Does the government deserve all the credit for the bright performance of Turkey recently?

As it looks so far, Turkey has successfully survived the European crisis at a time when many economies in the EU have failed.

Whether we are pleased with all practices of the present administration or not, it would be fair to say this has mostly been due to political stability and the strong leadership of the politicians in power, and PM Erdoğan to have the biggest praise, certainly.

The government has displayed the courage and determination to undertake very serious reforms on the way to transforming  Turkey into a country with strong private sector economy and true democracy, independent of the strong domination of the army.

To be fair, the administration has succeeded to achieve its goal regarding economy as off today and as for democratic reforms it can be said that the army has no say over the administration of the country, now.

ECONOMY

In terms of economy the administration has switched a state focused system to a private sector focused economy. This has certainly not been an easy operation and caused many to suffer. However Turkey’s economy and the private sector has gone through major crises in which case it has been a great experience to learn how to manage a crisis.

It was thus possible for Turkey to achieve the unparalleled economic performance envied by many countries on the globe.

JUDICIARY SYSTEM & LEGAL PRACTICES

As for legal practices and preserving freedom of opinion and speech,  it would not be easy to make a similar comment.

The administration has been long criticized by opposition and many opinion leaders/writers for trying to make the justice their backyard. When one looks at the current picture one can not help thinking if this is a fair and true comment.

The reason is many journalists have been detained and arrested after being “linked” to the legendary “Ergenekon Case” still at court (for ages) and these people were made to stay behind bars in prison without even being notified what crime exactly they were accused of committing.

When criticized about this unacceptable situation the PM and other government officials have often avoided bearing the responsibility for such truly disappointing legal practices and said “We are not to interfere in the judiciary’s affair.. It is independent.. We should respect judiciary and have patience (unclear how long, though)  until court rules”..

DOUBLE STANDARDS & CRITICISM

On the other hand however, everybody in this country is well aware that the judiciary system  i.e. the judges and the prosecutors are under the control of the government – directly of indirectly via HSYK (The Higher Board of Judges and Prosecutors).

Whereas, the same administration, before they reshaped the Judiciary had often “harshly” criticized the Court of Institution and other bodies for making decisions that were not particularly liked by AKP, or PM himself.

Thus even a blind eye would see we are talking about double standards here which is exactly what has been criticized by opposition as well as foreign bodies lately such as Court of European Human Rights.

To recap, only if AKP had managed to show the same truly “FAIR”   performance in legal matters as well, we could have said the current administration has been a true LUCK for Turkey in all aspects, and especially in such as troublesome period the world has been going through.

Editor, BTT
27.01.2012