In the past few weeks, in both Egypt, Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan region, arguably the three most culturally deferent but religiously smiler  the Muslim Middle East, has mass demonstrations against elected governments have taken place. For sure, the situation in Egypt is much more tense and volatile. The army has just issued an ultimatum against Mohamed Morsi, the country’s elected president, while millions demonstrated against him on the street. In Turkey, the Army have completely been cleanse and infiltrated by Tayyip Erdoğan political party and Gulen Movement.

A more careful observance of these societies would reveal a much more complex picture, though. First of all, while the authoritarian tendencies of the Islamists are undeniably clear, the secularists who oppose them are hardly any different. In Egypt, the major concern with Morsi is that he will become “the new Mubarak,” who used to be one of the most secular rulers in the Middle East. In Turkey, everything that Tayyip Erdoğan is criticized for – nepotism, imposing a “way of life,” or silencing opponents –

In Iraqi Kurdistan region For the last few months the dispute over the expiration of Masud Barzani’s presidential term has put the Kurdistan region though a major political crisis with much wrestling between the three main parties: between the ruling Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Gorran on one side, and the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the PUK on the other.
Erbil has become the capital of Kurdistan and today Erbil is a symbol, not of democracy, but of surrender by the Kurdistan parliament to the forces of dictatorship.

the root cause of the problem to be authoritarianism. Where you fail, is in seeing that Islam is prone to turn into authoritarianism, with or without an Islamist in charge. If people can’t enjoy a cool glass of beer on a hot summers day, if they can’t kiss in public, if they can’t watch TV serials because they contradict with someone’s religious ideology, what else is it but authoritarianism?

Wally Sarkeesian