Turkey’s AKP is making clear moves — away from democracy, that is

The ongoing saga of Turkey’s democracy crisis continues. It seems every time I hear an AKP official these days, I am less and less convinced of their democratic intentions and their reliability as an ally of the U.S.

The latest incident happened two weeks ago, when the U.S. ambassador to Turkey criticized abuses of Turkish journalists. (The day prior, Turkish police raided a TV station.)

AKP officials have been none-too-pleased with the ambassador’s criticism, and their remarks have been translated and compiled by MEMRI here. For example, deputy AKP chairman Huseyin Celik said “Ambassadors cannot interfere in our domestic issues or design our internal policies.” Sounds an awful lot like China, no?

Turkish Interior Minister Besir Atalay remarked, “With regard to press freedom, it’s much better in Turkey than in the United States.” Not according to Reporters Without Borders’s annual Press Freedom Index. They ranked the U.S. 20 out of 178 countries in 2010. Turkey, meanwhile, has fallen to 138, just edging out Russia. Similarly, Freedom House ranked the U.S. 24 and Turkey 106 out of 196.

If the ambassador’s comments were truly out of line, you would expect non-AKP voices to say so. But on the contrary, the deputy leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) said the ambassador was being fair:

The mission of the envoys is to closely follow the developments in the countries they are appointed to and inform their governments. When needed, the ambassadors also express openly their opinions. Is it possible for him not to make any observations when these things are happening? …

We are a candidate country to the European Union. It’s very normal for the ambassadors of EU countries and other countries to speak out about the deficiencies in terms of democracy and human rights.

Coupled with Prime Minister Erdogan’s disheartening defense of Muammar Qaddafi, AKP leaders sound further removed from the West than ever before. I fear they are rejecting an East-West hybrid and instead embracing the unfavorable elements of the East.

P.S. It has been pointed out to me that Erdogan will likely be the final recipient of the Muammar Qaddafi International Prize for Human Rights.