Was it a moment of Satyagraha? Last month when the members of the Fethullah Gulenist Terrorist Organisation (FETO), who infiltrated the military, police, judiciary, bureaucracy, press, academia and a panoply of non-governmental organisations, staged a bloody coup attempt in Turkey, people of different political persuasions heeded the call of their elected President and resisted and defeated the heavily armed coup plotters. They wielded no weapons against the F-16 pilot-dropping bombs on parliament or a police commissioner who was dishonorably discharged only to return in a tank. Their weapon instead was their will, vindicating the wisdom of Mahatma Gandhi who said ‘strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will, and that non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind—it is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction’. Then on August 7, in one of the biggest political rallies in history led by the President of the Republic, the PM and leaders and members of Turkey’s political parties converged in Istanbul to demonstrate unity. The government and opposition have been pledging that while the FETO infiltration will be cleansed and the perpetrators and those who aided and abetted the crime shall be punished, everything will be in accordance with the rule of law.
Informed observers should not miss the big point. In our day and age, the rising concern is the retreat of democracy around the world. Even in established Western democracies, the middle ground has been gradually eroding. Europe is facing the ominous rise of xenophobia that threatens to put the continent’s political achievements in reverse gear. In the US, the presidential race has been raising alarm in the world. In Western Asia, peoples’ democratic aspirations have been crushed for now. The global retreat of democracy, however, may have been stopped spectacularly in Turkey.
The country has always meant more to world history than would be expected from a polity of a 78 million people. Imperialism’s onslaught was stopped in the 1920s when European powers having dismembered the Ottoman Empire failed to disfigure its heartland in Turkey. India and others followed closely and took note. Stalinist expansion was stopped at Turkey’s borders when it adopted multi-party democracy. When Turkey started accession talks with the EU, the Muslim world watched closely. The success of Turkey since 2003 brought the country to the brink of the upper income group of nations and focused eyes on her story. With all its phenomenal success, China’s per capita income is nearly half of Turkey’s.
The tide of Islamic State and the creeping disintegration of Syria probably received a definitive blow this week when Turkey liberated the northern Syrian town of Jarablus from the jihadist militant group and pushed another opportunistic separatist force to the east of the Euphrates. Ultimately, Istanbul is no longer the symbol of the 2,500-year-old divide between East and West. It is now where this divide has been vanishing.
Against this background, it is justified to gripe about the dismal manner in which Western politicians and media appeared reticent towards the heroic defence of the Turkish people of their prized democracy. Nonetheless, Turkey and the West will make up. Turkey has already reinvigorated her multidimensional foreign policy to decrease the number of her foes and increase her friends. As normalcy returns to Turkey at an astounding pace, everyone should sooner or later realise and admire how Turks have made history again. The ultimate guarantee of democracy is the will of its people. So, coup plotters, subverters, dictators everywhere: The people of Turkey have a message for you that you won’t like!
Follow him on Twitter @akcapar
Burak Akcapar Turkish ambassador, professor and author