Terror-weary world should listen to Turks
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Kasım 28, 2008 00:00
Our most immediate thoughts must be with the victims, their families and all touched by terror as we witness the still-unfolding story of Mumbai’s slaughter. We share in the world’s mourning and condolences.
We also share concern for the long-term response to this planetary scourge, which Turkey knows well. For we believe Turkey has something to offer: a growing if unheralded social consensus on how to make our country and the world safer.
Yes, terrorists must be brought to justice. But we disagree with the notion in many western capitals that we must fight and win a "war on terror." The unquestioned illogic in this phrase is the problem. A "war on terror" cannot succeed in the 21st century any more than a "war on air power" against bombardment from the skies could succeed at the advent of the 20th century.
Terror is indeed all the adjectives we ascribe to it: brutal, unforgivable, evil. It is also a tactic. A "war on tactics" is a contradiction in terms. What can be confronted is the whole continuum of causality that leads to embrace of such tactics. George Bush is just one who has failed to make this conceptual leap. We suspect one who has succeeded is Robert Gates, the U.S. defense secretary brought in by Bush to clean up after his cronies and now tapped again by incoming President Obama. We are hopeful.
Which is why we will argue that Turkey, unusually if not uniquely, has evolved a consensus on terror; it is a consensus perhaps often unacknowledged but one that is not driven by revenge-seeking and worthy of broader international discussion.
We cannot prove it empirically. But we pay careful attention to the news and the tone of the growing shelves of books on the topic in bookstores. We talk with lawmakers, generals, families of victims and many others. We see growing understanding that Turkey’s own fight with terror can only be resolved with economic development, social cohesion, education and many other steps.
We note it is the military’s general staff sponsoring a program to train and employ jobless youth in Diyarbakir. We note it was the military that recently, according to press reports, reprimanded the ruling party for its slow pace of cultural and other reforms in the Southeast. We note that the Higher Education Board, or YÖK, just endorsed the creation of Kurdish studies faculties in Turkish universities. Let’s face it: The European Parliament would not look to such institutions for leadership on this issue. It’s next visiting delegation should.
We hope that Turkey’s many minders in Europe and elsewhere will note this too. It may as yet be largely unheralded, but Turkey is at the forefront of a meaningful confrontation with the sources of terror. If it listens, the world could learn a great deal.
Yes, terrorists must be brought to justice. But we disagree with the notion in many western capitals that we must fight and win a "war on terror." The unquestioned illogic in this phrase is the problem. A "war on terror" cannot succeed in the 21st century any more than a "war on air power" against bombardment from the skies could succeed at the advent of the 20th century.
Terror is indeed all the adjectives we ascribe to it: brutal, unforgivable, evil. It is also a tactic. A "war on tactics" is a contradiction in terms. What can be confronted is the whole continuum of causality that leads to embrace of such tactics. George Bush is just one who has failed to make this conceptual leap. We suspect one who has succeeded is Robert Gates, the U.S. defense secretary brought in by Bush to clean up after his cronies and now tapped again by incoming President Obama. We are hopeful.
Which is why we will argue that Turkey, unusually if not uniquely, has evolved a consensus on terror; it is a consensus perhaps often unacknowledged but one that is not driven by revenge-seeking and worthy of broader international discussion.
We cannot prove it empirically. But we pay careful attention to the news and the tone of the growing shelves of books on the topic in bookstores. We talk with lawmakers, generals, families of victims and many others. We see growing understanding that Turkey’s own fight with terror can only be resolved with economic development, social cohesion, education and many other steps.
We note it is the military’s general staff sponsoring a program to train and employ jobless youth in Diyarbakir. We note it was the military that recently, according to press reports, reprimanded the ruling party for its slow pace of cultural and other reforms in the Southeast. We note that the Higher Education Board, or YÖK, just endorsed the creation of Kurdish studies faculties in Turkish universities. Let’s face it: The European Parliament would not look to such institutions for leadership on this issue. It’s next visiting delegation should.
We hope that Turkey’s many minders in Europe and elsewhere will note this too. It may as yet be largely unheralded, but Turkey is at the forefront of a meaningful confrontation with the sources of terror. If it listens, the world could learn a great deal.