Erdogan’s purge goes too far
The latest events in Turkey, where President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has expressed his determination to bring both the country’s army and intelligence force under the president’s ( read his own) control, are the latest to belie claims that Turkey is on the road to becoming an authentic democracy. Certainly, the dishonourable discharge of about 40 per cent of the country’s admirals and generals in the wake of this month’s failed coup gives some sense of where things are headed; but purging the military after an attempted putsch is perhaps an inevitable response, even if in this case the action seems to have been executed with a scope and determination that go beyond a simple expulsion of plotters.
So, for that matter, does Turkey’s investigation or suspension of tens of thousands of followers of the U.S.-based Islamic cleric, Fethullah Gulen — the elderly Sunni preacher whom Turkey accuses of planning and directing the failed coup — offer a helpful glimpse into how the country intends to deal with perceptions of dissent from here on out. Soldiers, police, teachers, journalists and government officials have all been swept up in the purge, in a manner so swift it gives the clear impression the government had prepared a list of critics well before the failed coup was launched.
Indicative of what is happening in t he everyday lives of Turkish citizens are the actions taken, not just against individuals, but also against the institutions that normally form the bedrock of a society’s freedom of expression and belief. The recent shuttering by Turkey of its own schools and universities is matched as an unsettling harbinger of undemocratic rule only by the country’s closing of media outlets — 45 newspapers, three news agencies, 16 television channels, 15 magazines and 29 publishers — that might otherwise give Turkey’s people an unfiltered account of their leader’s latest steps toward one- man rule. Many of those who might have criticized or got in the way of Erdogan’s expanding reach for power and control have now been arrested or pushed aside, along with thousands of judges and prosecutors in detention and dozens of foreign ministry employees fired because of alleged links to Gulen.
Just 12 years after Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party gained power in a country that has been a more or less constitutionally secular and democratic state since the 1920s, these are disagreeable developments; but it is possible that Erdogan can still be swayed by outside pressure to maintain at least a rudimentary commitment to the rule of law, especially if there were to be strong calls for restraint from Turkey’s allies in the West. The fact that Turkey plays such a key geographic role in fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant may complicate the use of influence and bargaining chips, but it only increases Western nations’ responsibility to ensure that Turkey does not become lost as a potential partner in the war against the enemy they all share.
Sometimes the solutions lie in spheres simpler than ideology. Turkey’s economy is in a parlous state. Erdogan’s willingness to swallow his pride and apologize to Russian President Vladimir Putin for the downing of a Russian warplane resulted from the intense pressure Moscow exerted, including restrictions on tourism that produced a 92 per cent decline in Russian visits and had a profound impact on Turkey’s economy.
Russians are not the only tourists who visit Turkey. Nor are Turkey’s economic links to Europe and the West negligible. Canada and other NATO powers need Turkey as an ally against ISIL, but Turkey also needs Western investment and markets. The key to convincing Erdogan to rein in his authoritarianism may be as simple as making clear that his allies are as willing to exert economic pressure as Moscow has shown itself to be.
For this to work, Turkey’s president has to know that his authoritarian tendencies are being closely scrutinized. He will no doubt grasp as much authority for himself as he can get away with; the longer he is allowed to continue his purge unchecked, the less restraint he is likely to show. The reality of Turkey’s economic situation and trade deficit may be the most effective tool to be wished for. Dollars speak louder than words; Erdogan has heard enough words, it may be time to let the dollars do some speaking.