Iran and Turkey

Indeed, during the shah period, Iran was as secular a country as Turkey. Though, it was not a democracy either during those times or after the Islamic Revolution, which replaced the shah regime with a theocratic dictatorship of the Shiite religious leaders with an elected government.

Turks mostly subscribe to the Hanefi school of Sunni Islam, while Iran is predominantly Shiite. That is, even though both countries have predominantly Muslim populations, religion wise they have very little in common except the holy book Koran and fundamental elements of Muslim culture. Perhaps due to the shaman past of the Turks or the intense centuries long cultural interaction with the West, particularly with France, and to a large extent, thanks to the pre-Turkish culture of Anatolia, even the Sunni Islam perception of Turks is far different and incredibly tolerant compared to Sunni practice elsewhere.

Though continued animosities between the Turks and the Iranians came to an end with the landmark Kasr-i Şirin peace treaty in 1639 (the Turkish-Iranian border has remained intact since then), ever since, state-to-state relations between the two remained "cordial." That is, the two countries have since then been enjoying good neighborly relations without necessarily trusting fully in the other. Yet, before and after the Kasr-i Şirin peace treaty, Persian culture and language played a very important role in the Ottoman literature and culture. That is, the cultural interaction continued even during times of hostilities.

There is a very strong living bond between Iran and Turkey as well Ğ the Azeri Iranians. Yet, the Iranian Azeri population describe their identity first with the Shiite school of Islam, then the Iranian state and ethnic identity comes after, unlike the behavioral pattern of minorities or ethnic groups in other countries, including Turkey. That is, they identify themselves as Shiite then as Iranian and then as Azeris. Still, with full respect to the principle of non-interference in internal affairs, the Azeri Iranians constitute a very strong backbone of the cultural and social dimension of relations between the two countries.

But, Iran is not Turkey and Turkey can never become a second Iran. Each has its own peculiarities and social dynamics, and despite centuries of cultural and linguistic interaction and influence over the other, each has its own distinguished and rich cultural heritage that they are proud of.

However, while neither Iran can become a second Turkey nor Turkey can become a second Iran, whatever happens in either of the countries has a repercussion or spillover effect on the other due to the strong national interaction between the two, despite the "cordial" state-to-state relations. Indeed, fear mongers were trying to make best use of the concerns in Turkey in the aftermath of the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979. Naturally, and probably because of the efforts of the 1980 coup administration, the increase in religious awareness in Turkey and the country becoming more and more conservative, might as well be a phenomenon which might be considered an indirect impact of what happened in Iran on the Turkish society.

Pahlavi interview

While reading yesterday in daily Milliyet an interview with Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s last shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who died in exile, these were some of the things that I remembered. Pahlavi, who would have been Iran’s shah today if the Islamic revolution did not dethrone his father, said that Turks must be aware of the importance of secularism because without it the country cannot sustain its democracy. He was in a way admitting that the shah regime came to an end because it could not sufficiently enforce secularism and in the hopes of sustaining the regime allowed the advance of Shiite theocracy.

In hopes of "reform" the son Pahlavi is implying readiness to collaborate with the current Iranian opposition and join forces in pressing for democratic governance in Iran, warning Turks not to forget the importance of what they have before losing it.

Turkey cannot be a second Iran, but I am afraid the son Pahlavi is right in his warning. In the absence of secularism, while it would not be a second Iran, Turkey would not be a democracy either.