BBC, CNN ve El Cezire gibi dünyanın önde gelen haber kanalları, İstanbul’daki
mitingi ilk haber olarak canlı bağlantılarla izleyecilerine aktardı. ABD
ve İngiltere basını da geniş katılıma dikkat çekti ve ordunun
bildirisiyle ilgili yorumlara yer verdi.
İngiliz BBC World televizyonu, İstanbul’daki Cumhuriyet Mitingi’ni gün
boyu bültenlerde ilk haber olarak olarak duyurdu.
Çağlayan Meydanı’ndaki muhabirine canlı bağlantı yapan BBC, “Türkiye’de
laiklik için dev miting” ifadesini kullandı. BBC, cumhurbaşkanı adayı
olan Abdullah Gül’ün İslami geçmişinden kurtulamadığından endişe eden
kalabalığın sokaklara döküldüğünü belirtirken, Gül’ün adaylıktan
çekilmeyeceği yönündeki ifadesine de yer verdi.
Amerikan CNN televizyonu da “Abdullah Gül’ün adaylığına karşı laiklik
yanlısı gösteri” ifadesiyle mitingi özetledi. CNN, mitinge katılan yüzbinlerce
kişinin hükümet karşıtı ve Atatürkçü sloganlar attığını vurguladı.
Yüz
binler ‘Cumhuriyet için Çağlayan’daydı
Merkezi Katar’da bulunan ve Arapça’nın yanı sıra İngilizce de yayın
yapan El Cezire televizyonu da bültenlerde ilk haber olarak yer verdiği
mitingten canlı görüntüler yayınladı ve konuklarle Türkiye’deki gelişmeleri
değerlendirdi.
“Hükümet karşıtı mitinge bir milyonun üzerinde kişi katıldı” sözleriyle
gelişmeleri aktaran El Cezire de, yükselen muhalefete rağmen Abdullah Gül’ün
adaylığını çekmediğini bildirdi.
YAZILI BASINDA FARKLI YORUMLAR
Cumhuriyet Mitingi’ni dünyadaki birçok gazete de bugün ilk sayfasından
okuyucularına duyurdu. İngiliz The Guardian gazetesi mitingle ilgili haberini
“Türkler İslamcı cumhurbaşkanını durdurmak için harekete geçti” başlığıyla
duyurdu.
“Gerilim krize dönüştü” diyen gazete, soruna barışçı çözümün
Avrupa’nın da çıkarına olacağını yazdı.
Times gazetesi de, AB’nin ordunun siyaseten uzak kalması konusundaki ısrarının,
laik kesmin hoşuna gitmediğini, bu kesmin orduyu İran türü İslami devrime
karşı bir sigorta olarak gördüğünü yazdı.
Amerikan New York Times gazetesi ise mitingi, “Türkiye’de dini yaşam tarzıyla
ilgili korku ve rahatsızlık” başlığıyla okuyucularına duyurdu. Gazete,
daha dindar olan kişilerin yaşam tarzlarından korkanların dün sokaklara dökülerek
protesto gösterisi düzenlediklerini belirtti.
‘ASKERLERİN İÇİNDEN DARBE GEÇİYOR’
Fransa’da yayımlanan Le Figaro gazetesi de mitingi birinci sayfadan
okuyucularına aktararak, “Laikler sokakta İslamcılara meydan okuyor”,
“Askerlerin içinden darbe geçiyor” manşetlerini kullandı,
Liberation gazetesi ise, “Bir İslamcının cumhurbaşkanlığa seçilmesine
karşı Kemalistler yürüyor, askerler bastırıyor” yorumunda bulundu.
İtalya’da yayımlanan Corriere Della Sera gazetesi de “İstanbul meydandaydı:
Ne şeriat, ne darbe” başlığını kullandı.
‘OLAĞANÜSTÜ BİR HAL’
Alman Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung ise Türkiye’de olağanüstü bir halin
hakim olduğu yorumunda bulundu ve “Generaller tehdidi, yüzbinlerce kişinin
sokağa dökülüp laik Türkiye istemesi gösteriyor ki, ülkede resmen ilan
edilmese de bir olağanüstü hal hakim” igadesini kullandı.
Londra’da Arapça yayımlanan El Hayat gazetesi de, laikliği korumak amacıyla
bir milyon kişinin İstanbul’daki mitinge katıldığını, Gül’ün orduyu
görmezden gelerek, cumhurbaşkanlığı adaylığında direttiğini belirtti.
İstanbul Çağlayan meydanında yapılan miting dünya basınının gözünü
tekrar Türkiye’ye çevirdi. BBC, CNN International ve El Cezire gibi TV
kanalları mitingi zaman zaman naklen verirken, uluslararası basın kuruluşları,
hafta sonu Genelkurmay Başkanlığı tarafından yapılan açıklamanın
hemen sonrasında gelen yürüyüşe geniş yer ayırdı.
Hurriyet 30 Nisan 2007
Plus d'un million de Turcs ont manifesté dimanche à
Istanbul en faveur de la laïcité sur fond de querelle en pleine élection présidentielle
entre le gouvernement islamo-conservateur et l'armée, gardienne des principes séculiers.
La manifestation sur la place Caglayan était organisée à l'appel de
quelques 600 organisations non-gouvernementales et fait suite à un premier
rassemblement qui avait réuni de 500.000 à près d'1,5 million de personnes,
selon diverses estimations, le 14 avril dernier à Ankara sur le même thème.
Elle vise principalement à dénoncer "la dérive islamiste" en
Turquie provoquée, selon les organisateurs, par le gouvernement du Premier
ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Fatih Saribas / Reuters
es centaines de milliers de personnes se sont rassemblées dimanche 29 avril
à Istanbul pour affirmer leur attachement aux principes laïques de la
Turquie, sur fond de querelle en pleine élection présidentielle entre le
gouvernement et l'armée. Le chiffre d'un million de manifestants a été évoqué
un moment, mais les dernières estimations font état de 200 000 à 300 000
personnes réunies.
La Turquie est laïque et le restera", scandaient les
manifestants portant le drapeau turc et des portraits du fondateur de la
Turquie moderne Mustafa Kemal Atatürk sur la place Caglayan, dans la partie
européenne de la métropole.
La manifestation est organisée à l'appel de quelque 600 organisations non-gouvernementales,
et fait suite à un premier rassemblement qui avait réuni jusqu'à près
d'1,5 million de personnes le 14 avril dernier à Ankara sur le même thème.
"NI LA CHARIA, NI COUP D'ETAT"
Des slogans visaient en outre son premier ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan, un
ancien militant islamiste, dont le gouvernement islamo-conservateur a été
vivement critiqué par l'armée vendredi. "Démission du gouvernement",
ont scandé les manifestants venus des quatre coins du pays mais aussi de l'étranger,
selon les organisateurs.
