A man is covered with fake euro notes during a demonstration against Turkey's prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara, March 1, 2014. (Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images)[/caption]
On December 17, 2013 the followers of the self-exiled Turkish imam Fethullah Gülen declared war on Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). The former allies, who both give religion primacy in their ideologies, were once united by a common enemy: the army. Until late last year the AKP cooperated with Gülen’s network within the judiciary in prosecuting members of the army and civilians on charges involving an alleged coup plot that culminated in the imprisonment of dozens of military officers, journalists, lawyers and politicians.
However, once the common enemy was destroyed, cracks started to appear over who would pull the strings in running the country. The result was a bitter power struggle. The government’s decision to close Gülenist prep schools last fall invited a counterattack, with prosecutors believed to be close to the movement launching corruption investigations into members of Erdoğan’s inner circle. The investigations were made public on December 17, when police detained the sons of three cabinet ministers, a construction tycoon, and a banker, among others, on charges of gold smuggling, money laundering and bribery.
Calling the corruption probe a “judicial coup,” Erdoğan moved to tighten his control over the justice system. Prosecutors were stripped of their files and demoted. More than 5,000 police officers were reassigned.
Then phone-tapped conversations between the political elite were leaked. In one of the tapes Erdoğan allegedly asks his son to hide millions of dollars before police raided a house as part of the corruption probe. Erdoğan has claimed the recording is a fabrication. A top adviser to Erdoğan pointed the finger at Gülen’s network for having covertly tapped thousands in Turkey.
Millions of Turks are now spectator to this power struggle, with much of the nation glued to the Internet to see what scandalous revelation will be posted next.
Public opinion polls show that many Turkish people believe there is a concerted effort to smear the government; but they also believe in the widespread existence of corruption among the politicians in power. The fact that the percentage of undecided voters has reached 17 to 19 percent, one of the highest in recent Turkish history, only weeks before local elections, is telling of the dilemma that voters are facing in choosing the lesser of two evils.
The local elections scheduled for March 30 will force voters to face a difficult choice between endorsing an AKP government that is accused of corruption or allowing a parallel state structure to go unchecked.
On the one hand, few in Turkey would contest the existence of a “parallel state” as claimed by Erdoğan and the need to rid state institutions of people whose allegiance is not to the democratic state but to an individual and his movement. In fact, even opponents of the AKP believe Erdoğan should cleanse state institutions of Gülenists. “This is a shadowy organization. We as civilians cannot fight back [against] the Gülenists. Only those who hold the state’s intelligence capacity can hunt down the followers of Gülen,” said one businessman who asked to remain anonymous. Those who are defending this view also argue that at the end of the day, the AKP that came to power through elections can also exit through them.
Yet this is also a point made by Erdoğan, who has said that local elections will be a vote of approval for the government. “Now there is an election on March 30 and the real test is this. If the people choose us as the top party, that means this government is honest,” were Erdoğan’s words early last month.
But what happens if the AKP comes out of the elections with the greatest number of votes? Does that mean that it will be cleared of all corruption charges in the eyes of the public?
This endorsement doesn’t sit comfortably with many. It would appear that Erdoğan is not willing to let the corruption investigations run their course and has immediately jumped to blaming a conspiracy against his administration. Erdoğan is exploiting the need to get rid of the “parallel structures” by replacing Gülenists with officials who are totally loyal to him.
The autonomous nature of state institutions is therefore being eroded, which is a grave development for a previously functioning democracy. The way in which the AKP is dealing with the crisis is unacceptable and will not be sustainable if Turkey is to remain a democracy.
All views expressed in this blog post are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, The Majalla magazine.
