Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Oct 23 2009
Is the Turkish opposition in peril?
Friday, October 23, 2009
Ä°LHAN TANIR
I have been writing for the Hürriyet Daily News for almost a year, and
have heavily criticized a wide variety of the policies of the Justice
and Development Party, or AKP, many times. I was raised, however, in
an environment that was ideologically driven by Islam, the same roots
as the AKP, so I now find it thrilling to watch the victories of these
conservative Muslims from a distance.
And from this long distance, I have tried to understand what it must
feel like to succeed in almost every development in today’s Turkey
after so many decades of feeling inferior. What I witness is an
equally interesting parade. The conservative and religious segments of
Turkey are flourishing at an ever-faster rate. This change, however,
has not happened over night; on the contrary, it has taken place over
years of meticulously prepared stages. The religious and conservative
population of Turkey has worked hard and got richer. They have studied
ardently, excelled in learning foreign languages and gained
familiarity with the outside world, becoming much better accustomed to
it than secular Turks. The conservatives, along with some pro-Islamic
movements, adapted themselves to the times, polished their arguments
and continued walking on a difficult path. Though they occasionally
compromised on issues ` and perhaps even lost some battles ` they
eventually came back to their original issues when they deemed the
time appropriate.
Conservative Muslims in Turkey became well versed in Western
pragmatism by excelling in their knowledge of the international arena,
receiving every kind of degree in the West and establishing their own
academic institutions in both there and here. They educated their own
strategists, something Turkey has rarely seen. Rather than drafting
policies with only today’s concerns in mind ` as was the earlier
custom ` or simply being reactive in their foreign policy decisions,
these strategists, whether one likes it or not, have drafted plans for
the long term future because they now understand the region and the
world better than before.
And today’s administration in Turkey has been trying to bring some
kind of compromise to issues that have dragged on for decades. For
example, the Kurdish people, co-founders of the Republic, might now
become a partner in the country again. This exciting new adventure
might be to the advantage of Turkey. And it is a natural course as
well because, when one looks at it closely, the love and the
inseparable bonds between the two nations are just too powerful to be
broken. This inseparability is, in essence, about to end terrorism in
Turkey; the rest is mere politics. The present administration, despite
its mistakes and shortcomings, is doing the right thing with this
reconciliation process, regardless of whether it is with international
help or because of the changing dynamics in Iraq.
Turkey has also been gaining the status of a regional power. The Arab
world has started to appreciate our country. In this day and age,
trade, rather than ideology, drives much of the foreign agenda. In
many cases in fact, pragmatism is the driving force, not the other way
around. No country conquers any other anymore, as hard power has
proven fatal to the countries that resorted to that option in recent
history. Instead, the power of the brain and of science has
circumvented most of the problems between peoples and promises a
better life. Even though ideologies appear to be on the rise in some
parts of the world, in countries like Turkey, people who once had a
taste of a better quality of life tend to make the most of this
pragmatism and look for ways to continue on this road.
Could there be a dangerous turn of events along the way? Could this
adventure be hijacked by the more extreme elements of some movement?
Quite possibly. However, what we see today is a new generation of rich
conservatives that are not the kind of people who want sharia law to
be implemented in place of secularism.
In brief, whether it is the Armenian issue, or close relations with
Syria, improving the lot of Kurdish people or supporting the
unification process of Cyprus, it seems that the ruling party in
Turkey is reading the region’s affairs much better than the opposition
parties.
What does this equation tell us? At present, there is no viable
opposition party in today’s Turkey that can challenge the AKP’s
foreign policies. Today the opposition in Turkey is lagging behind in
terms of defending basic freedoms and understanding modern democracy.
They have no ability to give lessons on the subject of a modern
secular regime that treats its citizens equally and protects different
societal segments from oppression by others. Turkey needs new and
open-minded leaders who can elaborate ideas of social justice for its
people.
Turkey needs an opposition party with at least a couple of experts in
international foreign policy, so that every once in a while, they can
show up in the capital of the United States, the center of world
politics, and explain their stance on any given policy conflict.
Sadly, the opposition argues that it does not need the backing of a
foreign country; instead, just as in Ottoman times, it turns its back
and says "istemezük/we don’t want it" for almost every critical issue
facing Turkey. As such, the conservative right is much better equipped
to address these issues.
While freedom of the press is under enormous scrutiny ` Reporters
Without Borders, or RSF, ranks Turkey 122 out of 173 countries on this
index and there are serious concerns about rising corruption ` there
is no opposition party in Turkey that has the credibility or the
energy to discuss these issues with any manner of eloquence.
This said, I hope that pragmatism will prevail, and, based on
technological innovations and the Internet, I hope too that Turkey’s
youngsters will have open hearts and minds and be able to meet their
peers from around the globe with tolerance and compromise. They will
learn that the good life is about living happily and enjoying things
as much as one can while respecting others.
The evidence that this will happen in Turkey is "the moral direction
in history," to quote U.S. author Robert Wright. This direction will
once more prevail, and history will once more carry "human
consciousness toward moral enlightenment, however slowly and
fitfully." And for now, the best path toward such a future is the
present administration, rather than the opposition. We will know when
we find a viable alternative.