During a period of democratic downturn in industrialized states around the world, Turkey’s slide away from democracy has been the worst out of the 41 countries examined, according to the findings of independent German Bertelsmann Foundation in its recently released report.
The report measures Turkey against countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), of which Turkey is a member, and the European Union, to which Turkey is an applicant for accession.
Turkey was one of 26 countries in the survey whose democratic standards have regressed since 2014, alongside countries including Poland, Mexico, and Hungary, according to a report by German state broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW).
The Bertelsmann report cites the state of emergency in place in Turkey between July 15, 2016, controversial coup attempt and July this year, as contributing greatly to Turkey’s democratic backsliding.
Under the state of emergency, Turkey was governed by government decrees, with many of these used to summarily dismiss lawyers, teachers, academics, police and other public workers from their jobs. This period also saw hundreds of journalists hit with charges and over 200 media outlets shut down under a sustained crackdown on critical media.
Turkey has been the world’s most prolific jailer of journalists for several years running, and this year several journalists have been hit with life sentences without parole for alleged involvement in the coup attempt or links to the Gülen movement. The Bertelsmann report also mentioned the Turkish government’s seizure of businesses allegedly linked to the Gülen movement.
A July 2017 piece in the Financial Times reported that the Turkish state had seized assets of alleged members of the Gülen movement worth $11 billion dollars from over 1,000 companies.
Despite the crackdown and loss of democracy in Turkey, the Bertelsmann report found that trust in the government has increased in Turkey, a trend also witnessed in Poland and Hungary that the Bertelsmann Foundation Board Chairperson, Aart de Geus, described as “alarming.” (SCF with Ahval)
The post Report shows Turkish democratic backslide worst of 41 states appeared first on Stockholm Center for Freedom.
from Stockholm Center for Freedom https://stockholmcf.org/report-shows-turkish-democratic-backslide-worst-of-41-states/
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