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OBAMA'S VISIT MAY INSPIRE THE 'CHANGE' TURKEY ITSELF NEEDS
by Ilhan Tanir
The Daily Star
April 3, 2009 Friday
Lebanon
Early next week, President barack Obama makes his first visit to a
Muslim-majority country within his first 100 days in office and by
doing that he will have fulfilled another campaign promise. According
to the news reports, many bilateral issues will be discussed, such
as assistance for US troop withdrawal from Iraq through Turkey.
Early next week, President barack Obama makes his first visit to a
Muslim-majority country within his first 100 days in office and by
doing that he will have fulfilled another campaign promise. According
to the news reports, many bilateral issues will be discussed,
such as assistance for US troop withdrawal from Iraq through Turkey;
stability in Afghanistan and Pakistan; policies against Iran and Syria,
as well as the wider Middle East peace process. At the same time, the
Obama must have noticed by now that Turkey has been accomplishing some
positive results by reaching out to its neighbors in recent years. New
Turkish foreign policies such as disentangling historic conflicts with
surrounding countries have started to bear fruit. Turkish officials now
visit any country in the wider region and can shoulder an exhausted
US in the region, as some US State Department officials recently
elaborated the need for these regional strategic partnerships in
broad-spectrum speeches at the US Institute of Peace conference in
Washington, DC.
In the meantime, Turkey's full EU membership ambitions have been
somewhat disappointing. It is true that, especially after the EU
granted official-candidate status to Turkey for full EU membership in
2005, the Turkish administration has slowed the much-praised reform
agenda. Turkish officials have given many reasons for this sluggishness
though none of them are sufficient to explain this attitude. After
all, these reforms are essential for Turkish citizens who strive to
live better.
The Turkish government also has been making a lot of progress
when it comes to re-establishing its relationship with its Kurdish
population. Only 18 years ago, the Kurdish language was prohibited
in Turkey and Kurdish identity was mostly denied. Today, an official
State television channel broadcasts in Kurdish.
However, much more work needs to be accomplished in regards to other
minorities. "The threat is growing nationalism and frustration
with the US and Europe," a new US Assistant Secretary of State,
Philip H. Gordon wrote as a co-author of a book on Turkey. Also,
if the upcoming Armenian Genocide legislation passes in the House,
this would further vent the chauvinistic flames in Turkey and could
possibly set back much of the newly gained progress as well as newly
improving relations with Armenia.
Today, Turkey is trying to turn yet another important corner toward
fostering its democracy, with facing its own recent history. The
judicial investigation into a shadowy ultranationalist group known as
Ergenekon is continuing. In order to prove that democracy and Islam
can properly function hand-in-hand, the Turkish democratic escapade
must reach its final destination as a fully democratic, secular and
modern country. But, still a mix of ineptitude, politicization and
disinformation has disheartened many observers who wish to see the
trials as a step toward an accountable and democratic Turkey, not a
day for vengeance.
All the same, the Turkish democratic struggle is not moving forward
linearly. First off, laws that govern Turkish political parties
give utmost power to party leadership. This dysfunctional process
enables party leaders to become impervious party dictators, who can
annul local party organizations, cherry-pick the MP candidates and
hold hostage the party members by various means to keep themselves
"voted in" forever. For example, Deniz Baykal, a leader of the main
opposition party, is still the strongest man in his party despite
decades of election defeats, including one Sunday.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister and the leader of the ruling
Justice and Development Party, or AKP, is another example. Erdogan has
been running a one-man show in the government as the other founding
fathers of the AKP have been eliminated one way or another in the
recent years, though the local elections last Sunday promised some
hope for the future of checks and balances amid dwindling support
for the AKP. Yet, the AKP is still the winner and whether it learned
necessary lessons, or whether the opposition parties can resonate
with the people remains to be seen.
And there is the Turkish free press. In recent months there have been
many disturbing episodes that have distressed many spectators who
follow Turkey closely. First, Erdogan irately targeted the outspoken
Dogan Media group urging people not to buy their newspapers. Then,
tax inspectors decided to fine the same media outlet a huge amount,
which unsurprisingly overlapped with the local elections. Freedom
of speech, tolerance and harsh humor are also under fire, as Erdogan
persists in suing writers and caricaturists as he deems that he should
be above such criticism. This state of emotion gives another sample
of untouchable psychology and many Turkish experts now echo Erdogan's
authoritarian ambitions during off-the-record talks. Perhaps hearing
about some of Turkey's shortcomings from a popular and transformational
American president during the upcoming visit will do the trick and
assist in preparing the groundwork, this time, for Turkey's "change."
