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Today's Zaman, Turkey
April 20 2014
As summer approaches, ErdoÄ?an and Sisi advance toward presidencies
Separated by three months, Turkey and Egypt will both head toward
historic presidential elections. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an
and Defense Minister Abdel Fattah el-Sisi are of course the names
featured in these elections, respectively, which will ultimately be
important tests for the future of democracy in these two countries.
Egyptians head to the ballot boxes on May 26-27. As it appears that
democracy has been shelved in Egypt, it is widely expected that Sisi
will be elected president.
In the meantime, Turks will elect their president for the first time
on Aug. 10 this summer but the situation is not as clear as in Egypt.
However, it appears as though ErdoÄ?an will be quite a few steps ahead
of his competitors following his victory in the March 30 local
elections.
Speaking in broader terms, it is quite interesting to note that in the
run-up to these two presidential elections, which are important for
the future of the Middle East, the debates and developments in both
Egypt and Turkey bear more than just a little bit of resemblance to
one another.
1. Polarization
The sharp and hate-filled rhetoric lately being used by ErdoÄ?an, who
has largely targeted a fantasy `parallel structure' with his words,
has caused deep polarization in society. The ErdoÄ?an government has
not hesitated to go as far as telling the Turkish public that factors
like the Armenian bill proposals in the US and the criticism of Turkey
within the European Union is the creation of this same parallel
structure. In much the same way, the bureaucratic structure in Egypt,
which would like to see the continuation of the status quo which
existed under the Hosni Mubarak regime, labels any protests that take
place against the leadership, which came onto the scene after the
overturn of the Muhammad Morsi government, as being a serious threat
to the unity of the country. The result is that Egyptian society is
now divided between those in favor of the status quo and those who are
opposed to it.
2. Fear policies
ErdoÄ?an, who presents himself as the guarantor of unity in Turkey, has
also alleged on numerous occasions that opposition parties, who he
says are under the control of the parallel structure, will only wind
up splintering the country and retriggering economic crises if they
come to power. Likewise, in Egypt, it is loudly being alleged that
only Sisi can bring stability to the country, while under the Morsi
leadership Egypt had serious economic problems, a loss of political
stability and came to the brink of economic collapse.
3. Foreign powers/spies
In both Turkey and Egypt, the most preferred method of squelching the
opposition appears to be the frequent repetition of claims that the
opposition is connected to foreign powers as well as involved in
espionage.
4. The strongest weapon? The media!
While ErdoÄ?an during his first years in power often lamented the
subjectivity of the media, claiming that much of it was involved in a
conspiracy to overthrow his government, the prime minister now
controls a significant portion of the Turkish media, either directly
or through policies of fear and intimidation. Similarly, it appears to
be clear sailing for the ruling elite in Egypt these days as almost
all of the media lie under its control.
5. Weak opposition
With weak opposition parties in both Egypt and Turkey -- not to
mention the lack of strengthening of civil society organizations in
both countries -- both ErdoÄ?an and Sisi are able to move around as
freely as they like on their respective political stages.
6. Bad past experiences
One of ErdoÄ?an's greatest advantages is the sheer abundance of bad
examples from the past in every arena -- from politics, the economy
and, of course, diplomacy -- since the formation of the republic.
Filling his speeches with talk of water cuts, mountains of trash, long
lines and inflation rates of 100 percent, ErdoÄ?an asserts that much of
this came to an end under his leadership. Likewise in Egypt, all of
the problems that the country experienced during the one short year of
Morsi's leadership are highlighted often in the media by the
bureaucratic factions.
But in the run-up to these coming elections in both Turkey and Egypt,
it is perhaps important to underscore that there are also significant
differences.
1. Democratic experience
Despite many deficiencies, Turkey does have 65 years of experience
with democracy. Even though this experience has been derailed from
time to time by military coups and military tutelage, Turkey has been
ruled for a long time now by leaders who are elected by the people of
the country at the ballot box. Egypt, on the other hand, had a very
brief one-year stint with democracy, which came to a halt when the
military coup took place last year in July.
2. Independent organizations
Despite the controls that the ErdoÄ?an leadership has attempted to
place over the many organizations and institutions that act as
guarantors of democracy in Turkey -- from the justice system and the
media to civil society organizations and the academia -- these
mechanisms are still relatively functional. The same can definitely
not be said for Egypt.
3. European Union accession process
Unlike Egypt, Turkey is much closer to the Western world. The whole
European Union accession process for Turkey in particular has played a
large role in creating the infrastructure for some important
constitutional changes. Any moves made that restrict democracy elicit
an immediate negative reaction from Europe. In Egypt though, there are
no mechanisms involved in controlling these things. Egypt, which
enjoys particularly close relations with the US, is never criticized
strongly by Washington, mostly as a result of the Israel-focused
Middle East policies held by the US.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-345568-as-summer-approaches-erdogan-and-sisi-advance-toward-presidencies.html
From: Baghdasarian
April 20 2014
As summer approaches, ErdoÄ?an and Sisi advance toward presidencies
Separated by three months, Turkey and Egypt will both head toward
historic presidential elections. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an
and Defense Minister Abdel Fattah el-Sisi are of course the names
featured in these elections, respectively, which will ultimately be
important tests for the future of democracy in these two countries.
