MOST LEFTIST PARTIES DO NOT SUPPORT APRIL 14 RALLY

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
April 12, 2007

Many of the parties on Turkey’s left have no intention of attending,
or in some cases even supporting, the "Cankaya meeting," a protest
rally on April 14 organized by the Kemalist Thought Association (ADD).

Amongst the parties which will not attend the ADD rally will be
the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ODP), the Turkish Communist Party
(TKP) and the Labor Party (EMEP). Though the Workers’ Party (ÝP) has
expressed support for the April 14 rally, it has also noted that it
has reservations about the underlying philosophy of the protest. In
addition the ÝP’s general leader Doðu Perincek will not be able to
attend the meeting, as he will be in Paris on the same day to protest
Armenian allegations of genocide.

Speaking about why his party would not participate in the ADD protest,
ODP leader Ufuk Uras said that he thought it was necessary to stay far
away from a platform which was guided by those who had attempted coups
in the name of the democratic public. EMEP general leader Levent Tuzel
echoed these remarks, noting that taking a look back at events from
Turkey’s recent history, the upcoming April 14 meeting was reminiscent
of some "contra-guerilla tactics" experienced by the country. As for
the TKP, leader Aydemir Guler said that his party was not interested
in the Cankaya Meeting.

ODP general leader Uras talked about his party’s views of whom the
new Turkish president should be, noting that it should be someone
who kept not only the needs of the military and bureaucracy in mind,
but also those of all the different parts of society. Uras also
underlined that the new Turkish president should not attempt to deny
Turkey’s many cultural identities and should be respectful of Turkey’s
unique fabric. He explained: "The new president must be a democrat
and must not make concessions where universal principles of justice
are concerned. The new president must be fully aware of every kind
of guardianship he or she has over civil politics. It is useful to
examine the situation from this perspective. Cankaya must move from
being a glass palace to being an office where the various sections
of society can speak and be listened to. Of course this Parliament
holds the legitimate right to elect the president, but it should also
be aware that that seat is being filled only due to an election law
that tramples the principle of justice in representation. And it must
thus search for ways to alter this and right it."

EMEP leader Tuzel noted that in the run up to the presidential
elections organizations formed by retired military officers might
in fact appear to be like the more left-leaning groups that form the
front legs of the opposition CHP, but that in fact these parties are
moving into action by coalescing with the right. Tuzel noted then
that these new initiatives hold nothing for the immediate needs of
the workers and laborers of today. He said: "We have larger problems
on our agenda to deal with; hunger, democratization and the events
in the Middle East. These are much more important for us. We see
the upcoming organized meeting as attempting to put together a front
which will then put pressure on the prime minister and the rest of
the administration. We have read about similar tactics before in the
media, namely the ‘andýc’ (a leaked military memorandum) incident
and the retired general’s notebook."

Meanwhile ÝP Party leader Perincek, who will be in Paris for a
different protest on April 14, spoke about his ambiguous support for
the ADD meeting: "As a party we support this meeting, but we do find
some things lacking: it is not enough to say only that Tayyip Erdoðan
cannot be president. You also have to present some sort of solution
to Turkey. This rally cannot simply be to come out in protest of
something; it must be a protest against Tayyip Erdoðan’s presidency
within the larger framework of the national government project… This
meeting has some aspects to it that are lacking."

–Boundary_(ID_2NFbvET6ZWLQhf7vdsk t7Q)–