Arab Spring Needs to Look Beyond Turkey

By Jennifer Gnana

People of Tunisia and Egypt say, "Wow, look at Turkey".

That was Turkey's chief EU negotiator Egemen Bagis, in conversation with Folly Bah Thibault on Al Jazeera recently.

The sweeping reform movements changing the political landscape of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, which is loosely termed the Arab Spring, look for inspiration in Turkey.

With its radical reforms after the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey has always been the guiding light for reformation in Arab societies.

With its steady economic growth and growing self-confidence as a negotiator, Turkey's clout in the region has increased in the last year.

America's indecision at the start of the revolution in Egypt and its ambiguous stance with regard to its Fifth Fleet base Bahrain, has weakened America's hegemony in the region.

With America's old ally Hosni Mubarak, who was the face of progress in the region now on trial for human rights abuses, the post is vacant for Turkey to assume as the democratic face of the region.

While the Islamist movements in the newly liberated MENA countries don't admire Turkey's secularism, they would like to ape its system of democratic governance.

However, Turkey is hardly the candidate for a democratic inspiration.

While the country operates on some form of democracy, its laurels rest on a tainted past.

It's bloody campaign against Kurds and Armenians resulting in over a million deaths is well-documented.

For a country like Libya which began its transition to democracy with the brutal murder of its previous leader Muammar Gaddafi, this is hardly a great inspiration.

This would tantamount to upholding China's growth trajectory as a model for developing nation, ignoring its costs and the human rights abuses that have been committed in its backyard.

On the other hand, the region has much to learn from Armenia.

Unlike Turkey, it has not shoved its traditional customs under the carpet.

Armenians are a proud people and as much as they like integration with the global economy, they are acutely aware of their uniqueness of their cultural heritage.

The story goes that Mustafa Kemal, who unified the Turkish nation and is popularly celebrated as the Great Turk (Ataturk) was once ridiculed for his fez.

He vowed that once he came to power, he would outlaw the fez from the realms of the new nation.

Accordingly, the traditional hijab is banned and outward expressions of the Islamic faith have been reined in.

The enforcement is such that traditional Muslim girls wear a wig to university instead of the headscarf as one would not be allowed to study at Turkish universities if they were seen wearing a religious symbol.

Armenia on the other hand celebrates its national symbols and its unique language.

Though it has closed its borders with two of its three neighbours, it maintains good relations with the European Union, Iran and Russia, the major players in the region.

If the Arab Spring needs inspiration, it needs to look East, not to Turkey but to where Noah once found refuge.