Turkish Democracy Crumbles as World Cheers ‘Democratization’
Like a headlong charge in some medieval battle, Turkish soccer fans rushed at police barricades along an Istanbul expressway on July 10. The police immediately fired tear gas to disperse the crowd of more than 100,000 people who had gathered to demonstrate against the detainment of Aziz Yıldırım, president of their popular soccer club Fenerbahce, the 2010-11 Turkish champions.
To rub in the arrest, it was announced soon thereafter that Yıldırım would be jailed indefinitely as he faced trial for alleged match-fixing. The main accusation against him is “setting up an armed organized crime ring for profit,” which seems rather flimsy. Enraged fans then continued their protest outside the courthouse where Yildirim is being held.
Like something out of a Soviet bloc country rather than Turkey’s traditional democracy, the government and its supporters spoke of “an Ergenekon of soccer,” a comparison to the trumped-up case in which many hundreds have been arrested and imprisoned without trial for three years. They were charged with allegedly planning a coup. Their actual “crime” seems opposition to the current government.
One reporter for the pro-government and Islamist Today’s Zaman newspaper, Huseyin Gulerce, spoke about networks of “coupmakers” and subversive elements in soccer that would now be brought to heel. “Today, the civilian authority is calling the shots” and its enemies “are doomed to lose.” The timing of the soccer struggle coincides with the resignation of the four top military officers, another case of the government asserting itself over a key institution.
When Turkish voters approved the September 12, 2010 referendum on 26 items of constitutional change, the United States and EU hailed the results as proving “the vibrancy of Turkey’s democracy” and “a step in the right direction.”
Yet the referendum clearly violated the EU Venice Commission’s own Code of Good Practice on Referendums, which states (page 12), “There must be an intrinsic connection between the various parts of each question put to the vote, in order to guarantee the free suffrage of the voter.” Some popular reforms were blended with other changes giving the regime more power. Many voters supported the plan because of the former provisions while disliking the latter ones.
The international cheering for “democratization” goes on while generals, civic leaders, writers, and journalists have been imprisoned since the government’s July 2007 landslide election victory convinced it that it no longer needed to be cautious in asserting its hegemony. Not a single person has yet been convicted. One of the first jailed, writer Ergun Poyraz, marked his fourth anniversary in prison on July 27. Eight newly elected members of the parliament are still in jail, too.
The referendum gave Prime Minister Erdogan the ability to pick members of the high court and in some cases parliament, thus subordinating all three branches of government to himself. Thus the ultimate irony: Erdogan was granted dictatorial powers in the name of democratization. In addition, the Turkish police force, YÖK (Higher Education Board), Diyanet (Presidency of Religious Affairs), and the Turkish Central Bank among numerous other institutions are now controlled by the governing party, its cronies, and supporters.
I am not at all optimistic about Turkey or many other countries while Barack Obama remains in the White House. The United States acts like an anchor to the rest of the world. We either have our act together—or things rapidly spin out of control. Erdogan realizes that a left-wing president is not going to take him to task especially if he is perceived as merely sticking it good and hard to the reactionaries within the military and civilian society. The same holds true of the western European nations. You can take it for granted that these utopian fools are thrilled by the difficulties endured by the military officers. They are not even slightly alarmed.
Erdogan in his foolishness is destroying the last of “Kemalism” and buying acquiesence from the people with economic give aways.If the Islamists get control,Erdogan himself will fall and Turkey will go backward 100 years in about six months.
I am sad to see this to such a beautiful country.
Pelerin, where have you been. Erdogan is an Islamist.
But you knew when Erdogan and his muslim buddies won the election that (from our saner, western point of view, of course)it would go wrong, didn’t you? And, be honest, you suspected that the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt had an agenda somewhat different from the promised one, didn’t you? You already know that Libya and Syria will go the same way, don’t you? And you know that these situations arise because the ‘People’ will it so, whether legally or by chicanery.
So, ignore their spats and let them get on with it (I mean, the USA created itself on its own, right?) and, for goodness sake, let go the idea that America is a force for good and therefore has to make sacrifices – haven’t we been taught enough times that ingratitude is our reward, that no good deed goes unpunished, etc., etc.? Playing Big Brother only brings out all manner of poseurs, foreign and home-grown; they crawl out from under whatever rock they live, in some cases literally, strut their stuff, take our money and then spit in our eye.
