BY ISMAIL KUCUKKAYA
AKSAM- The massacre in Mardin should a wake-up call to the people of Turkey. Whatever the reason behind the killings, we should consider sweeping changes in the region. There's no time to waste. A total mobilization, including the ruling and opposition parties, non-governmental organizations, media and the military, is needed. This campaign should aim to ensure that the universal, encompassing character and steady impartiality of the law overcomes the cruel violence of customs.
We should start with statements made by statesmen just after the incident. The wives of President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan should intervene, the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) should mobilize, and the military should work to promote the principle of not customs, but the state; not violence, but the law; not mortal human beings, but citizens. We need a real transforming move to change the sociological structure of the region.
Problems which have been largely solved in most of Turkey should also be solved in southeastern Anatolia, rural areas, and the suburbs of cities. Waves of migration are bringing feuds from far-away mountain villages into the outskirts of cities. As this incident showed, where the state doesn't exist, custom in its negative sense is sovereign. If there is a state, the law reigns. The state, its institutions and society should certainly question themselves. This incident follows years in which the official approach to the region has been shaped by security concerns alone. But recent policies from the government and military have encouraged us and given us hope.
Most of Turkey is under the concept of modern citizenship, whereas another part is under the shadow of a rigid structure of feudalism dating back hundreds of years. Modern Turkey can't allow millions of people, unable to act as either individuals or citizens, to become slaves of a tribal-clan system. Yes, the state should carry out this revolution. Reasonable people who love their state, rather than liberal fascists, have the right to want this. Essential economic measures should be taken, and effective education should be brought to the region. The state should compassionately apply its force and its laws, which are based on international law. The state shouldn't allow customs to insist on their own rules. Customs are an alternative to laws, but the law doesn't acknowledge any alternative.
Our republic's greatest revolution was the transition from mere mortal human beings into citizens. Each citizen is equal before the law. The issue of whether the law operates in line with universal standards is another problem. Today we're facing certain problems in certain regions which run the risk of spreading. Citizenship is a legal status. If the people live like subjects of customs instead of citizens with a legal status, how can we strengthen modern life? Southeastern Anatolia has the reality of polygamy, unregistered children, women who are seen as less than human, and girls who aren't sent to school. In addition, how can one explain how thousands of members of a tribe vote for just one party? If the consciousness of citizenship had taken hold, would 10,000 people have voted for the same party?
A great consciousness-raising and education campaign is needed. But this campaign should be long term. Men should be taught at every opportunity, including military service, that they shouldn't beat their wives. Nimet Cubukcu will have a greater chance to help women in her new post as education minister. We can hope to spread a consciousness which sets people free, replacing the culture of submissiveness. Cubukcu can sow the seeds of projects aimed at future generations. In our time, popular TV series and hit songs can impact the views of millions of people, and new idols can be created. Now the people are learning how to become individuals.
The state's support for the tribal structure is counterproductive. In the past, the continuation of the feudal structure was excused on the pretext that it could be easily controlled. Now there is an urban structure and the main model isn't dependent on the land. The way the state will treat urban newcomers is problematic now. The terrorist PKK and the Democratic Society Party (DTP) are fed mostly from the city, rather than the remote mountains. If the problem isn't solved at its wellsprings, when it spreads to the city it might be too late. Whoever directs the change will win. Even Barack Obama was elected US president after championing change. In this new era, those who don't promise change will lose. As the state can't lose this battle, it has to take up this change. Now isn't the time to interpret the world, but to change it. We should learn valuable lessons from the tragic massacre and humanitarian plight in Mardin.