His Excellency Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Yep, that is his official title. He is a divisive figure across Turkey and the world. Born in 1954, he was an amateur footballer in his youth, progressing to accountancy, mayoralty, Prime Minister and then Dicta..... I mean President.
Well I think we should take a look at this man and see if he really is "excellent".
Referendum
In the past few weeks, Erdogan has been ramping up support for his referendum in Turkey and abroad to other Turkish nationals eligible to vote. I think it is best to look at the referendum in detail to understand the changes that could be made.
The referendum would change Turkey from a Parliamentary republic into a Presidential republic. Some of the potential changes put forward are:
- The position of Prime Minister would be replaced by a new post of Vice President. (Relegates the position to become subservient to the President. The Prime Minister was the leader of Parliament yet would now become a tool of the now non-ceremonial President.)
- The president would become the head of the executive, as well as the head of state, and retain ties to a political party. (Like I said earlier, this is the road to a full blown monarchy)
- He or she would be given new powers to appoint ministers, prepare the budget, choose the majority of senior judges and enact certain laws by decree. (This sounds democratic... Being able to do all of these is too much power vested in one man. If he has the power to enact laws by decree, does that mean he can also reject them because his position is not that of a constitutionalised monarch? Plus choosing the judiciary is a dangerous precedent when there is no check on his power)
- The President alone would be able to announce a state of emergency and dismiss parliament. (Didn't Bashar Al Assad have that power? Moreover, one man being able to declare this without consulting anyone or need any evidence?)
- Parliament would lose its right to scrutinise ministers or propose an enquiry. However, it would be able to begin impeachment proceedings or investigate the president with a majority vote by MPs. Putting the president on trial would require a two-thirds majority. (Sorry but this just spits in the face of democracy. Parliament would essentially lose its power and could not effectively hold the Ministers appointed, or the President to account.... oh and don't forget , criticising the President is a crime)
- Presidential and parliamentary elections would be held on the same day every five years. The president would be limited to two terms. (Limited to two terms of 5 years is a tiny piece of democracy designed to stop autocrats holding power for too long. But what would happen if the President declared a State of Emergency just before his term was over and refused to lift it? Could he remain in power under the guise it was too dangerous for an election?)
Erdogan has support for many of his reforms from his own party, AKP and from most parties on the right wing of politics, such as the MHP. Some of their arguments for the system are that the reforms would streamline decision-making and avoid parliamentary coalitions that have made governing Turkey difficult in the past. They also allege the current system is holding back Turkey's progress. They also argue that the change could somehow end the extremist attacks that have killed more than 500 people in the past 18 months.
There has been a small amount of opposition. If it wasn't such a serious matter, the number of fights and the sheer intensity of them could lead to a feature on Smackdown RAW. In one brawl, a government MP alleged an opponent bit into his leg. In another, a plant pot was hurled across parliament. (Not the Peace Lily!!!!) A microphone was stolen and used as a weapon. (And tonight Matthew, I'm a Government Rebel) An independent MP handcuffed herself to a lectern, starting another fight. Most of those who are against the new system are on the left wing of politics and followers of former leader Kemal Ataturk's ideals of secularism and democracy. His opponents vocally attack his drift to authoritarianism, becoming the world's biggest jailer of journalists and jailing 140'000 people since the coup attempt in 2016. Opposition parties are worried that Erdogan would have unfettered powers, and would "entrench dictatorship". And to top it all off, he just built a new "Presidential Palace" for himself. It cost $350 million of public money. But remember, he's completely and 100% a democratic person....
International Relations during the Referendum
If Erdogan was trying to make friends with other countries in the EU recently, he had an awful way of doing it. In the last month he has directed his anger at Germany and Holland and in response to being denied permission to organise rallies in their countries. Some of what he has said is borderline hate speech:
About Germany:
"Germany, you have no relation whatsoever to democracy and you should know that your current actions are no different to those of the Nazi period" (Germany have let in over 1 million refugees in recent years. Erdogan sounds like a spoilt brat that hates being told what to do. Additionally, prominent German twitter accounts were hacked by Pro-Erdogan activists and posted swastikas. Erdogan is legitimising the use of derogatory and offensive sayings, just because he can't get his way outside of Turkey.)
"If I want to come to Germany, I will, and if you don’t let me in through your doors, if you don’t let me speak, then I will make the world rise to its feet" (Sounds like he wants to just go anywhere on a whim because he's President, a supposedly honorary position. You and who's army?)
About Holland:
"They are very nervous and cowardly. They are Nazi remnants, they are fascists"
(Ah yes, those prolific Nazis. An amazing historical discovery. I distinctly remember them being named one of the most liberal countries in the world. Oh and they were subject to an appalling invasion by the Nazis during WW2. It's a crass, unnecessary and offensive comment that has no basis in fact.)
"You can stop our foreign minister's plane all you want, let's see how your diplomatic planes will come to Turkey from now on" (I bet they're shaking in their clogs...)
"We know the Netherlands and the Dutch from the Srebrenica massacre. We know how rotten their character is from their massacre of 8,000 Bosnians there,” (Right, the Srebrenica massacre was the worst mass killing in Europe since the end of WW2. Serb forces executed thousands of Muslim men and boys, while a Dutch battalion of UN peacekeepers failed to stop the massacre. Not the same thing at all, and a libellous smear if ever I've seen one.)
Wasn't there an attempted coup last year?
