S e t a 1 y ı l l ı ğ ı

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m o d e l   m i   e s i n   k a y n a ğ ı   m ı ?

Public demands for structural change in North

Africa and the Middle East has brought Turkey

to the global stage within a new context. The

course  of  developments  in  Muslim  countries

and the direction the Middle East in particular

will pursue is the most important item on the 

international agenda.

Politicians and academics who discuss the topic

in local and foreign media frequently mention 

Turkey as well. Questions like whether Turkey 

can serve as a model and be a source of inspira-

tion for political and social change are asked. 

What  experience  does  Turkey  have?  Which

fields does it have the potential to impact? Can

it contribute to change and transformation? 

How  do  the  West  and  the  Muslim  world  feel

about Turkey’s role in the region? These are 

enlightening questions that Turkey should an-

swer.

 

The Muslim world is not homogenous

The Muslim world encompasses a wide region.

There are 57 Muslim countries that are mem-

bers of the Organization of the Islamic Confer-

ence (OIC). Islam is a religion that has spread

to almost every part of the world and has more 

than 1 billion followers. “Muslim society” is a

broadly pluralistic one, but from the outside 

Muslims are perceived as homogenous. In light

of  historical  experience  and  current  facts,  we

can say there are different Islamic countries and

different  Islamic  experiences  spread  across  a

broad region, from the Balkans to the Far East, 

from the Caucasus to Africa. When making an

assessment about the Muslim world’s demand

and quest for change, it is vital to keep this di-

versity in mind to avoid the mistake of under-

mining the demands, and to not produce a new 

Orientalist discourse.

The Muslim world can be divided into two gen-

eral  sections:  countries  that  have  experienced

colonization and still suffer from its effects and 

countries that have not experienced coloniza-

tion  and  can  build  their  own  futures.  Islamic

countries that suffered from colonialism faced 

big challenges during the establishment of their 

SETA YORUM

Turkey a Model for Islamic 

World insofar as It Changes 

Turkey’s experience shows that the basis of the political structure is not shaped ac-

cording to religious beliefs and values but rather according to concepts like democ-

racy, human rights, expansion of civilian control, transparency, and accountability. It 

is natural for this success story to serve as inspiration for the Muslim world.

TALIP KÜÇÜKCAN

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ş u b a t   1 1

nation-state and when they declared their in-

dependence many failed to overcome crises in 

establishing an administration based on public 

support and the national will. It would be bet-

ter to evaluate the events in Tunisia and Egypt 

in light of these historical experiences. Mean-

while, Turkey, which has not gone through such 

an experience, has managed to become a piv-

otal country in terms of consolidating civilian 

power, abolishing military tutelage, expanding

religious freedoms, improving the economy 

and adopting a successful foreign policy despite 

a grueling journey towards democracy.

Several states were founded in the Middle East

after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. When 

declaring their independence from colonial-

ists and setting up their nation-states, they ap-

plied different models. Different models rang-

ing  from  socialism  to  an  Islamic  state  model,

which aroused controversy, were tested, but the 

legitimacy problem lingered. Turkey stands out 

at this point because of its experience in insti-

tutionalizing political participation by adopt-

ing a multi-party system and in representing 

the public will in the legislative and executive

branches, in other words in giving sovereignty 

to the people.

Turkey is a country that is able to understand 

the developments in the world better than most 

countries  in  the  Muslim  world.  Other  coun-

tries lagged behind in taking the initiatives that 

were taken in Turkey during the period of late 

Prime Minister Adnan Menderes and late Pres-

ident Turgut Özal, and accelerated during the 

term of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

(Such initiatives include improvements in edu-

cation  and  freedom  of  thought  and  expres-

sion, diversity of the media, the downsizing of 

government, the rise of new economic classes, 

the construction of a social state and the estab-

lishment of a balance between democracy and 

security.) These experiences in Turkey encour-

aged and empowered those demanding change 

in the Middle East, albeit implicitly. With the

end of taking control of their futures, people 

have started demanding civilian administra-

tions that rely on public will instead of one-

man rules that last for many years. The very 

existence of Turkey played an empowering role

in the change process underway in the region.

New Turkey breaking stereotypes of 

Orientalism

The  Western  perception  of  the  Islamic  world

has always been problematic. It has been domi-

nated by a very homogeneous essentialist ap-

proach and Orientalism has conceptualized and 

reinforced this point of view. The West started 

to reproduce biases and rigid views about Islam

particularly after the 9/11 attacks. By constantly 

mentioning Islam and security issues together,

the perception of Islam as a threat was created.

The relationship that was established between 

Islam  and  radicalism  made  Islam  seem  like  a

threat and ultimately resulted in the occupation 

of some Islamic countries such as Afghanistan

and Iraq. It was due to these security concerns

that  the  demands  of  the  Islamic  world  for

change were ignored.

Their demands for political participation and 

wealth were suppressed on the grounds that 

they  would  bring  radicals  to  the  power.  It  is

for this reason that concerns about radical and 

extremist groups coming to power in place of

the current authoritarian regimes were high-

lighted during the developments in Tunisia 

and Egypt. Of course it is important to keep the 

masses separate from government administra-

tions when speaking about Muslim countries.

The people that are responsible for the negative 

views and stereotypes about the Muslim world

today are not necessarily the general public in 

these Muslim countries but rather the political

administration and movements that claim to be 

representing  them.  For  example,  in  countries

where there are human rights violations, reli-

gion, in other words Islam, is instantly blamed

for  them.  In  this  respect,  Turkey’s  experience

breaks these stereotypes; it affirms that a con-

servative party and its political cadre, which 

came to power in 2002, believes in democracy, 

“

It isn’t a state-centric Turkey that 

is interested in maintaining the single-

party era ideology that influences the 

Muslim  world;  rather,  it  is  the  New 

Turkey, which can bravely confront its 

problems,  tackle  long-standing  prob-

lems, listen to the public will, respect 

beliefs and values.

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