A SURPRISING SOURCE OF PROGRESSIVE ACHIEVEMENT
The Independent – United Kingdom
Published: Jul 24, 2007
In recent years, Turkey has become perhaps the best counter-argument
to the idea that liberal democracy and Islam are incompatible. The
re-election of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) at the weekend
is an encouraging sign that this will remain the case.
The AKP has its roots in political Islam, but it has not been
a backward force since winning power in 2002. On the contrary,
the party’s economic reforms have delivered impressive growth, and
Turkey attracted record foreign investment last year. Moreover, the
AKP has not attempted to undermine Turkey’s secular constitution and
the freedoms it guarantees.
The AKP has actually been a good deal more progressive than the
nationalist opposition and the military, which both claim to be the
true guardians of the secular constitution handed down by Turkey’s
celebrated founder, Kemal Ataturk. Nationalists have been at the
forefront of attempts to limit freedom of expression in Turkey by
urging prosecutions against authors who "insult Turkishness". And
the military establishment has been linked with the murderer of the
Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.
But not all progressives are enthused by the AKP’s sweeping
victory. Some liberal Turks are worried that a new mandate will
embolden the zealous elements within the government to push for a
more Islamist agenda, such as an Iranian-style requirement on women
to wear the headscarf. An early test will be whom the AKP proposes
for the office of President. An attempt by the AKP to get the Foreign
Minister, Abdulla Gul, a pious Muslim whose wife wears the headscarf,
into the presidential office resulted in constitutional deadlock and
sparked large pro-secular demonstrations in April.
We should take the concerns of Turkish liberals seriously. But there
is no reason to believe the AKP is about to swerve into hardline
Islamism. And it is worth noting that the Prime Minister, Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, used his post-election speech yesterday to reaffirm
his pledge to respect Turkey’s secular principles.
Perhaps a more pressing concern for those concerned with civil rights
is the state of relations with the Kurdish minority in the east. There
was some ominous sabre-rattling during the election campaign from
Mr Erdogan, including a threat to invade Kurdish-controlled northern
Iraq to root out separatists operating in the area.
But the secularist opposition and the military are far keener on
aggressive action against the Kurds than the government. And the
new representation of independent Kurdish representatives in the
parliament, another result of this election, should act as a brake
on any precipitate military action.
The other great achievement of the AKP is that it has pushed Turkey
down the road towards European Union membership. Many of the reforms it
has enacted have been with this end in mind. As the Foreign Secretary
David Miliband pointed out yesterday, it is in Europe’s interests to
encourage Turkey further in this direction. Insults and an attitude
of rejectionism (France and Austria have been particular offenders
in this respect) merely embolden the hardline nationalists within
Turkey. The next EU report on Turkey’s progress towards membership
is due in November. Europe’s leaders should take this opportunity to
re-iterate to Turkey that the door to membership remains open.
If Turkey, this historic and geographical link between Europe and
the Middle East, is able to plot a middle course between aggressive
secularism and religious illiberalism, it will be a triumph not just
for Turks, but for democrats everywhere.