Post by Kassandros on Jun 9, 2009 6:54:51 GMT -5
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Experts: Violence linked to militarism
The number of murders throughout Turkey has risen, and the intensity of violence has also increased -- a significant cause for concern, say experts -- but an increasingly violent society comes as no surprise, according to analysts, who believe that Turkey's political culture has had a major effect on the society's views on violence as a means of solving problems.
“The main reason behind violence is the militarization of society. During the last 25 years, the state power tried to solve all problems with violence. The society adopted this idea and started to perceive violence as a way of solving problems,” said psychiatrist Selçuk Candansayar, a professor at Gazi University.
Candansayar and other experts, including sociology professors Nükhet Sirman and Halil Ýbrahim Bahar, while explaining the recent increase in violence throughout the country, underlined that there are many factors involved. They added that violence has always been around, but we did not hear about it as often.
During the past six months, many violent attacks have been reported in the media. For example, a man in Van committed suicide in February after killing his wife and two children, and similar events took place in Ordu in March and in Aydýn in May. Military influence in civilian sphere causes violence in society
In some cases, the victims were not only the wives and children, but also other close relatives, including brothers, sisters and parents. In many cases, the victims included babies who were killed by mothers, fathers and neighbors. In Mardin in early May, masked men raided a village during an engagement ceremony and killed 44 people. Most recently, on Sunday in Adana, an 11-year-old girl shot her 39-year-old mother because the mother allegedly refused to allow her daughter to take an exam. One week ago, in the same city, a man killed eight members of his family.
Professor Sirmen of Boðaziçi University underlined that violent attacks are taking place more often and are spreading but are also reported in the media more than ever before.
She pointed out that each social group and class in Turkey has its own peculiarities when it comes to violence.
“The Kurds have their own violence, as we saw in Mardin. The upper class has its own; the poor have their own. In short, all violent events have their own meaning and should be analyzed within the context of the social group in which they take place. For different social groups, the source of the violence can be the same or different, but its forms and shapes vary according to the social group in which it takes place,” Sirmen said.
She added that violence is increasing all over the world due to the effects the ongoing global economic crisis has had on society, but in Turkey there are some other reasons as well.
“The language of politics is violent, too. This helps violence gain legitimacy in the public eye. Violence starts from the beginning. It is not under the monopoly of the state any longer; it has spread around,” she said.
Candansayar also noted that there are different forms of violence, but the main source of it during the last 25 years has been the state.
“The politics and the power have been telling society that the only way to solve problems is violence. Everyone knows that during the '90s, when the state was not able to cope with drug trafficking, it preferred to killed the dealers. Now, after every mine blast that results in the deaths of soldiers, Turkey is bombing northern Iraq. The message is very clear: ‘If someone hurts you, make them to pay for it.' This is why people were fighting with each other in traffic in the past, but now they are killing each other,” Candansayar said.
Bahar of the International Strategic Research Organization (USAK) also highlighted the importance of politics as one of reason behind the violence:
“Our politics is not based on negotiation and concessions. If there is no healthy democracy in the state structure, it reflects on the society, and if there is no democracy within the family, it reflects on state structure, too. Our role models in politics are not proactive but reactive, and this reflects on society as violence,” Bahar noted.
Explaining the difference between reactive and proactive, he said that fighting against terrorists, their operations and counterattacks is reactive, but fighting against terrorism and trying to eliminate the reasons behind it is proactive.
Candansayar, Sirmen and Bahar also underlined that there are other reasons for violence, economic and social.
“The main problem is not the killing of a mother by an 11-year-old girl, but the situation that allows the legal presence of a gun in the house and the child's access to it. If the situation was not like this, then the child would only fight with her mother, lock herself into a room and cry all day, but most probably would not kill her mother,” Candansayar said.
Bahar added that according to media reports, the little girl who killed her mother had some problems and because the school knew about it, her classmates had been warned not to enter into discussions with her.
“But apparently this was all that was done; there were no preventive measures. This is true for other violent incidents, too; preventive measures are not taken,” he recalled.
According to Sirmen, people are more demanding but the means are limited, and this is creating frustration in the society. She also noted that people's sense of justice has also been damaged.
“But this sense of justice is defined by our personnel norms. We also, as a culture, have a tendency to worship power, and we use violence as a method to gain power,” she said.
In order to prevent the spread of violence, she said, the political structure should give up on violent methods. The legitimization of violence should also be done away with.
Bahar underlined that in order to prevent violence, people should be trained about negotiation and anger management. Candansayar suggested that there should be restrictions on possessing guns, adding, “If we take measures now, it will pay back within 25 years, like it was created within 25 years.”
