Another step towards despotism
SINCE assuming the nominally ceremonial position of president in 2014, Turkish ruler Recep Tayyip Erdogan has aspired to endow it with far-reaching powers, replacing the country’s parliamentary system with something more like what Vladimir Putin has established in Russia. His autocratic ambition was fiercely opposed by opposition parties, and last year the project seemed dead after Erdogan’s ruling party lost its majority. But Erdogan proved resilient and ruthless: After launching a war against Turkey’s Kurds, Erdogan called another election and won. Then, after a failed coup attempt in July, he orchestrated a purge that has led to the arrest of about 40,000 people.
Now Erdogan is moving forward with a restructuring that will convert Turkey from a Western-style democracy to something more like the Central Asian despotisms. Under the reform introduced to parliament on December 10, a new president will take office in 2019 with the power to rule by decree. The parliament will be reduced to voting up or down on the executive’s edicts. Erdogan will find that familiar: He already has been ruling by decree under a state of emergency for the past five months. Having dominated Turkey since his party first won election in 2002, Erdogan, 62, would be permitted by the reform to remain in office until 2029.
Many Turks continue to resist the strongman’s entrenchment and will vote no in a referendum likely to be held early next year. But their leaders and media outlets are being systematically eliminated. The Committee to Protect Journalists reported this month that 81 journalists were imprisoned in Turkey during 2016, more than in any other country. The leaders of the proKurdish People’s Democratic Party are also under arrest.
The destruction of what, a decade ago, was frequently described as a model Muslim democracy could have momentous geopolitical implications. The EU, which has been considering Turkey for membership, is pulling away in revulsion; only a deal under which Turkey is paid billions to prevent Syrian refugees from reaching Europe prevents a rupture. Though Turkey is a NATO member, Erdogan is drifting towards Putin’s Russia and talks of joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a club led by Russia and China.
US President Barack Obama’s administration, which once looked to Erdogan as one of its closer allies, has appeared at a loss about whether or how to stop his power grab. The incoming Trump administration, meanwhile, appears intent on pandering to the strongman. National security adviser-designate Michael T Flynn has called for the extradition of Erdogan’s rival and alleged coup plotter Fethullah Gulen, even though the Justice Department has not completed an examination of Turkey’s case against him.
Secular Turks, who still compose nearly half of Turkey’s population, remain hopeful the West will act to restrain Erdogan – or at least speak up against his abuse of power. They are likely to be disappointed.