Edward Said’s Orientalism as a basis for understanding the relationship between Turkish politics and its the international liberal-leftist perceptions. I concluded by urging such international liberals or leftists to examine more carefully the power dynamics that affect industrializing societies like Turkey, and to dwell more seriously on whether the understanding they have of their own societies may be distorting their analysis of societies, such as Turkey, which are fundamentally different.

European societies have long built and deployed various conceptions towards the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish people in general. It is Erdoğan who is now being targeted as the “Terrible Turk” of this stereotypical narrative.

All I can say to those thinking of following in the footsteps of Byron, Baskerville, Lindh, and so many others have made is: reconsider. Don’t make that mistake. Don’t become someone else’s tool. Don’t sacrifice your life for someone else’s violent struggle.

The six million people who voted for the HDP last month, and which represented a dramatic increase in the party’s electoral support, were certainly not only Kurdish, but also many leftist Turks who for once switched over from the CHP.

For some readers, the Greater Middle East Project may now be no more than a dimly-remembered name emerging from memory’s misty recesses. For young people, it could be an entirely new issue.

I’ve never forgotten Pollock’s column because it exemplifies the neo-con attitude towards Turkey at that time. Overall, Pollock’s editorial is stunning for both the ignorance he displays concerning Turkey, and the breathtaking arrogance he exudes while expressing that ignorance. Towards the column’s end his real feelings emerge: Turkey is apparently populated by a mass of ingrates who have forgotten all of the wonderful things that America has done for them.

Here is what all foreign observers and commentators should understand: the essential reason for the past few years’ political upheavals is that the AKP has taken on these corrupt “institutions” in Turkish state and society, and has tried to impose transparency on them.

Turkey was experiencing the Age of Ideology. Now, however, with the removal of the soldiers from politics, as well as a drastic curtailing of the influence of the Fethullah Gülen movement, Turkey looks to be entering the same “end times” explained by Bell so many decades ago.

For the past year you have carried out a campaign of editorial comment aimed at casting doubt over Turkey’s democratic system, and at affecting international opinion concerning Turkey’s government. You should by now realize that your understanding of Turkish politics, and of the Turkish political system, is gravely flawed.

The early elections held on 22nd July 2007 returned the AKP to power with 46.6 percent of the vote and 341 seats in parliament. At the same time, the MHP also broke the 10 percent barrier to rejoin parliament – and declared that it would not be boycotting the presidential election, circumventing a new “367” crisis and enabling Abdullah Gül to be elected Turkey’s eleventh president with 339 votes on the third round.

Turkey’s security and economic interests, though now more diversified than during the Cold War, still benefit fundamentally from the relationship with the U.S., with NATO, and with the EU.

Happy new year Turkey! With good intentions from the NYT

The NYT v. Erdoğan, Part 2: The Anxiety Closet