The military challenged the president's grip on power in an attempted coup on 15 July 2016. The failed coup claimed at least 240 lives and, according to his officials, also came close to killing Mr Erdogan. Within hours of the attempt, he appeared on national TV and rallied supporters in Istanbul, declaring he was the "chief commander".
Considering the coup attempted to depose Erdogan, it may have strengthened his hold and given him a mandate to use many of his more anti-freedom powers. Erdogan is popular with the conservative Islamic section of Turkish society and there has been worries within the country that secularism is now under threat. Erdogan has been an Islamist his whole life, standing for the Pro-Welfare party and having been imprisoned for reading a poem inciting Muslims to violence.
In the decades before the AK Party's rise to power, the military intervened in politics four times to curb Islamist influence in politics and because of recent events they may have seen Erdogan as a threat. However they may have misjudged the public's standing and underestimated Erdogan's influence. His supporters applaud him for taking on previously untouchable establishment figures like the army and judiciary, but in doing this has used his democratic mandate to take his power too far.
Journalists, Miss Turkey and a 16 year old boy
Mr Erdogan really, and I mean really, does not take any form of criticism well. Turkey has the highest number of jailed journalists in the world. I was surprised to read that statistic, considering the number of cemented autocracies still kicking around. As of December 2016, the Committee to Protect Journalists states 81 out of 259 journalists jailed globally were in Turkey. Take into account countries who do not tolerate questioning, such as China, jailed 38 journalists over the same time period. Editors of national newspapers now face life sentences for working “against the state”. Essentially, all news must be reported without criticising Mr Erdogan.
A related story that had me laughing in disbelief was that a 16 year old child is facing prison because he criticised the ruling AK Party and Mr Erdogan personally over corruption allegations.
Turkey's penal code prohibits insulting the president. What was even more incredulous was that the Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, was critical of the teenager and said everyone should respect the post of the Presidency. Do they want him to bow, kiss his ring and sing him a song too?
I can just see the situation now: “Your Excellency, you are most excellent in your excellence, please continue to do what you wish with no criticism from us, especially when there is some evidence you are corrupt and against free speech".
In 2015 Merve Büyüksaraç, (yep, I have no idea how to say that either) a model and former Miss Turkey faced two years in prison for 'insulting' the Turkish president. She shared a poem, which had been edited to criticise Erdogan on twitter, yet quickly removed it when she was made aware by a friend she could have committed a crime. She stated: “I did not personally adapt the poem titled 'The Poem of the Chief'. I shared it because it was funny to me. I did not intend to insult Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.”. However those investigating the crime disagreed with her comments. Remarkably they came out with this statement. "The remarks shared by the suspect could not be considered within the terms of freedom of expression." It seems to me that Turkey is lost to the very definition of freedom of expression. To illustrate this assertion, Merve was convicted in 2016 and given a 14 months suspended sentence. It is estimated around 2000 people have been convicted of similar offences since Erdogan became President in 2014.
I find it amazing that in a constitutionalised democracy, you are unable to say the President is wrong or has made a mistake. These are not the actions of a democracy. These are the actions of a man who desires to be an all-powerful monarch. Moreover, he is known for not taking criticism while abroad either. His bodyguards harassed reporters in the US, and German satirist was under investigation in his home country for offending the Turkish president on TV. (Come at me bro!!!)
Furthermore, in 2015, Turkey made 60% of the global requests to remove content from Twitter. I wonder how they're going to like this....
What has he actually done for Turkey?
Since the AKP came to power in 2002 and up to 2015, the economy grew by 68%, equivalent to an average annual growth rate of 4.5%. Turkey was transformed into a manufacturing and trading power. Moreover, inflation rates in Turkey when the AKP took over were sky high. In 2002 they were near 80%, but over the 11 years Erdogan was Prime Minister, reduced to under 10%. That is still a very high number in global standards, but the dramatic reduction signified that Erdogan's government achieved some form of economic stability. However, since his Presidency and more authoritarian policies came into force, the economy has stagnated and unemployment has increased.
On the international stage he has condemned Israel of which Turkey were previously a strong ally. He has been recorded saying "I can't say if Israel or Hitler is more barbarous". This was in relation to its treatment of the Palestinians. This was encouraging for his Islamic base and also made him a hugely popular leader across the Middle East. The quotes are obviously vicious and anti-Semitic, but in the context of gaining widespread support for Turkey in the region, this was a stellar move.
Essentially, Erdogan has a lot of support for his economic reforms that have improved living standards and reduced unemployment in the past
Conclusion
Recep Tayyip Erdogan is poised to become the most powerful Turkish leader since the time of Ataturk if he wins the referendum. This is a frightening prospect for proponents of democracy, especially given times of such epic upheaval in the middle-east. I am not sure if Erdogan was always planning on gripping to power from his beginnings in politics, but he is starting to look like he will not disappear from politics for a long time. The vitriolic campaign statements emanating from Erdogan and Turkey, give the impression he is not concerned with international cooperation, and may seek to isolate Turkey from European states, to avoid more scathing criticism of his human rights record and slide from democracy. If any more evidence was needed of his intentions to be the one ruler of Turkey for the foreseeable future, the astounding investment in his Presidential Palace is the first point of call. I would urge those who can vote, to choose No. I realise I am not Turkish and have no authority over how you should vote, but the ramifications of Erdogan inheriting further power, without reliable balances and checks is an unnerving vision of the future. I cannot help but be reminded of the Lord of the Rings in light of Erdogan’s rise. "There is only one Lord of Turkey and he does not share Power."
No comments:
Post a Comment