TURKEY: The Military Weighs In

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Analysis by Hilmi Toros

ISTANBUL, Apr 29 2007 (IPS) - Turkey’s presidential election, once considered a simple matter by a parliament under single- party domination, has become a major case before the Constitutional Court – complicated by a sudden military involvement.

When Parliament voted Friday, the sole candidate was Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, an affable 57-year-old politician and a ranking member of the ruling Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP). His election would have brought the first Islam-inspired politician with a headscarf-wearing wife to the presidency of constitutionally secular Turkey.

But in the face of fierce opposition by secular deputies, Gul received 357 votes – ten short of the required two-thirds majority. The main opposition Peoples Republican Party (CHP) took the case to the Constitutional Court, claiming that Gul not only needed 367 votes for election, but that the same number had to be present in voting.

There were 358 deputies in the chamber for the vote Friday, although the ruling party claims that seven opposition deputies who walked in to check the results should be counted as present.

While eyes were turned to the Constitutional Court, which could give a decision before the second round of voting Wednesday or later, the country was rocked by an unexpected development: the military, which has staged four coups since 1950, weighed in with an unexpected communiqué a few hours after the voting.

The staunchly secular military spoke of a drift away from secular values and a steady shift to introducing Islamic principles into public life. It declared itself an interested party in elections as defender of the secular Constitution.

“This radical Islamic understanding, which is against the Republic and has no goal but to erode the basic qualities of the state, has been expanding its span with encouragement,” the communiqué read.

“It should not be forgotten that the Turkish armed forces are a side in this debate and are a staunch defender of secularism…and will display their position and attitudes when it becomes necessary.”

The military statement cited a Koran reading ceremony on the day the country was celebrating the secular Youth Holiday. It asked for the need to be “loyal to the principle of secularism in essence, not in words.”

Gul has vowed allegiance to the secular Constitution, but the nationalist daily Cumhuriyet has been carrying his past statements questioning secularism.

The military’s declaration drew sharp rebuke from the government. “It is inconceivable in a democratic state based on the rule of law for the general staff, which remains under the orders of the prime minister, to speak out against the government,” spokesman Cemil Cicek said.

With Turkey a candidate for full EU membership, enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn said: “It is important that the military leaves the remit of democracy to the democratically elected government, and this is a test case if the Turkish armed forces respect democratic secularism and the democratic arrangement of civil-military relations.”

Despite the military’s stand, Gul said on national television Sunday that his candidacy would stand.

If the court rejects the opposition argument, Gul is set to become Turkey’s next head of state. If the opposition petition is upheld, the country appears headed for a new parliamentary election six months ahead of schedule. The new parliament would then elect the next president.

Several political parties and more than 500 civil society organisations have been demanding that election of the president should be the prerogative of the next parliament. They also say that the president, who will represent people rather than any party, should be chosen through consensus rather than by a party that polled 33 percent of the vote.

But the ruling AKP overrode such objections, and has sought to place its Islamic-rooted candidate in the presidential Pink House in Ankara by virtue of its majority in the outgoing parliament, whose mandate is due to expire in November.

A president from AKP ranks would ensure smooth working relations between the party and an AKP government, in contrast to the current stalemate between the religious oriented government and a secular president.

President Ahmet Nejdet Sezer, who has no party affiliation, has blocked scores of appointments to senior civil service posts amid reports that cronies of the ruling party are seeking to replace established and secular administrators.

Gul’s nomination had come as a surprise. He is the party’s second ranking member, the first being Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a combative and popular politician who broke away from an Islamist party to found the AKP, and lead it to victory in its first electoral test in 2003.

Erdogan opted out of the presidential contest following a secular demonstration in Ankara against his candidacy, which drew more than 350,000 people. He was also under pressure from within his own party to continue as prime minister and lead the party in the next election, rather than go for the largely ceremonial and non-political role of president.

The Ankara demonstrations were followed by a mass secular rally in Istanbul Sunday that drew a crowd estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands. This has been seen as a rally against Gul’s candidacy.

Meanwhile, the powerful Business and Industry Association said Sunday that the military’s statement went against democratic principles, while criticising the government for not doing enough to safeguard secularism. It asked for immediate national elections.

What appears to irk the secular establishment – both the opposition parties and the military – is that Erdogan and Gul are of the same Islamic mould, and address each other as “brother”. Both are deeply religious, and known for their past views upholding the role of religion in politics and public life.

And, both have wives who wear headscarves – attire banned in universities and in parliament, and never so far used at the presidential palace. Gul’s election would men that a first lady with a headscarf would become official hostess.

“Secular-minded people like me do not favour headscarves,” Gul Gunver, professor at the private Koc University told IPS. “But if the choice is personal, I am not against it.

“Still, there is a pattern, rather than a personal choice. Gul’s daughter wears a wig over her headscarf in order to attend university. The boys of such leaders are all marrying young girls with headscarves. If it’s a matter of personal choice, I would like to see one of their daughters not wearing a scarf.”

Gul’s wife Hayrunisa, who married him when she was in her late teens, was turned away from university for refusing to have a picture taken without a headscarf. She later sued the country in the European Court of Justice for violating her human rights.

The suit was dropped when Gul became minister. Pursuit of the case would have meant a woman suing a government in which her husband is a member.

Ilter Turan, vice-president of the International Political Scientists Association and a former rector of Istanbul’s Bilgi University, told IPS that the ruling party was underestimating the feelings of the secular establishment, including the military, on the need for a secular- minded president.

Early parliamentary elections to avoid selection of the president by the current parliament could be a viable exit strategy, he said.

Any military intervention, though considered remote, would doom Turkey’s fading bid to join the EU, and cost the economy more than 100 billion dollars in lost investment, according to the daily Zaman.