I’m no longer willing to pretend I care about them or their self-inflicted agonies and, frankly, I doubt that any ordinary Joe REALLY does either. We do not have a duty to teach them the value of democracy, a much overrated commodity, after all; they have their own systems whereby they control their adherents and, as long as they don’t try to control me, that’s fine by me. It’s interesting to reflect, though, on whether their need to conquer the world for islam isn’t in fact a fig-leaf for another agenda; after all, they say that people do things for two reasons: a good reason and the real reason.
I think we’ve got enough to do right now cleaning out our own stables and I think I’ll begin by telling my congressman and senator what I want him to do next (if I can get him to listen, of course ……).
Well said!
“I’m no longer willing to pretend I care about them or their self-inflicted agonies and…”
The planet is very small. Our predicament is often comparable to people who live next door to a family that allows their children to play with machine guns. Abstractly, it should not be any of our business—but still those bullets shattering our windows are most disconcerting. Is it fair? Shouldn’t we be able to simply mind our own business? Alas, life is not always fair. The turmoil in Egypt, for instance, could stop many ships from moving through the Suez Canal. Do you have any idea how much that could dramatically harm your life?
I’m with carrstone – I don’t give a fig for those people and they’ve made it abundantly clear they hate our guts. Let them starve the planet for oil. The Americas have more than enough to supply our needs – it we can overthrow our own tin-dic so we can get at it.
You should care because Turkey is in NATO and has US equpment and US technology. Unfortunately.
Referrendums in constitutional democracies are all about the government wanting to overcome some clause or other in the constitution that limits their power. In Australia, where I am from, referrendums almost always fail because of the cynical nature of the citizens. Kemel Ataturk was an extremely intellegent person with a real desire to see Turkey prosper in a modern world. I am sure that the constitution that he set up would be one that would stand for a long time. As a rule, always vote NO in referendums.
I spent 63 days last year in Turkey on an aircraft recovery project. Here is what I observed.
1. Doing business and paying for services was a nightmare. Every time we reached agreements, the next day everything changed. Demands were made many times for ‘cash’, not wire transfers to pay for parts, parking and airport fees, etc. Customs was a nightmare. Our project manager had to go to Customs himself and make ‘arrangements’ so our parts could clear and get delivered.
2. Turkish society seemed to be in ‘flux’, Many women were covered in various degrees, many women were dressed skimpily. Advertising at malls would have made Australia proud. It was like the country and its citizens couldn’t make up their minds about what kind of society they wanted to have.
3. Citizens have to go the the Bank to pay all of their bills. They live and die by the ATM machine which is the only way to get money and find out what your pay is. On Saturday night there are lines of well dressed people waiting in line to get their money. There is no financial freedom, no online bill-pay. BTW, those ‘banks’ have seriously armed guards, and they mean business.
We finally figured out that people were asking for cash and trying to always make deals was so that they could have the side money and not have to report to the government.
4. There are pictures of Kamal Ataturk in every building and business. He is revered as the Father of Turkey. (Which means that I am totally confused as to why the country is becoming ‘Islamist’, but of course never underestimate the power of religious propaganda).
5. Generally, the citizenry is well-behaved because at some level they are afraid. It was this weird vibe that’s all I can say when describing it. At one cafe near the Grand Bazzar we were talking to some people and when we told them we were from Texas, their first question was “Do you have guns”? Well yeah, several and the shock and awe was evident. The Turks could not imagine having the freedom to own a firearm personally.
6. Our hotel staffs (Marriott Courtyard, Istanbul Airport & Divan in Chorlu) were incredible, and while at the Divan the staff was just learning the hotel business you could tell they really did care. Marriott staff were all trained in the USA, in Turkey a job with Marriott is a career. People do not quit.
7. Our visit to the Harley-Davidson dealership on the Asian side was great…bikers are bikers are bikers…amazing. We saw a collection of vintage Harleys and one turquoise one that was decked out in sterling silver and leather regalia as well. They were very excited that we took the time and trouble to find them and spend time.
8. Of course we did the tourist thing as well and saw all the sights and learned a lot of history, it’s truly a shame that this country is degenerating into just another regressive Islamist state.
Yes, Turkey is a strange mixture of old and new. I have visited there 10 times and travelled to many different cities. I can honestly say that I enjoyed all my visits and found the Turkish people to be very helpful and friendly. I saw more hijabs and burkas in Toronto, New York, Boston and Chicago then I did in Istanbul. (most burka-clad creatures were tourists)I am very dishearted at what is happening to this beautiful and fascinating country. The youth revere the West. I wonder how many will stand for this Islamization and how many will rebel.
Toronto Girl
Are you joking? Youth revere West?
Perhaps you were visiting main cities but even in the cities there is islamization trend and many people dislike West, particularly US.
I think that even in Iran more people like US than in Turkey.
