Roads to Prosperity
Turkey’s Democratic Dusk
Dani Rodrik
|
|
|
|
CAMBRIDGE – When questioned recently about a constitutional law professor who was arrested for lecturing at an institute run by the country’s main pro-Kurdish political party, Turkey’s interior minister, Idris Naim Sahin, couldn’t hide his irritation: “I am having a hard time understanding those saying a professor should not be arrested while thousands of other people are being arrested in Turkey.”
Presumably, Sahin meant to say that a professor cannot claim special treatment under the law. But his remark inadvertently underscored Turkey’s new reality, in which any perceived opponent of the current regime can be jailed, with or without evidence, for terrorism or other violent acts.
Special courts, tasked with prosecuting terrorism and crimes against the state, have been working overtime to produce charges that are often as absurd as they are baseless. For example, journalists have been imprisoned for producing articles and books at the behest of an alleged terrorist organization called “Ergenekon,” whose existence has yet to be confirmed, despite years of investigation.
Likewise, military officers have been charged on the basis of blatantly fraudulent – indeed, amateurishly produced – documents containing obvious anachronisms. A senior police commissioner is currently languishing in jail for allegedly collaborating with far-left militants he spent his entire career hunting down. These prosecutions have cast an ever-widening net, ensnaring scores of journalists, authors, and academics, hundreds of military officers, and thousands of Kurdish politicians and activists, among others.
Self-censorship has become routine. Media bosses anxious to retain Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s favor have fired many of those journalists who continue to criticize his regime. And government control now extends beyond the media, judiciary, and academia to the worlds of business and sports. Previously autonomous regulatory bodies (such as the competition authority) have been quietly subordinated to the government, with no debate or discussion.
Even the Turkish Academy of Sciences has been targeted. A recent decree, widely condemned abroad, allows the government to appoint two-thirds of the Academy’s members, thereby ending even the semblance of scientific independence.
Erdoğan seems immune to criticism. His success at expanding access to health, education, and housing has enabled him to win three general elections – each with a greater share of the popular vote than previously. He has broken the power of the military old guard and the hold of its stale Kemalist ideology – the secular nationalism introduced by Turkey’s first president, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk – thereby permanently altering the makeup of Turkish politics. He has presided over the emergence of a vibrant new class of Anatolian entrepreneurs. And, under his rule, Turkey has become a regional power.
Yet, while Erdoğan may appear to be at the pinnacle of power, it is his government’s “Gülenist” allies who have grown increasingly powerful. Members of the transnational Gülen movement – inspired by followers of Fethullah Gülen, a Pennsylvania-based Muslim theologian – are staffing Turkey’s police, judiciary, bureaucracy, and universities. The Gülenist media now set the country’s new ideological tone, producing a steady stream of disinformation in their vocal support of the country’s show trials.
These trials are, in fact, often staged to serve Gülenist ends specifically. Prominent detainees, such as the journalist Nedim Sener and police commissioner Hanefi Avci, landed in jail after exposing the wrongdoings of Gülenist police and prosecutors. Editorials in Zaman, the Gülen network’s Turkish-language daily newspaper, no longer mince words: a new Turkey is being created; those who stand in the way are getting what they deserve.
Erdoğan has benefited greatly from Gülenist support, yet he detests sharing power and remains suspicious of the movement. Early on, he successfully exploited the Gülenist-supported political trials in order to demonize the opposition. But, as the charges have increased in scope and implausibility, the trials have complicated his relationships with the military, domestic liberals, and outsiders such as foreign media and the European Union. Moreover, individuals close to him and his administration have recently become entangled in the net of judicial manipulation, which suggests that he may be losing control over the police and the special courts.
Given that the fight against the common enemy, the secularist old guard, has been decisively won, an eventual break between Erdoğan and the Gülenists is perhaps inevitable. Unfortunately, regardless of which side emerges victorious, the outcome will not be good news for Turkish democracy.
For Turkey’s friends abroad, it is time for some tough love. So far, the European Union and the United States have reacted to Turkey’s descent into authoritarianism with little more than vague statements of concern. No official has offered criticism analogous to Swedish Foreign Secretary Carl Bildt’s condemnation of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko’s show trial in that country, or US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s frank statements about Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s erosion of the rule of law. Incredibly, the EU’s progress reports on Turkey have continued to call the Ergenekon trials, which are heavily supported by the Gülenists, an opportunity to strengthen the rule of law.
It wasn’t long ago that Turkey appeared to be a bright beacon of democracy and moderation in a region accustomed to autocracy and radicalism. Now it looks more like a country heading towards authoritarianism at home and embracing adventurism abroad.
It is understandable that Europeans and Americans do not want to offend a regional power. But playing Erdoğan’s game only reinforces his sense of invincibility. It does not advance the cause of democracy in Turkey; nor does it make Turkey a more reliable ally.