"Ni la charia, ni coup d'Etat, vive la Turquie indépendante",
pouvait-on aussi entendre.
L'armée turque, qui est la gardienne de la laïcité, a déjà fait trois
coups d'Etat (en 1960, 1971 et 1980) et fait chuter un gouvernement pro-islamiste,
le premier de l'histoire du pays, en 1997. Elle s'est dite vendredi fermement
déterminée à défendre le principe de laïcité contre ce qu'elle considère
comme une montée en puissance de l'influence islamiste.
"Les forces armées sont les protectrices déterminées de la laïcité
et afficheront ouvertement leur position et leurs attitudes lorsque cela
deviendra nécessaire", a mis en garde l'état-major.
Plusieurs milliers de policiers étaient à pied d'oeuvre pour assurer le
bon déroulement du rassemblement monstre de dimanche et aucun incident
n'avait été signalé en début d'après-midi. Les rues menant à la place
ont été fermées dès le début de la matinée.
Abdullah Gül ne renoncera pas à se présenter
Le ministre turc des Affaires étrangères, Abdullah Gül, ancien islamiste et
candidat unique à la présidence, a affirmé dimanche qu'il ne renoncerait
pas à se présenter.
M. Gül a échoué de peu (avec 357 voix sur les 367 requises) au premier
tour de scrutin vendredi au Parlement lors d'un vote contesté par
l'opposition, qui a saisi la Cour constitutionnelle pour le faire annuler dans
l'espoir de provoquer des élections anticipées.
L'état-major de la puissante armée turque a ensuite accusé en termes très
durs le gouvernement de ne pas défendre les principes laïques.
Fait sans précédent, le gouvernement a riposté fermement, rappelant les
militaires à l'ordre et soulignant, par la
voix du porte-parole Cemil Ciçek, que l'état-major "demeure sous les
ordres du premier ministre".
ELPAIS - Internacional - 29-04-2007 www.elpais.es
Una manifestación masiva en Turquía contra la "islamización"
del país
El Gobierno islamista turco planta cara al Ejército y los laicos se echan
a la calle
El ministro Gül asegura que no retirará su candidatura a la presidencia.-
Convocadas marchas contra los islamistas
AGENCIAS / ELPAIS.com - Estambul / Madrid - 29/04/2007
Turquía, país durante décadas apodado como el enfermo de Europa,
está sufriendo una recaída. El ministro turco de Asuntos Exteriores, Abdulá
Gül, y candidato a la Presidencia por el Partido de la Justicia y el
Desarrollo (AKP, en el poder) ha asegurado hoy que, pese las amenazas veladas
de la influyente cúpula militar y los sectores laicos de la población, no
retirará su candidatura, después de que el viernes no recibiera en el
Parlamento los apoyos necesarios en primera votación. Una multitudinaria
marcha contra el Ejecutivo islamista moderado se celebra en estos momentos en
el centro de Estambul.
"Está fuera de cuestión retirar mi candidatura. El Tribunal
Constitucional tomará la decisión correcta", ha declarado hoy Gül a
los periodistas. El todavía ministro no quiso responder al comunicado emitido
ayer por el Ejército, en el que manifestaba su preocupación por el
desarrollo de las elecciones y aseguraba que en caso "necesario"
mostraría "sus posturas y acciones de forma muy clara" si el
laicismo del país se ponía en peligro.
Los militares turcos han dado tres golpes de Estado hasta la fecha: en
1960, 1971 y 1980. La presión del estamento militar propició la dimisión en
1997 del también islamista moderado Necmettin Erbakan.
Manifestación
El malestar en los cuarteles se suma a la multitudinaria convocatoria por
parte de numerosas organizaciones no gubernamentales (ONG) del sector laico de
Turquía de una manifestación en el centro de Estambul en contra de lo que
consideran una creciente "islamización" del país. Las autoridades
turcas han aplicado extremas medidas de seguridad para la manifestación de
hoy y desde las 06:30, hora peninsular española, las calles que conducen a la
plaza Abide-I Hurriyet están cerradas al tráfico.
La protesta se desarrolla desde las 12:00, hora peninsular española, y
tiene previsto terminar con un concierto de varios grupos de música popular
turca. El pasado 14 de abril una convocatoria con el mismo fin congregó a
400.000 manifestantes.
29 de abril de 2007, 15h28 http://es.news.yahoo.com
Estambul es escenario de una manifestación
masiva contra la islamización del país
Estambul, 29 abr (EFE).- Numerosas organizaciones no gubernamentales (ONG)
del sector laico de Turquía han convocado para hoy una gran manifestación en
el centro de Estambul en contra de lo que consideran una creciente "islamización"
del país.
Las autoridades turcas han aplicado extremas medidas de seguridad para la
manifestación de hoy y desde las 07:30 horas (04:30 GMT) las calles que
conducen a la plaza Abide-I Hurriyet están cerradas al tráfico.
La protesta está convocada para las 13:00 horas (10:00 GMT) y tiene
previsto terminar con un concierto de varios grupos de música popular turca.
La protesta coincide con el memorando emitido en la noche del viernes
pasado por el ejército turco en el que los militares subrayan que son
"un incondicional defensor del secularismo" en alusión a la
candidatura presidencial del actual ministro de Exteriores, Abdulá Gül, un
islamista moderado.
El Gobierno turco reaccionó con firmeza a las palabras del ejército y
recordó que el Estado Mayor está supeditado al primer ministro, Recep Tayyip
Erdogan.
El pasado 14 de abril se reunieron en Ankara, la capital turca, unas
400.000 personas para protestar contra la posible candidatura de Erdogan,
quien al final decidió mandar a la Presidencia a Gül, uno de sus más
estrechos colaboradores.
En ese mitin los manifestantes exigieron que la Presidencia de Turquía
permanezca secular, mientras que los organizadores de la protesta de hoy también
quieren hacer énfasis en el carácter democrático de Turquía y su rechazo a
posible aventuras golpistas del ejército.
Die Türkei an der Grenze zum Chaos
Die Wahl Abdullah Güls zum türkischen Staatspräsidenten gilt als
gescheitert. Millionen von Menschen demonstrieren in Istanbul. In einigen Städten
ist der Strom komplett ausgefallen. Steuert die Türkei ins Chaos?
Hundertausende Menschen versammeln sich in
Istanbul. Sie stellen sich gegen die Wahl eines islamisch geprägten
Politikers zum Präsidenten. Foto: DPA
In Istanbul demonstrieren derzeit mehr als eine Million Menschen "gegen
einen islamischen Staatspräsidenten" und die islamisch geprägte
Regierung, aber auch "gegen einen Militärputsch".
