Bekir Coskun: Winning over the "belly-scratching man"....
Güncelleme Tarihi:
The "belly-scratching man" is not a physical description.
No, the "belly-scratching man" is a social description.
People can, after all, scratch their bellies.
But a person, after you sit for two hours and describe to them how you have been used and tricked, says only "let them steal, it's enough that there's work," then that person is a belly-scratching man.
*
Milliyet reporter Fikret Bila carried off an important interview with former military top commander, retired General Hilmi Ozkok. The interview has been being published over the past few days. In yesterday's segment, Ozkok said this:
"We have to win over the belly-scratching man. While some simply see him as distasteful, others actually take off their shoes, enter his house, and win him over."
In terms of a political approach, this is correct.
For the "belly-scratching men" are the majority in Turkey, and whoever wins them over wins the political victory.
But to engage in winning him over does not really include any "political ethics."
Because you cannot ascend to a high position while you are busy lowering yourself to the "belly-scratching man's" level, honoring him and awarding him.
Nope, you just head downwards.
Maybe there are certain political parties which can profit off of this, but in general, Turkey loses.
To wit, since this has been the political approach of the right wing parties in Turkey since 1950, the nation has rotted as it heads towards modernization.
Which is why today, intellectuals are busy debating whether Turkey will somehow "turn into Malasyia."
Which is why the Western media seems to see the phrase "moderate Islamic state" as appropriate for the secular Turkish Republic.
And which is why a person wearing a turban (Hayrunnisa Gul) now resides in that symbol of secularity, Cankaya Presidential Palace.
*
The "belly-scratching man" has no political character.
He likes only those who resemble himself.
He has some slight predilections though; for example, he'll always give his vote to those who bring him coal, or pasta and chickpeas. He doesn't want to see his political representatives in the library; he'd rather see them in the mosque courtyard.
He never reads.
He never wakes up.
He never sees.
He never thinks.
And of course, the "belly-scratching man" never, but never, scratches his head.