{"id":5638,"date":"2010-03-05T23:12:06","date_gmt":"2010-03-05T23:12:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/?p=5638"},"modified":"2010-03-06T15:10:24","modified_gmt":"2010-03-06T15:10:24","slug":"can-muslim-middle-eastern-countries-build-real-democracy-by-firat-demir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/can-muslim-middle-eastern-countries-build-real-democracy-by-firat-demir\/","title":{"rendered":"“Turkey at a Crossroad: Democracy or Military Rule?” by Firat Demir"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Turkey at a Crossroad: Democracy or Military Rule?” by Firat Demir<\/a>
\nMarch 5, 2010
\nFor Syria Comment<\/p>\n

\"The

The Final Showdown is Near<\/p><\/div>\n

The single most important event in the recent history of the Middle East is now taking place in Turkey. At stake is whether a Muslim Middle Eastern country can build a true democracy?\u00a0 Turkey’s “democracy” has long been overseen and periodically reshaped by a paternalistic elite, made up of the military, the state bureaucracy, and the judiciary. It has meant that although Turkey has had many of the trappings of democracy, it could not stand on its own two feet. Four times since WWII, the military has intervened in the democratic process. The last major intervention was twelve years ago on February 28, 1997 when the Turkish military presented an ultimatum to the Islamist-dominated coalition government following a meeting of the National Security Council (MGK) . The Turkish military had previously carried out coups in 1960, 1971 and 1980. In the course of the military intervention in 1997, General Cevik Bir, the deputy chief of general staff, cynically declared that the aim of the army “was to readjust the balance of democracy.”\u00a0 The Armed Forces were non-accountable for what they said or what they did. For the first time, they are being held to account<\/p>\n

Today, the need for a nursemaid elite is being questioned. The events that have been unfolding since 2007 are crucial if Turkey is to evolve toward real democracy. The changes are long overdue.<\/p>\n

Over the last three years, more and more Turks have begun to question whether they need a guardianship of the Kemalist Elite. Indeed, the very notion that Turkey’s elites act paternally and in the interests of all is being questioned. Increasingly Turks are coming to the conclusion that the elites are driven by narrow self interest and that they cling to the status quo in order to preserve their monetary and political privileges, not because they are acting as true custodians of secularism and people’s liberties.<\/p>\n

The political and economic benefits that accrue to the top military brass, government bureaucrats and judges are only too visible to the average person in Turkey. You can find a detailed discussion here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Top Turkish officers charged over ‘coup plot’ <\/a>
\nThursday, 25 February 2010, BBC<\/p>\n

Seven senior military officers have been formally charged in Turkey with attempting to overthrow the government.<\/p>\n

They include four admirals, a general and two colonels, some of them retired. The seven were among more than 40 officers arrested on Monday over an alleged 2003 plot to stir up chaos in Turkey and justify a military coup. President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan have called a meeting with General Ilker Basuk, the head of the armed forces, on Thursday.<\/p>\n

The meeting was called after the country’s top generals and admirals met at short notice on Tuesday to evaluate what the military called a “serious situation”.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Turkish police arrest 49 military officers over suspected coup plot<\/a>|
\nRobert Tait, Guardian,\t\t\t \t\t\t\t Monday 22 February 2010<\/p>\n

Turkey’s once all-powerful military is facing the biggest challenge to its authority in decades after 49 senior officers were detained on accusations of plotting to topple the country’s Islamist-rooted government in a violent coup.<\/p>\n

A former deputy chief of the army, a retired air force chief, the chief of the navy and several generals and admirals were among those detained by police in a sweep carried out in eight Turkish cities. Hurriyet reported on its website that the round-up included 17 retired generals, four serving admirals and 27 lower-ranking officers.<\/p>\n

The detentions dramatically raised the ante in a rumbling power struggling between the Justice and Development party (AKP) government and the armed forces, and prompted the army chief of staff, General Ilker Basbug, to call off a trip to Egypt.<\/p>\n

They represented the boldest assault yet on the military’s elevated status by prosecutors, who have been investigating alleged conspiracies by secularists to unseat the AKP for more than two years. The army, which has dispatched four governments in the past 50 years, was once considered all but untouchable in its role as custodian of Turkey’s secular state.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The increasing intensity of the conflict between pro-democracy and pro-authoritarianism groups, however, does not mean that the AK party is the champion and savior of democracy in Turkey.<\/p>\n

In the nine years since it was established, the AK party has not always acted more nobly than an amateur belly dancer. Some of its more ignoble acts are:<\/p>\n