Turkey’s Authoritarian Turn

Parks are civic gathering places. Plans to turn Istanbul’s Gezi Park and Taksim Square into a shopping mall were weighted with symbolism – galvanizing protests and representing what “seems an effort to erase the face of the old, majestic Istanbul, which has largely disappeared in recent years in favor of shallow, gaudy, stupefied consumerism,” writes Yale professor Seyla Benhabib in an opinion essay for the New York Times. She adds that some protesters view the Turkish prime minister in pursuit of “an authoritarian agenda that many see as an assault on the secular republic that emerged after the fall of the Ottoman Empire.” Concerns have emerged in secular circles over recent government plans to curb serving alcohol in public places, add abortion restrictions, recommend three-child families and shift the government’s parliamentary system to a strong presidency. Once viewed as “tolerant, pluralistic and cosmopolitan,” the Erdogan government won elections and now must manage fierce opposition and restore trust in Turkey’s Islamic democracy. – YaleGlobal