The West needs to make it right with Turkey
Country feels it gets no support, no empathy for what it’s going through
The tinderbox that is the Middle East could explode with dire consequences for the West if Turkey is undermined and consequently fails as a democracy, visiting Turkish politicians warned this week, underlining frayed relations between allies.
“You should appreciate that Turkey is a frontier country fighting ISIS, fighting PKK (Kurdish terror group), al- Qaida, dealing with refugees and we ask our friends in the West for understanding,” Kani Torun, head of a visiting all-party parliamentary delegation, told journalists. “If Turkey fails, the West will be in trouble.”
We should pay heed. Turkey’s relationship with the West is fraught, and the deep divide between their perceptions of each other was on display as the Turkish MPs met with journalists in Ottawa. The parliamentarians appeared frustrated and flabbergasted as journalists zeroed in on alleged human rights abuses and growing concern over the government crackdown that has seen more than 20,000 people detained since the failed July 15 coup.
They couldn’t believe that, in the wake of a coup attempt that saw Parliament bombed by fighter jets, an assassination attempt on the president, about 270 people killed and more than 2,000 injured, what western governments, media and human rights organizations are worried about is the plight of the coup plotters. To them, the West appears to have no empathy for what the country went through, and it hurts.
“Turkey was under attack, Parliament bombed and none of our friends sent support. We did not get support, even lip words,” Torun lamented.
At the heart of the matter is what Turkey sees as a total lack of understanding in the West for the country’s unique geopolitical challenges and the dangers its citizens face every day. Turkey doesn’t believe its contribution to the alliance in the face of significant challenges is appreciated. All it hears is a constant drumbeat of criticism. The country sees a double standard in the way it is often treated. People certainly have a right to criticize, but it would be instructive, once in a while, to put themselves in Turkey’s shoes.
I wonder how our government — or any other western government — would respond if it faced as constant a barrage of attacks and destabilization as Turkey does. What really surprised me at the meeting was the opposition MPs’ support for the way the government is responding to the failed coup.
“We are an opposition party but in this, Turkey has become one, all 79 million people. We are together with our nation and our government. Democracy is working in Turkey,” said Izzet Ulvi Yonter, of the small opposition Nationalist Movement Party. “Our response to the coup is legal, ethical and right.”
Ahmet Akin, of the main opposition party the Republican People’s Party (CHP), agreed. “This attack was against Parliament, against democracy. We are all one in this,” he said, adding with a wink, “we will win the election in three years.”
The West may not like President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, but here’s a lesson for the critics: If the opposition parties have faith in their democracy, who are we in the West to say otherwise? Still, going forward, caution should be the government watchword. I for one, have no problem with finding and punishing the coup plotters according to law. But care should be taken to not cast the net so wide it becomes a witch hunt.
Complicating the issue is the matter of exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkey accuses of being the coup’s mastermind. Gulen denies any involvement and the truth is neither you nor I really knows whether he was involved or not. Turkey says it has the evidence, which will be given to the U.S. In due course, the courts will decide. But looking at the big picture, there’s no question that for the good of the world, the friction between Turkey and the West must be repaired, especially with Russian President Vladimir Putin hovering in the wings to take advantage.
Torun is right: Turkey must not fail.