Donme secularists vs Islamofascists

[Evropeos]

The existential crisis of the Turkish Military


Friday, June 15, 2007

Orhan Kemal Cengiz

The Turkish Republic was founded by soldiers. Mustafa Kemal was a first class soldier before anything else. The Turkish military has always seen itself as the revolutionary, modernizing and progressive power of this country. To some extent this has been true. Today, however, the Turkish military is going through an existential crisis. Atatürk had always pointed to the West and western values as the main direction to which Turkey should head. However, today's West, namely the European Union, means an end to the enormous powers and privileges that the Turkish military has long enjoyed in this country.

We have now quite different circumstances surrounding Turkey than just ten years ago. The Cold War is now long past and the United States has given up supporting dictatorial regimes in the Middle East, believing that these feed terrorism. Turkey is still a valuable partner for the West, no longer as the last bastion to the Soviet threat, but as a democratic secular model that can be an important player in the region.

A Kurdish state in Northern Iraq is at present a subject of tension between the U.S. and Turkey; and it seems this will continue to be so. The Turkish military has a very solid and rigid understanding of a potential Kurdish state: “A Kurdish state, wherever and whenever it appears, is a threat to the fundamental interests of Turkey and it should be prevented”. This is, of course, not the only threat perceived by the military. Most of the threats are coming from within, namely the Islamists and the Kurds who have been refusing to be assimilated!

The vision of the founding elite of the Turkish Republic was a classless, homogenous society that is Muslim but not too religious. There is a portrait of the ideal citizen in the minds of the Turkish elite and I would like to draw it for you: A white Sunni Muslim Turk who prays only on Fridays and drinks rakı when he is not fasting. (Of course, he should not be drinking too much!) Whatever goes beyond this white Sunni Muslim portrait has always been regarded as a threat to the homogenous society that the Turkish Republic has been trying to achieve. Thus the Kurds (if they assert their Kurdish identity), Muslims (those more religious than the elites wish them to be), Alevis and non-Muslims of this country are not the ideal citizens as they do not fit this portrait.

The problem is that this project, which overlooks the different identities of Turkish citizens and tries to create a homogenous society, has failed, and Turkish elites (both military and civil bureaucrats) have shown no willingness to change their understanding and conceptualization of Turkish society according to these new conditions. The founding elites of the Turkish Republic needed to forge a national identity in order to create a nation state and so the current elites continue to believe even today that the “nation”, should act and react in accordance with their understanding and expectations of society, politics and religion, but not vice versa!

We have a fundamental problem here. This project is not uniting Turkish society anymore. Instead it is deepening the divisions, and constantly increasing the tension—between secularists and Muslims on the one hand, and between Kurds and Turks on the other.

The two most recent electronic statements of the Turkish military, posted on 27 April and 8 June, both of which were clear and unacceptable interferences with the democratic process in Turkey, have the potential to fuel tension and conflict between different sections of Turkish society. The first memo declared that “everybody who does not express how happy he is being a Turk is an enemy”! In the second memo people who criticize the nation state and who “use humanity's esteemed values of peace, freedom, and democracy as a cover for terrorist organizations” were targeted. In addition, the “Turkish nation” was called to show “their reflex action”. These are extremely dangerous statements. They have no potential to unite the nation, but on the contrary, are provocative!

Turkey and her military are at the crossroads. This country will either aim at being a first class democracy, which I believe can lead to being a strong world power, or it will continue to act like an authoritarian regime. Of course, there will always be excuses for our defective democracy: “enemies”; “extraordinary and sui generis conditions”; “terror” (although its only solution is democracy); “the danger of Sharia”; and others.

Giving up power is very difficult. Doing it willingly is much more so! However, the Turkish military has two options. Either they will be the ruling elite of a third world country or they will be serving a nation who has a leading role in world politics. Now it is up to the military to choose between these two options for this country's future. There is no third alternative!

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A pretty good article.

