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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 April 2000 Issue No. 478 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 April 2000 Issue No. 478
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Heritage Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Secularism with an iron fist
By Gareth JenkinsLast week, Turkey's Chief of Staff General Hussein Kivrikoglu bluntly warned Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit that any government-backed candidate should be a secularist "devoted to republican principles who has not been tarnished by allegations of corruption."
Kivrikoglu's statement is widely believed to be directed against Mesut Yilmaz, the chairman of the Motherland Party (ANAP), the junior partner in Ecevit's tripartite coalition government, whose career has been dogged by persistent allegations of tolerating corruption amongst his followers. Nor has the Turkish Chief of Staff forgiven Yilmaz for challenging its authority when he was prime minister in March 1998 by declaring that the struggle against Islamist fundamentalism was the responsibility of the civilian government rather than the military.
"The army will never allow Yilmaz to become president. Never," said a source close to the military.
The military's recent statements are in marked contrast to its silence during the debate over the government's attempts to amend the constitution to lift the ban on a president serving more than a single seven year term and allow Demirel to remain in office. On 5 April the constitutional amendment was defeated in parliament after ANAP members broke with their coalition partners to vote against the proposal in the hope of removing Demirel and leaving the way clear for Yilmaz.
Demirel played a key role in the military-led campaign that brought down Turkey's first explicitly Islamist government in June 1997. Privately the military had made it clear that they had no objection to Demirel remaining in office, even if they had reservations as to how it would be achieved.
"Demirel has done everything that could be expected of a president," said a high-ranking military source. "We were uncomfortable with the constitution being amended for the sake of an individual although these things are for parliament to decide."
But the prospect of Yilmaz becoming president galvanised the military into action. On Saturday, one day before the beginning of the 10-day period for the submission of candidates' names, General Kivrikoglu met with Ecevit to present a list of criteria for any successful candidate.
Ecevit has tried to dismiss suggestions that the military is dictating to the civilian government. "It is only natural for the military to display an interest in the presidential election," he said. "According to the constitution, the president serves on behalf of parliament as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces." However, he declined to comment on suggestions that it was unusual for subordinates to set the criteria for the selection of their commander.
Under Turkish law, the president is elected by parliament. Voting will begin after the 26 April deadline for the submission of candidates' names. If the deputies fail to agree on a candidate after four rounds of voting, parliament will be dissolved and fresh elections held.
General Kivrikoglu's statement has not only infuriated members of ANAP but increased tensions within the coalition government with each party trying to put forward a candidate from its own ranks. Public opinion polls suggest that the most popular candidate would be the current Foreign Minister Ismail Cem from Ecevit's Democratic Left Party (DSP). But both ANAP and the third coalition partner, the ultra nationalist National Movement Party (MHP), insist that the DSP cannot expect to simultaneously hold both the presidency and the prime ministry.
Last weekend the leaders of the three coalition partners held two inconclusive summit meetings amid increasing concern that the deadlock might not only cripple the machinery of government but impose an increasing strain on the 76 year-old Ecevit's already frail health.
Even if the coalition partners do succeed in agreeing on a compromise candidate, the political turmoil is likely to continue. Although he is the same age as Ecevit, Demirel is in remarkably good health and has already indicated that he will return to active politics when he steps down as president.
"What do you expect me to do? Stay at home and look after chickens?" he asked.
His first target is likely to be the True Path Party (DYP), which he led to victory in the 1991 elections before being elected president and whose share of the popular vote has more than halved under Tansu Ciller, his successor as party leader.
Ciller has dismissed suggestions that her position might be under threat. "Water doesn't flow back up hill," she declared on Sunday.
But sources close to Demirel insist that, after 40 years in politics, his ambitions remain undimmed. "Demirel is like a shark. He likes troubled waters," said one. "And if they are not troubled already, then he'll stir them up a bit."
