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DEFEND TURKEY'S ELECTED GOVERNMENT AS 'SECULAR' MOVEMENT PUSHES ASIDE DEMOCRACY
by Ron Margulies, Istanbul
Socialistworker.co.uk, UK
May 4 2007
On two occasions in April hundreds of thousands of Turks took to the
streets of Istanbul and the capital Ankara to defend "the Republic".
Wrapped in Turkish flags and pictures of Kemal Ataturk - the founder
of modern Turkey - they shouted, "Happy is he who says I'm Turkish",
"No to Islamic fundamentalism", "We are not Armenian, we are Turks".
Some carried placards calling on the armed forces to "do its duty",
clamouring for the military to stage a coup against the government
led by Justice and Development Party (AKP).
Turkey's ruling party comes from an Islamic background.
For the past five years it has done two things. Economically,
it has slavishly implemented a neo-liberal programme set out by
the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that includes a programme of
privatisation, and cuts in social security and the health service.
In doing this, the AKP has won the support of big business in the
country. It has also gained friends in the US for its unstinting
neoliberal policies and its support for US plans in the Middle East -
even though AKP members of parliament voted against allowing US troops
to use Turkish soil for the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
The government continues to enjoy the popular support it won in the
general elections in 2002. It gained a majority because it was not
an establishment party.
The party leader and current prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
was briefly jailed for reciting an Islamic poem during a rally. The
party promised reforms and a more relaxed approach to religion in a
country dominated by the secular establishment.
Despite the neo-liberal economic policies, the AKP government has
taken hesitant but unprecedented steps to resolve the Kurdish problem
and the issue of Cyprus. Partly under European Union pressure, it
has liberalised many restrictive laws governing human rights.
While it has not taken any steps which could in any way be interpreted
as "Islamic", the fact that it comes from an Islamic tradition has
meant that religious people - both Muslim and Christian - have not
felt under pressure from the state.
The AKP government has cut against the grain of Turkey's Kemalist
official ideology. Kemalism is a deeply nationalistic ideology which
gives primacy to the state, the unity of "the nation", secularism
and Westernisation.
It is the justification for military interventions (four coups since
1945) against real and imagined "enemies". Usually the victims of
the military were the left, now the enemy is Islam.
The demonstrators who think they are defending "the Republic" against
Islamic fundementalism are in fact bolstering a state which stifles
democracy and limits human rights in the country.
What is widely dubbed "the deep state" in Turkey - in reality not
"deep" but the state itself, from the army to the bureaucracy to
semi-official hit-squads - has watched the government with a growing
sense of panic.
The sacred cows of Kemalism, the indivisibility of the country and
secularism - meaning no concession to the Kurds or on Cyprus and no
concessions to any sign of religious expression - have seemed to be
under attack.
There have been two mouthpieces of Kemalism and reaction. One is the
armed forces. The second, perhaps more surprisingly for a Western
observer, is the social democratic party, the main opposition party
in parliament.
Both have screamed against all attempts at reforming the monolithic
and repressive state apparatus. And they have constantly harped on
"the danger of Islamic fundamentalism" supposedly represented by the
government party.
There is no such danger in Turkey. Indeed, it is precisely because the
social democrats have constantly shouted about the illusory danger of
Islam that the government has got away with its neo-liberal programme
unopposed.
The crisis came to a head recently after the foreign minister, Abdullah
Gul, was nominated for president of the republic. The election for
president is held by MPs rather than a general vote.
The president is elected by parliament every seven years. The army
and the social democrats have warned that they will not allow a man
whose wife wears the Islamic headscarf to become head of state.
Given that the AKP government can use its parliamentary majority
to get whoever it wants elected, "not allow" means "not allow a
democratically elected government to implement due democratic process".
The two demonstrations last month represent an attempt by the army
to create a popular base for its fight against the government.
There has never been a demonstration in Turkey that has received
such a good press and such help from the authorities. I have never
seen so many people arrive on a demonstration in four-wheel drives
and expensive hair-dos.
Turkey's middle class, organised by the army and the social democratic
party, have taken to the streets to call on the army to defend their
life-styles. The wealthy neighbourhoods of Istanbul were awash with
Turkish flags on the day of the march, elsewhere in the working class
areas there were no flags or support for the demonstration.
As Gul secured a majority in the first round of voting in his election,
the armed forces issued a declaration threatening a coup, and the
social democratic party took the issue to the constitutional court
on a technicality about parliamentary arithmetic.
After the court annulled Gul's vote the general elections, scheduled
for November, will probably now take place in July or August.
There is no doubt that the AKP government will win handsomely. In
the meantime, the onus is on us to speak up for democracy against
the military, while continuing to fight against the government's
neo-liberal programme and to build the campaigns against the occupation
in Iraq and threats against Iran.
