Turkey has never been a country where meritocracy is cherished and the citizens feel satisfied and fulfilled in terms of their career goals and work-life balance. Unfortunately a vast majority of people in Turkey are surrounded by an unjust system where meritocracy cannot exist. In such a context, nepotism has become a form of corruption that poses a real threat to the stability of cultural, economic and social security of the society.
In fact, meritocracy has never been a part of Turkey including its political organizations and state bureaucracy. The constantly worsening economic conditions, low levels of industrial and scientific development, the incompetency that is evident among a large number of academics, the weakness of democracy and rising levels of brain drain all relate to the lack of meritocracy that is intrinsic to the majority of state and non-state units in the country.
The concept of meritocracy can be defined as a social system in which people reach positions of power based on their abilities rather than their money or family connections.The strong attachment to meritocracy ensures that the most competent individuals are not only recruited but can rise to leadership levels. In such societies, levels of scientific and economic development are high and people feel satisfied and happy with their life conditions. Furthermore, such societies have a just system because meritocracy constitutes justice and happiness which are intrinsically desirable. Plato in his last and longest work the Laws argues that justice requires giving people what they deserve, and this becomes possible when they are rewarded in proportion to their merit.
Some political cultures including that of Turkey’s do not have a proper basis that feeds meritocracy. The Dutch theorist Fons Trompenaars’ model of ‘national culture differences’ can be useful in understanding how some cultures undermine meritocracy. According to Trompenaars, there are seven dimensions of national culture differences. Among these dimensions, the “achievement versus ascription” dimension refers to how individuals achieve and maintain status and respect within a culture.
Following Trompenaars, it can be said that, in ascription-orientated cultures, titles and ranks are bestowed upon individuals not because of their achievement, but because of family status or money. On the contrary, the achievement-orientated cultures base one’s status on his/her competence and performance. Turkish political culture can be defined as an ascription-orientated culture that feeds the deprivation of meritocracy.
Meritocracy Cannot Exist in the Shadow of Nepotism
Turkey is surrounded by an unjust system where meritocracy cannot exist. In such a context, nepotism grows day by day. Nepotism is the practice of favoritism based on kinship exercised by those who have power. The dominance of partisanship, nepotism, discrimination and political patronage has been constantly fed in such an unjust system. In Turkey, nepotism has become a form of corruption that poses a real threat to the stability of cultural, economic and social security of the society.
Nepotism is one of the biggest factors that undermine meritocracy-based appointments in Turkey. There are plenty of appointments particularly in public offices which can be seen as a crystal clear reflection of the lack of meritocracy. Titles and ranks are bestowed upon individuals not because of their achievement, but because of their family relations, social status or close ties with the incumbent political party (Justice and Development Party).
The higher education sector is one of the sectors that saw a large number of controversial appointments in current years. Rectors have been appointed directly by the president since 2018. According to a research that examined the rectors of 197 Turkish universities (127 public and 70 private universities) 29% of the rectors had no citations in Scopus, while 36% of them had no citations in Web of Science.
Nepotism-oriented appointments along with the other unfair practices seen in almost every layer of life push skilled people to leave the country. When a country’s skilled and talented people leave, they take their skills, and experience with them. According to the British medical journal, The Lancet, in August 2022 that the number of physicians leaving the country increased 50-fold compared with 10 years ago.
Brain drain due to economic and social insecurities directly depletes the country’s human capital which ultimately worsens economic conditions even more. Turkish economy has steadily deteriorated for several years. In August 2018, the Turkish lira lost 44 percent of its value against the U.S. dollar compared with the start of that year.
Unless Turkey adopts a meritocracy-based system, the people who do not have ties with the power-holders will be subjected to more injustice and ultimately this injustice will make the whole Turkish nation suffer due to decreasing levels of economic development and scientific progress.
Fotoğraf: Mayur Deshpande