Cultural Habits and Legal Breaches: The Challenges of Social Change in Turkey

Various social and legal issues have become normalized without sufficient confrontation by both segments of society and the government. In this blog post, I will focus on the sources of these issues, why they persist, and the challenges of solving them.

We can explore these situations in Turkey across a broad spectrum, from gun usage at weddings, red light violations, cars parking on sidewalks blocking pedestrian paths, smoking in places where smoking is prohibited, to deliberately throwing garbage into seas. Each is different, yet they converge at one point: violation of rules that are tolerated or even endorsed by large sections of society.

These situations can be seen as the general legal and social norms being overlooked for the short-term comfort or entertainment of a specific segment of society. On the other hand, they can cause environmental damage, public health problems, and general security issues affecting wider segments of society, even society as a whole.

So why is it so difficult to solve these issues? Is the solution just to make more laws and regulations? No, because the problem is not just the violation of existing laws, but also the social acceptability of these violations. This is a situation formed by the complex amalgamation of social, economic, and political factors.

On one hand, governments turning a blind eye to such violations or imposing light penalties can allow such behaviors to persist. Particularly during election seasons, politicians in search of popular support can ignore or downplay such issues for short-term political gains.

On the other hand, there is also responsibility in the wider society. If there is a general tolerance in society against such violations, governments will struggle to resolve this. Education and social awareness campaigns can play a significant role, but such changes take time and usually do not yield immediate results.

In conclusion, solving these issues that require widespread change in society is not easy. Both governments and individuals need to take these problems seriously, enact and implement appropriate laws, and most importantly, there needs to be an increase in societal consciousness about the importance of these rules and adherence to them. This can be a challenging task requiring widespread change in society. However, overcoming these difficulties is crucial for addressing Turkey’s social and legal issues.