What might be a new vision for Turkey?

The Republic of Turkey was founded by centered on Anatolia, which was the heart of the ancient world (hinterland) geopolitically. The preparations of the new state, the origin of which goes back to the Tanzimat and Islahat edicts, I and II. It is possible to see it in a process that gained momentum with the declarations of the Constitutional Monarchy. With the process we can call "National Literature: New Language, New State", the theoretical leg of the establishment of the Republic of Turkey has been completed. It was founded in 1923 with the principle of "Enough Words".

By taking the symbols of some of the states he founded in history to the Presidential forbear, he showed the nature-identity relationship to the whole world. With his new identity and personality, he created a unique "Republican culture" by taking advantage of Seljuk and Ottoman Cultures. The political and administrative Republic was established in 1923, but it was announced beforehand with the conceptualization of "New Language, New Man" in the literary field. It is possible to read the ideological leg of the new policies through Gökalp and Yusuf Akçura, and the art and literature dimension through Yahya Kemal and Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar.

He revealed that thinking takes place in relation to the land and the homeland, that thinking is a plane of immanence that absorbs (or better still, "holds") the land. We call it "Turkish Philosophy" to proclaim to the world the intellectual foundations that the Republic of Turkey tried to form by centered on Turkish, by examining the intellectual structures of previous states, in the context of existence, knowledge and value. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to "Re-domesticate Philosophy in Anatolia". What is meant by this is the rereading and updating of the intellectual continuity of Turkistan/Atayurt and Turkey/Motherland. If this is successful, it will be seen that "thinking in Turkish and making Turkish the language of science" and the formation of "Turkish Philosophy" are simultaneous with the Republic of Turkey.

After these short determinations about the founding philosophy of the Republic of Turkey, it is necessary to briefly recall this recent period in the context of religious policies in order to analyze the intellectual, political and economic problems experienced today and to increase possible solutions.

"Enough Words, Nation"

Especially in the multi-party life process, which started with the principle of "Enough Words of the Nation" in 1950, it is essential to analyze the effectiveness of the communities and sects in determining daily policies, their relations with politics and religion, and civil religious life. In order to hide the concessions made by the Military Junta with populist policies in the international arena with the coup d'état of September 12, 1980, the integration processes of the sects, which have been living as self-contained communities since the 1970s, into global capitalism, their development rates, companies and/or conglomerations should be analyzed with the policy of "Enough is the Word of the Mass". .If the process of formation of community capitalism in terms of economy and politics is overlooked, the issue of why communities do not become societies, that is, they do not turn into non-governmental organizations, on the contrary, they try to increase their influence on the economy and politics should be examined from all angles. Otherwise, he praises the 1980 military revolution and the covert coup of February 28, 997, which is in the form of a small closed congregation; It becomes difficult for us to compensate for the material and moral damages that a group, which became more active in the field of education, economy, and established many units under the name of foundations, associations and unions, later turned into a terrorist structure (Feto) by blocking other congregations and sects.

"Enough Words of Democracy and Open Society"

In this respect, the date of July 15, 2016 is the symbol that our nation, which acts with the principle of "Enough Words, Democracy and Open Society", will not allow presiding and religious trafficking. However, when we look at the nature of the structure that tried to carry out the coup attempt, it is an indication that the process of transforming from congregation to socialization (non-governmental organizations) was unsuccessful. But then, other communities seem eager to increase their activities in the economic-political field and aspire to vacancies in the other, instead of entering a process of self-criticism and re-adjusting their distance from politics and state institutions.

 In this context, if the background of the revolution desired to be carried out with the terrorist attack on 15 July 2016 is to be discovered and the same mistake is not made again, if the Republic of Turkey is aimed to exceed the level of contemporary civilization as a free, democratic, secular, social state of law, it is necessary to think in detail about the religion policy. .

Historical Foundations of the Republic of Turkey

It is necessary to briefly recall the historical foundations in order to analyze the developments seen as simultaneous (Jewish, Christian and Mohammedan) religious imaginations all over the world and/or re-functionalization in the economic-political field. Turks tried to adapt to the changing socio-political world paradigm with the 1789 French Revolution under the name of Tanzimat. He played an important role in the modernization process that lasted two centuries. Bureaucrats in Iran gave direction and the new state was founded by those who inherited this tradition. But in fact, it has a background going back to the Tulip Era, when modernization/modernization was felt seriously in order to take precautions against the military defeats that started with the Vienna defeat.

In the face of the change in the axis of the world economy, namely the political economy, the stagnation of welfare resources in our country, the loss of importance of the old trade routes, and the scientific revival in the West (Reformation) in the field of religion, which started with the reforms in the religious field (Reform), which reached its peak with the information-scientific process, in order to adapt to this. In the Ottoman Empire, the search for Reform and Tanzimat began. Because the West, which carried out intellectual renewal (Renaissance) and religious renewal (Reform) and removed religion from being an area of ​​conflict with secularism, became the determinant of the "new world order".

The traumas experienced by the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans and the Middle East, abandoning the policies of Islamism and Ottomanism and putting Turkishness in the center laid the groundwork for the establishment of the new state. The Republic of Turkey, which emerged as a secular, democratic and social legal structure, tried to make its institutions and laws by centering the West. Thus, the establishment of the Presidency of Religious Affairs, despite the fact that a system opposing the new socio-political situation in the world abolished all the institutions of the monarchical structure, is the result of an effort to catch the universal in particular. As a matter of fact, on March 3, 1924, a Directorate of Religious Affairs affiliated to the Prime Ministry of the Republic of Turkey was established with the law numbered 429, replacing the Ministry of Sharia and Evkaf. Then, the compilation and translation of Sahih hadiths into Turkish, tafsir and translation studies started.

