Gezi Protests: Turkish Model Expired?
Assist. Prof. Dr. Ozan Örmeci
Gezi Protests: Turkish Model Expired?
PRESENTATION PLAN:
1. The Presenter
2. Introduction
3. Gezi Park Protests
4. Turkish Model
5. Turkish Model in question
6. Problems of Social Justice
7. Conclusion
8. Bibliography
Gezi Protests: Turkish Model Expired?
1. The Presenter:
- Ozan Örmeci was born in 1981 in İzmir, Turkey.
- Graduated from Saint-Joseph French College in İzmir in 1999.
- BA degree from Bilkent University Political Science department
in 2004.
- PhD degree from Bilkent University Political Science
department in 2011 with his thesis entitled «Portrait of a
Turkish Social Democrat: İsmail Cem».
- Worked as lecturer in Uşak University between 2009-2012.
Gezi Protests: Turkish Model Expired?
1. The Presenter:
- Currently working as Assistant Professor and Head of the
Department in Girne American University (http://www.gau.edu.tr)
Political Science and Public Administration department.
- Coordinator of Turkish Foreign Policy initiative UPA – International
Political Academy (http://www.politikaakademisi.org). Around 50
representative clubs in 5 countries (Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kosovo,
France, Northern Cyprus).
- Author of many Turkish books, Turkish & English academic articles.
- Author of Portrait of a Turkish Social Democrat: İsmail Cem, 2011,
Lambert Publishing, ISBN-10: 3844328513, ISBN-13: 9783844328516.
- Upcoming book Turkish Foreign Policy in the New Millennium.
Personal Website: http://www.ozanormeci.com.tr.
Gezi Protests: Turkish Model Expired?
2. Introduction:
- A small environmentalist protest that started on 28 May 2013 in
order to protect one of the rare green areas in Taksim called “Gezi
Park” surprisingly turned into a massive social movement in Turkey
during the summer.
- Although the Turkish media -probably because of government’s
pressures- did not seem willingly to publish news about the antigovernment demonstrations in the early days, after a huge interest
shown by the international media, demonstrations became very
popular in the country and spread to all “metropolis” cities in Turkey
including İstanbul, Ankara and İzmir.
- Some people from the international media called these events as
the “Turkish Spring” by making reference to revolutionary wave in
the Middle East and North Africa between 2011-2013.
Gezi Protests: Turkish Model Expired?
2. Introduction:
- Although it is not very suitable to compare Turkey, a country that
has been trying to become a member of EU and has governed with
democratic governments without interruptions since 1983, with
previous one-man regimes of the Middle East, it is a fact that the
new wave of demonstrations show that the so-called “Turkish
model” should be updated.
- Now, it is very well understood that authoritarian tendencies of
Erdoğan government and especially the efforts to shape and
socially engineer Turkish society is not accepted by modern Turkish
youth that is open to world and that do know the advantages of
liberal and social democratic orders compared to religious-based
authoritarianism.
Gezi Protests: Turkish Model Expired?
3. Gezi Park Protests:
It all started with this frame
Gezi Protests: Turkish Model Expired?
Gezi Protests: Turkish Model Expired?
3. Gezi Park Protests:
Reasons of the protests could be listed as;
1. The fear of secular-minded Turkish people towards the
increasing Islamist, authoritarian and one-man based political
practices of the ruling JDP,
2. Excessive use of force by Turkish policemen,
3. Increasing interest into environmentalist issues in the last
years
4. The use of social media,
5. Prime Minister Erdoğan’s arrogant response to protesters,
6. New group of victimized people including Kemalists, Kurds,
anti-capitalist Muslims, environmentalists, gay rights activists,
socialists, anarchists (Örmeci, 2013).
Gezi Protests: Turkish Model Expired?
3. Gezi Park Protests:
Consequences of the events (27 May-30 July 2013);
- 7 deaths (6 civilians and 1 policeman),
- 9.000 injured (8.100 civilians and 900 policemen),
- 10 people lost their eye,
- 126 arrested,
- 150.000 gas bombs were used,
- 3.000 tones of water were used,
- Istanbul Stock Exchange Market had a sharp (% 10) decrease
on 3 June 2013,
- Euro and Dollar parity increased,
- The government had to adopt a new democratization
package (Wikipedia).
Gezi Protests: Turkish Model Expired?
3. Gezi Park Protests:
From Taksim with love
Gezi Protests: Turkish Model Expired?
4. Turkish Model:
Pillars of so-called Turkish model are;
1. Secularism, Democracy and Political Islam,
2. Civil-Military balance,
3. Market-State relations,
4. Strong links to the Western world,
5. Turkish state tradition (Ülgen, 2011).
Turkish model but not in that sense
Gezi Protests: Turkish Model Expired?
4. Turkish Model:
Advantages of Turkish model for the Arab world;
1. Demonstration effect,
2. Muslim identity,
3. Turkey’s popularity in the Arab world,
4. Common foreign threat perceptions,
5. Turkey’s soft power (tv series),
6. Ottoman legacy & common heritage.
Maybe also in that sense.
Gezi Protests: Turkish Model Expired?
4. Turkish Model:
Difficulties for adapting Turkish model to the Arab world;
1. Lack of a visionary Arab leader,
2. Economic problems,
3. Lack of pluralism and democratic culture,
4. The nature of armed forces,
5. The nature of Islamist politics,
6. Other Arab states,
7. Western orientation,
8. Military industries.
Gezi Protests: Turkish Model Expired?