“At one cafe near the Grand Bazzar we were talking to some people and when we told them we were from Texas, their first question was “Do you have guns”? Well yeah, several and the shock and awe was evident. The Turks could not imagine having the freedom to own a firearm personally.”
Really?
When I was there I saw — and have photos of — a little impromptu air-gun shooting gallery set up along the Valens Aqueduct, within sight of the Ataturk Boulevard. OK, they were air guns, but I’ve NEVER seen anything like that here in the 2nd Amendment US.
My conversation with the people I was talking to was my experience, your experience was yours. Two different experiences. End of story. Not a collapse of the universe.
My conversation with the people I was talking to was my experience, your experience was yours. Two different experiences. Real guns versus air guns.End of story.
Really.
I’m with Rob. I took note of a gun dealer in Istanbul and a gun store in Ankara. And any tourist can bring their own gun into Turkey, so long as they have a valid hunting permit (which I don’t believe is too difficult to come by, but I’ll be honest, I didn’t check as I wasn’t interested in hunting).
You Texans love your second amendment very conveniently as most gun manufacturers and the NRA seems to be in your neck of the woods. How about my freedom to live in a gun free, really safe world? Why don’t you care as much about your lack of freedoms to buy drugs, to kill somebody, have sex in public, etc.? This constitution, like all other human made archaic documents (bible, quran, etc), were written to address the needs or conditions of its own times. We are in the 21st century now, wake up!
You can always move to Iran, North Korea, Russia, China, or Washington, and experience the exhilaration of a land that, if not entirely gun-free, keeps them out of the hands of the ruck.
The only question now is, how long is it before Turkey pulls out of NATO? I can’t see an Islamist Turkey being allies with Iran and still being a member of NATO at the same time. Nope, we blew it. The one Muslim member of the NATO and we’re letting them turn into radical Islamists. We should have backed-up the generals with everything we had to help maintain a secular state there. Now we’re heading towards a new Iran. What will certainly drive them into the arms of Iran is that the Europeans will not let them into the EU, and rightfully so. After that, they will probably pull out of NATO as well.
Turkey has also been using the OIC as a tool to shut down ALL criticism of Islam anywhere in the world.
See: The OIC Calls the Shots
Wake up folks…
One vote, one time…
majority rule when Islam can control…
America has a REPUBLIC not a democracy.
We used to have American patriots who led us, now we have a far left “Community Organizer”
Just what the hell is a Community Organizer?
Never learned about that in Boy Scouts….
To some extent Turkey has been rebuffed by Europe. They have been refused entry into the EU. Germany has not given citizenship to Turks that have been in Germany legally for decades. At the same time the Islamists have been actively been using this rejection to increase their influence.
I have also been to Turkey, we did not meet one person that was hostile. We drove hundreds of miles and stopped in a lot of small towns. In every stop people were pleased that we took the time to stop and went out of their way to be friendly and helpful. I hope Turkey turns back the religious scum that seems to be in charge, but I am not optimistic.
@#10 – Forgotten Man
“Germany has not given citizenship to Turks that have been in Germany legally for decades.”
This is not true.
We have about 3,5-4 mill. Turks in Germany of which more than 1,5 million have Germany citizenship.
It is sad to hear, though, that many consider German citizenship “just a piece of paper” and remain “Turks”.
Children of Turks born in Germany automatically have both nationalities and must decide latest by the age of 23 years which nationality they choose.
Who really cares about Turkey or for that matter Syria, Libya, Yemen, Pakistan, Iraq or Iran? These people are supposed to take care of themselves and if they want democracy let them do the dying and spending their life savings to attain it. For too long Americans have believed and been taught in their government controlled schools that they have the reponsibility to make the world safe for democracy. That Old war monger Wilson came up with this lie of lies. We do not have any responsbility for other people and their countries or cultures. If Liberal Americans want to make the world a democratic utopia by all means let them do it. Let them send their children to die on the foreign battlefields; let their future savings be squandered on these foolhardy military and diplomatic fiascos. America it is time to stay home and out of other people’s affairs. Just look at how grateful the Europeans are for the terrible sacrifices Americans made to “make them free” in the 20th century; they hate our guts and constantly tell us how much more superior they are to us. Quo usque tandem abutere patientia nostra?
As an individual who lived through the days and months leading the 1960 coup. I saw how the the prime minister at the time(Menderes) overplayed his hand, so is
Erdogan who is executing the same playbook. What’s keeping him in power is the economy based on green money or petro-dolar, Turkish Islamist and secular banks are the largest money laundering network in the region. Once the Gulf states run out of money Erdogan is doomed. Unfortunately in the meantime he is reversing 100 years of democratization efforts. The sad part of all of this is
the useful idiots like secretary of state Clinton and Obama rubber stamping Erdogan’s actions for all the wrong reason. I do believe Turkey is reaching its boiling point. The incoming presidential election will be the critical junction which will determine Turkey’s future.
