Turkish Leader Urges Democratization in Mideast

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for Middle Eastern states to take the lead in their own democratization in a speech at Harvard last Friday.

Erdogan’s address to a crowded JFK Jr. Forum at the Kennedy School of Government (KSG), which came two days after he met with President Bush in Washington in an effort to improve U.S.-Turkish relations, described what he believed to be favorable prospects for democracy in the Middle East.

During the speech, members of the Kurdish community in New England stood outside the KSG with signs protesting the Turkish government’s treatment of ethnic minorities.

Through a translator, Erdogan called for the Middle East to bear some of the responsibility for being “left behind in the marathon of political, economic and human development.”

“There is a tendency to blame others” for the Middle East’s stagnation, he said. “Yet, it should be healthier to seek both the problem and the solution foremost within themselves.”

As the leader of Turkey, which he said “belongs both to the West and the Muslim world,” Erdogan called upon developed countries like the United States and the members of the European Union (EU) to assist in the democratization of the Middle East.

The Kurdish protestors criticized Erdogan’s remarks.

“We heard [Erdogan] was talking about democracy. We thought maybe we want to show what democracy he is talking about. There is genocide in Turkey,” said Sardar D. Jajan, a Syrian-born Kurdish resident of Watertown who organized the protest. The protestors said the Turkish government displaces Kurds and represses their political efforts.

“One of the greatest things about the forum is that it gives a chance for people to have some confrontation with world leaders,” said Brenda Shaffer, research director of the KSG’s Caspian Studies Program, which sponsored the Turkish prime minister’s visit to Harvard.

Erdogan was subdued until the end of his speech, when he displayed the charisma for which he is popular in Turkey.

Gesturing expressively and straying from the prepared text of his comments, Erdogan stressed the symbolic meaning of Turkey’s possible admission to the EU.

Turkey’s accession to the EU would prove the organization is neither a “club of coal and steel” nor a “Christian club,” but a “union of political values,” Erdogan said to whistling and shouts of approval from some members of the audience.

Erdogan became even more emotional when he referred to the November terrorist attacks on Istanbul, stressing that Islam does not promote violence.

“I’m talking to you as a Muslim...killing one soul equals destroying the house of God,” he said. “We should take good care of our youth and we should not let our youth turn out to be terrorists.”

Erdogan is widely viewed as a controversial and popular figure. His emphasis on the separation between religion and state has been seen by some as inconsistent with his Islamic past.

The event, which occurred over intersession, was attended primarily by the press, graduate students and residents of nearby communities. Many audience members were of Turkish descent.

“I didn’t expect so many inside jokes and questions being asked in Turkish,” Lara A. Setrakian ’04 said.

Laughter and cheers from Turkish-speaking members of the audience often preempted the English translations of the questions and answers.

Shaffer agreed that the speech was “sort of like when you go to a foreign film and people laugh at the jokes before you can get the subtitles.”

—Staff writer Tina Wang can be reached at tinawang@fas.harvard.edu.