Satellitenbilder zeigen endlose, rot eingefärbte Menschenmengen, die auf
Kilometer hinaus alle Strassen rund um den Kundgebungsort im Stadtteil
Caglayan füllen. Später weitete sich die Demonstration auf die
Innenstadt und den zentralen Taksim-Platz aus.
In anatolischen Städten brach darauf die Stromversorgung zusammen, und
bald kursierten Gerüchte, die Regierungspartei AKP wolle ihre vorwiegend
anatolische Wählerschaft so daran hindern, die Fernsehbilder zu sehen.
Die halbamtliche Nachrichtenagentur Anadolu musste "aus technischen
Gründen" vorübergehend den Betrieb einstellen, aber rasch wurden
Vergleiche gezogen zu einer Großdemonstration in Ankara am 14. April: Da
hatte der von der Regierung geleitete staatliche TV-Kanal TRT nicht einmal
eine Nachricht über die Demonstration von bis zu 1,5 Millionen Menschen
gebracht.
"Wir sind hier, um die laizistische Struktur der Türkei mit Mut und
Entschlossenheit zu verteidigen," rief Nedcla Arat in die Mikrofone.
Sie hatte dne Protest organisiert. "Wir sind gegen jene, die das
laizistische System aushöhlen wollen. Regierungen, die die Religion als
ein Instrument benutzen, werden am Ende verschwinden."
Für Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Abdullah Gül und Bülent Arinc muss es ein
unangenehmes Gefühl von Déjà-vu gewesen sein. Das Führungstrio der
islamisch geprägten AKP hatte seine Partei am Freitag so nahe an den
Besitz der ganzen Macht in der Türkei gebracht wie nie eine islamische
Partei zuvor. Die Wahl Güls zum Staatspräsidenten war knapp an 10
fehlenden Stimmen zur Zweidrittelmehrheit im Parlament gescheitert, schien
aber in der dritten Wahlrunde am 9. Mai mit einfacher Mehrheit
vorweggenommen. Nur noch ein Schritt, und der Punkt war erreicht, ab dem
man die Macht des Militärs brechen konnte.
Mit den Generälen hatten die AKPler eine offene Rechnung zu begleichen.
Sie alle waren in Amt und Würden gewesen, unter dem islamischen
Fundamentalisten und damaligen Regierungschef Necmettin Erbakan, als das
Militär diesen mit dem schlichten Mittel eines ultimativen "Memorandums"
stürzte. Man schrieb das Jahr 1997. Erdogan war damals Istanbuler Bürgermeister,
Gül Chef der außenpolitischen Kommission des Parlaments, Arinc saß im
Justizausschuss. Für alle drei war der Weg, so schien es, zu Ende.
Erdogan musste sogar ins Gefängnis.
Aber sie erfanden sich und ihre Partei neu, diesmal als gemäßigte "Europäer",
und standen nun vor der Revanche: Erdogan war inzwischen Ministerpräsident,
Arinc Parlamentspräsident, Gül Außenminister. Was fehlte, war die
Durchdringung der Bürokratie und des Sicherheitsapparates. Dafür musste
Gül Staatspräsident werden, denn es ist der Staatschef, von dessen
Unterschrift die Besetzung tausender Staatsämter abhängt. Besser noch:
Mit dieser Unterschrift wären noch ganz andere Dinge denkbar geworden,
etwa die Entlassung des Generalstabschefs.
Ein Schritt noch. Die AKP tat ihn, aber es war ein Schritt in den Abgrund.
Fünf Stunden nach der gescheiterten Wahl veröffentlichte der Generalstab
ein Memorandum, dessen Botschaft im Kern lautete, dass das Militär
eingreifen wolle, wenn Gül Präsident werde. Schon war eine
Verfassungsklage gegen die Wahl eingereicht (von der Oppositionspartei
CHP), und nach der Erklärung des Militärs schien auch klar, dass dieser
Klage stattgegeben würde, egal was die Verfassung konkret zum Wahlvorgang
sagt. Der fünfte Coup des türkischen Militärs war da – nach drei gestürzten
Regierungen 1960, 1971 und 1980 und dem Coup von 1997. Was nun
wahrscheinlich folgen wird, sind Neuwahlen, bei denen die AKP vermutlich
stark bleiben, aber ihre absolute Mehrheit verlieren wird.
Wie konnte es geschehen? Hatte sich die Regierung so sehr verrechnet? Oder
wusste sie, was geschehen würde, und ging trotzdem voran? Von der
Beantwortung dieser Frage könnte abhängen, ob die Partei die Endschlacht
suchen wird, oder eine panikartige Schadensbegrenzung.
Vor einem halben Jahr erreichte WELT ONLINE ein Anruf aus dem Ministerpräsidentenamt.
Man möge doch bitte aufhören, ständig zu suggerieren, das Militär
lehne einen AKP-Staatspräsidenten ab. Es habe sich manches geändert. Der
hohe Anrufer empfahl, doch noch einmal mit bereits erprobten Sicherheits-Quellen
zu sprechen. Gesagt, getan. Aus diesen Quellen hieß es jedoch unverändert:
Kein Erdogan und kein Freund Erdogans als Präsident, sonst "wird das
Volk aufbegehren".
Das "Volk" begehrt inzwischen auf, am 14. Mai waren es angeblich
1,5 Millionen Demonstranten gegen Erdogan in Ankara, nun gingen in
Istanbul wieder Hunderttausende auf die Strasse. Was aber bedeutete der
Anruf? War es wirklich nur ein erstaunlich plumper Versuch, Journalisten
zu beeinflussen, oder glaubte man im Ministerpräsidentenamt an Dinge, die
es nicht gab?
Ganz blind kann die AKP am Ende nicht in die Konfrontation gelaufen sein.
Generalstabschef Büyükanit besuchte Arinc Wochen vor der Wahl persönlich
(es war Arinc, der darauf bestand, einen Kandidaten zu nominieren, den das
Militär ablehnte, sonst werde er selbst kandidieren – und die Partei
spalten). Hinter den Kulissen wurde in den letzten Tagen frenetisch
verhandelt, und es muss der AKP klar gewesen sein, dass sie in eine
Sackgasse ging, aus der es nur über eine Revolution weitergehen konnte.
Vielleicht hatte sie sich selbst mit ihren internen Problemen und
Machtverhältnissen manövrierunfähig gemacht. Und vielleicht verzichtete
Erdogan am Ende auf eine eigene Kandidatur, weil er erkannte, wie es
weitergehen würde. Gül wäre so das Bauernopfer in diesem Poker um die
Macht im Staate.
Der fünfte Coup des Militärs ist nicht wie die vorangegangenen. Jedesmal
war es dem Militär tatsächlich um den Erhalt der westorientierten türkischen
Demokratie gegangen. Davon redet heute kein General. Nur von islamischer
Gefahr ist die Rede, dabei ist es zweifelhaft, ob die AKP wirklich eine
solche Gefahr darstellt.
