Whera does EutoFc end?

Aprttif, Nered.e Bitiyor?

When the themG of the Third General Conyentionof the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly was decided to bethe question "Where Does Europe End" , the idea ofmaking a book on this theme to commemorate theconvention became irresistable. The proiect wasmade possible tianks to the contributions of thosewho had initiated and inyigorated the discource ofcivic consciousness through their writing as well astheir long 3tanding commitment to the cause ofpeace, democracy and human rights.Our writers were asked to contribute bt statementson certain themes that we thought were siSnificant,although of course, not binding. }Ye suggested themetaphor of doors or passages that lead away fromethnic, linguistic, religious or nationalistic enclosuresas possible images to which they mithtr€spond.Accordingly, Hans Haacke, in a visionary tour dc

force, conlured a conic edifice on the Courd'Honneur of the Palais Bourbon that would spellout, in Arabic, the word3 Llberty, Equalitt, andFraternity to tho minorities in France. Haacke is' convinced that the rural, communitarian, andegalitarian environment must be reinvigorated inFrance. Orhan Pamuk recordGd the meditations of acity flaneur on the question of inclusion andexclusion before a door that faced him with aninterdlction forbidding entrance. Adalet Ataotluironized delusions of grandeur, cultural and private,in her iuxtaposition of difrerent life styles separatedby a door while lrlem€t Saydur, in "Civilization'sBack Door", pres€nted an apocalyptic portrayal ofthe end of the Second lrlillenium, and yet preservedsome hope. His optimism ir shared by Fred Halliday,who believes that the very processes ofincorporation and fragmantation imposed on theworld by Europe, also provoke a set of economic andpolitical options and inspire individual libertics thatmight provid€ the basis for human emanciPation'

ludith Herrin, after enumeratinS the vestig6 of Pastclassical or Christian dominance in Turkey' claimedthat the spccifically European quality of Turkeytoday derived from the fact that the liying skills of

IALE PARLAOnsozlntroduction

Helsinki Yurttaglar Meclisi'nin UgiinciiGenel Kongresi'nde ele ahnacak konu"Avrupa Nere de Bitiyor" olarakbelirlenince, bu toplantrdan geriye kalacakbir kitap hazrrlama fikri de kargrkonulamaz bir gekicilik kazandr. Elinizdekikitap, bu fikrin gerge$e ddntiqmiiE halidir.Bunu, yazrlanyla kamusal bilinci ayaktatutmaya azmetmi$, kendilcrini bang,demokasi ve insan haklan ilkelerininyerlcAmesine adamtg yazarlann katkrlannaborgluyuz.Yazarlanmtzr, ba$layrcr olmamakla birlikte,onemli oldu$unu diigiindii$ii rniz baztkonularda katkrda bulunmaya gaSrrdrk.Irk, din, dil ve milliyetgilik gewesindekaulagan saplantrlan zorlayabilecek birimge olarak da kaprlar ve gegiglere$retile me lerini <jnerdik.Bu imgelere Hans Haacke, BourbonSarayr'mn geref salonuna dikilecek vetizerinde Arapga harflerle Ozgtirliik,Eqitlik, KardeElik srizciikleri yazrlacak konibigiminde bir amt imgcsiyle karg -rk verdi.Haacke Fransa'da krrsal vc egidikgi cemaatya$amlmn yeniden canlandrnlmasrgti'riigtnde . Orhan Pamuk, apansrz karqrsrna dikilen ve iizerinde 'igeri girilmez" yazrh birkaprmn 'igerdekiler" ve *drgardakilcr' hakkrnda kendisine ilham etti$i diigiinceleri aktanrken,Adalet ASao$lu da, farkh yagam bigimlerini ayrran kaprlar ardrnda vehmcdilen biiyiikliikfikirleriyle inceden inceye alay etti. Memet Baydur, 'Uygarhfrn Arka Kaprsr" adh yazrsrndaIkinci Binyrl'rn sonunu bir kryamet manzarasl olarak gizmckle birlikte umudunu yitirmezken,Fred Halliday Avrupa'mn diinyaya dayattr$r biitiinlegme ve pargalanma stireglerinin belki debir dizi ekonomik ve siyasi segim do$urdu$unu, bu stireglerin bireysel dzgtirltiklerrkamgrlayarak insamn dzgiirle $me sinin yolunu agabilece$ini ammsatrp, Memct Baydur'un

Nered.e Bitiyor?does Europe end?

