The Idea Department

Now that the initial fervor of the Middle Eastern upheavals has died down in Egypt and Tunisia, it is time for the two countries to decide on the type of government to adopt in order to be faithful to the legacy of the Arab Spring. One model has been put under the spotlight since January 2011 and held as an example for these countries: the Turkish Model but how right is that approach?

In Turkey and the Arab Spring, http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/kalin2/English, Ibrahim Kalin depicts Turkey as a stable democracy with a growing economy and a proactive foreign policy. Chris Patten even calls it in his article Turkey and the future of Europe http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/patten39/English “a role model for other Islamic societies striving to accommodate democracy, civil liberties, the rule of law, an open economy, pluralism, and religion.” 

However, a closer look at what is happening in Turkey under Erdogan can easily refute these assumptions. In Turkey on Trial, http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/rodrik59/English Dani Rodrik exposes a series of unlawful political-military trials aimed at controlling opponents of the government. He shed lights on the inconsistencies, unproven claims, conspiracies, and fabrications behind these trials that have undermined Turkey’s judiciary system, threatening “the hope that Turkey is finally shedding its authoritarian vestiges and becoming a stable democracy”.

Similarly, Alison Bethel McKenzie and Steven M. Ellis reveal in Turkish Journalism behind bars http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/mckenzie1/English the intolerable situation Turkish media has been facing and that has been threatening the democratic foundation of the country’s society. With 57 journalists currently in prison (with all of them being critical of the government), the freedom of the Turkish press is slowly disappearing.

It is then clear that Turkey is now at a crossroad, and should wisely choose its next step because it will not only determine which path the country will take, but will also greatly influence the outcome of the Arab Spring.