"Turkey Is a Culturally Creative Country"

We live in a highly developed information age, and yet many false ideas about Turkey are still circulating. Raoul Motika, head of the recently founded "TurkeyEuropeCentre", corrects some of this misinformation in an interview with Thilo Guschas

Raoul Motika, what is the purpose of the newly founded "TurkeyEuropeCentre" at the University of Hamburg?

Raoul Motika: Turkey is an important emerging country. It is at number 17 of the most significant nations in economic terms, outperforming Bulgaria and Romania – both members of the EU – in economic power per capita. At the same time there's nobody in Germany who really knows what's what in the Turkish macro-economy. The same goes for Turkey's domestic policy – even the turkologists here have only cursory knowledge on current policy! The centre aims to improve this situation.

The main impediment for many researchers has always been the Turkish language; that is of course the basis of all meaningful research on developments within Turkey. Our centre has these language skills to offer – as well as cooperation with Turkish universities.

What areas will the centre focus on?

Motika: Turkey is in a process of transformation into a modern industrialised nation. We want to study the changes as they happen. But we're also interested in the interaction coming about between Turkey and Western Europe along the way. For example, we'll be studying economic thinking in Turkey in close detail. If we look at Russia and its economic policy under Putin, we can tell that the social market economy is a European model.

What we're interested in is, which direction will Turkey take? How do Europe and the EU influence this process? Turkish and German researchers will be working on subjects like these together. That will certainly play a role in breaking down prejudice on both sides, such as the cliché that all Muslims are oppressed in Germany – a widespread fear in Turkey. Hardly anyone in Turkey knows there are more than 2000 mosques here.

So it's not just a question of scholarly work, but also of educating society?

Motika: It would certainly be a good thing if that happens as a side effect. Recently another German politician called for Turkey to finally ban forced marriages. What a ridiculous thing to say – forced marriages are just as illegal there as they are in Germany! They're a societal problem and a question of how far existing legal provisions can be implemented.

If you're "refreshing" the image of Turkey in Germany, are you also pushing for EU accession for Turkey?

Motika: No, we're an academic institution, not a lobby for EU membership! Our objective is simply to document on a scholarly level that Turkey is a country in flux – it is culturally creative, has renowned film and jazz festivals, museums of modern art, some ten internationally competitive universities, and all this in parallel to the country's Ottoman-Islamic heritage. Turkey is changing at a rate of knots, it's not standing still. It's not a backward country, as many people still seem to believe.

Will the centre address the situation of Turkey's minorities?

Motika: Absolutely! Today's Turkey is an immigration country where many ethnicities are mixed. A large proportion of the migrants come from the Balkans and the former Soviet Union. And many Arabs have at least a holiday home there. There are still tensions between various religious groups. The Alevi for example are disadvantaged, and their prayer houses are not recognised. The situation is still tense for the Kurds as well. In the background is a key question for modern Turkey: how does the country define itself – as a unitary state – one nation, one language, one people?

As the Turkish economy expands, the country's international significance increases. Other states are showing growing interest in how Turkey deals with its minorities. But it is still unclear wither the country will actually allow greater pluralism. Yet regardless of which direction Turkey takes in the end – our centre will be documenting its progress.

Interview: Thilo Guschas

Qantara.de

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Website "TurkeyEuropeCentre" (in German)