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The limits of democracy
19.5.2007
By Steven and Cokie Roberts |
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May
19, 2007
In his second inaugural address President Bush
proclaimed: “It is the policy of the United States
to seek and support the growth of democratic
movements and institutions in every nation and
culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in
our world.”
Like most Americans we cherish democratic values and
believe deeply in our system. But it’s increasingly
clear that Bush’s vision for transforming world
politics – particularly in the Middle East – has
rammed into an enormous roadblock.
The essence of democracy is not majority rule, but
tolerance of dissent and respect for minority
rights. What happens when elections bring to power
intolerant forces that impose their will on others?
What happens when ethnic or religious factions feel
abused and assert their right to self-rule? |
Steven and Cokie Roberts |
Both issues are
highlighted by the current political crisis in
Turkey, a firm American ally in a dangerous
neighborhood that shares borders with Syria, Iraq
and Iran. As a result, the president’s commitment to
“democratic movements and institutions” is being put
to a severe test.
Turkey is a Muslim country with a long history of
secular politics dating back to the inspirational
leadership of Kemal Ataturk in the 1920s. But today,
Turkey is ruled by an Islamist party that wants to
install one of its own leaders, Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul, as the nation’s president (who is now
chosen by Parliament).
This prospect deeply alarms the country’s secular
elite, which fears the imposition of Islamic laws
and traditions. Gul’s wife, they note, wears a
religious headscarf – exactly the sort of backward,
old-world custom Ataturk tried so hard to eradicate
from Turkish culture.
Demonstrations against Gul have choked the streets
of major cities. Opposition parties blocked his
election by boycotting the vote in Parliament, and
the courts upheld their maneuver. Turkey’s large and
powerful army, which sees itself as the guardian of
Ataturk’s legacy, has threatened to intervene.
Meanwhile, Gul’s Justice and Development Party is
trying to change the law and create a directly
elected president, and the foreign minister
confidently predicts he’d get 70 percent of the
popular vote. “That’s why we have decided to go to
the people,” he told the Turkish Press.
So what’s the pro-democratic position here? It’s not
at all clear. The Islamist majority certainly has a
point when it says “the people” should elect the
president. And the army, which threatens to oust a
popularly chosen government, is not exactly waving
the banner of liberty.
But what if the new president does not respect
national tradition? Or wants to impose religious
standards and practices on the secularists? And how
democratic is it to change the election law,
virtually overnight, just because the current system
has thwarted your ambitions?
Turkey’s democratic values are also threatened in
the country’s southeast region, home to a restless
Kurdish minority. The central government in Ankara
has refused to recognize Kurdish aspirations for
independence and insisted on national unity. A
Kurdish guerilla movement, based in northern Iraq,
periodically crosses the border to raid Turkish
government outposts.
Again, what’s the democratic position? The
government insists that the Kurds should accept
majority rule, stay loyal to the nation and end
their military campaign. The Kurds insist that they
have a right to self-determination. It is an
accident of history and geography, they say, that
Kurds are scattered across at least three countries
(Turkey, Iran and Iraq). They should enjoy the same
independence as Armenians or Uzbeks or any other
national group in the area.
Turkey is only one example of the limits of
democracy. Elections in Iraq produced a Shia-dominated
government that has failed to grant sufficient power
to the Sunni minority, or to control militias
organized by fellow religionists. The Kurds have
established a largely autonomous state in the north
(Kurdistan), outside the writ and rule of Baghdad.
In Lebanon, elections created a parliamentary base
for Hezbollah, a heavily armed terrorist
organization, which is now demanding veto power over
the government in Beirut. In the Palestinian
territories, voters chose a ruling coalition
dominated by Hamas, a party that refuses to
recognize Israel or renounce violence. If fair
elections were ever held in Egypt, a fundamentalist
and anti-Western group, the Muslim Brotherhood,
would certainly command considerable support.
Is democracy still the best governing system? Of
course it is. Are democracies less likely to make
war on each other, as President Bush insists?
Absolutely. But democracy can also be a very messy
process, producing governments that don’t believe in
democratic values, and don’t share America’s view of
the world.
evesun com
** The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize
the existence of a "Turkish Kurdistan" Southeast
Turkey.
Others estimate over 40 million Kurds live in
Big Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia),
which covers an area as big as France, about half of
all Kurds which estimate to 20 million live in
Turkey.
Turkey is home to over 25 million ethnic Kurds, some
of whom openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK for a
Kurdish homeland in the country's mainly Kurdish
southeast of Turkey.
Before August 2002, the Turkish government placed
severe restrictions on the use of Kurdish language,
prohibiting the language in education and broadcast
media.
The Kurdish alphabet is still not recognized
in Turkey, and use of the Kurdish letters X, W, Q
which do not exist in the Turkish
alphabet has led to judicial persecution in 2000 and
2003
The Kurdish flag flown officially in Iraqi Kurdistan
but unofficially flown by Kurds in Armenia. The flag
is banned in Iran, Syria, and Turkey where flying it
is a criminal offence"
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan ( Kurdistan-Turkey)
wikipedia
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