Good that you mentioned the Hillary Clinton connection. There’s a Muslim Brotherhood mole in the office – AND bedroom – of the Secretary of State.
And the MSM will keep that fact buried for decades.
10 yrs. from now Turkey will be just another Iran. From 1987 till now, we have visited Turkey several times from Bulgaria. The change is shocking. People don’t like Americans & generally despise the West. More & more conservative dress & Erdo has all the power. He knows just what he is doing the the AKP is in the drivers seat which will lead to another radical Islamic gov’t. The Turks went from liking us, to being indifferent to hating us as well as the Jews. It is too bad what is happening to this country. There are plenty of people that don’t want do be dragged back in the teh 13th century, but they have little or no power. No freedom of press, speech & Ataturk is spinning in his grave. The idiots running our country have no clue about what is really happening in Turkey…unless they want it to end up like Lebanon.
And…God help you if your are a Christian living in Turkey-murdered Catholic priests, murdered evangelicals & constant persecution. All the time while the gov’t turns a blind eye-a sad communtary on where Turkey is now.
As I understand post WW1 Turkish history, the young Turks established a secular state so the military, and the wider society, would benefit from the Western model for technological progress and development; this meant a secular military at times preventing the sectarian takeover of the state by a religious party, always an incipient danger in a Muslim culture. This is in contrast to the classic “banana republic” where the military is merely one of many political factions competing in a secular state for scarce goods; the episodic secular militarism of the banana republics is not the same as a theocracy of holy warriors. The European liberals seem to miss out on that distinction when insisting on “real” democracy in Turkey by the banning of the military to the barracks as the price of admission into the EU–never mind the suspicion that the Europeans are not really being sincere on their offer. In any event, in banning the army to the barracks the Europeans seem to have forgot that the Mosque is the barracks under Islam.
Yes. And one very important thing that most Westerner observers miss is that Turkey is a constitutional, representative democracy*. And the role of the military to step in and overthrow the civilian government in defense of secularism is defined in that constitution. It was not a “coup” when the U.S. congress impeached Nixon because they were doing so in accordance with the process defined in the U.S. constitution. Similarly, when the Turkish military has stepped in and forced the civilian government to return to its secular role it has been in accordance with the Turkish constitution. (Ever wonder why the military has never had a problem facilitating new elections? Ever wonder why the military has never just thrown out the constitution and imposed one to their liking?) Just because it’s the military acting in accordance with the constitution instead of a bicameral branch of the legislature doesn’t make it any less legal or less democratic. Ataturk was a very smart man and the constitution was crafted with some unique provisions. It makes for a unique government at time, but Turkey is unique, so that’s as it should be.
*this is very much unlike the UK and the Commonwealth countries.
Perhaps the provisions of the Constitution will be adequate but do you think that the members of the Islamic Parties are that smart? I think that they like the United States Democrats will just see somebody taking their toys away when they are stopped from abusing the citizens of Turkey. They will throw a fit in the form of a war when that happens and this “investigation” is evidence that the Islamists are planning that war.
I do not think that they understand how destructive war can be in a country as modern as Turkey.
“And the role of the military to step in and overthrow the civilian government in defense of secularism is defined in that constitution.”
Honduras anyone?
Sour grapes!
Were the soccer fans chanting “NIKA! NIKA!” as they rioted? No?
No sense of history…
What is happening to Turkey has happened to the United States in 1912, 1932, 1964 and again in 2008. If they can survive it they can look forward to a full blown civil war.
I wish that I could say that they will be a stronger democracy but the US started out as a strong democratic Republic snd has gotten weaker each time the tyrants and despots of the Democrat Party have taken control of this country.
The Republicans are often wrong, but the Democrats are always wrong.
Selfish and foolish, Democrats do charity only with other people’s money, and when that runs out they mortgage the country to get more. Their gods are the State and pleasure. They spend what they do not have to buy votes here at home, and refuse to do their duty to provide the common defense abroad. They live for today, refuse to provide for tomorrow, and welcome every sin under heaven to their platform. And how they lie! With their foolish henchmen in the media, they suppress the truth about everything, and put our sons and daughters (those that survive their abortion regime) deep in bondage to debt. They are corrupt from beginning to end.
People who elect them share responsibility for their destruction of our people and our nation.