[2] It has had vigorously contested, "substantially free and fair" elections, a vibrant culture,[3] and has undergone an economic boom, developing a "large and growing middle class.
"[6] One observer (Sinan Ülgen) has identified "five chief characteristics" of the model: accommodation of Secularism, Democracy, and Political Islam; a stabilizing role by the military; successful economic liberalization and trade integration; membership in Western multilateral organizations like NATO, the Council of Europe, and the European Court for Human Rights; and popular confidence in the country’s institutions.
[9] Among those imprisoned have been Ragip Zarakolu, a constitutional law professor; Ahmet Şık, a prize-winning investigative journalist; and Nedim Şener, a noted free-speech activist.
[10] The Economist magazine also finds "many reasons to be cautious about expecting Arabs to follow Turks", such as the long evolution of the democratic Islamism, the relative power and prestige of the secularism, and tolerance for electoral politics of military rulers.
[4] In May 2016, author Mustafa Akyol lamented that "the rhetoric of liberal opening" in Turkey "has given way to authoritarianism, the peace process with the Kurdish nationalists has fallen apart, press freedoms are diminishing and terrorist attacks are on the rise."