The “Turkish model” refers to the focus on Republic of

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

as "an example of a modern, moderate

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

state that works." Turkey has been seen as combining a

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...

state and constitution, with a government run by a political party or political parties ( Justice and Development Party, AKP) with "roots in

political Islam Political Islam is any interpretation of Islam as a source of political identity and action. It can refer to a wide range of individuals and/or groups who advocate the formation of state and society according to their understanding of Islamic pri ...

". The AKP, led by

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to ...

, has ruled Turkey with a large majority in parliament since 2002. During this time Turkey has had good relations with the

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

, but also cordial ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran and a more pro- Palestinian policy.The Turkish model. A hard act to follow
economist.com, 6 August 2011 It has had vigorously contested, "substantially free and fair" elections, a vibrant culture, and has undergone an economic boom, developing a "large and growing

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. C ...

." However, as of summer 2013 and the crushing of the

Taksim Gezi Park protests A wave of demonstrations and civil unrest in Turkey began on 28 May 2013, initially to contest the urban development plan for Istanbul's Taksim Gezi Park. The protests were sparked by outrage at the violent eviction of a sit-in at the park prote ...

, some commentators complained that the model has come "unstuck".

Overview

The term originated in connection with the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to corruption and econo ...

and the Arab states—Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya—that had overthrown dictators in 2011 and begun building new political and economic systems.The Turkish Model: Can It Be Replicated?
by Peter Kenyon, NPR, 6 January 2012 Turkey's "deeply religious"

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a dis ...

Muslim prime minister, Erdoğan, was received by "adoring crowds" during a visit to Egypt in September 2011, and Turkey has polled high favorable ratings with many Arab countries. Praise has come from former acting Egyptian president Mohamed Hussein Tantawia, who told reporters after his meeting with Turkey's president Abdullah Gül, "The Turkish experience is the closest experience to the Egyptian people. Turkey is the model to inspire from." One observer (Sinan Ülgen) has identified "five chief characteristics" of the model: accommodation of

Secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on secular, naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state, and may be broadened to a si ...

Democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose g ...

, and Political Islam; a stabilizing role by the military; successful

economic liberalization Economic liberalization (or economic liberalisation) is the lessening of government regulations and restrictions in an economy in exchange for greater participation by private entities. In politics, the doctrine is associated with classical liber ...

and trade integration; membership in Western multilateral organizations like

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

, the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it has 46 member states, with a p ...

, and the

European Court for Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a c ...

; and popular confidence in the country’s institutions. Some critics have complained about the treatment of minority

Alevi Alevism or Anatolian Alevism (; tr, Alevilik, ''Anadolu Aleviliği'' or ''Kızılbaşlık''; ; az, Ələvilik) is a local Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Alevi Islamic ( ''bāṭenī'') teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, w ...

and Kurdish groups, and of some imprisoned journalists.Is Turkey the best model for Arab democracy?
Despite the country's remarkable progress, Turkey has yet to solve the 'Kurdish problem' and allow press freedom., by Mark LeVine, aljazeera.com, 19 September 2011Is model Turkey sliding into authoritarianism?
By Alexander Christie-Miller/ csmonitor.com / 16 December 2011 As of March 2013, a "mounting number of Turkish lawyers, politicians, journalists" have been imprisoned, in what journalist Dexter Filkins has called "an increasingly harsh campaign to crush domestic opposition". Among those imprisoned have been Ragip Zarakolu, a constitutional law professor; Ahmet Şık, a prize-winning investigative journalist; and Nedim Şener, a noted free-speech activist.

Alleged uniqueness

Others have noted that Turkey's unique history may mean the model will be of limited use to Egypt or other countries. According to Şebnem Gümüşçü, the success is based on Islamists accepting the "secular-democratic framework of the Turkish state", and not Islamists' "development of institutional and political structures that accommodated both Islamic and democratic principles"; in other words, the current stability and democracy is only a result of Islamists toeing a line set by secular-democratic frameworks rather than of the Islamists' own doing. The Economist magazine also finds "many reasons to be cautious about expecting Arabs to follow Turks", such as the long evolution of the democratic Islamism, the relative power and prestige of the secularism, and tolerance for electoral politics of military rulers. Journalist Alp Altınörs complains that during the Erdoğan era of 2002–2012, growth has "been coupled with little social benefit". The main force for economic growth has been foreign capital, but "imperialists" have "effectively plundered the country", transferring the equivalent of $120 billion to foreign countries. He also contends that unemployment has remained high, labour rights deteriorated, and inequality worsened, and "harsh repression" of journalists, unions, and Kurds have kept "10,000 political prisoners" in Turkish prisons. Cihan Tuğal disagrees with the orthodox claim that Turkey represents a model for other Islamic countries with its unique form of Islamic liberalism and refutes any suggestion that what went wrong in Turkey is limited to the AKP’s or more directly to Erdoğan’s arrogance and authoritarian inclinations. On the other hand, his approach is criticised for misreading the Gezi Park protests.Altinors, Gorkem. (2017). Book Review: The Fall of the Turkish Model: How the Arab Uprising Brought Down Islamic Liberalism by Cihan Tuğal. Capital & Class. 41, 183-185.

Possible deterioration

In May–June 2013, there were massive public protests, including a large number of students, against the Erdoğan government. Although Erdoğan described the protesters as "just a few looters", 3.5 million of Turkey's 80 million people are estimated to have taken part in almost 5,000 demonstrations. Five people were killed and more than 8,000 injured by water cannons and tear gas. The event has been described (by journalist Christopher de Bellaigue) as part of a move by Erdoğan away from a more tolerant, diverse, and democratic Turkey, toward "vindictive authoritarianism" that is "undermining his own reputation as a path-finding democrat in the Muslim world". In May 2016, author Mustafa Akyol lamented that "the rhetoric of liberal opening" in Turkey "has given way to authoritarianism, the peace process with the Kurdish nationalists has fallen apart, press freedoms are diminishing and terrorist attacks are on the rise." Supporters of Erdoğan credit the change to conspiracies in the West aided by "their treacherous 'agents'" in Turkey to undermine the newly powerful and independent Turkey, while Akyol blames it on the corruption of power—AKP members having been "tempted, intoxicated and corrupted" by the "wealth, prestige and glory" of being in power.

Overview

Alleged uniqueness

Possible deterioration

See also

References

Further reading