Women hold opposition newspapers as people gather outside the Justice Palace in Istanbul, Turkey, Dec. 14, 2014 to protest against the latest detentions in Turkey. Emrah Gurel/AP
The Slow Slide Toward Dictatorship Taking Place in Egypt and Turkey
The governments of Cairo and Ankara rounded up dozens of critics this past weekend as the two U.S. allies increasingly crack down on dissent with intimidation and violence. By Steven A. Cook
Supporters of the governments of Egypt and Turkey have become adept at telling the world that under presidents Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Recep Tayyip Erdogan respectively, these countries are making progress toward more open and just political systems. In reality, they are nothing more than tin-pot dictatorships.
Over the weekend, Egyptian authorities detained, questioned, and deported my friend and colleague Michele Dunne as she sought to enter Egypt at the invitation of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs. Michele, who is the most well-respected Egypt analyst in Washington, has not been shy in her criticism of the Egyptian government. Not to be outdone, yesterday the Turks arrested 27 people including journalists, TV producers, and police commanders on terrorism charges. All of the detainees are either members or suspected members of the Gulen movement. Fethullah Gulen and his followers were at one time allied with Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP), working together, for example, to subordinate the armed forces to civilian leaders, though at the expense of the rule of law and due process. In early 2013, a falling out over the government’s negotiations with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party erupted later that year into revelations about official corruption and other malfeasance at the highest levels of the AKP, which in turn became a sort of political death match between the two big men of Turkish politics. President Erdogan, secure after sweeping AKP victories in municipal elections and his own ascendancy to the presidency, is now exacting his revenge on the Gulenists.
Though in some ways shocking, what happened to Michele in Egypt and to those detained in Turkey is not at all surprising given what has transpired in both countries since the summer of 2013:
- Number of those indicted and/or jailed for taking part in protests -- Egypt: 16,000 (est.) | Turkey: 5,500 (est.)
- Number of protesters killed -- Egypt: 1,000-2,500 (est.) | Turkey: 63
- Number of protesters injured -- Egypt: 17,000 (est.) | Turkey: 8,000-10,000 (est.)
- Passage of new laws targeting NGOs -- Egypt: Yes | Turkey: Yes
- Passage of new laws restricting demonstrations -- Egypt: Yes | Turkey: Yes
- Freedom House Press Freedom Ranking* -- Egypt: Not Free (cumulative score 155) | Turkey: Not Free (cumulative score 134)
- Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index Ranking (2013)† -- Egypt: 135 | Turkey: 93
- World Bank Rule of Law Indicator (2013)‡ -- Egypt: 34.12 | Turkey: 55.92
- World Bank Governance Score (2013)# -- Egypt: -0.60 | Turkey: 0.08
Despite all the official declarations of positive change in Egypt and Turkey, they rank below or close to countries like Bahrain, Jordan, Malaysia, Greece and South Africa.
(Read More: Is the Special Relationship Between the US and Egypt Over?)
You don’t even need to plumb various tables and indices, however, to understand that Sisi and Erdogan are overseeing remarkably similar politics, built on cults of personalities, manipulation, intimidation, fear, and violence. Sadly, that many Egyptians and Turks are willing to support this kind of governance out of either a desire for revenge or schadenfreudeis, ultimately, shortsighted. In both Sisi’s Egypt and Erdogan’s Turkey, anyone could be next. That’s what happens in dictatorships.
* Score out of 200; the higher the score, the less free.
† Out of 167 countries.
‡ Score out of 100.
# Values range from -2.50 to +2.50.
This post appears courtesy of CFR.org.