Posted by
voice_of_reason on Wednesday, June 16, 2010 7:49:32 AM
In his "
Letter from Istanbul", Tom Friedman is baffled by the recent actions of the Turkish Govt. Unfortunately, Mr. Friedman's
nuanced world view keeps him from identifying this kind of inconsistency.
Turkey's behavior shouldn't come as a surprise - their actions are the natural conclusion of a Govt mindset which values Power (over their own people) as their only goal. If their Govt had held any real convictions related to freedom of individuals and markets, they could have Europe-a-doped Europe after the EU rejection. A free, capitalist Turkey could have shown the EU the errors of their welfare statism (see Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, Spain). However, in their choice along the socialism-capitalism axis, the Turkish Govt picked the wrong end, and was still rejected by their socialist 'betters'.
As recent events have indicated, Turkey has shown that it's 'reforms' were merely an attempt at token compliance to fake their way into the fakery that is the EU. A Govt without principles, trying to join an elite (but unprincipled) club for the illusion of power & prestige.
Rejected by the EU-snobs, the Turkish Govt now swings along a different axis in search of the same illusory power & prestige. This time, it is the religion-secularism axis. And, once again, the Turkish Govt has chosen the wrong end of the axis.
However, this isn't surprising - a religious party (albeit one that claims to be semi-secular) is trying to claim the mantle of 'true-belief' by attacking a conveniently located country that is brand-identified as 'the enemy'.
The common thread in both these choices by the Turkish Govt?
* seeking Power (over its people) vs Freedom (for its people)
Unite and Rule - either via Socialism/Populism or Religion. In either case, it is the concept of individualism that is lost.