Nach Meinung des Militärexperten Nihat Ali Özcan hat der Coup einen
einzigen Grund: Das Militär sieht sich angesichts der politischen Erfolge
der AKP vor die Existenzfrage gestellt, sagte Özcan auf Anfrage. Güls
Wahl zum Präsidenten würde zu einer zwangsläufigen AKPisierung des
Militärs führen, und zu einer vielleicht gewaltsamen Reaktion durch
extremistische kemalistische "Privatmilizen". Das Militär fürchtet
seiner Meinung nach bürgerkriegsähnliche Zustände, und will das Land
davor bewahren.
Wer aber wird in dieser Kraftprobe siegen? Die AKP gab sich bis gestern
trotzig, Justizminister Cicek drohte gar mit staatsanwaltlichen
Ermittlungen gegen ein Militär, das "gegen die Verfassung verstoßen"
habe. Gül bekräftigte seine Kandidatur.
Kann es also passieren, dass die AKP ein negatives Urteil des
Verfassungsgerichtes als vom Militär diktierte Willkürjustiz abgelehnt
und Gül einfach zum Präsidenten ausruft? Özcan meint, dass das Militär
die Regierung dann stürzen würde, dass die AKP sich dem Urteil jedoch
beugen wird. Erstens, weil nur 34 Prozent der Wähler sie gewählt haben,
sie also keine Mehrheit im Land hat. Zweitens, weil ihre Wähler eher
Menschen mit einer frommen Untertanenmentalität seien, die nicht zu Straßenprotesten
neigen. Und drittens, weil den AKP-Anhängern Demokratie oft weniger
bedeute als Islam.
Nazli Ilicak, eine der besten Kennerinnen der AKP und einstige
Parlamentsabgeordnete, glaubt auch, das die AKP den Spruch des
Verfassungsgerichtes akzeptieren wird – weil die Parteiführer an einen
Sieg bei Neuwahlen glauben. Sie verweist darauf, dass jeder der
vergangenen Militärcoups immer stärkere gesellschaftliche
Gegenreaktionen hervorgerufen habe – der letzte Wahlsieg der AKP war die
Antwort auf den Coup von 1997. So könne es geschehen, dass die AKP dank
der Militärintervention ein besseres Ergebnis erzielen werde als vor vier
Jahren. Dennoch werde es, wenn einige Oppositionsparteien fusionieren, bei
der Sitzverteilung im Parlament wohl keine absolute Mehrheit mehr für die
AKP geben. Sollte es zur endgültigen Kraftprobe mit den Panzern des Militärs
kommen, so hält sie es für denkbar, das "Millionen auf die Strasse
gehen, wenn Erdogan es sagt". Letztlich wären Neuwahlen Präsidentschaftswahlen,
denn die alles entscheidende Frage wäre, welchen Präsidenten das Volk
haben will.
Eine lange Krise ist nun denkbar, denn Zweidrittelmehrheiten werden auch
aus Neuwahlen für niemanden entstehen, und damit ist nicht klar, wie
jemals ein neuer Staatspräsident gewählt werden soll. Der Türkei drohen
chaotische Verhältnisse und ein schmerzhafter Endkampf zwischen alten und
neuen Eliten.
Massendemonstration gegen Erdogan
Der Protest richtet sich gegen Vorschläge, der jetzige Regierungschef solle
noch im Sommer Staatspräsident Sezer beerben. Die Demonstranten fürchten,
dass sich die Türkei dann deutlich stärker am Islam ausrichten würde.
Symbolträchtig: Zehntausende Demonstranten versammeln sich in
Ankara vor dem Mausoleum von Staatsgründer Atatürk Foto: DPA
Mehr als 200.000 Menschen haben in Ankara gegen eine Kandidatur von
Ministerpräsident Recep Tayyip Erdogan für das Amt des Staatspräsidenten
demonstriert. „Wir wollen keinen Imam zum Präsidenten“, hieß es in
Sprechchöre. Die Großkundgebung zeigte, wie stark die Unterstützung für
eine säkulare Ausrichtung der Türkei ist. Am Donnerstag hatten sich die
türkischen Streitkräfte vehement für einen säkular orientierten
Nachfolger von Staatspräsident Ahmed Necdet Sezer ausgesprochen, dessen
Amtszeit im Mai endet.
Hinter der Kundgebung in Ankara steht die Befürchtung, dass die
Regierung ohne weiteren Widerstand eine islamorientierte Politik
durchsetzen könnte, wenn Erdogan oder ein ihm nahe stehender Politiker
zum nächsten Staatspräsidenten gewählt werden sollte. Dieser wird vom
Parlament gewählt, in dem die konservativ-religiöse Partei für
Gerechtigkeit und Entwicklung (AKP) des Regierungschefs die Mehrheit
stellt. Die AKP ging aus der islamistischen Bewegung der Türkei hervor.
Angesichts von Erdogans Popularität und der klaren Mehrheit der AKP im
Parlament gibt es aber kaum Möglichkeiten, eine Kandidatur des Ministerpräsidenten
zu verhindern, wenn er sie will. Er selbst hat sich bislang nicht zu
seinen Absichten geäußert. Die AKP will noch im April ihren Bewerber um
das Präsidentenamt benennen. Erdogan hat mehrfach zurückgewiesen, seine
Partei verfolge eine islamisch orientierte Politik.
Militär putschte schon mehrfach für säkulare Ausichtung
Als Garant der säkularen Türkei und damit des Erbes von Staatsgründer
Kemal Atatürk gilt das Militär. Die Generäle putschten schon drei Mal
zwischen 1960 und 1980. Vor zehn Jahren zwangen sie 1997 Erdogans Mentor,
Ministerpräsidenten Necmettin Erbakan, und dessen proislamische Regierung
aus dem Amt.
Mit Sorge werden nun auch Vorschläge aus Erdogans AKP registriert, in der
Türkei ein Präsidialsystem ähnlich dem der USA einzuführen, das dem Präsidenten
größere Macht gäbe. Die regierungsnahe Zeitung „Zaman“ berichtete
am Freitag, Erdogan habe seine Partei angewiesen, dieses Thema bis zur
Wahl nicht mehr zu diskutieren. Staatspräsident Sezer warnte, die Gefahr
durch islamische Fundamentalisten sei in der Türkei noch nie so groß
gewesen wie jetzt. „Zum ersten Mal werden die Pfeiler der säkularen
Republik offen in Frage gestellt“, erklärte Sezer in einer Rede vor
Militärangehörigen.
