Turkey’s Erdogan or Erdogan’s Turkey?
By Mohammad Behzad Fatmi
09 August, 2014
Countercurrents.org
The Republic of Turkey has been a turbulent democracy since its very inception. The country has witnessed a number of coup d’état and continuous military dominance over elected governments resulting in limited civilian liberty, rare tolerance for dissent and utter disregard to the rule of law. It was in the year 2002 when the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power with the promise and apparent determination to strengthen democracy, rule of law and freedom in the country which gave hope to the people. But today after more than a decade, the country is standing at the same position (in a different form though), if not worse.
Turkey is going to vote tomorrow, August 10, to elect its next president in an unprecedented way. Unprecedented because it would be the first time a president is elected directly by the population rather than being chosen by the country’s parliament. The factors that are lingering around this election, however, are so dubious that it raises the question of whether this election is a sign of an advanced democracy or is it plainly majoritarianism?
First, Recep Tayyip Erdogan who has dominated the Turkish politics for over a decade is now running for presidency. He is currently serving his third and last term as the prime minister of the country. Erdogan’s own party’s regulations bar him from becoming prime minister for the fourth consecutive term, and he has decided not to amend this rule. It has been interpreted by many as a show of confidence by Erdogan for succeeding in the presidential election. But at the same time he has decided against stepping down from his current position as the prime minister despite all the opposition parties and other presidential contenders unanimously asking him to do so. It smells of the scepticism he might have about becoming the head of the state. His term as prime minister will end in May 2015 and in case he loses the presidential election, few will doubt that he will push to change the three-term rule of his party.
Second, Turkey is a constitutional republic with a multiparty parliamentary system and a president with limited powers. The parliament has been exercising legislative authority and the president’s role has remained largely ceremonial. However, the Justice and Development Party government under Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been pushing to amend the country’s constitution to vest more powers in the president since the past couple of years. Although, the government has succeeded in introducing direct voting system for electing president in the country, it has failed to make major amendments in the constitution which would vest executive powers in the president. Now since Erdogan has announced his candidacy for the presidency, he has repeatedly vowed to remain politically active and exercise broad executive powers, if elected.
Third, Recep Tayyip Erdogan is facing two challengers in the presidential election. The two main opposition parties, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) have jointly nominated Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu as their presidential candidate. Ihsanoglu is a Turkish bureaucrat and an academic. He has served as the secretary-general of the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and has authored many books and academic journals. More than ten political parties have announced their support to him, but still he remains a completely new face in the Turkish domestic politics and his chance of winning the election remains bleak.
The other candidate is Selahattin Demirtas, a popular politician among the minority Kurdish population of the country. He is representing the Kurdish dominated Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). The nomination of a Kurdish politician in a Turkish presidential election itself is a new affair in the country, let alone his chance of winning the election.
Despite being scorned by at least 45% of the Turkish population and showing utter disregard to the very basic principles of democracy and rule of law, Recep Tayyip Erdogan is the favourite in this election too. The ambiguities and uncertainties surrounding the most likely winner and lack of serious contenders in an election raise serious questions over the health of democracy and rule of law in a country. Moreover, a vibrant democracy does not allow itself to be defined by a populist leader and suit his/her needs; and a country bound by rule of law provides a clear framework under which politicians must act, rather than the politicians themselves defining the boundaries.
So the underlying question is, “Turkey’s Erdogan or Erdogan’s Turkey?”
Mohammad Behzad Fatmi was born and raised in India and currently working at the Mevlana (Rumi) University in the city of Konya, Turkey
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