THOMSON: A TROUBLING ANTI-WEST TILT PERSISTSRATE THIS STORY
By John R. Thomson
Washington Times
a-troubling-anti-west-tilt-persists/
March 3 2010
Islamist pressure undermines its moderate image
Long a staunch free world friend and, since 1952, member of NATO,
Turkey is today the world’s 17th
largest economy and dominant in a region that includes Egypt, Israel
and Saudi Arabia. However, after generations of close relations with
the United States, Europe and Israel, Turkey is undergoing complex and
increasingly radical restructuring, both domestically and abroad. How
it evolves should be of great interest and grave concern.
Internally, Islamist pressure is building, despite representing
a minority of citizens. Poor government-military relations were
exacerbated by the Feb. 22 arrest of 51 active and retired senior
army officers accused of plotting a 2003 coup. Abroad, frustrated by
its negligible chance to enter the European Union, the government is
reverting to its deep Islamist leanings and significantly altering
foreign policies.
There has been a steady increase in women wearing hijab headscarves,
encouraged by the ruling party and government of Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The wives of Mr. Erdogan and Turkish President
Abdullah Gul wear the hijab, as do most female activists in the
ruling Justice and Development Party. Reflecting strong opposition,
a government proposal to lift a long-established ban on wearing it
at universities was ruled unconstitutional in 2008.
Moves to intimidate the once-free media have stunned longtime friends.
Journalists and editors report regular wiretapping intimidation.
Turkish media are under unrelenting pressure to show nothing but
respect for the prime minister. Leading newspaper Sabah was closed
two years ago on fabricated charges and sold under pressure to a
company run by Serhat Albayrak, the prime minister’s son-in-law. Last
September, major media conglomerate Dogan received a $2.5 billion tax
fine many believe imposed because of its strongly secular editorial
position; however, a January court ruling reduced it by 20 percent
with more appeals pending.
In recent weeks, efforts to appoint clearly Islamist judges have been
vigorously opposed by the opposition and Turkey’s esteemed military.
Islamist hoodlums have attacked Jewish synagogues and businesses and
Mr. Erdogan was received warmly on returning from last year’s Davos
World Economic Forum, where he told Israeli President Shimon Peres,
"You kill people," among other incendiary statements, before abruptly
leaving their shared podium.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad praised the prime minister’s
performance, reciprocated when Mr. Erdogan and Mr. Gul speedily
phoned congratulations to the Iranian president following his
corruption-ridden re-election last June. Mr. Erdogan repeatedly refers
to Mr. Ahmadinejad as his "friend" in interviews and multiple exchanges
of visits to Tehran and Ankara.
Indicative of a sharp return to his Islamist beliefs, the charismatic
Turkish leader repeatedly lauds disgraced Sudanese dictator Omar
Bashir, indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war
crimes and crimes against humanity. Mr. Erdogan and Mr. Gul exchange
frequent visits with Mr. Bashir and his vice president.
Despite the slaughter of some half-million Sudanese in Darfur since
2003, the ICC stopped short of indicting former army general Bashir
of genocide, allowing Mr. Erdogan to announce during the Sudanese
leader’s November visit, "No Muslim could perpetrate a genocide." The
ludicrous reference continues Turkey’s relentless denial of committing
genocide from 1915 until the end of World War I, when more than a
million Armenians were exterminated, moving Winston Churchill to term
the events an "administrative holocaust."
Such international forays, including warm relations with Hamas,
have prompted several apologists – including very senior members
of the Obama administration – to contend Ankara was simply opening
long-neglected regional relationships. Not true: No similar warming
of relations has developed between Turkey and such area regimes as
Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and the United
Arab Emirates. Attempts have been made to normalize relations with
Turkey’s Kurdish minority and the Kurdish region of Iraq in a desperate
effort to mollify long-strained relations, as the Kurdish birthrate
threatens to lift them to 50 percent of the country’s population
within a generation.
The prime minister periodically notes Turkey maintains close relations
with Israel and fealty to NATO, claims having similar weight as his
friend Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s insistence Iran’s nuclear program is
solely for power-generating purposes.
Although campaigning as a moderate during the victorious 2002 election
campaign, Mr. Erdogan’s radical roots were formed while attending
Marmara University where he met Turkey’s first Islamist prime minister,
Nekmettin Erbakan. After a successful term as Istanbul mayor, he
formed the Justice and Development Party with Islamist members of
the banned Virtue Party and was jailed for inciting religious hatred,
for publicly reciting a poem that said in part, "The mosques are our
barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the
faithful our soldiers."
The only significant force offsetting the Islamist surge is Turkey’s
military, long the guardian of the 80-year Ataturk legend of firm
adherence to secular democracy. During the Erdogan administration,
relations with the army have deteriorated significantly, culminating
in the recent arrest of several senior retired officers following
stories of a possible coup. Besides the military, many businessmen and
educators are pondering whether to await the Erdogan government’s
leaving the political scene peacefully, or hope for military
intervention.
Interestingly, all the internal and international turmoil has come
when the country has been touted as a major potential force for peace
and stability. Turkey was elected in 2008 to a seat on the U.N.
Security Council; Istanbul was awarded the prestigious 2009 meeting
of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank; this year, Istanbul
celebrates selection as a European Capital of Culture.
Nevertheless, despite the facts, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Barack
Obama have all lionized the government, effectively encouraging it to
redouble its radical maneuvering. U.S. Ambassador James Jeffrey said
in a January interview in Sabah that Turkey "is a peaceful country. It
doesn’t invade neighbors." Sadly, 36 years after invading Cyprus,
40,000 Turkish troops and 180,000 mainland emigres remain, despite
much of the native Turkish population’s opposition. The ambassador
also sidestepped addressing Turkey’s relations with Israel. However
events unfold, there are two current realities:
c Turkey will continue to be a major economic and political player
in a vast and critical region embracing much of Asia, Africa and the
Muslim world.
c Increasingly friendly to radical and outlaw regimes, the Erdogan
government is neutral if not unfriendly to the West, Israel and
moderate Arab governments.
Patriotic Turks can re-establish the dynamic policies of national hero
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Doing so should make the first reality above
far more welcome to Turkey’s western and Arab friends and neighbors.
John R. Thomson, a geopolitical analyst and former diplomat, has
lived and worked in Muslim countries for more than three decades.