Turkey's secular-democratic tightrope

The recent political crisis in Turkey over the attempted banning of the ruling party Justice and Development Party (AKP) has resulted in the increased polarization of secularists and the government. The AKP is accused of being pro-Islamic.

Crisis aside, however, if the governing AKP survives the move to have it banned, the results could be a positive boost for the country's EU aspirations.

On 14 March, Turkey's chief prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya filed a lawsuit against the AKP demanding its closure and the banning of 71 party officials from politics for five years. The officials include 38 lawmakers as well as Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul, who have been accused of trying to create an Islamic state.

The secularists brought the case before the Court after the parliament, with an AKP majority, passed a constitutional amendment to lift a ban on female students wearing headscarves at universities.

On 31 March, the Constitutional Court unanimously agreed to hear the case. Under Turkish law, the banning of a political party requires a two-thirds majority of the Court.

According to the indictment, the AKP's real aim was to "bring religion into education and into public institutions - and eventually overturn the secular state."

Turkish media reported that prior to the court's ruling, the AKP had received an offer from some members of the Court to reject the indictment if the party backed down on its attempts to lift the headscarf ban.

"Today, fundamentalists have gone beyond their demands for headscarf wearing in public areas, and they have started to say in open sessions on TV channels that they will try and punish those who defend the headscarf ban. Even this is enough to show what kind of a threat the secular state principle and those defending Turkey are facing, and it also indicates the violence sharia includes," the indictment said.

The AKP will now prepare its preliminary defense and submit it to the Supreme Court of Appeals Chief Prosecutor's Office. The trial is expected to last for several months, which some fear could jeopardize reforms and EU accession process.

Historical cloud of suspicion

The AKP, formed in 2001 after the banning of other pro-Islamic parties in the late 1990s, came to power during 2002 elections. Even though its members are moderate, the secularists have long viewed them with suspicion. The party was re-elected for a second term in July with almost 47 percent of the vote.

Hard-line secularists - whose members include army officials, judges and academics - launched a new attack against the AKP after the government passed a law removing the ban on headscarves in universities and the prohibiting alcohol in public places in areas governed by the party.

The secularists claim that the government is trying to introduce religion into the system by using EU calls for more religious freedom. For their part, AKP officials accuse the secularists of hindering Turkey's democratization and EU accession aspiration, which would strip a lot of their power and privileges.

AKP parliamentarian Suat Kiniklioglu told the BBC on 3 April that he did not agree that allowing women to wear headscarves at the university in any way threatened the secular order.

"But I think the headscarf is not the issue here. It's whether Turkey should develop into a normal democracy, from one dominated by a state elite that manages everything as they see fit," the BBC quoted Kiniklioglu as saying.

Party seeks constitutional changes

Since the crisis erupted, AKP officials have announced preparation of a package of constitutional amendments aimed at avoiding the possible closure of the party. According to Turkish media reports, the AKP specifically is preparing amendments that would change the definition of being a "focal point of anti-secular acts," as the indictment states.

"If it is necessary such a step will be taken, but if it is not necessary the legal process will be followed just as it is," Prime Minister Erdogan told reporters at a press conference.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, an AKP official, told the Financial Times that the government was preparing a package of legal amendments that would change the criteria for banning political parties. He justified the move by saying that the country's laws were not in line with EU standards, where political parties could be banned only if they advocated the use of violence.

"Such a move would also give the court a new legal basis to make its decision and we could make the court's job easier by defining the legal framework better," Babacan was quoted as saying.

The AKP has the necessary 60 percent of assembly votes to bring constitutional changes to a referendum. However, it would appear that the party has abandoned the idea of a referendum, realizing that it would intensify societal polarization and increase tensions further as some government critics are already calling it "a referendum on secularism."

Aside from the AKP, at least two other parliamentary parties are facing closure or being monitored. In late 2007, the Prosecutor's Office requested that the Constitutional Court ban the pro-Kurdish nationalist Democratic Society Party (DTP), considered by many as the political wing of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), an armed separatist group.

The AKP's announcement that it planned to deliver the amendments - in line with EU standards - was criticized by some since they failed to do the same with DTP's 221 members, including eight lawmakers, who are facing the ban.

According to Turkey's Constitution, protection of the "regime clause" is initiated when the principle of secularism, the irrevocable provision of the Constitution, is harmed.

Article 2 of the Constitution declares the Republic of Turkey a "democratic, secular and social state governed by the rule of law." Under Article 4 this cannot be changed. However, the Constitution also provides for the freedoms of religion and speech.

Secularism, democracy: Mutually exclusive?

Still, in spite of and perhaps even as a result of the crisis, it seems that the move to ban the AKP could actually speed up Turkey's EU accession bid.

According to a recent opinion poll, 71.6 percent of the Turkish public do not feel that the Constitutional Court should close down the AKP.

Chief editor of the Turkiye daily Nuh Albayrak told ISN Security Watch in an email interview that the proposed ban could actually boost the AKP's popularity in the long run and spur them to move more seriously with reforms that would boost the country's EU accession process.

"I think a new platform has been set up after this case in which amendments to the Constitution are urgently necessary now," he said.

In the name of democracy, the EU is openly supporting the AKP, saying that political disputes should be resolved "through the ballot box, not the courts."

EU officials have slammed the initiative to ban the Party, labeling it undemocratic, and Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn has said that accession talks could be derailed if the AKP was banned.

Prior to his visit to Turkey last week, European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso said he hoped that the Constitutional Court would make its decision in accordance with democracy and the rule of law.

"It is not normal that the party that was chosen by the majority of the Turkish people is now under this kind of investigation [...]. Europe can accept only a democratic Turkey, a Turkey where there is consensus on democratic values," Barroso said.

Turkey launched EU accession talks in 2005 but has faced several setbacks since then. The talks on eight chapters were stopped by the EU in 2006 when Turkey refused to grant trade privileges to EU member Cyprus.

The EU ruled that no other chapters could be opened until Turkey comprised over Cyprus and opened it ports and airports to Cypriot vessels and aircraft. Turkey refuses to do this unless the EU fulfils a commitment to end the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot community. This issue has met with no progress. Freedom of expression and the rights of the Kurdish minority are also issues for which the EU has criticized Turkey.

Some specific EU members also are slowing down Turkey's accession bid, saying that Ankara should not be granted full membership, but rather a "special partnership" with the EU. The latest opinion polls show that 59 percent of EU citizens oppose Turkey's accession process.

EU officials are hoping that two new policy areas would be opened for negotiations with Turkey by July, bringing the total to eight out of 35 chapters that candidates are required to complete.

With the EU's clear support for the AKP in this latest crisis, it is hoped that the ruling Turkish party will be take a more pro-active stance on EU-demanded reforms, and there are indications that as much is already under way.

Parallel to the recent indictment, the government submitted to parliament a proposal to amend a law the EU has denounced as a threat to freedom of speech in Turkey. The law would change the penal code, which calls for up to three years in jail for insulting the country. The law is one of the main obstacles in Turkey-EU relations, inspiring hundreds of cases against prominent intellectuals accused of a "lack of patriotism."

AKP officials also have announced intentions to establish an EU ministry in order to speed up reforms, expected to be completed by 2013.