AKP’s Paternalism And Hierarchy, Not Conservatism, Is The Problem
Turkey needs an urban, secular and liberal political movement that can successfully utilize the inherent potential of society to complete the modernization process while addressing the Kurdish and secularist-anti-secularist clash, according to Dutch historian and Turkey expert Erik Jan Zürcher.
Speaking to Hürriyet daily, Zürcher said while the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, exemplified the republican modernization process with the rural elite electing their own leaders to replace the republican elite, the party was not equipped to utilize the nation’s resources to provide a boost to advancement.
He said the victory of the AKP in 2002 over the increasingly powerless republican elite had given hope to the people but its paternal structure and hierarchy, not its conservative roots, precluded it from transforming the country into a modern state…
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Horrible fact-checking as usual. They mistook AP for DP (and no it isn’t a typo as they call it the ‘Justice Party’).
As for needing a liberal urban and secular movement, who doesn’t? Where will it come from? The closest we came, at least in rhetoric, was in the 70’s with Ecevit’s CHP. They got over 50%[1] in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. Why they got that kind of support (unions were powerful back then) and what happened to the country as they did (the ‘Nationalist Front’ coalitions and widespread terror alongside the petrol shock) is very much worth investigating. The country did change after the coup of ‘80.
[1] People now act as though that kind of ‘left of center’ approach never existed here. If you go by the shamelessly revised history from many despicable columnists, you’d be suprised that the left in all its flavors got over 60% of the vote in Istanbul in 1977. This happened despite what took place in May Day in Taksim about a month before the elections. Here’s a link: http://www.belgenet.net/ayrinti.php?yil_id=8&il_id=401