[Gavur]

Erdogan Seeks Win in Turkish Election to Loosen Military's Grip

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=apMU_f0gZUA0&refer=home

By Mark Bentley and Ayla Jean Yackley

July 22 (Bloomberg) -- Turks will cast their votes today to decide whether Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan should be given a mandate to loosen the army's eight-decade grip on politics.

Voting stations open at 7 a.m. in rural eastern Turkey and an hour later in Istanbul and elsewhere in the urbanized western areas of this predominantly Muslim country of 72 million people. About 42.5 million Turks are registered to vote, to elect 550 deputies to the parliament in Ankara, the Grand National Assembly.

Erdogan, 53, is battling with staunch Turkish secularists, led by military generals, for ultimate power in Turkey. He has guided Turkey's longest period of economic growth and won membership talks with the European Union. Some of his foes, citing what they see as threats to the secular principles of the nation's founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, say he is trying to make Turkey like Iran.

The election ``is a matter of life and death for those who consider themselves supporters of Ataturk,'' said Metin Heper, an author and political scientist at Ankara's Bilkent University. ``There's a great deal of tension and excitement in the country.''

Ataturk made the separation of mosque and state a guiding principle of the Turkish nation he built after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I. The military promotes itself as a defender of that separation.

Vote Counting

Polls in the past week showed Erdogan's Justice and Development Party, known by its Turkish initials AKP and loyal to Islamic traditions, had twice the support of Deniz Baykal's Republican People's Party, which is Erdogan's main opposition and a major ally of the military in preserving the secular foundations of the Turkish republic.

Voting will end at 4 p.m. in eastern Turkey and 5 p.m. in western Turkey. A media blackout on exit poll results ends at 9 p.m. and most votes will be counted by 4 a.m. tomorrow.

Erdogan called the general election in May after the military blocked his religious candidate for president, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, by issuing a statement on the Internet saying the ``armed forces are the determined defenders of secularism.'' Erdogan said the election would ``reinforce democracy.''

The army has toppled four governments from power since 1960, and the Turkish media labeled the army's warning on its Web site an ``e-coup,'' although the specific impediment to Gul's candidacy was a high court decision invalidating a parliamentary vote.

Public Reaction

The military's statement was reinforced by street protests by more than a million followers of Ataturk's secular code and raised fears of a fifth coup. Retired army generals and the Ataturk Thought Association organized the demonstrations.

Erdogan says a landslide victory at the election will give him the authority to defy the military and push ahead with a looser form of secularism than Ataturk espoused, including appointing Gul as president and ending limits on the wearing of the Islamic headscarf. Gul's wife wears the religious headgear, banned in government buildings and universities.

Gul remains Justice's preferred candidate for president and is ``fully qualified'' for the post, Erdogan said on July 19.

Share of Vote

Justice may win the support of between 48 and 49 percent of Turkey's electorate compared with 34 percent at the last election five years ago, according to two of three opinion polls published on July 19 and July 20. That would give Erdogan's party the most votes since Suleyman Demirel's Justice Party won a general election in 1965 with 53 percent.

The Republicans, Erdogan's sole opposition in the last parliament, may be joined by the Nationalist Action Party this time. The entry of a third party would trim the number of Justice and Development lawmakers, while maintaining the party's majority. The Republicans may garner about 20 percent of the vote and the Nationalists 12 percent, surveys show.

Justice may be forced to compromise on its candidate for president, postponing a possible confrontation with the army, if the Nationalists pass the 10 percent threshold and enter parliament.

In campaign posters along Turkish streets and highways, Erdogan asks voters to stay the course and reminds them of economic gains under his government, such as a drop in the inflation rate to less than 10 percent and the building of new roads, factories and airport terminals.

Investment Climbs

Erdogan, a graduate of an Islamic school used to train clergymen, has doubled Turks' average pay to $5,500 yearly and strengthened democracy under a plan to win membership of the European Union. Negotiations began in October 2005.

The government has drawn in record foreign investment, and the ISE National-100 index of stocks has soared almost five-fold in Istanbul. The lira has gained 11 percent against the dollar this year.

The prime minister's opponents say his economic success masks a hidden Islamic agenda. They point to the government's efforts to punish adulterers with jail terms and move bars out of city centers.

