End of hate discourse

Ekrem Dumanlı

We are currently facing a strong and destructive language and discourse that has never been seen before. Insulting remarks are being made on daily basis. This attitude recognizes no boundaries; the aggressors do not feel constrained; arrogance is an underlying character trait of the assailants. And as a result, ethics and morality are collapsing.

So what should be done?

Above all, it is necessary to clarify things and set the whole picture straight. And then we need to develop a new language and discourse, adopt a new style that is peculiar to ourselves and agree on a standpoint and attitude that will never be undermined.

The current poisonous discourse leads to violence, nothing else. The attack against the Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu last week is harbinger of possible violence. In fact, there were already signs of this violence; but nobody, speaking out of responsibility, asks: For God's sake, what are you doing? This attitude causes turmoil and crisis in Turkey.

Pause for a moment and ask this question to yourself: In which advanced democracy is the prime minister of the country or its head of state welcomed by people wearing burial robes and does this elected person embrace them? Such a scene is frequently seen in a Middle Eastern country; would not you make the following remark if you live in a country holding membership talks with the EU: This approach radicalizes and militarizes the people; the results would not be so good. This is not a good sign.

It appears that some political actors vowed to destroy something and eliminate somebody. And men of wisdom and reason, particularly those affiliated with the political actors, prefer silence. And as such, God forbid, future accidents and troubles are likely. Do we need to experience huge troubles so that people start to think reasonably and responsibly?

When it became evident that the person who attacked Kılıçdaroğlu was a Justice and Development Party (AK Party) member, AK Party deputy Hüseyin Çelik noted that their party had 9 million members and that admission of such persons as member only happens rarely. He also added that party administrators should have been more careful registering a person with a criminal record. Çelik is right. But there is something else that should be noted: That those who speak to a huge number of people including those 9 million members are utilizing such strong language that massive crimes and offenses may become inevitable. There is no longer dignity and politeness in the political language. The references made to the Gezi protesters should be noted. And particularly the accusations and grave remarks directed at the Hizmet movement cannot be reconciled with reason and conscience.

I am ashamed of even reciting and quoting some of the remarks and accusations. However, those who make these words and remarks keep making the same insults on a daily basis. Those accusations and insults we have to hear in anguish are based on lies and slanderous allegations. And unfortunately, some people actually believe these accusations. When you tell a lie a thousand times, those who are not aware of the subject matter will eventually believe it; but in the end, the society is being divided.

The language and discourse used against Fethullah Gülen, one of the most distinguished thinkers and opinion leaders of Turkey, and his followers is not typical hate discourse. We even see genocidal language here. If you present these people as the source of all evil, you are actually committing a crime against humanity. This is a crime; this is a sin. It is not possible to justify this under law or under religious precepts.

Kids at 8-10 are interrogated in separate rooms by inspectors of the Education Ministry; what is this? Is not this a practice of Feb. 28 methods? Accusing thousands of people without offering any evidence or proof, removing them from their positions and reappointing them to different places causes a widespread victimization. Does not victimization through raids against institutions and affiliations of the Hizmet movement hurt you at all?

Turkey needs to return to legality, reason, fairness, respect and normality. Provoking hatred and partition among the people, politicizing the mosques and dividing the people along their political orientations is a historic liability and the reason for this liability is the strong language of hatred which will be harmful to our country and the people.

Persecution based on paper headlines

The greatest problem in the Turkish issue has always been failure to distinguish between report and a notice, and correspondent and informant. The old media has always relied on this antidemocratic scenario: First, a groundless report is made as if there is a criminal element; and then the prosecutor considers this media report to initiate an investigation; at this stage, a new report is made to complete the circle of perception operation. And subsequently, the lies are repeated to consolidate the false report. This is a tactic used by coup makers.

This classical method to repress the masses, fabricate criminal charges and hold a perception operation is now being used by the current media that is referred to as Islamist, conservative, pro-government and partisan. Besides, they are doing this more savagely.

Recently, Akşam daily has made a nasty report about Zaman daily based on groundless allegations. In their report, they argued that Zaman was refusing to disclose some documents which were eventually seized by the police. This is a lie. We have responded to them and asked them to prove their allegations; of they don't, we will consider them dishonorable. We have not heard from Akşam since then. Their editor-in-chief Mehmet Ocaktan wrote a lengthy column where he praised the government; but he made no reference to their lies. And he did not offer an apology. He is a former poet and a former AK Party deputy. Is not he ashamed of making slanderous remarks?

The pro-government media has lost its mind and reason. They raise allegations and the prosecutors initiate an investigation based on these false allegations. We have witnessed last week that prosecutors relied on false reports by Star daily in their investigation. The arrest of police chiefs in Adana was made possible by the reporting activities of Star and the admiration of the presiding judge for Erdoğan. And justice was gravely hurt.

It is interesting to note that members and followers of a political party which the chief prosecutor asked the Constitutional Court to dissolve based on media reports are making false accusations based on unverified reports. They are simply doing the same. The media of a certain group of people arguing that they are victimized by the Google case are judging the people by reference to Google documents. People have been found guilty because of media reports in the past. It is a twist of fate; but the victims in the past are doing the same by reliance on the same method. But they forget the fact that the state cannot be sustained by persecution and wrongdoing.

Published on Sunday's Zaman, 13 April 2014, Sunday