The general elections looming in Turkey are the most important in the country’s modern history and they appear to be witnessing the worst kind of political polarisation.
But the programmes presented by the political parties are actually more or less the same. Ultimately, the pledges and plans made by the parties can all be classified as conventional. They are the kind of policies basically agreed upon from the founding of the republic until now.
The central role that Turkey’s state agencies play remains key, as does nationalism and sectarianism mixed with an intense suspicion of anything foreign. Important too is the marginalisation of all basic human values and rights, especially the right to freedom of opinion and conscience.
To put bluntly, despite the displays of conflict and violent political confrontations between the various forces — with their different names and ideological claims — they agree to remain loyal to the past and adhere to the standards and rhetoric of self-preservation.
It all amounts to what looks like an end to the reform and modernisation plans preached by Turkey in recent years.
A regressing nation
This election comes at a time when Turkey has become the most prominent example of political, economic, educational, and social regression in the world.
Based on various international standards, the country is currently in a much worse position than it was 10 years ago when it was at the peak of its preaching about modernisation.
At that time, especially in 2012, Turkey had reached the climax of its ambitions. It was a turning point between two completely different historical stages and contexts.
The Justice and Development Party won the country's parliamentary elections for the third time in 2011, after having amended the constitution a year earlier. This left the military, which is the backbone of nationalist ideology, at its weakest point.
New constitution symbolised hope
A new constitution was intended to create public support and overcome decades of military domination and nationalism. It was also intended to resolve the Kurdish problem and set the groundwork for European integration, economic progress, and greater space for public freedoms and human rights.
A parliamentary committee that equally represented all four parties drafted the new constitution. It brought with it the most public and free political debate and in the country’s modern history, alongside economic and human development.
But it was also in this same year that Turkey was dealing with three critical dynamics. President Erdogan, anxious as the end of his political career approached after three successive terms as prime minister, was keen on changing the constitution in a way that guaranteed his survival as leader.
