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SECULARISTS IN A TIME WARP HAVE BEEN OVERTAKEN BY THOSE DEEMED BACKWARD
The Times/uk
January 28, 2010
Recommend?
You might not like the AK party but you must accept us," Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, the Prime Minister of Turkey, said recently to all those
who one way or another have tried to oust his Government over the
past seven years.
Acceptance is one thing that hardliners in what used to be the ruling
elite - the military, judiciary and bureaucracy - have failed to
manage. Ever since 2002 the Government has endured a constant barrage
of efforts to get rid of it. As a result, Mr Erdogan's reforms have
slowed, his zeal sapped. Fear seems to be colouring his actions
despite his statements of defiance.
The pretext has been the danger that Mr Erdogan and his fellow former
political Islamists are thought to pose to the secular state. Yet
there has been little to indicate that AK has any plans for a religious
administration, or even one with a strong religious flavour.
It has embraced the present system - possibly all too well, if whispers
of corruption and cronyism have any basis.
Another, more convincing theory, is that this is an old-fashioned
struggle for power fought between those used to uncontested supremacy
and a brash new guard with the temerity to believe that an electoral
mandate is all it needs to govern.
The secularist elite does not include the occasionally atheist
liberals, nor genuine socialists, many religious minorities or
disaffected Kurds. It is unimpressed by the firebrand Mr Erdogan,
who has survived the demise of his previous party and a spell in
prison for reading a supposedly "jihadist" poem. Although backed by
a wide range of Turks, from economic liberals to social democrats,
he belongs to a new conservative middle class - tradespeople who are
devout in an uncomfortably obvious way.
Even worse, in their eyes, rather than simply being pleased to
be allowed a turn in office, he is trying to push through reforms
required for accession to the European Union. Mr Erdogan, realising
this would improve the lot of his supporters, must also have imagined
that his Western-looking detractors would desire such improvements.
However, EU reforms lead to displeasing changes to the status quo
that could loosen their grip on power, including a more transparent
legal system and less politically involved and powerful military.
The power struggle has divided the army between the plotters, who are
high-profile, and the anonymous ranks who leak sensitive documents
and want a military that is divorced from politics. The pollsters
A&G said this week that they found trust in the army at a historic
low of 60 per cent.
The anti-AK camp has also unwittingly united many people behind a
Government they would normally be criticising and which, while better
than earlier administrations, is hardly perfect.
Change has not been completely stymied. Despite glitches, the very
existence of plans for rapprochement with Armenia, increased rights
for Kurds and trials for previously untouchable criminals within the
state is revolutionary. A combination of government efforts, brave
publications such as Taraf and the irresistible lure of EU membership
have ensured a clear break with the days when a meek public cheered
the prospect of a military coup.
It may seem ironic that a conservative Government of devout politicians
is spearheading such change. But this is the point: the supposedly
modern "secularists" have been stuck in such a time warp for so long
that they have been overtaken by the people they always considered
the most backward.
The Times/uk
January 28, 2010
Recommend?
You might not like the AK party but you must accept us," Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, the Prime Minister of Turkey, said recently to all those
who one way or another have tried to oust his Government over the
past seven years.
Acceptance is one thing that hardliners in what used to be the ruling
elite - the military, judiciary and bureaucracy - have failed to
manage. Ever since 2002 the Government has endured a constant barrage
of efforts to get rid of it. As a result, Mr Erdogan's reforms have
slowed, his zeal sapped. Fear seems to be colouring his actions
despite his statements of defiance.
The pretext has been the danger that Mr Erdogan and his fellow former
political Islamists are thought to pose to the secular state. Yet
there has been little to indicate that AK has any plans for a religious
administration, or even one with a strong religious flavour.
It has embraced the present system - possibly all too well, if whispers
of corruption and cronyism have any basis.
Another, more convincing theory, is that this is an old-fashioned
struggle for power fought between those used to uncontested supremacy
and a brash new guard with the temerity to believe that an electoral
mandate is all it needs to govern.
The secularist elite does not include the occasionally atheist
liberals, nor genuine socialists, many religious minorities or
disaffected Kurds. It is unimpressed by the firebrand Mr Erdogan,
who has survived the demise of his previous party and a spell in
prison for reading a supposedly "jihadist" poem. Although backed by
a wide range of Turks, from economic liberals to social democrats,
he belongs to a new conservative middle class - tradespeople who are
devout in an uncomfortably obvious way.
Even worse, in their eyes, rather than simply being pleased to
be allowed a turn in office, he is trying to push through reforms
required for accession to the European Union. Mr Erdogan, realising
this would improve the lot of his supporters, must also have imagined
that his Western-looking detractors would desire such improvements.
However, EU reforms lead to displeasing changes to the status quo
that could loosen their grip on power, including a more transparent
legal system and less politically involved and powerful military.
The power struggle has divided the army between the plotters, who are
high-profile, and the anonymous ranks who leak sensitive documents
and want a military that is divorced from politics. The pollsters
A&G said this week that they found trust in the army at a historic
low of 60 per cent.
The anti-AK camp has also unwittingly united many people behind a
Government they would normally be criticising and which, while better
than earlier administrations, is hardly perfect.
Change has not been completely stymied. Despite glitches, the very
existence of plans for rapprochement with Armenia, increased rights
for Kurds and trials for previously untouchable criminals within the
state is revolutionary. A combination of government efforts, brave
publications such as Taraf and the irresistible lure of EU membership
have ensured a clear break with the days when a meek public cheered
the prospect of a military coup.
It may seem ironic that a conservative Government of devout politicians
is spearheading such change. But this is the point: the supposedly
modern "secularists" have been stuck in such a time warp for so long
that they have been overtaken by the people they always considered
the most backward.