Can Turkey be a model for post-revolution Tunisia?

Almost everyone agrees Turkey's model for Arabic countries. According to some Arab journalists, ‘’scholars’’ and politicians only Turkey can be a model for Arab revolutionaries. Of course it is true if they want to be like Turkey but how to make transition and what is ‘’Turkish model’’? It this really ‘’Turkish model’’ or ‘’Turkish model’’ was created by Europeans? The Turkish model a European idea. I will try to explain similarities/differences what these countries have and about the road map.
Tunisia wants to benefit from the democratization experience of Turkey, Tunisia’s foreign minister said that stressing the Tunisian revolution has confirmed that Islam, Arabism and democracy were possible at the same time as Turkey had previously affirmed. Although all agreeable efforts made by Nadha, the assassination of two leaders of the opposotion party have made complicated the transition process of democracy in Tunusia.

I want to start with some examples; The Justice and Construction Party or Justice and Development Party is the Muslim Brotherhood's political party in Libya. It was officially founded on 3 March 2012 in Tripoli. The party advocates Islamism.  Also, There is a party in Morroco, The Justice and Development Party is the ruling party in Morocco since 29 November 2011. The PJD advocates Islamism and Islamic democracy. The PJD claims to be inspired by Turkey's Justice and Development Party. According to The Washington Post, Saad Eddine el Othmani (the party's head) is a moderate Muslim.  There is another political party in Pakistan which is name again Justice and Development Party. This political party was founded by Tariq Bashir at Sialkot, Pakistan on January 1, 2010, who was new in politics without having a political or aristocratic background. The founder is the Party Member but not a permanent Party leader; so other Pakistanis may be elected in intra-party Elections by showing their capabilities. The Party announced Tariq Bashir as Party Leader on April 26, 2010.  Also, there are again 3 parties in Brundi, Somalia and Algeria which are name Justice and Development Party.

So far, these informations are what we need. Now, We need to compare Turkey and the country Tunisia. For example, Tunisia has no same historial and political experience with Turkey. Tunisia can not adopt democracy like Turkey did. Adopting democracy can be like painful childbirth for Tunisia. Turkish State is dancing with democracy in last 65 years. Turkey has witnessed four military coups since 1960 – the latest, in 1997, pushed from power the overtly Islamist Welfare Party, the precursor to the more moderate AK Party. Turkey’s democratic development is seen as a worthy example by some activists from Tunis to Cairo. Same thing can be happen to Tunisia, it already happened in Egpty. The idea of  ‘’Turkish model’’ is still questionable for me but my idea is not important yet in real politics.

Over the past decade, the Turkish government has received much praise for successfully melding Islam and democracy from Christian world. Erdogan was among the first leaders to call for Mubarak to step down. Nobel winner Mohamed ElBaradei; Amr Moussa, the secretary general of the Arab League; and leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood praise Turkey's example. In Tunisia, prominent opposition leader Rachid Ghannouchi praised Turkey for proving "that Islam and democracy go together."

The Tunisian and the Turkish case studies are tackled on three levels. First of all I will take into consideration the historical and structural contexts of the two countries; secondly I will analyse the two models of political Islam that have been developed in Tunisia and Turkey, noting that any particular way of interpreting a given culture or religion is conditioned by the socio-political reference system; finally, the two different views of the social, political and economic life proposed by al-Nahda in Tunisia and by the AK Party in Turkey will be compared. Next, my purpose will be to show that the two models cannot be assimilated; on the contrary, they could even be seen as in competition. The AK Party in fact could be perceived as an actor who tries to expand its influence on the new contexts of the post-Arab Spring, rather than as a model for their democratization processes of. At the same time, al-Nahda could be regarded as an alternative model to the AK Party for the Arab  countries, especially in the region of North Africa.

Turkey is even more tenable and reliable as a model because of the deep historical and emotional roots it has in Muslim societies from the Ottoman Empire's 700-year rule of almost all  Islamic world. In the future, Muslims may look to Turkey not by paying tribute to its sultan but by taking the example of its democratic system.

While Islamic movements themselves will contribute to the process of formation of new  institutional entities, on the other side changes within the reference framework could affect the development of so-called Islamic parties, as happened in Turkey. The ‘’Turkish model’’ is an example of a moderate Islamic party co-existing with secular parties within a secular and democratic state structure. Can Tunisian people really accept this model? I am not sure about it but with help of media it could be more easier.

At the moment, despite Nahda has made several references from Turkey as a model there seems  not to be the prerequisites for the repetition of the AK Party model in Tunisia, at least in the short term. AK Party is detected more like an actor looking to enlarge its influence in the Maghreb region under the same idea of its ‘’model’’, rather than as a model for Nahda itself. The statements  of Ghannushi on secularism and the different socio-cultural contexts of Turkey and Tunisia, while not suggesting dissidence between the two countries and the two parties, seem at least to foretell a different application of Islamic values in politics. If Tunisia want to be like Turkey Tunisian ‘’islamic politicians’’ should not be hurry to make a civil constitution they should follow what Prime Minister Erdogan did.

06.02.2014

Sources:

1 - Prof. Dr. Burhanettin Duran / İhvanın Düşüşü ve Nahda’nın Geleceği - SETA  

2 - "Muslim Brotherhood formally launches party". Libya Herald. 3 March 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
And Soguel, Dominique (3 March 2012). "Muslim Brother picked to lead new Libya party". Times of India (Tripoli). Agence France-Presse. Retrieved 8 March 2012.

3 - Knickmeyer, Ellen (7 September 2007). "Islamic Party Confident in Morocco". The Washington Post. Retrieved 30 November 2011.

4 -  http://jadpp.com/jdp.htm

5 - By Scott Peterson, Staff Writer / February 3, 2011 - http://www.cnn.com/

6 - The “AK Part Model” and Tunisia's al-Nahda: from Convergence to Competition - Stefano Maria TORELLI