I was reading an article written in 1947 by Adnan Adivar, one of the founding fathers of the modern republic. In his article he is summing up very thoroughly the errors made by both the Ottoman Empire and the modern Turkish Republic when dealing with religion and western thought. In the following i will try to give my two cents about the landscape which the article helped me understand better.
Firstly every Turkish person is according to me obligated to learn and understand his/her history if they want to process and discuss about these topics. We have seen several times in this forum (and many other internet pages/forums) what pure ignorance of fanticism of any kind leads to. Therefore i hope people will respect my thoughts and writings when i present them here.
Basically what Adivar is dealing with in his article is the core reason for the fall of Ottoman and the core problem for todays main political disagreements, as he perfectly concludes in the article
"Only when a reform of this kind (critical spirit and free information flow without any restrictions) comes about will Turkey be able to combine the streams of its cultural heritage and evolve an in-
tegrated intellectual movement"
One of the most important reasons to the fall of Ottoman Empire was its rejection of Western technology, Philosophy and science. The Ottoman simply refused to implement teachings being taught in European schools into its own lands. The reason for this was crystal clear: Why should we teach our kids European teachings which is full of kufr and may lead our younger generations into being kuffars? This was the biggest error made by the Ottoman in its time. To be unable to catch up to Europe and to stay in dark when Europe was experiencing the Age of Enlightenment and industrialization. The Ottoman was simply foolish to think that Islam defies science and philospophy which was being taught in Europe in a much more sophisticated level. We may mention the Tanzimat but that was simply too weak.
Let us fast forward to the Young Turks and modern Turkey. When Ataturk and his comrades signed the Treaty of Lausanne after the war of independence a bright new future awaited a new Turkey. Mustafa Kemal became the republic's first President and subsequently introduced many radical reforms with the aim of founding a new secular republic. But things didn't go perfect for Turkey and we never witnessed a true enlightenment and peace between the religious and secularist parties/groups in Turkey. Why did this happen?
This happened for a very good reason. After the establishment of the Republic and the introduction of secularism many people felt betrayed, let us talk straight people this is the reality. Ataturk by looking at the Ottoman empires past observed a pattern. He came to understand that by ignoring the West Ottoman was kept in the dark by foolish rulers who could not analyze the future and present of the state of their empire. Ataturk felt that by abolishing Islam from the system Turkey may lead to scientific and social revolutions. But as the Ottomans feared the West Ataturk feared Islam. The outcome was not exactly pretty for Turkish Republic as well.
Dear readers, the problem was that Ataturk feared Islam may corrupt the state once again because of its past. Yet the problem was not Islam, but it was the Ottoman rulers who tried to isloate the state completely from Western enlightenment movement. So to say they kept away science, philosphy, industry etc away from Ottoman because they thought these were not compatible with Islam. The same thing was done by the Turkish Republic but the opposite. Therefore the answer is simple. Once Islam is fully integrated into science, technology and philosphy we will truly evolve an integrated intellectual movement. I don't recommend that we should abolish the constitution, but we should be able to observe the clear faults done by our past leaders, that is both in the Turkish Republic and as well in the Ottoman Empire. One cannot embrace true enlightenment as long as certain thoughts and movements are kept in the dark. The Ottoman Empire's failure illustrates that perfectly. We should develop a sense of constructive criticism and make lessons of our past mistakes, that is both in the era of all the presidents in the Turkish Republic and in the era of Ottoman Empire. What i have learned being among Turkish youth for all my life (both intellectual University students and others) is that we lack that quality.
Some are afraid to criticize Ataturk, some are afraid to criticize the Ottoman. We should fear mindless fanaticism beyond everything else. Because the best friend is the one who tells right from wrong even though it might hurt you.
Written by Zulkarneyn
A really intellectual piece there by you Mr. Zulkarneyn. Now i would like to say something before that i will be honest i am not knowledgeable in any way on Turkish history. I am trying to argue only on the article by you. So here it goes:
Firstly you say that Mr. Ataturk feared Islam like the Ottoman rulers that it would corrupt the state. Later on you argue that it wasn't Islam but the rulers themselves who were the problem, for they kept Turkey away from (who tried to isloate the state completely from Western enlightenment movement) the enlightenment as it was thought to be incompatible with Islam. My question is why do you think that either the Ottoman rulers or Mr. Ataturk have done a mistake??
I think both these leaders had a clear idea that Islam and Western values are not compatible with each other and it is true isn't it? The so called "enlightenment" (i would like you to make it clear what u mean by this word??) means different things in different parts of the world. If u speak of liberal values, separation of religion from the state affairs and democratic method of political system and the industrialization as such then these values developed overtime in the West as a result of the problems faced by the general public over there from their rulers. The Church role in various monarchies in Europe is well known for the enormous clout it held and the cases of Galileo and Copernicus serve as examples of their behavior.
I am not saying they don't hold good for the rest of us, what i am trying to say is u value the values when u learn them not when you are taught. The Muslim world as such wasn't experiencing the turmoil of "Dark ages" and "Renaissance movement" etc etc like in Europe was it?? How many Muslim countries had revolutions like in France and later on all of Europe or for that case any Asian country. I am not saying all was hunky dory but was there such urge among the people.
It is quite understandable that the rulers of Ottoman Empire wouldn't want their hold to be weakened by bringing in the so called "Enlightenment" as they thought it wasn't required. I am pretty sure (i may be wrong too) that u are taking this as a mistake because u as one looking back at your country's history think that the great Ottoman Empire would have been successful if such Enlightenment happened and there wouldn't be any divisions of the empire as happened after World War I.
In the same way Mr. Ataturk who looking back at his country's history from his point of time, must have felt that too much religion and state intermixing was not good as it could again hurt his country at some point of time in future and as such he established the kind of republic you have now. Please let me know your thoughts on this.
Secondly there is an underlying point in your article, that somehow the West's way of doing things is the best way. Pardon me for saying this but, why this intellectual slavery sir?? Is this because of the West's supremacy on the world stage for some centuries??
West's success was in science which they openly embraced after condemning it for centuries themselves. Civilizations old and ancient in middle east or Asia couldn't stand against them because of lack of weapons on par with them i accept, but i will not accept that the school of thought in vogue in the West is the only enlightenment. Give time to the societies so that they can themselves grow out of their intellectual and societal dogmas rather than ape the West.
Unfortunately the Cultural bastardization has already happened in all countries all over the world long time back, due to their (Western) occupation of 36% of the world and later on through media nowadays. As you said the youth of Turkey should be learning from the mistakes of their history, however not on whether West's philosophy was brought in late and whether today Islam is being kept out unnecessarily. Instead they should think out of the box like what are the differences between various school of thoughts existing and how they can be bridged?? How the country can reach the glorious times of the Ottoman period sans the wars etc etc
I am criticizing not you personally but the points i found controversial to me. Hope u can clear my points.
) but I do respect them for the few things that they've achieved under absolutely torrid conditions. 
