Societies that are psychologically at ease do not rebel. If there is no pressure on them, if they can make their voices heard and receive answers, if they feel trust and love, then they are joyful and at ease. Joyful societies can find solutions to problems quicker and cope with difficulties sooner; they will not rebel in order to find a solution. They feel no need to. A society that rebels is always under pressure. It cannot express its discontent in any other way. And once it has fallen to that unhappiness even the tiniest of sparks will fan its hatred. The more harsh words it hears, the more harsh rules it encounters and the more discipline it sees, the greater the tension. It becomes less able to tolerate ideas other than its own. The street protests in Egypt in the wake of the intervention by the army show that the people of Egypt have not yet experienced that psychological ease. We have also experienced that in Turkey: the people divided in two. They identified an “enemy” for themselves. One square belonged to one group, another square to the other. That part of the media was this group's, and that part that group's. Twitter users were divided in two. Social media became a field for these two groups to insult one another. Neither side was happy. Children of the same nation were not even aware that they had embarked on a fight of brother against brother. When society comes to that stage, telling them “you are brothers” is of little use. They need to escape the pressures and be happy. The Morsi regime failed to bring the Egyptian people the happiness they expected. It could have been done. I said that in an article last week. When religion is perceived as weeping, sorrow, introversion, distancing oneself from art and beauty, hatred and living in a pitch black world, those pressures keep on growing. Yet the true religion in the Quran eliminates all pressures and bestows liberty. Had Mohamed Morsi used his devout character to lift these pressures, he would have done the right thing. Had he been given a bit more time, that perhaps might have happened. A year not used efficiently is not long for an inexperienced party in a country tasting democracy for the first time. But since the Egyptian public expected a rapid and great freedom and could not bear the pressure, a year seemed like an eternity to them. In my opinion, a little more time might have been more fair. Due to its past and the local pressure from a base that was captive to a fundamentalist conception of religion, the Muslim Brotherhood may have thought that applying minor reforms would be enough. Yet a concept of governance in which everyone is listened to, where all ideas are freely expressed, where there are beautiful people and clothes and works of art, and in which all dictatorial imposition is done away with will bring ease to society. Devout and non-devout people will be at ease in such a system. Environments in which every member of society feels free and at ease are those where there is psychological ease. Societies that are psychologically at ease do not rebel. It is not too late. The Muslim Brotherhood can and must do it. That change will be most beneficial for Egypt. Some people in Egypt are reacting against a radical conception that reminds them of the pressure on them. But people that are insecure and in a state of fear and anger will be even more uneasy when confronted with cold tanks, armed soldiers and planes loaded with bombs. They will soon begin to see the army, which they gave standing ovations to at first, as a threat. Then the dimension of their fear will become even greater. My country has seen three major military interventions in its history; that is why it is not hard to foresee these things. It is impossible to calm the Egyptian people down so long as this pressure persists. Weapons are a form of pressure in the same way the possibility of radicalism is. Mass arrests, media defamation and a lack of transparency will always be perceived as pressure by society. Intellectual voices will soon begin saying, “guns have no place in politics.” One will follow another and the country will slide into even worse turmoil. The army should have stepped in to remove the conflict and disagreement in the country. But if there is one thing we have learned from military interventions in Turkey, it is the need to urgently focus on constructive solutions, rather than compulsion. It must first and foremost begin with measures not reminiscent of pressure. Keeping Morsi and the members of the Muslim Brotherhood in detention will never defuse tensions in the country. Detentions will soon begin to attract strong criticism from the Western world that is currently backing the military in Egypt. Since detentions always mean “pressure”, internally it will be perceived as a security problem and externally, as a problem of democracy. Egypt attracting opposition from foreign powers in that climate of turmoil will lead to even greater problems. The public wants their voice to be heard. That is why the appointment of a council composed of representatives of all the people will calm the public down. The council must contain representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Copts, Salafis, all minorities and the opposition. The council can find solutions to day-to-day matters until a new government is established through elections; it can be the voice of the people. Let us come to the real issue — the psychological need of the Egyptian people. The Egyptians are devout people. That is great, but those precious people have to be happy too. That can only come with freedom, art, beauty, science and care. The Egyptian people must see that women's rights are going to be defended to the fullest extent possible. They must believe that women are valued and held in high esteem. Societies that do this always acquire psychological strength. Art is a key. Allah has adorned butterflies and flowers. Allah has adorned paradise. Allah loves art and beauty. He loves cleanliness and proper maintenance and we must love what Allah loves. Our souls have already been made to love this. People who beautify themselves through proper grooming are always happier and more positive. People are generally more relaxed in clean environments decorated by fine statues. Fine music opens their hearts, and fine works of art tend to broaden their horizons. A green and well-maintained city makes people happy. A people who are not threatened by the possibility of radicalism or guns, who always see attractive images around, whose ideas are listened to and who become ever more attractive will be a happy one. The people of Egypt need that happiness. These people, who spent years under pressure, need to be given freedom and security — people's greatest psychological need. In that event, brother will not oppress brother, people will not rise up for a solution and there will be no external elements issuing commands in your name. The people will seek solutions, rather than rebellion. They will become constructive. They will be happy and not want conflict. Egypt is not simply a piece of land, a geographical location; it is the people that make Egypt what it is. You can never have an attractive country without making the people happy.
The writer is a commentator and religious and political analyst on Turkish TV and a peace activist.
