European and French democracy in the whirlpool of Islamophobia

Democracy, a form of government discovered and developed by humanity's common reason, has very great handicaps to set against all its good sides. One of these handicaps is that the tempting allure of grabbing a share through populist rhetoric and policies is too great, and that by yielding to this allure it can render all of democracy's virtuous acquis void. The road by which unskilled, short-sighted politicians in particular address the masses through this populist rhetoric, which they regard as the cheapest field of investment, and find common ground with the masses, is all too open.

THE TEMPTING ALLURE OF POPULISM IN DEMOCRACY

Unfortunately, playing on hatred, rancor and incitement, with empty promises and with conspiracy theories devoid of any realism, by turning facts upside down, always has a certain customer base. The threats that democracy is exposed to through this kind of rhetoric can be much graver than external threats that are directly hostile to democracy, and the threats that European democracy faces today are of this kind.

For this reason, there is a very linear relationship in Europe between Islamophobic rhetoric or anti-refugee sentiment and election processes. As elections approach, the rhetoric politicians resort to most is hostility to Islam.

THE ISLAMOPHOBIA VIRUS IN FRANCE, FROM THE BOTTOM UP

France is currently going through an election process, and a serious increase in hate speech against Islam is expected during it. The racist rhetoric of presidential candidate Eric Zemmour can even turn into a pledge such as "If I am elected, I will ban the name Muhammad." In the country, even directly singling out Muslims, profiling them and legal discrimination against them can be proposed. It was reported in recent days that a far-right website had profiled more than 300 people it described as Muslims and "Islamo-leftists."

France no longer even feels the need to hide its enmity toward Islam. The rhetoric of some racist, far-right politicians, which seems extreme at first, begins to gain acceptance in society after a while. For once far-right rhetoric starts to be voiced, and no principled or legal obstacle stands in its way, it begins to be perceived as a pie of political gain in which everyone tries to grab a share, and after a while it becomes normal. Thus a social phenomenon takes place in which fascism spreads wave after wave and engulfs the whole of society.

Indeed, with the entry into force of the separatism law approved by the Constitutional Council in August, the state has also legalized its ability to intervene freely in the lives of the Muslims in the country.

Under the law titled "Principles Reinforcing Respect for the Values of the Republic," many associations and mosques were closed, and headscarved women and publishing houses were targeted. The Ministry of the Interior announced, with something like the excitement of a "successful struggle against terror," that nearly 30 of 89 mosques had been closed in the past year. Now procedures have been initiated to close 6 more mosques. All of these steps are not merely attacks on Islam; in fact they signify nothing other than France's suicide in the name of values such as democracy, human rights and secularism.

DEMOCRACY NEEDS SOME SAFEGUARDS

France is the cradle in Europe of democracy, the Enlightenment, scientificity, the Republic, human rights, and therefore of all European values. That it has regressed to this point, even though all generations were taken through enlightenment by a rigid "school" process, may have many causes, but it should first of all be addressed directly under the heading of the risks or troubles of democracy.

The problem we face on this matter is in fact that democracy's limits on human rights and religious freedoms have not been fully drawn. When the name Jew is put here in place of Muslim, a completely different face of France emerges. In an environment where even anti-Semitic insinuations fall within the scope of crime, not only does no one resort to hate speech against Jews, but Judaism can even be kept exempt from every kind of criticism. Of course no one can have a demand that Islam or Muslims be exempt from criticism, but the matter of protecting them against rancor, hate speech and, of course, discriminatory practices must absolutely be considered. Otherwise what happens does not happen only to Muslims; it happens to France itself, to Europe, to democracy.

IS ISLAMOPHOBIA IN TURKEY IMPORTED FROM FRANCE?

I can almost hear those who ask whether we, as Turkey, are in a much better position on this matter. In fact, for us, who took secularism and democracy from the French model, the situation in France still yields great lessons.

Do we not watch with dismay as well how far the movement that began among us as anti-refugee sentiment has gone, and how from there it has turned into a fascism spreading to the whole of society and gnawing away at all the values, virtues, goodness and acquis that make Turkey Turkey?

Does anti-refugee sentiment not, after a while, dare to produce Islamophobic rhetoric of the worst sort, worse than that of Europe's most Islam-hating far-right figures?

At that very moment, do you not feel bitterly that our country is unknowingly under the occupation of the enemies of Islam?