Egyptians head to the ballot boxes on May 26-27. As it appears that
democracy has been shelved in Egypt, it is widely expected that Sisi
will be elected president.
In the meantime, Turks will elect their president for the first time
on Aug. 10 this summer but the situation is not as clear as in Egypt.
However, it appears as though ErdoÄ?an will be quite a few steps ahead
of his competitors following his victory in the March 30 local
elections.
Speaking in broader terms, it is quite interesting to note that in the
run-up to these two presidential elections, which are important for
the future of the Middle East, the debates and developments in both
Egypt and Turkey bear more than just a little bit of resemblance to
one another.
1. Polarization
The sharp and hate-filled rhetoric lately being used by ErdoÄ?an, who
has largely targeted a fantasy `parallel structure' with his words,
has caused deep polarization in society. The ErdoÄ?an government has
not hesitated to go as far as telling the Turkish public that factors
like the Armenian bill proposals in the US and the criticism of Turkey
within the European Union is the creation of this same parallel
structure. In much the same way, the bureaucratic structure in Egypt,
which would like to see the continuation of the status quo which
existed under the Hosni Mubarak regime, labels any protests that take
place against the leadership, which came onto the scene after the
overturn of the Muhammad Morsi government, as being a serious threat
to the unity of the country. The result is that Egyptian society is
now divided between those in favor of the status quo and those who are
opposed to it.
2. Fear policies
ErdoÄ?an, who presents himself as the guarantor of unity in Turkey, has
also alleged on numerous occasions that opposition parties, who he
says are under the control of the parallel structure, will only wind
up splintering the country and retriggering economic crises if they
come to power. Likewise, in Egypt, it is loudly being alleged that
only Sisi can bring stability to the country, while under the Morsi
leadership Egypt had serious economic problems, a loss of political
stability and came to the brink of economic collapse.
3. Foreign powers/spies
In both Turkey and Egypt, the most preferred method of squelching the
opposition appears to be the frequent repetition of claims that the
opposition is connected to foreign powers as well as involved in
espionage.
4. The strongest weapon? The media!
While ErdoÄ?an during his first years in power often lamented the
subjectivity of the media, claiming that much of it was involved in a
conspiracy to overthrow his government, the prime minister now
controls a significant portion of the Turkish media, either directly
or through policies of fear and intimidation. Similarly, it appears to
be clear sailing for the ruling elite in Egypt these days as almost
all of the media lie under its control.
5. Weak opposition
With weak opposition parties in both Egypt and Turkey -- not to
mention the lack of strengthening of civil society organizations in
both countries -- both ErdoÄ?an and Sisi are able to move around as
freely as they like on their respective political stages.
6. Bad past experiences
One of ErdoÄ?an's greatest advantages is the sheer abundance of bad
examples from the past in every arena -- from politics, the economy
and, of course, diplomacy -- since the formation of the republic.
Filling his speeches with talk of water cuts, mountains of trash, long
lines and inflation rates of 100 percent, ErdoÄ?an asserts that much of
this came to an end under his leadership. Likewise in Egypt, all of
the problems that the country experienced during the one short year of
Morsi's leadership are highlighted often in the media by the
bureaucratic factions.
But in the run-up to these coming elections in both Turkey and Egypt,
it is perhaps important to underscore that there are also significant
differences.
1. Democratic experience
Despite many deficiencies, Turkey does have 65 years of experience
with democracy. Even though this experience has been derailed from
time to time by military coups and military tutelage, Turkey has been
ruled for a long time now by leaders who are elected by the people of
the country at the ballot box. Egypt, on the other hand, had a very
brief one-year stint with democracy, which came to a halt when the
military coup took place last year in July.
2. Independent organizations
Despite the controls that the ErdoÄ?an leadership has attempted to
place over the many organizations and institutions that act as
guarantors of democracy in Turkey -- from the justice system and the
media to civil society organizations and the academia -- these
mechanisms are still relatively functional. The same can definitely
not be said for Egypt.
3. European Union accession process
Unlike Egypt, Turkey is much closer to the Western world. The whole
European Union accession process for Turkey in particular has played a
large role in creating the infrastructure for some important
constitutional changes. Any moves made that restrict democracy elicit
an immediate negative reaction from Europe. In Egypt though, there are
no mechanisms involved in controlling these things. Egypt, which
enjoys particularly close relations with the US, is never criticized
strongly by Washington, mostly as a result of the Israel-focused
Middle East policies held by the US.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-345568-as-summer-approaches-erdogan-and-sisi-advance-toward-presidencies.html
From: Baghdasarian