Muslim democracy in Turkey: a threat or an opportunity? .

A number of actors, film makers and writers, including Sean Penn, Rachel Johnson and David Lynch, have sent a letter to Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Published in London's Times newspaper it accused Erdogan of being an authoritarian undermining democracy in Turkey, a Muslim-majority country with a secular state system. The arguments in the letter do not reflect the deeply-rooted changes of the past decade wherein standards of democracy have been improved and the public sphere has been opened to all political and religious groups hitherto regarded as threats to national security. Moreover, the might of the military over civilian politics has been largely weakened and a constitutional referendum was held to change several articles to make the country more democratic.



Political protests over the development plans in the Gezi Park and the Taksim Square were justified only in terms of rhetoric and perceptions rather than what has happened in Turkey over the ten years of rule by the Justice and Development Party (AKP). It is true that the Turkish government and the AKP should draw lessons from such social and political protests and handle them in a better way, and the government has already signalled that the excessive use of state power to quell the demonstrations is under investigation.


Major developments have taken place to democratise Turkey in recent years under a conservative government whose leading members' religious identity was met with scepticism and suspicion at the beginning of their term of office. In contrast to claims that Muslim democrats who gained power in 2002 have a hidden agenda to Islamise the country gradually, Turkey's new direction is set towards full membership of the European Union and the institutionalisation of its values, even though there is resistance from Germany and France to Turkey's membership on predominantly cultural grounds. Turko-sceptics in Europe propose a "privileged partnership/membership" instead of full accession.
In contrast to critics' expectations of a conservative government, on May 19, 2007, the Akdamar Church (Armenian Cathedral of the Holy Cross), a 1,100 year-old place of worship on Akdamar Island in Eastern Anatolia was opened as a museum after being renovated by the Turkish government. The BBC reported that senior officials attended the opening ceremony following its restoration at a cost of $1.5m, which took 18 months in order to save the empty and neglected building with its intricate wall carvings depicting Biblical scenes¹. Calls were made by several figures including Patriarch Mesrob II, spiritual leader of the Armenian Orthodox community in Turkey, for the government to open up the restored church for worship at least once a year. The government responded to this call positively and the building hosted worship on September 19, 2010, attended by hundreds of Orthodox Armenians, some of whom travelled from Armenia itself for the service.


On August 14, 2010, the first liturgy after 88 years was celebrated in the ancient Sumela Monastery (the so-called Monte Cassino of the East), 50 km from the city of Trabzon in the North-east of Turkey on the Black Sea. The monastery was founded in 386 and went through many ups and downs across the centuries. When it fell at the hands of Muslim Turks following the conquest of Istanbul, it remained untouched and continued its educational and spiritual activities uninterrupted. Probably the last religious ceremony was held in 1923 before a large-scale population exchange took place between Turkey and Greece, involving Orthodox Greeks in Turkey and Muslims in Greece. The monastery was then restored and turned into a museum. On September 14, 2010, thousands of Orthodox Greeks from around the world gathered there to pray.


The opening of the Sumela Monastery and the Akdamar Church to worship indicate that there are hopeful signs of an increasing tolerance and acceptance of minority religions on the one hand and the recognition of other identities and lifestyles such as the Kurdish and Alevi initiatives in Turkey, launched by the AKP. No other political parties since the establishment of modern Turkey have taken such bold steps to democratise the country and recognise publicly the grievances of its marginalised and neglected minorities. In contrast to claims that the AKP is consolidating conservatism and preparing the ground for social pressure on groups who don't share its ideology, by looking at the reforms since 2002 one can argue strongly that the moderate Islamist party is bringing Turkey closer to the western standards of democracy, rule of law, human rights and equal citizenship. Moreover, by opening Turkey to the world outside through trade and active foreign policy, Turkey is becoming more engaged in international affairs and integrated into the western system, which actually motivates the country to adopt further democratisation and transparency. As such, the debate about Turkey should focus on structural changes as agents of democratisation and transformation wherein the AKP government has played a leading role rather than looking at the outdated cliché that Islam and democracy are incompatible and Muslims fail to recognise the rights of secularists, unorthodox communities and other non-Muslim minorities.


