6/25/18
The existence of a vibrant political culture and a strong opposition to the political monopoly of the country’s long-term ruler were what separated Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Turkey from Vladimir Putin’s Russia. After Erdogan’s victory in Sunday’s hotly contested presidential and parliamentary elections, however, these differences are likely to be eroded as Turkey sinks into an Islamic version of Putinism. It wasn’t a particularly impressive victory: Erdogan won the presidential election with about 52 percent of the vote, according to preliminary results, and while his Justice and Development (AK) party lost its majority in the parliament, together with the nationalist MHP party it garnered about 54 percent of the vote. But it means Erdogan has deflected the strongest political challenge he has seen in years, from Muharrem Ince, the candidate of the secularist, center-left Republican People’s Party (CHP). Given the broad powers handed to the president last year in a constitutional referendum Erdogan won even more narrowly, with 51.4 percent of the vote, he has the opportunity to run the country pretty much as he pleases for another five years.
Erdogan called the election, with its near-90 percent turnout, a lesson in democracy to the world. It definitely wan’t one. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe described in its preliminary report an electoral system to which the governing party had been free to introduce hasty changes, a gerrymandered map of parliamentary constituencies, laws that criminalize harsh criticism of the president and limit his own criminal responsibility, restrictions on the freedom of assembly in some provinces and police harassment of some opposition forces, such as the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP). Add to that Erdogan’s increasing control over the media (in March, a pro-government conglomerate bought what was probably the country’s strongest independent media group), a widespread practice of jailing journalists and bloggers for “aiding terrorism” and “hate speech” against the government (hundreds of internet users were charged with these crimes just before the election), tens of thousands of political prisoners, reports of torture and abuse while in custody, and the idea of Turkey’s giving anyone lessons in democracy appear ludicrous.Turkey needed a change, but Erdogan’s ability to consolidate power has prevented it.
