Issue No. 605
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26 Sept. - 2 October 2002 Issue No. 605 Region |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
Turkey's troubled elections
The banning of key Islamic and Kurdish figures from running in Turkey's upcoming elections has raised serious questions on what sort of democracy the country enjoys. Gareth Jenkins reports from Ankara
Turkey's often repeated claim to be a fully fledged parliamentary democracy suffered another crippling blow on Friday when the Supreme Electoral Board (SEB) banned Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the leader of the Islamist Justice and Development Party (JDP) and effectively the country's next prime minister in waiting, from standing for parliament in the forthcoming general elections, which are due to be held on 3 November.
The latest opinion polls show the JDP with more than 25 per cent of the vote, nearly twice as much as any other political Party. Prior to Friday's announcement the only question had been whether the JDP would win enough seats to come to power on its own or whether it would need to form a coalition. Whatever the case, Erdogan had appeared set to become prime minister.
But the prospect of an Islamist-led government had set alarm bells ringing in Turkey's secular establishment. In announcing its decision to ban Erdogan from standing for parliament, the SEB cited a provision in the Turkish Constitution which bans any convicted criminal from running for public office. In 1998 Erdogan was prosecuted for reciting a poem which mixed religious and military imagery. Even though the poem is included in school textbooks published by the Turkish Ministry of Education, Erdogan was convicted of inciting religious hatred under the draconian Article 312 of the Turkish Penal Code and subsequently served four months in prison. Article 312 was amended earlier this year but the courts ruled that Erdogan's conviction should remain on the records.
On Friday the SEB also banned former Islamist Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan together with Murat Bozlak and Akin Birdal of the pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party (PDP). Erbakan also has a conviction for inciting religious hatred, while Bozlak and Birdal both have convictions for inciting ethnic hatred after calling for a peaceful solution to the long-running, and still simmering, conflict between the Turkish state and separatist Kurdish rebels.
The decision to ban Erdogan was greeted with outrage by the JDP. "This is a blow to Turkish democracy," declared Abdullah Gul, JDP deputy chairman who is now widely expected to head any JDP-led administration until the ban on Erdogan is lifted. "It shows that Turkey is not so free after all."
The SEB's announcement also triggered a mixture of bewilderment and anger amongst Turkey's Western allies, particularly the EU. Relations with Brussels have recently become increasingly strained over Ankara's refusal to make any concessions over Cyprus and its insistence that it is a fully-fledged democracy and should be given a specific date for membership at the next EU summit in December this year.
"I really don't know what to say," commented one EU diplomat. "Could a real democracy ban the most popular politician in the country?"
But such criticism has been dismissed by Turkey's ailing 79 year-old Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, who vigorously lobbied for foreign support when he himself was temporarily banned from politics in the wake of the 1980 coup.
"If the EU wants Turkey to have a real democracy then it must respect the decisions of the independent Turkish judiciary," he said.
Turkey's powerful military, which has made no secret of its distrust and disdain for Erdogan, has also defended the SEB's decision. "The same laws apply to everyone," declared Air Force Commander General Cumhur Asparuk. "If I committed a crime then I too would expect to be punished."
But the facts suggest otherwise. Although the SEB has banned Erdogan for reciting a poem, it has not objected to a long list of parliamentary candidates with other criminal convictions, including a string of notorious murderers and drug smugglers, much less the corruption which has become virtually endemic in Turkish politics.
Nor is there much doubt that, in the long run, the decision to ban Erdogan will only boost his popularity. At 48 years old, Erdogan still has many years ahead of him. On Friday evening, as he addressed a meeting of Party workers still stunned by the SEB's decision, Erdogan remained upbeat and undeterred; and, if anything, even more confident than ever that his time will eventually come.
"Each night is followed by a morning, each darkness gives way to light," he said.
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