Page 43 - Shahrvand BC No.1243
P. 43
English Section
43 Jeff Witten’s weekly Column Development Won’t
Ensure Democracy
WHAT SHOULD YOUR LAWYER… in Turkey
of his way to crush others
along the way.
The perfect personal injury
lawyer needs to be kind
but not weak. Being kind
involves being considerate By DARON ACEMOGLU
1392 دادرخ24 جمعه- 1243 شماره/ سال متسیب enough to tell the truth
If you were to sit down and flesh out but in a respectful manner. CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — FOR The bulwarks of democracy have
the qualities/attributes that the perfect Being kind also involves the past few years, there has been not exactly distinguished themselves
personal injury lawyer possesses, what having the jam to lay it a general optimism about Turkish during the past week’s events. There
would they be? Good question, huh! on the line and not deal in democracy in Western capitals, has been hardly any criticism of the
delusion. especially in Washington, thanks to prime minister from within his own
Alright, I’ll take a crack at it on your the economic strides made by Prime party (except a mild rebuke from
behalf. But before I start in, I have a The perfect personal injury law is bold Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s President Abdullah Gul).
confession to make. I’m not just doing but not a bully. You see, it takes boldness Justice and Development Party,
this for your sake. I do have a selfish to win the day in a classy fashion. known as the A.K.P. The main opposition party, which
motive. I want to be able to recognize was established by the Turkish
a perfect personal injury lawyer when The perfect personal injury lawyer is These optimists, and even those republic’s founding father, Mustafa
I stumble into one. humble but not timid. Some people who admit that Turkish democracy Kemal Ataturk, still seems trapped
mistake being timid for being humble. has its shortcomings, tend to in a time warp — focused solely on
Here goes. They’re not the same thing. subscribe to the political scientist defending the nationalist, secularist
Seymour Martin Lipset’s famous ideology of the Turkish state.
The perfect personal injury lawyer The perfect personal injury lawyer modernization theory — the idea
needs to be strong but not rude. The is proud but not arrogant. Here’s the that greater democratization follows And the Turkish news media still
type of person who has the guts to take thing, it takes pride to win. And it takes automatically as a country becomes seems cowed into submission,
that extra step necessary to achieve a pride to be ambitious. more prosperous. Turkey has been so much so that it did not report
worthy goal. But who doesn’t go out growing rapidly and steadily over much on how the small protests
Lastly, the perfect personal injury lawyer the last 11 years, the theory goes, against a new shopping center on
is an accurate thinker. The type of p erson so perhaps all we need is patience. one of the few remaining parks in
who deals in realities. The type of person By this logic, Mr. Erdogan’s own Istanbul turned into a spontaneous
who’s an optimistic realist. economic success will inexorably mass movement challenging Mr.
bring an end to his authoritarian style Erdogan’s authoritarianism. Indeed,
of government.
while CNN International was
In touch with Iranian diversity
But modernization theory has had reporting live from Taksim Square,
little success in explaining the rise the local channel, CNN Turk,
of democracy around the world. My which is partly owned by Turner
research with Simon Johnson, James Broadcasting, was airing a program
on penguins.
A. Robinson and Pierre Yared has
shown, for example, that countries Even so, what began as peaceful
that have grown faster don’t show protests by a few hundred
any greater tendency to become demonstrators in Taksim Square
could define Turkish democracy for
Lawyers ICBC ﻭﻛﻼ democratic or to consolidate years to come — for two reasons.
Claims ٦٠٤- ٩٨٢- ٤٠٥١ democratic institutions that already
604 - 982 - 4051 ٦٠٤- ٩٨٠ -٨٥٧١ exist. A few cases where democracy First, democracy doesn’t just take
604 - 980 - 8571 has followed rapid growth, as in place at the polls, especially when
South Korea and Taiwan, did not
occur automatically but as a result the choices on the ballot are as
Vol. 20 / No. 1243 - Friday, June 14, 2013 of a combative political process unappealing as they have been in
— and a far more violent set of
confrontations between the military Turkey. British democracy came of
age in the 19th century partly as a
and protesters, trade unionists and
result of protests in the streets, which
ﺑﺮﺍی ﻣﺸﺎﻭﺭﻩ ﺣﻘﻮﻗﻰ ﻟﻄﻔﺎ ﺑﺎ students. not only led to the enfranchisement
And it has little relevance to this of the previously disenfranchised
ﺁﻗﺎی ﻛﺎﻣﻴﻞ ﻟﻄﻔﻌﻠﻰ week’s protests in Turkey. but also to the formation of the
Labour Party, offering new options
Even before the brutal suppression to voters. Large numbers of people
of the demonstrations, the belief that pouring into the street in several
. ﺗﻤﺎﺱ ﺑﮕﻴﺮﻳﺪ،ﻭﻛﻴﻞ ﻓﺎﺭﺳﻰ ﺯﺑﺎﻥ Turkey was on its way to becoming Turkish cities, even in the face of
a mature democracy — a role model heavy-handed police action, may be
for the rest of the Middle East — had Turkish democracy’s coming-of-age
moment.
