In a credible country, citizens are confident that whoever commits a crime -- whether a well-known figure or an ordinary citizen -- will be subject to the principles of the rule of law without any discrimination. Citizens will know that justice will be done. Driving habits in a country also stand as an important and crucial indicator of the growth level of a nation and its respect for the rule of law. In Turkey, both discriminatory attitudes in the justice system as well as denizens' driving habits tell me that Turkey has a long way to go in placing itself among the nations where respect for the rule of law is seen to a considerable extent.
The death toll and casualties during the first three days of the recent religious holiday, as of Tuesday midday, has drawn once again an unpromising picture of the pace of Turkey's democratization and growth. In only three days, 98 people died and 440 were injured while traveling between and within cities, taking advantage of the four-day-long religious holiday. This figure is markedly higher than the number of Turkish soldiers killed in the fight against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the country's Southeast during almost the same period.
How can a nation with so many lives lost and people injured due to traffic accidents, most of which occur as a result of human error, or terror create a consensus to find a solution to its decades-old Kurdish problem? If human lives were precious in my country, we could have solved the persistent internal and external problems that have held us hostage for decades.
The Turkish state comes in second after Russia in receiving penalties from the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) due to its continued violations of human rights in almost every sphere.
While drawing this negative picture of Turkey, one should also see many positive developments taking place that raise hopes -- though slim in the near term -- that the country has a prospect of democratization. The existing and ongoing open battle among those seeking to preserve the status quo and those lending support to a prosperous Turkey, is itself evidence of change taking place in the country.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has been pioneering reforms -- though slowed down in recent years -- shifting Turkey's image from a “hard power” to a “soft power.” It is engaged in ongoing efforts to create a stable neighborhood in its difficult geography, bordering the Middle East, the Balkans, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, by increasingly pursuing methods of diplomacy instead of the use of force. If this succeeds, it will be beneficial in the long term, not only for Turkey but also for its problematic neighborhood.
According to a Western diplomat, Turkey's endeavor to establish good relations with its problematic neighbors such as Iran, Syria, Iraq and Armenia is a strong sign that Turkish diplomacy has been shifting from a non-pragmatic, military power to one prioritizing its soft power. This shift indicates a Europeanization of Turkey in resolving its disputes.
The critical question is how Turkey will assert its influence in the region as an honest broker while it is unable to solve its internal problems, which can be identified as a shortage of democratic rules and norms. One of those problems that has continued due to the fragile state of Turkish democracy is the Kurdish question, whose unresolved status helped the birth of the PKK almost 24 years ago.
Another critical question is how widespread the support given to the AK Party for its recently launched initiative to address the Kurdish question as part of a wider project of democratic reforms will be in a country where human losses, either due to traffic accidents or due to terror, are not perceived as issues highly critical for Turkish well-being.
One can cite China as an example of a nation emerging as a world power despite its grave human rights violations.
However, China is a bad example to cite due to its lack of credibility throughout the world concerning its respect for the rule of law. I dream of a Turkey that respects democratic rules and norms.
Turkey's credibility will also be measured with its ability to ensure democratic civilian governance of its armed forces, which have been continuing their interference into politics while being famed with their five different military interventions during Turkey's 86 years of republican history.
Dr. Henri Barkey, a visiting scholar at the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Middle East Program, says in his recent article that until recently, when it came to setting national priorities, the military establishment's role could best be described as primus inter pares.*
The AK Party's preoccupation with expanding Turkey's role in the region and its push to reform Turkish state structures, including the military's prerogatives, are radically challenging the military's control of the national security agenda, he adds.
“The EU membership process has already forced Turkey to make significant changes to its domestic institutions, including on issues of the rule of law and minority rights. However, Ankara has a long road ahead to comply fully with EU requirements including, perhaps most importantly, far more sweeping changes to Turkey's organizational structure, including civil-military relations.”
Turkey has been in the process of change in the positive sense. But as Barkey also points out, it has a long way to go.
*Dr. Henri Barkey, Nuclear Security series, Volume VI, “Unblocking the Road to Zero: Perspectives of Advanced Nuclear Nations,” Stimson.org
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