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Daily Sabah, Turkey
June 14 2014
THE GREATEST FAILURE OF THE AK PARTY
Etyen Mahçupyan 14 June 2014, Saturday
It is an indisputable fact that the Justice and Development Party (AK
Party) is one of the most successful governments of the last century.
However, we should not forget that the same government has failed on
one particular subject.
We can enumerate the accomplishments of this government at length. In
the last decade, Turkey has seen significant economic gains, better
infrastructure, health, education and urbanization. At the same time,
military tutelage has been downgraded and some important steps have
been made to give the judiciary a pluralist structure. The AK Party
government has acted more courageously on Turkey's primary concerns,
those that in the past have been significant stumbling blocks. Thanks
to the reconciliation initiative, today we are heading toward a
solution on the Kurdish question. Similarly in the case of the
Armenians, an unmitigated condolence, which was beyond imagination in
the past, has been offered to them.
In the face of this unprecedented performance, there is an
unconvincing opposition that tries to manipulate ErdoÄ?an's
challenging, tough line and almost baseless argument of "press
freedom." However, this clear imbalance of power between the two does
not eliminate the fact that the AK Party is the most unsuccessful
government in one particular subject, more unsuccessful than anyone
else in the history of the Republic; this subject is the Western
world's perception of their own party.
The world sees Turkey as a non-EU candidate and views the Turkish
people as a society living isolated from the world. So far, none of
the AK Party governments have realized how the subject has been
mishandled and even worse, no one in the party has seen what harm
ignoring the issue has done. All of this has happened in a period in
which globalism has intensified and become widespread. The AK Party
discerned that globalism would give them the ability to intervene in
the external world; however, it did not anticipate that the same
globalism would make the country so transparent in front of the outer
world.
In fact, transparency is not only a principle of administration, but
also the grounds of a new public sphere which needs administration. We
are going through a period in which perceptions are manipulated more
easily and the AK Party seems to have difficulty in fathoming this
reality.
Let's look at a simple example: There are offshoots of the Republican
People's Party (CHP), Turkish Industry and Business Association
(TÃ`SÄ°AD) and the Gülen Movement in Brussels, which is the heart of the
EU, and all of them are quite active there. However, the AK Party has
made a move only this year to open a branch there. Opening a bureau
alone may not yield return. Furthermore, if this bureau is mismanaged
and if they cannot adopt a discourse appealing to the Westerners,
current perception may worsen further.
The AK Party government had better break the assumption that its
positive actions will be appreciated somehow. The question of Turkey
is an internal matter of Europe and also of the U.S. due to the
relations with Israel and the Middle East. Therefore, it will be
reasonable to expect that Westerners have an objective viewpoint on
Turkey.
It is never surprising that Western actors are trying to create a
picture of Turkey as they want it to be. In that regard, a high number
of those who are irritated by a Turkey under the management of the AK
Party are apprehensive. Conversely, in the same Western world, there
are also people who want to understand what is happening in Turkey and
do not have a categorical sense of hostility against Turkey and
Islamic identity. If we are doomed to this increasingly globalized
atmosphere, we should not overlook that the AK Party has to appeal to
this section as well.
The key point about the issue is that the one who strives to explain
himself also has to look at himself from a critical perspective and
verbalize this sincerely. The AK Party has already shown its
self-confidence. Now it needs to display true courage to speak the
language of the world, and this will be for the benefit of the whole
country.
http://www.dailysabah.com/columns/etyen-mahcupyan/2014/06/14/the-greatest-failure-of-the-ak-party
June 14 2014
THE GREATEST FAILURE OF THE AK PARTY
Etyen Mahçupyan 14 June 2014, Saturday
It is an indisputable fact that the Justice and Development Party (AK
Party) is one of the most successful governments of the last century.
However, we should not forget that the same government has failed on
one particular subject.
We can enumerate the accomplishments of this government at length. In
the last decade, Turkey has seen significant economic gains, better
infrastructure, health, education and urbanization. At the same time,
military tutelage has been downgraded and some important steps have
been made to give the judiciary a pluralist structure. The AK Party
government has acted more courageously on Turkey's primary concerns,
those that in the past have been significant stumbling blocks. Thanks
to the reconciliation initiative, today we are heading toward a
solution on the Kurdish question. Similarly in the case of the
Armenians, an unmitigated condolence, which was beyond imagination in
the past, has been offered to them.
In the face of this unprecedented performance, there is an
unconvincing opposition that tries to manipulate ErdoÄ?an's
challenging, tough line and almost baseless argument of "press
freedom." However, this clear imbalance of power between the two does
not eliminate the fact that the AK Party is the most unsuccessful
government in one particular subject, more unsuccessful than anyone
else in the history of the Republic; this subject is the Western
world's perception of their own party.
The world sees Turkey as a non-EU candidate and views the Turkish
people as a society living isolated from the world. So far, none of
the AK Party governments have realized how the subject has been
mishandled and even worse, no one in the party has seen what harm
ignoring the issue has done. All of this has happened in a period in
which globalism has intensified and become widespread. The AK Party
discerned that globalism would give them the ability to intervene in
the external world; however, it did not anticipate that the same
globalism would make the country so transparent in front of the outer
world.
In fact, transparency is not only a principle of administration, but
also the grounds of a new public sphere which needs administration. We
are going through a period in which perceptions are manipulated more
easily and the AK Party seems to have difficulty in fathoming this
reality.
Let's look at a simple example: There are offshoots of the Republican
People's Party (CHP), Turkish Industry and Business Association
(TÃ`SÄ°AD) and the Gülen Movement in Brussels, which is the heart of the
EU, and all of them are quite active there. However, the AK Party has
made a move only this year to open a branch there. Opening a bureau
alone may not yield return. Furthermore, if this bureau is mismanaged
and if they cannot adopt a discourse appealing to the Westerners,
current perception may worsen further.
The AK Party government had better break the assumption that its
positive actions will be appreciated somehow. The question of Turkey
is an internal matter of Europe and also of the U.S. due to the
relations with Israel and the Middle East. Therefore, it will be
reasonable to expect that Westerners have an objective viewpoint on
Turkey.
It is never surprising that Western actors are trying to create a
picture of Turkey as they want it to be. In that regard, a high number
of those who are irritated by a Turkey under the management of the AK
Party are apprehensive. Conversely, in the same Western world, there
are also people who want to understand what is happening in Turkey and
do not have a categorical sense of hostility against Turkey and
Islamic identity. If we are doomed to this increasingly globalized
atmosphere, we should not overlook that the AK Party has to appeal to
this section as well.
The key point about the issue is that the one who strives to explain
himself also has to look at himself from a critical perspective and
verbalize this sincerely. The AK Party has already shown its
self-confidence. Now it needs to display true courage to speak the
language of the world, and this will be for the benefit of the whole
country.
http://www.dailysabah.com/columns/etyen-mahcupyan/2014/06/14/the-greatest-failure-of-the-ak-party