Kamil Lotfali, lawyer already become untenable.
As the A.K.P. consolidated its power, Second, there is a real chance that
these protests, and the political
ﺳﺎﻝ ﺗﺠﺮﺑﻪ ﺣﻘﻮﻗﻰ٣٠ ﻣﺆﺳﺴﻪﺣﻘﻮﻗﻰ "ﻧﻮﺭﺕﺷﻮﺭﻻ " ﺑﺎﺑﻴﺶﺍﺯ- dissent was tolerated less and less. movements that they might spawn,
Judicial institutions lost the little
will transcend the deep-rooted but
ﺩﺳﺘﻤﺰﺩیﺩﺭﻳﺎﻓﺖﻧﺨﻮﺍﻫﻴﻢﻛﺮﺩ، ﺩﺭﻳﺎﻓﺖﻧﻨﻤﺎﺋﻴﻢICBC ﺗﺎﺧﺴﺎﺭﺕﺷﻤﺎﺭﺍ ﺍﺯ- independence they’d had, and an stale political divisions of the last
array of critics of the government,
two decades, divisions captured
ICBC ﺩﺭﻳﺎﻓﺖ ﻫﺮﮔﻮﻧﻪ ﺧﺴﺎﺭﺕ ﺟﺎﻧﻰ ﻭ ﻣﺎﻟﻰ ﺍﺯ- ranging from former high-ranking pithily by Recep Tayyip Erdogan
military officers to journalists, are
when he said in 1998: “In this
43 NORTH SHORE LAW LLP now in jail, in most cases without country there is a segregation of
having had a fair trial (According to Black Turks and White Turks. Your
6th Floor, 171 West Esplanade, North Vancouver, B.C. the Committee to Protect Journalists, brother Tayyip belongs to the Black
Turkey has now surpassed China for Turks.”
klotfali@northshorelaw.com the number of jailed journalists.)
43 Jeff Witten’s weekly Column Development Won’t
Ensure Democracy
WHAT SHOULD YOUR LAWYER… in Turkey
of his way to crush others
along the way.
The perfect personal injury
lawyer needs to be kind
but not weak. Being kind
involves being considerate By DARON ACEMOGLU
1392 دادرخ24 جمعه- 1243 شماره/ سال متسیب enough to tell the truth
If you were to sit down and flesh out but in a respectful manner. CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — FOR The bulwarks of democracy have
the qualities/attributes that the perfect Being kind also involves the past few years, there has been not exactly distinguished themselves
personal injury lawyer possesses, what having the jam to lay it a general optimism about Turkish during the past week’s events. There
would they be? Good question, huh! on the line and not deal in democracy in Western capitals, has been hardly any criticism of the
delusion. especially in Washington, thanks to prime minister from within his own
Alright, I’ll take a crack at it on your the economic strides made by Prime party (except a mild rebuke from
behalf. But before I start in, I have a The perfect personal injury law is bold Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s President Abdullah Gul).
confession to make. I’m not just doing but not a bully. You see, it takes boldness Justice and Development Party,
this for your sake. I do have a selfish to win the day in a classy fashion. known as the A.K.P. The main opposition party, which
motive. I want to be able to recognize was established by the Turkish
a perfect personal injury lawyer when The perfect personal injury lawyer is These optimists, and even those republic’s founding father, Mustafa
I stumble into one. humble but not timid. Some people who admit that Turkish democracy Kemal Ataturk, still seems trapped
mistake being timid for being humble. has its shortcomings, tend to in a time warp — focused solely on
Here goes. They’re not the same thing. subscribe to the political scientist defending the nationalist, secularist
Seymour Martin Lipset’s famous ideology of the Turkish state.
