TURKEY SETS AN EXAMPLE
by Marwan Al Kabalan
Gulf News
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Dec 25 2009
UAE
Under Erdogan, Ankara has made swift progress towards full democracy
If former US president George W. Bush got one thing right in his
understanding of the Middle East, it was picking Turkey as an example
of democratic transformation in the region. In fact, there are plenty
of reasons to believe that Turkey, which is moving steadily in the
path towards democracy, would make a perfect example for the rest of
the Arab and Islamic world.
To begin with, Turkey is a big Muslim country and shares with the
rest of the Islamic world a religion, culture, traditions and problems.
More importantly, Turkey’s leading role in social and political
change has always been recognised in the Arab world. It was a model
for the revolutionary Arab regimes of the 1950s and 1960s, wherein
Western-oriented elites from a humble social and economic background
used the army as a tool for change and governance. In both Turkey
and the Arab republics, the military establishment marginalised the
city-based bourgeoisie, transformed the whole fabric of society and
replaced social conservatism with a new set of authoritarian codes
and practices.
On the socio-economic level, Turkey is relatively poor and, until
recently, its political life was dominated by a corrupt political
elite, nepotism and mismanagement. Politically, Turkey faces a myriad
of external and domestic challenges. It has border disputes with almost
all neighbouring countries: Armenia, Greece, Bulgaria, Russia, Iran,
Syria and Iraq. Its ethnic problems put extra pressure on state-society
relations and feed the fear of sedition and disintegration. Yet Turkey
has succeeded in establishing fairly solid democratic traditions over
the past few years, whereas the Arab world is still debating whether
democracy is culturally and socially acceptable. Furthermore, this
has nothing to do with the culture and religious explanation of the
Orientalists and Euro-centrists because, as I mentioned before, Turkey
shares a religion and culture with the rest of the Arab world. It
has nothing to do, also, with the perceived economic criteria for
democratisation, which accompany an assumption that prosperous nations
are more inclined to embrace democratic traditions.
Inspirational leader
There are several structural factors that have helped Turkey move
fairly quickly towards democracy. Yet, Turkish democracy owes most
of its success to a single man, who armed himself and equipped his
project with the blessing of his people. Although one must be careful
not to personify Turkey’s renaissance project, we have nevertheless
to recognise the importance of leadership qualities and rulers’
willingness and commitment to change and reform. In fact, under the
leadership of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey has entered
a period of astonishing change. Since he took office in 2004, Turkey
has moved further along the road to democracy than ever before since
the death of Ataturk in 1938.
Erdogan is a charismatic politician, ambitious and visionary. He
brought radical change to Turkey without sacrificing its Islamic
identity. Despite stressing differences, he admires Mahathir Mohammad’s
project in Malaysia. But, unlike Mahathir, for Erdogan Europe is
the vehicle of change, democracy is the path and the support of the
people is the fuel in the long journey towards establishing a modern
and prosperous society.
Today, Turkey is closer than ever to Europe and Turks are becoming
more supportive as their trust in Erdogan grows stronger. After five
years in office, Erdogan has also proven himself more committed
to democracy than any of the self-proclaimed secular leaders, who
misruled Turkey throughout the past 50 years. He has abolished the
army-administered security courts, lifted restrictions on free speech
and brought the military budget under civilian control for the first
time in Turkish history. As an honest and clean politician, he has also
fought extravagant corruption, institutionalised the state apparatuses
and undercut nepotism and clientism. Surplus in the central budget,
a relatively stable economy and the rise in living standards testify
to Erdogan’s sensible economic policies.
Erdogan’s revolution in foreign policy was no less important. He
realised that the army and the old political elites were using
external threats to invent superficial enemies, delay reform
and remain in power. As a consequence, he swept aside 30 years of
Turkish intransigence on the Cyprus question, eased the tension with
Greece and developed good relations with all neighbouring countries,
including Armenia, Syria and Iran. This is highlighted by his visit
to Syria this week. He has, furthermore, addressed the more sensitive
question in Turkish politics: the Kurdish problem. He recognised
the special status of the Kurds as Turkish citizens and authorised
Kurdish-language broadcasting.
Erdogan has indeed revolutionised Turkish politics in every key
aspect. If his project reaches the desired end, he will be remembered
by most Turks as their most important leader and may even replace
the legendary Ataturk as the founder of the modern Turkish state.
Dr Marwan Kabalan is a lecturer in media and international relations
at the Faculty of Political Sciences and Media at Damascus University.