Ilhan Tanir frequently writes for a Turkish daily, Hurriyet Daily
News, and works for a private consulting firm as a research director
in Washington, DC.
by Ilhan Tanir
The Daily Star
April 3, 2009 Friday
Lebanon
Early next week, President barack Obama makes his first visit to a
Muslim-majority country within his first 100 days in office and by
doing that he will have fulfilled another campaign promise. According
to the news reports, many bilateral issues will be discussed, such
as assistance for US troop withdrawal from Iraq through Turkey.
Early next week, President barack Obama makes his first visit to a
Muslim-majority country within his first 100 days in office and by
doing that he will have fulfilled another campaign promise. According
to the news reports, many bilateral issues will be discussed,
such as assistance for US troop withdrawal from Iraq through Turkey;
stability in Afghanistan and Pakistan; policies against Iran and Syria,
as well as the wider Middle East peace process. At the same time, the
Obama must have noticed by now that Turkey has been accomplishing some
positive results by reaching out to its neighbors in recent years. New
Turkish foreign policies such as disentangling historic conflicts with
surrounding countries have started to bear fruit. Turkish officials now
visit any country in the wider region and can shoulder an exhausted
US in the region, as some US State Department officials recently
elaborated the need for these regional strategic partnerships in
broad-spectrum speeches at the US Institute of Peace conference in
Washington, DC.
In the meantime, Turkey's full EU membership ambitions have been
somewhat disappointing. It is true that, especially after the EU
granted official-candidate status to Turkey for full EU membership in
2005, the Turkish administration has slowed the much-praised reform
agenda. Turkish officials have given many reasons for this sluggishness
though none of them are sufficient to explain this attitude. After
all, these reforms are essential for Turkish citizens who strive to
live better.
The Turkish government also has been making a lot of progress
when it comes to re-establishing its relationship with its Kurdish
population. Only 18 years ago, the Kurdish language was prohibited
in Turkey and Kurdish identity was mostly denied. Today, an official
State television channel broadcasts in Kurdish.
However, much more work needs to be accomplished in regards to other
minorities. "The threat is growing nationalism and frustration
with the US and Europe," a new US Assistant Secretary of State,
Philip H. Gordon wrote as a co-author of a book on Turkey. Also,
if the upcoming Armenian Genocide legislation passes in the House,
this would further vent the chauvinistic flames in Turkey and could
possibly set back much of the newly gained progress as well as newly
improving relations with Armenia.
Today, Turkey is trying to turn yet another important corner toward
fostering its democracy, with facing its own recent history. The
judicial investigation into a shadowy ultranationalist group known as
Ergenekon is continuing. In order to prove that democracy and Islam
can properly function hand-in-hand, the Turkish democratic escapade
must reach its final destination as a fully democratic, secular and
modern country. But, still a mix of ineptitude, politicization and
disinformation has disheartened many observers who wish to see the
trials as a step toward an accountable and democratic Turkey, not a
day for vengeance.
All the same, the Turkish democratic struggle is not moving forward
linearly. First off, laws that govern Turkish political parties
give utmost power to party leadership. This dysfunctional process
enables party leaders to become impervious party dictators, who can
annul local party organizations, cherry-pick the MP candidates and
hold hostage the party members by various means to keep themselves
"voted in" forever. For example, Deniz Baykal, a leader of the main
opposition party, is still the strongest man in his party despite
decades of election defeats, including one Sunday.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister and the leader of the ruling
Justice and Development Party, or AKP, is another example. Erdogan has
been running a one-man show in the government as the other founding
fathers of the AKP have been eliminated one way or another in the
recent years, though the local elections last Sunday promised some
hope for the future of checks and balances amid dwindling support
for the AKP. Yet, the AKP is still the winner and whether it learned
necessary lessons, or whether the opposition parties can resonate
with the people remains to be seen.
And there is the Turkish free press. In recent months there have been
many disturbing episodes that have distressed many spectators who
follow Turkey closely. First, Erdogan irately targeted the outspoken
Dogan Media group urging people not to buy their newspapers. Then,
tax inspectors decided to fine the same media outlet a huge amount,
which unsurprisingly overlapped with the local elections. Freedom
of speech, tolerance and harsh humor are also under fire, as Erdogan
persists in suing writers and caricaturists as he deems that he should
be above such criticism. This state of emotion gives another sample
of untouchable psychology and many Turkish experts now echo Erdogan's
authoritarian ambitions during off-the-record talks. Perhaps hearing
about some of Turkey's shortcomings from a popular and transformational
American president during the upcoming visit will do the trick and
assist in preparing the groundwork, this time, for Turkey's "change."
Ilhan Tanir frequently writes for a Turkish daily, Hurriyet Daily
News, and works for a private consulting firm as a research director
in Washington, DC.