Question of ideals: Turkey, 100-yr democracy with ups and downs

WASHINGTON: The Republic of Turkey was founded 100 years ago. Since then, the country has experienced a transformation from a single-party into a multi-party system, a military coup in 1960, violence on its streets for almost a decade in the 70s, followed by another coup and many unstable coalition governments in the 90s, and an Islamist rise to power in 2002.

Amid all these minor and major setbacks, the Turkish state, built on Western ideals such as democracy, equality, the rule of law and secularism, has survived and will celebrate its centenary next year.

How resilient are Turkey’s democratic institutions, though, as it turns 100?

Under the leadership of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey has increasingly turned its face from the West toward the East. It has associated itself more with Islamic values, made new friends and allies in the Arab world and built up its overseas military involvement, including in Somalia and Qatar, where Turkey’s presence has been welcome.

These developments have not made all Turks happy, however, as all this has been accompanied by rising authoritarianism.

Sinem Adar, an expert on Turkey at the Center for Applied Turkey Studies (CATS) in Berlin, takes a negative view of the trajectory taken by the country under Erdogan. “Turkey today is a prime example of increasing authoritarian practices”, she observes. “Since the late 2000s, the country has steadily moved away from the rule of law and effective separation of powers.”

And Adar is especially frustrated by the turn things have taken after what seemed like auspicious conditions for progress. “Given the country’s almost seven decades of experience with competitive multi-party elections and its integration into the Western institutional architecture, the demise of Turkish democracy is arguably one of the most disappointing examples of a global trend,” she says.

One of the founding values of the republic was secularism, or laicism, a concept based on the French model of strict separation between state and religion. The Ottoman Caliphate was abolished in 1924, less than a year after the establishment of the republic. Instead, the Diyanet, the so-called Directorate of Religious Affairs, was founded to give the state more control over the political influence of Islam.

It is fair to argue now, however, that religion plays a far greater political role in Turkey today than 20 years ago thanks to Erdogan’s policies and discourse.

Adar underlines that there has always been a “thin line between religion and politics in Turkey” since the establishment of the republic. But, she says, the past 20 years of rule by Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) have brought about a significant difference in terms of “the breadth and depth of the state-sponsored penetration of religion into social life.” One can speak of a “clear trend of gradual expansion of Islam into public life, especially in the last decade,” Adar says.

The Diyanet has been turned into a gigantic political actor under the AKP’s rule, as Adar explains. “The Diyanet has gained more power than ever with mounting political weight and access to ever-increasing resources. Especially after the failed coup attempt in 2016, it has assumed a key role in the daily reproduction of the narrative that Turkey’s ruling elites under the leadership of Erdogan embody the people’s will and defend the nation’s authentic and national values, as well as the state’s territorial integrity,” she says.

Turks will go to the ballot box on June 18, 2023, to pick their next president. Some polls suggest that Erdogan, whose policies do not go unquestioned by all, could possibly lose if the opposition manages to run against him with a single candidate.