POLITICIAN NOT STATESMAN( ERDOGAN).updated
RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN.
BY K P PASWAN
SICK MAN OF EUROPE. After world War11 Turkey was declared as sick man of Europe and this sickness is rightly attributed to the corrupt and unpopular Ottoman empire. Kemal Ataturk who ended the Caliphate and declared Turkey as a Republic in 1923, had little or no options for undertaking development work on a grand scales , so he devoted his entire career to end the influence of Mullahs in political systems. Without separating religion, he brought all the Mosques under the control of the govt and the holy scriptures were replaced by western system of jurisprudence.
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and his followers were influenced by French ways of life and were convinced that religion must be swept away from society. But unlike France there was no separation of Islam from the state. It means separation of Islam from the state was not only difficult but virtually impossible. The great Ataturk introduced secularism in Turkey, which were unheard in other Islamic states. It was left upon the army to protect secularism, if situation arises.
KURD. Kurd constitute a sizeable population in Iraq, Syria, and Turkey and are source of trouble for Turkey. Most of the past 70 years since 1970 the Turkey’s 14 millions Kurds who identify themselves as a separate nation have been brutally repressed. Now Erdogan thinks that if he recognizes the autonomous province of Turks in Iraq in exchange of peace in Turkey, than it will be the greatest achievement of Erdogan, who is also beset with troubles with Greece, Cyprus and Armenia.
NATO. Strategic importance of Turkey was seen in the formation of NATO. It was concluded that without Turkey, security of the whole of non communist Europe was impossible, as the USSR was fast emerging as a military threat to non-communist countries. But with the collapse of USSR, Turkey lost its strategic importance, and it was not seen as a valuable asset by the West. Erdogan perhaps anticipated the weakening of NATO and prepared himself in a more dramatic way to transform Turkey, strategically importance in a different ways. Radicalism was to be gradually introduced in a phased manner as the army was custodian of secularism in the country.
RISE OF ERDOGAN. Erdogan meteoric rise to power may be attributed to an overambitious corrupt, but less active army which in the name of protecting secularism, brought all types of decadent western values, unknown to the fundamentalist secularists. Mushroom growth of night clubs, availability of pornographic literature and open consumption of liquor in religious places, presented an attractive platform for a soft-hear ted politician named Recep Tayyip Erdogan to grab power with a hidden agenda. He is the most sought politician in Turkey, so much so that his introductions of rigid Islamic laws, do not matter much so long as poor Turks do not suffer economically. Mr Erdogan and his fellow Islamist have done more to transform and modernize Turkey than any of their secular predecessors except Ataturk and Turgut Ozal a visionary PM in 1980s.
Many Americans agreed by 2007, that despite of Erdogan conversion to radical Islamist, he was the man most, fit to lead Turkey. They recall the protracted squabbles, economic mismanagement and massive corruption of the string of secular coalitions that crippled Turkey before Erdogan advent in Turkish politics. Thanks to his bold diplomacy that without Western support, Turkey become prosperous enough to flaunt the West and the USA on many counts. But radicalization of Turkey with a booming economy was not of importance unless Turkey was admitted to the EU which would give Turkey a dominant role in the Islamic world. Turkey, under Erdogan has become a full fledged Islamic state with little or no scope for liberal values in a society which ran contrary to philosophy preached by EU. Recently he converted an ancient Church which was a tourist center to a mosque despite of the fact that Turkey has not recovered fully from hunger and poverty.
RADICALIZATION Erdogan radicalization is not without reasons. Erdogan is not a much trusted man in the White House. In 2003, Turkey disallowed US troops to pass through Turkey to fight against Saddam Hussein. The Kurdish fighters played havoc with ISIS, which was secretly helped by Erdogan The trickiest part of Erdogan policy towards the Kurds is that he has combined Turkish nationalism with radical Islam. Another trouble with Erdogan is his egocentric image which prevents to remain out of limelight.
The opposition parties though allergic to even slight hint of army’s intervention, nevertheless have accused Erdogan of being insensitive to basic human rights. With Baghdadi, death there are two possibilities, being flared off. A new generation of Kurds having gained efficiency in deadly guerrilla war with ISIS, may unleash a series of violence and in that case, Erdogan may convene a constitutional assembly to gain unlimited executive power and remove all his opponents by unfair means including restoring death penalty. Turkey was supposed to fill the vacuum as a result of Brexit but now it is not even a distant possibility.
What is worst is the political philosophy of
the main opposition Republican Peoples Party. Nobody knows just what it stands for?
The Kurds surely want Erdogan to remain in power as Erdogan talked openly to
Kurdish leader
Abdullah Oclam. Erdogan shares an Islamic past, he describes himself as
conservative democratic, championing religious values and a free market. He
declares that Turkey needs a more liberal secularism like America.
ERDOGAN BEING WATCHED. After ISIS defeat Erdogan every step is being watched by the West and above all the hawks in the Pentagon is reporting to a new President. Erdogan effort to befriend Russia and China is being seen as a last attempt by a democratically elected president of Islamic Turkey to show the West that he is not without powerful ally. Biden’s close proximity with Iran must be worrying, not only the Jewish state but also Erdogan as his closeness to Saudi Arabia, once annoyed the secularists within and outside Turkey. Erdogan friendship with the Shiite rulers of Iran do not matter much with the West, as Turkey under Erdogan is in the process of becoming another Pakistan, that does not augur well for the liberals of Central Asia and the West.
It is irony that almost every state in the
middle east is facing sectarian divide and is engaged in violent internal conflicts.
Muslims are killing Muslims, giving enough reasons and scope to the west to take advantage of the situation
much to the detriment to the liberal Islamist. Erdogan has also disturbed the
political equilibrium in the middle east.
UNEMPLOYMENT. Erdogan biggest
failure has been to create jobs for around 700000 Turks who enter the labor market every year. Fearing
that the sworn enemies of the sovereign
Turkey, the indomitable Kurds would occupy the territories vacated by the ISIS,
Erdogan has ordered his army to enter Syria but this time Erdogan demoralized
army, met its final match as Peshmerga, who in collaboration with
the US are driving the Turkish army from Syria and in the process generating
enough sympathy from the West to carve out a sovereign state for the Kurds
consisting of swaths from Iraq, Syria and above all Turkey. The booming economy,
once again is in mess. Erdogan attempt to befriend Putin is not likely to
bear any fruit, Russian’s economy is already in shambles due to tortuous
economic sanctions imposed by the West and the USA.
FINAL WORDS. It is difficult to
evaluate a politician like Erdogan, who has survived political turmoil against
all odds, for a long period in the middle east, but nevertheless, he is responsible
for economic growth of Turkey. His attempt to form a powerful Islamic front opposing
Saudi Arabia with Pakistan and Malaysia
has backfired. Every political ruler in this world, barring exceptions are
power hungry selfish and corrupt. Recep Tayyip Erdogan is not an exception and
may be evaluated as a clever politician but not a clever statesman.
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