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The European anchor is the most secure barrier to Turkey’s "re-orient-ation" from west to east

28 February 2014 / 02:02:27  GRReporter
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- It can be said that Turkey is witnessing a typical case of becoming high and mighty in terms of the one-party government of the moderate Islamists from the Party of Justice and Development AKP, which has governed the country alone for 11 years, in three consecutive terms. The success of the single party government is largely due to its charismatic leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The fact that the party increased the percentage of its votes three times, 34.63% in 2002, 46.58% in 2007 and nearly 50% in the last parliamentary elections in 2011, is a phenomenon in the modern political history of Turkey. In practice, it appears that every second Turkish voter voted for the Party of Justice and Development. This conservative party that asserts the Islamic values has ​​actually pushed outside parliament all the classic right-wing parties such as the Motherland Party established by Turgut Ozal and the True Path Party of Suleiman Demirel, permanently occupying the right wing. The only right opposition is the nationalists who have 53 seats in the 550-seat parliament. The Social Democrats who are the largest opposition power are not a real threat to the ruling party. They hold 135 seats in the Majlis. Before the corruption scandal that broke out on 17 December last year, the Party of Justice and Development was represented by 327 members. Now it has 7 members less because of those who have left it and have become independent. A few months ago the Turkish leader defined the profile of the AKP party as "conservative democrats" and the opposition called it an "oxymoron party" because this combination of words is itself contradictory. The ideological ground of this party has its roots in political Islam. Erdogan, even at the outset, had attempted to distinguish himself from the National Vision movement of his teacher Necmettin Erbakan, arguing that the new pro-Islamist party was reformist and could not be perceived as a successor to the hardline Islamist Welfare Party that, after another political ban, was renamed Happiness Party, as it is called even today. One of the most disturbing trends that we are seeing today in Turkey and which has further intensified during the last term of the government is Erdogan’s inclination towards authoritarianism and monocracy, because the ruling party is generally a leading party. Especially recently, it has become too dangerous to give priority to Islamic values ​​over those of parliamentary democracy and democratic rule of law. We are seeing a drastic interference in peoples’ life, style and attitude as well as the desire to shape a new type of unified Turkish citizen, who is appealing or "pleasing" to the vision of Erdogan and the Party of Justice and Development. Examples of this include the following: strict limitations imposed by the government, through legislative changes, on smoking and on the use and sale of alcohol, the "optional but desirable dress code" and the behaviour in institutions, the cronyism related to "our close people", the maximalism in making and enforcing decisions, including in the case of the reconstruction of the centre in Taksim without holding a referendum among the residents of Istanbul, which had led to the ecological protest "Occupy GEZİ PARK" on 31 May last year. All this had intensified the polarization within Turkish society, alienating the "other", the modern and secular urban people, who had eventually risen in an anti-government rebellion that had spread to 81 districts. The unprecedented protests in Gesine Park had grown throughout Turkey and they were called "the new young Turk revolution" against Erdogan’s idea to build a "New Turkey", its mission being "Goal 2023" and its final goal "The Second Republic". The date is very symbolic because it marks the 100th anniversary of the secular republic created by "the father of the Turks" Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Some analysts argue that the real goal is a historical revenge and "erdoganzation" of the Turkish nation under the model of Russia under Putin’s government. Moreover, the recent developments in the country prove that the Party of Justice and Development and Erdogan have never broken off from the vision of political Islam, which is similar to that of the anti-Western Islamist movement "Muslim Brotherhood" that was established in 1928. If Turkish citizens do not hamper with their votes the plans of the Turkish leader to become an "eligible sultan" by changing the basic law, the common fears that Erdogan will fully master the legislative power and the media can be defined as real. In this case, the constitutional principle of separation of powers and the secular nature of the political system will remain only "on paper". The bodies of executive power, which will be controlled by the head of state, will establish control over the functioning of the judicial system and this will greatly endanger the European perspective of the country because of the anti-democratic events. In this case, it will not be a forecast if we say that either Turkey or the European Union can interrupt the negotiation process. For the time being, the rules of the Party of Justice and Development do not allow re-election of deputies for more than 3 times, which also applies to the Prime Minister, unless Erdogan wins the presidential election in August, which is very doubtful. Then his last trump card to remain in power for a long time will be the change in the party rules in order for him to be re-elected as party leader and, again, for Prime Minister if the party comes to power, independently for the 4th time next year. It is not expected that incumbent President Abdullah Gul (whom Erdogan had sent to Cankaya instead of himself in 2007, and whose 7-year term expires) will fight with Erdogan to assume the presidential power.

Tags: Nihal YozerganTurkeyElectionsParty of Justice and DevelopmentEuropean UnionMuslimsRecep Tayyip ErdoganAbdullah Gul
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