Erdogan denies the accusations, saying parliament has strengthened the rights of women and the nation's non-Muslim minorities during his tenure.

To contact the reporters on this story: Mark Bentley in Ankara at [email protected] ; Ayla Jean Yackley in Istanbul at [email protected]

Last Updated: July 21, 2007 17:01 EDT

[Gavur]

Turkish Leader Says Army Should Stay Out Of Politics

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=2983779&C=europe

By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, ANKARA, TURKEY


Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned the influential army to keep out of politics, following the start of a presidential election that a former Islamist is set to win, the Anatolia news agency reported Aug. 21.
The military “should stay in its place ... All institutions should act in line with the mandate they are given by the constitution,” Erdogan was quoted as saying overnight.
“If we believe in democracy, we should not involve the Turkish armed forces” in politics,” he said. “For us, the armed forces are sacred ... (but) they have their own place and politicians have another place in democracy.”
On Aug. 20 the Turkish parliament, dominated by Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP), held the first in a series of votes to elect Turkey’s next president.
The front-runner, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, failed to secure the required two-thirds majority in the 550-seat house, but is poised to win in the third round next week when the AKP’s 340 deputies can easily secure the absolute majority of 276 that is needed.
Gul’s first bid for the presidency was blocked by a harsh secularist campaign in April on grounds that the former Islamist is not truly committed to the secular system, forcing a snap general election July 22.
At the climax of the crisis, the military, which has toppled four governments in as many decades, said it considered the secular system under threat and vowed to defend it.
It has remained silent about Gul’s renomination for the presidency, which followed the AKP’s landslide victory in the July 22 polls.
The military on Aug. 21 denied media reports that chief of general staff Yasar Buyukanit held secret talks with Gul and reached a consensus on his candidacy.
“As it is known, the Turkish armed forces share their views with the public openly when it is deemed necessary,” the statement said.
“Reports that the chief of general staff held talks with some politicians in the presidential election process and reached an agreement are imaginary.”
“It is out of the question for the Turkish armed forces to bargain on any issue with any person or institution.”
Ten years ago, the army did not hesitate to unseat Turkey’s first Islamist-led government, of which Gul was a member.
Gul has pledged to stay loyal to the secular system and be impartial if elected.
“Once Mr. Gul is elected, his link with our party would be over. From that moment on, he would be the president of the Turkish Republic,” Erdogan said.
Turkey’s president is a largely ceremonial figure, but has the authority to name senior bureaucrats and judges and to return legislation to parliament.
Opponents say that with Gul in the presidential palace, the AKP, the moderate offshoot of a now-banned Islamist movement, will have a free hand to erode the separation of state and religion — an intention he denies.
For hard-line secularists, the fact that Gul’s wife wears the Islamic headscarf is also a source of irritation.
The AKP has disowned its Islamist roots, pledged commitment to secularism and conducted reforms that ensured the start of Turkey’s membership talks with the European Union.
It has dismissed accusations that it still harbors Islamist ambitions as “fear-mongering” by opponents who have failed to match its rising popularity.

[Alexandros]

Former Justice Minister Cemil Çiçek says “We are drafting a constitution for the nation, not the party.”


AK Party seeks consensus on new constitution


25.08.2007

ERCAN YAVUZ ANKARA

In preparing the first civilian constitution in Turkey's history to fulfill a promise outlined in its election manifesto, the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) is modeling the draft on the Spanish constitution.

Having determined that the antidemocratic provisions of the Turkish Constitution of 1982, a document designed after the military coup of Sept. 12, 1980, were still in place despite 13 amendments, the AK Party set its sights on drafting a civilian constitution on which full agreement can be reached. To do this, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan instructed that a commission consisting of AK Party deputies be established and also requested jurists specializing in constitutional law and nongovernmental organizations conduct similar work. The constitutional drafting work undertaken by the AK Party is being carried out by such deputies as İstanbul deputy Ertuğrul Günay, Professor Zafer Üskül, Ahmet İyimaya and Ayşenur Bahçekapılı as well as former Justice Minister Cemil Çiçek, former parliamentary Constitutional Commission Chairman Burhan Kuzu, parliamentary group chairman Bekir xxxdağ and Deputy Chairman Dengir Mir Mehmet Fırat.

