The Turkish Government's Challenge With Public Perception

In reality, Turkish people has not seen any specific change in their lifestyles since the AKP came to power. However there have been sincere concerns that the AKP has not been sensitive about personal liberties and turning away from the long-standing Turkish tradition of secularism, so people thought that one day things would change. This is not true; but still the AKP has the responsibility to reassure the restless ones and give full assurance that it is not their intention to interfere in their personal freedoms at all. There have been many critics to some of the regulations of the government, one of which is the alcohol regulation. It was nothing different than the regulations we see in the EU or North American countries. Actually Turkey is following the West ten years behind in this kind of restrictions. One can still buy trucks of alcohol in Turkey, and nobody says anything to it. The prohibition is only about the retail sales of alcohol in shops between 10 pm and 6 am. Still in these hours any adult can drink alcohol in restaurants, bars, tourist places etc. So what the AKP did was not a ban, but only a regulation with the aim of preventing alcohol-related harm, such as traffic accidents, crime, domestic violence as well as alcohol consumptions health-related issues. However the perception of more than a few people was that the regulations were interference in their lives and was seen as religiously motivated. For me, the government should give emphasis on education and public awareness programs and leave the rest to people's decisions. We can see that the reasons that appear on the surface are not real problems but mostly based on false perception. Sometimes it is not important how well-intentioned the policies are; the public perception is far more important. On the other hand, even something like salt can be a great danger if you take in large amounts. This does not move us to ban or regulate salt consumption. In general, to draw attention to the danger and explain it in detail and then leave people alone and let them make their own decisions is the best method. So what the government should do is eliminate these fears even if they are groundless. They should emphasize to the public—especially atheists, communist citizens, minorities like Jews and Christians—that they can live freely and securely in this country. They have to state clearly that they also want advanced democracy and will assure fundamental freedoms of expression, and that they care about the critics and value the comments of dissatisfied citizens. And it would be nice to see a bit of a shift away from a typical Middle Eastern tough, uncompromising leader model, to a more gentle, compassionate, forgiving one with a greater emphasis on love. People do not want interference in their lives and people do react when they even hear words attempting to teach them morality; they will brook no attempt to design their lives and they don't want others to say what is or is not best for them. Everyone's understanding of what is —or isn't—moral can be different. People should be free to the utmost. Anything that would make them feel restrained disturbs people; we don't want any bans, prohibitions, restrictions, etc. Even if they are not bans but just regulations, still there is no need. We don't want any attempt to regulate or control people's lives and we must show respect for people's reason and decisions. Democracy and one’s feeling free are wholly essential because when there is no democracy and no freedom, people’s minds become inactive as if they are paralyzed. As a matter of fact people under authoritarian pressure generally lose their productivity whereas freedom comforts people, and increases their creativity and self-expression skills. For instance, a painter can’t paint if you put pressure on him, or a composer or an author writing a book would lose his inspiration if he feels depressed. But when one is feeling free and secure and filled with love, then he can paint, write and speak in a very good manner. That is why democracy and freedom are so very important; without them, society, like the individual, is robbed of the ability to contribute and participate meaningfully in life itself. Sinem Tezyapar is a political analyst. https://twitter.com/SinemTezyapar The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arabstoday.