09 June 2009, Tuesday
AYÞE KARABAT ANKAR
Experts: Violence linked to militarism
The number of murders throughout Turkey has risen, and the intensity of violence has also increased -- a significant cause for concern, say experts -- but an increasingly violent society comes as no surprise, according to analysts, who believe that Turkey's political culture has had a major effect on the society's views on violence as a means of solving problems.
“The main reason behind violence is the militarization of society. During the last 25 years, the state power tried to solve all problems with violence. The society adopted this idea and started to perceive violence as a way of solving problems,” said psychiatrist Selçuk Candansayar, a professor at Gazi University.
Candansayar and other experts, including sociology professors Nükhet Sirman and Halil Ýbrahim Bahar, while explaining the recent increase in violence throughout the country, underlined that there are many factors involved. They added that violence has always been around, but we did not hear about it as often.
During the past six months, many violent attacks have been reported in the media. For example, a man in Van committed suicide in February after killing his wife and two children, and similar events took place in Ordu in March and in Aydýn in May. Military influence in civilian sphere causes violence in society
In some cases, the victims were not only the wives and children, but also other close relatives, including brothers, sisters and parents. In many cases, the victims included babies who were killed by mothers, fathers and neighbors. In Mardin in early May, masked men raided a village during an engagement ceremony and killed 44 people. Most recently, on Sunday in Adana, an 11-year-old girl shot her 39-year-old mother because the mother allegedly refused to allow her daughter to take an exam. One week ago, in the same city, a man killed eight members of his family.
Professor Sirmen of Boðaziçi University underlined that violent attacks are taking place more often and are spreading but are also reported in the media more than ever before.
She pointed out that each social group and class in Turkey has its own peculiarities when it comes to violence.
“The Kurds have their own violence, as we saw in Mardin. The upper class has its own; the poor have their own. In short, all violent events have their own meaning and should be analyzed within the context of the social group in which they take place. For different social groups, the source of the violence can be the same or different, but its forms and shapes vary according to the social group in which it takes place,” Sirmen said.
She added that violence is increasing all over the world due to the effects the ongoing global economic crisis has had on society, but in Turkey there are some other reasons as well.
“The language of politics is violent, too. This helps violence gain legitimacy in the public eye. Violence starts from the beginning. It is not under the monopoly of the state any longer; it has spread around,” she said.
Candansayar also noted that there are different forms of violence, but the main source of it during the last 25 years has been the state.
“The politics and the power have been telling society that the only way to solve problems is violence. Everyone knows that during the '90s, when the state was not able to cope with drug trafficking, it preferred to killed the dealers. Now, after every mine blast that results in the deaths of soldiers, Turkey is bombing northern Iraq. The message is very clear: ‘If someone hurts you, make them to pay for it.' This is why people were fighting with each other in traffic in the past, but now they are killing each other,” Candansayar said.
Bahar of the International Strategic Research Organization (USAK) also highlighted the importance of politics as one of reason behind the violence:
“Our politics is not based on negotiation and concessions. If there is no healthy democracy in the state structure, it reflects on the society, and if there is no democracy within the family, it reflects on state structure, too. Our role models in politics are not proactive but reactive, and this reflects on society as violence,” Bahar noted.
Explaining the difference between reactive and proactive, he said that fighting against terrorists, their operations and counterattacks is reactive, but fighting against terrorism and trying to eliminate the reasons behind it is proactive.
Candansayar, Sirmen and Bahar also underlined that there are other reasons for violence, economic and social.
“The main problem is not the killing of a mother by an 11-year-old girl, but the situation that allows the legal presence of a gun in the house and the child's access to it. If the situation was not like this, then the child would only fight with her mother, lock herself into a room and cry all day, but most probably would not kill her mother,” Candansayar said.
Bahar added that according to media reports, the little girl who killed her mother had some problems and because the school knew about it, her classmates had been warned not to enter into discussions with her.
“But apparently this was all that was done; there were no preventive measures. This is true for other violent incidents, too; preventive measures are not taken,” he recalled.
According to Sirmen, people are more demanding but the means are limited, and this is creating frustration in the society. She also noted that people's sense of justice has also been damaged.
“But this sense of justice is defined by our personnel norms. We also, as a culture, have a tendency to worship power, and we use violence as a method to gain power,” she said.
In order to prevent the spread of violence, she said, the political structure should give up on violent methods. The legitimization of violence should also be done away with.
Bahar underlined that in order to prevent violence, people should be trained about negotiation and anger management. Candansayar suggested that there should be restrictions on possessing guns, adding, “If we take measures now, it will pay back within 25 years, like it was created within 25 years.”
09 June 2009, Tuesday
AYÞE KARABAT ANKAR