The Unmaking of a State
The modern Turkish state is the result of successive transformations of diminutions. At the height of its influence, the region now known as Turkey was an integral part of the Roman Empire and was populated predominately by people we would now consider ethnic Greeks. Rome collapsed, but the empire based in Constantinople (now Istanbul) continued to thrive. Then Turkic raiders replaced the so-called Byzantine Empire with the Ottoman Turkish Empire. After the first world war the modern state of Turkey replaced the Ottoman Turkish Empire.
Each of these empires encumpassed less territory and fewer people than its predecessor. Each was short-lived as compared to its predecessor. Each has made lasting contributions to the world, and each has suffered an agonizing process of destruction.
Warfare and conquest after prolonged decline explain many of the transformations of Turkey, but the most recent round of crises in Turkey stem from a very different source: finance. But that does not exclude the military aspects, and it does not make the situation any less important to external observers.
The trouble began in 2001 as a typical President v. prime minister feud. It evolved into the head of state and the head of government throwing copies of the Turkish Constitution at each other, and it ended (for that moment at least) with the Turkish lira losing almost half its value. The IMF and World Bank were asked to make loans, and of course these lenders could not refuse. A former World Bank representative became the new finance minister, and all was quiet on the Turkish front for a few months.
The next crisis came when Turkey banned its main opposition party because of the strong Islamic agenda the party espoused. Although Islamist parties usually receive strong support in opinion polls, they do not win at general elections. The one exception to this occurred several years ago when an Islamist briefly served as prime minister, but threats of military intervention forced his resignation. When a country is in the midst of attempting to impress multilateral organizations such as the European Union, the last thing the head of state wants is military intervention in the democratic process to ensure the state remains secular.
Then what does a government on the brink do? It bans the threatening party. And what does the threatening party do? It does not go away; it simply changes its name. Yes, a party by any other name is quite the same - at least in Turkey.
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