We live in a time where people give more importance to conspiracy theories that only confuse their minds with the process of the democratic initiative. Turkey is not unfamiliar with conspiracy theories. However, if we think that everything is a conspiracy, it may be a handicap in our navigation to the facts. Moreover, if we say that there are no conspiracies, and then we cannot see the traps set for our country. From this perspective, how can we explain to the public about the people who broke the store glasses and pointed their fingers to demonstrators in Dolapdere, a suburb province of Istanbul? Recently, when we look at the comments, we will see that our habits continue. We suppose that we reach reality by looking from one side. However, there are three realities within one another.
The first reality is about the evacuation of villages. It was implemented by forcing people during the state of emergency in the 1990s. Today’s events have been the result of the Kurds migration to Istanbul during that period. Actually, Dolapdere is a newly settled area that Kurdish people came to from eastern Turkey. Some of the reasons for migration include the provision for new migrants with the allocated areas, employment, education and cultural embracing. It should be mentioned that youths who lived in the streets had to deal with the social traumas that came with it. This is not a conspiracy; this is a reality that science says.
The second reality is the survival and struggle of small traders who came from various parts of Turkey. The clashes indicated that young people have been falling into traps by terrorist organizations. They pursue youths from their villages to Istanbul. These young people must be noticed. They have no aim in their life and they are prone to unlawful actions. In short, the past applications and today’s administrators are responsible for these young people’s behaviors. Furthermore, small traders who manage to survive are anxious about riots in their surroundings. Of course we cannot expect those people to behave like philosophers or sociologists. They too can also get angry. When these two social organisms come together, they will most likely clash with each other, and this should not be a surprise.
So, where is the conspiracy? It is hidden in the third reality. There is a Turkish proverb: “Wolves like misty weather”. If a neglected social organism is discovered, there will be plot makers. In Dolapdere, one of the demonstrators that showed his gun to the cameras confessed that he did it for money. He was a provocateur. If the expression is true, there are those benefiting from clashes. Perhaps they want Turkey to lose its problem resolving skills and desire. They may also want to get despotic rule for breaking peace.
Finally, we don’t come face to face with single data in Dolapdere, Istanbul. There are accumulated problems and negligences. It is not enough to take criminal precautions and judicial processes. Problems can be resolved by the democratization that we talk about today. Therefore, the incident happened in Dolapdere should be read correctly and we should not even think of the solution methods that these wolves have in their mind.
Prof. Dr. Ihsan Bal
Director of USAK Center for Security Studies
A Time Collapse in the Kurdish Problem