The opening of the Sumela Monastery and the Akdamar Church mentioned above took place in a political environment dominated by the Islamist AKP, which is accused constantly of having a secret agenda to establish an Islamic state despite categorical denials by the party leadership. Claims are circulated that the Erdogan government is fostering religious conservatism to transform Turkish society, creating social pressure on people to conform to the ideals of the AKP in the process, curtailing several freedoms such as the consumption of alcohol and influencing fashion styles. Although these claims are repeated frequently, there are no legal arrangements and regulations, court decisions or other sociological evidence of Turkey moving in a conservative direction. However, there is a discussion on conservative social pressure, termed "neighbourhood pressure", by Serif Mardin. It is argued that the government's conservative ideology, intentionally or unintentionally, encourages like-minded people to force others to conform to a conservative life style.
Although social pressure and discrimination is often attributed to conservatism which is claimed to be largely informed by religion in Turkey, there is almost no discussion of how the current secular elite, who see themselves as the standard-bearers of republican and secular values, stand with regards to Muslim groups, the Kurds and non-Muslim minorities as far as discrimination and "othering" are concerned. A recent research paper on "Elites and Social Distance" indicates that most of the respondents who were educated in prestigious public or private schools, having a good job with middle or upper income levels, have a closer proximity to non-Muslims than the Kurds, which make them indifferent to the Kurdish problem. The same research demonstrates that the secular elite believes that the AKP has a hidden agenda of turning Turkey into a more conservative country. The Islamist newcomers to power are seen as "occupiers" who are against the republican secular values and the solution for the majority within the elite is to close down the AKP, though in principle they are against banning political parties. As far as the headscarf issue is concerned, such veiled women are regarded as "others" by the respondents and seen as a threat. Their primary social environment is closed to veiled women which suggests that differences in ideology and life styles create isolated social worlds in society with essentialist views towards others².


Although one should acknowledge the presence of various forms of discrimination in the workplace, in the state institutions and in society as pointed out in several reports, these are not the product of the Erdogan government. In fact, the evidence suggests the contrary and that it is the Muslim democrats in the current government who initiated direct talks with the Kurds, the Alevis and the Roma people in Turkey for the first time in the Republic's history.


Turkey's policy towards its non-Muslims citizens is moving in the right direction in terms of consolidating and expanding rights and liberties that they were not able to enjoy fully under Kemalism, which tended to favour a nationalist and exclusivist interpretation of secularism. The performance of the current Turkish government under the AKP since 2002 signals us to be optimistic for the future. Not only has recognition and reconciliation begun but also legal provisions, such as granting "place of worship" status to churches and synagogues in 2003 and opening a new Protestant Church in 2006 which sparked optimism and increased expectations. Following these developments the parliament passed an amendment which enables churches and synagogues to have the right to use free water and electricity on a par with mosques in the country. However, the question of re-opening the Halki Seminary, which was established on October 1, 1844, on Heybeli Island and closed down in 1971, still remains unresolved though government ministers and politicians make positive statements.
The rise of the Justice and Development Party in 2002 was a source of concern for the secular elite, including the military, judiciary, high level bureaucracy and the main opposition Republican People's Party, that it would undermine democracy, destroy the secular foundations of the Republic and establish an Islamic state.The party's record since 2002 and research findings demonstrate that such claims are unfounded. In fact the AKP has initiated a "silent revolution and "instead of undermining democracy, it has done more to widen civil liberties than any preceding government since the 1960s."³ The political attitude of the Erdogan government has also paved the way for the emergence of more progressive and libertarian views with the objective of lifting prohibitions on religion and the restitution of liberties and legal entitlements for religious communities.

Footnotes
1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6505927.stm
2. Füsun Üstel and Birol Caymaz, Elitler ve Sosyal Mesafe, (Elites and Social Distance), April 2010, Istanbul: Bilgi University and Open Society Foundation, p. 38,39,52.
3. Willam Hale and Ergun Ozbudun, Islamism, Democracy and Liberalism in Turkey, The case of the AKP, London: Routledge, 2010, p. 151

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/articles/europe/6832-muslim-democracy-in-turkey-a-threat-or-an-opportunity