The world is looking for the reasons of the bombs exploded in London. The bombs exploded in the tube stations and in the bus proved how close the western people to the terror. When a few of the bombs exploded everyday in Baghdad hit London, a hidden state of panic aroused in every country from Canada to France. The metro stations were abandoned, the routine controls in the airports turned in to extra ordinary ones. After the bombs the confusion and the facial expression of British Prime Minister Tony Blair asking “Why London” is still fresh. After the bombings during the G8 Summit in Scotland, Tony Blair made statements taking the G8 leaders and the other guest leaders near him. Thus “entire world is against terror” message was wanted to give. The support for Blair was great: the leaders of the six richest countries in the world (USA, France, Germany, Canada, Japan and Italy); Russia, included to G8 because of its military and political might; India; China; Mexico and Republic of South Africa with their relative weights in the world affairs even they are not rich or powerful, furthermore President of EU Commission, President of the IMF, President of the World Bank and the Secretary General of the UN supported Blair. “The bosses of the world” were together in the real sense. The interesting thing was the absence of a Muslim leader in that frame. While the most important problems of the world were experiencing in the Muslim countries (Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan and Chechnya etc.), there were no Muslim leader among the rulers of the world and the ones asked for their opinions. And it happens. The territories that could not be represented through legal ways, spoke through illegal ways (read through terror). Busses and metro stations have been blown up. The leaders of the world were confused. They immediately tried to give unity messages. However the frame that was taken was indicating the democratic deficit in the global governance.
As it is known the top level political decisions on global problems are undertaken in UN Security Council. There is no democracy there. The five permanent members (USA, Russia, China, France and Britain) have extensive competence including right to veto. There is no Muslim country among these. Interim members are sometimes included and some are Muslim countries (Libya and Yemen) by hazard, but their representation power is close to zero. For example Turkey could manage to become the member of the Council only once and it was a half term membership.
The representation deficit is at the exorbitant in the other global bodies too. Far East, America as a continent, Europe and even Africa is highly represented in the bodies from the IMF to the World Bank; however Muslim countries are not represented or hardly represented without representation powers. A similar occasion is also relevant for the European Union (EU). 150 million Muslims live in Europe including the former Soviet Republics. More than 15 million Muslims live in the EU countries. With Turkey, TRNC, Azerbaijan, Bosnia Herzegovina and Albania the number of Muslim countries in the (classical) European continent amount to five. The number of Muslim population in Bulgaria is more than the populations of a number of EU members (Greek part of Cyprus, Luxemburg and Malta). The Turkish population in the EU members exceeds the total populations of a number of EU member states. However there is no Muslim member state in the EU and it seems there will not be in the foreseeable future. Shortly even they constitute one fifth of the world population, even they are in the middle of the most important problems of the world, even they have the possession of the almost all of the world’s energy resources; the Muslim peoples are not represented in the global governance. A gigantic geography from Central Asia to North Africa, from Black Sea to Indonesia is regarded as none existing. The will of these peoples is ignored. The decisions taken in London, Washington and Moscow are imposed on these peoples. Extremely radical decisions including invasion are taken and implemented on Palestine to Afghanistan, without asking to the peoples of the regions. Even the views and suggestions of Turkey as an “allied” country are not taken in to consideration. And if a few of the bombs exploded in the region, explodes in London or New York, the “entire world” confuses, because the Western world supposing itself as the “entire world”.
Can Turkey Represent the Region?
Turkey could be claimed as the sole country to fill the representation deficit in governance of the world, because it has a lot of common points with “both of the worlds”. Leading by the USA some Western leaders are already trying to develop Turkey as a model for this geography. However Turkey should not be a model but the voice of the region in the West and the voice of the West in the region. In other words Turkey should represent the region. It should not be only a model for the East but a model for the West in the relations with the East. Also there is no need for etiquette like “moderate Islam” or any other change to manage this. The important thing is to regard the region and to be its voice as it is. The first thing to do is not moderating or softening the understanding of the region. This may be an objective for the future. In this regard countries like Turkey, Egypt and Pakistan need stronger positions among the “bosses of the world” that they could make their voices heard or extremists like Osame Bin Laden will continue this mission.
Turkey has advantages beyond “representation” in the representation of the region. Turks are one of the remarkable examples in history who could manage to make different civilizations live together under Seljuk and Ottoman rules. As the biggest “Muslim” economy and the most powerful military and political force in the region Turkey’s permanent membership in the UN Security Council, full membership to the EU, higher representation in the IMF, the World Bank and other institutions will provide a stronger representation of the region as well as quite new ideas and suggestions meaning vision of Turkey that could not be proposed by China Russia or Britain will be brought to the governance of the world.
In summary; in the G8 Summit where no Muslim leader had any seat, Osame Bin Laden had his seat by force of arms. If more Muslim leaders have their places in the world governance, murderers and terrorists will have more difficulties to occupy the world agenda.
Trns.: Gülçin Yatin
27 July 2005