The perfect personal injury lawyer The perfect personal injury lawyer modernization theory — the idea
needs to be strong but not rude. The is proud but not arrogant. Here’s the that greater democratization follows And the Turkish news media still
type of person who has the guts to take thing, it takes pride to win. And it takes automatically as a country becomes seems cowed into submission,
that extra step necessary to achieve a pride to be ambitious. more prosperous. Turkey has been so much so that it did not report
worthy goal. But who doesn’t go out growing rapidly and steadily over much on how the small protests
Lastly, the perfect personal injury lawyer the last 11 years, the theory goes, against a new shopping center on
is an accurate thinker. The type of p erson so perhaps all we need is patience. one of the few remaining parks in
who deals in realities. The type of person By this logic, Mr. Erdogan’s own Istanbul turned into a spontaneous
who’s an optimistic realist. economic success will inexorably mass movement challenging Mr.
bring an end to his authoritarian style Erdogan’s authoritarianism. Indeed,
of government.
while CNN International was
In touch with Iranian diversity
But modernization theory has had reporting live from Taksim Square,
little success in explaining the rise the local channel, CNN Turk,
of democracy around the world. My which is partly owned by Turner
research with Simon Johnson, James Broadcasting, was airing a program
on penguins.
A. Robinson and Pierre Yared has
shown, for example, that countries Even so, what began as peaceful
that have grown faster don’t show protests by a few hundred
any greater tendency to become demonstrators in Taksim Square
could define Turkish democracy for
Lawyers ICBC ﻭﻛﻼ democratic or to consolidate years to come — for two reasons.
Claims ٦٠٤- ٩٨٢- ٤٠٥١ democratic institutions that already
604 - 982 - 4051 ٦٠٤- ٩٨٠ -٨٥٧١ exist. A few cases where democracy First, democracy doesn’t just take
604 - 980 - 8571 has followed rapid growth, as in place at the polls, especially when
South Korea and Taiwan, did not
occur automatically but as a result the choices on the ballot are as
Vol. 20 / No. 1243 - Friday, June 14, 2013 of a combative political process unappealing as they have been in
— and a far more violent set of
confrontations between the military Turkey. British democracy came of
age in the 19th century partly as a
and protesters, trade unionists and
result of protests in the streets, which
ﺑﺮﺍی ﻣﺸﺎﻭﺭﻩ ﺣﻘﻮﻗﻰ ﻟﻄﻔﺎ ﺑﺎ students. not only led to the enfranchisement
And it has little relevance to this of the previously disenfranchised
ﺁﻗﺎی ﻛﺎﻣﻴﻞ ﻟﻄﻔﻌﻠﻰ week’s protests in Turkey. but also to the formation of the
Labour Party, offering new options
Even before the brutal suppression to voters. Large numbers of people
of the demonstrations, the belief that pouring into the street in several
. ﺗﻤﺎﺱ ﺑﮕﻴﺮﻳﺪ،ﻭﻛﻴﻞ ﻓﺎﺭﺳﻰ ﺯﺑﺎﻥ Turkey was on its way to becoming Turkish cities, even in the face of
a mature democracy — a role model heavy-handed police action, may be
for the rest of the Middle East — had Turkish democracy’s coming-of-age
moment.
Kamil Lotfali, lawyer already become untenable.
As the A.K.P. consolidated its power, Second, there is a real chance that
these protests, and the political
ﺳﺎﻝ ﺗﺠﺮﺑﻪ ﺣﻘﻮﻗﻰ٣٠ ﻣﺆﺳﺴﻪﺣﻘﻮﻗﻰ "ﻧﻮﺭﺕﺷﻮﺭﻻ " ﺑﺎﺑﻴﺶﺍﺯ- dissent was tolerated less and less. movements that they might spawn,
Judicial institutions lost the little
will transcend the deep-rooted but
ﺩﺳﺘﻤﺰﺩیﺩﺭﻳﺎﻓﺖﻧﺨﻮﺍﻫﻴﻢﻛﺮﺩ، ﺩﺭﻳﺎﻓﺖﻧﻨﻤﺎﺋﻴﻢICBC ﺗﺎﺧﺴﺎﺭﺕﺷﻤﺎﺭﺍ ﺍﺯ- independence they’d had, and an stale political divisions of the last
array of critics of the government,
two decades, divisions captured
ICBC ﺩﺭﻳﺎﻓﺖ ﻫﺮﮔﻮﻧﻪ ﺧﺴﺎﺭﺕ ﺟﺎﻧﻰ ﻭ ﻣﺎﻟﻰ ﺍﺯ- ranging from former high-ranking pithily by Recep Tayyip Erdogan
military officers to journalists, are
when he said in 1998: “In this
43 NORTH SHORE LAW LLP now in jail, in most cases without country there is a segregation of
having had a fair trial (According to Black Turks and White Turks. Your
6th Floor, 171 West Esplanade, North Vancouver, B.C. the Committee to Protect Journalists, brother Tayyip belongs to the Black
Turkey has now surpassed China for Turks.”
klotfali@northshorelaw.com the number of jailed journalists.)
