Turkey’s drift from democracy
This appeared in the Chicago Tribune:
Turkey’s steady march toward dictatorship just went into full gallop. Voters on Sunday narrowly approved a raft of constitutional changes that shift even more power to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who already maintains an iron grip over his country. Beginning in 2019, the post of prime minister will disappear, and Erdogan can make cabinet appointments without any parliamentary oversight. His control over the country’s judiciary will expand. He can also dissolve parliament at any time, for any reason. And, starting with the 2019 elections, Erdogan can run for two more five-year terms.
Erdogan’s margin of victory was razor-thin, and there were strong indications that the vote was far from fair. International election observers criticized the decision by Turkish election officials to allow as valid more than a million ballots that had been cast without an official stamp. Without the stamp, authorities can’t be sure those ballots aren’t fraudulent.
An undemocratic election shouldn’t surprise anyone, given Erdogan’s track record for authoritarian governance.
Turkey is a NATO member integral to the fight against Islamic State in Syria. It allows the U.S. to use an airbase at Incirlik for its airstrikes and drone flights into Syria. It also has provided haven to more than 3 million Syrian refugees and has a deal with European leaders to keep refugees from travelling on to Europe. But if Turkey is going to fulfil its goal to join the European Union, it needs Western backing. Expecting Erdogan to reform isn’t realistic, but that doesn’t mean Europe should compromise its principles for EU inclusion. Those require EU applicant nations to maintain “stable institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights.” Turkey is veering away from — rather than approaching — those principles. Erdogan can’t have it both ways.
He can’t run roughshod over democratic principles and then expect the EU to welcome Turkey, no questions asked. Turkey’s too valuable in the fight against Islamic State to treat like a pariah. But it’s not so valuable that the European community should abandon core ideals it applies to other countries that join.