There’s no doubt that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan deserves multiple pats on the back. On his watch, Turkey has emerged as one of the most successful global economies putting its struggling European neighbors in the shade. The country’s infrastructure is second to none and its tourist industry attracted 36 million visitors last year. Moreover, he has proved to be an influential regional player and should be commended for his championship of the Palestinian cause and his generous hosting of over 300,000 Syrian refugees. Further, he’s shown the world that an Islamic-oriented government can be effective within a society that is essentially secular and until now Turkey is considered a model for other regional nations to emulate. Until now . . .
But then he goes and spoils it all with a petulant, foot-stamping approach to what began as a peaceful demonstration by environmentally-conscience people, mostly young students, academics, well-heeled middle-class urbanites, objecting to the downing of trees in an Istanbul park to make way for a shopping precinct. Their initial demands weren’t unreasonable when green spaces are at a premium in the heart of Istanbul. Seriously, how many more stores does the city actually need? In light of the thousands of people who’ve been arrested or injured around the nation, calls to preserve the park have been drowned out by demands from liberals for Erdogan’s resignation.
The Turkish leader has badly mishandled the situation, which now threatens to engulf the entire country in violent civil unrest. He has mischaracterized the demonstrators, who were treated with an overly heavy-hand by riot police wielding water cannon and tear gas, as “extremists” and “looters” working on behalf of the opposition. He could have nipped their anger in the bud by agreeing to listen to their concerns and promising to re-study the proposed commercial project. Instead, he’s dug his heels in announcing that the plans are set in stone. “We will build a mosque in Taksim and we do not need the permission of the Republican People’s Party or of a few bums to do it,” he announced, ignoring the fact that the shopping mall is the point of contention, not the mosque.
Worse, he has exposed an anti-democratic, authoritarian bent by gagging the Turkish media from reporting the violence that’s been screened around the world, and ranted about the evils of social media, saying, “There is now a menace which is called Twitter . . . The best examples of lies can be found there. To me, social media is the worst menace to society.”
Erdogan has opened himself to charges of hypocrisy. He led the charge to oust former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and is spearheading the campaign to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad. He denounced both leaders as brutal dictators but now it appears he is veering in the same direction, although to be fair, he has grudgingly accepted that the police may have crossed the line and has promised an investigation into their conduct. In response to criticisms from the US, the EU and various human rights groups, he has virtually told foreign entities to mind their own business and look to their own countries instead.
It seems he’s learned nothing from the so-called Arab Spring. Not only is Erdogan in no mood to be conciliatory, he has challenged demonstrators in Istanbul to do their worst. “Police were there yesterday, they’ll be on duty today and also tomorrow because Taksim Square cannot be an area where extremists are running wild,” he said while threatening that for every 20 protestors he’s able to gather 200,000. “And where they gather 100,000, I would gather one million party supporters,” he boasted, adding, “Let’s not go down that road.”
Erdogan maintains he’s the people’s servant but his behavior speaks otherwise. He should save his country by reaching out to his detractors who now accuse him of gradually implementing an Islamist agenda conflicting with Turkey’s secular Kemalist identity of which the military is the self-appointed guardian.
Right now, it’s anyone’s guess how this train of events will pan out in the long run. While it’s true that he can validly claim to be one of the most popular and durable leaders since Mustafa Kemal Atataturk, his reputation is now taking a battering. People’s discontent runs far deeper than the park issue. Some are alarmed at Erdogan’s attempts to redraw the constitution to allow him to run for office again when his term ends. Others have noted with certain trepidation a recent statement from the head of the ruling Justice and Development Party’s Istanbul branch to the effect liberals will no longer be considered as the party’s partners because “the Turkey that is to be built will not feature a future that they accept or desire.”
The prime minister needs to get a grip on his ego and adopt a more diplomatic approach, else he risks triggering a military coup. That scenario is extremely unlikely at this juncture but given that relations between the government and the military are tense following last year’s sentencing of former and serving generals accused of plotting a coup on the flimsiest of evidence, anything’s possible. Many officers have been forcibly retired and, for years, Erdogan has sought to bring the military under his control. The prime minister and his government should go all out in dowsing the embers with dialogue, compromise and wise decision-making, before Turkey is unstoppably aflame.
Linda S. Heard is a British specialist writer on Middle East affairs. She welcomes feedback and can be contacted by email at heardonthegrapevines@yahoo.co.uk.
