The Turkish Model of Governance and the Arab Spring

Abstract

Much has been discussed regarding the Turkish system of governance as a model of ‘Post –Islamism’ for countries emerging out of the ‘Arab Spring’. However before such claims might be made, it is important to understand the model. Turkey began 2008 in the shadow of a very heated debate, the issue being whether female university students could cover their hair with a headscarf — a practice allowed in the free world, except in Turkey, where it was banned by the staunchly secularist Constitutional Court in 1989. Th e incumbent Justice and Development Party (AKP) was a “conservative” party led by devout Muslims. They had just won a sweeping election victory six months earlier, in July 2007, and were willing to permit the headscarf — which most of their wives and daughters wore — on campuses. In February of that year, the AKP, with the support of two other parties in the Turkish parliament, passed an amendment that inserted two clauses into the constitution. One of them stated that all citizens, regardless of their religion, race, or ethnicity, would “benefit from public services equally.” Th e other amendment provided a guarantee: “No citizen can be barred from the right to higher education.”