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Erdogan was democratically elected but so was putin and so was saddam hussein. The problem (and the primary cause of the dictator slur) is that Erdogan sees ele
by iuguy 13y ago
Erdogan was democratically elected but so was putin and so was saddam hussein. The problem (and the primary cause of the dictator slur) is that Erdogan sees elections as a one shot thing - you elect me, then you get out of my way.
From day one the protests were not about democracy, but about civil engagement, something that doesn't really exist in Turkey. It is this lack of accountability, a fundamental part of democracy that makes Turkey's political system undemocratic.
Erdogan believes that "democracy is a bus, you hop on, go to the destination and get off". Democracy without engagement in a broken electoral system isn't democracy, it's a rigged game. That's the problem the Turks have, and that's why they're calling him a dictator (which in the view of some may be right or wrong).
- tokenadult 13y agoI think it is factually incorrect to say that the late Saddam Hussein was democratically elected. You are correct that Putin was. (Hitler is another example of an elected dictator, although the thuggery of his National Socialist German Workers [Nazi] Party before the election meant that the election cannot really be called free and fair.) "In 1968, Saddam participated in a bloodless but successful Ba'athist coup that resulted in Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr becoming Iraq's president and Saddam his deputy. During al-Bakr’s presidency, Saddam proved himself to be an effective and progressive politician, albeit a decidedly ruthless one." . . . . "In 1979, when al-Bakr attempted to unite Iraq and Syria, in a move that would have left Saddam effectively powerless, Saddam forced al-Bakr to resign, and on July 16, 1979, Saddam Hussein became president of Iraq. Less than a week later, he called an assembly of the Ba'ath Party. During the meeting, a list of 68 names was read out loud, and each person on the list was promptly arrested and removed from the room. Of those 68, all were tried and found guilty of treason and 22 were sentenced to death. By early August 1979, hundreds of Saddam's political foes had been executed." http://www.biography.com/people/saddam-hussein-9347918 http://www.biography.com/people/saddam-hussein-9347918
- iuguy 13y agoI was actually referring to this[1], which of course was a complete sham. [1] - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2331951.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2331951.stm