Turkish lessons in democratic politics
There is a lesson for democratic Muslim countries in Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s move from prime minister to president of Turkey. He is undoubtedly the most successful politician his country has seen since the remarkable Mustafa Kemal, yet the longer he thrives in politics, the farther he takes Turkey from Kemalist ideals that have defined it for almost a century. And the more he betrays a fascination for Ottoman grandeur that the Turks had apparently abandoned a long time ago.
There was a lesson in his rise also. He paid attention to people’s everyday problems, like courts taking forever to decide cases and public health and education machinery not functioning properly. He also initiated economic reforms that steadily built a robust middle class; few were surprised that Turkey showed more trade resilience than mainland Europe at the height of the credit crunch in 2008-09. And most admirably, he went straight to the public when his election victory was disputed by the opposition, and came out winning again. Economic strength coupled with his famous ‘zero problems with neighbours’ foreign policy made Erdoğan’s Turkey stand out as an example for the entire Muslim world. And because of his position and recognition of Israel, he became the focal point of Middle East politics, something that has tested the best politicians across the east and west.
Yet with time Erdoğan started displaying characters of dictators and his appetite for criticism shrank considerably. His government first cracked down on the media and then came out strongly at the slightest attack on his centre-right conservative outlook. The zero-problems also went out the window when he sided with the Saudis in the Syrian proxy war, and facilitated al Qaeda hordes across the border in his attempt to oust Bashar al-Assad in Damascus. Like Riyadh, Ankara became one of the chief financers of what is now IS. And since becoming president, the scope of his controversial statements has widened – now including politics, geography, smart phone technology, and even a promise to “wipe out Twitter”. If he continues on this path, Erdoğan risks harming not only the Turkey he helped build so proudly, but also his legacy. Hopefully the reaction to some of his latest outbursts will help restore some balance in this outlook.