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TURKEY'S MINORITIES HAPPY WITH ELECTION RESULTS
E. BariÞ AltintaÞ, Today's Zaman Stanbul
Today's Zaman, Turkey
July 26 2007
Representatives of the Greek Orthodox, Jewish and Armenian communities
of Ýstanbul all expressed happiness with the landslide victory of
the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), underlining they had no
fears that the AK Party has a hidden agenda to establish Islamic rule.
Turkey's Jewish community is not concerned because the AK Party has
been strengthened after last Sunday's landslide win, according to
Silvio Ovadio, head of the Turkish Jewish community. According to
Ovadio, most Turkish Jews believe that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdoðan will have to seek consensus more often, since his AK Party
now represents half of the electorate.
He talked to the press to respond to claims that a majority of
Turkey's Jews voted for the Republican People's Party (CHP) because
of the AK Party's Islamist roots. The Jerusalem Post had claimed that
Turkey's Jews believe that the AK Party has an agenda to establish
a Muslim theocracy, and they were throwing their support behind the
secularist CHP.
However, "we do not fear Islamization of Turkey," Oviado said. "The
Ottoman Sultans had always been very friendly to Jews....We have no
concerns about the Jewish lifestyle here." Ovadio also stated he did
not have extreme concern about Turkey's near-term future.
"Turkey is not Iran. There are no mullahs here. True, there are
religious communities, but that is not the same thing.
These are much more modern than those in Iran and they oppose the
situation there. The secular section in Turkey is also very strong."
He said religion in Turkey was mainly in the sphere of relations
between individuals, rather than the state and the individual.
Underlining that Prime Minister Erdoðan had taken the support of
all sections of society, he said: "There is no doubt that they have
served the people really well during their term in power. There is
no inflation, the currency is strong and the stock exchange is doing
well. There is an increase in our imports and exports. The government
has privatized many institutions and brought in billions of dollars."
He confessed that he was surprised about the percentage of votes won by
the AK Party, but said this left no option for Prime Minister Erdoðan
but to act responsibly and moderately. He also emphasized that in
Turkey, where 23,000 Jews reside -- 20,000 of them being Ýstanbulites
-- the community had perfect relations with the government and the
bureaucracy.
Mihail Vasiliadis, editor in chief of the Greek-language daily
Apoyevmatini, a reputed source of news for Istanbul's Greek Orthodox
community, said they were pleased with the results. "Minorities are
always others. But for other parties, there is an 'ethnic' element.
For the AK Party minorities are others, not as elements of another
nation but as members of another religion," Vasiliadis said.
He expressed that for political parties that were
nation-state-oriented, people in the country of different ethnic
backgrounds had no place. "That is much more dangerous for us. The
experience of five years has shown us that whenever there was a
positive bill in Parliament regarding minorities, the CHP always
tried to block it. The only complaint we have about the AK Party is
they didn't stand up strongly against objections from nationalists."
"Overall, we are happy about the results. One thing we are sorry
about is that [independent candidate] Baskýn Oran was not elected
to Parliament. Having someone like him would have been great in
Parliament. We voted for him, but we would have voted for the AK
Party if he wasn't here." Vasiliadis also expressed hope that the
government would now work on improving relations with the European
Union and enhance its commitment to Turkey's bid to join the club.
Luiz Bakar, a spokesperson for the Armenian Patriarchate, said a
majority of her community were very glad about the results. "The
community is happy about the elections," she said.
--Boundary_(ID_+2NHB8KPWsTb/oCCFG9j2g)--
E. BariÞ AltintaÞ, Today's Zaman Stanbul
Today's Zaman, Turkey
July 26 2007
Representatives of the Greek Orthodox, Jewish and Armenian communities
of Ýstanbul all expressed happiness with the landslide victory of
the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), underlining they had no
fears that the AK Party has a hidden agenda to establish Islamic rule.
Turkey's Jewish community is not concerned because the AK Party has
been strengthened after last Sunday's landslide win, according to
Silvio Ovadio, head of the Turkish Jewish community. According to
Ovadio, most Turkish Jews believe that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdoðan will have to seek consensus more often, since his AK Party
now represents half of the electorate.
He talked to the press to respond to claims that a majority of
Turkey's Jews voted for the Republican People's Party (CHP) because
of the AK Party's Islamist roots. The Jerusalem Post had claimed that
Turkey's Jews believe that the AK Party has an agenda to establish
a Muslim theocracy, and they were throwing their support behind the
secularist CHP.
However, "we do not fear Islamization of Turkey," Oviado said. "The
Ottoman Sultans had always been very friendly to Jews....We have no
concerns about the Jewish lifestyle here." Ovadio also stated he did
not have extreme concern about Turkey's near-term future.
"Turkey is not Iran. There are no mullahs here. True, there are
religious communities, but that is not the same thing.
These are much more modern than those in Iran and they oppose the
situation there. The secular section in Turkey is also very strong."
He said religion in Turkey was mainly in the sphere of relations
between individuals, rather than the state and the individual.
Underlining that Prime Minister Erdoðan had taken the support of
all sections of society, he said: "There is no doubt that they have
served the people really well during their term in power. There is
no inflation, the currency is strong and the stock exchange is doing
well. There is an increase in our imports and exports. The government
has privatized many institutions and brought in billions of dollars."
He confessed that he was surprised about the percentage of votes won by
the AK Party, but said this left no option for Prime Minister Erdoðan
but to act responsibly and moderately. He also emphasized that in
Turkey, where 23,000 Jews reside -- 20,000 of them being Ýstanbulites
-- the community had perfect relations with the government and the
bureaucracy.
Mihail Vasiliadis, editor in chief of the Greek-language daily
Apoyevmatini, a reputed source of news for Istanbul's Greek Orthodox
community, said they were pleased with the results. "Minorities are
always others. But for other parties, there is an 'ethnic' element.
For the AK Party minorities are others, not as elements of another
nation but as members of another religion," Vasiliadis said.
He expressed that for political parties that were
nation-state-oriented, people in the country of different ethnic
backgrounds had no place. "That is much more dangerous for us. The
experience of five years has shown us that whenever there was a
positive bill in Parliament regarding minorities, the CHP always
tried to block it. The only complaint we have about the AK Party is
they didn't stand up strongly against objections from nationalists."
"Overall, we are happy about the results. One thing we are sorry
about is that [independent candidate] Baskýn Oran was not elected
to Parliament. Having someone like him would have been great in
Parliament. We voted for him, but we would have voted for the AK
Party if he wasn't here." Vasiliadis also expressed hope that the
government would now work on improving relations with the European
Union and enhance its commitment to Turkey's bid to join the club.
Luiz Bakar, a spokesperson for the Armenian Patriarchate, said a
majority of her community were very glad about the results. "The
community is happy about the elections," she said.
--Boundary_(ID_+2NHB8KPWsTb/oCCFG9j2g)--