In the Realm of the Senses
Those who did not believe that we are a nation which is very fond of technology, may have changed their minds after looking at the recent scandals. "Tele-ear" was the name given to the scandal we have spent the last 15 days discussing: Some officials from the Ankara Security Directorate tapped the telephones of certain people, whoever they wanted, using the technological equipment maintained by the state. So it was not a scandal to be taken lightly. We closed last week with a new scandal: This time, the issue was cassette recordings of speeches that Fethullah Gülen, who is known as the leader of a religious community, made to a group of his supporters. We will see which technological equipment was involved in this latest scandal in our country, where the agenda changes all too frequently.
I feel more strongly that I am a member of a small minority in the media when I watch what has been reflected on the nation's television screens and when I read the newspaper headlines and interpretations related to this issue. Fethullah Gülen's speeches have been perceived and reflected as a "capital crime" by the noisy majority in the media. Since the broadcast of the cassettes, the chief prosecutor of the State Security Court (DGM) has started an investigation into Fethullah Gülen under Article 146 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) -- which calls for "capital punishment." Among the majority, who turn a deaf ear to the voices of discord in the media, there are some who have said that Gülen should be placed in Imrali prison, which may soon be vacated by Abdullah Ocalan.
During the last three years, Fethullah Gülen was "the man in the gun-sights." In the process that led to the closure of the Welfare Party (RP), it was known that the real target was Fethullah Gülen and his supporters. The community that is led by Fethullah Gülen has a widespread organizational structure in the country. It has hundreds of schools and universities. It is represented in the media sector by a newspaper, a periodical and a television channel. It is obvious that the community is making a great effort to be helpful to secondary and high school students through university preparation courses. It provides homes to thousands of university students. It is a religious group which has a global vision and which opens colleges in every district it can reach, primarily in Central Asia. Some of those who were disturbed have asked, "Where does the money to turn these wheels come from?" Others have tried to find an answer to the question, "What is the final target?"
However, I have had a different point of view on this issue from the very beginning.
I know this community a little bit better than the others. As a journalist, I have attended many activities and meetings that were held by this community over the last 15 years. More importantly, though its television channel has always been closed to me, I served as an executive for years at a newspaper which later came under the influence of the community. I was a columnist at that paper for 13 years, that is until recently. Because of all that, I have had some contact with the communities' inner mechanisms, though I have not had any organic ties with the community. I am in a position to know better than anybody else about the "pluses" and "minuses" of this community, which has now become so controversial.
For this reason, the images that have been reflected on television screens because of a scandalous cassette did not seem to me to be the targets set by a leader -- who is trying to take over the state -- for his followers. On the contrary, I saw a man who is worried about the future, and who is embarrassed because of the backward steps he has taken in recent years. During his speech, Fethullah Gülen, who was continuously accused of being cowardly and passive, was advising moderation to those who had convened to listen to him. The speech gave me the impression that Fethullah Gülen was trying to prevent pious people in various governmental departments from backing themselves into a corner and keep the country from being caught in a bloody cycle, as in Algeria.
I am, of course, aware that the cassette has its controversial aspects for those who are not familiar with these kinds of issues and religious terminology. In some parts of his speech, one perceives the "aiming to take over the state" rhetoric. One understands that a community that should stay out of politics and remain exclusively in the realm of the religious, has, according to the words of its leader, been sailing in the dangerous waters of politics.
However, I can understand the reason for this because I have had the opportunity to make direct observations: In Turkey it is impossible to run an ordinary business enterprise -- let alone have ambitions in the fields of education and media -- without being closely involved in politics. In our country, every ambition one may have in social life requires that one have a leg in the political arena. In reality, a community's desire to have sympathizers appointed to government positions and establish close relations with politicians are efforts that are exerted in order to protect interests in real investment fields. Do not the reflections from the unexpected cassette scandal show how important the protection instinct is in one aspect? Gains made over so many years are suddenly threatened with destruction by a state operation.
Like every minority, my problem is that I know my voice will not be heard above the noise of the majority. As a matter of fact, during the Merve Kavakci event, the big chorus that was shouting "Get out! Get out!" did not even hear my weak voice saying, "Hit, but listen." My divergent views about the cassette scandal, which has Fethullah Gülen at the center of a target, cannot possibly be heard. More terrifying is the prospect that amid this turmoil hundreds of schools in the country and abroad that thousands of students attend will receive a blow. To open up to the outside world and to fly a Turkish flag in other countries are the most significant drives for Turkey. However, this drive will fail because of the scandalous cassette.
A cassette or tapping equipment are technological productions. Technology is something concrete and tangible. As a nation as a whole, we are progressive in this field because we do not have any problems evaluating the tangibles. However, when things carried by technology converge with an intangible sphere and we evaluate what we hear from tapping equipment and what we see on the television screen, we face difficulties. When we cross into the mysterious realm of the intangible from the realm of the tangible, we have great difficulties.
Isn't this the characteristic that puts Fethullah Gülen in a difficult position? When his speech, full of intangible images, was recorded, he placed himself in a tangible vise of the five senses.
TURKISH DAILY NEWS
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