The following should be read alongside this article: "
Turkish 'secular' demonstration prepares way for military coup
http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/article.php? article_id=11324
by Ron Margulies, Istanbul
Socialistworker.co.uk, UK
May 4 2007
On two occasions in April hundreds of thousands of Turks took to the
streets of Istanbul and the capital Ankara to defend "the Republic".
Wrapped in Turkish flags and pictures of Kemal Ataturk - the founder
of modern Turkey - they shouted, "Happy is he who says I'm Turkish",
"No to Islamic fundamentalism", "We are not Armenian, we are Turks".
Some carried placards calling on the armed forces to "do its duty",
clamouring for the military to stage a coup against the government
led by Justice and Development Party (AKP).
Turkey's ruling party comes from an Islamic background.
For the past five years it has done two things. Economically,
it has slavishly implemented a neo-liberal programme set out by
the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that includes a programme of
privatisation, and cuts in social security and the health service.
In doing this, the AKP has won the support of big business in the
country. It has also gained friends in the US for its unstinting
neoliberal policies and its support for US plans in the Middle East -
even though AKP members of parliament voted against allowing US troops
to use Turkish soil for the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
The government continues to enjoy the popular support it won in the
general elections in 2002. It gained a majority because it was not
an establishment party.
The party leader and current prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
was briefly jailed for reciting an Islamic poem during a rally. The
party promised reforms and a more relaxed approach to religion in a
country dominated by the secular establishment.
Despite the neo-liberal economic policies, the AKP government has
taken hesitant but unprecedented steps to resolve the Kurdish problem
and the issue of Cyprus. Partly under European Union pressure, it
has liberalised many restrictive laws governing human rights.
While it has not taken any steps which could in any way be interpreted
as "Islamic", the fact that it comes from an Islamic tradition has
meant that religious people - both Muslim and Christian - have not
felt under pressure from the state.
The AKP government has cut against the grain of Turkey's Kemalist
official ideology. Kemalism is a deeply nationalistic ideology which
gives primacy to the state, the unity of "the nation", secularism
and Westernisation.
It is the justification for military interventions (four coups since
1945) against real and imagined "enemies". Usually the victims of
the military were the left, now the enemy is Islam.
The demonstrators who think they are defending "the Republic" against
Islamic fundementalism are in fact bolstering a state which stifles
democracy and limits human rights in the country.
What is widely dubbed "the deep state" in Turkey - in reality not
"deep" but the state itself, from the army to the bureaucracy to
semi-official hit-squads - has watched the government with a growing
sense of panic.
The sacred cows of Kemalism, the indivisibility of the country and
secularism - meaning no concession to the Kurds or on Cyprus and no
concessions to any sign of religious expression - have seemed to be
under attack.
There have been two mouthpieces of Kemalism and reaction. One is the
armed forces. The second, perhaps more surprisingly for a Western
observer, is the social democratic party, the main opposition party
in parliament.
Both have screamed against all attempts at reforming the monolithic
and repressive state apparatus. And they have constantly harped on
"the danger of Islamic fundamentalism" supposedly represented by the
government party.
There is no such danger in Turkey. Indeed, it is precisely because the
social democrats have constantly shouted about the illusory danger of
Islam that the government has got away with its neo-liberal programme
unopposed.
The crisis came to a head recently after the foreign minister, Abdullah
Gul, was nominated for president of the republic. The election for
president is held by MPs rather than a general vote.
The president is elected by parliament every seven years. The army
and the social democrats have warned that they will not allow a man
whose wife wears the Islamic headscarf to become head of state.
Given that the AKP government can use its parliamentary majority
to get whoever it wants elected, "not allow" means "not allow a
democratically elected government to implement due democratic process".
The two demonstrations last month represent an attempt by the army
to create a popular base for its fight against the government.
There has never been a demonstration in Turkey that has received
such a good press and such help from the authorities. I have never
seen so many people arrive on a demonstration in four-wheel drives
and expensive hair-dos.
Turkey's middle class, organised by the army and the social democratic
party, have taken to the streets to call on the army to defend their
life-styles. The wealthy neighbourhoods of Istanbul were awash with
Turkish flags on the day of the march, elsewhere in the working class
areas there were no flags or support for the demonstration.
As Gul secured a majority in the first round of voting in his election,
the armed forces issued a declaration threatening a coup, and the
social democratic party took the issue to the constitutional court
on a technicality about parliamentary arithmetic.
After the court annulled Gul's vote the general elections, scheduled
for November, will probably now take place in July or August.
There is no doubt that the AKP government will win handsomely. In
the meantime, the onus is on us to speak up for democracy against
the military, while continuing to fight against the government's
neo-liberal programme and to build the campaigns against the occupation
in Iraq and threats against Iran.
The following should be read alongside this article: "
Turkish 'secular' demonstration prepares way for military coup
http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/article.php? article_id=11324