ARIEL COHEN: TURKEY IS U.S. VITAL ALLY IN REGION WROUGHT WITH DANGER
PanARMENIAN.Net
20.05.2008 16:06 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Later this year, the Turkish Constitutional Court
will hear a petition aiming to ban from politics the ruling Justice
and Development Party (AKP) and many of its most prominent members,
including Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, its president,
Abdullah Gul, and several dozen more AKP politicians. Since its
establishment in 1962, the Court has heard no fewer than four other
petitions to prohibit political parties. It has granted all of them.
"The trigger for the latest petition, filed by Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya,
the Turkish state prosecutor, was the AKP’s push to allow the wearing
of the hijab (head cover) in Turkish universities. The hijab row has
caused deep concern among the secular, mostly nationalist elite and
state bureaucracy, who believe that the AKP is instigating a creeping
"Islamization" of the Turkish Republic. Most Turks do not want to
live under sharia law and do not want their country to become another
Iran. The extremist wing of the AKP, along with 7 to 8 percent of
the Turkish population, probably does," said Ariel Cohen, a senior
research fellow at the Heritage Foundation.
"However, banning the party would provoke a massive controversy. First,
there is the issue of popular legitimacy. The AKP won 47 percent
of the vote in the last parliamentary elections, giving it a broad
popular mandate. It may be easy to ban a small, radical party, but it
is very difficult to ban a ruling party with a second-term cabinet,
a popular prime minister, and a newly elected president.
"Second, a judiciary crackdown will undoubtedly prompt AKP supporters
to howl about the "persecution of Muslims," creating a powerful
mobilizing factor for the next elections.
"Third, there is the issue of southeast Turkey. In this region, the
AKP is splitting the vote with the Kurdish DTP party, which has ties to
the PKK terrorist group. Banning the AKP would help the DTP to perform
well in the 2008 municipal elections, scheduled for this coming fall.
"The Turkish state prosecutor would have a stronger case against the
AKP if clear evidence of a conspiracy existed, such as documents
outlining a coup plan, tape recordings of a plot to overthrow the
secular republic, or blatantly subversive links to foreign regimes or
terrorist organizations. Instead, the AKP has an amorphous agenda:
parts of its platform smack of Islamization, but the Court lacks a
clear evidentiary base to banish it from politics.
"The international repercussions of this case are enormous. The
vast majority of elite Turks want their country to join the European
Union. The AKP has done much to promote Turkey’s accession, despite
resistance from many European quarters. The EU and European governments
have clearly indicated that if the Court bans the AKP, it will set
back Turkish EU membership for years, if not indefinitely.
"At the same time, preserving the republic and repulsing threats both
external and internal is the top priority for Turkey’s state guardians:
lawyers, judges, military officers, and security commanders.
They will ignore foreign protests if they feel their country is
in peril.
"In deciding the AKP case, the Constitutional Court should use a
laser scalpel, not a sledgehammer. It could place a sanction on the
AKP and block its efforts at Islamization, yet not ban the party and
not destroy the democratic foundations of the Turkish state. The
Court could bar a handful of the most notorious AKP politicians,
but not the popular Erdogan and Gul. It could deny the AKP state
funds for implementation of its Islamization agenda. It could warn
the cabinet not to ignore the country’s secular spirit and legacy.
"Turkey is a vital ally of the United States in a region wrought with
danger. Washington is well advised to stay out of Turkey’s existential
crisis and let the Court settle it the best way it can. Americans
should respect Turkey’s maturity and independence. But Washington
should also emphasize its desire to maintain robust bilateral
relations," Mr Cohen said, The American reports.