It has been 17 years since Turgut Özal passed away, leaving behind a country that was squarely placed on the path of civilianization, democratization and global integration. He was even the architect of the current process of change.
Özal was an exceptional political leader in the history of modern Turkey. He first emerged as the person behind an economic reform program in the early 1980s that transformed Turkey’s development strategy and laid the groundwork for opening up the Turkish economy to global competition with a transformative effect on social and political conduct.
He took center stage as the leader of a newly formed political party, the Motherland Party (ANAP, now ANAVATAN), which won two consecutive elections in 1983 and 1987. He then became the first truly civilian president of the Republic of Turkey in 1989, shaking the very image of the presidency as a post belonging to the Kemalist state elite. As the prime minister from 1983 to 1989 and as president until his death in 1993, Özal was the single political figure who, with his ideas, projects and “vision,” shaped Turkish politics and initiated a process of Turkey’s transformation in the economic, political and social spheres.
The state-society relationship, shaped by the centralizing and homogenizing mindset of the Kemalist state elite, was set to change under Özal’s leadership simply because it was no longer sustainable in a market economy, an open society, and a democratic polity, and in a country that was economically, socially and politically integrated with the world.
As such, Özal’s uniqueness was his ability to set forth the social and economic dynamics of change. As a result, the top-down patronizing modernization path of the Kemalist bureaucratic elite appeared ineffective, unproductive and undemocratic and thus anachronistic. In other words, he did not confront the Kemalist-bureaucratic regime radically. Instead, he quietly sowed the seeds of the great transformation that was destined in the long run to liberate the country from the tutelage of the bureaucratic/Kemalist elite.
His reformist mind as well as his controversial ideas and style set the stage for Turkey’s transformation in his time and initiated many grand debates shaking conventional wisdom in numerous areas. Özal managed to build a new political alliance bringing personalities from different political backgrounds, thus blurring the traditional boundaries between opposing political movements of the left and the right, of Islamist and secularist. Coming to power under the shadow of a military regime, Özal led Turkey’s transition to a civilian government during which the military’s influence in the political process had been significantly reduced.
It was Özal who introduced the ideas of “scaling down” the state, global competition, a market economy, and privatization when the wave of the “new right” was high in the US and the UK. He was also effective in popularizing political liberalism with his ideas of the “three liberties,” namely, freedom of expression, freedom of religion and conscience, and freedom of enterprise. He also pushed for a “service state” instead of a “father state,” challenging the tradition and raison d’être of the bureaucratic Kemalist state.
His understanding of Islam and secularism differed both from pro-Islamic groups and secularists. For him, while Islam was an individual and social phenomenon with no preset political model, secularism was not a lifestyle that could be imposed on people by the state. He was conservative, or even religious, yet modern, pro-Western and liberal.
Özal held “unconventional” views about the Kurdish question that made him enemies and new friends. The Kurds of Turkey and Iraq found in him a brave and visionary politician who sincerely yet unsuccessfully tried to solve the problem. Many link his death to his attempt to find a solution to the Kurdish question.
It was Özal who led Turkey through the challenging times of international turmoil and transformation at the end of the 20th century, such as the end of the Cold War, the demise of the Soviet Union, the Gulf War and the Bosnian War. His leadership was recognized during this period of crisis in international politics during which his influence expanded beyond Turkey and left a mark on the wider Eurasian geography. In these challenging times, he was the architect of Turkey’s emerging regional role with his style of leadership. He believed that economic cooperation, trade, and social interaction would reduce political disagreements between states, leading to international peace and stability.
Yes, he was a pragmatic politician with no ideological dogmatism, but he was committed to the notion of a liberal and democratic Turkey integrated with the Western world with a market economy. That is to say, Özal was a unique political leader who held liberal views on the Turkish state tradition, market economy, the Kurdish question, secularism, civilian-military relations, and foreign policy.
His enormous impact on Turkey’s transformation in civilianization, democratization, integration with the world economy and the political institution is indisputable. He was the leader who paved the way for the current process of change that is undoing the Kemalist authoritarian state apparatus.
For this the Kemalist state elite and its civilian allies have never forgiven him. What matters for Özal, though, is that the people at large have never forgotten him.
