A long night in Turkey

By Ghazi Salahuddin
July 17, 2016
Print : Opinion

With the world in a state of chaos, one is hardly able to absorb one major
event when another explosion elsewhere totally distracts our attention.
The truck attack on a French crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice killed
more than 80 persons and left many injured. It boggled the mind because
of its significance.
But the attempted coup in Turkey within almost the next 24 hours
shattered our senses. And as the story developed in its initial hours, it had
the potential, in a sense, of changing the world. We are, without any
doubt, watching history in the making. We may even be described as
participant observers because these upheavals may eventually touch our
lives and affect relationships in the Muslim world and in the region.
A lot has to happen even after the coup attempt by defeated and
democracy was seen to have been vindicated with the power of the
people who came out on the streets in the small hours before Saturday
morning.
The horror that was enacted in Nice and France was also traumatised by
terror strikes in Paris just eight months ago raises, once again, difficult
questions about the radicalisation of youth in the Muslim world and
particularly among Muslim immigrants settled in Europe and the US. It
should also be viewed against the backdrop of the recent terror attacks
within Muslim countries Turkey, Iraq and Bangladesh.
Turkey, for that matter, has been in the headlines for many different
reasons. First, it has suffered terror attacks and it was as difficult to figure
them out as the coup attempt that came as a surprise. Since the situation
is still a bit unclear at the time of this writing, one cannot be sure about
many aspects of the rebellion. But what is certain is that Turkey has
changed. Just as a coup has consequences, a failed coup has its
reverberations.
The situation is certainly very critical. While it was still unclear as to who
was leading the rebellion, violence was reported. The sight of postmidnight crowds surrounding a tank in the streets of Istanbul was
inspiring. But this demonstration of the supremacy of civilian authority
over the military cannot erase the impression that Turkey is a divided
country where the elected leader President Tayyip Erdogan has been
increasingly resorting to dictatorial measures. His style of governance is
likely to breed more conflicts.
Turkey, like Pakistan, has a history of military interventions, with eerie
similarity in the execution of a deposed prime minister. Add to this the rise
of political Islam in a country that is constitutionally secular. And above all
else, Turkeys geo-strategic position is unique in many respects. It is a
member of Nato and one of Americas closest allies, including against Isis.

In recent years, the country has been struggling to find its way in a very
troubled region. Across the frontiers, for instance, is Syria that has almost
totally been destroyed by civil war.
What this means is that making sense of what the present turmoil in
Turkey may yield is a tough assignment. We, in Pakistan, are watching the
story unfold, as it is told by the international media. But we do not possess
the capacity to fully understand these developments from our own
perspective. At least, our media can hardly be expected to do that. One
cannot even be sure about the quality of the intellectual and analytical
resources that are at the disposal of our Foreign Office.
Our media has congenitally been incapable of interpreting or just
reporting the outside world, so obsessed it has been with domestic
politics. The ordinary citizen in Pakistan, whose worldview is shaped by
news channels, will simply have no measure of what is happening at the
global level and how that affects our strategic, national choices. The
focus, at best, remains fixed on regional matters.
In that respect, too, we do not probe the reality of our adversary with any
measure of objectivity. China presents another kind of example. With all
the passion that we have invested in our bilateral friendship, our
knowledge of the country and its current developments is less than
perfunctory. Our media does not cover China at all.
So, how do we contend with the present crisis of Turkey? Yes, there is
bound to be some feeling that we have a stake in the outcome of the
failed coup. There is great suspense about how Turkeys very strong
military will deal with rebels and if Erdogan will exercise his veto power in
sorting out this affair. A serious rift within the ranks of the military has
become visible for the world to see. Its strength of nearly half a million
makes the military a vital player in the affairs of the state.
It is obvious that Turkey has been deeply wounded and we have to see
how the wounds will heal. Our special relationship with Turkey, rooted in
history, provokes concerns that may extend to our perceptions about the
militarys role in Pakistan. As I said, civil-military relations in Turkey and
Pakistan were seen to be similar in the past. But the pattern shifted after
the advent of Erdogans Justice and Development Party AKP. Unlike in
Pakistan, there has been a dramatic decline in the militarys influence in
Turkey.
I had an opportunity to look at it somewhat closely as a member of the
16-member study group that visited Turkey in November 2013 under the
auspices of Pildat. Our week-long tour was meant to probe the democratic
development of Turkey with a specific focus on civil-military relations. The
delegation was led by Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed and included some
key members of parliament and opinion leaders.
Personally, I had sensed a growing tension between political Islam and
secularism. There was a world of difference between the religious and
conservative atmosphere of a place like Konya, the city of Rumis
mausoleum and the ambience of the Taksim Square and the adjoining

Istiklal Street with its pulsating night life. We could see that Turkey was
becoming unsure of where it was going.
While we wait for more clarifications about the attempted coup, we do feel
great love and sympathy for Turkey. It is one country where Pakistanis
have always been welcome. We may also be reminded of the Quaids
admiration for Kemal Ataturk, an affection that was also shared by Gen
Pervez Musharraf.
Our present rulers, particularly the Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif,
have Turkish connections as well. Turkish soaps, dubbed into Urdu, have a
large following in Pakistan. Our best wishes for an old and sincere friend.
The writer is a senior journalist.