Being a journalist since 1993, I have always avoided writing in the first person. I am making an exception today. I am also making another exception by writing an open letter to an honorable Prime Minister of a sovereign republic, I always call my second home!
Pakistan and Turkey are two countries with one nation. In the words of respected Turkish scholar Fethullah Gülen, Pakistan and Turkey are two brothers from same father but different mothers. I believe that I have ample justification to speak directly to you, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Some 3,700 kilometers apart, we have been looking at Turkey as an economic and political success story. Faced with indifferent leaders and exploitative neighbors in our east, west and the north, we wished to emulate your zero-problem foreign policy. When you walked out of the Davos Summit, our eyes were wet and head high in pride.
In 2010 came the moment to meet you in person in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Your firm handshake with me felt synonymous with your actions at home and abroad. Before I landed in Istanbul on the way back, Turkey was already in rage over the Mavi Marmara saga. You took a bold stance on Gaza blockade, for which the entire Muslim world bowed in respect.
Your popularity amongst the Arab nations threatened its vulnerable Ba’athist leaders and oil-rich Gulf sheikhs. You teamed up with Brazil to find out a way for Iran’s stalled nuclear crisis. When Pakistan was swept by mega floods in 2010, Turkey came to the rescue. A Turkey-Afghanistan-Pakistan dialogue helped the two neighboring Muslim countries end mutual mistrust.
After Tunisians shunned their dictator, Syrians took to the streets in pursuit of dignity and democracy. When all its neighbors looked the other way, you opened border gates for thousands of Syrian families fleeing excessive use of force by the Assad military.
When Bangladesh turned its back to Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims, you sent your foreign minister to speak for the persecuted minority. More recently, when Egypt’s junta illegitimately overthrew the country’s first elected leader Mohammad Mursi, you were amongst a few other leaders to have bluntly condemned the coup.
Mr Prime Minister, you have led Turkey like no one over the past decade. I travelled from Istanbul to Gaziantep and to Diyarbaker. I was amazed to find excellent infrastructure and impressive quality of public services, while realizing that they are far from what your EU neighbors offer.
Taming a praetorian military like the one in Egypt and Pakistan and removing an irrational ban on headscarf in public offices have been two symbolic yet powerful steps.
While the country’s majority celebrated the headscarf permission, I could see my secular-Kemalist friends calling you names and sharing ‘jokes’ about the conservatively-dressed Turk women.
Turkey crossed another bridge when four female MPs attended the Parliament proceedings while covering their heads. You had made a strong statement in favor of women rights.
Suddenly, your appetite for creating enemies eclipsed the celebration in your very own vote bank. We, in the Muslim world, somehow found Gezi Park protests exaggerated and ill-intentioned. We did understand that police acted in an uncivil, rather brutal manner, which eventually led the protests to prolong and escalate.
You didn’t prefer watching the developments quietly then. You hit back strongly on a daily basis. Your words helped the protestors legitimatize your critique while President Abdullah Gul and deputy premier Bülent Arınç sounded a lot more reconciliatory. You never realized the mistake made then. And now, a new Pandora box has been opened with the planned closure of privately-run prep schools. With 75 per cent of them being run by an assortment of Turkish organizations, the remaining 25 per cent are under the influence of the Gülen Movement or Hizmet.
When the country’s educational institutions are performing with questionable efficiency, a confrontation with dershane is sounds so un-necessary and badly ill-timed. The older you are growing in the public office, a greater sense of inclusion is a natural expectation. Being a victim of authoritarianism, you could have set the tradition of legislation to be inspired and moved by the electorate and the civil society instead of prime ministry. We saw the reverse happening repeatedly with the only exception of abortion draft law being dropped under public pressure.
I can tell you that we in Pakistan are concerned about polarization in Turkey, which walks a thin line when it comes to military coups. Your economic success is subject to being a participatory democracy. I see you heading Mahathir’s way whose legacy failed to maintain the success his authoritarianism delivered. With
Turkey losing its course, there is a lot at risk in the Middle East and Central Asia.
The leverage Turkey exercises globally on the issues like Palestine and Syria or Myanmar and Afghanistan stems from unity of the Turkish people. Despite being a nuclear power and having the world’s sixth biggest military, Pakistan has lost whatever clout it used to exercise in the global affairs, owing to the widening internal fissures and lack of political pluralism.
Just in the passing, I will like to suggest that the government needs to check increasing influence of the multinationals which rip off a common Turk citizen with low quality products and services, not to mention the quietly raised prices. Ankara needs to look at the labor rights of those employed in the construction industry and elsewhere by big foundation covering up their excess by spending on pro-government media outlets, such as news TV channels and newspapers.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan, you need to stringently review performance of the regulatory bodies which are so toothless in safeguarding a consumer and taxpayers’ interest. This will not only help your government generate more revenues from the mighty rich but also win you more public support that is waning discreetly.
Controversies about the Gezi Park and dershane draft legislation reflect a growing public urge for political space and inclusion in matters concerning their lives. No democratic leader can deny this right to its people, particularly the one who has led the nation from the front. If the Erdoğans of the day can be hijacked by a few ill-intentioned advisors on issues as basic and crucial as education and environment, then hell should break lose sooner than later.
The Muslim world is used to of living in the past after hopes are lost. Mr Prime Minister, I hope you won’t like us to see Turkey as a dream gone sour!
The Pakistanis and the Arab will still love Turkey.
Syndicate ( Zaman newspaper)
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