What is this all about?

Well, the story goes back to a week ago. Atilla Yayla, a professor of political thought at the Gazi University and a renown defender of liberalism, criticized Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and "Kemalism" in a speech he gave at a conference in Izmir.

In his speech, Dr. Yayla argued that the period of Mustafa Kemal was "a period of regression, not progress." He also criticized the abundance of photos and statues of Mustafa Kemal all around Turkey and warned that Turkey can't continue like this in its EU-driven process of democratization and liberalization. "Europeans will ask us," said Yayla, "why this man's photos and statues are everywhere."

These words created a spontaneous uproar in the Turkish media. Yeni Asir, an Izmir based daily, put Dr. Yayla's photo to its first page with a single-word headline: "Traitor." Many other newspapers and columnists strongly denounced Dr. Yayla for defining Kemalism as "regression" and for daring to refer to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk disrespectfully as "this man." (In Turkey, the appropriate way to refer to Atatürk is to use titles like "Our Forefather" or "the Exalted Leader.")

Consequently, the rector of the Gazi University, Dr. Kadri Yamaç, gave a press conference denouncing Dr. Yayla as "a man who lacks manners to a such a degree that he talks about Atatürk as 'this man'," and declared that he won't be allowed to teach at the university any more. Dr. Yamaç also told that an official investigation about Dr. Yayla has been initiated by the university administration, for what he said and also for that "he traveled to Izmir without permission." (In Turkey, academics have to get permission from the state-appointed university administrations in order to travel outside the city limits. The rule is generally ignored, but it is seldom used against scholars who go around to mess around, and Dr. Yayla obviously did so.)

Turkish press reports that a public prosecutor also initiated an investigation about Dr. Yayla's offensive thoughts. Therefore, it is possible that Dr. Yayla joins the group of heretical Turkish intellectuals like Orhan Pamuk or Elif Safak who have been put on trial for insulting "Turkishness" and its sacred pillars.

Meanwhile, The sensitivity on Atatürk has sparked another investigation in Turkey: Public prosecutors are at work about three giant Atatürk posters that were displayed on the Teachers Day, November 24, in Antalya, Kusadasi (a province of Aydin) and Edirne. The problem with the posters was, as the press noted, that they don't look exactly like Atatürk and show him in a bit ugly way. Mustafa Malay, the governor of Aydin said "this is a very important issue" and and the painters might be punished "even if they had not a deliberation, but a lack of sensitivity."

However Dr. Yayla stands firm behind his views. He accused his accusers "to counter ideas by bullets," and challenged Turkey's Kemalists to discuss the legacy of Atatürk with him in a fair intellectual debate. "Galileo was persecuted for speaking out, too" Dr. Yayla said, "the reaction I am getting only shows the lack of the freedom of thought in Turkey."

Many liberal commentators in the Turkish press and several human rights organizations have declared support for Dr. Yayla's freedom of speech. Soli Özel, a political scientist at Bilgi University and a columnist for the daily Sabah, argued that it is a "shame" for the Gazi University to deny Dr. Yayla the freedom of speech. ?smet Berkan, the editor-in-chief of the daily Radikal, criticized both the "crucifixion" of Dr. Yayla and the tendency in Turkey to see Atatürk's words as "Divine speech." Hasan Cemal, a columnist for Milliyet, noted, "Nobody has to love Atatürk... and he cannot be protected by laws."

Interestingly, the liberal students at Sirkeci were also referring to Atatürk. With Yayla masks on their faces, they were holding two posters with quotes from the Exalted Leader: "Ideas cannot be silenced by canons and guns," and "Never refrain from saying what you think."