Will The New Turkey Become The Model For A New Europe?

Abigail R. Esman, Contributor
I write on art, politics, freedom, and things that strike my fancy

What a difference an economy makes.

Visiting Istanbul last week, I could feel the toss of a new wind approaching. Suddenly, it seems, many Turkish politicians – and much of the Turkish public – are starting to look away from the long-cultivated association with the EU and hopes to join the community of European states.

With Europe’s continuing financial woes, along with the increasing conservatism of Turkish culture, the EU no longer holds the allure it once did, particularly in view of Turkey’s own vibrant economy. Rather, in fact, some wonder whether they shouldn’t turn away from Europe entirely – or do what they can to make Europe come, instead, to Turkey.

This, indeed, seems to be the (silent) perspective of the country’s ruling AKP party, which many credit with building Turkey’s newly stable economy. It is that same party, too, however, which has, in the process, turned the country away from Ataturk’s democratic ideals through (among other things) media censorship, the imprisonment of journalists, reported torture of prisoners, growing tensions between Turks and Turkish Kurds, and other autocratic measures that recently resulted in the mass resignation of the country’s military leaders. Earlier this year, Rosemary Righter described the situation in the Daily Beast,

Not only the military but journalists, academics, businessmen, and even jurists are vulnerable: anyone who criticizes the AKP; champions equal rights for Turkey’s large Kurdish minority; or, still more perilous, probes the penetration of Turkish schools, universities, media, and bureaucracy by the AKP’s own “deep state” ally, a wealthy and powerful Islamist movement directed from luxurious self-exile in the U.S. by Imam Fethullah Gülen, [Prime Minister Recep Tayyip] Erdogan’s friend and mentor.

And as the New York Times noted , the June, 2011 military resignations

raised fears that what many critics call a creeping authoritarian streak under Mr. Erdogan could accelerate. Mr. Erdogan is not only free to reshape the military, but has a much better chance of winning constitutional changes that could alter politics here for decades.

Even before the resignations, Mr. Erdogan had carved out a newly muscular role for Turkey in foreign policy, openly challenging the way the United States manages its two most pressing issues in the region, Iran’s nuclear program and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. The shift has made him a hero to the Arab world, but raised questions about whether Turkey would abandon its lengthy effort to join the European Union.”

That time may soon be upon us. While Istanbul’s intellectual elite (who spent the week visiting the 6th edition of the Istanbul Contemporary Art Fair, about which, more soon) hope still for a Turkey-EU partnership, most recognize that it is increasingly unlikely. The alternative — a “preferred partnership” – remains a possibility, but even this, as the Turkish government continues its overtures towards Iran and the rest of the Middle East, may soon fade.

via Will The New Turkey Become The Model For A New Europe? – Forbes.

more : https://www.forbes.com/sites/abigailesman/2011/12/02/will-the-new-turkey-become-the-model-for-a-new-europe/