Why Pak isn't quite like Turkey

The similarities between Pakistan and Turkey are eerie — both were born of Islamic lands that portended an aspired identity of modernism and secularism. Both nations have seen the sparring and oscillation of rule between the armed forces and civilian leaders. Both are continuously trying to rationalise and nuance their inherent religious tendencies with the post-modern necessities of integrating with the global order. Both have had bloody histories of managing minorities, the Kurds with Turkey and Pakistan with its myriad sectarian trysts. They are the only two Islamic nations with nuclear weapons on their soil (while Pakistan has its own arsenal, Incirlik airbase in southeast Turkey is Nato’s top nuclear weapons-storage facility). While Bangladesh is testimony to Pakistan’s behavioural infamy, Turkey is associated with the Armenian genocide.

Between the two, they are undoubtedly the two most powerful militaries in the Islamic world, with standing armed forces that are professional and revered in popular perception and culture. The commonality of the multiple strains, instincts, institutions and compulsions have given them a unique relationship and partnership between themselves, that held its own in the most trying of times: the 1971 India-Pakistan war saw rare and active Turkish support for Pakistan, both diplomatic and military. It wasn’t just Pakistan’s Quaid-e-Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who looked up to Turkish revolutionary Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as a role model, but, it is said, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who spent nearly 10 years of his childhood in Turkey and spoke fluent Turkish, also modelled himself as Atatürk’s modern avatar. Fittingly, in 2009, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was honoured with Pakistan’s highest civilian award, Nishan-e-Pakistan, in recognition of “the highest service degree of service to the nation of Pakistan”.

On the face of it, Pakistan is like Turkey, even today civil rule is in place but the brooding shadow of the generals looms in the background. But Turkey’s recent failed coup attempt has thrown up stark questions on the popular perceptions about its armed forces. While it’s true that the military putsch was not a unified attempt and lacked the groundswell of uniformed fraternity, the unprecedented scenes of civilians hauling out uniformed soldiers from their armoured vehicles and publicly flogging them on the streets, was an unimaginable spectacle for a country that is known to revere its soldiers. Adding to the insult was the veritable joining-of-hands by people of all political groups — from Mr Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) to the Opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). Irrespective of bitter politics and bad blood among various entities, the combined angst and disgust at the prospect of a military takeover was simply overwhelming.

Clearly, the popular democratic impulses and framework nurtured assiduously by President Erdogan’s efforts since 2003 have taken deep roots — also the simultaneous neutering and defanging of the military top brass with the gradual chipping-away of powers and purging the barracks of “non-compliant” cadres, has literally saved the long night for Mr Erdogan and Turkey’s democracy. The current landscape in Pakistan is markedly different — the ruling politicians are losing the reins of state control and popular perceptions vis-à-vis the Pakistan Army. The dominant role in Pakistan has shifted from the National Assembly in Islamabad to the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi. It is Gen. Raheel Sharif, not his less imposing namesake, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is seen as the nation’s saviour. In the ongoing turf war over control of the “game-changing” China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, or managing international affairs and diplomacy, Army House has emerged as the must-stop port of call for any foreign dignitary, and the Army chief’s frequent visits to Riyadh, Kabul or Washington D.C. to discuss strategic affairs shows who is the real boss in Pakistan.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan stirred the hornet’s nest by stating “people will celebrate a military takeover in Pakistan... Democracy here is threatened by Nawaz Sharif’s monarchy, not the military”. He went on to say that Pakistanis would “celebrate and distribute sweets” if that happened. In an ominous move, an obscure party called “Move on Pakistan” put up posters on the main streets of the nation’s big cities with a commanding photo of Gen. Raheel Sharif and a singular message: “For God’s sake, take over”. The popular perception of the Army being the only entity that is selfless, patriotic and can get things done is at an all-time high. Aiding the image is the visible “fightback” by the Pakistan Army in the form of Operation Zarb-e-Azb in the northwest, and in operations in Balochistan and even on the trigger-happy streets of Karachi. Even from the subcontinental proclivity towards “anti-incumbency” sentiments, the timing augurs well for the military (the last military regime was that of Gen. Pervez Musharraf in 2008).

Pakistan’s political parties, unsurprisingly, lashed out over the attempted coup in Turkey. An understandably nervous Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif demonstrated his finest democratic beliefs with: “We deeply admire the resolve of the brave and resilient Turkish people, who stood up against the forces of darkness and anarchy to express their support and commitment to democracy.” Pakistan People’s Party chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari added, for good measure, that “the people of Turkey deserve to be complimented for coming out into the streets and face military tanks and artillery with bare hands to force the coup makers to run”.
In reality, however, the average Pakistani’s perception on a potential military takeover can’t be safely imagined or likened to ground realities in Turkey. The fundamental difference is that while popular disillusionment in Turkey is with one party’s ideological moorings and agenda, the popular disenchantment in Pakistan is with the composite perceptions of ineptitude, corruption and inability of the entire political class, in contrast with the Army’s solidity and decisiveness. Pakistan isn’t Turkey, and all eyes are on Gen. Raheel Sharif and his supposed retirement in September 2016.