The 50-article draft constitutional amendment package prepared by Kuzu in the 22nd term of Parliament had become null and void since the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) refused to send members to the Constitutional Consensus Commission in Parliament. The CHP had stipulated that immunity of deputies and ministers be removed in exchange for its support of constitutional amendment, therefore the commission could not be established. The first text that served as a reference for the senior AK Party management was Kuzu's text, and Üskül is also known to have done similar work. Additionally the AK Party is examining a study of civilian constitutions conducted by the late Professor Bülent Tanör, a specialist in constitutional law.

While this party-sponsored work is ongoing, Erdoğan also requested that progress made outside Parliament be taken into consideration. Professors of constitutional law Ergün Özbudun, Mustafa Erdoğan, Zühtü Arslan, Levent Köker, Mehmet Turan and Hayati Hazır and former Supreme Court of Appeals Chairman Sami Selçuk have been asked to examine the constitutional amendment.

It is Erdoğan's plan to gather various pieces of work into a coherent and joint text in Parliament. Four constitutional documents prepared by Özbudun, Kuzu, Üskül and Tanör have still not still merged into a single text. These four texts will be assessed by the senior AK Party executives and a fifth will be produced.

However, this will not be the final product as all will be discussed in Constitution Drafting Commission to be set up in Parliament. When this commission starts work, it will request contributions from all parties whether they are represented in Parliament or not. Moreover, representatives of nongovernmental organizations will also be invited to this commission. After working on alternative texts for about two months, the commission will prepare a preliminary document to be released publicly for further discussion.


Spanish model adopted

The AK Party has adopted the Spanish model of constitution-making, which produced a democratic constitution after the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975, and is taking pains to ensure that the new constitution is not a party constitution. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 provides a good model for post-dictatorship countries. Having taking lessons from the events that followed the death of Franco, Spain drafted a democratic constitution in 1978 and adopted it in a referendum held on Dec. 27. Following the 40-year dictatorship of Franco, the 1977 elections convened the Constituent Cortes (the Spanish Parliament, in its capacity as a constitutional assembly) for the purpose of drafting and approving the constitution. Interestingly enough, the Spanish constitution recognizes the existence of nationalities and regions. Section 2 of the Spanish constitution reads: “The Constitution is based on the indissoluble unity of the Spanish Nation, the common and indivisible homeland of all Spaniards; it recognizes and guarantees the right to self-government of the nationalities and regions of which it is composed and the solidarity among them all.”

The AK Party is planning to take the new constitution to referendum.

Çiçek: We are preparing the constitution for the entire nation

Çiçek is coordinating the work conducted inside the party on the constitutional amendment package. Speaking to Today’s Zaman, Çiçek said: “Constitution-making is the work of parliamentarians, not of governments. We will draft a constitution not for the AK Party, but for all of Turkey. The AK Party may prepare a text that will serve as a basis for further discussions. This text will be open to criticism and ideas from everybody. Support from political parties, NGOs, professional organizations and universities must be sought in the constitution-making process. There has been a lot of work completed up to now. There are proposed texts and studies made by the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodities Exchanges (TOBB), the Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (TÜSİAD) and [the work of] Professor Bülent Tanör. We are planning to create a joint text out of these studies. It is high time that Turkey draft a democratic, easy-to-understand constitution that conforms to European standards. Currently there are separate studies in progress. We have just identified certain articles that should be amended but have not made detailed studies as to the extent of such amendments. There will be various proposals and we will assess them in order to produce the most civilian and democratic constitution.”

