Mehmet Ali Birand - English
Mehmet Ali Birand - English
Mehmet Ali Birand - EnglishYazarın Tüm Yazıları

Impossible not to like American democracy

You may not like American lifestyle. You may slam American politics. You may even say that America with its intervention in international politics in recent years, especially regarding Iraq, has caused great distress. And you may be right with all this.

But there is one subject where America is considered above blame. That is the country’s loyalty to democracy, self-confidence and the power for self-perpetuation. You won’t see this chain of quality in any other country in the world. Not long ago, I’ve seen it myself. Banners that stated that blacks and dogs were not allowed into restaurants, I’ve seen them myself. I watched blacks being treated like dirt. Today the same American can see the world change and elect a black president. This is what’s called generosity, maturity. You can’t help but admire them.

Every American election passes as a different democracy show. You’ll watch competitors shaking hands as soon as one of them becomes elected whereas they were slamming each other during election campaigns. During the race everything is lawful. They might throw mud at each other but when the final period is placed there is an end to everything. Did you notice the relationship between Obama and the opponent party leader Bush after it was understood that Obama had been elected?

Neither did Obama talk in purple prose about taking over a ruin from the former administration. Nor did President Bush hold a speech saying that the new president would ruin the country. They embraced and behaved with due respect. Let’s remember former Bush-Al Gore elections. Millions of votes were used and in the end Bush won by a court order and only a few hundred votes. You can’t help become crazy. Al Gore did not spend a word after the decision was announced. Contrary to what we see in our country, he did neither say he would give him a hard time at the White House, nor did he try to boycott the White House. He shook hands with Bush, accepted the decision immediately and withdrew from the scene. My God, how mature... What kind of self-confidence does he exhibit here? The Americans show great care in order to continue with their system. It is impossible not to admire them. It is discussed whether or not Obama’s election as president will have an impact on Turkey. Obama will have a positive impact on the world. And this will impact Turkey positively. If we are afraid that the Armenian issue will come to the forefront its better if we improve our relations with Armenia, instead of arguing.

The public prosecutor of Ankara is on the verge of deciding whether or not to refer those who started and joined the "I apologize" campaign to court in violation of Article 301, which penalizes "insulting Turkishness."

According to press releases, if the chief prosecutor decides to pursue an investigation then permission is needed. I can’t even understand why the chief prosecutor would investigate complaints. Could there be anything worse than inflicting a heavy blow on the incontestable right of freedom of a society to announce its view point?

Anyway the Turkish judiciary has still not changed its mind. It will happen but will take some time. I don’t believe that Minister of Justice Şahin will shut his eyes to the court case regarding the campaign. This approach neither suits the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, nor Şahin ... No, this primitiveness needs definitely to be stopped and a message needs to be delivered to the public. We don’t deserve such a conception and approach. Enough now.
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