Ross Clark
cope with terrorism. True, Turkey has suffered from attacks by the Kurdish separatist group PKK, which have killed more than 500 people in recent years. But it is hardly the only country suffering a terror threat. Only Erdogan is using it as an excuse to rewrite his country’s constitution.
Turkey’s descent into autocracy is not just a tragedy for the country itself – it has dire consequences for Britain and Europe. While Turkey has never been a free society in the way that we in Britain would understand that to mean, it has acted as a benign buffer zone between Europe and an increasingly malignant Middle East. It has at least been a democracy with an elected government and an elected parliament.
It has been protected from the growth of Islamic fundamentalism by a secular constitution founded nearly a century ago.
Part of the problem, though, may be that secularism was applied too aggressively – Erodgan’s conservative Muslim beliefs led to his removal from his previous job as mayor of Istanbul and his imprisonment in 1998. Until Erdogan came to power, for example, women were banned from wearing headscarves. Such laws fuelled resentment.
Turkey has also borne the scars of the six-year conflict in its southern neighbour Syria, with three million refugees now living within its borders. As Turkey itself descends further into authoritarianism the world now faces the prospect of it becoming a generator of refugees as well as a host.
Currently, the flow of refugees through Turkey is being managed through an uneasy agreement between Turkey and the EU – whereby the latter agrees to take refugees directly from camps on the condition that the former accepts the return of refugees who attempt to make illicit sea crossings to Greece. That agreement may well be an early casualty of the new political situation.
That the Turkish people have apparently backed Erdogan’s new powers in a referendum should not be mistaken for popular support.
There are serious questions to be asked about ballot papers which were unstamped and on the bullying tactics used to help secure this result.
CAMPAIGN rallies against the changes were cancelled by the government while “yes” rallies were supported with free public transport.
The tragedy of Erdogan is that had he retired when stepping down as prime minister in 2014 he would have been remembered as a great Turkish leader. At that time Turkey was booming.
Instead, he has manipulated what was supposed to be the ceremonial post of president in order to prolong and enhance his power. His construction of a 1,000-room presidential palace in Ankara is a symptom of his vainglorious arrogance.
No one will be able to challenge him for the presidency until elections are held in two years’ time – and then don’t expect a free ballot.
Meanwhile, the economy sank into recession last year and the number of foreign tourists has slumped. Sadly, it is too much to expect Erdogan to see the connection between the sinking economy and his own growing authoritarianism.
Such is what happens when political leaders spend too long in power. Sadly for Turkey, Erdogan is too in love with his own self-importance to understand that he is his country’s biggest problem.
‘Migrant agreement may be a casualty’