The Economist has an excellent piece on the Turkish military's slow exodus from politics. Liberals rightfully cheer this development, but should also keep this point in mind:
With no credible rivals in sight, the AK party may well win a third term in 2012. This could give freer rein to what critics call Mr Erdogan’s tilt towards authoritarianism. His attacks against opposition newspapers and his reluctance to change laws that keep smaller (ie, Kurdish) parties out of parliament have reinforced this image. “One might feel better about the military’s loss of power if Turkey had a balanced political system with the possibility of alternance of government,” says Eric Edelman, a former American ambassador to Turkey.
There are no credible opposition leaders in Turkey, much less a credible opposition party. The only forces with any potency in Turkey over the past 30 years have been neo-liberalism, Islamism, the military, and Kurdish nationalism. The Islamists have co-opted neo-liberalism while effectively helping the military and the Kurds to weaken each other. The only force left standing is the AKP.
With no credible rivals in sight, the AK party may well win a third term in 2012. This could give freer rein to what critics call Mr Erdogan’s tilt towards authoritarianism. His attacks against opposition newspapers and his reluctance to change laws that keep smaller (ie, Kurdish) parties out of parliament have reinforced this image. “One might feel better about the military’s loss of power if Turkey had a balanced political system with the possibility of alternance of government,” says Eric Edelman, a former American ambassador to Turkey.
There are no credible opposition leaders in Turkey, much less a credible opposition party. The only forces with any potency in Turkey over the past 30 years have been neo-liberalism, Islamism, the military, and Kurdish nationalism. The Islamists have co-opted neo-liberalism while effectively helping the military and the Kurds to weaken each other. The only force left standing is the AKP.
