In the aftermath of World War I, when the British and French occupied all lands around the globe, despair reached such a level that the psychology of defeat, destruction and helplessness emerged all over. Some three states had occupied all Ottoman lands, as well as China in the Far East to Indonesia to Africa. All Muslims were crushed under captivity. And people have been trying to hold on to their past to build vigor and resist with the help of valor and old stories.
I remember two things within this context. The first is an ancient Egyptian tale, and the other is my memory in Germany with the car of a Turkish Gastarbeiter.
The ancient Egyptian tale is as follows: There is a mansion, and while the guests stay overnight, they hear voices calling out at midnight with threats, "We are ghouls, evil spirits." All the guests scurry away at night and leave. The situation of the guests soon turns into a legend. The guest enters the room in the evening and runs away in the middle of the night.
One day, a brave young man stays as a guest in the mansion. When the voices rise from the ceiling, the young man says, "Whosoever you are, come out here. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."
When he says so, the ceiling splits, and treasures pour into the room.
This tale is not a story told for treasure hunters. It is to encourage Muslims who lost their hope at that time. Whenever we muster our courage and oppose the colonialists, treasures of history will be opened to us.
The second thing I recall was during one of my trips to Germany in the '90s. I borrowed the car of one of the Turkish workers residing in Germany. When I started the motor, the mehter anthem – the march played by the army band accompanying the Ottoman army on expedition – began to play very loudly:
"Ships lying in front of Sevastopol,
The sky groans as the imperial cannon shoots.”
With the volume at maximum, my friend next to me asked, "Why are they listening to this music and why so loud?"
It dawned on me and I told him that while living under the pressure of another religion in a foreign country, trying to resist it and hold on here, they need to remember the heyday of their civilization.
When Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took office, the United Kingdom and France were no longer experiencing their former glory. And although the United States was the dominant global power, it was also in despair in almost every country not in the West.
Erdoğan’s Türkiye improved democracy, abolished tutelage and established a durable contemporary infrastructure. Türkiye established a robust defense industry infrastructure, strengthened its navy, launched a fleet in the Mediterranean and started to defeat its opponents in large and small battles under Erdoğan’s leadership.
President Erdoğan fought against all counter-struggles successfully. There was extraordinary pressure from inside and outside to suppress Erdoğan in the recent election as one last hope. But in the end, Erdoğan defeated his opponents again and communicated a message to the world. He said: Whoever backs his own culture, belief and history, loves his nation, and takes his power from his people, will be successful in both development and progress. We no longer need to be a colony or the West's support to develop. Erdoğan presented Türkiye as a model to people around the globe, to the third world, the ignored and the oppressed. He, himself, also became a model.
The president stood before the public with his Muslim identity. He respected his history. He trusted his people and relied on his resources. By operating democracy, expanding freedoms, strengthening the state and restructuring institutions, Erdoğan presented a model of development, progress and democracy to the world. I think many countries and leaders should also implement this model.
While doing all this, he did not adopt an aggressive attitude toward the West. In a way, he worked with the West, conducted diplomacy and sometimes opposed stances. But he also managed to conduct all these with a balanced approach.
Erdoğan dared to say to the ghoul, "Whosoever you are, come out here."
And all the treasures of history poured into Türkiye.
