Egypt: Old Turkey

Associate Professor Hasan Ali Karasar, from Bilkent University's international relations department, has said, "Those who sanctify the Arab street don't like the Turkish street and those who sanctify the Turkish street don't like the Arab street."
 
This assertion concisely sums up the polarization in Turkey.
 
If we focus solely on democracy, there is no possibility for polarization. Indeed, democracy teaches us how to embrace the human struggle for freedom without discrimination. Indeed, the Gezi Park incidents have shown that Turkish democracy is actually a well-established system.
 
The maturity of Turkish democracy is further supported by the fact that both camps in Turkey showed the same reactions against the developments in Egypt. Excluding the Jacobean neonationalists, everyone -- the Workers' Party (İP), the neonationalist wing of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), the Aydınlık and Yurt newspapers, the Atatürkist Thought Association (ADD), etc. -- condemned the coup in Egypt.
 
When we look at Egypt, we see the old Turkey, Turkey under military tutelage. Even the rhetoric used during the coup is reminiscent of that used in Turkey's coups. It's like traveling in a time tunnel.
 
In the wake of World War II, the US established a similar military model in Muslim countries with large populations -- Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey. These armies were carefully kept at a distance from the general public, and their main function was to protect existing regimes against internal threats.
 
The main purpose was to protect Masonic oligarchic regimes that would act in line with the interests of the West and ensure that the country concerned maintained good relations with Israel. In this context, select staff officers would be admitted to Masonic lodges in the US.
 
At the same time, the military was made an integral part of the economy. Thus, the army made immense investments in mining, food, banking, construction, textiles, the automotive industry, supermarket chains, tourism, steel cookware production, defense and many other sectors. Retired generals would automatically become executive board members of public and private companies.
 
With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the West discarded the threat of communism and adopted the threat of Islam in its place. In line with global trends, the middle classes in densely populated Muslim countries became richer and better educated, and started to create their own dynamics.
 
With the Arab Spring, Egypt started to abandon the Cold War-era administration model established in the wake of World War II. But the Egyptian army and oligarchic capitalists continued to be part of the old system. In the recently staged coup, they made clear their disinclination to abandon the privileges the old system granted them.
 
Against this background, we may ask: "Given their disappointment with democracy, how will Egyptians choose to express their political demands?" In an environment where the leftist movement is virtually nonexistent, it is perfectly natural for the Egyptian people to use the Islamist movement as a medium to express their political demands. Moreover, Islam's anti-imperialist essence and public appeal are much stronger than they are in the leftist movement.
 
After its normalization, the Muslim Brotherhood will probably want to continue to pursue politics. However, Salafis, a product of globalism, may follow in the footsteps of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) of Algeria and start a civil war in Egypt. Egypt's jihadists, who are fighting in Syria, may return to their homeland and start a war. And from now on, we must pay increased attention to Iran's role in the country. The poor streets of Egypt may give rise to more radical anti-imperial movements. These possibilities may drag Egypt into a chaos with no foreseeable solution.
 
Egypt and the Arab world saw the Arab Spring. The Egyptian army should not expect the country to return to what it was before the Arab Spring. With the largest population and the most intellectuals among Arab countries, Egypt is still in the early stages of its Arab Spring. It took two generations of conflict and chaos and a century for the French Revolution to take root. Therefore, we must trust in Egypt and be patient.