Sunday’s Zaman, Turkey
July 19 2009
CHP once again at odds with Socialist International’s values
The main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) recent attempt
to have the Constitutional Court annul a widely acclaimed amendment
paving the way for the instigators of military coups to be tried in
civilian courts has proven once again that the party has made
violating the Socialist International’s (SI) values and principles a
tradition.
The amendment, which was passed with the approval of all parties
represented in Parliament, prevents civilians from being tried by
military courts and allows the trial of military personnel by civilian
courts when charged with forming gangs, terrorism or crimes against
the Constitution. The CHP voted in favor of this legislation but
changed its stance less than 12 hours after it was approved because,
party deputies say, they were fooled by the ruling Justice and
Development Party (AK Party). The CHP then brought the amendment
before the Constitutional Court, demanding its annulment.
The CHP’s move has been criticized nationwide because the amendment is
widely seen as an opportunity to bring coup planners within the army
to justice since the military judiciary, by its very nature, is not
capable of conducting an independent and impartial hearing. Turkey’s
military courts and their rulings have incessantly been criticized by
the European Union as their judgments are neither immune to the
General Staff’s influence nor independent of the hierarchical command
structure of the military.
If this amendment is annulled by the Constitutional Court, Turkey will
again be the only member of the 47-nation Council of Europe where
civilians can still be tried by military courts.
SI condemns coup backers while CHP protects them
A recent statement from the SI read, `The Council of the Socialist
International ¦ condemns in the strongest terms the coup
d’état against the government of President José Manuel
Zelaya Rosales in Honduras,’ inspiring people on the streets in Turkey
to carry banners with the message `The CHP can now join the government
in Honduras,’ accusing the party of aligning itself with coup
supporters. The SI defines itself as an `association of political
parties and organizations which seek to establish democratic
socialism.’ Therefore, political parties affiliated with the SI should
by definition be social democrats and should never inspire this kind
of public criticism.
The CHP has violated many articles in the SI’s Ethical
Charter. Article 3 in the SI’s Ethical Charter states that its member
parties will `reject and resolutely oppose any drift to
authoritarianism as well as any political system which allows or
practices the violation of human rights to conquer or impose its power
(political assassination, torture, arbitrary detention, press
censorship, banning or repression of peaceful demonstrations, etc).’
Almost all the offenses listed here are in the thousands of pages of
indictments prepared by civilian prosecutors against the defendants
standing trial in the ongoing Ergenekon case, which is widely believed
to be a historic case, strengthening Turkey’s democracy. However, CHP
leader Deniz Baykal has stated on several occasions that he is the
advocate of the Ergenekon defendants, who are primarily charged with
plotting to topple the democratically elected government. With its
latest attempt to have the judicial
reform legislation annulled by the Constitutional Court, the CHP
simply added to its record of standing by the prime suspects of
anti-democratic actions.
The party, however, no longer surprises observers in the country since
it already revealed that it was not going to take a stance against
interventions into Turkey’s democracy by welcoming the General Staff’s
April 27, 2007 memorandum, which mainly criticized then-Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gül’s presidential candidacy. The statement
was slammed by the government as well as almost all political and
non-political circles in the country, but while Baykal remained silent
and did not show any reaction at all, the party’s deputy chairman,
Onur Ã-ymen, said his own thoughts were completely in line with
what was written by then-Chief of General Staff Gen. YaÅ?ar
BüyükanÄ&#x B1;t in the memorandum.
All the same CHP
Besides the CHP’s most recent move, many other instances showing the
CHP’s tradition of being in stark contrast with the SI are still fresh
in people’s minds. Article 3 of the SI’s Ethical Charter also says
member parties will `respect and reinforce fundamental human rights,
be they individual rights (respect of private life, freedom of
thought, belief, education, sexual orientation and the right to equal
treatment, etc.)’ and `fight against all forms of discrimination based
on gender, race, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, language, religion
and philosophical or political beliefs.’
The CHP, however, which is supposed to be fully committed to observing
these principles, previously had legislation allowing women who wear
headscarves into universities annulled by the Constitutional
Court. The legislation was passed with the backing of more than 400
deputies in the 550-seat Turkish Parliament in February 2008. Thanks
to the CHP, female students wearing headscarves simply out of respect
for their religious duties are still unable to attend universities in
Turkey.
This was neither the first nor the last of such discriminatory
behavior by the CHP. The party took no action when CHP Ä°zmir
deputy Canan Arıtman made racist statements about President
Gül. Arıtman alleged that Gül was of Armenian
origin and that was why he had adopted a moderate stance toward an
apology campaign to Armenians initiated by a group of intellectuals in
the country last year. The CHP went under fire for tolerating
Arıtman’s attitude, described as `fascist’ by many both in and
outside Turkey. It is easy to see that Arıtman’s statements in
particular and the CHP’s lack of action against her in general violate
the SI’s code of conduct.
The CHP has a long tradition of violating the SI’s proclaimed values
and principles, which the association vows to comply with `in the
strictest way possible.’ The only question remaining here is whether
the association will take any action against the CHP for its conduct,
particularly in the last two years, or if it will risk losing
credibility in the eyes of social democrats, not only in Turkey, but
also on a wider scale.
`CHP should be expelled from SI immediately’
Public concern about the CHP was conveyed to the SI at last year’s
congress in Athens. Professor Baskın Oran demanded the CHP’s
expulsion in a letter he sent to members of the association in
2008. Speaking to Sunday’s Zaman, he said the CHP’s application to
Constitutional Court last week has made it even more necessary for the
SI to take action against the party.
`I wrote last year to SI members that the CHP was not a social
democratic but a statist and pro status quo political party. I had
backed up my argument with what they had done during the presidential
elections and in the headscarf issue. This year, it is continuing to
do more of the same. Now, the SI should not lose one more minute and
immediately expel the CHP, not only for its own credibility but also
for the sake of making the CHP a real social democratic party,’ he
suggested.
Tarık Ziya Ekinci, a Kurdish intellectual and an ex-deputy from
the now-defunct Turkish Workers’ Party (TÄ°P), also told
Sunday’s Zaman that the CHP is not qualified to be a member of the
SI. `The party’s last move was a blow to Turkish democracy, and such
an undemocratic and also anti-democratic party can have nothing to do
with the SI’s code of conduct,’ he said, openly calling for action
from the association.
19 July 2009, Sunday
MUSTAFA EDÄ°B YILMAZ ANKARA
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