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Erdogan should swap threats for diplomacy
Posted on June 5, 2013 by Linda S. Heard
There’s no doubt that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan deserves multiple pats on the back. On his watch, Turkey has emerged as one of the most successful global economies putting its struggling European neighbors in the shade. The country’s infrastructure is second to none and its tourist industry attracted 36 million visitors last year. Moreover, he has proved to be an influential regional player and should be commended for his championship of the Palestinian cause and his generous hosting of over 300,000 Syrian refugees. Further, he’s shown the world that an Islamic-oriented government can be effective within a society that is essentially secular and until now Turkey is considered a model for other regional nations to emulate. Until now . . .
But then he goes and spoils it all with a petulant, foot-stamping approach to what began as a peaceful demonstration by environmentally-conscience people, mostly young students, academics, well-heeled middle-class urbanites, objecting to the downing of trees in an Istanbul park to make way for a shopping precinct. Their initial demands weren’t unreasonable when green spaces are at a premium in the heart of Istanbul. Seriously, how many more stores does the city actually need? In light of the thousands of people who’ve been arrested or injured around the nation, calls to preserve the park have been drowned out by demands from liberals for Erdogan’s resignation.
The Turkish leader has badly mishandled the situation, which now threatens to engulf the entire country in violent civil unrest. He has mischaracterized the demonstrators, who were treated with an overly heavy-hand by riot police wielding water cannon and tear gas, as “extremists” and “looters” working on behalf of the opposition. He could have nipped their anger in the bud by agreeing to listen to their concerns and promising to re-study the proposed commercial project. Instead, he’s dug his heels in announcing that the plans are set in stone. “We will build a mosque in Taksim and we do not need the permission of the Republican People’s Party or of a few bums to do it,” he announced, ignoring the fact that the shopping mall is the point of contention, not the mosque.
Worse, he has exposed an anti-democratic, authoritarian bent by gagging the Turkish media from reporting the violence that’s been screened around the world, and ranted about the evils of social media, saying, “There is now a menace which is called Twitter . . . The best examples of lies can be found there. To me, social media is the worst menace to society.”
Erdogan has opened himself to charges of hypocrisy. He led the charge to oust former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and is spearheading the campaign to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad. He denounced both leaders as brutal dictators but now it appears he is veering in the same direction, although to be fair, he has grudgingly accepted that the police may have crossed the line and has promised an investigation into their conduct. In response to criticisms from the US, the EU and various human rights groups, he has virtually told foreign entities to mind their own business and look to their own countries instead.
It seems he’s learned nothing from the so-called Arab Spring. Not only is Erdogan in no mood to be conciliatory, he has challenged demonstrators in Istanbul to do their worst. “Police were there yesterday, they’ll be on duty today and also tomorrow because Taksim Square cannot be an area where extremists are running wild,” he said while threatening that for every 20 protestors he’s able to gather 200,000. “And where they gather 100,000, I would gather one million party supporters,” he boasted, adding, “Let’s not go down that road.”
Erdogan maintains he’s the people’s servant but his behavior speaks otherwise. He should save his country by reaching out to his detractors who now accuse him of gradually implementing an Islamist agenda conflicting with Turkey’s secular Kemalist identity of which the military is the self-appointed guardian.
Right now, it’s anyone’s guess how this train of events will pan out in the long run. While it’s true that he can validly claim to be one of the most popular and durable leaders since Mustafa Kemal Atataturk, his reputation is now taking a battering. People’s discontent runs far deeper than the park issue. Some are alarmed at Erdogan’s attempts to redraw the constitution to allow him to run for office again when his term ends. Others have noted with certain trepidation a recent statement from the head of the ruling Justice and Development Party’s Istanbul branch to the effect liberals will no longer be considered as the party’s partners because “the Turkey that is to be built will not feature a future that they accept or desire.”
The prime minister needs to get a grip on his ego and adopt a more diplomatic approach, else he risks triggering a military coup. That scenario is extremely unlikely at this juncture but given that relations between the government and the military are tense following last year’s sentencing of former and serving generals accused of plotting a coup on the flimsiest of evidence, anything’s possible. Many officers have been forcibly retired and, for years, Erdogan has sought to bring the military under his control. The prime minister and his government should go all out in dowsing the embers with dialogue, compromise and wise decision-making, before Turkey is unstoppably aflame.
Linda S. Heard is a British specialist writer on Middle East affairs. She welcomes feedback and can be contacted by email at heardonthegrapevines@yahoo.co.uk.