The last castle falls

Today marks a historic moment for Turkey: Abdullah Gül of the AK Party is projected to become the 11th president of Turkey, despite fierce opposition from the army and other secularists. The military, which views itself as the guardian of Kemal Atatürk’s secular legacy, accuses Gül of pursuing an Islamist agenda.

The presidency, the last bastion of secularist control and the old bourgeoisie, is understandably difficult for them to relinquish to a former Islamist from Anatolia. Adding to their concerns, women wearing headscarves have been banned from official buildings, including the presidential palace—until now. With Gül’s wife becoming the first lady, this precedent will be broken.

Abdullah Gül is exceptionally qualified for the presidency. As foreign minister, he achieved remarkable success in reshaping Turkey’s relations with its neighbors—Syria, Iran, and Iraq—and strengthening ties with Turkic-speaking Central Asian countries. As president, Gül will wield significant authority, including appointing judges, university chancellors, and signing legislation—roles historically dominated by secularists.

He will also, at least in theory, command the military, further underscoring the significance of this transition.

Who's the illiberal?

It's not a secret that there isn't much love going on between Hugo Chavez and the US but the folks at FP Blog are taking that hate to new level by labeling him "illiberal", say that again?. Chavez was democratically elected and it's the US government that supported a coup against him few years ago, who's illiberal then?

The poor don't want a vote, we all want a better life

Ten years after Hong Kong went back to China, the British are still talking about democracy. My problem with that is that democracy is often times used - by former colonizers - as back door to get back at their enemies, in this case China.

But what do the people of Hong Kong really want?. A BBC reporter asked one of the people of Hong Kong what he thinks:

Across the lane, Ming Chan was crouched over his flower stall, preparing an extravagant bouquet of purple flowers. He too was cynical.

"In the past, if you were poor, you could work hard and get on", he said. "That's not true any more. In today's Hong Kong, you've got to be educated, a middle class professional. Not an uneducated entrepreneur."

So what about democracy, I asked. He laughed. "Democracy? The poor don't want a vote, we all want a better life". "As for democracy", he added, "we barely know what the word means."

Interesting. Check out David Frost's interview with Chris Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong (29th June).

The Future of Democracy in Middle East

The Middle East is known for conflict, oil, periodic US invasions (recently), and, of course, the never-ending debate about democracy—with little, if any, progress to show for it. After the invasion of Iraq, it became clear that the Bush administration was serious about promoting democracy, which unsettled Arab regimes significantly; they could be next if they did not act quickly. These efforts were soon put to the test in Egypt and Palestine, yielding some interesting results.

In Egypt, the banned Islamic Brotherhood won almost 100 seats in parliament despite facing imprisonment, torture, and relentless government pressure. In Palestine, Hamas won the election—an election supervised by the UN—as the people of Palestine voted against the corruption of Fatah.

It became clear that the major political force in the Arab world—long suppressed by the regimes—was the Islamic parties. These groups were more organized, better educated, and had strong grassroots support. Unsurprisingly, this did not sit well with the West. Many in the West view all Islamic parties and groups as enemies, regardless of their ideology or actions. Consequently, the debate shifted to whether democracy is even desirable for the Middle East. It seems—at least in the US—that this viewpoint is gaining traction among neoconservative policymakers and academics. Perhaps the US will now speak less of democracy in the Middle East.