Dani Rodrik, Professor of International Political Economy at Harvard University, is the author of The Globalization Paradox: Democracy and the Future of the World Economy.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2011.
www.project-syndicate.org
You might also like to read more from Dani Rodrik or return to our home page.
|
|
PacificBeach 10:40 22 Nov 11
Very good article on Turkey and I must say accurate. So from your prose, I picture you as a very just person who is able to seek and appreciate truth.
That is why I would invite you to Islam and Quran. Islam is not what Erdogan does, nor what I do or Gulen sympatizer do. Islam is what Allah has decreed thru Quran and our beloved prophet (pbuh). If you read carefully, it has all the answers to the things that really matter.
senturk 03:31 23 Nov 11
Mr. Rodrik continues his attack on the AKP government and its supposed ally in power, that is the Gulen movement. His rhetoric suffers from a major inconsistency. He blames the Erdogan government with taking over all branches of government and even the previously autonomus bodies of the state. He says ".... journalists have been imprisoned for producing articles and books at the behest of an alleged terrorist organization called “Ergenekon,” whose existence has yet to be confirmed, despite years of investigation." But he goes on accusing the so-called Gulenist with "staffing" judiciary, police force and even universities ( I don't know what he means by "staffing universities" whether Gulenist staffing universities with students or some Gulenist academics who were unemploysed and waiting to be placed into the universities). Is there any evidence to this "staffing" on the record? Has this fact been confirmed? Or is it just some worn out claim reiterated by certain circles in Turkey? Is Rodrik getting his information from military circles who have been producing a lot of fabricated stories on the Gulen movement and other Islamic groups in Turkey and treated them as major threats to the existence of Turkey? Mr. Rodrik doesn't bother to use even "allegedly" when he lays down his claims on the so-called Gulenists. He treats gossips as facts. This is simply not ethical.
Rodrik's another mistake (if it is a mistake) is to allege that Turkey is slipping into authoritarianism. Signs? self-censorship in the media and arresting pro-PKK elements in masses. Why is Erdogan responsible for self-censorship in the first place? Is it not a question we have to ask the media bosses? We had the army issuing credentials to the press to be able to enter into the army facilities as a journalist and no one from the secular media questioned the army's arbitrary procedures. Some years ago, the generals rising eyebrows made the headlines and brought down the governments in the country. Cetin Dogan, who happens to the father in law of Mr. Rodrik, is one of those generals who dictated the media what to write and what not to. And nobody in the West, including Mr. Rodrik, screamed that Turkey is under the authoritarian rule of the army. It is now on the verge of authoritarianism? No way!. Erdogan will eventually have to leave the government when he loses the popular support or when he doesn't want to run again. The only question Mr. Rodrik should be asking is why the Erdogan government is still waiting to do something on a new constitution promised before the elections.
Hammarskjold 06:18 23 Nov 11
Mr. Rodrik, please don’t take it so personal, did you ever criticize the undemocratic practices in Turkey before your father-in-law was arrested for his role in plotting to overthrow the democratically-elected government? Or were you an advisor to the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey? If my father-in-law was a general in the army, I would also dedicate myself to support him, hence I do understand your grief. By the way, your father-in-law did stand for a seat in the parliament in the recent general election, how many votes did he get? You see, Turkish people are also inclining to authoritarianism (!), what a pity! They are no longer pro-military, you must have the Turkish people imbued with militarism again.
subgeometer 04:48 27 Nov 11
Perhaps you could address the US police state before throwing rocks at Turkey, which hasn't been serving the interests of the US lately - but perhaps that's what prompted this article. Arrogant. "A senior police commissioner is currently languishing in jail for allegedly collaborating with far-left militants he spent his entire career hunting down" For all your snorting, this is not an unknown or even rare syndrome. Perhaps you haven't noticed all the fascist and fundamentalist outfits kept alive by various security services for their own nefarious entertainment(eg the murderous right wing cell that seems to have had support from the German secret police, which is currently scandalising Germany) Corrupt cops have a habit of intimidating or killing witnesses, so keeping him on remand is reasonable. Even petty thieves are often remanded n western countries these days, and petty theft is a much less serious allegation, don't you agree? Tough love? whatever next, the cat-o-nine-tails And let me point out, an 'ally' is loyal in friendship, but if you mean loyal in fealty, you speak of a client or slave You talk of democracy but are plainly nostalgic for military rule
Alternative 10:22 22 Nov 11
Mr. Rodrik, before you criticize Europe, ask yourself "Did Nato ever advance the cause of democracy in Turkey?" . The whole world knows how supportive NATO was for the Turkish military dictators. Looks like the US is not pleased by the fact that Turkey finally found a role for itself. Loosing a puppet is, of course, regretable. The US can certainly find another fine poodle to replace Turkey.