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Two years ago, in an article for a report titled “What does Turkey think?” by the European Council on Foreign Relations, I responded to the question “Would Turkey veer towards authoritarianism without the EU anchor?”
I explained why the argument put forward by advocates of Kemalist authoritarian secularism that “the alliance between the Justice and Development Party [AKP] and various religious movements is leading Turkey towards elected authoritarianism” did not make sense at all.
Today, even after two years, I do not attach the slightest credibility to the argument that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's increasingly arbitrary and authoritarian leadership since the last general elections in 2011 has vindicated those who have opposed the AKP government from the outset, while damning those who lent support to reforms that it introduced. Those who make such arguments out of ideological fanaticism close their eyes to the profound changes Turkey has witnessed under the AKP government and do not even try to understand what is happening in the country.
With the AKP government in charge, Turkey has significantly improved the standard of living, expanded the middle classes and become an increasingly open society in all senses of the term. It has effectively put the military under civilian control, broadened the public debate to leave no taboo of the past few decades unturned, brought an end to the denial of the Kurds and even initiated a peace process with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). As I have repeatedly argued, the “New Turkey,” largely a consequence of reforms led by the AKP government, is not at all likely to bow to authoritarian rule of any sort. The Taksim Square demonstrations, which have been harshly suppressed by the government, have in the main underlined the fact that the people of Turkey are increasingly conscious of their rights and liberties and that Turkish democracy is more mature now than ever.
It is entirely futile to try to explain away, as Mr. Erdoğan does, the growing opposition from various segments of society against an increasingly arbitrary and authoritarian style of leadership by claiming that they are the conspiracies of “internal and external enemies” who are envious of Turkey's rise. Such arguments amount to nothing but self-deception and they blind oneself to social realities. It is true that certain radical leftist groups, remnants of “old Turkey,” have tried to hijack the protests for their violent agenda and that Kemalist fundamentalists who have never embraced democracy want to take advantage of the protests to bring back the military. But that should not divert one's attention from the fact that the Taksim protests signify, more than anything else, the existence of new generations in Turkey committed to a liberal democracy. These new generations differ fundamentally from the generations of 30-40 years ago who had not the slightest belief in democracy and were committed to various authoritarian or totalitarian ideologies.
President Abdullah Gül has reminded all that democracy is not simply in elections and that no one should doubt that Turkey will continue to move toward fulfilling all the membership criteria of the European Union. Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç has made the following stark statement: “Our government is committed to the basic human rights, freedoms and lifestyles of each and every citizen. We are open to all demands and criticism put forward in a democratic and legal framework. … We wholeheartedly believe that we can overcome any and all difficulties with mutual respect, tolerance and understanding.” I take these statements by two of the founding fathers of the party that even the AKP will not accept a turn towards arbitrary and authoritarian rule.
For decades since the founding of the republic, the people of Turkey struggled with authoritarian secularism and uni-culturalism imposed by a military that believed it owned the state and the nation. It seems that now a struggle by the people against arbitrary and authoritarian rule by elected government is on the country's agenda. In sum, the people of Turkey are learning and maturing liberal democracy through practice.