Fascism by Madeleine Albright

Author:Madeleine Albright
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2018-03-09T05:00:00+00:00

AS EARLY AS 2006, ERDOĞAN HAD TALKED ABOUT THE NEED FOR Turkey to adopt an American-style political system, with a strong president instead of a party-dependent prime minister. There was never much question about whom he would cast in the chief executive’s role. Atatürk, after all, had been president, not prime minister—so why not Erdoğan? In 2014, he ran for president and won, the first time the AKP had earned a popular majority, though even then just barely—51 percent. He could not, however, realize his dream of a powerful presidency in the absence of changes to the constitution. The failed coup gave him that chance.

In the spring of 2017, he sought and won approval of a referendum to abolish the office of prime minister and transfer its authorities to him. Under the new arrangement, the president has broader ability to appoint judges and ministers, control budgets, and dictate security policy. The clock on term limits is rewound so that Erdoğan can stay in office, if reelected, until 2029. While the state of emergency remains in effect, he can issue laws by fiat, detain citizens at will, and deny prisoners access to lawyers. The president’s initiative, which barely eked out a majority, showed clearly the divisions that have opened in the country. His plan was opposed in most major cities and in areas along the Aegean that face Europe. It was supported in the countryside, where the AKP is still closely associated with prosperity and conservative social values. The outcome sharply diminishes the practical restraints on Erdoğan.

Europe’s reaction to the vote was cool. During the run-up to the balloting, the German and Dutch governments prohibited members of Erdoğan’s cabinet from campaigning among their countries’ Turkish diaspora. Erdoğan combatively referred to this ban as “Nazism . . . risen from the dead.” After the balloting, the EU criticized the process as unfairly skewed toward a “yes” vote, an undeniably accurate charge that was, by the president, blithely dismissed.

This war of words is harmful to both Turkey and Europe, and although there are two sides to the story, Erdoğan’s thin skin has clearly contributed to the mutual sense of irritation. “If the West calls someone a dictator,” he says, “in my view that is a good thing.” Addressing a rally in Ankara on the first anniversary of the aborted coup, he showed what he thought of opinion on the continent: “I don’t look at what Hans and George say. I look at what Ahmet, Mehmet, Hasan, Huseyin, Ayse, Fatma, and Hatice say.”

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