SEZER, THE LAST PRESIDENT’S ANTI-CLIMAX
cafebabel.com, France
May 2 2007
His ascent to President of Turkey was anticipated with much hope. But
as Ahmet Necdet Sezer prepares to wave goodbye, the results of his
7 years in office are hard to discern
Independent, undogmatic and incorruptible – just three adjectives that
accompanied Ahmet Necdet Sezer, 65, upon his accession to guarantor
of democracy and rule of law in Turkey.
The first president not to be a member of the political establishment
nor of military stock, Sezer, with a degree in law and career
experience as a judge, managed to unite the hopes of all Turks that
the way into Europe would be smoother. In contrast to his ageing
predecessor and one of the founding fathers of the political landscape,
Suleyman Demirel, Sezer embodied a break with the past and a period
of renewal.
In from the wings without a power base
As president of the constitutional court, Sezer found himself as an
outsider. It’s no secret that former Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit,
who died in November 2006, would have much preferred Demirel to serve a
second term. But as he lacked the necessary majority in parliament to
change the constitution, the vote swung to Sezer. A candidate without
a political power base, he was a figure on whom both the Nationalists
and Islamists could agree on. On 6 May 2000, Sezer was elected with the
support of all political parties and to lauds from the Western press.
Today, as the election of his successor stands firmly on the agenda,
the results of his term in office are receiving somewhat mixed
reviews – not least his contribution to European integration. ‘He
simply hasn’t fulfilled the hopes which were placed on him,’ says
Jan Senkyr, representative of the German Konrad Adenauer Foundation
in Ankara. ‘At the beginning, Sezer intended to tackle the economic
reforms and champion freedom of opinions. In the end, he acted as less
of a motor and more of a break pedal to the whole reform process.’ The
reasons for Sezer’s political impotence lies less with Sezer, and
more in the changing political scene, according to Senkyr.
‘Laissez-faire’ approach
3 November 2002 saw the dissolution of the national-conservative
government of Bulent Ecevit by current prime minister Recep Tayyip
Erdoðan’s Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP).
However, the ascension of the moderate Islamists presented a threat
to the laid-back politics of Sezer.
Time and again, Sezer thwarted the proposed parliamentary bills by
refusing to sign them and opposed the naming of new judges and civil
servants. ‘Above all, Sezer rejected reforms which threatened to
alter the strongly liberal characteristics of the Republic,’ says
Senkyr. ‘But then again he always blocked EU interference through
proposed projects like reforms to ensure equality for religious
minorities.’
Tensions were also apparent in Sezer’s relationship with Erdoðan. As
Erdoðan’s wife wore a headscarf, Sezer purposely invited the Prime
Minister to state receptions alone. Such a rebuff was also issued
towards other wives of AKP ministers who wore the ‘Turban’, by refusing
them entry to the presidential palace. ‘Sezer and Erdoðan had very
different political viewpoints: they didn’t trust each other,’ says
Senkyr. One theory is that Sezer feared, like many Kemalists, that
the AKP has a secret agenda to Islamitise the state.
Even when Sezer didn’t prevent laws coming in to force, he sought
to postpone them, always succeeding in placing an obstacle in the
government’s way. ‘According to the constitution, the President plays
no direct executive role. But as Ataturk’s successor (the founder
of the modern Turkish secular state in 1923), he enjoyed a lot of
prestige,’ explains Senkyr. In addition, Sezer is commander-in-chief
of the armed forces. In a state still highly influenced by a tense
relationship with the military, this is a powerful position to hold.
Kemalist layer
In August 2000, Sezer risked a very public clash with the army over his
refusal to sign an accord allowing the government to remove Kurdish
and Islamic officials from the civil service. Getting his seal of
approval however were bills abolishing the death penalty, reducing
military powers and fighting corruption. After the AKP victory however,
Sezer moved towards Kemalist circles. In August 2006, he appointed
hard-line liberal General Mehmet Yaþar Buyukanýt as head of the army.
Other issues also showed Sezer’s Kemalist colours to the full. When
novelist Orhan Pamuk received the Nobel Prize for Literature in
October 2006 for his analysis of the Armenian massacres of 1914, the
honour went fully unacknowledged. Such a standoff is also apparent
in his notable absence from the funeral of Hrant Dink, the Armenian
journalist who was murdered in early 2007 by a young nationalist.
So how should Sezer be remembered? Despite his positive political
impulse, he has arguably been a true defender of the Kemalist spirit:
where the state will always come before its citizens.
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