Upon so much reaction to his assertion that Atatürk’s revolutions caused trauma within the society, Dengir Mir Mehmet Fırat, the deputy chairperson of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), stated that he simply used his freedom of expression and that “it is true that like every revolution, Atatürk’s revolutions caused trauma in the [Turkish] society.”
“Because the old Turkish alphabet, which was basically a version of the Arabic alphabet, was abolished by the Turkish parliament and replaced by the Latin alphabet. This is a revolution. The literacy rate had gone down to zero. That is what the Latin alphabet meant to those who did not know it.”
“Freedom of Expression…”
About his interview with Sabrina Taverni from New York Times, Fırat concentrated on the idea of the freedom of expression: “The fundamental factor in becoming a human is the freedom of thought and the ability to express this.”
And about the media, he made the following statement:
“If the media is distorting the information as if it was one of the sides of the war, if it is interpreting it from its own position, and transferring this information to the public, then the person who cannot get the correct information will not be able to use his freedom of thought and therefore the freedom of expression in the correct manner.”
“I said it was a revolution”, I did not say, “This revolution was good or bad.”
Fırat said “A new republic was founded. This republic had removed many of the values and the institutions of the society at the time. This was a revolution. The replacement of the Arabic alphabet by the Latin alphabet and the old medrese education by the centralized national education, the closing of the Muslim religious institutions such a zaviye and tekke and the establishment of the Religious Affairs were all revolutions and like every revolution they were traumatic. This is the main difference between a revolution and an evolution.”
“This is a social and historical finding. This has nothing to do with whether the revolution was good or bad.”
CHP: They want to get back at Mustafa Kemal’s (Atatürk) enlightening revolution
According to the report by the CNNTurk.com, the Group Vice Chairperson of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) Süha Okay said that Fırat’s statement was the clear reflection of the reaction against Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the values of the Republic and its qualities. “They want to put the Republic, Mustafa Kemal’s greatest achievement, off course. They want to get back at Mustafa Kemal’s (Atatürk) enlightening revolution. The target is Mutafa Kemal and the Revolution he founded.”
In addition to him, the Group Vice Chairperson of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Oktay Vural said, “Fırat is trying to become the spokesperson of the foreigners who fought against the founding of this state and its principles.” (NZ/EZÖ/TB)
