Kamil Pasha

Today Turkey expects to learn whether its Constitutional Court will agree to hear an indictment of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) party, requesting that the party be closed down for undermining the secular nature of the state. The indictment has brought turmoil to Turkish politics as the AKP-led government is trying to head off this attempt to close the party by changing the Constitution (or, if it cannot get enough votes in parliament for that, holding a referendum) to make it more difficult for the court to close parties. The political uncertainty occasioned by the indictment has caused economic problems as well, as foreign investors withdraw their capital from Turkish markets in an already problematic world economic environment. AKP won last year’s national elections with 47% of the vote and enjoys enormous popularity. Despite setbacks, mistakes, and a recent slowing down of the reform process, in its six years in power, AKP has attempted to improve standards of living and introduce more liberal rights by aligning Turkey’s institutions and laws to those of the EU in its bid for membership.

The indictment by the chief prosecutor of the Appeals Court — and its eventual hearing by the Constitutional Court — are thus seen by many to be a political move to topple the government, a final showdown between secular state-centered forces (dominated by the military and judiciary) and democratic (and more pious) forces elected to parliament. The stakes are high. European Union Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn has criticized the attempt by Turkish state prosecutors to close the ruling party, saying it could jeopardize Turkey’s EU entry talks. (click here for article)

Meanwhile other important issues languish. For instance, parliamentary efforts to change Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code have been shelved. Article 301 criminalizes “insulting Turkishness”, has been used to prosecute and harrass journalists, writers, publishers, NGOs, and rights activists. The AKP-led government has come under pressure from within and without Turkey to eliminate Article 301, since it hinders free speech. Instead, in the first three months of 2007 alone, 1189 people in 744 cases were tried. In 2006, 835 cases were heard. (article in Turkish)

Civil and economic solutions to the Kurdish crisis also have been shelved. This is a great shame, as there had been an opening for such a solution after the AKP government and the military appeared to have come to an agreement about the need for such measures to supplement military pressure on the PKK. Ihsan Dagi, in his column, suggests that this imminent opening to Kurdish language and cultural rights may have been a major factor in the timing of the anti-AKP indictment. (click here for Dagi’s article). This would constitute further evidence of a split within the Turkish military, with some factions favoring compromise with the AKP government, while others actively try to undermine or even destroy it.

Tags: AKP closure case, Kurds, Politics, Religion, Rights //