Turkey giving up on democracy is a danger to Europe, writes ROSS CLARK
There was little sign of a dictator in the making when Erdogan was elected prime minister in 2003. He and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) seemed just what Turkey needed. Under his leadership the economy initially recovered strongly and Turkey seemed on the path towards improving its human rights record sufficiently to realise its dream of joining the EU. That, now, can be forgotten, as can Turkey’s pretence to be a functioning democracy at all. While Erdogan himself claims that his latest political reforms bring Turkey into line with the United States and France, both of which have “executive” presidencies – meaning that the head of the state is the same person as the head of the government – it is a false comparison. Erdogan has granted himself more powers than would be acceptable in any genuine democracy. From now on he will have the power to intervene in the judiciary and to declare a state of emergency whenever he feels like it. Erdogan’s old job as prime minister has been abolished and parliament will have very little power to challenge him or his ministers.
EPA Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
The tragedy of Erdogan is that had he retired when stepping down as prime minister in 2014 he would have been remembered as a great Turkish leader Ross Clark
It is hardly as if the previous political system thwarted his powers, anyway. They didn’t stop him closing down newspapers. They didn’t prevent him having 150 journalists thrown into jail and 160,000 people purged from public jobs after a failed coup last July. Neither did the constitution stop him crushing public protests in 2013 when residents of Istanbul objected to a shopping centre being built on one of the city’s few public parks. The idea that this is just some technical reform required to make the government run more effectively is bunk.
EPA Protesters shout slogans during a rally against the referendum results in Istanbul, Turkey
So too is the idea that these new powers are required to cope with terrorism. True, Turkey has suffered from attacks by the Kurdish separatist group PKK, which have killed more than 500 people in recent years. But it is hardly the only country suffering a terror threat. Only Erdogan is using it as an excuse to rewrite his country’s constitution. Turkey’s descent into autocracy is not just a tragedy for the country itself – it has dire consequences for Britain and Europe. While Turkey has never been a free society in the way that we in Britain would understand that to mean, it has acted as a benign buffer zone between Europe and an increasingly malignant Middle East. It has at least been a democracy with an elected government and an elected parliament. It has been protected from the growth of Islamic fundamentalism by a secular constitution founded nearly a century ago. Part of the problem, though, may be that secularism was applied too aggressively – Erodgan’s conservative Muslim beliefs led to his removal from his previous job as mayor of Istanbul and his imprisonment in 1998. Until Erdogan came to power, for example, women were banned from wearing headscarves. Such laws fuelled resentment.
EPA There was little sign of a dictator in the making when Erdogan was elected prime minister in 2003
Turkey has also borne the scars of the six-year conflict in its southern neighbour Syria, with three million refugees now living within its borders. As Turkey itself descends further into authoritarianism the world now faces the prospect of it becoming a generator of refugees as well as a host. Currently, the flow of refugees through Turkey is being managed through an uneasy agreement between Turkey and the EU – whereby the latter agrees to take refugees directly from camps on the condition that the former accepts the return of refugees who attempt to make illicit sea crossings to Greece. That agreement may well be an early casualty of the new political situation. That the Turkish people have apparently backed Erdogan’s new powers in a referendum should not be mistaken for popular support. There are serious questions to be asked about ballot papers which were unstamped and on the bullying tactics used to help secure this result. Campaign rallies against the changes were cancelled by the government while “yes” rallies were supported with free public transport.
A look back on the shocking Turkish military coup that left 294 dead Wed, July 27, 2016 The violent military coup to overthrow Turkey's President Erdogan has 'failed' leaving at least 104 dead and more than 1,500 wounded Play slideshow Getty Images 1 of 42 A police officer talks with the soldiers involved in the coup attempt after they surrendered