H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, prime minister of Turkey, concluded a week long trip to the United States with a major address at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum.  The prime minister’s Harvard visit and lecture, Democracy in the Middle East, Pluralism in Europe was sponsored by the Kennedy School’s Kokkalis Program on Southeastern and East-Central Europe, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and the Institute of Politics. 

Greeted at the outset of his talk by a group of supporters waving the Turkish flag and  shouting “Turkiye!” prime minister Erdoğan boldly urged Muslim nations of the Middle East to embrace democracy, asserting that “it is a modern day requirement,” and that “there exists an unmistakable demand in the Middle East and in the wider Muslim world for democratization.“  He stated that “instead of blaming the outside world for the difficulties, they should put their house in order (sic)” and begin to incrementally build political systems which uphold the rule of law, separation of powers and which are truly participatory and pluralistic. Erdoğan also cautioned that the people of the region who “find them on the wrong side of globalization” remain suspicious of the West’s objectives, particularly those of the United States, and therefore the democratization process must be an indigenous one.  

Characterizing himself as “a politician who cherishes religious conviction in his personal sphere, but regards politics as a domain belonging outside religion,” the prime minister also called attention to Turkey’s democratization process, saying that it has been supported and strengthened by its membership in NATO and its interactions with the United States and European Union.  Erdoğan stated that the European Union must include Turkey in order to demonstrate that it is a union of political values based not on religious principles but on democratic ones.  He also noted that Turkey has a lot to gain from EU membership, but the EU’s gains will be greater, and that by by launching accession talks with Turkey, the EU will be sending a message to Turkey’s neighbors in the Middle East that “democratization is the starting point of the project of harmony of civilizations.”  

Over 1300 people stood in below freezing temperatures to gain entrance into the building where Erdoğan’s address was held, and 500 were turned away due to lack of capacity inside the auditorium. A crowd of Kurdish and Armenian protestors demonstrated outside the Kennedy School before and throughout the prime minister’s lecture. 

During the question and answer session, Erdoğan was challenged to encourage open discussion in Turkey about the fate of its Christian population during the 20^th century in order to prove to the “Christian” EU that the country is truly a democratic one. The prime minister responded “I am in favor of freedoms, I am in favor of protecting rights and I am more sensitive about protecting the religious rights of others than my own.” 

When asked by a Turkish Cypriot member of the audience how he would solve the Cyprus problem without giving away too much land, the prime minister remarked that “a solution is more important than land.” He also noted that Turkey would act only as a guarantor of the settlement, which can come only by mutual agreement between Greek and Turkish Cypriots.   At a press conference at the University before his lecture, Erdoğan said that he was seeking a swift solution to the Cyprus dispute, acknowledging that a settlement “has become a prerequisite before Turkey’s accession to the EU” and “our efforts to settle the issue will probably ease our entry into the EU.”