[Originally published in Hürriyet Daily News]
Like every other April 23, last Thursday was Turkey’s National Sovereignty and Children’s Day. There were celebrations throughout the whole country to honor this national holiday. The one in Istanbul’s Taksim Square was a bit ironic, though. There were thousands of children from various Istanbul schools who were in uniforms tailored for this special occasion. The uniforms were bright and eye-catching, but also as thin as T-shirts. And, unluckily, it was a very cold day. No wonder the teachers and the bureaucrats who overlooked them were wearing thick coats. “We are almost freezing,” said a little girl to the cameras. “I wanna go home.”
This reminded me of my own April 23rds, way back in the 80s. Like every other elementary school student, I, too, was made to join the compulsory celebrations. Actually it was a national holiday, so our classes were off. But we were still instructed to come to school early in the morning to join the ceremonies. “Those who don’t show up will go to the discipline council,” our teachers would threaten us. And that scary council was a place where they would give you all sorts of “punishments.”
Fun or indoctrination?
That’s why all kids would come to school on this “holiday” and line up in the schoolyard to listen to the never-ending talks by the director, the vice director, various teachers and a few students who were made to memorize poems that praised Atatürk, our heavenly father.
In fact, the praising of Atatürk was the main theme of the whole extravaganza. After the speeches, students would make choreographed dances around his posters. In stadiums, where bigger celebrations were held, they would line up in the steps with colorful boards to form slogans such as, “O Atatürk, we are on your path.” And at the very end of the day, we would all thank the Supreme Leader for “giving us this children’s festival, the only one in the world.”
The bizarre thing was, and still is, this: April 23 is defined as the “Children’s Festival,” but it really is not designed to entertain children. If that were the main goal, the best thing to do would be to bring up clowns to hand out candy, and then head to a theme park. But, no, the festival is not about kids having fun. It is about them being indoctrinated. In fact, all “national festivals” of Turkey are designed to indoctrinate society with the official ideology and its underlying cult of personality. After April 23 comes May 19, the day of the “Remembrance of Atatürk, Sports and Youth.” It is another must-see. This time high school students line up in schoolyards and stadiums to sing the praises of Atatürk. Muscled young men make acrobatic shows in order to show how “fit” the Turkish nation is. And young girls in almost-mini skirts march in parades in order to assert the “modern” identity the national father has blessed us with.
The two other national festivals are August 30, the day when Atatürk won the greatest battle during the War of Liberation, and October 29, the day when Atatürk announced the Republic. A fifth “national day” of sorts is November 10, the day that Atatürk regrettably died. At 9:05 a.m., the very moment that he passed away, sirens go off and citizens stand up in silence and tears to mourn for the loss of “the greatest Turk ever.”
As you can see, all these “national days” are designed to venerate Atatürk. Special care is given to children and the youth because they are “the future of the regime,” and it is clever to engineer their minds when they are still fresh. “A tree can bend only when it is young,” reads a Turkish proverb, and the Turkish Republic seems to know that well.
It is impossible to miss the similarity here with the usual methods that totalitarian regimes use in order to brainwash their societies. Indeed, both visually and verbally, Turkey’s “national days” very much resemble the ones in Mao’s China or Kim Il Sung’s North Korea.
Leader or Demigod?
In fact, there would be no harm in respecting and honoring Atatürk, who, indeed, was a great leader who served the nation. Democratic societies have their heroes, too. George Washington or Abraham Lincoln would be good examples in the United States. But none of those heroes are elevated to demigods. And none of them are depicted as the only source of wisdom that the nation needs.
In Turkey that is exactly what is done. The respect Atatürk rightfully deserves is raised to the level of worship. This gives Kemalism, the ideology created in his name, an aura of sacredness. And it gives the Kemalists an inherent right to rule. That is what our “Children’s Day” is really all about.
Even a democrat must not tolerate fascism. Delegates from Turkish Medical Association (T.T.B.) are invited to Taksim Square as âhonorary guestsâ for the celebration of Mayday (tomorrow)! If such trade unionism is really âprogressiveâ (the âDâ of âDISKâ is so translated to English by itself), what label one puts on the author of âLe Malade imaginaireâ?â namely Monsieur Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (Molière) whose complete works are translated to Turkish under the âdictatorshipâ of Inonu.
Mr. Akyol,
I agree that there is quite a few issues that need to be reformed regarding Kemalism and its interpretation. However, during its process of nation building every state refer to similar practices, and gradually abandon them as they perceive relatively more secure vis-a-vis their surrounding. I simply do not understand why you keep referring to the US, and comparing Turkey with the US. Have you heard of segregation at public schools until the 1970s in the US? When did gays and lesbians granted civil rights in the US? When were women allowed to vote? Have you read anything about the relationship between geopolitics and political regimes? Why do you think the US democracy is the model for every country given the exceptional historical circumstances it progressed in, and how it miserably failed in every other country it forcefully imposed, including Iraq?
Regarding your childhood stories on every April 23, I recall my religion classes too when we were graded for praying on teacher’s desk and for memorizing verses that we had no idea what they were all about. Girls were not explicitly told but suggested to wear headscarves otherwise God would punish them if not in this world definitely in the other. We memorized the names of angels in charge of tasks that apparently God was too busy to handle himself, and one way or another we promised to be on God’s side in his childish competition against the devil he himself created. I do not even want to get started with the slaughtering of sheeps on the streets and the cruel blood bath we are exposed to every year in the name of Islam. I did not chose Islam, Islam chose me.
More importantly, there was a big difference between religion classes and classes on national history. We all knew national history classes were exaggerated, and we could critically analyze them. But quite a few of us were scared of the existence of God after those indoctrinating religion classes because we did not have the tools to criticize it. What if they were all true? We did not want to burn in hell. How evil is this indoctrination?
And what exactly do private Qoran classes serve to other than indoctrinating little children by exposing them to a language that they have no comprehension of – by a very scary looking person I must add – and scaring the hell out of them by teaching them that they will burn in hell if they do not obey not even a set of but an interpretation of a set of rules that were (arguably) dictated by the God to an illiterate “chosen” one. Do I need to mention the archaic and primitive principle of segregation and “covering” oneself? Worst of all, one cannot even criticize these practices simply because they are against the “sacred beliefs”. How many of these children choose Islam, and among how many other religions? Can children at their age really choose any belief system?
Why are these equally important and tightly interrelated topics excluded in your writings? how can you analyze indoctrination in our educational system without mentioning anything about religion classes?
If you believe that children of this age depict Ataturk as a demigod, I think you are naive. Today’s children are living in an age of 3G iphones, Macbooks and the internet, and believe me they are very competent using them. They all do know he is not God, and even if he is considered to be a God by some, so what? Why do you think your God is superior than theirs?
If we will go the American way then there is nothing wrong with this indoctrination. In this US style free market of beliefs based on competition, Islam gets its share too. Shouldn’t Kemalism, just like Islam, have its space to sell its product? What is wrong with it? Is it not the US style you would like to adopt? Free market, competition, liberalism, and free choice…
Have you seen the May Day celebration photograph printed on the first page of the influent daily newspaper Hurriyet? Not only trade union professionals, but M. K. Ataturk behind them seems to challenge Capitalism with an Ergenekonist smile on his face (better on the face of his statue)? Istanbul deserves a visit just to see this mysterious monument errected on the Taksim Square.