Leaders of African countries can learn from failed coup in Turkey

Power rests with the people, who will risk their lives to preserve democracy

There’s good reason the world greeted the failure of last week’s attempted coup in Turkey with a big sigh of relief. Not only would the coup have created political upheaval in an already unstable corner of the world, but more crucially, its success would have set back the cause of democracy in the developing world.

More than most, coup-ravaged Africa should be celebrating this failed attempt by the Turkish military to seize power. The sight of thousands of Turks flooding the streets to protect their democracy was inspiring because it showed that the collective power of the people can defeat tyranny. The key lesson for Africans is that democracy is worth fighting for, and if they truly want it to flower in their countries, they should be prepared to defend it — with their lives if necessary.

If you have never suffered the trauma of a coup unfolding before your eyes or lived in its bitter aftermath, it is hard to fully comprehend the enormous significance of Turkey’s failed coup. It is inconceivable that what happened in Turkey last week — tanks in the streets and helicopters in the air firing at people; fighter-jets bombing parliament and commandos storming a presidential holiday retreat in an assassination attempt — could ever happen in Canada or any western country.

But that’s what Africa has faced time and again. Since the first coup in Egypt in 1952, Africa has seen nearly 200 failed and successful coups, and it could happen again. As I watched the coup in Turkey unfold on television, it brought back memories of the one in Ghana in 1981 that overthrew the government I worked for, and the disastrous consequences that followed.

Coups have a familiar pattern to them: the never-ending roar of gunfire, the anxiety over whether the uprising will fail or succeed, the fear for life, the ensuing chaos, and the uneasy feeling that your life is about to change in ways you never anticipated.

Coups succeed for a number of reasons, but two usually stand out: Often, the plotters seize the main radio and television network to broadcast their message and convey to an anxious nation that they are in control and it is futile to resist. Second, people often cower in fear. But even if they could fight back, people usually don’t feel they have enough of a stake in the government to defend it.

The big difference in Turkey was that people didn’t cower in fear.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was able to get on television and call on supporters to take to the streets in defiance — and, crucially, they did. Turks came out in their thousands to face down tanks and chase soldiers from news studios and bridges they had previously seized. Some 200 of them died in the process. And they came out because, for all the criticisms levelled against Erdogan in the West, people felt they had enough of a stake in his government to put their lives on the line. That rarely happens in Africa because the leaders haven’t earned the people’s trust.

The biggest lesson from the Turkish nightmare is that power really rests with the people, and, properly motivated, they will risk even their lives to preserve democracy. Turkey also teaches African leaders that if they work for the people instead of looting the coffers, the people will stick their necks out for them in time of need.

As for the western governments that began threatening Erdogan even before Turkey had time to bury its dead, and before those who survived neardeath had time to deal with their trauma, here’s a tip: Learn to stop telling other people how to live their lives.

Yes, for the country’s sake Erdogan has to be careful not to overreach. But nothing is gained by the European Union and others getting on their high horses and demanding Turkey act the way they want or else. If Turkey, for instance, wants to reinstate the death penalty, that’s its sovereign decision to make, not the EU’s or any other country’s.