JArE PARrA

iyimserligini payla$ryordu. ludith Hcrrin,bugtniiLn Tiirkiye'sinin, Tiirkiye'deyagaml$ tiim cski uygarlklann sertAnadolu kogullannda verdiSi yagamkavgaumn brraktr$r izlerle anlaErlmayagahqrlmasrnln gerektigini ve arukkiligeleEmig *Korkung Ttirk" imajr yerine9a$da9 Tiirkiye 'nin farkhh$rnrn dahaanalitik kategorilcrle irdelenmesigerekti$inin zamanrlrn geldi$ini sciyledi.Bu konuda Richard Fa-lk da Herrin gibidiigiimiyor ve diyor ki: "Bir kaprnrn ikitaraftan da kilitlenebileccgini, ag masr iginde, her iki tarajta duraniann, farkhbeklentilerle de olsa, anahran uyum igindegevirmek zorunda olduklannrunutmayahm."Christopher Hitche ns'a kopriimetaforunun kapr metaforundan daha Eokhitap etmiE oldu$u anlagrhyor. Hitchens,Ivo Ardrig'in Drina Kdpriisii romanrnaatrfla., kopriilerin Balkan tarihindekisimgesel oneminden ve \/isegrad'dakikopri.intin tam orrasrnda, her iki uEtaya$ayan topluluklann buluqma yeri olanhap ra' mn ozel anl amtndan grkanlacakdersler oldu$unu dii$iiniiyor.Felsefi, kiiltiirel ve psikolojik olarak

previous occupants had to be combined for survivalirt the face of the harsh physical environment ofTurkey. Herrin invites us to discard stereotypedimages of the Terrible Turk in favour of moreanalytic explanations for the "strangeness" ofmodern Turkey. Richard Falk, in agreement withHerrin, says:"lt should be remembered that a door can be lockedfrom either side, but it can be unlocked only whenboth sides act in harmony, although possiblymotivated by quite contrary expectations."Christopher Hitchens obyiously found inspiration inthe image of the bridge rather than that of the door.Reminiscing lvo Andric's masterpiece Bridge on theDrino, he points to the emblematic importance ofbridges in Balkan history, and of the kopro, themeeting point in the center of the span that becam€common ground for all citizens of the town ofVisegrad.In response to one of our themes for this book,namely the philosophical, linguistic, psychological"European Self' and the ways in which it designatesits "Other", Enis Batur responded by the image ofthe clover shaped map in Heinrich Bunting'sttlnerorium Socre Scripturoe, the center or the ',core"

of which is occupied by lerusalem. Batur uses thismap as the metaphor of the official and intellectualgenealogy of what has come to be termed as theEuropean identity. E. Morin responded to thequestion of identitiy and otherness within a dialectic,albeit an idealistic, suggestion: Think Europe as onein the many, or as unity in multiplicity, as well as themany in one, or multiplicity in unity. For loachimSartorius the remedy for European xenophobia liesin cultural interaction supported by the Ministries ofCulture of yarious European countries, Similarly,Yagar Kemal proposes an ideal of democracy to be

belirlenmiE Avrupah kimli$inin "oteki"ni attained throuSh efrorts supported by civilnaSrl tammladt$l SOTUSUna EniS BatUr, organizations like Greens, Peace Movements,

Heinrich Bunting'in rtinerariwm saire ;::il:: l':1fi:ili:l',i'.il,T."Jr1,iil:::::;:"r"Scriptwrae adh kirabrndaki bir haritayla

"ut.u,..tion or

yamt verdi. Yonca bigiminde olan ve tam differences as a possible way out of Eurocentrism.ortasrnda Kudiis'tin yer aldrSr bu harita,Batur'a g<ire, Avrupa kimli$i dedi$imiz kavramrn resmi ve kiiltiirel soyagacrnl simgeliyor. E.Morin de Avrupa'nrn "biz" ve "oteki" ayrrmrna diyalektik bir goziim onerdi: Avrupa'yr biryandan go$ul iginde tekil, bir yandan da tekil iginde gogul olarak dngfinebilmeyi becermeliyiz.Joachim Sartorius'a gore, de$iqik iilkelerin ktilti.ir bakanhklannrn destekleyecegi yofun birknltiirel ahgverigle Avrupa'daki yabancr diigmanh$rnrn iisre sinde n gelmek miimkiin. yaqarKemal de demokrasiye ancak Yegiller, Barrg Dernekleri, Insan Haklarr Dernekleri gibitoplumsal orgtitlenmelerle ulaqrlaca$rna inanryor.Jacques Derrida go$ulculuk ve farkhh$rn Avrupa merkezli ideolojilerin panzehiri oldugunu

Ae rap n Nere de Biti,Jor ?Where does EuroPe end?

