Today’s Zaman , Turkey
March 8 2009

Candidates from minority groups too few to improve democracy

Turkey’s prominent political parties wish to garner the votes of
minority groups in the March 29 municipal elections with their
candidates from minority groups, which observers believe to be too few
in number to draw these votes.

Voters will select more than 200,000 new mayors and hundreds of
provincial and local administrators on March 29, a day that will be a
turning point in Turkish politics. There is fierce competition among
political parties for the elections and many parties have already
played their trump cards, among which are candidates from different
ethnic and religious backgrounds.

Observers, however, believe the number of minority candidates is too
few to attract minority groups.

`Unfortunately, we have become a society that places ideas above such
notions as race, religion or sect. This deficiency makes itself felt
in a number of fields, including politics. Political parties prefer to
cluster around religion or race rather than around ideologies, ideas
or thoughts,’ stated Mehmet Altan, a columnist for the Star daily.

Altan said the very limited number of people from different ethnic and
religious backgrounds named as candidates in the approaching local
elections would contribute very little to the improvement of Turkish
democracy.

The only candidate with Jewish roots to run in the municipal elections
is Yusuf Bahar, the Democrat Party’s (DP) candidate for mayor in
Ä°stanbul’s Adalar district.

Bahar said he has never faced any trouble in Turkey for being Jewish,
adding that individuals should not be categorized by their ethnic or
religious backgrounds. `I believe people need to see everyone as
citizens of the Republic of Turkey, and not as someone of Jewish
origin or Armenian origin. My Jewish roots have never been a problem
for me either in my private or professional life,’ he noted.

Additionally, a citizen with Armenian roots has made her way onto the
ballot for the municipality council as the Nationalist Movement
Party’s (MHP) candidate for mayor in Ä°stanbul’s
BakırkÃ&#xB6 ;y district.

Haco KeleÅ? said he received a proposal from the MHP’s candidate
for Bakırköy mayor, Esra Bicik, to be included on the
list for municipality council. `I accepted the proposal thinking it
would be a good move to assume the duty of establishing dialogue
between the cultures,’ he said.

KeleÅ? maintained that citizens living in Turkey with different
backgrounds don’t see themselves as minorities, adding: `We, as people
having lived in this country for several centuries, see ourselves as
citizens of the Republic of Turkey. We promise that we will contribute
solutions to problems.’

Bicik said it was the right of minority groups in the country to be
represented in the elections. `Our stance regarding minorities is well
known. The MHP believes everyone living within the borders of the
Republic of Turkey should be able to benefit from equal rights
regardless of their languages, religions or races,’ she added.

Better known for its nationalist line, the MHP also named candidates
with Kurdish and Arab backgrounds for the March 29 polls. Among these
are Mehmet Ã-zyavuz, the candidate for mayor in southeastern
Å?anlıurfa’s Harran district, and Mustafa
SaÄ?ır, the candidate for mayor in
Å?anlıurfa’s Akçakale district. Both Ã-zyavuz
and SaÄ?ır have Arab roots. Among the MHP’s Kurdish
candidates is Ã-mer Ã-zalp, the party’s candidate for mayor in
Å?anlıurfa’s Halfeti district.

The MHP is known to have turned its back on the Kurdish problem in the
country for many years, and its naming of Kurdish candidates in the
approaching municipal elections has begged the question of whether it
hopes to win back the hearts of the Kurdish population ahead of the
elections in order to garner their votes.

Turkey’s Kurdish question has existed since the founding of the
Turkish Republic but has turned violent in the last 25 years, with the
Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) launching an armed campaign for
autonomy against Turkish civilians and security forces in Turkey’s
Kurdish-populated Southeast.

Similar moves to those of the MHP have come from the ruling Justice
and Development Party (AK Party) and main opposition Republican
People’s Party (CHP), which named Alevi candidates in the upcoming
polls.

The Alevi community in Turkey is a religious group that differs from
Sunni Islam and is thought to have between six and 12 million
adherents. The Alevis have complained on various occasions about being
subjected to discrimination and deprived of their cultural and
religious rights.

Mümtaz’er Türköne, a professor of political
science, said the representation of minority groups in the elections
would help improve democracy in Turkey, though he notes that there are
very few candidates representing these groups in the approaching
polls.

`When it comes to the reason why there are very few candidates
representing minority groups, I don’t think it is discrimination
against them. What I have observed until now is our citizens belonging
to various minority groups that do not wish to engage in politics for
a number of reasons. They are either not interested in politics or do
not wish to expose their identities in society. They refrain from
politics for such reasons,’ he said.

Contrary to the general opinion, Türköne added that
there are probably more candidates representing religious minorities
in the elections. `It is not that easy to make a distinction between a
Sunni and an Alevi. There may be several Alevi candidates on the
parties’ lists who refuse to expose their Alevi identities. This is
all caused by fear that they may be subjected to some sort of
discrimination when people learn about their actual backgrounds,’ he
remarked.

08 March 2009, Sunday
BETÃ`L AKKAYA DEMÄ°RBAÅ? Ä°STANBUL