Sezer, ein früherer Verfassungsrichter, hat mit seinem Veto bereits
mehrere Gesetze verhindert, die seiner Ansicht nach gegen die säkulare
Verfassung verstießen, zudem verweigerte er seine Zustimmung zur
Ernennung hunderter islamorientierter Kandidaten für wichtige öffentliche
Ämter. AP/cn
Pro-secular demonstrators with portraits of Turkey's founder Ataturk
during a rally in Istanbul, Sunday. Murad Sezer/The Associated
Press
Hundreds of thousands rally against government in Istanbul
By Sabrina Tavernise - International Herald
Tribune April 29, 2007
ISTANBUL: Several hundred thousand people gathered Sunday
in central Istanbul, calling on the governing party's candidate for
president, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, to withdraw his candidacy and
protesting what they said was a plan by the government to move Turkey away
from its secular legacy. Gul, meanwhile, declined to step aside.
Turkey is in the midst of a political showdown in which the long-governing
secular establishment, backed by the powerful military, is confronting a new
class of Islamic-influenced political modernizers, led by Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The confrontation has burst into public over Erdogan's
choice of Gul, a close ally, for president. The presidency is the most
important post in the secular establishment, and the prospect that it could
be occupied by a man whose background is in political Islam is threatening
to many people here.
The standoff seemed to harden further Sunday, with Gul, whose wife wears
an Islamic head scarf, a quality that secular Turks find unacceptable in a
presidential candidate, declaring he would not withdraw his candidacy.
"The process has begun and will continue," Gul said in Ankara,
Reuters reported. "There can be no question of my candidacy being
withdrawn."
That stance set his party and the emerging middle class of observant
Turks it represents on a collision course with the secular establishment and
the military.
On Tuesday, the Constitutional Court is expected to rule on whether he
can run. If it rules against Gul, Erdogan has promised that he will call
national elections, a move that would redraw the national political map,
possibly even more favorably for Erdogan and his party.
The police said the demonstrators numbered about 700,000, according to
The Associated Press.
Protesters wore and waved Turkish flags and chanted "Government
resign!" in Caglayan Square, on the European side of this vast port
city. The authorities did not offer estimates of numbers: Both sides in the
political standoff are trying to put them to use. Aerial photographs showed
a sea of Turkish flags and crowds overflowing highway dividers.
The gathering seemed to draw a variety of Turks from different
backgrounds. The uniting factor seemed to be their distrust of Erdogan's
government, although they disagreed broadly on the reasons.
"Their constitution is the Koran," said Yalcin Turkdogan, a 61-year-old
architect who had not been to a demonstration since 1977.
The evidence, he said, was "their behavior, their speech, their
ideas, and their religious education."
For others, it was Erdogan's policies of sales of state assets. His
government has pushed for modernization of the state, a policy that has
included sales of state-owned companies, a process that has made some Turks
uncomfortable.
A serious problem for secularist Turks is the lack of an agile,
articulate political party to unite them and mount a serious challenge to
Erdogan. There appeared to be broad agreement that Deniz Baykal, the current
leader of the main opposition party, was not up to the task.
Gokay Gedik, a 20-year-old student at Marmara University who had come to
the rally with his friends, all members of the same rock band, described
that party with a phrase in Turkish, whose approximate translation, his
friend said, was "Blah, blah, blah."
Earlier, the government struck back at the country's powerful military,
declaring that the army was not above the law or the government that
commands it. On Friday, the military, which has deposed four elected
governments since 1960, most recently in 1997, warned that it would
intervene if the government did not demonstrate sufficient respect for the
secular state.
A government spokesman, Cemil Cicek, said Saturday at a news conference
that the military was out of line when it issued a warning that it would
move against Erdogan's government if religion was allowed to enter too far
into politics.
The government, Cicek said, was elected, and the military is under its
control.
"It is inconceivable in a democratic state that the general staff
would use any phrase against the government on any matter," said Cicek,
who is also the justice minister. His remarks were broadcast on NTV
television. "The chief of the general staff, in terms of his duty and
authority, is accountable to the prime minister."
One of the most powerful forces in the state, the military considers
itself the protector of the secular legacy of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the
founder of modern Turkey. (Sebnem Arsu contributed reporting.)
Turks protest Islamic-rooted government
Tens of thousands gather in Istanbul as secular, religious divide
deepens
MSNBC April 29,2007 www.msnbc.msn.com
ISTANBUL, Turkey - Tens of
thousands of secular Turks gathered in Istanbul Sunday, chanting slogans
against the pro-Islamic government that has faced severe criticism from the
country’s powerful military.
It was the second large
demonstration against the government in just two weeks and shows a deepening
division between secular and Islamist camps in Turkish society. More than
300,000 secular Turks staged a similar rally in Ankara two weeks ago.
“Turkey is secular and will
remain secular,” shouted thousands of flag-waving protesters, who traveled
to Istanbul from across the country overnight.
The rally was organized more than
a week ago but it came a day after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s
government rejected a stern warning from the military over the country’s
disputed presidential election, calling its interference unacceptable in a
democracy.
Military ultimatum?
The ruling party candidate, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, failed to win a
first-round victory Friday in a parliamentary vote marked by tensions
between secularists and the pro-Islamic government. Most opposition
legislators boycotted the vote and challenged its validity in the
Constitutional Court.
The military, which has long
guarded Turkey’s secular traditions, said Friday night it was gravely
concerned and indicated it was willing to become more openly involved in the
process — a statement some interpreted as an ultimatum to the government
to rein in officials who promote Islamic initiatives.
Gul has promised to uphold the
country’s secular traditions amid concerns that his victory will
strengthen the role of Islam in politics.
The election has contributed to a
sense of polarization in a country that has enjoyed relative economic and
political stability for years and is seeking entry into the European Union.
The EU has been pressing Turkey to curb the influence of its armed forces in
politics.
© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material
may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Anti-government rally fills central Istanbul
ŞAFAK TİMUR - ISTANBUL - Turkish Daily News www.turkishdailynews.com
An excited and angry crowd estimated in the hundreds of
thousands painted central Istanbul's Çağlayan Square in red with Turkish
flags yesterday, joining in song, slogans and speeches to “protect the
Republic" they charged is under threat.
Organized after a similarly-sized
huge rally in Ankara in April 14, the “Çağlayan demonstration for the
Republic” was estimated by police to have drawn around 1 million
marchers protesting the current government. The protest's central themes
as that the ruling party's candidate for the presidency will erode the
secular nature of the republic.
People from various provinces started to
gather at Çağlayan Square early yesterday morning, already forming a
mass before Istanbul's residents took their places in the rally. Ankara
and İzmir stood out with their large participation. Carrying Turkish
flags and pictures of Atatürk, the founder of the Republic, people from
Istanbul's various neighborhoods also crowded the square. The
demonstration was planned days ago but came just after tensions reached
fever pitch in Ankara over presidential elections challenges obliquely by
a military warning issued late Friday night. The huge crowd demanded the
resignation of the government, shouting "Turkey is secular and will
remain secular." The rally also witnessed a call to both center left
and center right parties to “unite among themselves” against the
perceived Islamist threat. Those who claimed ownership of the Republic and
democracy, whether they be from the left or from the right, should leave
aside their personal interests and unite, Necla Arat, the head of the
organizational committee, said in her speech. The rally was not only
against a would-be First Lady with a headscarf, but against “the general
reactionary mentality of the government,” participants in the rally said.
