Almost every discussion about the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) at the public level comes down to one issue: the bureaucracy. You hear it from mid-level bureaucrats -- from the ordinary man who happens to have a relative in the bureaucracy to someone in a think tank.    

For years now in Ankara this discussion has been colored by stories of bureaucrats who were axed because of their lack of affinity with the AK Party. The primary complaint is that upward mobility within the bureaucracy is dependent upon one criterion: membership of a tariqat, or being “one of them.”

I am not too enthusiastic about an “us” and “them” mentality within the bureaucracy.

True, it is public knowledge that Turkish political culture allows a political party to bring in their people and staff ministries with their own appointees. However, this was usually confined to the upper echelons and in that respect it made sense.

If, as I often hear from a variety of people, partisanship has become a key criterion while merit and experience is disregarded, we have a problem. A good friend recently complained that his overseas appointment was only possible because of his vast experience and preeminence in his field in the bureaucracy. He was appointed to the worst post of the lot, while most assignments went to ministerial favorites.

Now none of this is especially surprising, but the AK Party is walking a tightrope. It is currently being ganged up on from all sides and I do not think it has the luxury to disregard the concerns of people who are not necessarily “the other.”

In every bureaucracy, in every profession and in every field there are a lot of people who are not necessarily ultra-secularists or sworn to destroy the AK Party. There is a considerable stratum of people who one could describe as in-between or neutral and who generally have good skills and experience. They are capable of performing well in their own fields. The AK Party has not been successful in including this stratum.

In my view this has been a key deficiency of the AK Party government. The party leadership must rein in ministries and their agencies and make a consistent effort to be more inclusive. The current situation only creates a good number of capable people that will eventually turn against the AK Party. Good governance requires the wisdom to control what is going on within the bureaucracy.

In one respect the attitude of the AK Party is understandable as most of these people have been deprived power for decades and now a reactionary attitude has prevailed. However, the AK Party’s next term does not have the luxury of allowing this situation to continue. It must be more inclusive, promote people on the basis of merit and experience and limit the vagaries of partisanship to the greatest extent possible. Once the dust settles after the two key elections, the AK Party -- either alone or with a junior coalition partner -- will need to take a closer look at the bureaucracy.

History is full of governments that were incapable of grafting in key neutral elements of society and finally vanished from the corridors of power. The AK Party leadership carries a huge responsibility to remedy an incorrect practice and help Turkey to normalize in this area.