OK, Turkey is a majoritarian democracy, not a dictatorship

I have no idea how many justice ministers in the democratically civilized world have to make speeches arguing that their country is not a dictatorship. But Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozda? has recently felt compelled to remind the world of just that. Bozda? said the mere existence of main opposition leader Kemal K?l?çdaro?lu is proof that "there is no dictator in the country." That was relieving.

But Mr. Bozda?'s line of defense is problematic. For instance, the existence of Muslim Brotherhood, a Syrian opposition party founded in 1930 that started an Islamic uprising in 1976 did not mean Syria was NOT a dictatorship. Nor did the existence of the Coalition of Secular and Democratic Syrians, or the Syrian Democratic People's Party? Just remember, in August 2012, Syrian Deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil said the Syrian government was prepared to discuss the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad.

Bozda?'s problematic line of defense, however, does not change the fact that President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an is an elected leader, or that his seat is legitimate. And the fact that Mr. Erdo?an is not a dictator does not change the fact that Turkey has an increasingly wider democratic deficit. That is primarily because Islamist politics is majoritarian and can hardly make peace with pluralism.

In his Nov. 8, 2013 editorial, "Ignoring the majority," Hayrettin Karaman, a professor of theology and a columnist for the pro-government Yeni ?afak, wrote the following: "Governments cannot protect, through law and order, any behavior the majority would dislike or view as harmful, illegitimate and ugly. The minority will have to give up some freedoms (that are disapproved of by the majority). The remedy ? is democracy with reference to Islam. Otherwise...