Beyond Morsi's sentence
The year is 2015 and another "Yassıada Court" scandal is taking place before the eyes of the entire world. Following the 1960 military coup, a court that was backed by the military tutelage regime was founded in Turkey. Or, let's call it a stage play instead of a court, since it can barely be regarded as a court as Turkey's democratically-elected and popular Prime Minister Adnan Menderes and two ministers were executed as a result of the case heard there. The Turkish public could not overcome the trauma of this tragedy. In Turkey, political institutions were unable to be influential for years due to this tragedy and could not stand against the military tutelage regime until the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) came to power.
Although 55 years have passed since this incident and many works have been conducted on the notions of human rights and justice since then, the situation is the same or even worse today even though the entire world is now watching it with all its details. Egypt's leader Mohammed Morsi, who was legally and democratically elected, was overthrown with tanks in front of the world. Same tanks also ran over his proponents and all the members of his political movement were arrested and condemned to death with a camouflaged ground suggesting that they played a role in the escape from prison of Islamist militants in 2011. The verdict was the same for the 106 defendants charged along with Morsi. Aside from Morsi, the people sentenced to death include Mohammad Badie, who is one of the leaders of Muslim Brotherhood; Saad el-Katatni; Essam el-Erian and International Union of Muslim Scholars Chairman Yusuf al-Qaradawi.
It is bitter to see the events of the last four years in Egypt. Everything was ignited when people started to pour into the streets as if they were tearing down the straitjackets on them. Egyptians protested against the dictator Hosni Mubarak. By considering the other similar movements of uprisings in other countries, we assumed that the Arab world was entering a period of spring. Spring was actually introduced at the very beginning. The crowds pouring into the streets shook Mubarak's 30 years of rule. Mubarak had to retreat and democratic elections were held in Egypt for the first time. Morsi came to power as a result of those elections. And at the end of this process, Mubarak was on trial.
But the dream did not last long. With international support, the Egyptian army took to the streets with the leadership of then-Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and ousted Morsi in July 2013. By a strange "coincidence," while Turkey was suffering from the Gezi Park protests, tanks were running over people in Cairo. The army answered Egyptians, who thought they rose up against a ruling power and occupied the streets for a long time, with its tanks. I recommend you to watch the documentary "The Square" directed by Jehane Noujaim, which depicts this process and would help you to have better insight of what happened in Egypt.
At this point, things went back to the place where they started, or even to a worse place. Mubarak is free. No result came from the judgment process. A pro-coup general is at work and the Muslim Brotherhood is on the brink of execution.
In the face of this picture, only a few scarce and weak voices from the West criticize the death sentences for the sake of formality. But what if the same incidents involved different actors? What if those handing down the death sentences were from the Muslim Brotherhood instead of the secular pro-coup army? Can you imagine the reactions the world would give then?
Of course there would be a huge reaction, the world would be shaken. However, the West remains silent when the actors it does not favor are overthrown and executed. As it continues like this, feelings of hatred and polarization around the world become much more intense. I believe that this progress will cause a serious stir. As it becomes more evident that the notions of democracy and human rights are only valid in a restricted Western definition, a movement that demands the real sense of these notions will certainly emerge. And such a movement will definitely emerge among Muslims, who are today's "others." The oppressed communities regard Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as the leader of this movement since he is the only figure who embraces justice and raises his voice against the double standards of the West.
Although 55 years have passed since this incident and many works have been conducted on the notions of human rights and justice since then, the situation is the same or even worse today even though the entire world is now watching it with all its details. Egypt's leader Mohammed Morsi, who was legally and democratically elected, was overthrown with tanks in front of the world. Same tanks also ran over his proponents and all the members of his political movement were arrested and condemned to death with a camouflaged ground suggesting that they played a role in the escape from prison of Islamist militants in 2011. The verdict was the same for the 106 defendants charged along with Morsi. Aside from Morsi, the people sentenced to death include Mohammad Badie, who is one of the leaders of Muslim Brotherhood; Saad el-Katatni; Essam el-Erian and International Union of Muslim Scholars Chairman Yusuf al-Qaradawi.
It is bitter to see the events of the last four years in Egypt. Everything was ignited when people started to pour into the streets as if they were tearing down the straitjackets on them. Egyptians protested against the dictator Hosni Mubarak. By considering the other similar movements of uprisings in other countries, we assumed that the Arab world was entering a period of spring. Spring was actually introduced at the very beginning. The crowds pouring into the streets shook Mubarak's 30 years of rule. Mubarak had to retreat and democratic elections were held in Egypt for the first time. Morsi came to power as a result of those elections. And at the end of this process, Mubarak was on trial.
But the dream did not last long. With international support, the Egyptian army took to the streets with the leadership of then-Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and ousted Morsi in July 2013. By a strange "coincidence," while Turkey was suffering from the Gezi Park protests, tanks were running over people in Cairo. The army answered Egyptians, who thought they rose up against a ruling power and occupied the streets for a long time, with its tanks. I recommend you to watch the documentary "The Square" directed by Jehane Noujaim, which depicts this process and would help you to have better insight of what happened in Egypt.
At this point, things went back to the place where they started, or even to a worse place. Mubarak is free. No result came from the judgment process. A pro-coup general is at work and the Muslim Brotherhood is on the brink of execution.
In the face of this picture, only a few scarce and weak voices from the West criticize the death sentences for the sake of formality. But what if the same incidents involved different actors? What if those handing down the death sentences were from the Muslim Brotherhood instead of the secular pro-coup army? Can you imagine the reactions the world would give then?
Of course there would be a huge reaction, the world would be shaken. However, the West remains silent when the actors it does not favor are overthrown and executed. As it continues like this, feelings of hatred and polarization around the world become much more intense. I believe that this progress will cause a serious stir. As it becomes more evident that the notions of democracy and human rights are only valid in a restricted Western definition, a movement that demands the real sense of these notions will certainly emerge. And such a movement will definitely emerge among Muslims, who are today's "others." The oppressed communities regard Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as the leader of this movement since he is the only figure who embraces justice and raises his voice against the double standards of the West.