Q&A
Raluca Csernatoni, Sinan Ülgen
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Source: Getty
In The Media
The Future of Democracy in the Arab World: How Relevant is the Turkish Experience?
The fundamental lesson that the aspiring democracies of the Arab world can learn from Turkey is that the sustainability of democracy depends largely on the quality of a nation's democratic institutions.
By Sinan Ülgen
Published on Feb 24, 2011
Source: European Union Institute for Security Studies
The fundamental lesson is that the sustainability of democracy depends largely on the quality of democratic institutions. The focus in Arab countries should be on the consolidation of these institutions. There is no time to lose if democratic transition is to succeed. Establishing effective political parties, independent judiciaries, bipartisan election boards, unhindered media and functional parliaments should be the key objectives. It was only after consolidating these institutions that Turkey was able to shed itself of the influence of the military. For that, Turkish society had to develop confidence in the institutions’ ability to protect a pluralistic democratic order from its potential detractors, including political Islamists. It will therefore only be after consolidating essential democratic institutions that Arab countries will learn to successfully combine Islam, democracy and modernity.
About the Author
Sinan Ülgen
Senior Fellow, Carnegie Europe
Sinan Ülgen is a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe in Brussels, where his research focuses on Turkish foreign policy, transatlantic relations, international trade, economic security, and digital policy.
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Catherine Hoeffler, Sinan Ülgen
Recent Work
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
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