How will Erdoğan mark the 100th anniversary of the Turkish Republic?

Two farmers living in the Thrace region, the European quarter of Türkiye, namely, Halis Erkorkmaz and Burak Tunçkol, have found a great way to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the Republic as best they can. With a tractor and a plow, they wrote “The Republic is 100 Years Old” on the field. The farmers told Anadolu Agency reporter that they remembered Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the leader of the War of Independence and founder of the Republic, and his comrades in arms with gratitude.

However, as far as we know, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has not yet officially announced any preparations to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the founding of the Turkish Republic with an international ceremony only a week left before the National Day, October 29^th. Please do not mention the Gaza catastrophe; nothing was announced before that either. Unless President Tayyip Erdoğan has a plan, just like the way he invited world leaders to Beştepe within days of his election as president for the third time on May 28, is he planning to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the Republic with a plain message – let us not even call it a celebration?

It is hard not to feel ashamed

Recently, experienced diplomatic journalist Barçın Yinanç wrote on T24 about her surprise that the embassies and foreign missions in Ankara have still not received an announcement for the 100^th anniversary celebrations of the Republic. What is more, some of the embassies are trying to find out from each other and journalists whether the Turkish Presidency is issuing an invitation and they have not received it, or whether they are being left out. Otherwise, almost all of them have already decided which dignitary they will send to the ceremony in the event of a congratulatory invitation from the Turkish Presidency. The meaning and importance attached to the Republic of Turkey and its 100th anniversary outside the country is much greater than some inside.

Some countries want to organize special events for the 100^th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations with the Turkish Republic, such as Japan, Poland, and Hungary. They knock on the door of the Foreign Office with no solid answer yet, as far as I know.

It is hard not to feel ashamed.

Is the mentality that regards the proclamation of the Republic, the abolition of the Sultanate and the Caliphate, the separation of religion and state affairs, and the equality between men and women as “commercial breaks”, and that laments the War of Independence as “I wish the Greeks had won so that the Caliphate and the Sharia would have remained?” back again?

It is hard not to feel sad.

The value of the 100th anniversary

There is one thing that Erdoğan is perhaps unwilling to accept. Recognizing the value and importance of Atatürk and the Republic will only increase his own value and importance further, both internally and externally.

If the Turkey he governs today is ahead of all other Muslim-majority countries in many fields politically, socially, and culturally, it is because Atatürk abolished the sultanate and replaced it with the Republic, separated religion and state affairs, equalized the rights of men and women before the law, and targeted to overcome Türkiye’s its lack of energy resources with industrial production. The liberation and establishment cadres led by Atatürk set an example for many nations to fight against colonialism, including the independence of India and then Pakistan from Britain. The 100^th anniversary of the Republic proved that pluralist democracy and a free economy could thrive in a Muslim society – albeit with ups and downs.

During the reign of the sultanate and caliphate under the occupation forces, the chances of a child from a working-class family who grew up in Kasımpaşa, a working-class neighborhood in Istanbul, being able to govern the country were zero; that is Erdoğan.

What made this possible was the Republic proclaimed by Atatürk, which Erdoğan must give the credit it deserves.

A Republic without Atatürk?

Our government commemorates rather than celebrates the 100^th anniversary of the Republic with videos and posters on the website www.yuzuncuyil.gov.tr designed by the Directorate of Communications, which I am not sure many of you are aware of. The common theme of the posters and videos is the slogan “We have accomplished 100 years of work in 20 years”, which can be considered as AKP government propaganda. You can see Atatürk on only 1 of the 9 posters designed by the Presidency, and that one is accompanied by a message that is “in the past”; Atatürk is the past, while Erdoğan is the future.

Didn’t we witness the attempts to erase Atatürk’s name from the Çanakkale Resistance of the First World War, during the AKP era? Name of İsmet İnönü from the İnönü battle, a turning point of the War of Independence? Or the name of Bülent Ecevit, then Prime Minister from the Cyprus War of 1974? And is it now the Turkish Republic without Atatürk?

TRT, the public broadcaster that survives on Turkish taxpayers, canceled the 100^thanniversary programs due to the terrible loss of innocent lives in the ongoing Hamas-Israel war in Gaza. When the concept of celebration is limited to entertainment programs, there is always an excuse.

It is hard not to feel sad.

How about the CHP?

My criticism is naturally directed at President Erdoğan and the AKP government, but it also extends to Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and the CHP leadership at the opposition, for not giving the 100th anniversary of the Republic the importance and prominence it deserves. After all founder of the Republic was also the founder of their party, the CHP.

Are there any so-called reformists and conservationists in the CHP leadership these days, following their terrible defeat in the elections concerned with the celebration of the 100^th anniversary of the Republic on October 29 other than some cliché statements? Their concern is the internal power struggle at the CHP congress on November 4-5. CHP has the mayorship of 11 metropolitan municipalities across Türkiye but they are not doing what their voters are expecting from them to claim for this exceptional occasion.

That is why the celebrations of two farmers who wrote “Republic is 100 years old” on their fields with a tractor and plows to show their loyalty to the Republic, Atatürk, and the values of the Republic should be considered much more valuable than the last-minute reception to be thrown at Beştepe.

In the 100^th anniversary of the Republic, we are witnessing that Atatürk and the Republic are being re-embraced not from the top down, but from the bottom up.

That is what is gratifying.