BY CAN DUNDAR
MILLIYET- In 1969, then Turkish President Cevdet Sunay visited Iran. The shah of Iran, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, made a gesture and invited him to a luncheon. After praising Turks, the shah said the following: `Secularism was perhaps necessary in the early years of the Turkish Republic, but we don't believe that there's any need to continue with this principle in the same way. We even see that secularism is damaging Islam. We managed this (issue) by giving money to religious people in Iran. I wish you would also remove secularism from your Constitution.' The diplomats were astounded and the eyes turned to Sunay, who replied, `Secularism in Turkey harms neither Islam nor the Turks. Secularism is not a principle against religion. Turkey giving up secularism is inconceivable. After your frank words, I also would like to give you a piece of advice: I see that the Iranian military is dependent on you. If something happened to you, it would fall apart. My sincere advice would be to make your military the military of your people.' Ten years later, the shah had to leave Iran and the military was dissolved, as Sunay had warned. And the religious people that the shah gave so much money to took over the government. (`Behind the Scenes in Our Foreign Policy,' Fahir Alacam, Edited by Tuthan Firat Umit.)
It's interesting that the pope, when he was flying to Turkey from Rome, echoed the shah's words. `In establishing the republic, Ataturk took the French Constitution as a model,' he said. "Secularism, which divides public life from traditional values, is a dead end. We have to redefine secularism in such a way that it determines the mutual responsibility of religious and public places.'
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week met with the head of a religious state, the Vatican, and then went to Iran, another religious state. One is Christian, the other Muslim. Both question Turkey's secularism. And Turkey is continuing with this principle which many said wouldn't work. Turkey is not a model only to countries of the region but to the entire world. Turkey demonstrates its difference to the world by welcoming the pope, who once fomented a fanatical conflict between the two faiths. Even if it has some problems, Turkey's secularism is not a weak one. Even if Europe excludes Turkey, it will continue with it in peace with traditional values. And I'm sure that the world will need his type of secularism more than ever in a clash of civilizations. From the Vatican to Iran.