« Prev Page

Democracy in the Dock

NEWSWEEK

From the Editors (1)
Turkish Nationalists Take on the Ruling AKP

See All

Email To A Friend

Please fill in the following information and we'll email this link.

A second case, being prepared by a lower court near Istanbul, also under the requisite bust of Ataturk, represents another challenge to his legacy. More than 100 alleged members of a group known as Ergenekon, including retired generals, journalists and former bureaucrats, stand accused of orchestrating a series of political killings and unrest over the last three years, including the assassination of a High Court judge. The alleged goal: to provoke the Army into toppling the AKP government. Like the case in Ankara, the Ergenekon case is a key test of whether the elected government can reassert control over Turkey. Ergenekon is the latest in a series of conspiracies between members of the armed forces and ultranationalist hit men, using assassination to defend the Kemalist system. Rarely have such conspirators been prosecuted. This time looks different, and Turkey's secular elite suddenly looks less untouchable. Turkey's military brass, the intelligence service (known as MIT) and the police have aggressively pursued suspects including academics, leftist politicians, top journalists and even two retired generals, former commanders of the First Army and the Gendarmerie paramilitary police. The Army's own top brass agreed to the arrests of the two generals last month at their homes in military compounds. If the prosecution is successful, Erdogan will have sent a powerful message that the backing of ultranationalists by the military or the police is unacceptable.

The verdict of the courts will determine who really holds power in Turkey: officials and the self-proclaimed patriots who consider themselves to be the guardians of Turkey's Constitution, or the Turkish people. It will also send a clear signal about Turkey's credibility as a functional democracy—as well as its path toward membership in the European Union. Erdogan is working to convince his secular opponents that the best course for Turkey is to strengthen its democracy—even if that means mildly Muslim parties winning the elections. "If you invest in democracy, economic stability and trust can take root," Erdogan said last week. And if you take down an elected government on flimsy charges, trouble will grow. The only question is how big.

With Sami Kohen in Instanbul

« Prev Page

Member Comments

Posted By: Star-in-East @ 08/01/2008 10:32:15 AM

Saudi and the Iranian regimes were your old trump cards. You should use the Malaysian pattern which is the newest one for Turkey, haha. Because you have nothing with Islam in your personal life which I heartly respect, You accept our culture as foreign basically Saudi, Iranian, and malaysian recently:) No, it is not like that. Islam is not only for Arabs or Iranians. Turks were a good pioneer power for Islam for about six hundred years, after which Turkey Republic is founded on, denying its Islamic roots unfortunately. All your problem is that you find Islam as the main reason for the collapse of Ottaman Empire which in fact the ITTIHAT AND TERAKKI is the responsible for. I still call you to be one in hearth. Turkey is all ours. We can live all together without any political crisis. Today, we are very happy to hear that AKP continues to be the governing party, thanks to God:)
Posted By: erenkoy @ 07/30/2008 9:46:45 AM

Star-in-East: "they will learn to respect the values of our Nation" Which nation is this? Judging from you guys' negative attitude towards everything Turkish (language, traditions, Anatolian Islam etc) I assume you are talking about values of Saudi or Iranian regimes.
Posted By: azmimm @ 07/28/2008 2:16:01 PM

It seems to me that the AKP has been lobbying very firmly in the US and in Europe in order to shape public opinion in a way which serves only for their interest. This last minute lobbying is all about propaganda which in their view could generate a pressure on the Turkish Constitutional Court via the elite and hence avert the banning of the party. Surely, there would be economic and political consequences of banning the AKP. However, for many Turks, the primary goal, well before economic prosperity and political stability, is to preserve Kemalism and its principles.