These efforts are based on providing a tradition of thought, a common past and a common future ideal to the individuals and groups that make up the society, by emphasizing the intercultural interaction and the resulting transformation, considering that cultures have competing designs/models of universality.

Since religion is one of the most important external conditions in the formation of social belonging, that is, asabiyya, and one of the most obvious factors to be used as a means of legitimacy in power wars, the new system tried to preserve its own rationality and historical accumulation in terms of religion, while recruiting the intellectual and political institutions of the West. These efforts are at least an effort to make a new interpretation of the basic principles of Islam, taking into account the other accumulations of humanity, in its own historical-social process. Now, when we look at the Arab world and the Afghanistan-Pakistan line, the fragmented structure of the Islamic society and the adaptation of the basic principles of Islam to the diversity of local conditions revealed the importance of this structure.

Republic of Turkey: “Turkish Mind”

The Republic of Turkey, which aims to make Turkish a language of science and philosophy, has taken care to act with a "Turkish Mind". Especially in the Seljuk period, a Turkish mind that went back to the understanding of education that resolved the conflict between Tuğrul Bey, Abbasid and Fatimid caliphs, and then opened the Nizamiye madrasahs, giving basic religious sciences and philosophy group lessons, and the religious and philosophical system it produced is different from the Muslim imaginations produced by Arab and Persian minds. The importance of the Turkish mind and Muslim imagination continues to increase in the period when the "Arab Mind and Muslim Imagination" and "Persian Mind and Muslim Imagination" started from the early periods and today, when the Shiite-Salafite conflicts and the economic-political wars are covered, and the presiding and religious trafficking is at its peak.

At this point, it is imperative that our academics and bureaucrats, who consider the current situation of Turkey and think about a future vision, should think about how a new religion policy can be in the secular system, which aims to treat the religious conceptions of its citizens according to the principles of justice and equality. This point is extremely important because people, communities and cults, who make their trade by making religious values ​​a tool of politics and economy, see the philosophy that aims to raise free, self-confident and happy individuals as the biggest obstacle. One of the first philosophers of Islamic philosophy, Kindi, said that the prevention of religious trafficking can only be possible with the application of the principle of secularism.

The Arab Spring: The Arab and Persian Mind and the Intra-Civilizational Conflict
In 2010, the region is being reshaped with a cold-blooded realpolitik, which is described as the "Arab Spring". Every day, there are news of conflicts in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, and they say that each of the conflicting parties is fighting for freedom, equality and justice.

In our opinion, Shiite and Salafi mentalities provide legitimacy to their struggles under the name of "Sectarianism", but ultimately contribute to the policy of constant instability of global powers instead of the peoples of the region. The West's search for legitimacy for its wars against energy production and supply centers with the thesis of "End of History" and "Clash of Civilizations" left it to "Intra-Civilizational Conflict" with Shiite/Salafi conflicts.

proxy wars When we think that the economic and political struggles of the Shiite/Salafi mentalities, which continue in the form of I, paved the way for the policies of global powers rather than the peoples of the region in the final analysis, the consistency of the establishment of the Presidency of Religious Affairs, while abolishing the caliphate, so that the Republic of Turkey adopted the principle of secularism when it was established and that it would not be used for leadership and religion trade. also occurs. Because religion is a system of belief and behavior through which we make sense of a very wide world encountered and experienced in human life. The language of religion is also the main tool used in the explanation and interpretation of the facts and events that are considered significant for this religion.

In our opinion, religious conceptions and the history of religions should be examined with the perspective of social history. However, at this point, it should be noted that these people and their teachings are only taken as a starting point, not seen as a destination, not seen as an absolute authority, and the necessity of reading them in the environment in which they grew up and produced their ideas in order to find solutions to today's problems and in their own historicity.

Realizing this means staying out of the Persian/Shiite-Arab/Salafi conflict. But the point to be noted here is the necessity of reading the historical and current accumulation of the social, democratic and secular Republic of Turkey without falling into the Shiite-Sunni distinction. Because there is a risk of leaving our Shiite brothers, who are Turkish or speak Turkish, in the Iğdır and Kars regions within the country, and in Azerbaijan, Iraq, Iran, Syria abroad, into theological tension and conflict. In addition, by presenting the Salafi teachings of the Arabs as "Sunni", it does not contribute to the efforts to provide legitimacy to the eco-political conflict in the name of sectarianism.

Spiritual/Spiritual Values ​​Today

Despite the actions taken by the government since 2002, which puts eliminating the religious erosion experienced after the covert coup of February 28, 1997 among its primary objectives, there is a decentralization situation in the field in Turkey. The Imam Hatip High Schools, which were opened one after another, and the faculties of theology, whose numbers were increased, failed to be the unit that would contribute to the solution.

When the DIB became significantly politicized and began to move away from being a conciliatory position in the social structure, in parallel with the Salafi mentality, communities and sects started to form a center and attraction area by excluding each other. It is possible to observe this point in the similarity of the explanations of both the Salafi mentality and some sects and communities that present themselves as "Sunnites" about the social status of women and their opposition to philosophy. Statements made on issues such as lowering the marriage age, child bride, unquestioning obedience to the husband, polygamy and imam marriage give the basic codes of a mentality in which all socio-economic problems are covered with religious arguments. Those who have this mentality, along with the Republic of Turkey, consider it privileged to have any family or tribe, abolish religious privileges such as "Sayyid" and "Sharif" (Nekabetu'l-eshraf), and ignore the tensions and possible consequences of ignoring the equality of men and women for all their citizens. Conflicts should be studied in detail.