Talking Turkey

The current situation in Turkey hangs by a delicate thread. The constitutional court is hearing, very sympathetically according to some analysts, a case calling for a ban on Turkey8217;s ruling party, the right wing AKP, and a five-year ban from politics on 71 of its leaders including the serving Prime Minister and President. The argument is that the AKP government intends to impose sharia law in the country. The immediate cause for provocation was the decision by the government to revoke a longstanding ban on the sporting of religious headscarves in public institutions including schools and universities. The headscarf may not seem as particularly important in another context but in Turkey it symbolises the sacredness of secularism. Apart from the constitutional court case, there are also reports of planned coup attempts by the army and the secular establishment. Any move to overthrow the government by means other than an election would be unfortunate. However, a number of concerned parties would have to share the blame if Turkey plunges into a serious crisis.

Let8217;s analyse the AKP first. In the interest of full disclosure: this author has no sympathy with AKPs Islamist/religious agenda 8211; the party has its roots in political Islam and is born out of the ashes of previously banned or overthrown Islamic parties. Much like other religious right-wing parties, including the BJP, it sounded a lot more radical while outside government 8212; in government its stance has been more moderate. In fact, the AKP can rightfully claim to have done more for democracy, human rights and economic development than any of its secularist predecessors. The rights of minorities, including Kurds have been expanded. The death penalty has been abolished. Women enjoy greater freedom now than before. The economy has registered rapid growth under a regime of free market policies combined with government fiscal restraint, eschewing the major economic crises of the late twentieth century.

Unfortunately, despite solid achievements and electoral success, the AKP lurched into the temptation of using their parliamentary majority to push through controversial initiatives. The election of the urbane but hard-line Abdullah Gul his wife wears a headscarf, something previously prohibited in the presidential palace to the presidency necessitated an early general election. The AKP managed to muster through opposition in this case but stepped on a toe too many in revoking the ban on headscarves. Democracy cannot be about simple majoritarianism, and the AKP forgot that. It needed to build a larger political consensus, and bring the army and liberal elite around to see reason8212;-allowing headscarves is admittedly not the same as imposing sharia law 8212; before they went ahead with changing this symbolically important policy. So, some of their current predicament is of their own making.

The army and secular liberal elite have not done themselves any service either. Both the army and secular parties ran many inept, incompetent and corrupt governments, which allowed the more puritanical AKP a foot in the door. Also, like in Pakistan, the army hasn8217;t learnt a fundamental lesson 8212; people do not accept the army8217;s role in dabbling in, and 8216;guiding8217; democratic politics. Thus, the Islamist parties never disappear even when they are banned, they just rise in another form. The army and secular interests including the constitutional court must learn to fight the battle in the realm of ideas, and within a democratic framework.

In fact, forces outside Turkey also have a major role to play in the current crisis. And these are not just the Kurds in Iraq8212;-who are of little more than minor nuisance value. The real culprits are the EU nations like France, which have been vehemently opposing Turkey8217;s entry into the EU. One of the priorities of the AKP administration in Turkey has been to join the EU. Many of the liberal democratic and human rights reforms have taken place with a view to meeting the criteria for membership. The reluctance of some European countries to accept an 8216;Islamic8217; country into their 8216;Christian8217; club reeks of xenophobia and 8216;racism8217; and is ultimately counter-productive to Europe8217;s interests. It makes economic and political sense for Europe to have a stable, moderate, secure and prosperous Muslim majority country on its eastern borders.

Meanwhile, it would be in interest of the people of Turkey if the AKP began to negotiate with the army and secular establishment to find a peaceful way out of this unnecessary crisis, which could send an emerging Turkey, yet again, into the uncomfortable embrace of a murky past.

dhiraj.nayyarexpressindia.com