Turkey’s way

Turkey’s path towards become a presidential state may be one step closer after the Turkish prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, resigned over the weekend after a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Davutoglu cited the need for unity in the Justice and Peace Party (AKP). Underlying the statement was the fact that clearly the PM had developed differences with the Turkish president. Rumours regarding the differences had existed for a while, with Davutoglu reported to have not been on board with the country’s approach towards the Kurdish regions and the crackdown on journalists in the country. The consolidation of Erdogan’s power confirms Turkey’s steady move towards what can be seen as demagoguery. Last Tuesday, the editor of a major Turkish daily survived an attempt on his life before being given a five-year jail term for divulging state secrets; he was acquitted of the charge of trying to topple the government. The editor called it two ‘assassination attempts’. Freedom of press and freedom to protest has reached in lowest point in Turkey since the 1980s, when the military junta was in control of the country.

Over 2,000 cases have been registered in the country over the offence of ‘insulting the president’, and prominent journalists continue to appear before court every week. The country now ranks 151st in the world in terms of press freedom. The tragedy is that Erdogan was once seen as the great democratic hope for Turkey. In the early days, the AKP took on members of the Turkish military and successfully managed to steer an independent space for civilian-led governance without the threat of another coup. Unfortunately, Erdogan has begun to shed his international goodwill. Anyone advising him to take a softer stand seems to be cast aside. Last week, Erdogan also stated that he would reject the EU deal on refugees, stating ‘we go our way, you go yours’. In rejecting the opening offered by the EU to Turkey’s citizenry of visa-free access in return for amendments to the country’s draconian anti-terrorism law, Erdogan may have pushed the country into a corner in terms of its stated objective of becoming a full-member of the European Union. This has been a tough year for Turkey, with terrorist attacks and a spat with Russia beginning to affect the country’s economic revival. This would be the right time to reach out, instead of isolating the country. This would also be the right time for allowing key issues, such as Turkey’s Kurdish question, to be resolved within a democratic framework. Unfortunately, it seems that the saner direction is the one the AKP is most uncomfortable with.