Duke responds to Turkey protest

With recent protests in Istanbul spreading throughout the entire nation of Turkey, members of the Duke community, especially those with a connection to Turkey, have expressed concern at the country’s situation.

The current turmoil in Istanbul began Friday with a peaceful civilian protest against the erection of a shopping mall in one of the city’s last remaining parks. The demonstration quickly became violent, however, after police threw tear gas at protesters in Taksim Square, a central meeting point in the city. The forceful nature of these government methods has changed the original goal of the protests, which now serve as a critique of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an’s increasingly interventionist regime. Elected to his third term as prime minister in 2011, Erdo?an has overseen a number of reforms, including those that have lead to significant economic growth. In his most recent term, however, his establishment of controversial policies, such as restricting alcohol sales, as well an anti-abortion stance, have lead some to question whether democratic Turkey is becoming too authoritarian.

Serkan Yolacan, a fourth-year graduate student in cultural anthropology, has witnessed the unrest firsthand while visiting family in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. Although the recent events may seem sudden, Yolacan said that conflict has been brewing for a long time.

“I don’t think anybody really expected these events, and that’s the beauty of it,” Yolacan said. “It’s more about an outcry of the form. The general spirit was the outcry over the authoritarian nature of the government.”

The media’s depiction of the protests has painted a picture of escalating tensions between the secular, modern Turks and the traditional, Muslim citizens, but this is not really the case, Yolacan noted. He added that to portray it as thus only perpetuates an old stereotype while clouding the issue at the heart of the matter.

“Police brutality is not exaggerated,” Yolacan said. “People fear that it’s turning into a police state.”

Ali Denker, a resident from Istanbul who has witnessed the protests, emphasized the enormity of the situation.

“This is no longer about saving a tree, it is about taking back our personal freedoms,” Denker said. “We are here because of the government’s intervention on our lifestyle, public and private freedoms, the oppressive policies, and the Prime Minister’s persistent use of disproportionate force to clear the crowds.” 

Although Turkey is experiencing some unrest, the situation is by no means an “Arab Spring event,” said Erdag Göknar, Turkish-American assistant professor of Turkish and Middle Eastern studies and the academic director of the year-long Duke in Istanbul program and Duke in Turkey summer program. He emphasized that the situation is very different because Turkey is an established democracy and the protests are working from within an existing system, whereas the Arab Spring revolutions were intended to create democratic systems in states that had been living under functionally autocratic regimes.

“[The Turkish protest] is part of a greater democratic process,” Göknar said. “It is wonderful to have public space where people can gather and air their grievances.... We need to see protest and sometimes protest is not a grave danger to the democratic process.”

Turkey has often been presented as a successful model that many of the “failed societies” in the Middle East and broader Muslim world should follow, but the protests over the last few days have emphasized that the model itself is flawed and leaves room for improvement, said Timur Kuran, professor of economics and political science and Gorter family professor of Islamic studies. 

Due to initial delayed media coverage by many of Turkey’s largest media organizations and the country’s status as the state with the most imprisoned journalists, some feel there is reason to exercise caution before choosing a side in the happenings.

Nabeel Hyder, Trinity ’13 who participated in the Duke in Turkey study abroad program last summer, said he has been following the events in Turkey closely and noted that it is important to be wary of news reports as all involved parties in the protests may be “compromising truths” to better serve their goals.      

Although he disagreed with the Turkish police’s use of force during the peaceful protests, he noted that the current government has not been an entirely negative organization and has had significant support from the public in the past.

“A lot of the minority people are saying that the leaders are acting like dictators, but this party has been elected by popular vote three times and has brought on international and economic prosperity,” Hyder said. “All the blame is not necessarily accurate.”      

The conflict has led some to wonder what will happen to Duke’s two study abroad programs in Turkey, one of which is a six-week summer opportunity entitled Duke in Turkey that is scheduled to begin July 1.      

Göknar said the summer opportunity will go on as planned. He noted that Duke in Turkey’s location at Bogazici University keeps students away from the tumult as the campus is in a different region of Istanbul than the protests. He added that he does not think the violence of the protests will be long-lived and the events offer a valuable teaching moment. Still, due to a few worried notes from future program participants, Goknar said that he has sent out an email to participating students detailing the problems in Turkey and explaining that students will be unaffected, but that the events in Turkey are being closely monitored in case something changes.

Ultimately, Yolocan said that the protests are about making a statement and calling attention to the needs of the Turkish people.

 “Because [the government] has gotten 50 percent of the votes…the prime minister thinks that he has license to do as he likes and these protests are basically to say no, you are the prime minister of the other half of the country as well,” Yolocan said.

The protests which have largely been lead by college students in Turkey may inspire others around the world, particularly unemployed, young and educated people in Europe and the United States, Kuran said.

“They discovered in the courses of these spontaneous demonstrations that happened all across the country...and they discovered that collectively they can exercise a great deal of power—they can make the ruling party take note of their demands and this provides a lesson, provides hope to young people all around the world,” Kuran said. “If it can be done in Turkey, it can be done in other democracies.”

Raisa Chowdhury and Merve Tahiroglu contributed reporting.