19 April 2010, Monday
Özal was an exceptional political leader in the history of modern Turkey. He first emerged as the person behind an economic reform program in the early 1980s that transformed Turkey’s development strategy and laid the groundwork for opening up the Turkish economy to global competition with a transformative effect on social and political conduct.
He took center stage as the leader of a newly formed political party, the Motherland Party (ANAP, now ANAVATAN), which won two consecutive elections in 1983 and 1987. He then became the first truly civilian president of the Republic of Turkey in 1989, shaking the very image of the presidency as a post belonging to the Kemalist state elite. As the prime minister from 1983 to 1989 and as president until his death in 1993, Özal was the single political figure who, with his ideas, projects and “vision,” shaped Turkish politics and initiated a process of Turkey’s transformation in the economic, political and social spheres.
The state-society relationship, shaped by the centralizing and homogenizing mindset of the Kemalist state elite, was set to change under Özal’s leadership simply because it was no longer sustainable in a market economy, an open society, and a democratic polity, and in a country that was economically, socially and politically integrated with the world.
As such, Özal’s uniqueness was his ability to set forth the social and economic dynamics of change. As a result, the top-down patronizing modernization path of the Kemalist bureaucratic elite appeared ineffective, unproductive and undemocratic and thus anachronistic. In other words, he did not confront the Kemalist-bureaucratic regime radically. Instead, he quietly sowed the seeds of the great transformation that was destined in the long run to liberate the country from the tutelage of the bureaucratic/Kemalist elite.
His reformist mind as well as his controversial ideas and style set the stage for Turkey’s transformation in his time and initiated many grand debates shaking conventional wisdom in numerous areas. Özal managed to build a new political alliance bringing personalities from different political backgrounds, thus blurring the traditional boundaries between opposing political movements of the left and the right, of Islamist and secularist. Coming to power under the shadow of a military regime, Özal led Turkey’s transition to a civilian government during which the military’s influence in the political process had been significantly reduced.
It was Özal who introduced the ideas of “scaling down” the state, global competition, a market economy, and privatization when the wave of the “new right” was high in the US and the UK. He was also effective in popularizing political liberalism with his ideas of the “three liberties,” namely, freedom of expression, freedom of religion and conscience, and freedom of enterprise. He also pushed for a “service state” instead of a “father state,” challenging the tradition and raison d’être of the bureaucratic Kemalist state.
His understanding of Islam and secularism differed both from pro-Islamic groups and secularists. For him, while Islam was an individual and social phenomenon with no preset political model, secularism was not a lifestyle that could be imposed on people by the state. He was conservative, or even religious, yet modern, pro-Western and liberal.
Özal held “unconventional” views about the Kurdish question that made him enemies and new friends. The Kurds of Turkey and Iraq found in him a brave and visionary politician who sincerely yet unsuccessfully tried to solve the problem. Many link his death to his attempt to find a solution to the Kurdish question.
It was Özal who led Turkey through the challenging times of international turmoil and transformation at the end of the 20th century, such as the end of the Cold War, the demise of the Soviet Union, the Gulf War and the Bosnian War. His leadership was recognized during this period of crisis in international politics during which his influence expanded beyond Turkey and left a mark on the wider Eurasian geography. In these challenging times, he was the architect of Turkey’s emerging regional role with his style of leadership. He believed that economic cooperation, trade, and social interaction would reduce political disagreements between states, leading to international peace and stability.
Yes, he was a pragmatic politician with no ideological dogmatism, but he was committed to the notion of a liberal and democratic Turkey integrated with the Western world with a market economy. That is to say, Özal was a unique political leader who held liberal views on the Turkish state tradition, market economy, the Kurdish question, secularism, civilian-military relations, and foreign policy.
His enormous impact on Turkey’s transformation in civilianization, democratization, integration with the world economy and the political institution is indisputable. He was the leader who paved the way for the current process of change that is undoing the Kemalist authoritarian state apparatus.
For this the Kemalist state elite and its civilian allies have never forgiven him. What matters for Özal, though, is that the people at large have never forgotten him.
19 April 2010, Monday
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