5. Turkish Model in question:
Problems arising with the Turkish Model recently;
1. Increasing authoritarianism,
2. Increasing limitations on different lifestyles,
3. Problems with EU relations,
4. Political partisanship,
5. Erdoğan style: Kemalism,
Reformism or Rejectionism?
6. Satisfying the new middle class,
7. Kurdish & Alevi Question,
8. No real opposition,
9. Neo-Ottomanism discussions,
10. Lack of capacity.
Gezi Protests: Turkish Model Expired?
5. Turkish Model in question:
- Gezi Park demonstrations put Prime Minister Erdoğan’s style
of government into question whereas President of the
Republic Gül’s softened approach got more credit by many
observers including Murat Yetkin (Yetkin, 2013).
- Opposition parties did not get extra credit because of their
old fashion rhetoric yet, but a new smell of optimism was felt
in Turkey according to many analysts.
- The new duty of opposition parties is to find an answer to
question; “How to organize the heterogeneous opposition”:
Kemalists, Social Democrats, Socialists, Anarchists, Kurdish
opposition, anti-capitalist Muslims, secular liberals and
environmentalists in the same bottom.
Gezi Protests: Turkish Model Expired?
6. Social Justice:
- One of the most important problem in Turkey and Muslim
dominated societies is -with no doubt- social justice.
- Social justice refers to income distribution and equality of
opportunity in a country.
- According to a report by OECD in 2011, Turkey is ranked at
31st place in OECD countries in terms of social justice.
- According to Gini coefficient index for measuring income
equality also Turkey is not performing very well.
- Social injustices could be very dangerous especially in
developing countries with large young population.
Gezi Protests: Turkish Model Expired?
Gezi Protests: Turkish Model Expired?
7. Conclusion:
- The weakening of the Turkish Model and the problems of
democratic transitions after the Arab Spring make
“anachronistic” regimes of the Middle East even more
justified and legitimate than before.
- In this context, radical Islamism becomes a good pretext for
anti-democratic regimes in the region.
- Economic crisis of the West directs Western countries to
political realism rather than idealism based on democratic
supremacy.
- Sectarian and religious divisions are used to create new
conflicts (Friedman talks about Thirty Years War in the Muslim
world).
Gezi Protests: Turkish Model Expired?
7. Conclusion:
What is to be done:
- Revision of Turkish model (less authoritarianism, more social
justice and better working democracy where the governmental
power is shared between different political actors and parties),
- The use of diplomacy instead of war and support to terrorist
groups in the region,
- New constitutions that will prevent authoritarianism and
guarantee democracy,
- Visionary leaders,
- Kurdish Question to be solved,
- Regional organizations similar to European Coal & Steel
Community and European Atomic Agency.
Gezi Protests: Turkish Model Expired?
- An eye for an eye only ends up making the
whole world blind.
(Mahatma Gandhi)
- If we have no peace, it is because we have
forgotten that we belong to each other.
(Mother Teresa)
- If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work
with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner. (Nelson
Mandela)
- Imagine all people living life in peace. You may say I’m a
dreamer but I’m not the only one.
(John Lennon)
- Peace at home, peace in the world.
(Mustafa Kemal Atatürk)
Gezi Protests: Turkish Model Expired?
8. Bibliography:
- Şener, Berkin Şafak (2012), «Arap Halk Ayaklanmalarında Türk Modernleşmesinin Yeri: Modellik Mi, Rehberlik
Mi?», Uluslararası Politika Akademisi, Date of Accession: 30.10.2013 from http://politikaakademisi.org/araphalk-ayaklanmalarinda-turk-modernlesmesinin-yeri-modellik-mi-rehberlik-mi/.
- «Can the Turkish Model Gain Traction in the New Middle East?» (2011), A Speech by Sinan Ülgen for Cargenie
Endowment, Date of Accession: 30.10.2013 from http://carnegieendowment.org/2011/12/19/can-turkishmodel-gain-traction-in-new-middle-east.
- Yetkin, Murat (2013), «Erdoğan fails to get the point, Gül does», Hürriyet Daily News, Date of Accession:
30.10.2013 from http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/erdogan-fails-to-get-the-point-guldoes.aspx?pageID=449&nID=48148&NewsCatID=409.
- Örmeci, Ozan (2013), «Turkish Spring: Occupy Gezi», Uluslararası Politika Akademisi, Date of Accession:
30.10.2013 from http://politikaakademisi.org/turkish-spring-occupy-gezi/.
- «Triumph in Taksim Square?», Foreign Affairs, Date of Accession: 30.10.2013 from
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/139471/emiliano-alessandri-nora-fisher-onar-and-ozgurunluhisarcikli/triumph-in-taksim-square.
- Paul, Amanda & Seyrek, Demir Murat (2013), «Gezi Park one month on: what lies ahead?», European Policy
Centre, Date of Accession: 30.10.2013 from http://www.epc.eu/pub_details.php?cat_id=4&pub_id=3623.
- Cagaptay, Soner (2013), «The Middle Class Strikes Back», The New York Times, Date of Accession: 30.10.2013
from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/06/opinion/turkeys-middle-class-strikes-back.html?_r=2&.
- “2013 Taksim Gezi Parkı Protestoları”, Vikipedi, Date of Accession: 03.11.2013 from
http://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Taksim_Gezi_Parkı_protestoları.
- “Social Justice in OECD”, Date of Accession: 07.11.2013 from http://www.sginetwork.org/pdf/SGI11_Social_Justice_OECD.pdf.
- “List of countries by income equality”, Wikipedia, Date of Accession: 07.11.2013 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_equality.