Saadiah Mufarreh
I will tell you an old joke, so do not laugh too much. Here it is: Once an American told an Arab: “The system of government in my country gives me political freedom so that I can stand in the garden of the White House and curse the US president without being exposed to any harm.”
The Arab replied passionately: “I can do the same; I can stand in the palace garden in my country and curse the American president without being arrested.”
Perhaps such humour is not compatible with what is happening now in most Arab countries. Even cursing the US president has become a luxury denied to citizens in some Arab countries; one can get arrested on charges of insulting the head of an allied country.
However, this small luxury is permitted in a limited way with regard to heads of states we are in disagreement with, for whatever reason, such as Turkey.
I do not think Arabs in contemporary history have ever concerned themselves with non-Arab presidents, with the exception of the Arab-Israeli conflict and everything related to it, as much as they have been concerned with Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Turkish politics in general.
Earlier this month, the Turkish parliamentary elections proved this point. As an orphan sitting at the villains’ table, most Arab citizens sat helplessly at the table of the Turkish elections, having discussions, nursing sorrows, suffering stinging insults and harsh criticism, and entertaining hopes that no one expects to be realised any time soon.
Arabs were mesmerised by the Turkish elections, monitoring and analysing every arcane detail, as the old Kuwaiti song says: “What is in his heart is my grief about him, and in my heart, there is only grief for the dear one.”
What the Arab majority holds dear in its heart is the dream of a democratic election similar to the Turkish polls.
It is true that watching Turkish democracy in action gave rise to the thought that we, the Arabs, are not ready for democracy. However, this thought is somewhat contradictory, because it means, on the one hand, that democracy is the dream, desire, and choice of the masses, but we are still, from the point of view of democratic countries, not ready for it.
Seeing the passionate enthusiasm among some of us regarding the Turkish election, it appeared that we are ready for democracy without actually knowing or admitting it. We are excited about monitoring, analysing and sorting out what is appropriate or inappropriate for us.
There are so many other signs which convey that democracy means liberty in general and there is no human being who is not ready for freedom, because it is a natural instinct and the basis of divine creation!
Why is Turkey, specifically, the democratic model that Arab eyes are fixed on?
Why does the Turkish electoral feast seem so attractive to Arab orphans who are hungry for any kind of freedom?
This is due to many reasons; the first is Turkish-Arab history during the time of the Ottoman Empire, and the shared religion of the two sides. Turkey is an Islamic country in spite of the secular political system that has governed it on and off over the past century.
Turkey has a system of government that does not prevent parties with an Islamic background, such as the Justice and Development Party, from coming to power. On the contrary it gave it easy entry and even promoted it, which does not happen in a country with the purist Islamic outlook!
Turkey is not the only country that has succeeded in this respect. There are others who have succeeded to a slightly lesser extent, such as Malaysia and Indonesia, which have dealt with democracy successfully without a real conflict with Islam.
Hence, fearful politicians are afraid of those successful democratic experiences, which makes it look as if they are there for our leisure.
Our politicians have fought hard against democracy, with the Islamic religion as a weapon, and here, after a long time, Islam is returning to the forefront of governance in neighbouring countries using the weapon of democracy.
Today, those who are frightened no longer have a good argument to rely on, except resorting to the old joke: “Turkey, its president and democracy were insulted in the gardens of the local government palaces”.
The author is a journalist and columnist