'They use religion for their political
aims':
"I am here to make sure Turkey
remains secular," Saniye Kaya, a headscarved woman, also the wife of
an old Republican People's Party (CHP) volunteer Hüsnü Kaya, said.
Wearing her headscarf as binding it below her chin, as opposed to wrapping
it in a way that covers her whole neck, Kaya told she wore her headscarf
duly and it was different from “those others who use religion for
political aims.” "Turkey is being sold, that is the problem, not
the headscarf," Fikret Topçuoğlu said, as he pointed his wife
standing near him in the rally, who also wore a headscarf. People
who generally advise their children to stay away politics and such rallies
were in Çağlayan with their families and children, being confident that
their demands were more legitimate than any other one. Young couples
standing alongside the Çanakkale and Independence wars veterans'
grandchildren, reflected a largely middle class crowd. "You
could not see such a crowd here before. This is the final straw",
Nejat Yavaşoğluları, a well-known musician, the frontman of the rock
band “Bulutsuzluk Özlemi.” "We are here for the Republic,"
a worker from Ankara's Çankaya municipality said, declining to give his
name. He said the rally aimed to protect the regime, thus differed from
protests of workers or civil servants.
Against a coup:
The statement from the General Staff,
noting that the threats against fundamental values of the Republic were
serious and escalating, was also hailed by the people attending the rally,
although they said that they were against a military coup. "Military's
warning is late but very appropriate," student Meltem Demir from the
youth commission of the Cem Association. Noting that she is against any
military intervention into politics, Demir said the statement of the
military is still a necessary one.Another marcher felt differently: "A
coup can be the final remedy only," said Murat Yaman. A grandson of
the martyrs from the Çanakkale and Ottoman-Russian wars at the end of the
19th century was also in the rally. Bozağa Uzunhan, 74, broke into tears
as he was telling about his grandfathers and said "the mullahs should
not come to those positions."
TIME MAGAZINE Monday, Apr. 30, 2007 By
Pelin Turgut
Secularists Take To Turkey's Streets
The presidency is the apex of Turkey's secular state
system, and draws its symbolic strength from the country's founding
president, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
Turkish secularists protest against the Development
Party's (AKP) presidential candidate, Abdullah Gul, during a rally in
Istanbul, Turkey Tolga Bozoglu / EPA
Parking space, not politics, is what usually gets my
thoroughly decent, middle-class Istanbul neighborhood in a twist. But
Sunday morning, the Burberry set — trendy teenagers in Ray-ban Aviators,
pensioners in sun hats, young professionals and entire families — turned
revolutionary. Waving red and white Turkish flags and chanting "Turkey
will not become Iran," they streamed up the road by the hundreds to
join the city's biggest secularist rally in recent memory. Fed up with the
politics of Turkey's Islamic-rooted government, the so-called White Turks
have finally taken to the streets.
"Count us!" they chorused, nearly 1 million of
them, the silent middle class on a very noisy day out. Many were novice
demonstrators. "This is the first time I've ever been to a rally,"
said Mine Okcuoglu, a 29-year-old banker, attending with her mom. "I
felt that I had to do something because the government is taking Turkey in
a direction I strongly object to."
The breaking point has come over Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan's insistence on nominating his number two, Abdullah Gul, as
Turkey's next President. The presidency is a largely symbolic role, but he
wields important veto power. With Gul as President, and the Justice and
Development Party (AKP) a comfortable majority in parliament, secular
Turks fear "it would be the beginning of the end for Turkey as we
know it," says commentator Metin Munir. Their concern is that the AKP
harbors a secret Islamist agenda, and that without the appropriate checks
on their power, they will seek to adopt Sharia-based laws.
Since taking power in 2002, the AKP has tried to
distance itself from some of the Islamist rhetoric of its precursor party,
and in government, it has done more for Turkey's European Union membership
bid than any party before it. But its record is patchy. It also tried to
pass a law that would criminalize adultery, and to appoint an Islamic
banker as head of the central bank. Every day the papers carry a report of
an AKP official in some town doing something outlandish — men and women
being segregated at a municipal event, a swimming pool banning women from
entering with their young sons (because they are male), bars being closed
down to discourage alcohol consumption.
"We are afraid," says Aygul, a teacher. "Today's
rally is not political, its psychological. We don't want to become another
Iran." AKP politics strike a nerve with women in particular, and at
least half of Sunday's crowd was female. "This government would like
women to wear headscarves and sit at home," says Canan Melis Konca, a
20-year-old university student. "I'm a practicing Moslem, but I can
choose whether or not to cover my hair. I'm here to support that choice."
The presidency is the apex of Turkey's secular state
system, and draws its symbolic strength from the country's founding
President, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who inscribed a pro-Western orientation
into the political DNA of the state he built on the ruins of the Ottoman
Empire. Secularism — the strict division between religion and public
life — is a lasting Ataturk legacy, as is a ban on wearing headscarves
in public buildings.
All bets are off as to what happens next. The powerful
generals have come out against Gul's candidacy and the opposition party is
seeking court action against Gul based on a constitutional technicality.
The resulting uncertainty may prompt the AKP to take the country to early
elections as a referendum on its choices. But for Turkey's middle class,
at least on Sunday, there was elation. "We have shown the government
that we matter." says Isilsu Cinar, a student, in between rounds of
dancing. "And we are stronger than they think."
Turks Protest Pro-Islamic Candidate
TIME MAGAZINE Monday, Apr. 30, 2007 By
AP/CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA
(ISTANBUL, Turkey) — At least 700,000 people marched Sunday in a
massive protest against the possible election of an observant Muslim as
president, a conflict that is pitting Turkey's religiously oriented ruling
party against the deeply secular military and civilian establishment.
Waving the country's red flag and singing nationalist songs,
demonstrators in Istanbul demanded the resignation of the pro-Islamic
government, calling Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan a traitor. Erdogan's
foreign minister, Abdullah Gul, is widely expected to win the presidential
election by the country's 550-seat parliament.
"We don't want a covered woman in Ataturk's presidential palace,"
protester Ayse Bari, a 67-year-old housewife, said in reference to Gul's
wife Hayrunisaah who wears the Muslim headscarf. "We want civilized,
modern people there."
The election has reignited a conflict over Turkey's national identity
that has brewed since Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, an army officer in World War I,
founded the secular republic after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. He
gave the vote to women, restricted Islamic dress and replaced the Arabic
script with the Roman alphabet.
