Erdogan counts on people power

Whenever there is a terrorist or other atrocity anywhere in the world whereby innocent civilians are killed, US and European leaders usually rush to condemn the violence and its perpetrators, and rightly so. Yet, when elements of the Turkish military launched an attempted coup orchestrated, it is claimed, by followers of the US-based cleric Fethullah Gülen, the silence from the so-called bastions of democracy was deafening.

One after the other, from the White House and Downing Street to the Bundeskanzleramt and Elysee Palace, Western politicians were slow to react publicly. Only when the coup began to unravel faster than a ball of yarn did the weakest of condemnations finally stutter and stammer forth.

I suspect that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was not in the least bit surprised by this collective political sloth to the rapidly unfolding events in his country earlier this month. He is, if nothing else, a pragmatist who knows full well the insincerity and duplicity of his NATO and European allies.

Despite backing Europe and the US against Bashar Al-Assad in neighbouring Syria, putting some of his military bases at their disposal while lambasting Iran and Russia for their unconditional support for the Syrian dictator, there was no lifeline thrown to him when he was backed into a corner in which his very life and political survival were threatened.

Instead of turning to his allies in NATO, though, Erdoğan turned to his people and called for their help to crush the military coup. It was a big ask of an unarmed population but the response was breathtaking as the people of Turkey served up a mandate which will have sent a shiver down the spine of every tyrant and despot in the region.

Around 250 Turkish citizens paid with their lives while defending their country from the rogue military; it was a display of raw courage which made tanks and guns look useless. They demonstrated for all to see the amazing and overwhelming strength of people power.

Erdoğan might not have 100 per cent electoral support from the Turkish public but it was clear by their response to his call that the overwhelming majority were not going to have their democratically-elected leader replaced by a military dictator. It seems that the mere thought of someone like Egypt’s Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi at the helm in Turkey spurred the crowds on to go onto the streets and stand up to the army.

The coup leaders said that they wanted to promote and install a secular liberal democracy, but there’s nothing democratic or liberal about a military coup. That is why ordinary Turks rose up to protect their precious democracy and Erdoğan’s position as elected president. Under his leadership, the economy has grown considerably over the past decade and public healthcare has improved enormously; ordinary people credit Erdoğan and his Justice and Freedom Party (AKP) for these gains.

Some critics of the president were obviously disappointed that the coup failed and described him as a brutal leader who has been cracking down on the Kurdish minority, diluting human rights and persecuting elements of the media. To be brutally candid, though, if life really was so bad under Erdoğan the coup would surely have succeeded or, at least, lasted a lot longer than just a few hours.

We in the West have got to stop being so ethnocentric about such matters, and stop pushing other countries beyond Europe’s borders into mimicking Western-style democracies; there is no one-size-fits-all democratic system and the reality is clear that the Turks are happy with the democracy that they have. The majority of them do regard the Kurds as a terrorist threat and hundreds of innocent Turkish civilians have already been killed in indiscriminate bombings and terror attacks claimed by Kurdish militant groups.

Erdoğan’s crackdown on the Kurds is a vote winner, just as Margaret Thatcher’s approval ratings rose when she adopted a hard-line approach towards the IRA during the so-called Irish Troubles. It will not last because, if nothing else, history has taught us that sitting around the negotiation table and talking peace is the only way to solve the Kurdish question. If and when that happens it should be under Erdoğan’s initiative, nobody else’s; imagine how Thatcher would have reacted (and probably did react) if presidents and prime ministers from other nations tried to tell her how to handle the situation in Northern Ireland, which was and remains a part of the United Kingdom.

The West cannot impose a secular democracy on the Turks whose cultural, religious and other values are inimical to such a move. It is shameful that condemnatory statements were not issued around the world within minutes of the news that a military coup was unfolding. Furthermore, while the military rebels described their coup as “secular” nothing could be further from the truth; the main suspect behind it is the Muslim cult-cleric Fethullah Gülen, who has based himself in the US from where, it is suspected, he gets his funding.

Western governments dithered as self-interest swung into action when news of the coup spread. We could almost hear the voices in various emergency cabinet meetings asking, “Is this Gülen guy one of us?” Indeed, the questions would have been many but entirely predictable: Will this mean a swarm of Turkish refugees heading towards Europe? How will this affect oil prices? Can we exploit the situation to our own advantage? Will we be able to sell more arms? Will the new guy be more compliant than Erdoğan? Can we blame Putin?

By the time that the coup had fizzled out a few weasel words were forthcoming from Western governments, followed within days by harsh statements by world leaders warning Turkey’s president not to use the coup as an excuse to deal with his political enemies. Concerns were expressed that the rogue military’s move had provided him with a pretext to consolidate his power even more.

Barack Obama said that he was particularly concerned by television pictures showing the rough treatment of some of the coup plotters after their arrest as they appeared stripped to their underwear and handcuffed behind their backs. No doubt the Turks and others around the world heard the US president’s words but still remember how hundreds of innocent men were tortured, water-boarded and thrown into cages in Guantanamo Bay, shaved and shackled, after the horrific events of 9/11. I wonder how the then US President George W Bush would have appreciated words advising against such brutality from fellow heads of state? Millions of people around the world are also appalled at the open racism shown towards black people, Latinos and Mexicans in America, but any outside interference would not be tolerated. At times like these, it would be prudent for people like Obama to say something good, or keep quiet; his country’s record in such matters is nothing to be proud of.

In fact, it is time for European states and North America to raise the bar of human rights in their own backyard, stop their warmongering and killing in the name of democracy and show sincere friendship to those who are regarded as allies. The effects of their current policies are to be seen almost everywhere.

One of the biggest tragedies in the Middle East, for example, is the demise of Egypt, which has slid from a hard-fought-for democracy to a brutal military dictatorship. The country was establishing a liberal democracy after a long history of military control and dictatorship and it was obvious that the country’s first democratically-elected Presdient, Mohamed Morsi, wanted to introduce change gradually, but he was criticised for doing too little and at a slow pace. When he tried to speed matters up he was accused of being despotic. The military coup which ousted him happened because the West gave neither him nor his country the support they needed during the crucial period when he was trying to build democratic institutions. Economically and internationally Egypt is now a basket case, and other failed states like Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan stand testament to the wrong sort of Western interference and lack of real, constructive support.

Erdoğan was right on the night of the coup not to call his fickle friends in Washington, London, Berlin or Paris, calling instead on his own people; regardless of their political affiliations these unarmed heroes put their lives on the line to restore democracy in Turkey. Those who still insist that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is a tinpot dictator should ask themselves this: who in their right mind would look down the barrel of a gun or lie down in front of an advancing tank to protect the position of such a man if he is as bad as his critics claim? The people of Turkey have taught us all a lesson about democracy; it is one that the West should learn to appreciate.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.