Time for Turkey to move on

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is an angry man these days. Not long ago he enjoyed – and perhaps still does – the popularity of a rock star across the Muslim world. Upright, fearless and consistently delivering on the promise of good governance, he was seen as someone who combined the best of traditional values and qualities of a modern democratic leader.

Erdogan’s biggest contribution has been the successful demolition of the myth that modern democracy cannot coexist with faith. If winning populist elections is the biggest test of a popular leader, he has won each one of them with resounding mandate. Secondly, he has managed to defang in the powerful military which has always seen itself as Turkey’s natural ruler and protector of Ataturk’s legacy.

It was largely thanks to the popular support that Erdogan has enjoyed since his ascent to power as well as his steely resolve that he was able to foil the massive military coup last year, using nothing but the Facetime feature on his iPhone. The groundswell of support that he unleashed after the military coup speaks volumes about the dizzying heights of popularity that Erdogan touched.

By speaking out repeatedly for vulnerable, voiceless communities around the world – from the besieged Palestinians and Syrians to the persecuted Rohingya Muslims in distant Burma – Erdogan has earned himself a global following. And this hasn’t been merely lip service; he has stepped forward to extend a helping hand to the helpless, without worrying about the political and economic price of his actions.    

A generous Turkey has not only hosted more than three million Syrian refugees over the past six years, it has gone out of its way to support them in every possible manner, including by offering citizenship.      

Turkey has paid a huge price for standing by the Syrians, in the form of a series of savage attacks by the so-called Islamic State and assorted groups loyal to the regime in Damascus.      

For a country that happens to be a major international tourist destination and depends on tourism as a major source of revenue, these attacks have proved disastrous, driving away tens of thousands of tourists, especially those from neighbouring Europe and the Middle East.     

Turkey has been at the receiving end for a host of other reasons as well. There is no dearth of those who would hate to see Erdogan succeed in his attempts to present Turkey as a modern country at peace with its Islamic identity as well as liberal democracy.       

This is why it is hard for one to censure the popular leader of Turkey, perhaps the most popular since Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the architect of modern Turkey, himself. However, some of Erdogan’s recent actions and pronouncements make all well-wishers of Turkey extremely uneasy.    

The escalation of Turkey’s tensions with European countries like Germany and the Netherlands is most disturbing. Given the history of Islamophobia in the Netherlands, especially in the run up to the recent elections with notorious characters like Geert Wilders, known for his anti-Muslim rants and antics, seeking power, Turkey’s outrage is perhaps understandable. Especially after the Dutch in an unprecedented move refused to let the Turkish foreign minister land and address a rally of Turkish citizens and immigrants.

Challenged by Wilders’ Party for Freedom (PVV) and finding it hard to hold on to power, the centrist government of Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Liberal Party (VVD) has taken a sharp turn to the right, hardening its rhetoric against immigrants. In January, in full page newspaper advertisements and interviews on radio and TV, Rutte issued an unprecedented warning to the immigrants and Muslims “to behave or be gone from the Netherlands”.

Wittingly or unwittingly, Erdogan flew into this raging storm of tensions by sending his ministers to speak in the Netherlands, ahead of the constitutional referendum he is seeking on the question of adopting a US-style presidential system. When the hosts made it clear that they were not welcome, Erdogan flew into a fit of rage, sparking an unpleasant war of words. In one particularly memorable line, the Turkish president accused the tiny European country that hosts the International Court of Justice at The Hague of “acting like a banana republic”.

This even as the Turkish supporters of Erdogan clashed with police, protesting against the denial of permission for their rallies. Of course, the Dutch move was unprecedented and unreasonable. However, some would say the Dutch have every right to decide who is welcome and who is not in their own country.

The escalation of Turkey’s tensions with Germany is even more unfortunate considering the two countries have been close Nato allies and friends and have closely cooperated with each other on a host of issues including in helping the Syrian refugees and in efforts to resolve the conflict in Syria. Turkey happens to be Germany’s most important trading partner in the European Union, which Ankara has been aspiring to join for many years.         

Germany, the leader and driving force behind the EU, has also inked a strategic accord with Ankara that is aimed at curbing the influx of refugees into Europe by helping them rehabilitate in Turkey. Germany also happens to be home to a large and vibrant Muslim population, majority of them descendants of Turkish and North African immigrants.   

These are strong and historic bonds that go way back. Besides, led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, Germany has been most welcoming and generous in accommodating refugees from the Middle East and Africa–the majority of them Muslims. This support cannot be emphasised enough considering the general hostility and paranoia Muslims have been facing in the rest of Europe and the West.

President Erdogan is not helping anyone, let alone the Turkish citizens and immigrants in Germany and elsewhere in Europe, by accusing Merkel and Germany of “Nazi-era actions”.

In the past, he has also hinted at the alleged Western involvement in the failed coup against him, repeatedly pushing the US to extradite his former friend and preacher Fethullah Gulen for allegedly instigating the coup.

The Muslims around the world – those in the West in particular – are facing unprecedented challenges. Relations between Islam and the West have hit a new low. At a time like this, leaders like Erdogan should be helping heal the rift by fostering reconciliation and understanding, not deepen it further with this needless confrontation.

While on the issue of confrontation, what makes one deeply uneasy is also this continuing crackdown on the media and thousands of dismissals and arrests of bureaucrats, teachers and judges for their ostensible support for the military coup.

Some journalists, loyal to the old secular, military establishment, may be guilty of opposing Erdogan and even supporting the military coup against a democratically elected government. However, this wholesale, all-consuming targeting of the media is not only far from fair, it is totally counterproductive. A free press is vital to a healthy democracy. Besides, there is no revenge so complete as forgiveness.

It is time for Turkey to move on, demonstrating a generosity of spirit and maturity of vision befitting its stature and history. President Erdogan should be paying attention to making it a strong, independent and forward-looking nation and a source of strength and inspiration for the whole of the Muslim world. It is time to lead.

The writer is an award-winning journalist.

Email: aijaz.syed@hotmail.com