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ANKARA: A New Political Term Starting With Eid Al-Fitr

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  • ANKARA: A New Political Term Starting With Eid Al-Fitr

    A NEW POLITICAL TERM STARTING WITH EID AL-FITR

    Today's Zaman
    Sept 1 2008
    Turkey

    The new legislative term political actors are readying for will begin
    with a first in Turkey's republican history. For the first time,
    Parliament's Oct. 1 return to session will coincide with Eid al-Fitr.

    The opening will be held on the festival day, as per the Constitution;
    however, whether the president will give a speech at the opening is
    not yet clear. Parliament may have a break through the end of the
    festival -- it's an official holiday -- after the opening session. If
    Parliament decides not to take a break, the president may deliver
    his opening speech.

    A friend of mine who is an experienced politician hopes that the
    new term starting with the festival will be of free crises, saying,
    "If everyone is able to renew themselves by learning lessons from
    the past, politics may refocus on its real mission: the generation
    of solutions to the existing problems."

    Noting that the opposition parties -- particularly the main opposition
    -- seem unable to renew themselves, Bekir Bozdag, a leading Justice
    and Development Party (AK Party) figure, underlines that those
    accustomed to relying upon irresolution have little chance to adopt
    solution-oriented politics.

    Political actors are making their calculations for the new term and the
    upcoming local elections in early 2009. The AK Party, whose success
    in the July 22 elections was undermined by the closure case against
    it, is eager to secure another victory in the local elections. The
    leading AK Party names who say that this will not be an ordinary
    victory attach great importance to local elections for the sake of
    Turkey's normalization and the provision of uninterrupted services
    until the general elections. They have a clear goal: to exceed the
    47 percent of votes in the July 22 elections by one or two points
    and to win the local government seats in Diyarbakır, Izmir, Tunceli
    and Cankaya. Such a victory would allow the AK Party to expand the
    sphere of politics in Turkey and give the message to the outer world
    that it is a ruling party with strong popular support.

    AK Party figures who note that a strong message would also contribute
    to greater economic stability in a relatively shorter time view this
    goal as part of preparation for the general elections that will be
    held either in 2011 or 2012. The ruling party attaches importance to
    the local elections and political stability to reduce inflation rate
    to one-digit figures, create employment opportunities and to raise
    per capita income to $10,000.

    A leftist friend of mine who notes that the political left will taste a
    bitter defeat in the elections, says: "For a new leftist movement that
    will focus on the generation of solutions, the [Republican People's
    Party] CHP should taste a defeat. Otherwise, the emergence of a leftist
    party against the political right will be postponed all the time and,
    as usual, Turkey will pay for the lack of a strong opposition."

    There is no visible sign that the CHP, which lost impact because of
    its tense relations with the army, universities and the judiciary,
    will develop a new style of politics in the new term. Its recent
    reaction to proposals by Parliament Speaker Köksal Toptan and the
    Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) shows that it will stick to its
    former political line.

    The MHP keeps stressing that Turkey needs normalize in an attempt to
    expand its sphere of supporters. However the party, which succeeded
    in implementing this policy until March 14, failed to pass the test
    during the closure case against the AK Party. Proposals voiced by
    MHP leader Devlet Bahceli -- who said the AK Party should change its
    leader or clone itself -- met with serious reaction by the party's
    support base and deputies. Some leading names even assert that Bahceli
    will restrict the party's sphere of influence with his proposals.

    The MHP has prepared a nine-article package to address the developments
    that negatively affected the party's image. Though it seems sincere in
    its proposals, the AK Party is taking a cautious approach toward the
    MHP's attempts, considering that the cooperation between the AK Party
    and the MHP in regards to the constitutional amendments brought the
    former to the brink of closure. For this reason, the new proposals
    by the MHP are being met with suspicion. Skeptics view the package
    as a new plot.

    However the MHP, which is not plotting, is developing a set of
    policies in an attempt to ensure normalization in Turkey and prevent
    a probable election defeat. The Democratic Society Party (DTP) will
    probably encounter difficult times in the new term. The DTP will have
    difficulty maintaining its support base because of the discussions that
    took place during the Ergenekon case process. The DTP will have to deal
    with the closure case and is uncomfortable with the recently escalated
    terror. The party does not want to lose the Diyarbakır Municipality to
    the AK Party, but is having trouble because of the lack of a coherent
    approach vis-a-vis the terror issue and the Ergenekon case.

    Gul's second year in the presidential palace has begun

    President Abdullah Gul, who has completed his first year in the office,
    gave important messages at the start of the second year. Gul, who was
    elected president following bitter discussions, rendered opposition
    against his presidency ineffective because of his good performance.

    President Gul, whose difference from his predecessors Demirel and
    Sezer was pretty visible, demonstrated that he paid attention to
    transparency when he decided to post documentaries on Ataturk on the
    presidency's official Web site.

    During his term so far, Gul has hosted 19 heads of state and paid
    21 visits to 17 countries. His scheduled visit to Yerevan in the
    first week of his second year in the office is significant in many
    respects. This visit will carry a number of messages, including that
    Yerevan should pursue a policy independent of the Armenian diaspora
    and that both countries need to seek resolution of the bilateral
    dialogue problems.

    Mrs. Paksut and YARSAV Chair Eminagaoglu

    Ankara, which had been quiet and silent for a while, was rocked by two
    scandals. The interrogation of Ferda Paksut, the wife of Constitutional
    Court Deputy Chairman Osman Paksut, as "suspect" in connection with
    the Ergenekon case reminded of some serious allegations regarding
    to the AK Party closure case. The second scandal concerns Union of
    Judges and Prosecutors (YARSAV) Chairman Omer Faruk Eminagaoglu,
    who allegedly dodged the obligatory military service by using a fake
    health report declaring him unfit to serve.

    These two scandals are particularly important because the major actors
    in these scandals have affiliations with legal institutions.

    The active role Ferda Paksut played during the closure case process
    undermines the impartial status of her husband. In fact, Osman Paksut
    contradicted the image of an honest lawyer when he denied a bilateral
    meeting with Gen. Ä°lker BaÅ~_bug.

    Many are now saying Eminagaoglu should complete his military service
    and that Paksut should resign.

    --Boundary_(ID_8FPLEX9LVjjAlJAUcQecOA)--

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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