Çiçek also noted that the AK Party has stressed the need for a plain and understandable text in the constitutional drafting process. To do this, texts of articles will be clearer and shorter. For this reason, the new constitution may consist of 230 articles while the Constitution of 1982 has 175 articles. “In terms of constitutional theory, a short and concise constitution has certain implications. However, if you introduce excessive abridgment so as to make most articles ambiguous and in need of interpretation, this will pave the way for easy meddling with rights and freedoms. It will consist neither of 175 articles as in the current one, nor of 30 articles. Consider the recent controversy over the quorum needed for presidential election. We do not feel restricted in terms of the time required for its adoption. The most important thing is to secure the most extensive consensus on a social scale,” Çiçek said.


Full support from MHP and DSP

Not only the AK Party but also the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the Democratic Left Party (DSP) pledged in their election manifestos to draft a civilian constitution. DSP leader Zeki Sezer recently stated that they are ready to lend support to the constitutional amendment package. MHP Deputy Chairman Cihan Paçacı, speaking to Today’s Zaman, noted that the new constitution should be a text of social consensus.

“The new constitution should accommodate transparency, participation and other basic principles of public administration. The constitution should not be a text that creates problems, but solves them. It should eliminate the risk of crises, such as one concerning the quorum of 367. We are ready to support such a constitutional amendment package,” he said.



Conditional support from the CHP

On the other hand, the CHP declared that it would support the constitutional amendment package only on condition that parliamentary immunity is abolished. Aware of the CHP’s demands, the AK Party has already included provisions for the removal of immunity for deputies and ministers. However the AK Party is planning to extend the scope of this immunity removal so as to include bureaucrats as well.

CHP Konya deputy Atilla Kart, a member of the parliamentary Constitutional Commission, underlines that the constitution should be drafted coherently.

“The government should be sincere and politically honest in drafting the constitution. It should not go after partial regulations that would serve only to the needs of conjuncture. This mindset does not see the constitution in its entirety. If we trust them, we will be ready for agreement. The CHP will not drag its feet in this respect. It has previously lent its support to a number of constitutional amendments. Calls for consensus, not imposition, will be answered,” he told Today’s Zaman.

CHP Niğde deputy Orhan Eraslan reiterated that they are not likely to support the constitutional amendment package, most articles of which might be acceptable to them, unless steps toward the removal of the immunity of ministers and deputies are taken. “We, as a party, have not decided yet on whether to support the package or not. But prospects of our support currently seem low,” he said.


DTP’s proposals controversial

The Democratic Society Party (DTP), too, gives conditional support to the constitutional amendment package. The DTP seeks to introduce ethnic differences to the constitution and demands new strategies for the solution of the Kurdish problem. How many of their proposals will be included in the package is not yet known. The AK Party faces a number of proposed amendments concerning languages, but no decision has yet been made in that regard. Selahattin Demirtaş, the deputy chairman of the DTP’s parliamentary group, spoke with Today’s Zaman and said a truly civilian constitution must accept ethnic differences.

“The basic purpose of the constitutional amendment package should be to cleanse the constitution of ideological approaches. Second, the constitution should not merge and unify ethnic identities. The definition of Turkishness in Article 66 of the constitution may be amended. The constitution should recognize ethnic differences, should be based on the bond of citizenship and should clarify the issues of education language and mother languages. We just want to make sure that our contributions are taken into consideration. But the AK Party was not warm to the idea,” he told Today’s Zaman.

The package drafted by the AK Party emphasizes the bond of citizenship rather than ethnic differences. Arslan notes that certain small changes to Article 66 of the constitution will be useful in the creation of a pluralistic and democratic approach that embraces all ethnic groups in the country but says the DTP’s proposal is not appropriate.

“A nation-state has a single nation, and this nation is defined by the state. In this context, rather than creating meaningless and impractical formulations such as ‘two nations and one state,’ nation should be defined on the basis of citizenship in a pluralistic and democratic manner,” he said.


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Main topics of the new civilian constitution


EU standards for basic rights and freedoms

Supreme Military Council (YAŞ) decisions subject to legal review

National Security Council (MGK) structure to be civilian

Constitutional Court structure and duties redefined

New framework for the Higher Education Board (YÖK)

Being a “Turk” to be related to being a citizen

Turkish presidential powers to be reduced


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