Turkey as seen from Pakistan

İhsan Yılmaz

KARACHI -- I have been giving a marathon of speeches in Pakistan, and in the past few days have spoken in three or four different venues on the transformations taking place in Turkey, Turkish foreign policy, Turkish NGOs, relations between Turkey and the West, the Arab Spring from the Turkish perspective and the relationship between secularism, Islam and democracy in Turkey.

While talking about these issues, I also learn a lot from my listeners, who might be parliamentarians, active duty military officers, retired generals, policy makers, professors of international relations, students of political science or in defense universities, theology faculty members or businessmen, depending on the venue. One thing is common to all of them, though: Pakistanis' interest in and love for Turkey has only intensified in the last decade.

Other than being excruciatingly questioned how practicing Muslims have to come to terms with secularism, why Turkey cannot be said to be gradually moving toward an Islamic system and how we are removing the military influence from politics, one question I was frequently asked was how they could consolidate democracy themselves, and if the Turkish experience could provide anything meaningful and relevant to inspire them.

Our discussions showed me that our Pakistani brothers, including the military officers, have come to a point where it is clear that military interruptions have simply delayed the consolidation of democracy in the country, and have also provided an excuse to corrupt politicians (although there are honorable exceptions), who blame the army for their failures, inabilities, mistakes and corruption. Now, generally speaking, the Pakistanis I spoke to seem to agree that the civilian politicians should be given some time to learn from their mistakes, while in the meantime the elite continue their efforts to strengthen the civil society that would press for transparency and accountability. To achieve this, they need to increase the quality of their human capital, thereby directly increasing the quality of their social capital, which is a necessity for a prosperous and healthy democracy within which different communities can peacefully coexist.

Almost all of the senior people I met with have been to İstanbul at least once, and they have either heard about or seen the Hizmet movement's educational, dialogue and media activities in Turkey. Some of the Pakistani businessmen I met are actually among the donors to and volunteers at the Pak-Turk Schools inspired by the Hizmet movement. I have been to many countries and have read almost everything written about the movement, but this was the first time I had seen non-Turkish local citizens comprising entire board of trustees for the schools. They have been building schools and dormitories for Hizmet, showing that Hizmet has been taken to heart locally to a great extent and is beginning to have firm roots in Pakistan. Kimse Yok Mu has a branch in Islamabad, and it has brought about $20 million into the country in cash or in in-kind donations. The Rumi Forum of Islamabad has not only organized several academic events to foster intercultural dialogue, but has also brought many of Pakistan's powerful elite to Turkey to strengthen Pakistani-Turkish relations.

I had not been to Pakistan for more than a decade, and I must say that the country has prospered tremendously despite countless hurdles and setbacks. There is, of course, much to be done still, but it seems that they are now on the right track, and will hopefully be able to shatter the country's stereotypical image in the outside world. The comments and questions of the Pakistani people I spoke with also highlighted that in this endeavor one thing they will need is a Turkey that remains in critical but close engagement with the West.

Published on Today's Zaman, 28 October 2011, Friday

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