TURKEY used to be regarded as a beacon of stability and proof that Islam and democracy could co-exist, even amidst the complex and turbulent politics of the Middle East.
It certainly did not look like that yesterday as riot police descended on Istanbul's Taksim Square, spraying protesters with water cannon, tear gas and rubber bullets.
It is a measure of the hubris of the country's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that what began as a peaceful protest against the felling of trees to make way for a shopping centre, ended by drawing parallels with Tahrir Square in Cairo and Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
Of course, there are big differences. Mr Erdogan has not only tripled GDP per person and overseen the construction of hundreds of roads, schools and hospitals since 2001 but, by western measures, he is an extremely popular politician. Close to 50% of the electorate returned him for a third term in 2011, a result David Cameron would have given his eye teeth for.
However, if half the population voted for him, the other half did not. Rather than listen to his detractors, he has brutally suppressed them. It is claimed that there are more journalists behind bars in Turkey than any other country, including China. Complaints that the police have been heavy-handed in their response to recent protests are supported by the Reuters image of academic Ceyda Sungur in an elegant red dress being drenched with tear gas by masked riot police. It was a brief throwback to the cruelty of the repression meted out by the army and police in the 1980 military coup, when nearly 200,000 people were arrested and torture was routine. This time, however, crude censorship is ineffectual. Thanks to social media, the images of Ms Sungur and the scenes in Taksim Square yesterday have gone around the world, giving the lie to Mr Erdogan's assertion that the protesters are "louts" attempting to destroy Turkey.
Instead, it is his own political miscalculations that threaten his country's future. This protest was never simply about a few sycamore trees. There are strong undercurrents of resentment about the speed with which the Turkish government sided with the rebels in Syria, expecting Bashir al-Assad's regime to crumble quickly and now finds itself embroiled in an enervating conflict.
There is anger too at recent legislation restricting the sale of alcohol and introducing Koran lessons in primary school, moves seen as Islamicising an emphatically secular state.
Meanwhile economic growth is faltering, negotiations to join the EU are on hold and attempts to end the 30-year civil war with the Kurds in the south-east have ground to a halt. The foreign investment and overseas tourism that the country relies on are jeopardised by what looks like a return to the bad old days.
This issue is less about secularism versus Islamicisation than pluralism versus authoritarianism backed by state thuggery. Perhaps a better heir to the mantle of Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey, is President Abdullah Gul, who last week declared that in a democracy every citizen's views deserve respect.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article