THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume X, Issue # 112, April 30, 2008
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
TURKEY'S UNCERTAIN FUTURE
By Dr. Michael Rubin
THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF TURKEY: CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY, OR AUTHORITARIAN DICTATORSHIP?
THE RULE OF LAW & SEPARATION OF GOVERNMENT & RELIGION, OR ISLAMIST THEOCRACY & TYRANNY? THE
GOVERNING ELITE & ITS SUPPORTERS LEGALLY ACCOUNTABLE, OR ABOVE THE LAW? LEGISLATIVE & EXECUTIVE
SUPREMACY, OR RESPECT FOR THE JUCICIAL PROCESS?
FULL STORY:
The legal case against the Turkish Justice and Development Party (AKP) is an affirmation of constitutional democracy,
rather than an assault upon it. Constitutional
democracy rests upon the rule of law and constitutionalism. Neither plurality support nor a majority in Parliament should
place any politician or political party above the law.
The AKP deserves credit for the economic growth that has occurred under its stewardship and for supporting Turkey's
accession into the European Union. There is no doubt that the AKP has revolutionized Turkish politics. In the 2002
election, it trounced the more established parties by out-campaigning them. The AKP has earned its reputation for serving
its constituents.
Popularity and constitutional democracy are not synonymous, though. Turkish constitutionalism separates religion from
party politics in order to preserve democracy. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has abused this separation. He has
eroded the
distinction between religious and public education, sought to retire forcibly several thousand secular judges who
questioned his party's interpretations of the Constitution, and then moved to replace those judges with AKP apparatchiks.
He also has instituted an interview process — controlled by party loyalists — designed to evaluate government
technocrats on the basis of religiosity, rather than merit. Turkish Air employees have even been quizzed on their belief in
the Koran.
No party or prime minister in Turkey's history has been so hostile to the press. Erdogan has sued dozens of journalists and
editors. In a strategy borrowed from Iran, he has confiscated newspapers — such as Sabah, the national daily —
which he deemed too critical or independent, and transferred their control to political allies. Journalists such as Vatan's Can
Atakli and Reha Muhtar, television commentator Nihat Genç, Sky Turk's Serdar Akinan, and Kanal Türk's
Tuncay Özkan are now under fire either for their own criticism or, in the case of the television announcers, for their guests'
criticism of the ruling party.
Erdogan has treated courts, both international and domestic, with disdain. After the European Court of Human Rights
decided against permitting headscarves in Turkish universities, he declared that "only ulama [Islamic religious scholars]
could" issue such a judgment. In several instances, Erdogan has refused to uphold the Supreme Court's decisions when it
ruled against the AKP's confiscation of political opponents' property. In a moment reminiscent of Henry II, a follower
gunned down a justice after the Prime Minister launched a fusillade against the Court.
Both AKP supporters and Western officials unfamiliar with the AKP's record paint the Court's actions as undemocratic.
AKP supporters argue that the party represents democracy, and they seek to equate any opposition — be it secular,
nationalist, or judicial — as Fascist. This is unfair. Ultra-nationalists who do not abide by the law find themselves in court,
just as the AKP now does. The military has stayed on the sideline, as it should. Declaring its support for the Constitution
in a written statement is not a coup.
Turkey is not alone in holding politicians legally accountable. In April, 2000, the European Parliament suspended French
demagogue Jean-Marie Le Pen; soon afterward, Austrian politician Jörg Haider also faced sanction. The global community
does not allow Hamas's popularity among the Palestinians to absolve it of responsibilities under international law.
True constitutional democracy requires respect for the judicial process. Let Erdogan have his day in court. We should
respect the results as a sign that Turkey's constitutional democracy has matured.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Turkey, the Middle East, & the U.S.A.
American Foreign Policy -- The Middle East
Middle East: Arabs, Arab States,
& Their Middle Eastern Neighbors
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
International Politics & World Disorder:
War & Peace in the Real World
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
U.S. National Security Strategy
CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY & OTHER POLITICAL REGIMES
Modern Constitutional Democracy:
Fundamental Character & Essential Ingredients
Constitutionalism: The First Essential Ingredient
of Modern Constitutional Democracy
Dictatorship: The Opposite of Constitutionalism
Representative Democracy: The Second Essential Ingredient
of Modern Constitutional Democracy
Direct Democracy & Representative Democracy
Political Culture & Modern Constitutional Democracy
Modern Constitutional Democracy:
Summary & Conclusion
Dr. Michael Rubin, a Ph.D. in History (Yale University) and a specialist in Middle Eastern politics, Islamic culture and Islamist
ideology, is Editor of the Middle East Quarterly, a senior lecturer at the Naval Postgraduate School, and a resident
scholar at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. Dr Rubin is author of Into the Shadows: Radical
Vigilantes in Khatami's Iran (Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 2001) and is co-author, with Dr. Patrick Clawson,
of Eternal Iran: Continuity and Chaos (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005). Dr. Rubin served as political advisor to the Coalition
Provisional Authority in Baghdad (2003-2004); staff advisor on Iran and Iraq in the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense
(2002-2004); visiting lecturer in the Departments of History and International Relations at Hebrew University of Jerusalem
(2001-2002); visiting lecturer at the Universities of Sulaymani, Salahuddin, and Duhok in Iraqi Kurdistan (2000-2001); Soref
Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (1999-2000); and visiting lecturer in the Department of History at Yale
University (1999-2000). He has been a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, the Leonard Davis Institute at Hebrew
University, and the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs.
The foregoing article by Dr. Rubin was originally published in The American, April 30, 2008, and
can be found on the Internet website maintained by the Middle East Forum, a foreign policy think tank which seeks to
define and promote American interests in the Middle East, defining U.S. interests to include fighting radical Islam,
working for Palestinian Arab acceptance of the State of Israel, improving the management of U.S. efforts to promote
constitutional democracy in the Middle East, reducing America's energy dependence on the Middle East, more robustly
asserting U.S. interests vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia, and countering the Iranian threat.
(Article URL: http://www.meforum.org/article/1888)
Republished with Permission of the Middle East Forum
Reprinted from the Middle East Forum News
mefnews@meforum.org (MEF NEWS)
April 30, 2008
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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