Who said that democracy has fallen out of favour? Who said that people now aspire to authoritarianism? Who said such nonsense, once again disproved in Istanbul by the hundreds of thousands of demonstrators who, on Saturday, demanded the release of their mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was thrown in prison because he could beat Recep Erdoğan in the next presidential election?
Young or old, men or women, from all walks of life, they were all hoping that their country could become a democracy and join the European Union. The irremovable Erdoğan will not give in easily. Because his power is at stake, he will crack down even more, and he knows what he is doing, but the business community is worried, the Turkish lira and stock market are faltering, and even his supporters are growing weary of this man.
We do not know who will win, the dictator or liberty, but what is certain is that liberty remains the most widely shared value in the world, not just European but universal.
The second thing that these faces, tense with hope, were saying on Saturday was that there is no incompatibility whatsoever between Islam and democracy. Turkey is neither Buddhist nor Christian. Believer, atheist or agnostic, she is Muslim by culture or faith and as deeply desirous of democracy as was the Arab Spring of 2011, the three years of demonstrations of the Algerian Hirak or the Iranian crowds who, from one crisis to another, have never stopped shouting their rejection of the theocracy since it stole the democratic revolution of 1979.
There are no true democracies in Islamic countries, some object. That is true, but how many were there in Christian lands until the 19th century? Would it have been justified to talk about an incompatibility between Christianity and freedom in the days of absolute monarchies, and should we say today that China and Russia are incompatible with freedom because they have so rarely caught a glimpse of it throughout their history?
The faces of Istanbul tell us that the looming war is not a war of civilisations. It is not Islam and Christianity that are at loggerheads, but democracy and its adversaries. Contrary to what the far right keeps harping on about, it is not jihadists and the ‘great replacement’ who are preparing to attack Europe. It is all those who are joining forces to reject the the Enlightenment, reject the separation of powers, reject the liberation of women, reject the freedom of the press and reject the state as arbiter and redistributor of wealth, because they hate all of these things.
The faces of Istanbul tell us that Europe is not alone. Donald Trump is, with Vladimir Putin as his only and very uncertain ally, but Europe, its democracy, its social protection and its desire to assert itself as a political and military power have at their side all those who aspire to freedom, reject arbitrariness and refuse powers without counter-powers, money as king and elections without freedom of expression.
(Photo: Michael Fleshman 2013, CC BY-NC 2.0)
