Agos, November 21st, 1997
According to the Holy Book, it is with a touch of the forbidden fruit that man falls from divine realms, and the process of becoming human begins. When Eve plucks an apple from the forbidden tree and offers it to Adam, they become aware of their nakedness and cover themselves with aprons they weave from fig leaves. The wrath of God is fearsome! Womankind he punishes with pain in childbirth and men with lifelong hard labour.
The evolutionary process of mankind who from that point on multiplied and increased in number follows closely the process of social and political relations between people. The real explanation of this process should be sought in the countless prohibitions put into effect throughout history and in mankind’s struggle and revolt against these prohibitions. Meanwhile, it is once again the constant and most fundamental reality of “untouchable” taboos that faces those who attempt to analyse this process. Just as before, certain things have again remained beyond reach, and certain people have remained untouchable.
And observe, if you will, how in our beloved Turkey, at the dawn of the 21st century, parliamentary immunity remains a contemporary issue.
Our country has declared its intent to enter a process towards a clean society, but this armour of immunity forms a huge obstacle in front of cleaning the establishment itself. We are all following the developments: the issue has moved beyond the immunity of persons: instead the immunity of the state has become a topic of debate. Neither the judicial system, nor any other governmental power is able to reach and touch these untouchables. But it is nevertheless clear that it will be impossible to obstruct the demand of society to touch these untouchables. This week, our parliamentarians seated in the Turkish Grand National Assembly face a test they are unaccustomed to. They will vote to say, “Let us be touchable too.” Will their immunity be removed? It would be over-optimistic to expect this to happen by the wave of a magical wand from a parliament where the numerical balance is constantly changing. But it is also true that, if it happens today, it is great, but even if it does not, sometime in the future a day will come when these privileges will be removed, and that day is not so far away. Ultimately they will be removed, and so they should.
Since we are talking about immunity, it becomes necessary to also discuss in the space of a few sentences the topic of our social life, and touch upon the untouchables in this field a little, too. Do we not observe in our social life the same untouchable taboos springing into life at the slightest criticism towards a person or institution? I think the time has come for us to confront the issues considered and leave no stone unturned in the darkness of taboo. We try, as much as we can, to touch upon these taboos. We are aware how much difficulty this effort involves. We know that it is difficult to establish the tradition of criticism in a society where it does not exist yet, but we will persist to the end.
Why should we be unafraid of touching?
Ethologist1 Desmond Morris, in his book titled Intimate Behaviour, explains how in our increasingly crowded world we have come to forget touching each other and talks of the dangers of this “untouchability.” Describing at length how a friendly slap on the back is a typically human gesture which gains in value, Morris goes on to argue that it is in fact an expression of love and adds: “Touching is our most fundamental sense – it has been described as the mother of senses. Unfortunately, and moreover, without realizing it, we are becoming people who touch less, and are drawing apart from each other.”
We agree with Morris when he associates touching and being touched with love. So if you love… but really love, we ask you to “touch”, and “Don’t be afraid of being touched”: “Don’t be afraid to touch! You’ll democratize.”