What does Germany wish to see in Turkey?

The Western mentality is eminent for its alleged objectivity and its institutions praise themselves for flourishing through the rationality of the Enlightenment. As Kant says, the Enlightenment implied the Europeans' salvation from their immaturity. In other words, it hinted an individual's shaping his own school of thought without needing the guidance of others. In another respect, Karl Feyerabend remarks that the Enlightenment now falls far behind the point that Kant praises. In fact, the West's claims of objectivity, science and rationality have become rather problematic and they have turned into a means of enforcement.

Yet still, there is an influential intelligentsia in the West that has a strong tendency toward self-criticism, and we attribute remarkable achievements of the West to them. We do not avoid giving the West its dues on the matters of civil rights, freedom of thought and independence of media. We leave no room for this categorical approach. Otherwise, while evaluating the West, we cannot go beyond reiterating the Western colonialists' monolithic standpoint on the East. And this does not lead us to a meaningful conclusion. This is the true way of thinking for those who are concerned about sharing the world altogether in an equal and liberal manner.

Actually, Germany is the closest face of the Western world toward Turkey. It was written in the Ottoman Political Document - adopted as a doctrine by Reich at the end of the 19th century - that nobody should object to the Ottoman Empire for any reason. At that time, Abdulhamid II was massacaring the Armenians and the documents of these massacre flowed into the German Foreign Ministry. But Germany's national interests required it to side with the Ottomans. For them, the Armenians were nothing but a trivial detail. Furthermore, they were a community to be eliminated for the sake of Russia's greed for seizing control of strategic shipping routes in the Southern seas. In short, it was Germany that supported the unionists logistically and ideologically for the "final settlement" about the Armenians in 1915. In return, in the strictest sense of the word, the Unionist Ottoman Empire paid its debt to Germany and came to the threshold of disintegration by being an instrument for the imperialist goals of Germany.

In brief, the close relationship between Turkey and Germany is tied with more historical bonds; it is not only based on the issue of expatriates. Previously, aside from the 1895 and 1915 incidents, Germany was supporting Turkey's approach in the political turmoil of the 1980s and 1990s. So, what happened now to change Germany's attitude toward Turkey that Erdoğan is seen as an enemy and "Führer," despite Turkey's unprecedented reform process?

Why is Germany so eager to create a mass demonstration against Erdoğan ahead to his visit to Germany on May 25? Why do news outlets such as the Bild and Der Spiegel insult Erdoğan with imputations of "Go to hell" or "Führer" in a manner contradicting Western objectivity and imperturbability? Fortunately, we can make a distinction between critical and operational broadcasting policies.

In this anti-Erdoğan psychology, there is an odd exuberance that is in contrast with Western standards of objectivity. Following German President Gauck's prejudiced statements during his recent visit to Turkey, everybody cracked a joke that Gauck will presumably run as a candidate from the Republican People's Party (CHP) in the upcoming Turkish presidential election. His statements were too far from objectivity and credibility. It was reproached as a German president was so ignorant about Turkey. There are two ways of lying: The less dangerous is to explain a sheer lie. But, what is worse is to only talk about the realities that only appear on one side of the coin, while overlooking the other side.

Nobody says the AK Party or Erdoğan should not be criticized. Today, including the pro-government newspapers, everyone in Turkey can criticize Erdoğan cavalierly. Anti-Erdoğan groups that constitute 65 percent of the media go beyond criticism and push Erdoğan too far with a discourse that can be regarded as hate speech. Hürriyet is a media outlet that is well acknowledged by the Germans. It is the flagship of Doğan Media Group that is a co-partner of the German Axel Springer. Columnists of this newspaper can overstep the limit and say "I will spit on Erdoğan's grave." Following the recent Soma coal mine disaster, the same newspaper stated that "Coal miners deserved this bitter end as they voted for the AK Party." The same mentality had used the word "mule" to describe those who passed away in Uludere.

I don't think the German press or politicians are unaware that in Turkey there is a power struggle between Erdoğan, who represents the people, and the pro-tutelage powers that stand for oligarchy. They must also be aware that the Gülen Movement has turned its coat and engaged with those pro-tutelage groups.

Apparently, it is important for the West that Erdoğan learns a hard lesson and he is expulsed from power. To this end, they are so comfortable to distort the realities and exploit and undermine democracy, freedoms of expression and thought. This means the West contradicts and disproves itself through its policy toward Turkey and Egypt. Indeed, Turkey's elusion from semi-colony status thanks to Erdoğan's genuine policies has negative meanings in the eyes of Germany and other Western countries. What is called real politics repudiates both objectivity and morality. But what if this way of thinking falls short of preserving the West's interests? And what if the West is consuming its values, for which it dedicated hundreds of years, to protect their national interests? There are other ways of preserving them rather than resorting to rotten and inhuman politics.

They have achieved their aim in Egypt for the time being, but this unscrupulous approach of the West will backfire in a much more severe way. The Westerners mishandled their apparently democratic intervention in Ukraine. In Turkey however, Erdoğan and the public continue
to withstand them.