Nations are different (and here I refer only to governments, people and cultures are all interesting). Even if some cultures have grotesque traditions, I figure those archaic things will be gone in the next couple generations. Anyway, governmental difference can be qualified and quantified. I consider democracy superior to monarchy, theocracy and dictatorship. Therefore, a country that is a democracy is, in my opinion and judgement, better than a monarchy.
Of course I judge Turkey based on freedom, just like I do every country. How do you qualify countries, according to longitude? Turkey is a member of NATO, that's big points in my book. They also have a (at least on paper) sectarian democracy to some extent. Is it as democratic as any other country? Well, more goes into that decision than merely voting booths.
We need to consider freedom of the press, of religion and the amount of economic liberty enjoyed by the people (that being, how much of their earnings do they get to keep and decide themself how it should be spent). In addition to those things, we must look at minority rights and state-sanctioned discrimination. We also need to consider environmental rights. People cannot be free without the ability to control their physical environment (as well as governmental). Where the commons are being destroyed, society is fundamentally eating itself and those on the bottom of the food chain suffer first. The death penalty to be relective of freedom from government coercion; it could be construed as state-perpetrated domestic terrorism. There are so many issues to consider after the existence of voting stations (and presuming that all adults can vote, in private). Even basic (public) education quality might be considered, as an uneducated populace is not such a good democracy.
What about travel ablity? Can you do the same thing with a Turkish passport as I can with a US... no. I buy my visas at the destination's airport.
Is Turkey as free as the US an Europe? Not quite, but it seems to be on the right path. As long as Turkey stops caving to radical Arab interests in regard to Israel, I expect it to rise into fully developed status in the few decades, one or two generations.
