A Battle for Turkey’s Soul?
Is the world now watching a battle for Turkey’s soul? Austin Bay, in a piece on RealClearWorld, argues that it is:
Over the last two weeks, the Turkish police have detained and interrogated several dozen retired military officers allegedly involved in plotting an intricate coup d’etat.
The government, led by the “moderate Islamist” Justice and Development Party (AKP), has cause for concern. The Turkish military has toppled elected governments four times since 1960. The European Union has made continued civilian rule a key requirement for Turkey’s admission to the EU.
Though the alleged coup was planned in 2003, the current situation is quite serious. The Turkish press reports that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Turkish Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug have held intense discussions where they have addressed the arrests and the evidence.
This domestic Turkish confrontation involves much more than a classic “military junta versus civilian rule” media template, however. Turkish law tasks the Turkish military with defending Turkey’s secular state and the secular reforms of Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey. The spring 2010 crisis in Ankara reflects what historians have dubbed “the struggle for Turkey’s soul” and a long-term battle for the terms of modernity.
Turkey’s journey since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1918 has been remarkable.
Go to the link to read the rest..
5 Responses to “A Battle for Turkey’s Soul?”
No expert on Turkey here, but I think this can be distilled down to sharia vs secular, theocracy vs democracy, at least in the most basic terms. The hope of those in the west is that Ataturk's vision will be the one that prevails, and a more idealistic hope (probably a naive one) would be that secular and Islam could live in peace and mutual cooperation. Given Turkey's position as a sort of meeting of east and west, this struggle for Turkey's soul could be a critical one.
The Military in Turkey is secular. The democratically elected government is not. The reforms required by the European Community to grant Turkey membership directly lead to this situation. So it is sharia supported by democracy and secular supported by Military control.
Sorry, no one said the world's problems would be easy to solve.
Thanks Merkin, it sounds like a very tangled web.
“Turkish law tasks the Turkish military with defending Turkey’s secular state and the secular reforms of Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey”
Make no mistake…the Turkish military will take down the government if they feel it is required and there isn't anyone that can stop them. This is why we our government strongly supports and works with the secular Turkish military.
We in the US have a particular form of Govt and see everything thru those eyes. A Coup is a horrible thing and should never happen, but in Turkey it seems that it is set up so it should and must happen in certain situations to maintain their Govt. It doesn't lend itself to clear right and wrongs that's for sure.