AGENDA GONE WILD DUE TO FAILURE TO NORMALIZE
Today’s Zaman
April 20 2009
Turkey
We live in a country where the national agenda changes with dizzying
speed. Some say that the rapid change of agenda items is attributable
to years of unresolved problems. Some nurture the hope of moving
toward the settlement of established problems.
When senior officials of political parties are asked the reasons why
problems can or cannot be solved, irrespective of party affiliations,
they all focus on Turkey’s need for normalization. Turkey is a country
that has been longing for normalization since its establishment.
It is not only local arguments, but also external factors that are
voiced in the backstage corridors of Ankara in connection with the
country’s failure to normalize. Some comment that in a shrinking world,
it is assumed normalization and increased welfare will have global
effects, an assumption that may be perceived as unfavorable. This paves
the way for developments that might be disappointing to societies’
desire for normalization.
Does normalization have a unique geography?
According to a political pundit, Turkey’s current position makes
it considerably difficult for it to normalize, as do its special
conditions.
After the local elections and Obama’s visit, Turkey has spent the
last week feeling exhausted by the rapidly changing agenda: The
12th wave of operations in the Ergenekon investigation; the tension
between Azerbaijan concerning the reopening of the border crossing
with Armenia; the speech delivered by the chief of general staff;
the police raid against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants
within the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP); and the ever
worsening economic crisis.
There is not a single move toward the settlement of any of these
issues by the political parties.
Senior officials of the main opposition Republican People’s Party
(CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) stress that the
government and the opposition must act together for the common good
of the country and are considerably uneasy about the inability of
politics to create solutions.
In informal conservations, they openly admit that they, too, have their
faults, but they put the eventual blame on the ruling party. While
they enjoy the fact that this process is weakening the ruling Justice
and Development Party (AK Party), they feel the need to stress that
the nation is paying the price for the lack of solutions.
Conversely, senior AK Party officials claim that it is the opposition
that is responsible for the lack of solutions. Referring to the results
of the recent election, they said: "If any of the opposition parties
had been part of the solution, the nation would have told them to be
ready to assume government office. But the reality is that only the
sum of all them can match the votes of the AK Party."
The silence adopted by the opposition parties particularly after
the speech delivered by Chief of General Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug,
has been criticized. Senior CHP and MHP executives say that they
find it difficult to understand Basbug’s speech, which has been
both criticized and praised, and that they are working on it and will
act accordingly.
Meanwhile, Parliament Speaker Kiksal Toptan is being harshly
criticized and viewed as a discredited politician who avoids taking
responsibilities. After having failed to take the initiative in
constitutional amendments and reforms, having initiated a discussion
about the tenure of president and making statements about the Ergenekon
detentions, Toptan is seen as effectively putting an end to his career
as a politician.
Turkey’s problems with such a quickly changing agenda mean it cannot
return to its original agenda and this is the biggest obstacle
to normalization. However, politicians have not given up hope; as a
senior CHP executive said: "Do not be demoralized or disappointed. Our
country is capable of overcoming these problems." Facing the problems
is part of the solution so it would be wrong to despair.
Latest Ergenekon operation is forerunner of operations against
politicians
In its 12th wave of operations, the Ergenekon investigation was
extended to university rectors and nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs), which came as a shock to some politicians. Those who have
argued that the Ergenekon investigation was being conducted under the
control of the AK Party and would end without causing much disruption,
now confess they were wrong.
Stressing that the reactions to the 12th wave were louder than those to
the 11th, a doyen of politics said: "The 12th wave is the forerunner
of the political wave. If it had been controlled by the AK Party,
there would have been no 12th wave. Now that it has reached this stage,
it will also extend to politics."
Senior AK Party officials confirmed that they have lost some political
support because of the last wave. "If we could control it, we would
not allow developments that would weaken us. The legal process is
proceeding in its natural course," they said.
CHP deputy Chairman Onur Oymen pointed out that while the
detention, search, interrogation and arrest stages are being
conducted in compliance with the law, they disturb to people’s
consciences. Referring to the medical condition of the Support for
Modern Life Association (CYDD) President Turkan Saylan, he cautioned
that "practices that may distress people should be avoided." While
Parliament Speaker Toptan made a similar statement, the Turkish
Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (TUSIAD) and some NGOs
were harsher in their reactions.
CHP leader Deniz Baykal, who seemed to give the impression of
renouncing his advocacy for Ergenekon during the election process,
defined the 12th wave as a "coup." Baykal sent senior party officials
to the places where searches and detentions were being been undertaken,
claiming that the AK Party had conducted a coup through the agency
of prosecutors. "While respected people are being detained, no one
lifts a finger," he said, emphasizing the lack of reaction.
In response to Baykal’s words which are beyond the limits of ordinary
criticism, senior AK Party members argued that he may be "panicked
due to ever-narrowing circle around him." They further accused him of
having double standards. "When a closure case was brought against the
ruling party, he said, ‘There are prosecutors in Ankara,’ hoping for
the AK Party’s closure, but he described the 12th wave of Ergenekon
as a ‘prosecutors’ coup.’ Isn’t it a contradiction?" they asked.