When France banned the headscarf in 1989 a step had been taken to usher in the new era in the Muslim world. They couldn’t see the big picture back then. What was necessary was to evaluate the situation within the context of the unification of Germany, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the independence of the Turkic world, and take action accordingly. The independence of Bosnia Herzegovina, Kosovo and Macedonia during the same period was a harbinger of the most significant political and regional transformation for us post-1918. Despite us gradually shedding our isolated policies in the bipolar global system, Turkey had a rather large area to maneuver within. By announcing the ban on headscarves, it opened the door to a new era in the Muslim world.
A large part of today’s France participated in the Crusades. Hence it is possible to talk about an historical animosity toward Muslims. France’s hostile political attitude towards Muslims has never waned. Simultaneously, there were headscarf bans in Turkey back then and the bans were entrapped within debates of the regime, which gave prominence to discussions on secularism. However, a global change was taking place and Turkey was at the center of this very change. When we take a look back, we can grasp why the mastermind of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) wanted to openly state whose side he was on. Before the ban was enforced in France he expressed that he had no connection to Islamic movements and that he was on the opposing side. After Sept. 12, he made his first open-air speech at the Hisar Mosque and labeled those protesting against the headscarf ban as terrorists. This speech marked the beginning of a new era. This speech needed to be known in detail, and I prepared the full text together with a few friends for Signature magazine. There was no reaction to the speech made in the mosque in 1988, but great pressure was applied on İmza (Signature) magazine.
A short while later, France intervened in Algeria. The victory of the Islamic Salvation Front in the elections was annulled and the entire country was dragged into an environment of chaos that would last for years. That same year the biggest post World War II genocide had begun in Bosnia Herzegovina. In the Caucasus, meanwhile, the Armenians had taken action and were occupying Azerbaijani territory. America, stringing Europe behind it, had settled into the very heart of the Muslim world. FETÖ’s mastermind popped up once again during the 1991 invasion of Iraq and he announced that he was sobbing till the wee hours of the morning for Israeli children. The infiltration of FETÖ terrorists into the Caucasus and Central Asia begun following this speech. We were at the start of the new Crusades. Turkey would experience its darkest years following this.
The headscarf ban of France and the fact that FETÖ members started to gain an identity as a non-national structure corresponds to the same period. But when we consider the rise of the East in the context of Muslim countries that surround the Mediterranean, the attitude of France and FETO members can be better understood. Leading Europe and the U.S. with its steps towards the Muslim world, France enabled the resurgence of the Crusader spirit.
Today France is leading Europe and the U.S. in its animosity against Islam. It doesn’t hesitate in using religion as a tool to turn the events transpiring in Africa, the East Mediterranean and the Caucasus into an advantage. Furthermore, they stooped so low as to insult Prophet Mohammad. They has presented the headscarf bans in 1989 as a conflict between religion and secularism, and now they take shelter behind enlightenment-era concepts such as freedom of expression. Despite such an obvious example of hypocrisy, France’s attitude is able to affect Turkey. Those who remain blind to the fact that the Charlie Hebdo event was a new campaign targeting the Muslim world and Turkey are more than than they should be.
They must’ve not been able to fathom that France would adopt such a shameful policy that those who were screeching at the top of their lungs are now as quiet as a mouse. When a priest had been murdered in the past Turkey was brutally criticized. Even though there were serious suspicions regarding the murder. However, today they choose to remain silent in the face of France usurping religion in order to engage in politics. Nor can we see hide or hair of those who raced to Paris to march. Just as it has been for a thousand years, it is the duty of Anatolian Turks to be the flag-bearer of the region. The days when the terms Turk and Muslim were used interchangeably are once again upon us.
