SALVAGING AKP’S HONOR
Hurriyet
May 5 2010
Turkey
Late in the evening, to be honest towards midnight, while on the
one hand trying to follow the voting in Parliament on the articles
of the constitutional amendment package televised live on channel
three, or the Parliament channel, of the Turkish radio and Television
Corporation, or TRT, on the other hand I was reading a just published
book written by dear friend C. Cem Oguz on relations between Turkey,
Azerbaijan and Armenia, the continued occupation of Azerbaijani
territory by Armenia, genocidal Armenian actions on Azerbaijani people
and the protocols between Turkey and Armenia for improved relations
when with the "truckler" scream of my five Aydan I almost fell off
my chair….
A deputy of the ruling Justice and Ruling Party, or AKP, was running
in joy towards Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to scream out the
good news… "My prime minister… My prime minister… We have done
it… The article has passed!" Because of the ethical codes of the
Daily News, I cannot unfortunately write here my immediate rather
slang reaction to what I saw on the TV screen.
"They have done it… Erdogan succeeded to scare and force them
[those 8 to 12 AKP deputies who voted against and killed the article
regulating party closures] to be in tune with the obedient crowd…" I
mumbled.
Moments later, with the speaker of Parliament announcing that the
article has passed, AKP parliamentarians burst into applause, some
dancing in joy, some enjoying the "great success" by making high
fives with their colleagues… It was as if a major victory was scored
against the enemy forces and a castle was captured….
This week when some AKP deputies realized what grave outcome the push
of their leader Erdogan to collect all powers with himself and his
government at the expense of the "separation of powers" fundamental
principle of democratic governance and thus voted to kill the article
on party closures, they were condemned by the pen-slingers in the
allegiant media of being members of the "Ergenekon gang" within the
ruling party. After that vote there was panic on the faces of Erdogan
and his Merry Men as they feared those who voted against that article
might vote to kill the other contentious two articles aimed at creating
a subservient judicial system.
Through lists of "traitors" published on the front pages, and a stern
not so covert "We respect the outcome of the vote… but, those who
have contributed to this result will give an account of their action
when the time comes" warning of Erdogan at an AKP parliamentary group
meeting, that convened extraordinarily, loyalty of all AKP deputies
was apparently secured.
So, the members of the "Ergenekon gang" sitting on the benches
allocated in parliament for the ruling AKP or those "traitors" within
the ruling party decided to give up their "revolt," to domesticate
themselves and help their absolute leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan to
save the honor of both himself and the AKP…
Honor of the AKP is of course very important. So is the honor of the
family, the village, neighborhood, town or province.
A girl loves someone. The family disapproves. The girl refuses
marrinyg the man the family fixed and insists to marry the man she
loved. Father or brothers of the girl butcher her mercilessly to
save the honor of the family. A group of kids ageing 11 to 14 rape
two toddlers, kill one of them. To save the honor of the town and to
avoid a blood feud, local authorities sort out the "game between kids"
and cover up the crime. A group of men rape scores of students at a
boarding school. For more than one year local authorities keep the
issue away from justice. When the mass-rape case finally reported
by the national media became a national issue, the government comes
up with a stern complaint against the media that the honor of a city
should be protected.
Unfortunately, the honor of the clan precedes the honor of the family;
the honor of the family precedes that of the individual; not only the
honor, but also the wishes, of the male members of the family precede
everything related to the female population, irrespective of age;
and worst, the wishes and ambitions of the political leader who has
all the power to determine the political future of the deputies,
precedes everything else, even if because of such ambitions the
judicial system of the country will be raped….
Whatever… The honor of AKP is salvaged!