TURKISH OPPOSITION CRITICIZES RULING AKP

Hurriyet
March 16 2010
Turkey

As Turkey’s Nationalist Movement Party signals a green light for a
government-led bill on stone-throwing children, Republican People’s
Party leader Deniz Baykal calls on the government to keep its distance
from religion, the judiciary and the military A bill on stone-throwing
children in eastern and southeastern Turkey and the tension between
the military and government were the main heated topics on the agenda
of opposition political parties Tuesday.

Devlet Bahceli, the leader of Turkey’s Nationalist Movement Party,
or MHP, announced his party’s partial support for a government-led
bill that would reduce the harsh penalties imposed on children who
have thrown stones at security forces.

Republican People’s Party, or CHP, leader Deniz Baykal meanwhile
criticized the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, for its
attempts to dominate the judiciary and military.

Speaking at his party’s parliamentary group meeting Tuesday, MHP
leader Bahceli said the party will lend its support to the bill on
stone-throwing children if the government comes up with a permanent
solution that addresses the youths’ actions against the police without
leading to their extended imprisonment.

"We can’t back any move that will leave the crime unanswered,"
Bahceli said. "We will, of course, lend our support to a move that
will guarantee that children who throw stones today will not shoot
a soldier tomorrow. But we will not allow any move that will enable
children to throw stones at the police or police centers."

The AKP’s bill to reduce the penalties on stone-throwing children will
be discussed Thursday at the Parliament’s justice commission. The
bill is expected to cover not only children under the age of 18 who
are accused of involvement in terror-related cases, but all minors
charged with any type of crime.

CHP a ‘guarantor for democracy’

Noting the importance of eliminating the social factors that lead
children to crime, Bahceli said: "Without eliminating the real reasons
behind their motivation, the problem can’t be solved. Apart from police
officers distributing candy to children and the local administrations’
local measures, what will the government do to end this problem?"

Bahceli urged the government to cooperate with education experts,
jurists and sociologists to solve the problem. At the same meeting,
he also criticized the resolutions passed by the Swedish parliament
and a U.S. House committee recognizing the deaths of Armenians in
1915 as "genocide."

"All optimistic pictures created by the ruling government have
turned out to be false," Bahceli said, criticizing the government for
appearing sympathetic to other countries while harming its own history.

Baykal, meanwhile, called his CHP a guarantor against any possible
military intervention in politics.

"During previous military coups, CHP-affiliated people suffered a lot.

But we never bore suspicion about our belief in both the Turkish
Armed Forces and democracy," Baykal said.

"A democratic system works in Turkey. The biggest assurance against any
possible military intervention in politics is the CHP, as the political
cadre that has seen many coups. Nobody should be engaged in any effort
to take revenge," Baykal said, referring to recent claims that the
AKP is trying to influence the judiciary and dominate the military.

"The political parties should remain distant from religion, [the
military] and the judiciary," Baykal added, calling on the AKP to
bring those who have initiated de facto coups before the judiciary,
not those who simply had such plans in their minds.