The intra-Turkish debate on the Mavi Marmara

Mustafa Akyol
Mustafa Akyol


Date posted: October 3, 2011

Mustafa Akyol

If there is any “national” opinion in Turkey today, it is that Israel should have apologized for killing nine civilian Turks on the Mavi Marmara. From Islamists to secularists, or nationalists to liberals, I have heard nobody who thinks that the Israeli soldiers were justified in what they did on that Gaza-bound civilian ship. Nor has anybody, to my knowledge, applauded the “no apology” decision of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

But this does not mean that all Turks think the same way about the Turkish activists on the Mavi Marmara, and the particular course of action some of them took. In fact, an interesting debate has just begun – and within a very interesting place: the Islamic camp.

In fact, the discussion had begun much earlier, right after the Mavi Marmara incident, when the most influential Islamic leader in Turkey, Fethullah Gülen, who has lived in the United States since 1998, gave an interview to the Wall Street Journal. Among other things, Gülen said that the organizers of the Gaza Flotilla should have sought an accord with Israel before attempting to deliver aid. “Defying authority,” he explained, “will not lead to fruitful matters.”

But this unexpected view of Gülen, as significant as it was, remained limited to the “Gülen Movement,” which considers him a spiritual guide. The broader Islamic camp remained strongly in favor of the activism of the Mavi Marmara, without any restraint.

Last week, however, a new discussion began with a column by Yıldıray Oğur in daily Taraf. Taraf is a passionately anti-militarist paper whose writers are “radical democrats” from various walks of life, ranging from former Marxists to liberal-minded Muslims. Mr. Oğur, who fits the latter description, has prestige within the conservative pro-Justice and Development Party, or AKP, camp, thanks not only to his solidly anti-Kemalist columns, but also his leadership in the “Young Civilians” movement. (The movement is a pun on, and an answer to, the “Young Officers,” which has been a euphemism for coup-craving soldiers within the Turkish military.)

In his piece dated Sep. 8 and titled “Self-Criticism Commission Report,” Oğur first explained that he supported the whole aim of the Mavi Marmara mission, considered its victims as “martyrs,” and condemned the Israeli military for executing them. But this, he argued, should not be the end of the debate. Turks should also question, he said, why some of the activists on the ship, instead of sticking to nonviolent disobedience, decided to resist Israeli commandos violently with iron bars. We Turks, Oğur argued, should see this, and be “more honest to reality.”

In the next few days, various writers in the Islamic camp criticized Oğur, some of them quite harshly, accusing him of blurring the black-and-white nature of a very justified cause. On Twitter, some even suggested that he should begin to write for the Jerusalem Post rather than the Turkish press.

To deepen the discussion, I invited Oğur to my weekly TV show, “Political Reason,” on TGRT News, a conservative national channel. For more than 90 minutes, we expanded on his criticism on the lack of a fully nonviolent response to Israeli aggression on the Mavi Marmara. On the one hand, the activists were justified in protecting their ship from piracy in international waters. But, on the other hand, it would have been much better if they decided to remain absolutely nonviolent, as the activists on the other ships of the Gaza flotilla did.

Similarly, Oğur and I agreed, Palestinians have the right to resist Israel militarily. But it would be wiser, and morally more commendable, if they chose to resist in the way that Mahatma Gandhi stood against the British. Many viewers agreed via Tweets and emails.

This debate is likely to go on, and will hopefully bring some more nuances to the Turkish position on Mavi Marmara. If the same thing happens among Israelis, too, then, perhaps, a political “tikkun” between Turkey and Israel might become more possible than it seems.

* For all of Mustafa Akyol’s works, including his recent book, ‘Islam without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty,’ visit his blog, TheWhitePath.com. On Twitter, follow him at @AkyolinEnglish.

Source: Hurriyet Daily News , September 13, 2011


Related News

Gulen`s Interview with the German Newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung

Gulen`s Interview with the German Newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. Interview with German Newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung ‘Charge of the Preacher’, dated 13th December 2014

Extradite Gülen? Really?

Enter the current coup plot. Erdogan literally has blamed every obstacle, fanciful plot, and malfeasance upon the elderly cleric. He fingered him in last Friday’s attempted coup even before the smoke settled. Increasingly, it seems the Obama administration might actually take the Turkish president seriously.

It’s not about a conflict between the government and Hizmet movement

Insanity ripples through the country, the media and the people. If graft or corruption is the prevailing form of life spreading from the state to society, and if this form of life is supported by people, then we are hitting the bottom day by day. A prosecutor can say “We can detain 500 thousand people if necessary” and still hold his post as if he said quite an ordinary thing. Whereas in Europe mental health of such a prosecutor would be called into question and most probably examined.

Fethullah Gülen is a Chance for Humanity: His Inclusive Perspective for Sustainable Global Triangulation

The basic values that mark the twenty-first century are modernism, pluralism, individualism, and religion. Some claim that modernity embraces individual and social life as a whole, and that it has created new forms of religious, cultural, and political pluralism. There is no doubt that the world today is in need of dialogue between cultures and civilizations more than at any other time; this is of the utmost urgency.

No measures taken against ‘parallel structure’ at top security meeting: General Staff

The Turkish General Staff has dismissed reports that measures against the “parallel structure” – the government’s code word for the movement of erstwhile ally Fethullah Gülen – in the army have been taken during a National Security Council (MGK) meeting on April 30.

Islamic scholar Gülen criticizes Turkish gov’t response to Gezi protests

Gülen said he had heard of Turkish officials’ efforts to “undermine Turkish schools abroad” which are run by his movement in many countries across the world. “Unfortunately, this appetite for destruction pushes all fair limits. These schools were established through the great self-sacrifice of the people of Anatolia,” he said.

Latest News

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

University refuses admission to woman jailed over Gülen links

In Case You Missed It

Brazilian Intellectuals and Artists Defend Turk against Demands for Extradition to Turkey

Turkey’s Crackdown on Businesses Sparks Concern

PM’s order echoes 2004 MGK decision [to undermine the Gulen Movement]

Officials involved in illegal deportation of Turkish teachers indicted by Kosovar court

Gülen and the AK Party: A common quest for democracy or something more? (1)

Cultural diaspora

Post-coup Turkey sliding into terror regime: Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk

Copyright 2023 Hizmet News