IS TURKEY THE LATEST ENTRANT TO THE CLUB OF DICTATORIAL NATIONS?

  07-Aug-2018 14:11:04

Turkey Erdogan


For about 16 years now, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has had a significant role in the decision-making process of Turkey. Serving as the Prime Minister from 2002 to 2014 and then becoming the first people-elected president of the nation, only to be re-elected again this year.

After the death of their most significant dictator, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Turkey saw many Prime Ministers and President, none of whom were able to save the nation from the demolishing economy and increasing corruption, Recep Tayyip was like a beam of light at the end of a dark tunnel. Erdogan became the prime minister of Turkey in 2002 and has since then successfully been able to increase the country’s GDP and bring the inflation rates lower than the country had ever seen.

However, Tayyip did not stop there. Once he was elected as the president he started turning Turkey back into the Islamic state it was before the rule of Atatürk. Along with basically doing the complete opposite of what The Father of Turks had during his reign, he implemented policies that gave mosques freedom from the government and removed the law that banned head surfs. Protesters and journalists who questioned his motives were arrested.

Despite all of this, Erdogan still won the 2018 presidential elections after which he immediately increased his tenure which keeps him in power until 2029. To understand how and why he is still popular among the Turks, one must know that about 96.3% of Turkey’s population is Muslim, many of whom were unhappy with the years of secularism through which this country’s government ran.

When Recep Tayyip started expressing his intentions to turn the country into a semi-religious state, he immediately won the people over, not to mention his success saving the country’s economy.

On the other hand, the Turkish military still aims to keep the nation secular along with a huge part of the Turkish population that wants the nation to go back to its secular ways. They continued to hold protests and riots against Erdogan’s authoritian government.

Even after his win in the 2014 presidential elections, the protectors of the nation continued to carry out the alleged military coup which ultimately led to Tayyip declaring national emergency. Turkey has thus remained in a state of emergency for two years, with multiple civil servants fired and journalists arrested. Going against him has proven to be equivalent to going against the nation.

Through his rule, Turkey has now slowly turned from a secular state into a dictatorial realm, making Recep Tayyip Erdogan the only person in charge of the nation. But Turkey isn’t the only exception.

Across the globe, one can see a whole wave of nations that have a one-man regime. These nations, whether democratic, secular, communist or republic, currently have a strong leader. One who makes drastic changes in the nations policies and implements laws constraining tiny details that further increase their grip on their respective nations.

This type of government can be clearly seen in nations like China and Russia and one of the first that comes to mind, North Korea.

With a dictator that restricts the nation’s citizens from even leaving the country, and keeping state secrets from the entire world, this country is kept at an arm’s length by most nations. By far, North Korea seems to be an extremely unpredictable nation, as no one knows what its leader Kim Jung-Un plans on doing next.

When a nation is run by a single person, it almost always has a downfall. One man/woman simply cannot take all the decisions for the welfare of the nation without bringing his/her own benefits into the agenda.

But countries that have a one-man regime are ones that are not only toxic for their citizens but for other nations as well. Since all the decisions of the country and its international relations is taken care of by the man in charge itself, it could cause sudden changes in foreign policies, leaving other nations to only guess what may be next in store for them.

Nations are often sceptical about one-man authoritarian countries, as it is simply not possible to gauge their capabilities and the lengths at which these nations are prepared to go.


Written By:

Divyali Karamchandani