New Capital for Europe
The Paris Abant meeting showed us the naked face of Europe. We could describe it as coming face to face...
No matter what those without references other than Europe or those who cannot take a step further away from the 19th century positivism think, Europe is secluding itself; its inner energy and intellectual sources are all exhausted. There are some who believe in Europe's principal and institutional culture and see us as its indirect colony, unfortunately, they are the majority group. There are some who say that the situation is not going well. They give great importance to Turkey's European Union (EU) membership.
The EU is a conservative project that aims to preserve its current level of prosperity and render it sustainable. This model is a social model in essence. Poverty is what scares most people since it may bring fascism along with it. Whenever Europe gets in trouble economically, it shows a tendency of extreme nationalism. The individual's liberalization by individualization, in other words, his liberalization from the family and congregation, is the second arm of this project. And finally, education should be given priority for the sustainability of freedom.
Yet, it is very difficult to keep the model in question afoot under the present circumstances. Those who observe it plainly see that the model has fallen apart, they talk about it and look for a way out; try to make their voices heard. One of them is Olivier Abel. I know him from Turkey. He read a paper at a meeting on "Ethics, Religion and Secularism in Europe" with Serif Mardin and Muhammet Arkun in Istanbul on April 26, 1994 and I attended this meeting as a negotiator. He asked three questions and opened them to discussion at that meeting: 1) What is secularism and why has it become fragile both in France and Turkey? 2- How can we understand secularism in terms of ethics? 3- Can we think of secularism as the ethics of religions?
Abel, who gives lectures on ethical philosophy at the Protestant Faculty of Paris, seemed like a philosopher speaking to history this time. The first thing he said was, "Democracy is a political regime that needs to be re-defined. It is not practical with its aspects. It should be remade. The present institutions do not solve our problems, we need new institutions. Europe has become outmoded in many ways."
The one making these remarks is a European, an influential French intellectual and a philosopher. He lived in Turkey for four years, he knows both worlds. Abel is aware that Europe is undergoing a radical regime change and underlines this. Immigrants and immigrations are forcing the gates of Europe on the one side while globalization and the market fetishism they are imposing undermine Europe's nation-state model on the other side. According to Abel, the Swedish model may be considered along with a confederation. Yet, Europe should decide on the issue of democracy. Europe, behaving democratically at home, does not at all comply with the standards of this regime outside.
Abel's thoughts on Turkey's EU membership are very different from the views of supporters of Turkey's membership. "We cannot think of Turkey as a subcontractor for the solution of our problems," he says. "Europe absolutely needs Turkey for its democratization and for inter-cultural dialogue. Unfortunately, the 'clash among civilizations' is a serious matter'." Abel accepts that the EU is "based on a Christian culture," however, he does not want to see it as a "Christian club." Europe should open up to Islamic traditions and diversify its resources to save itself from seclusion. A vacant place means nothing. Europe has to go beyond the certified thoughts."
Abel ended his speech with an interesting metaphor: "When Rome was going through a huge crisis, Constantine moved the capital of the empire from west to east, to the furthest point, which is Istanbul. Perhaps, Europe today should move its capital to where it sees as the furthest place, to Istanbul."
ZAMAN
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