The Doha Debates on the Turkish Model
I missed this debate the other day, and when I asked my friends about it, they were dismissive--"everyone was just shouting at each other and no one was answering the questions," I heard. That being so typical of debate in Turkey, I assumed they were right. But they weren't: Tim Sebastian did a superb job of challenging the panelists and injecting a healthy dose of skepticism and logic into the proceedings; the panelists did answer the questions, for the most part, and what resulted is worth watching.
S08E04 - Turkey - The debate from The Doha Debates on Vimeo.
A few thoughts. Much as I admire Ece Temekuran, I simply don't understand how a journalist who sees what the Turkish justice system has done to her compatriots can continue to believe that the "taming of the military" has been a positive accomplishment.
All liberal-minded people here agree that the military should not be involved in domestic politics. But very few journalists have been willing to say what's obvious to anyone with eyes to see: The cases against the arrested generals and admirals are obviously based upon absurd legal logic and fraudulent evidence. These trials cannot lead to sound convictions. I will take seriously someone's commitment to justice in Turkey when it extends to justice for all individuals, regardless of their membership of a particular hated class, profession, ethnic group or sports team. It is not more of an outrage to jail a student protester unjustly than to jail an admiral unjustly. It's an outrage to jail any human being unjustly.
Second, I think it's important to note two obvious things: first, the debate took place in English. English was no doubt chosen because it's an international language, but by definition this means that this was a debate among elites, not among ordinary Turkish people. I noticed that the majority of women in the audience weren't wearing headscarves. Significant? Perhaps. Some 60-70 percent of the women in Turkey do. Sinan Ülgen is a visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe in Brussels, not an ordinary man-in-the-street. I mention this because I often have this sense that Turkey's elites are bellowing at each other, while the great mass of ordinary people just try to figure out a way to keep their heads down.
Anyway, I'm sure you'll find it interesting.
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Mar '11
Re: The Doha Debates on the Turkish Model
I didn't think I was going to get all the way through that (I have to go to work), but it certainly was compelling. Thanks for posting it.
Looking for a perfect model of anything is an exercise in futility. I guess I'd side with Ms. Temelkuran and Mr. Mneimneh, especially Mr Mneimneh's point that Islamists are using the cry of "democracy" as a means to power. The big problem with that is the chance that it would lead to "one citizen, one vote, one time," and one would never hear the word uttered again.
Oh, and CBS should replace David Gregory with Tim Sebastian.
Oct '10
Re: The Doha Debates on the Turkish Model
Claire, thanks for posting this. (It's the first one of these I've sat through. I usually come across them when surfing channels in a hotel room, but keep moving swiftly on.) "Bellowing at each other" certainly seems to capture it.