Ataturk, the Turkish Republic and the PKK

This post is mostly dedicated to Ataturk and his important significance in Turkey. But first I’ll give an update on my little day adventure to the The Princess Islands. Seeing as I was here for the founding of the Turkish Republic holiday on October 29^th, I thought I would celebrate by visiting the Princess Islands out in the Sea of Marmara in between the European and Asian sides of Istanbul.

 First off it took 4 hours to get there because the traffic in Istanbul is horrendous and the public transportation system is completely inefficient here. If Istanbul had an efficient transportation system, I’m estimating it would take 1 hour to get to the islands. This was what I had to do to get from my apartment to the islands: get on a minibus from my house to Sariyer, transfer to another minibus to the start of the subway and ride the subway its whole length (a whopping 6 stops), transfer to a different underground tram type thing that takes me to the water, then hop on the above ground tram to take me to another part of Istanbul where most of the ferries leave. I then had to take a ferry to the Asian side and wait an hour to transfer to another ferry that was actually headed to the islands. So from apartment to islands took 4 hours. Ugh.

 Anyway, the Princess Islands of Istanbul are like the San Juan Islands of Washington. They are a group of islands with no cars allowed. The only way to get around is b

y foot, bike or horse drawn carriage. There are cute homes that people use in the summertime. I just wanted to visit a couple of them and check out the great views of the Asian side of Istanbul and the Sea of Marmara. Then on my way back home I got stuck on the Asian side because the Bosphorus was closed (they actually closed it!!!) for the fireworks and laser light show over the Bosphorus celebrating the founding of the Turkish Republic. October 29 is the equivalent of the 4^th of July, except that Turkey did not declare independence from any other country; it was the date the country of Turkey was officially founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk out of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire’s collapse after WW1. So it’s a HUGE deal for Turkey and for the remembrance of their influential leader Ataturk. I had a prime view right on the Bosphorus of the firework show and the laser light show. The firework show was exactly like all the fireworks shows over Lake Union and Elliot Bay. But the laser and strobe light show was unlike anything I had ever seen. The entire stretch of the Bosphorus was covered with hundreds of spotlights, laser lights and colored strobe lights that were positioned on the ground and also from the two bridges that connect the European and Asian sides. There was also Turkish-European techno-trance music blasting everywhere for miles. Imagine the entire stretch of Lake Washington covered with spot lights and laser lights like its one big party on the waterin the dark that goes for miles. It was such an incredible visual site!

 Ataturk and the Turkish Republic

So, back to Ataturk. Ataturk was the powerful leader that came to power after the collapse of the all might

y Ottoman Empire based in Istanbul. Ataturk assumed the presidency of the newly created secular republic. His real name was Mustafa Kemal, and he later took on the name Ataturk, which literally means “Father Turk”. After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey had many problems. It was Ataturk’s vision to see Turkey take its place among the modern, developed countries of Europe. At the time (1920’s), Turkey was impoverished and devastated after years of war, so a firm and strong leader was needed. Ataturk set up the institutions of democracy while never allowing any opposition to impede him. His ultimate motivation for his authoritarian style was the betterment of his people. One aspect of his vision was that the Turkish state be solely Turkish. In creating this national unity and identity, he denied a cultural existence to the Kurds and since then they have fought their sepratist struggle (see below).

 Ataturk’s drive for modernization was unwavering, giving the Turkish state a makeover on micro and macro levels. Turkey adopted the Georgian calendar to bring it in line with the West rather than the Middle East, standardized the Turkish language (to make it more officially Turkish) and told Turks to have last names. By the time of hi

s death in 1938, Ataturk had lived up to his name, having been the pre-imminent figure in the creation of the nation state and having dragged Turkey into the modern era by a combination of inspiration, ruthlessness and incredible vision. The praise of Ataturk continues to this day and when I first got here I was stunned and fascinated by Turkey’s devotion to this person. It is very visually obvious. Westerners are unused to this type of devotion and praise to absolute figures of authority and so it was weird for me. Any perceived insult to Ataturk is considered not only highly offensive but is also illegal. You can also be punished for “insulting Turkishness”. It was immediately obvious to me that Turks are very nationalistic – I have seen the Turkish flag displayed so much. Having nationalistic pride can be a good 

thing and a bad thing. One consequence of a strong national identity it is that it causes people to discriminate against minority groups (the Kurds) and it makes people not as accepting of people from other countries or ethnic backgrounds. The discrimination is very pervasive and very sad and has caused a lot of problems for Turkey.

 The Kurds and the PKK

Turkey has a significant Kurdish minority of roughly 14 million. They live in the eastern and southeastern regions of Turkey. They are not integrated into mainstream Turkish society. Virtually all Turkish Kurds are Muslims and while they look physically similar to the Turks, they have a separate language, culture and family traditions. When the modern Turkey was created, the Kurds were not guaranteed rights as a minority group, unlike the Christians, Jews and Armenians. Until recently the Turkish government refused to even recognize the existence of the Kurds, calling them “Mountain Turks”. Even today no one is allowed identify themselves as Kurdish nor can they be identified as Kurdish on their identity cards. In  1984 the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (the PKK) was formed. This organization is still to this day demanding and fighting for a separate state. They have been deemed a terrorist group (although I don’t know what countries exactly recognize them as a terrorist group). In 1999 a ceasefire between Turkey and the PKK was called but in 2004 it was broken and fighting has been going on ever since in the southeast. Some say the best hope for change lies in Turkey’s hopes to join the EU. The EU champions the rights of cultural and ethnic minorities and people hope that the path to EU membership will force Turkey to recognize and integrate the Kurds.

 Now hopefully when you read about PKK fighting in Turkey and Iraq, you will have the background to better understand some of the conflicts in the Middle East…..