Only way out for Turks is more democracy, not coups

Despite the fact that we are in the 21st century, there are still attempts to keep Turks silenced with a memorandum. Nearly 84 years ago, during the 1923 establishment of the Turkish Republic out of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey's founder, Kemal Atatürk, set guidelines for this country to integrate with the democratic world.

Yet in the 21st century, Turkey is still talking about whether the April 27 memorandum could be followed by a military coup if the ruling Islam-based Justice and Development Party (AK Party) wins the early general elections scheduled for July 22. Ironically, under the AK Party's term, Turkey has witnessed reforms that have for the first time, if implementation is continued, created the potential for furthering democracy in the country.

I should also note that the AK Party has unfortunately lost its appetite for initiating further reforms during the past two years. These further reforms could have opened the roadblocks erected before Turkey by both anti-European Union and anti-democracy voices in Turkey, and the anti-Turkish camps in Europe.

In that sense, it is a shame so many educated Turks took to the streets as parts of rallies conducted recently to protest the current government. These rallies failed to highlight the importance of democracy, the rule of law and the transparency required for a better economy and maximization of citizens' happiness.

With another late-night statement from the General Staff posted on its Web site early Friday in which the masses were called upon to exercise their reflexes against terror. Fear has been heightened and the situation is worsening, not building, democracy.

Reactions from various human rights groups and some columnists that the statement would only help incite hatred among Turks prompted the General Staff to release another statement -- this one attempting to correct the message given in the earlier statement.

Still, it is mostly those educated Turks who have been portraying an image of support for military interventions as a cure for the country's ills. The root causes of this paradox exist in our education system, which continues to teach us that Turks need a guardian and are not mature enough to address problems by themselves.

I personally see the notion that the Turkish people need a guardian -- or a military-led secular elite -- to decide their future as an insult.    

From this point, I will cite some excerpts of comments by Haluk Özdalga, a candidate from the AK Party lists for the July 22 elections, made yesterday in an interview with Today's Zaman.

The headline for the interview quoted Özdalga as saying, "Democracy, not secularism, is in danger."

Özdalga went on to say that "There are some political forces in Turkey that shamelessly exploit the idea of secularism being at risk merely to win political advantage in an anti-democratic spirit. They wage an anti-democratic power struggle by wrapping themselves in the pretext of protecting secularism."

Özdalga further portrayed the ongoing situation in Turkey as a struggle between the elites who traditionally had a monopoly on power in this country and the outsiders who were kept out and looked down upon as ignorant and unqualified.

He describes those elites as becoming ruthless, hypocritical and fiercely anti-democratic when necessary, while stressing that at the end of the day, democracy must prevail in this country.

Özdalga correctly diagnosed Turkey's illness when he said outsider Turks were looked down upon as ignorant and unqualified.

He went on to prescribe an appropriate cure when he claimed democracy must prevail.

I will add that the root of the illnesses of this country is the failure to find solutions that prevent those in the minority from using their self-imposed power to benefit only themselves and rule the majority. Turks should realize that the only way to get rid of Turkey's ills is to seek solutions at the ballot box, not through coups.