Turkey Doesn’t Dodge The Bullet
March 31, 2008, 2:30 pm
Turkey’s Constitutional Court has just announced that it WILL hear a case calling for closure of the governing Justice and Development Party (AK Party). The court’s vote was unanimous, except for the case of President Abdullah Gül, where there were four dissenting votes, but the majority voted to include him in the list of politicians the prosecutor has requested be banned from politics for five years. (The president can only be removed from office for treason; see my previous posts.)
This will no doubt elicit anxiety around the nation and in political and business circles. This decision opens the prospect of months of further economic and political uncertainty, social tension and a growing atmosphere of crisis and chaos as the AKP presents its legal defense and the case drags through the court — or AKP tries to circumvent the court through a constitutional change to limit the court’s power to close parties, or through a referendum. The EU also has indicated that a positive decision on the part of the court and the closing of the popularly elected AKP would deal a death blow to Turkey’s EU aspirations. (details in English)
What EU aspirations??? We do not want the EU! We want secular and independent Turkey!
Independence is possible under the EU umbrella and so is secularism. And I also don’t think that shutting down a ruling party will make you more independent than you are now, en route to accessing the “modern civilizations’ level” which M. Kemal Ataturk has once visioned.
AKP leader has shut his foot.After loosing interest in EU he thought he could play the 47% card.
He should have read the history of democratic struggle in Turkey. My ancestors and I fougth for a democratic and laic country; not for an islamist country.
AKP did not get 47% of the votes by pledging an islamist agenda, on the contrary he sweared “he has changed”Shame on him,he lied. He and his party will go down the history as Milli Nizam,Refah,Fazilet and Saadet did.
I cannot imagine a more important constitutional watershed in Turkey than the one that is quickly approaching.
Those blog readers who are in Boston on the 16th of April may wish to attend the annual Campagna-Kerven lecture on Modern Turkey. This year’s speaker is Henri Barkey. Check out the web site.
http://people.bu.edu/arn/CK/Main%20Page.htm