Post-Referendum, Turkey Moving Closer to Europe: The Guardian

Turkey is moving closer to Europe in its democratic standards and economic governance, which should be applauded, reads an editorial piece on Guardian.co.uk.

Nothing can take place in Turkish politics these days without the opposite inference being drawn. A referendum on a package of 26 constitutional amendments won approval by a wide margin with a vote of 58% on a high turnout of 78%. Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was undoubtedly right to claim that his reform package had got popular backing. And yet those who had predicted a tighter margin of victory continued to claim yesterday that the result was polarising. 

The amendments addressed a human rights agenda more than they did an Islamist one — they expanded the constitutional court and supreme board of judges, strengthened the rights to equality, privacy, collective bargaining and child protection, expanded the jurisdiction of the civilian court over the military one, and ended immunity from prosecution to the junta that ruled Turkey after the last coup in 1980. But still Erdogan’s opponents claim that his real purpose is to exert more control over the judiciary himself. By changing the way the top courts are set up, the opposition argues that the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) aims to bring them under its control.

There is scant evidence for the fear that the AKP, once it is secure in power, could turn Turkey into a radical Islamist state and, for this reason, Erdogan’s allegedly hidden agenda is always due to be enacted some way off into the future. The Turkish leader has changed his views on the EU and NATO, both of which he opposed in speeches in the 1990s, and he thinks democracy is a means to an end, not an end in itself. But rather than seeing dark designs in a leader who is both pro-European and a moderniser, it would be fairer to judge him on what he has achieved so far.

A small revolution is taking place in a country whose history has been plagued by repression and army-backed coups, and it is happening democratically and bloodlessly. A system in which generals and judges held power, toppling four governments since 1960, is being rolled back with democratic consent. The outcome of the referendum boosted markets, as the result showed that the AKP now has good prospects in winning a third term.

Even as the EU keeps it forever at the door to accession, Turkey’s foreign policy is making strides. Traditional rivals like Russia and Iran have warm words for Turkey’s attempts to play the honest broker in the region, and after the flotilla incident it has both championed the cause of Palestinians besieged in Gaza and not broken off all relations with Israel. With each move, Turkey is not only moving closer in its democratic standards and economic governance to Europe, but strengthening its links in the Middle East. This should be applauded.