But Islam remained potent at the grassroots level, and some leaders with
a religious background have portrayed themselves as an alternative to the
secular establishment. Many, including powerful generals, fear Gul would use
the presidency — a post with veto power over legislation — to assist his
ally, Erdogan, in chipping away at the separation of state and religion. For
example, secularists want to preserve a ban on Islamic headscarves in
government offices and other public places; Gul's wife once appealed to the
European Court of Human Rights for the right to wear the scarf to a
university.
The military hinted it may step in to resolve the deadlock over Gul in
parliament. And many Turks are calling for early elections in the hope of
replacing the parliament, which is dominated by Gul's pro-Islamic ruling
party.
"Turkey is secular and will remain secular!" shouted thousands
of protesters, many of whom traveled to Istanbul from across the country
overnight.
Turkish police estimated their numbers at about 700,000 and cordoned off
the protest area, conducting searches at several entry points.
More than 300,000 took part in a similar rally in the capital Ankara two
weeks ago.
"This government is the enemy of Ataturk," said 63-year-old
Ahmet Yurdakul, a retired government employee among the demonstrators on
Sunday. "It wants to drag Turkey to the dark ages."
On Friday, Gul failed to win a first round of voting in parliament after
opposition lawmakers boycotted the vote. The opposition then appealed to the
Constitutional Court to annul the result on grounds that there was not a
quorum present at the time of the vote. That night, the military threatened
to intervene in the election and warned the government to curb Islamic
influences.
"It should not be forgotten that the Turkish armed forces is one of
the sides in this debate and the absolute defender of secularism," the
military said in a statement. "When necessary, they will display its
stance and attitudes very clearly. No one should doubt that."
A day later, the government, showing confidence unknown in past civilian
administrations, rebuked the military and said it was "unthinkable"
for the institution to challenge its political leaders in a democracy.
But Gul was not swayed by the threat. It is out of the question to
withdraw my candidacy," he said Sunday.
The current president, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, is a strong secularist who
acted as a check on the pro-Islamic government.
A decade ago, the Turkish military sent tanks into the streets in a
campaign that forced the pro-Islamic prime minister to resign. Now Turks are
wondering again how far the armed forces will go to settle another power
struggle between their government and the secular establishment.
The military's threat to intervene in a disputed election could also
damage Turkey's troubled efforts to join the European Union, which has urged
the Muslim nation to reduce the political influence of the army.
"We hope that one day Turkey can join the European Union, but for
that, Turkey has to be a real European country, in economic and political
terms," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said on CNN's
"Late Edition."
Much has changed since Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan resigned on July
18, 1997, ceding power to a pro-Western coalition partner in what was
labeled a "soft" coup. Under the current government, Turkey has
reined in inflation and implemented reforms backed by the EU.
These ingredients, signs of a maturing democracy, suggest the military
would be very reluctant to topple the elected government of Erdogan, a
drastic step that could represent a return to a chaotic, polarized era that
most Turks would rather forget. Yet, if it feels pushed, few doubt that the
military will challenge the politicians.
The court's ruling on whether a quorum was present at the vote on Friday
is expected soon. A ruling for the government could lead to a second round
of voting on Wednesday. Gul is the only candidate and is expected to prevail
by a third round planned for May 9. A ruling for the opposition would stop
the vote, possibly leading to early general elections.
Associated Press writers Benjamin Harvey
in Istanbul and Selcan Hacaoglu in Ankara contributed to this report.
In Turkey, fear about
religious lifestyle
International Herald
Tribune - Monday, April 30, 2007
Hundreds of thousands of people protested in the
streets of Istanbul in defense of secularism in Turkey (Johan
Spanner for The New York Times)
ISTANBUL: When hundreds of thousands of protesters
filled the streets of Istanbul on Sunday, it may have looked like a protest
of government policy.
It was not.
Behind the slogans and signs of marchers in Istanbul on Sunday and in
Ankara two weeks ago was something much more basic: a fear of the lifestyles
of their more religious compatriots.
Some concerns were snobbish: religious Turks were uneducated and poor,
their pesky prayer rugs got underfoot in hospital halls.
Others were less elitist and had more personal worries: how much
tolerance for our secular lifestyles will an emerging class of religious
Turks have?
"These people are from poor areas; they just don't know what the
government stands for," said Aysel Tuikman, 39, a civil servant wearing
a skirt, a sweater, beige pumps and pearls. "They're only being
manipulated. We are here for their good also."
"People here are the real Turkey," she said, waving a flag high
above her head.
It is an emotional reaction to a relatively new layering of society that
began 20 years ago but has accelerated recently. A massive migration from
rural areas to Turkey's cities and a large-scale economic boom have drawn an
entirely new class of religious Turks from the country's heartland into the
life of its secular cities.
The class is represented by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is
challenging the secular elite, forcing a presidential candidate upon them
whom they find completely distasteful.
On Friday, the military gave him a warning. It has ousted four elected
governments since 1960, and seemed to be considering whether to make
Erdogan's the fifth. On Sunday, Erdogan gave a warning of his own: He will
continue to push his candidate, an action that will probably lead to early
national elections.
Secular Turks fear that Erdogan has a secret agenda to impose Islamic law
on Turkey and that his party's move to secure the presidency, the highest
seat of secularism in Turkey, is one of the final steps needed to start that
process.
Erdogan, for his part, came from Turkey's political Islamic movements of
the 1990s, but he broke with them and formed his own, which swept national
elections in 2002. He has said that he would keep religion out of policy
decisions, and for the most part, he has.
But for the protesters on Sunday, that was not enough.
"They say they've changed, but look at their wives," said
Yalcin Turkdogan, 61, an architect who had not been to a protest since 1977.
Erdogan's wife wears a head scarf.
For Sevim Erzen, a retired civil servant at a protest in Ankara earlier
this month, the number of women in head scarves moving into her wealthy
Istanbul neighborhood was disturbing. "They have started to look down
on us," she said. "They are trying to be part of the ruling class."
The message of secularist protesters, said Metin Heper, a professor at
Bilkent University in Ankara, was this: "We are uncomfortable with the
lifestyles of these people."
"They fear these people, but these fears are groundless," he
said. "Gradually, they will see that these people are no different from
themselves."
Prejudices among secular Turks have their roots in Turkey's education
system, Heper said. "Education here teaches that if you are a
practicing Muslim, you are an ignorant person who will bring the country
back to the Middle Ages," he said.
M. Hakan Yavuz, the author of "Islamic Political Identity in Turkey,"
describes being shocked at the rigidity in the political science department
at Ankara University, where he got his undergraduate degree, compared with
the village where he grew up, where interpretations of the teachings of a
thinker of Sufism, a mystic branch of Sunni Islam, were welcomed everywhere.
