Yet another sultan?

If you are reading this, you have most likely been worried about the US election lately, and rightly so. Trump's rhetoric is authoritarian, nationalistic, abnormally right-wing, his ideas are sometimes verging on proto-fascist, and his vice-president is, if possible, even worse. Every reason to be worried about developments in the United States, then.

By Ben Fraters

But closer to home, there are also problems that deserve our attention. Worse than appointing someone who has every appearance of autocracy; someone we already know is the one who just got the proverbial keys to the candy drawer. Today, while everyone was still crying over Trump's inauguration, marching angrily through the streets, recovering from their hangovers (say, following that speech soberly was impractical) or some combination of all three, the Turkish parliament today approved the constitutional amendment backed by President Erdogan.

These changes give Turkey a presidential system, make it impossible for parliament to pass motions of no confidence or put questions to the president and give the president a completely free hand to appoint ministers - who, incidentally, are no longer obliged to answer questions in parliament. Furthermore, the right of parliament to hold ministers to task or hold the government to account is abolished. The changes also give the president the right to promulgate decrees and referendums with few restrictions. To top it all off, the president can now force new elections whenever he wants. But it should be noted here that a three-fifths majority in parliament can also do so.

Thank God, two amendments that would have given the president total control were rejected. However, this does not mean that everything is fine. The amendments that did pass not only give Erdogan an unhealthy amount of power, they also erode the separation of powers. This endangers the rule of law. According to Human Rights Watch, one of the leading human rights organisations, the Turkish constitutional court is unlikely to reject government measures as unconstitutional from now on. The many ministers Erdogan will no doubt appoint will do as he says.

Turkey's democracy has already suffered a lot, but this is the death knell. A referendum on the change has yet to be held. So there is still a glimmer of hope, but Erdogan is so popular that the outcome is actually already fixed. On the other hand... referendums lately have definitely not gone as expected or as hoped by the government. Maybe the Turks will surprise us yet.

But whether the amendments are adopted or rejected by the people, the fact that they have been adopted by the Turkish parliament, that they are at all proposed, is a sign that Turkey is not only on the brink of autocracy, but is actually eager for it. As the European Union, do we really want to cooperate with such a country? Can we do so without being hypocritical?

So, that was just five minutes of worrying about something relatively close to home. Now you get to be nervous about Trump again.