Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a professor of international relations at
the Center for Global Affairs at NYU. He teaches courses on
international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies filed the following report on Turkey:
"The forced resignation of Turkey’s Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu
suggests only one thing — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is totally
absorbed by his lust for power, will tolerate no one in his government
to deviate from any of his political positions. Prime Minister Davutoglu
was no exception.
Although the Turkish constitution grants the Prime Minister executive
powers while leaving the role of the president largely ceremonial, this
is not what Erdogan had in mind when he asked then-Foreign Minister
Davutoglu to form a new government following the last election.
Erdogan’s ambition and aggressive drive to spread his Islamic agenda
are what has determined every political move he made. Seeking to
constitutionally transfer the executive authority of the country to the
Presidency is the final step to legally consolidate his power, albeit he
was already exercising such power throughout his tenure as Prime
Minister for 11 years.
For more than 15 years, Davutoglu served Erdogan with the utmost
loyalty — first as his top foreign policy adviser, then his Foreign
Minister, and for the past two years as his hand-picked Prime Minister.
Erdogan chose Davutoglu for this post precisely because he expected him
to continue to be his “Yes man.”
Being that as Prime Minister, Davutoglu would assume leadership of
the AK Party, Erdogan expected him to push for the transformation of the
largely ceremonial Presidency into the most powerful executive position
in Turkey, which Davutoglu pursued in a lukewarm manner as this would
constitutionally diminish his own powers considerably.
Not surprisingly, once Erdogan assumed the Presidency, he continued
to chair cabinet meetings and even established a shadow cabinet with a
handful of trusted advisers. He pointedly sidelined Davutoglu, who
quietly resented Erdogan’s usurpation of the role and responsibility of
the prime minister as if nothing had changed.
The premiership became a ceremonial post and the ceremonial
presidency became the all-powerful office without a formal
constitutional amendment to legally grant him the absolute authority he
is now exercising.
I have known Davutoglu from the time he was the chief adviser to
Erdogan and I found him to be a man of integrity and vision, always a
moderating force, and committed to making Turkey a stabilizing regional
power and a significant player on the international scene.
I had many
opportunities to talk to Davutoglu face-to-face about Israeli-Turkish
relations, as I was actively involved behind the scenes to mitigate
their conflict in the wake of the Mavi Marmara incident.
On another occasion, I arranged for Israeli-Syrian peace negotiations
to take place with Turkish mediation, not only because of its proximity
and (at that time) good relations with both Syria and Israel, but also
because I felt that Davutoglu would be the ideal interlocutor.
Moreover, by playing such a role, Davutoglu was also very consistent
with his commitment to realize his political philosophy of having “zero
problems with neighbors,” which initially led to Turkey’s friendly and
cooperative relations with most of its neighbors.
Erdogan’s ambition to become the kingpin of the region through his
brazen political approach, however, did nothing but create problems with
every neighboring country. A former top Turkish official told me that
had
]Davutoglu been given the flexibility to carry out his foreign policy
vision, Turkey’s regional standing would be completely different today.
During the past two years, however, several conflicts between the two
began to surface. Whereas Davutoglu sought to renew the peace
negotiations with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the search for a
solution, Erdogan not only refused but vowed to wage war until the last
PKK rebel is killed. In addition, although Davutoglu said nothing
publicly about Erdogan’s systematic attack on the free press, the
jailing of journalists, and human rights violations, he disagreed with
these unlawful measures and failed in his efforts to quietly persuade
his boss to ease the pressure on the press.
Erdogan’s insistence on silencing any criticism and the constant
chipping away of what is left of Turkey’s democracy has basically sealed
off (contrary to what is being said publicly) any prospect for Turkey
to become an European Union member, which Davutoglu sought to realize
with zeal.
On top of all that, Erdogan is now seeking to strip Kurdish lawmakers
of their political immunity to make it possible to charge them with
being aligned with the PKK who are fighting for semi-autonomous rule, to
which Davutoglu surreptitiously objected. It is now being left to the
next prime minister to engineer this unlawful scheme to meet Erdogan’s
draconian will.
Finally, while Davutoglu was busy in his effort to achieve an
agreement with the E.U. to take back illegal migrants in exchange for
visa-free entry for Turkish nationals to the Schengen region, Erdogan
publicly belittled Davutoglu’s efforts to deprive him of any political
gains that he could derive from his success.
The leader of the opposition Republican People’s Party, Kemal
Kilicdaroglu, condemned the way Davutoglu was forced out, stating that
“Davutoglu’s resignation should not be perceived as an integral party
issue. All democracy supporters must resist this palace coup.”
Interestingly enough, in what was seen as a farewell speech to the
parliament, Davutoglu stated that “No one has ever heard a word against
our president from my mouth, my tongue, my mind — and no one will.”
To me and many other observers, Davutoglu’s words expressed the
precise opposite of what he appeared to be saying: that Erdogan is
beyond criticism. There was no better diplomatic way of putting it lest
he be accused by Erdogan of treason, as customarily befalls anyone who
opposes his political positions on any issue.
Due to the turmoil throughout the Middle East, the influx of millions
of Syrian refugees and the battle against ISIS, Turkey’s role has
become increasingly important. Although the United States and the E.U.
have grown weary of Erdogan’s absurd conduct, they feel compelled to
deal with him, however distasteful that might be.
Leave it, of course,
to Erdogan to drain every ounce of blood from Western powers to serve
his personal agenda.
When the constitution is used as a tool for power grabbing, when
conspiracy theories justify a cruel witch-hunt, when people are
terrified to speak publicly about politics, when journalists are
detained without trial, when the academic community is regularly
attacked, when human rights are grossly violated, and when democratic
principles are trampled upon, this is not a mere travesty for Turkey, it
is a tragedy.
With the departure of Davuto?lu, and a rubber-stamp AK Party, Turkey
has become a de facto dictatorship, and there is now no one to stand in
Erdogan’s way. It is a sad day for the Turkish people, as the country is
now governed by a ruthless dictator with no checks and balances, no
accountability, and with no prospect of any change for the better as
long as Erdogan remains in power.
The Turkish people should once again take to the streets but this
time they should remain persistent until Erdogan relents or resigns.
Otherwise, Turkey will continue to rapidly race toward an ever bleaker
future where freedom will be a thing of the past and an authoritarian
regime led by a ruthless leader sets in."
EU-Digest
