Political Tussle in Turkey
By M. Waqas (MPA) • Jul 5th, 2008 • Category: Politics, Worth A Second Look • (3,815 views) • 7 CommentsTurkish political scene is at the verge of political tsunami due to a controversial court verdict against wearing the head scarf in schools and colleges. Turkey is predominantly Muslim and traditional country. Historically it remained centre for whole Muslim ummah for more than two hundred years.
With the take over of Mustafa kamal attaturk Turkish ruling junta took a U turn, banned the Hijab Azan and took various other steps to modernize either secularize the society. Since than Turkish Army and Apex court both are considered to be the custodians of the secular nature of the republic. On the other hand Turkish people and specially their youth are inclined towards religion.
In my visit to Istanbul in 2006 I found that 6 out of 10 women wear hijab and same is the ratio of young boys who keep beard. I noticed large gatherings in mosques on prayer timings and especially in Friday prayer. The same trend was reflected in 1991 when 22% people voted in favor of Rifa party of Erbakan. Since than pro Islamic forces are on rise and gathering support of masses specially youth in every general election. Now the ruling AKP received a blow when the constitutional court scraped the newly made law that lifted the ban on wearing scarf in schools and colleges. Now the issue is the very survival of the party which is in power for the second consecutive term and has succeeded in electing her own nominee as a President of the republic.
After eight decades of continuous struggle to transform the society from traditional to a modern and secular one the strong Army and Courts are in the last phase of a lost battle and are losing their grip on the system very rapidly. It’s the time for the AKP leadership to remain consistent to their stand and remain in touch to the masses specially youth. They should play their political role with wisdom and patience.
They showed remarkable performance during their stay in office and faced the economic challenges with competency and now the economic situation is far better than the one at the times of their predecessors. So they have more enough support in masses for them and any controversial decision of the court can aggravate the situation. Any political turmoil will ruin the economic growth of the country, and will effect their relations with Europe.
Last 5 posts by M. Waqas (MPA)
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July 5th, 2008
Given the ease with which Turkey’s Islamist parties have successfully reinvented themselves in the past, there’s a real risk that the army will pursue a more muscular approach to eradicate the AKP once and for all this time around. That, in turn, risks alienating the AKP’s religious base from the principles of democratic liberalization, which were promoted as a means of advancing a more tolerant approach to religion in the public sphere. The wider implications for the regional outlook are similarly discouraging, all the more so since Turkey has increasingly assumed a critical mediator’s role in several sectarian conflicts. Unfortunately, neither the EU nor the U.S. has very much leverage on Ankara right now, so there’s little standing in the way of the generals should they decide to act.
July 5th, 2008
As a Muslim-majority country that is also a secular democratic state, a member of NATO, a candidate for membership in the European Union, a long-standing U.S. ally, and the host of Incirlik Air Base (a key hub for logistical support missions in Afghanistan and Iraq), Turkey is pivotal to U.S. and Western security interests in a critical area of the world. It also provides an example of the coexistence of Islam with secular democracy, globalization, and modernity.
July 5th, 2008
Turkey’s political and democratic troubles are deepening. The country’s domestic problems are grave enough, but an additional complicating factor is that few of its putative friends and partners abroad are
able or wish to exert a positive influence on the direction of events.
July 5th, 2008
One of the great benefits of Turkey’s EU adventure is that it unveils some crucial yet often unnoticed facts about this country. Thanks to the accession process, Europeans are taking a closer look at Turkish society, and realizing who is really who in this very complex and often confusing nation. One particular discovery of Europeans has been that the secularist Turkish elite is not sharing some of their fundamental values, such as democracy and individual freedom. These European-looking Turks are also quite militarist and nationalist according to Western standards.
July 5th, 2008
The AKP developed as a “party of the center-right,” which convinced its devout Sunni base that the best hope for obtaining greater acceptance of religion in the public sphere was through developing a political language that wrapped religious rights into a broader language of liberalization and expanding freedoms. Good government, a more open, tolerant society, and an expanding economy would allow the secular and the devout to come together under a common program. For a time, it seemed to be working. Now, with the AKP unable to obtain something as fundamental as the right of devout young women to wear headscarves as they go to their university classes and with many of its erstwhile allies deserting it, where are the devout to go? If liberalization and parliamentary democracy cannot deliver on basic issues, Turkey’s devout, like its military, may opt for a harder path.
July 5th, 2008
Subjugation to the kemalist system is a form of foreign subjugation. The neo-national identity set forth by the latter is foreign to many Turks and Kurds of Turkey. Hence the particular and continuous social and political turmoil ever since the creation of the Republic.
There is a clear difference between the political values of Ataturk and what has come to be know as Kemalism. We can say that Kemalist draw their character not really from him, but from people who have claimed and claim to be his followers. Could we not say the same about Khomeini and the ‘Islamic’ Republic of Iran?
Politics, revolutions and soldiering aside. Is it that surprising that some Turkish Muslims relate to to the person of Khomeini, an imam, philosopher and poet? Or that they do not relate to the person of Ataturk, a heavy drinker, womaniser and divorcee?
As Emre points out, ‘Turkey is plenty conservative’…
July 5th, 2008
NICE Post. very thoughtful.