Is Turkey the Only Real Country in the Middle East?

ISTANBUL -- Every time I visit Turkey I ask myself what is it that makes me marvel at the many political and economic developments that make it stand out as the most impressive country in the greater Middle East. Watching Turkey's significant foreign policy initiatives these days to cement good relations with its neighbors, I think I understand why: This is the only country in the Middle East region that acts like a normal, mature country.

Turkey's mix of lively domestic politics, dynamic social and cultural life, and strong and internationally expanding economy all come together through the agency of a government that actually leads by taking initiatives, but is also held accountable to the citizens through regular elections. Turkey is the only country in the Middle East region that has both a democratic domestic system and an activist foreign policy. It is refreshing to witness this phenomenon in contrast with the largely passive and often dysfunctional countries across the Middle East.

The critical elements in Turkey's success that others might learn from strike me as three in particular: freedom of speech and association that allow domestic politics to proceed in the direction defined by a majority of the citizenry; civilian authority over the armed forces and security agencies; and, pragmatic, humble realism in coming to terms with the realities of a pluralistic society where minorities demand rights that the majority should acknowledge.

Take some of this month's leading stories, for example. An ongoing investigation is looking into accusations that a group of armed services senior officers plotted to overthrow the ruling government by creating chaos in civil society, and the media is covering daily the questioning of former top officers.

Domestically, the political scene and its links to ethnic pluralism remain vibrant, making this one of the rare places in the region where it is not possible to predict the outcome of the next election. Unlike the recent past when only the secular, nationalist Turkish identity was allowed to manifest itself, today the country more honestly addresses the reality of and the demand for equal rights and opportunities by Turkish Kurds, Alawis and others. 

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has made significant overtures to the large Kurdish minority. Whether or not this approach works will be determined ultimately by the citizens, who sent a message in the local elections earlier this year that they were not fully satisfied. The AKP party's votes and its municipalities won both declined, reminding us that in a truly democratic system the party in power must constantly respond to citizens' needs and expectations -- or lose power.

Turkey no longer attempts the childish sloganeering that Arab ruling elites often use to try and depict all their citizens with a single phrase that is more about forced compliance with regime dictates than it is about responding to citizen rights. The healthy slippage the AKP experienced in the polls confirms that this country is ruled by popular will, rather than autocratic orders from a small band of rulers at the top. Erdogan and the AKP will now have to reconsider their unsuccessful strategy of appealing to nationalists, Kurds and the mild Islamists who comprise the AKP's base. How refreshing to see a ruling party in a large Middle Eastern country having to adjust its policies and rhetoric in response to citizen votes!

Turkey is also showing everyone else in the region how to do foreign policy in a sensible way, by acknowledging realities (e.g., Kurdish autonomy in northern Iraq) and promoting stable political relations on the back of growing economic ties. As professor of international relations at Istanbul Bilgi University and columnist for the daily Habertürk Soli Ozel explained to me, Turkey in the past decade has taken advantage of developments initiated by others -- the war in Iraq, Arab-Israeli stalemates -- to reposition itself throughout the Middle East, while it simultaneously kept exploring stronger links with Europe. Formerly strained relations with Syria, Iraq, Greece, Armenia, Iran and others slowly improved, often hastened by mutual interests in the spheres of trade, water, energy and security - a policy "based on the principle of zero problems with the neighbors, designed to create zones of stability around the country, avoid confrontation and prepare the conditions for economic expansion," Ozel explains.

This requires comprehensive peace in the region, which Turkey has sought to prod by mediating and engaging where it could, while Israel "appeared incapable of changing its ways and seriously trying for a peaceful resolution of its conflict with the Palestinians," he adds. The current Turkish-Israeli cool relations will return to normal soon, but in a context in which Turkey has strong, constructive ties with all other players in the region -- a sound strategy that no other major power seems to have attempted.