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In a democracy, all would attend the people's verdict, but will the court? It could order AK's closure prior to the referendum or void the result by declaring it unconstitutional. This would precipitate another election, likely won overwhelmingly by a reconstituted AK Party II (the present AK less those banned), which would then seek to reverse the bans. During this time, of course, the army and a majority of the Turkish people will be hovering ominously in opposing wings.

In fact, Turkey's democracy now faces a moment of truth. Some voices call for "compromise," but how is horse trading to be conducted with a constitutional court? Some Turkish papers report Yalcinkaya saying that AK faces a closure case because it passed constitutional amendments (with MHP support) permitting women university students to wear headscarves—amendments the court is now reviewing. Maybe then a continuing headscarf ban is the quid pro quo for AK's survival. Since Turks overwhelmingly favor lifting the ban, such a deal would resolve nothing.

The fate of Turkey's democracy and the country's recent economic renaissance are surely a vital Western interest. Yet aside from the German and Swedish foreign ministers and the EU's enlargement commissioner, no top Western official has yelled "Foul!" U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matt Bryza straddled the fence by encouraging respect for "democratic institutions and the rule of law." But how could there be respect for both if what is legal lacks democratic legitimacy. Dick Cheney, recently in Ankara, apparently kept silent. In private and in public, the West must explain to Turkey's Kemalist establishment and the generals who stand with it an essential fact of democracy: those who lose elections must accept the result. The West must speak firmly and without equivocation. The hour calls for the spirit of Harry Truman, who insisted that starting down the road to democracy was the price of Turkey's place in NATO and the West.

Grenville Byford researches and writes about Turkey and the Muslim world. He is a former affiliate of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

© 2008

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Member Comments

  • Posted By: Braes @ 04/11/2008 11:29:30 PM

    I never understood your governments ways, and kept my mouth shut about politics while there. I miss the food, I miss the people, I miss the mountains, I miss the market. Turkey was awesome.

  • Posted By: Braes @ 04/11/2008 11:26:21 PM

    All I know is the Turkish people are my friend, have been a great ally since the 50's, treated me well at Incirlik, and I want them to have development and growth. I have not seen any exapmple of development under Sharia anywhere except for the ruling elite, who rarely follow the same Sharia law. They impose it mercilessly. What I hope is that people who want to observe a faith can, and those who choose to seek reason or other guidance for life can also.
    No matter what my friend the Turks decide, I am for them. They treated me like family.

  • Posted By: Lazturk @ 04/07/2008 8:32:47 PM

    Checks and balances are defunct. This is an AKP dominated parliament with a prime minister and president whose core is political Islam. No doubt, next on Erdogan and Gul???s agenda will be to appoint judges who will abide by their Islamist agenda. Maybe the author and the ???West??? need to comprehend and envision that this is not a matter of losing one election to one person. This about losing a secular republic for centuries to come.
    The secularists and the constitutional court are not being paranoid; please look at Turkey???s neighborhood and the countries with Islam-ruled governments. AKP is equally an internal threat, which should only make one more determined to support a secular system. To anyone who thinks the Turkish Constitutional Court is overstepping its boundaries, I would like to remind them of the US First Amendment. That is all I would expect from this court before it too late.

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