Turkish spring or AKP’s autumn?

The Turkish constitutional referendum of September 2010, which was approved by 58% of the voters, was a good index of how Turkish citizens respond to the policies of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
At that time, many of the people in the rich cities of western Turkey voted against the changes to the constitution. A large segment of the populace of those mostly Europeanized areas has been highly critical of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s policies for the past few years.

And now, almost three years later, citizens in the same geographical area have taken to the streets to protest against Erdogan, whose rule is currently viewed as increasingly authoritarian.

The demonstrations in Istanbul’s Taksim Square have captured the world’s attention, and many people are calling the situation a Turkish spring and the beginning of the AKP’s autumn in the Turkish political arena. However, that is not the whole story of the social unrest in Turkey.

Turkish society has become highly polarized due to the policies adopted by Erdogan and his associates in the AKP. The government’s authoritarian style of dealing with many domestic and international issues, especially the crisis in neighboring Syria, has created great resentment toward the ruling party. Although he describes himself as an Islamist leader, Erdogan is continuously criticized by religious minorities for not respecting their rights. For example, the Alawis are one of the main groups that have expressed their dissatisfaction in the demonstrations.

The AKP, which is a phenomenon in the history of Turkish politics, is currently facing a great task, and its leaders are expected to tone down their authoritarian style in order to maintain the support of their popular base. Otherwise, the autumn of the AKP will continue and the situation will eventually harm the process of democratization in the Republic of Turkey.