Atatürk’s legacy

ISTANBUL, Turkey — Up until recently, discussions of Turkey have tended to focus on whether it
would be able to meet the criteria for joining the EU. Now, however, in a
dramatic reversal, people are asking: Why should Turkey worry about the EU?
 
It recently reported first-quarter growth of 11.4 percent, second only to
China, and it has gone from being a Middle Eastern “basket case” to a
regional powerhouse, challenging Israeli pre-eminence.

The West has long derided Turkey for its flirtation with Islamism, its
human-rights abuses and its failure to democratize. And yet, it looks like
Turkey may be having the last laugh. With the international system in a shambles
and the major centers of power in the world struggling with challenges at home,
the big winners are going to be those countries that expand their influence
aggressively, without paying attention to democracy’s niceties. That’s the
brutal reality.
 
A recent article hails Turkey’s “flexible dynamism — both social and economic,” which
has allowed it “to expand the commercial ties with Israel, Russia, Saudi
Arabia, Iran and Syria that now underpin its ambition to become the dominant political
actor in the region.”
 
Turkey’s current path to power recalls the legacy of Atatürk, the country’s
founder. He was hardly without his faults. He was notorious for smoking as many
as 3.5 packs of cigarettes a day. His wife divorced him after two years of
marriage due to his drinking, legend says. He died of cirrhosis at 58. He got
rid of the country’s national parliament, outlawed opposition parties and labor
unions and rammed through legislation. And the personality cult that he
created while in power remains to this day — I’ve never been to a country where a
former leader’s picture is so ubiquitous. Russian and China included.
 
And yet, highly controversial a figure though he no doubt remains, few question
the contributions that he made to Turkey’s domestic stability and standing
abroad. He was what you might call an “enlightened despot” — someone whose
ruthless pursuit of the country’s self-interests moved the country along even
while running roughshod over concerns and constituencies that a Western leader
would take into account.
 
It’s a sobering message for us Americans to think about with July 4 just
barely behind us. And while I’m the biggest advocate for democracy you’ll
find, I can’t help but wonder if Atatürk had more foresight about the laws of
the jungle than his Western counterparts. Leadership comes in many forms.

Kathy Kemper is founder and CEO of the Institute for Education, a nonprofit foundation that recognizes and promotes leadership and civility locally, nationally and in the world community.