'issues'

Views of people from Turkey and Holland on statements made by Newsweek journalist Fareed Zakaria, Turkish president Abdullah Gül and prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the Dutch VPRO documentary ‘Turkije – Het Dilemma van de Democratie’: ‘Turkey – the dilemma of democracy’ that was broadcast on 8th of October. Daily at Sargasso from October 5th until October 12th, at 13.00h (Amsterdam time, 14.00h Istanbul time). This blogging project is part of the Dutch democracy week WijZijnDeBaas (WeAreTheBoss): the Dutch contribution to the International Week for Democracy. More information here.

if you end up with a situation where people forget that there are other, large minorities in the country, that feel differently than you and you try to impose your will on them, then, yes, you have De Toqueville’s problem of the tyranny of the majority and that tyranny is as bad for a minority as it were a dictatorship

Fareed Zakaria,
Newsweek journalist

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Emre Kizilkaya | The Istanbulian
turkish journalist, Hürriyet newspaper, blogger.

“Democracy does not have the right to destroy itself. It is not only about elections, but it is also about protecting the minorities and especially human rights. We should not forget that Adolf Hitler was a by-product of a democracy. Tyranny of the majority is as dangerous as a dictatorship, but most of the people generally tend to believe that Saddam Hussein was far more dangerous than George W. Bush or Vladimir Putin is”.

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Metin | Talk Turkey
blogger, Metin didn’t directly comment on the statements but contributed several related posts on his blog, this one is on ‘Save Islam from the Muslims’.

Views of people from Turkey and Holland on statements made by Newsweek journalist Fareed Zakaria, Turkish president Abdullah Gül and prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the Dutch VPRO documentary ‘Turkije – Het Dilemma van de Democratie’: ‘Turkey – the dilemma of democracy’ that was broadcast on 8th of October. Daily at Sargasso from October 5th until October 12th, at 13.00h (Amsterdam time, 14.00h Istanbul time). This blogging project is part of the Dutch democracy week WijZijnDeBaas (WeAreTheBoss): the Dutch contribution to the International Week for Democracy. More information here.

The problem is not religion. It is the social-political context in which the religion exists. You can’t change the religion, but you cán change the social-political context. It becomes a very hostile relationship with the 1.2 billion Muslims to tell them: the problem is your religion….

Fareed Zakaria,
Newsweek journalist

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Emre Kizilkaya | The Istanbulian
turkish journalist, Hürriyet newspaper, blogger.

“As long as the question is wrong, there is no way to answer it correctly. Islam is a religion and one of its main principles suggests that “the religion is between the God and His subject.” Another significant Islamic principle (from Quran) says that “your religion is for yourself and my religion is for myself.” So Islam is something personal, but Democracy is a form of government, which is public. They are not mutually exclusive, but they are irrelevant. In these circumstances, associating the democracy with Islam is harming both of them. This errant trend gives power to political Islamists, who don’t care about harming both of these concepts in advantage of their personal interests. Because it’s easier to manipulate the public opinion by the power of the faith”.

Views of people from Turkey and Holland on statements made by Newsweek journalist Fareed Zakaria, Turkish president Abdullah Gül and prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the Dutch VPRO documentary ‘Turkije – Het Dilemma van de Democratie’: ‘Turkey – the dilemma of democracy’ that will broadcast on 8th of October. Daily at Sargasso from October 5th until October 12th, at 13.00h (Amsterdam time, 14.00h Istanbul time). This blogging project is part of the Dutch democracy week WijZijnDeBaas (WeAreTheBoss): the Dutch contribution to the International Week for Democracy. More information here.

Elections don’t mean democracy. Elections can be very dangerous in young democracies if held in a wrong way and at a wrong time: it will appeal to a people’s hatred instead of to its hopes. (video)

Fareed Zakaria,
Newsweek journalist, 2004

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Emre Kizilkaya | The Istanbulian
turkish journalist, Hürriyet newspaper, blogger.

“This is not about being a young or old democracy. The whole issue is about the election system. If the election makes the winner party (or person) the ultimate authority, it means that there is a high possibility that its consequences would not be democratic. Can you organize a referandum that would ask people if they want to abolish the democracy? If the majority says “yes”, then is it a democratic result? What if this majority is 51 percent or 99.9 percent… Does it change anything? Elections are a precondition of a democracy, but they don’t guarantee it. Only an election system that would represent and protect the interests of all parties can guarantee the democracy”.