Turkey - Islamic victory in the guise of democratic mandate?
Islamic roots dragging Turkey to the dark ages
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Turkey - regarded as a solitary bridge between East and West or between the Islam and the Christianity - looks set for the return of Islam based governing party of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan following a massive win in a general election. This is considered a serious blow to the region's secular enterprise, for Turkey is the only secular state - owing to a unique reformation in the 1920s - with a predominantly Muslim population in the region.
The Justice and Development party (AKP) with about 47 per cent of the votes - translating into a healthy 342 seats out of the total 550 - marked a resounding triumph over the main opposition Republican People's party in the parliamentary elections. This would be crucial in determining the future course of the large Muslim but secular democracy straddling Europe and the Middle East.
Turkey's image as a key player in anti-terrorism efforts and a role model of a Muslim country has come under scrutiny after the results of the recent polls. The poll results are unreceptive not only for the secular opposition parties but also for the Western neighbors that can well mar Turkey's candidacy for the European Union.
Though, Turkey with 7% growth rate, lower inflation and a stronger currency has been doing well at economic front since Erdogan took office in 2003, yet, AKP's Islamic roots and its appeal to religious supporters, may well drag it into the Dark Ages; this possibility has intensified yet another debate across the world.
Despite the fact that the nation forever remains secular under the un-amendable provisions of the national Constitution, Turkey appears to be at the crossroads as the succeeding government will immediately confront new challenges including economic development and a potential military storming to wipe out Turkish Kurd rebels in north Iraq.
In the past, Turkey has offered the world a unique example of a religiously guided Islamic nation governing within a completely secular constitution. Now, with Islamist-rooted government ruling the nation, Turkey is hopelessly fractured over the gravity of secularism. While, businesses, intellectuals, and bureaucrats see a new Turkey made in the image of Western nations, extremists, on the other hand, look to curb the western ways of living and resist more rights for ethnic and religious minorities, threatening the secular tradition of modern Turkey.
Regardless of the fact that Mr. Erdogan's party has rewritten laws to meet European and International Monetary Fund economic standards, this result will affect the way Turkey is looking to shape its future. The dilemma that it has been caught in viz. West or Islam, ever since its transformation into a secular society, is likely to tilt in favor of the latter alternative. And this may have some serious consequences in store.
Candidacy for the European Union
Turkey's recent political history has been influenced significantly by its candidacy for the European Union. Despite experiencing some problems with the West, such as Cyprus, Turkey has been an economic, political, and military member of the Western alliance. But in the age where the 'clashes of the civilizations' is more evident than ever before, it is highly improbable that EU would be willing to let a member with a dubious (religious) character join its ranks. Turkey's increasingly Islamist tendency might be the single largest factor to hinder its membership in the elite European community.
Human rights
Turkey's nearness to the Western powers depends on its ability to perform on the Human Rights' front. A failure to deliver on the western ideals of fairness and liberty will not go down the throats of some of the more influential nations, and will result in a loss of faith that will be harder to restore.
Affirmation of the Islamist roots will not bode well for the ethnic minorities. So the 6-7 per cent of the Turkish populace consisting of Christian adherents does have some tough times in store. Also an Islamic state never bodes too well for its womenfolk. Women who have enjoyed a relatively better status in Turkey, too, might have to forgo it.
A democracy provides little room for dissidence for the minority. People's mandate is a people's mandate and there's nothing one can do about that. Though the initial signs pointed to a rejection of fundamentalist ideologies by the Turkish electorate, the election results reveal a completely different story. Have the citizenry sided with the hard-line forces, seeking to go back to its Islamic roots? The real question to answer here is: how much influence the West's debacle (in the Middle East) and the consequent Islamic resurgence have exerted on the Turkish psyche? Can we blame them for a decision which the state of affairs has so obviously shaped for them?
