Disasters open the way to new balances ... models of Turkey's history

The image presented to combat the Corona virus (Covid 19) informs us about details related to social integration and a culture of solidarity in every country, as well as the level of integration between the state and society, and the nation's originality appears in its positions when it is exposed to such a type of disaster, and in fact Western sociologists describe an example This event is the "social capital" of any country.

Social capital usually means the ability of community members to interfere in societal affairs, and carry out beneficial actions through their organization, and with their own motivations, without pressure from the state. This solidarity and volunteerism plays an important role in defending the country. Likewise, social capital is more important in the country's development than material resources.

And Turkey has repeatedly been able to prove its authentic mineral and the quality of its clay as a nation, especially in difficult circumstances. We can see this in many events throughout history, and we can even say: The history of Turkey - in the face of such crises - is full of examples of strong community solidarity, under the leadership of the state.

There have been periods when the ties between the state and society were characterized by weakness and weakness, especially during periods of military coup and during strict secular practices. However, the society did not neglect societal solidarity during incidents such as earthquakes, anti-terrorism and economic crises, but the community organized itself, and it does this solidarity and volunteering on its own and not on the orders of the state.

Given this advantage, from time to time, strong civil society institutions and contributions to state leadership were found in Turkey, and civil society is - in fact - the most important social capital that makes the country strong.

If we go back to history a little bit, and we take, for example, events such as "the general alienation" (the book of Burlak) in 1914 AD, then we will see that the people were believers in their country, and without coercion from the state the vast majority of the people rushed to confront the occupiers, to protect the country from the usurpers until the last drop of blood.

From this angle, looking at the Battle of "Heavenly Castle" - which has passed since the days of the celebration of its annual anniversary - it is considered one of the best examples of full integration and fusion between society and the state. The importance of "Castle Heaven" is not only in the tournaments shown by those who fought on the battlefield, but also in the features that made this war epic.

When the army was on its way to the battlefield, the layers of the people supported and supported it, so everyone was willing and willing to volunteer to participate in this war, and they were sacrificing enthusiasm that was not the same, and this is what gave the epic character of this war. The College of Law in Konya remained for years that no student graduated; all the students of that college were not soldiers or forced to serve, but they voluntarily joined the army and all of them died in the war.

What constituted Turkey's personality today and gave it its current character is this social solidarity, and the "National Resistance Movement" (my strong forces) - which started after Hicak Qalaa - was a great example of society mobilizing itself, to save the caliphate and to save the last castle of Islam from occupation, while The state or authority was reeling under foreign occupation in Istanbul.

But then a dangerous separation occurred between the state and the people, because of the secular policies that were implemented later, while the state was trying with all its capabilities towards another place, people were trying to live their own values ​​in their own world, and society did not contribute much during the crises experienced by the country in During that.

Rather, the people - in general - no longer showed sufficient response and enthusiasm to the calls of the state for solidarity in the critical times, as they believed that the state itself caused the crisis, especially in times of coups and during the rule of the military, far from the people's values ​​and aspirations.

The truth is that in these circumstances, the confidence of people in the state not only diminishes, but also the confidence of people in one another decreases, because repressive policies of the state have an effect that reduces social trust like strife in society. For this reason, the confidence indicators, which are measured periodically by the United Nations, have recorded serious decreases in social security during the coups.

However, when a natural disaster occurred in the country, we again saw the community interdependent, solidarity and acting alone and voluntarily, regardless of the state and its position. One of the most striking examples of this is what happened in the Great Marmara earthquake of 17 August 1999.

In the face of this earthquake, the government - brought by the coupists of February 28 (1998), was completely bankrupt, and the ministers or rescue crews did not reach the places where the earthquake occurred until after several days, and it appeared in the occurrence of this earthquake how much the government was not ready to face Such accidents.

In return for what this government demonstrated from the great deficit in the face of this earthquake, the miracle of strong civil society emerged in Turkey. Since the first minutes of its occurrence, society did not wait for the state, but relied on itself and its solidarity in facing this disaster, so he individually mobilized all search and rescue teams and campaigns of assistance and did not Standing idly by, waiting to help the government.

In this earthquake - in which 16,000 people were killed, tens of thousands were wounded, and tens of thousands of buildings were destroyed - civil society ignored the government, which was busy mobilizing and waging war on people's beliefs and values, and society considered them as non-existent, so they united themselves and solidarity to save the situation .

What happened in this earthquake harmed the public's confidence in the country more, but it increased their belief in themselves. But the irony is that - later on - an investigation was opened against several NGOs - who rushed to help out of the ordeal of this earthquake - on charges of showing the country as incapable. Looking at what happened during this earthquake, we find that even when the state collapsed in Turkey, it appears that there is a society that can support and correct it.

And since disasters open the way for new social and political balances, soon after this earthquake the government formed by the February 28 coupists was forced to withdraw from the scene, and a government-backed government replaced it.

Indeed, this earthquake opened a path that led to major changes in Turkey. After that, the economic crisis resulting from the government's mismanagement led to the overthrow of the government, and was replaced by the government of the Justice and Development Party, which won a landslide victory and defeated all parties in the ballot box. Thus, we find that the consequences of disasters and natural or social crises are inevitable. So let us see what the political consequences of the Corona crisis we are going through will be.