Turkey's political stability under Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and its integration into the globalized economy helped turn it into a regional power. But the global connections now seem to challenge ErdoÄ?an's increasingly authoritarian style. Protests led by young urbanites, empowered by social media but alienated, are giving pause to foreign investors who helped spark Turkey's economic boom.
The decade-long rule of the Justice and Development Party - Adalat ve Kalk'nma Partisi, or AK Party - led by ErdoÄ?an may be past its zenith. The demonstrations, resulting in injuries to 5,000 and arrests of more than 900, have revealed a disturbing flaw in ErdoÄ?an's leadership style. Puffed up by his successes at home and in the region, he's failed to grasp the essence of democratic behavior and the potency of social media in a country of 74 million with 66 million mobile phone subscribers and 32 million internet connections.
He has denounced the protestors as vandals, drunks and extremists. Portraying himself as the epitome of the "national will," he decried fringe elements "hijacking" the protest and misleading "my citizens" and warned, "We will not allow any attacks on the national will, regardless of how it is presented and who it is supported by."
A minor protest by environmentalists against converting central Istanbul's only public park into a multipurpose complex of shopping mall and a cultural center mushroomed into anti-government demonstrations in 70 urban centers. The start of the redevelopment project coincided with government's sudden decision to ban sale of alcohol between 10 pm and 6 am. ErdoÄ?an, a non-smoking teetotaler, was the prime mover behind this restriction.
In November 2002 the Islamist-rooted AK Party, winning almost two-thirds of the parliamentary seats, inherited an economy with zero growth. The socially conservative party adopted neoliberal policies, opening the economy to global financial markets and privatizing state assets. Between 2003 and 2007, real inflation-free GDP expansion ranged between 4.5 to 8.2 percent a year.
But the party's success in the 2007 general election failed to protect Turkey from the ill-effects of the 2008-2009 recession. By the time Turks went to the polls in June 2011, however, the economy was humming at 8.5 percent growth. The upturn was the result of the ErdoÄ?an government easing regulations on companies and startups, and removing visa restrictions for Russians to boost tourism. On a record 50 percent popular vote, the AK Party won 315 of the 550 parliamentary seats. That year Turkey became the sixth most popular tourist destination on the globe, with 31 million foreign tourists supporting an industry worth $30 billion.
Overall, the booming economy was the backdrop against which ErdoÄ?an notched up several diplomatic successes. In May 2010 he backed the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, organized mainly by a Turkish NGO to breach the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the Gaza Strip. It was attacked by the Israeli military and led to the death of nine Turks. Enraged, ErdoÄ?an downgraded Turkey's diplomatic ties with Israel, This raised his profile among Palestinians and other Arabs at the expense of Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak. He went on to support the Palestinian Authority's attempt to secure the status of a sovereign state for Palestine by the United Nations.
At the start of anti-Mubarak demonstrations in January 2011, he was hesitant to take a strong stand against the Egyptian leader, but soon changed tack and made an emotional speech calling for Mubarak's resignation. After appeals to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to step down failed, he signed on to NATO taking over control of the no-fly zone in Libya in March 2011.
"Freedom, democracy and human rights must be a united slogan for the future of our people," ErdoÄ?an said in his address to foreign ministers of the Arab League in September 2011.
The AKP leader's advocacy of democracy eased the way for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and the Islamic Hizb al Nahda, or Renaissance Part, in Tunisia to participate legally in politics. Electoral success by these parties in Cairo and Tunis, respectively, led to cordial relations with Ankara, further bolstering Turkey's influence.
In the case of the Syrian civil war, Istanbul emerged as the main base of the Syrian opposition. And the Turkish-Syrian border has become the main supply route of arms and ammunition to the rebels.
