Deconstructing the chaos in Turkey

Gökhan Bacık

Turkey is proceeding down an authoritarian path. It is almost like a soap opera; every day brings some bad event. In retrospect, the current chaos in Turkey may turn out to be unique in ways that are not obvious now. Thus, one should analyze the current situation in Turkey from different angles.

1. What is the origin of the chaos?

The origin of the chaos is the Turkish government. Facing the most serious graft probe in Turkish history and after witnessing the resignation of four Cabinet ministers (an unprecedented case), the government pursed authoritarian policies in order to block the allegations. Why? The answer is simple: No government can survive such claims of corruption. Therefore, the government set out to revise a series of laws. For instance, it amended the Internet Law because the Internet serves as the chief conduit for criticism. It also amended the law that regulates the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) in order to purge the prosecutors who initiated the graft probe.

In short, we are observing a serious wave of authoritarian policies in Turkey, mainly because the government can survive only through such strategies.

2. Is this a power struggle?

No. In the Turkish case, any authoritarian actor needs an enemy as a reason for its defensive actions. The whole story began with a graft probe that was initiated by prosecutors. We know, however, that the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) had already alerted the prime minister to the corrupt behavior of several ministers well before the graft probe.

As has happened many times in the past, to defend itself the government quickly declared the Gülen movement the main culprit. There are two points here: YouTube is full of videos of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and other influential names in the government praising Mr. Gülen and his movement. So why was it suddenly discovered on Dec. 17 after the corruption investigation became public that Mr. Gülen is not friendly after all? Second, the government was quick to the make the accusation that the Dec. 17 graft probe was a coup against it. How can a legal file initiated by state prosecutors be a coup? Worse, the government then went on to declare any criticism of itself part of a growing coup plot.

3. What happened to the parallel state?

To defend itself, the government is using the idea of a parallel state, too. Since Dec. 17, the government has reassigned more than 9,000 police officers. With recent amendments the justice minister now virtually runs the HSYK, and therefore the government has absolute power to dismiss any judge or prosecutor. So where is the parallel state?

The parallel state claim gives the government two important advantages: Using this as a pretext, the government can rid itself of any opposition. Some experts argue that thousands of secular and nationalist bureaucrats were purged under the rubric of the parallel state. Second, the government is using the idea of a parallel state to reshape the whole Turkish state.

This much is very clear: The government posits the existence of a parallel state particularly to try to persuade Western elites. Turks know well that there are certain frames and concepts that can easily “tease” Western political thinking. The West should realize that no simple framing can explain the complex events in Turkey.

How many Western experts know that there is another religious group that has controlled three key ministries in Turkey in the last decade? No one even mentions that. Does anyone realize that the government has co-opted some other religious groups and is giving some key bureaucratic bodies to them?

Published on Sunday's Zaman, 16 March 2014, Sunday