JALE PARLA

soylerken, Neil Belton da, demokratikyaprlarrn ancak farkhhklar rizerindeyiikselebilece$ini savunarak ona katrlyor.Kiiltiirel kimliklerin, "tanrmlayan"la"tanrmlanan" arasrndaki gergin iliEkidenkaynaklanan ve "tanrmlanan"lann tepkiselbir kavramlaEtrrmasr olup olamayaca$rnailiqkin sorumuz, belki de en duyarhtepkileri gekti. Juan Goytisolo, "YanrkTenliler Dikkat!" adh yazrsrnda, derinizbiraz koyu oldu$u igin, srradan bir gtinde,srradan bir gizerg|hra (6rne$in metroda)bagrnrza gelebilecek bir dehqet hikAyesianlattr. Ne acrdrr ki gergekli$i yadsrnamazbir hikiye! Nuruddin Farah "Sevse deDdvse de, Benim Avrupam"dagogmenlerin g<irdii$ii kotii muameleyianlatrrken, bazr Avrupa iilkelerinin bukonuda ne denli gifte standartlrolduklanna dikkat gekti. lohannesSalminen, yabancr diigmanhSrnrn tarihselkokenlerini Avrupa'nrn kiiltiirel mirasrndaaramak gerekti$ini sdyledi. Jane Kramerise yabancr dtgmanh$rnrn kaynaklandr$rnevrotik kugkuculuSu gu soruyla ozetledi:"Kim Avrupah'drr, kim detildir sorusunainsanlann salt fiziksel 96riiniimiiyle yanrtveremeyece$imiz bir giin geldiginde,acaba bagka ne tiir paranoid davranrgbigimleri geligecekf "Bu kitabr hazrrlayan bizler ise biraz dahaiyimseriz. E$er bu kadar iyi insan bir arayagelip yazdrysa, neden gene bir araya gelipbazr Eeyleri de$iEtiremesinlerl

Neil Bclton puts forth a similar erSument forheterogeneity. "You can find what is importantabout a society in terms of power and knowledge"says Belton "by inverting the discource of thedominant " center on the PeriPhery," and points tothe dan8er hidden in the illusion of tixing thefrontiers of democracy, human and civil rightsthrough structures of ethnic and socialhomoteneity.The question we posed as to whether culturalidentities were mere inyentions of discourses ofpower that were provoked by the reactions of the"identified" toward the 'ridentifier", and whetherpolitical and intellectual groups who are conscious ofand concerned about such discourses have anyinfluence in derobing these identifications oftheirexclusionist, antidemocratic, marginalising, andxenophobic elements got, perhaps, the most intenseresponses. luan Goytisolo, in the "Les Bronz6s,Attention!" which he composed in the bitterness ofa "Modest Proposal" warns those who have slightlydarker skins to exp€ct all sorts of police abuse onordinary days and ordinary routes, such as travelingon the metro. Nuruddin Farah, in "f.ly Europe, Rightor Wrong" relates European abuses of immigrantsto periods of economic depresslon, pointing out tothe double standards of such countries as ltaly thathave emigration policies but no immigrationlegislation. As Johannes Salminen attributeshistorical origins of xenophobia to the culturalheritage of the lvestern civilization, lane Kramerfeels that "all over Europe the politics ofpolarization is tearing society apart. "To ourquestion of xenophobic designations of otherness,she responds with a dismal reioinder: "What kind ofparanoid behavior will develop when we are nolonger able to tell by people's appearance who is

"European" and who is not?"u/e, the makers of this book, however, believe thatthere is reason for being slightly more optimistic, forif so many good people got together to write, whyshouldn't they get together to act.