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Turkey—a nation where East and West converge, secular principles clash with Islamic traditions, and controversies abound. This transcontinental country boasts a history filled with upheaval and a present just as dynamic. Let’s explore Turkey as it stands today.
10. The Armenian Genocide Remains Unacknowledged, With US Complicity
At the governmental level, Turkey refuses to acknowledge the massacre of 1.5 million people in 1915, even removing references to these events from educational materials. The US consul during that period documented, “The horrors witnessed near the serene Lake Goeljuk in the summer of 1915 are nearly unimaginable. Countless Armenians, predominantly vulnerable women and children, were slaughtered and brutally disfigured along its shores.” Despite this, the US also fails to officially recognize the genocide.
Despite political tensions, the United States has spent over a century complicit in obscuring massacres, all while portraying itself as a beacon of democracy and moral integrity. It’s a stark reminder: Genocide is often silenced, while geopolitics takes precedence.
9. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk: The Architect of Modern Turkey
When Mustafa Kemal Ataturk rose to power in the 1920s, Turkey was in disarray. After enduring two consecutive wars—one as a defeated party in World War I and another in a chaotic, multi-sided conflict with no clear victor (more on that later)—Ataturk faced what seemed an insurmountable challenge.
The Ottoman Empire had crumbled, and Ataturk saw the newly formed Turkey as lagging behind the global stage. “We must catch up,” he declared. Under his leadership, Turkey embraced secularism, dismantling religious courts and schools, prohibiting the hijab for public workers, lifting alcohol restrictions, adopting the Gregorian calendar, designating Sunday as a rest day, reforming the alphabet, and outlawing the fez.
Although Ataturk ruled with an iron fist out of necessity, quashing opposition groups, Kurdish movements, and Armenian dissent, his role in reshaping the core of a disintegrating ancient empire into a modern, Westernized state remains monumental.
8. Turkey’s Struggle for Independence
Following World War I, the Ottoman Empire was significantly weakened by the 1920 Treaty of Sevres. This treaty, influenced by the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement, divided former Ottoman lands between France and Britain. Sultan Mehmed Vahdettin VI in Istanbul agreed to the treaty, surrendering vast territories to the advancing Greek forces. However, Ataturk, already engaged in conflicts with Armenian separatists and Greek forces, vehemently opposed the sultan’s decision and launched a full-scale war, rejecting the treaty entirely.
By 1922, Turkish forces had expelled the Greeks from Thrace and Izmir, and intimidated French and Italian troops into retreating at the slightest hint of conflict. Tensions escalated between the British and Turks, but the introduction of a new treaty, accepted by Ataturk, revealed the Allies' reluctance to sacrifice lives supporting Greek claims on Turkish soil.
The 1923 Treaty of Lausanne established Turkey’s modern-day borders, shaping the nation as it exists now.
7. Erdogan’s Push Toward Islamism
“A new trend in leadership has emerged with Erdogan, Russian President [Vladimir] Putin, and Trump. They aren’t dictators but strongmen,” remarked one Turkish supporter of Erdogan. The rise of authoritarianism in Turkey, appealing to religious voters, is understandable given the over 30 terrorist attacks in 2016 and the surge in Islamic nationalism following the failed coup attempt that same year. This ideological shift continues to counter perceived threats to Turkey.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan understands the potent blend of religious and nationalistic rhetoric. As Turkish analyst Mustafa Akyol explains, “Religious conservatives in Turkey have long believed the nation should lead Islamic civilization. They feel the collapse of Ottoman leadership must be rectified, asserting, ‘Turks must once again guide the ummah [Islamic community] as the new Ottomans.’ ”
As a seasoned Islamist, Erdogan is now uniquely positioned to realize this vision.
6. The Challenges of Being a Crossroads Nation
Turkey has long served as the bridge between Europe and Asia. For centuries, it has been a transit point for contraband, whether it’s Afghan heroin, Syrian refugees, or weapons destined for the PKK. These illicit goods flow through Turkey’s southern and eastern borders.
A significant issue stems from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a communist separatist group that dominates many border areas in Turkey and Syria. Financial pressures have created unlikely alliances, bringing together Islamists, communists, drug traffickers, and arms dealers. Recently, their dealings often involve the deadly exchange of bullets from AK-47s.
During the 1990s, reports suggested the PKK earned up to $500 million annually from the drug trade. These figures have likely remained high, as heroin use has surged within Turkey itself.
5. Turkey’s Affinity for Purges
Following the 2016 coup attempt, Turkey has dismissed or suspended over 150,000 officials and detained around 50,000 individuals. The alleged influence of Fethullah Gulen and his Islamist followers within the police and military has driven President Erdogan to launch a sweeping crackdown.
To clarify, no proof has been presented linking Gulen, an elderly Islamist cleric and former Erdogan ally now residing in the US, to any conspiracy against the government. Undeterred by facts, Erdogan is methodically targeting those who dissent, ensuring that only his preferred brand of Islamists remains in Turkey.
4. Turkey Packs a Punch in Conflict
A century ago, the French, Italians, and Greeks learned the hard way that the Turkish military is a formidable force. According to Global Firepower, Turkey, a NATO member, ranks as the eighth-strongest military globally (excluding nuclear capabilities).
With ongoing clashes along the Syrian border involving the PKK, Turkey’s defense budget has surpassed $8 billion. Despite southern conflicts, Turkey also stations troops in Northern Cyprus to deter Greek maneuvers and participates in military operations in Afghanistan. The Turkish military’s strength lies in its large standing army. While tanks are scarce, the nation prioritizes naval and air capabilities.
3. Women’s Rights Are Under Threat
In 2016, Erdogan (yes, him again) proposed pardoning rapists of underage girls if they married their victims. Fortunately, public backlash thwarted this plan, but his opposition to birth control and his view of childless women as “incomplete” persist. With Erdogan poised to expand his parliamentary powers in 2019, an exodus of Turkish women seems inevitable.
In summary, Turkey is sliding into full dictatorship, embracing Islamism, boasting a powerful military, remaining a NATO member, and continuing to deny genocide despite overwhelming evidence. Criticizing the government or state can lead to indefinite imprisonment.
The beaches along the South Coast are truly stunning, though.
2. Turkish Children Are Taught Jihad
Of course, evolution remains an unproven theory, while jihad is seen as a divine mandate, with strict rules about personal conduct. Thus, jihad is promoted as virtuous, Darwin is labeled a kuffar, and Erdogan (unsurprisingly) claims to safeguard his nation’s spiritual health. This explains why evolution has been removed from Turkey’s school syllabus, and jihad is framed as an act of patriotism.
Alternatively, Erdogan is systematically dismantling Ataturk’s secular reforms to advance his Islamist agenda. “It is our responsibility to correct past misconceptions. This is why Islamic law and fundamental religious studies will now include teachings on jihad,” stated the education minister. “Jihad, in its true sense, means loving your country.”
1. Even a Hint of Suspicion Can Land You in Jail
The Turkey director of Amnesty International is currently imprisoned, accused of supporting terrorists. While it’s plausible that someone working with detainees might interact with individuals the government disapproves of, this arrest is part of a broader crackdown on activists under Erdogan’s regime.
The ripple effects are being felt globally. Since the 2016 purges, asylum applications to Canada from Turkish nationals surged to over 1,300 in 2016, with around 398 approved—four times the 2015 figure. By 2017, 590 claims had already been filed, with 248 accepted.
