The civilian protests
in Turkey are not socioeconomic in nature. The protesters confronting
Turkey's brutal regime are not hungry for food. They're after liberty.
Erdogan, in his
aspiration for absolute power, and for erasing Turkish secularism and
advancing Islamic strength, does not know when to stop. He used force to
seize control of the media, and whoever wrote or broadcast anything
against him was either fired or imprisoned.
Turkey today is the
world champion (ahead of China) of jailed journalists. Erdogan
institutionalized religious coercion and has gradually excluded women
from the government and judiciary. Elected officials, among them mayors
and members of parliament, are sitting behind bars.
The "Turkish model,"
which many in the West have praised as a shining example of how
political Islam can coexist with democracy, has been exposed in all its
repugnance as a dictatorship. The enraged Turkish protesters are
motivated by the similar awakening fueling the Egyptian protesters in
Tahrir Square -- who have quickly sobered up from the illusion of the
"Muslim Brotherhood" revolution.
It is too early to
determine how the Turkish protests will end. However, we have already
learned, at least from what sparked them -- a clear lesson.
Political-religious Islam (the Muslim Brotherhood, Erdogan's Justice and
Development Party, the Hamas movement) is not willing and is unequipped
to share power. It demands and forcefully takes complete, dictatorial,
control of government.
Even if its rule begins
moderately and democratically, it ends in extremism and tyranny. It
ignores the needs of the secular public, even if its size is
considerable; instead forcing strict Islamic law on it.
Political-religious Islam does not believe in democracy, but it uses it
to seize total, undemocratic control.
It is the Arabs of all
peoples who best understand this lesson today. The Palestinians paying
lip service to "national unity" know the truth: No other political
entity can breathe (literally), under Islamist rule (Hamas, in the
Palestinians' case).
All of the democratic
Western countries still indulging in illusions, translating them into
policies of appeasement toward the likes of the Muslim Brotherhood,
still need to heed this lesson. First and foremost is the United States,
which still courts the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and still pins its
hopes on President Mohammed Morsi. Perhaps the hesitance to militarily
support the Syrian opposition is the first expression of the
understanding that the Islamists are not friends but an enemy -- firstly
to all those who support modernization and democracy in their own
countries.
It is important for all
those preaching for "Palestinian reconciliation" to learn this lesson
as well, and it would be wise to keep in mind that Erdogan, compared to
Hamas' leaders, is a relatively tolerant and enlightened democrat.
The fault line splitting the
planet is a chasm between those who champion democratic values and
progress, and those who espouse extremist-religious fascism. It also
splits the Arab-Muslim world, with no bridge in sight.
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