Over the past two years, Western media have been awash with criticism that Turkey is growing authoritarian, with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) neglecting democratization and flouting human rights. Such harsh articles have appeared on Al-Monitor, too. On Feb. 20-21, a conference was even held in Portugal under the title “The Gezi Protests and Beyond: Contesting AKP Rule.” It seems some Western quarters are convinced that the AKP powerhouse must be toppled.
From my liberal democratic vintage point, I also see many mistakes by the AKP government. I, too, believe the AKP is authoritarian in certain aspects. For instance, it has failed to resolve the Alevi problem and advance the rights of Alevis. The state-media relationship remains very problematic. There are shortcomings on freedom of expression. Despite government efforts to resolve the Kurdish problem, Kurdish rights remain incomplete. The same goes for the rights of Christians and Jews.
