ISTANBUL
— President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey keeps making global
headlines. First it was for claiming that Muslims discovered the New
World. Then it was for asserting
that you “cannot put women and men on an equal footing.” Last week, it
was for supporting the arrest, by Turkish police, of a number of
journalists. But in the long run, it is his reforms of the Turkish
education system that will likely be the most influential — and
detrimental — to the global competitiveness of the country’s next
generation.
Earlier this month, Mr. Erdogan backed a proposal
by Turkey’s National Education Council to make Ottoman Turkish — an
older version of the language, written in Arabic letters — mandatory in
religious high schools, and available as an elective in secular high
schools. Flouting earlier rulings by the European Court of Human Rights,
the council also proposed that religious education be compulsory from
age six. The president’s response to sharp criticism of these
initiatives from Turkish politicians and civil groups was
characteristic: The changes would take place “whether they like it or
not,” Mr. Erdogan said.
In
other words, as is often the case in Turkey, a war over ideology
dominated the agenda, while the practical needs of Turkey’s future
generations were overlooked. The National Education Council did not put
any emphasis on foreign language instruction, for example, despite the
fact that Turks generally fare poorly when it comes to speaking any
language other than their own — particularly languages like English,
Chinese or Arabic that could help Turkish businesses grow, both in the
region and globally. Nor was there any emphasis on critical thinking or
democratic values — the very qualities that could help transform
Turkey’s insular, rigid and intolerant political culture.
Some
might view these proposals as a sign of Turkey’s regression from an
open-minded, secular past, initiated some 90 years ago by the republic’s
founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, to a dogmatic Islamist era spearheaded
by Mr. Erdogan. But it would be more accurate to say that Turkey is
merely replacing one official dogma with another.
Like
Mr. Erdogan, Ataturk devalued critical thinking, preferring citizens to
accept the truths he decreed as an all-knowing leader. During his
single-party rule from 1923 to 1938, Ataturk tried to reshape the nation
according to his Kemalist ideology, making sweeping reforms in culture,
religion, education, language and science. Some facets of the Kemalist
program were relatively eccentric — like Ataturk’s pseudoscientific
thesis that prehistoric Turks in Central Asia were the progenitors of
human civilization.
Today,
after over a decade as prime minister and with plans for at least
another decade in power as president, Mr. Erdogan seems to be embarking
on a similar mission of nation-reshaping. He is using a language and
symbolism that is increasingly similar to Ataturk’s; like Ataturk, he is
attempting to teach his people the “correct” version of their history.
And, like Ataturk’s, his political opponents are branded as traitors.
The
big difference, however, is ideology. Ataturk was a secular nationalist
who wanted to Westernize Turkey. (It was Ataturk who abolished the
Ottoman language, in favor of a more modern, Latinized Turkish.) Mr.
Erdogan is a conservative Muslim nationalist who sees Westernization as a
historic mistake.
But
wasn’t Mr. Erdogan the same leader who once put Turkey on a path toward
European Union membership? That was certainly the case during the
initial phase of rule by his Justice and Development Party, or A.K.P.,
from 2002 to 2010. At the time, Turkey was under the thumb of Kemalist
generals who threatened elected politicians. Hence, the European Union,
and its liberal democracy, looked like a savior for Mr. Erdogan. Yet
once the military was subdued, the incentive to Europeanize began to
fade.
Now
Mr. Erdogan even appears to be convinced of a great Western conspiracy
to topple his rule; a “supra intellect"— none other than the United
States, according to some of his supporters in the media — that
manipulates the Middle East and creates trouble for the glorious “New
Turkey.” The irony is that despite all this anti-Western rhetoric in
domestic politics, Turkey remains a member of NATO; Ankara still
welcomes Western leaders; and Mr. Erdogan vowed, just last month, to
“strengthen the strategic partnership between Turkey and America.”
The
deeper trouble is that while Mr. Erdogan’s Muslim nationalism may boost
Turkish self-confidence, it risks depriving the next generation of the
skills they will need to succeed in a global economy. Sure, Turkey
boasts some success stories — like Turkish Airlines, which is frequently
ranked Europe’s best. But it still does not have a highly skilled,
creative or innovative workforce. To raise the latter, Turkey needs a
much more globalist approach to education, and stronger commitments to
the rule of law and meritocratic advancement (the lack of which is
rightly recognized by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu).
The
masters of the “New Turkey” must curb their lust for power and control
and help build an open society that rewards talent. If they don’t, they
will go down in history as a poor imitation of the Kemalist “Old Turkey”
they have criticized for decades — with their own official dogma, cult
of personality, and endless witch hunts for enemies within. And Turkey
will not move forward, but will fall into the vicious cycle once
outlined by the great medieval Muslim historian Ibn Khaldun: Conquerors
of a system eventually adopt the habits of that system; hope for change
lies only in newcomers from the wilderness.
Mustafa Akyol is a columnist and the author of “Islam Without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty.”
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