But let’s not be unfair to Professor Kili; most of the professors at Boğaziçi University’s department of political science and international relations who have spoken of the same era held identical views regarding the single-party era and the May 27, 1960 coup.

One of the subjects which instructors who have studied in England or the US, which are considered cradles of (Western) civilization, were rationalizing was the May 27 coup and the single-party era, this at a time when all authoritarian regimes in the world were being toppled. They had to explain these happenings as though they were rational events.

In classes in which these subjects were covered, there were serious debates taking place between students who came from Anatolia and the instructors. The reason why I distinctly recall Professor Kili was the interesting event that occurred during one such discussion. Kili, who saw that the views a friend expressed about recent history did not correspond with mainstream views held in academia asked him what high school he graduated from. He most likely thought he would say an imam-hatip high school. But that wasn’t what happened because our friend named a high school that could not be associated with an ideology. Our teacher, who did not find the answer he was looking for, then asked our friend where he lived. Upon hearing the answer “Fatih,” he responded with, “Uh-huh,” connoting not just the relief he felt from finding a clue regarding his ideological make up, but a great deal of prejudice as well.

The safe haven thesis that our teachers would resort to as they attempted to defend the single-party era practices in history courses on the recent past of the country was this: Yes, it was hard to defend these practices from the perspective of today’s democratic values. But the single-party period and all reforms had a sublime reason. These practices were obligatory, but transient practices that must be resorted to in order to introduce democracy to the country. In the face of such a defense, it would be meaningless to criticize the Independence Courts, the political murders or other authoritarian single-party practices.

Those who would examine our political history would stick to two points when it came to May 27. One of them was the Inquiry Commission, which was attempted and quickly abandoned by the Democrat Party (DP). The second was the big set of democratic and social rights introduced by the 1961 constitution. Thus, they would stress these two points and say: The May 27 coup was perhaps not nice, but the DP deserved it by moving away from democracy and, moreover, Turkey obtained a very democratic constitution as a result of this criticized coup.

One of the most important figures academics have pointed to when basing their approaches defending these practices is Professor Özbudun, perhaps Turkey’s most important jurist on the international scale. Do you have anything to say about the single-party era? Look, even someone like Özbudun says it was a necessary and temporary era for the transition to democracy. Do you oppose the May 27 [coup]? Look, even a pro-democracy professor of constitutional law like Özbudun exalts the 1961 constitution in terms of freedom it allowed for.

At the opening of this year’s Abant meetings, Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin and Felicity Party (SP) leader Numan Kurtulmuş delivered strong speeches. But, the most striking were the two confessions Professor Özbudun made about the framework that continues to affect academic circles both in Turkey and abroad.

Recalling veteran journalist Hasan Cemal’s book, in which he confessed to having a coup-plotting phase, Özbudun said he made a mistake by seeing what was done during the single-party era as necessary and temporary steps. In light of his new analysis, he says the Republican People’s Party (CHP) does not have a target like democracy. The second confession was about the 1961 constitution. He said he also made a mistake by regarding that constitution as a progressive step for democracy and underlined that it actually planted the seeds of the regime of tutelage which was consolidated by the 1982 Constitution.

I wonder if these confessions made at Abant will reach our academics’ ears.
 
26 June 2010, Saturday
ABDULHAMİT BİLİCİ/ Today's Zaman

Source: ZAMAN

Admin Abant - 26-06-2010 12:33 - 342 times read