One weekend was all it took for Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to realize how unstable politics can be, especially when you are dealing with trees. Only one week ago he was the almighty leader of Turkey, holding the country in a tight grip in the name of democracy. All of a sudden, even the conservative, pro-Islamist media are criticizing the brutal manner in which the Istanbul protests were handled. What is Erdogan to do? Arrest Turkish reporters? There are already so many Turkish journalists in Turkey's jails. Still, it is too early to lament his rule. The protesters wish to be heard much more than they wish to silence Erdogan. This too may change, in the name of democracy. If Erdogan truly wants to rest on his laurels when he fulfills his dream of becoming Turkey's president in 2014, he had better pay attention. Sunday's protest was a test for the Turkish government, following two extremely volatile days. Monday represents a bigger test, as the weekend is over and it's back to business in Turkey. The country's security forces withdrew from Istanbul's Taksim Square on Sunday, allowing the people to protest, but Erdogan kept fanning the flames, announcing that he would not renege on the project involving Gezi Park and its 600 trees. Two things differentiate the Turkish protest from those in our immediate neighborhood: First, even if Erdogan's democracy is not a perfect democracy, Turkey cannot be compared to the autocratic Arab nations that were rattled with uprisings. While former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his Tunisian counterpart Zine El Abidine Ben Ali were in power for decades, Turkey has had several prime ministers and Ankara's democracy, although far from perfect, is considered a model for the Arab world's liberal youth. Another thing that sets Taksim Square apart from Tahrir Square is that the masses in Egypt had little to lose. In a country where the majority of the 80,000,000 people live off about $2 a day, losing what little you have is hardly a threat. The situation in Turkey, where the economy is robust, is different. But the word "freedom" carries with it a special significance these days. The residents of Istanbul will be keeping a close eye on the fate of the trees that have come to symbolize the protest. Shel Silverstein's "The Giving Tree" would be a best-seller in Turkey today. The only question is, who will rest on the stump at the end of the day -- Erdogan or the masses?