"It was not a dialogue, but rather a carefully structured program of
indoctrination," Yavuz writes in the preface of his book, published by
Oxford University Press in 2003, referring to his education at Ankara.
One of the problems for the secularists is that the elite never fully
redefined the legacy of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the visionary who founded the
Turkish state in 1923. It did not change with the times. The main secular
political party, the Republican People's Party, lacks agile leaders who can
articulate a unifying vision for the diverse secular groups.
They never had to. The most recent attempt by a pro-Islamic party to run
the country, in 1997, ended in the military pushing it out of power.
Gokay Gedik, a 20-year-old student at Marmara University here who had
come to the protest on Sunday with his friends, all members of the same rock
band, said the Republican People's Party was all talk and no action.
"Blah, blah, blah," added his friend, who had a pierced eyebrow
and dreadlocks.
Secular Turks worry that the new class of religious migrants could
potentially be a force for radicalism. Large groups of new migrants to
cities propelled revolutions in Iran and in Russia.
But in Turkey, the class owns businesses and has become better off in the
recent economic boom. It values stability in society.
The new mingling in secular urban areas has had a quieter effect, raising
emotional questions like whether to separate the sexes in public swimming
pools or change the curriculum in schools to include more religious
instruction.
Questions about how tolerant the new class of society will be of secular
lifestyles is of vital importance to secular Turks, but they go unaddressed
by Erdogan's party. In part, that is because the party is under fire by the
secular establishment, which seizes on any opportunity to find evidence of
Erdogan's Islamic influence.
"Even if Erdogan walked on water, the secularists wouldn't believe
him," said Morton Abramowitz, a former American ambassador to Turkey
who is a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, a nonpartisan research
group.
Erdogan dodges direct discussion of religion, preferring instead to cite
his party's glowing economic achievements, which his secular critics often
dismiss. "Some have eyes but cannot see," he said in a speech this
month. "Some have tongues but cannot speak the truth. They have ears
but can't hear. That's where the problem is."
Then, in an earnest cry of incomprehension: "What makes you so
uncomfortable?"
But his silence has fed the worries of secular Turks, who fear that their
freedoms will be curtailed by the rank and file of Erdogan's party, who have
grown up in conservative communities largely separated by sex.
"There is a feeling of my rights being taken away," said Guldal
Okutucu, the leader of the women's branch of the Republican People's Party,
"of pressure that tries to push me into a secondary role."
Secular Turks vow to battle prime minister in elections
By Sabrina Tavernise - International Herald
Tribune Monday, April 30, 2007
The constitutional court deliberated over the case on Monday, and is
expected to hand down a ruling on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Erdogan, in a speech to the nation on Monday night, avoided
mentioning the political troubles, instead appealing for Turks to come
together.
ANKARA, Turkey: Turkey's secular political leaders
promised Monday to mount a unified challenge to Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan in what are likely to be early national elections. The
country's financial markets, meanwhile, dropped sharply.
Turkey has slid into a political confrontation between its secular
establishment, backed by its powerful military, and a new group of
political modernizers led by Erdogan, whose roots are in political Islam.
The standoff started Friday, when secular political parties appealed to
the country's highest court to block Erdogan's choice for president, a
close political ally, Abdullah Gul. Later that night, the military, which
has ousted four elected governments since 1960, issued a stern warning.
The presidency is the highest secular post in the country, and the
prospect of a candidate whose background is in political Islam occupying
it is deeply disturbing to some Turks.
But the specter of a military coup is also alarming, a concern that
Turkey's financial markets registered Monday. The Turkish lira fell 2.4
percent, the most in seven months, Bloomberg News reported. The stock
market dropped 4 percent, erasing almost $8 billion in value.
Deniz Baykal, leader of the largest secular party, the Republican
People's Party, called for secular parties to join together to mount a
unified front to compete with Erdogan.
"I see this as a necessity for all powers that believe in
Ataturk's principles and the unity of the republic," he said —
referring to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the visionary who founded the Turkish
state in 1923 — at a news conference that was broadcast on television.
"The remedy is the unification of all powers that wish to eliminate
this danger."
But Turkey's secular political parties are fractured and weak, and it
remains to be seen whether they are up to the task of uniting to compete
with Erdogan's broadly popular Justice and Development Party.
Erkan Mumcu, leader of another secular party, Motherland, said in a
press conference of his own that the only way to avoid political
confrontation was for Erdogan to back down on Gul's candidacy.
The constitutional court deliberated over the case on Monday, and is
expected to hand down a ruling on Tuesday or Wednesday. If the court rules
in favor of the secular parties, it is expected that Erdogan will call for
early elections. Voting is currently scheduled for the fall.
It is unclear whether the military will intervene, a possibility that
already is being condemned by international observers, including the
European Union that Turkey has worked so hard to join.
In Washington on Monday, Sean McCormack, the State Department spokesman,
said, "We have real confidence in Turkey's democracy and we have
confidence in their constitutional processes and that all the parties
involved in the election of the new Turkish president will abide by those
constitutional processes."
Erdogan, in a speech to the nation on Monday night, avoided mentioning
the political troubles, instead appealing for Turks to come together.
"Turkey needs this togetherness, this unity, this love that has been
freed of prejudices," he said.
Turks rally to support secularism
Turkey’s Constitutional Court is to hand down a ruling by Wednesday
morning at the latest on whether the first round of voting in Turkey’s
presidential elections was valid.
Speakers at the rally in Caglayan called for the preservation of
Turkey’s secular principles.
NTV ISTANBUL - Hundreds of thousands of Turks
took to the streets of Istanbul Sunday to show their support for the
country’s secular regime and to demonstrate their opposition to Turkey’s
pro-Islamist government having one of its members installed as president.
Official police estimates put the numbers attending the rally in
Istanbul’s Caglayan Square at more than 700,000, though others put the
total at more than one million.
The rally, organised by more than 600 non-government organisations, was
called to voice concerns of the candidacy of Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul
for the position of presidency. In a parliamentary vote held Friday
afternoon, the ruling Justice and Development Party failed to muster the
required 367 ballots needed to confirm Gul in the position.
Turkey’s opposition Republican People’s Party has applied to the
Constitutional Court to have the first round of voting annulled and for
early general elections to be called. 12:17 TSİ 30 Nisan 2007
Many thousands protest power of Turkey's Islamists
Laura King, Los Angeles Times Monday, April 30, 2007
İstanbul Çağlayan meydanında yapılan miting dünya basınının gözünü
tekrar Türkiye’ye çevirdi. Uluslararası basın kuruluşları, hafta sonu
Genelkurmay Başkanlığı tarafından yapılan açıklamanın hemen sonrasında
gelen yürüyüşe geniş yer ayırdı.
