[Marxism] Kemalism

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

(If you ignore the boilerplate "vanguard" chatter, you'll find this wsws 
article useful. As far as Fred's characterization of the MRZine article 
is concerned, I am not sure he read it carefully. It does not support 
the Kemalists or the AKP as the concluding sentence would indicate: 
"While the magician tells Turks and the rest of us to keep our eyes on 
the hand with the headscarf, he will be hiding neo-liberalism under 
every shell we never pick." It is basically the same analysis found in 
a really excellent NLR article by Cihan Tugal titled appropriately 
"Nato's Islamists": http://newleftreview.org/?view=2657

        
http://www.wsws.org/history/1998/nov1998/turk-n17.shtml
WSWS : News & Analysis : Middle East
75 years of the Turkish Republic
A balance sheet of Kemalism
By Justus Leicht
17 November 1998

Weeklong celebrations accompanied the anniversary of the founding of the 
Turkish Republic 75 years ago. On October 29 1923, Mustafa Kemal Pasha 
became president of the newly founded state. Since 1934 he was know as 
Atatürk--Father of the Turks. This year also saw the ninetieth 
anniversary of the revolution of the "Young Turks", the precursor of the 
Kemalists, and the sixtieth anniversary of Atatürk's death.

The founder of modern Turkey has become a somewhat of cult figure in the 
country. There has been hardly any critical appraisal of his role and 
that of "Kemalism", nor of the principles on which the state was founded.

The essence of Kemalism was the unity and independence of the country, 
secularism and republican principles (i.e., the separation of state and 
religion), modernisation and the creation of a society without classes 
and privileges. It is obvious that none of this has been realised.

Mass demonstrations on the seventy-fifth anniversary took place mainly 
in cities where the mayor is a member of the Islamic Refah (Welfare) 
Party of Necemettin Erbakan. A week after the festivities it was 
revealed that an attack by Islamic fanatics on the Atatürk mausoleum had 
only narrowly failed.

Nothing remains either of Atatürk's principle of "Halkçilik", which 
means a policy in the interests of the people and the denial of class 
contradictions. Unemployment and poverty have exploded over the last 
years, especially following the customs union with the EU (European 
Union) and as a consequence of the Asian crisis. In the cities, a large 
part of the population live in slums. Many of these slum-dwellers are 
refugees from the Kurdish areas of south-east Turkey, where a murderous 
war has "preserved national unity" at a cost of tens of thousands of 
lives. At the same time, it is has become clear that the state, the 
mafia and extreme right-wing death squads are closely linked.

In place of national independence has come complete dependence on the 
investments and credits of international capital. The only issue today 
is whether it is America that will continue to use Turkey as a 
bridgehead to the sources of raw materials and markets of the Middle 
East and the Turkish-speaking countries of the Caucasus, or whether 
Europe will achieve dominance. Nearly all of these countries sent their 
head of state to the festivities where, under the eyes of the American 
Minister of Energy, they signed a declaration of intent with Turkey to 
build an oil pipeline.

Not a single pledge or ideal of Kemalism has been realised. The question 
is posed: was this ever a real possibility? A short look back at Turkish 
history is necessary.

full: http://www.wsws.org/history/1998/nov1998/turk-n17.shtml

________________________________________________
YOU MUST clip all extraneous text before replying to a message.
Send list submissions to: Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism