Today’s Zaman, Turkey
June 9 2007
Who should Armenians vote for?
Turkish Armenian Patriarch Mesrob Mutafyan told Germany-based Der
Spiegel magazine he would vote for the Justice and Development Party
(AK Party).
His announcement sparked nationwide debate, and some circles and
columnists upset by the announcement argued that Armenians should be
aligned with the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and vote for them.
Although it is unclear whether Mesrob II will really vote for the AK
Party or was simply trying to avoid conflict with the leading party,
it’s certain that his statement conflicted with some of the settled
views in the country. According to these views, a Christian Armenian
should support and vote for the pro-laicist CHP instead of the
pro-religious AK Party. Islam is considered a rival to Christianity.
Hence Christians or any other minority group should naturally be
closer to a laicist party.
But in reality, this view does not hold true in Turkey because
laicism in our country does not allow religious freedom; especially
the CHP’s understanding of laicism, which is identical to positivism.
In Western democracies, people from different religious and ethnic
groups usually support social democrats because these parties are
less conservative and more respectful toward religious freedoms.
Minority rights and freedom of religion is fundamental to them. They
are strong advocates of freedoms, including religious freedom.
In Turkey however, social democrats favor restrictions and
limitations. They favor the republic more than democracy, but they
don’t trust the leader of the republic too much. They believe the
military can resolve all problems and perceive both minorities and
majorities as potential threats to the nation.
The CHP has embraced a Jacobin culture since they day of its
founding. It is a party that imposes and determines. After a
columnist suggested Armenians should vote for the CHP, they said
`Turkey is a laicist state, a religious man should not interfere in
politics,’ and applied to a prosecutor’s office. History has no
records of the CHP’s efforts to expand freedoms, democracy and human
rights. Westernization for the CHP means laicism, which is the only
concern of the CHP, and laicism for CHP means pushing religion out of
social life, instead of incorporating it.
The CHP is an anti-EU, anti-globalization, anti-development,
anti-social values and anti-rights social democrat party. Throughout
history conservative groups have never been disturbed by minority
groups, and as for the attacks against non-Muslims in recent years,
it is certain that the source behind them is different. A Muslim with
a religious education knows they must protect the rights, life and
possessions of different religious members living in their country.
That said, why should any minority group in Turkey vote for the CHP?