Turkey’s once-worldly aims falter, even close allies concerned


Date posted: February 3, 2014

MICHAEL SHANK

From a political perspective, defending Turkey’s blend of political Islam and neoliberal economic policies was not terribly difficult a decade ago.

After all, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan helped build the 17th largest economy in the world and what would be the sixth largest among European Union countries. His plan was to be a top-10 economy by 2023, and operating under free-market fundamentals, Turkey was quickly tacking toward that goal.

Externally, Turkey seemed to be the perfect partner for Washington. She was the second-largest troop contributor to Afghanistan, backed the invasion of Libya, armed the rebels in Syria, denounced the military coup in Egypt and came to the rescue of countless Tsunami-stricken regions from Indonesia to Japan.

Erdogan can’t seem to help himself to the riches that power proffers.

Internally, however, the country was falling apart. The violent crackdown last year of its protesters in Gezi Park illustrated how the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) had lost control of the country. Gezi captured the mounting frustration among Turkey’s citizens regarding the rollback of personal and press freedoms and the persistent undermining of democratic institutions.

Now, revelations in recent months of serious and pervasive corruption within the AKP and more extreme crackdowns on the media, the criminal justice system and academic freedoms show yet again how quickly Turkey’s once-worldly aims have completely unraveled, unsettling even its closest allies.

Critics both in and out of the country are describing Erdogan’s antics as dictatorial and autocratic, not a good sign for a leader who wants to liaise economically and politically with the West.

Power appears to have gone to the prime minister’s head. Angling to become president in order to extend his rule, Erdogan is foolishly profiling and purging former friends in the Hizmet movement, recently firing hundreds of government employees who are allegedly (no one knows for sure as there’s no evidence) sympathetic to the movement’s founder, Fethullah Gulen – a move that dispels any notion in the West that the AKP and Gulen are somehow in cahoots.  Since there is no indication that those fired did anything wrong, many feel that Erdogan is attacking the Hizmet movement to create a distraction and thus cover up his corruption and anti-democratic crackdown.

Needless to say, the country’s keenness to curry favor with America — wallpapering Washington D.C.’s billboards with Western-friendly “Travel Turkey” advertisements and bringing on board Kobe Bryant and Kevin Costner as spokesmen for Turkish Airlines – has quickly subsided.

Though Erdogan has met recently with EU officials in Brussels, Iran’s leaders in Tehran and President Francois Hollande of France (one of the main obstacles to Turkey’s EU bid), he has clearly lost his leverage in the region.

Favorable views of Turkey fell from 78 percent in 2011 to 59 percent in 2013, according to last month’s poll by a well-respected nongovernmental organization in Istanbul called the Turkey Economic and Social Studies Foundation. To put Middle Easterners’ views in perspective, that means China is now more popular than Turkey.

Attempting to salvage some of Turkey’s former preeminence as a political and economic powerhouse in the region, Turkey’s president, Abdullah Gul, criticized AKP’s diplomatic apparatus this month, saying, according to a transcript of the speech posted on his office’s website, that “the key to solving problems, whether domestic or foreign, is common sense, a sensible approach, dialogue and an empathy that makes sure you understand your interlocutor.”

This is exactly what Washington and the rest of the world wants from Turkey. The potential for Turkey to play a positive role in diplomatic partnership with the U.S. is great – having already brokered negotiations, releases and ceasefire attempts in Yemen, Bahrain, Egypt and Libya.

The world needs Turkey as a regional mediator, especially when it comes to the more intractable dialogues with Syria and Iran. Few parties are so well positioned to establish a working relationship between the Western and Arab and Muslim worlds. While Qatar, Malaysia and others are keen arbiters, Turkey has unique leverage, given its role and relations in the region.

But if the West wants Turkey at the foreign policy table, it cannot simply stand silent on the domestic front – as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry recently intimated — without encouraging Erdogan to ease up on the crackdowns.

A top-10 economy doesn’t become one, or sustain itself after becoming one, through continued corruption and constant crackdowns. Erdogan knows this, yet he can’t seem to help himself to the riches that power proffers. Before alienating his few remaining allies, he would do well to return to prudent precedent and the very leadership that turned Turkey into a 21st century powerhouse before it’s too late.

Michael Shank is director of foreign policy at the Friends Committee on National Legislation.

Source: FoxNews , February 1, 2014


Related News

Detained woman, newborn baby transferred to prison 1,291 km away from home

Detained in the southern province of Isparta, Turkey, as part of a post-coup investigation, a woman, identified with initials Ö.A., has been transferred to a prison 1,291 kilometers away from home. Her 6-mont-old baby reportedly accompanied her under detention as her husband was already in jail as part of an investigation in the aftermath of the July 15, 2016 coup attempt.

Turkish authorities purge regulators, state TV employees in backlash against graft probe

Turkey has extended a purge of official organizations to the banking and telecommunications regulators and state television, firing dozens of executives in moves that appear to broaden Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s push back against a corruption investigation.

Samanyolu high school wins gold medal in TÜBİTAK contest

Samanyolu Science High School students Sadık Said Kasap and Onur Sulak won the gold medal among 24 final contenders whose work was chosen out of 1,156 projects. Kasap and Sulak stated that they had been working on their project for the last eight months and that they had striven to make a contribution to the world of mathematics.

‘Selam: Bahara Yolculuk’: a true story on the big screen

ALİ KOCA / ISTANBUL The 2013 Turkish movie “selam” (Greeting) told the stories of volunteers who embraced humanity outside Turkey’s borders; it was a movie that was appreciated not for its cinematic qualities, but for the sake of the beloved memories of those pioneers who went to territories they knew very little about to open […]

Gülen’s lawyer, Court of Appeals deny claims of AK Party official

“I think the ministry of justice went beyond its authority in making a change requiring the judges and prosecutors to inform the administration about investigations,” Akyol further added, urging everyone to keep the rule of law above political conflicts.

Ergenekon’s coup-lovers owe an apology to the Hizmet movement

Since the start of the Ergenekon trials, some of the suspects and their supporters constantly, steadfastly and fiercely argued that the Ergenekon cases were based on fabricated evidence prepared by the Hizmet movement, claiming that the defendants were actually innocent. They now owe an apology to the Hizmet movement.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Jailed woman in hospital for delivery to be returned to jail with new-born

Independent deputy says there may be an attempt to pin political murders on Gülen movement

Shahbaz lays foundation stone of Pak-Turk school

Kimse Yok Mu conducts 500 cataract surgeries in Pakistan

Fethullah Gulen Condemns the Terrorist Attack in Lahore, Pakistan and Extends Condolences to Relatives of Victims

İstanbul woman suffers miscarriage in police custody

Kimse Yok Mu caring for Kyrgyz orphans

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News