Turkey has long been seen as something of a success story in the Muslim world, in that it is an electoral democracy that maintains a strictly secular government. As such, it can be seen as a model for other Muslim nations. Certainly, if Muslim nations in the Middle East and Africa were to emulate Turkey is these regards, the world would be a much better and more democratic place.
But Turkey is not without serious problems. It has experienced four military coups since 1960, and only narrowly avoided a fifth just a few years ago. Kurdish separatism continues to fester, inflamed rather than hindered by a harsh government response that considers any expression of Kurdish sympathies to be a form of terrorism. The Constitutional Court recently banned the Democratic Society Party for its pro-Kurdish position, a decision that was denounced around the world. Politicians have been thrown in jail merely for speaking Kurdish in public, the most famous being Leyla Zana.
Turkey continues to refuse official recognition for the 1915 Armenian Genocide, a position which has led to widespread condemnation by politicians and academics in Europe and America. Indeed, Turkish law prohibits the publication of any suggestion that the Armenian Genocide took place, or, for that matter, any writing which is seen to "insult Turkishness". These restrictions of freedom of the press are a major barrier to true democracy for Turkey. Over it all is an intense Turkish nationalism that has manifested itself in the assassination of Armenian journalist Hrant Dink and whispers of a narrowly-averted right-wing military coup.
Turkey has been making significant progress in recent years, passing several major reforms as part of its bid to become a member of the European Union. The more crushing limits of the use of the Kurdish language have been lifted, albeit grudgingly. Serious problems within the Turkish criminal justice system have been addressed. But fundamental issues remain unresolved, and it seems that progress in the Turkish reform has stalled.
This is evident when looking at the referendum, scheduled for later this month, on a package of twelve amendments to the Turkish constitution. In and of themselves, the proposed amendments are perfectly fine. They will expand the power of labor unions, make the courts somewhat more representative, and create a badly-needed ombudsmen system. Voters in Turkey would do well to approve the package of reforms, as they are an improvement on the current situation.
The problem is that these reforms do no go nearly far enough. Their passage will leave Turkey stuck in its present limbo, somewhere between a semi-democratic and a fully democratic state. The referendum could have given voters the option of abolishing all restrictions on the Kurdish language, eliminating the requirement that political parties win 10% of the national vote before being permitted to take seats in the parliament, and establishing complete freedom of the press. It could have, but it didn't.
As a modern Muslim nation, Turkey has enormous potential to achieve great things for both its own people and for the world as a whole. But until it commits itself to taking the leap into complete and total democracy, it will continue to have a ball-and-chain around its ankles.
No comments:
Post a Comment