Formerly known as the Ottoman empire, the Turkish republic was established in 1923 by Kemal Mustapha. Praised for his contribution to popular political, social, and legal reforms in Turkey, Kemal Mustapha was bestowed with the title of AtaTurk meaning the father of all Turks.
AtaTurk's hero like status carries on to this day when one can see his picture placed voluntarily in majority of public and private places by Turkey's citizens. The secular nationalistic political thinking of AtaTurk is still followed by many Turkish politicians and citizens alike.
Turkey has been a multi party secular democracy since 1950. The country's secular style of democracy has been jealously guarded by the powerful military who view themselves as the guardians of the secular nature of the state – as advocated by AtaTurk's teachings. Therefore on a number of occasions when the military have felt that the secular nature of Turkish politics is being threatened by non secular parties, they have intervened and seized power (last incident was in 1997). However in every case power was eventually returned to civilian rule.
Political infighting and corruption cases have also marked the otherwise successful tenure of modern Turkish politics. They have lead to a number of early elections and even military coups (1960, 1971, 1980).
The nationalistic nature of Turkey's politics can also be observed in its policies regarding external countries or groups, especially those who are viewed as threats against Turkey's national interests. Most notable examples are the Kurdish minority's fight for an independent homeland in Turkey and the Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus in 1974. Upon hearing reports that the Greek dominated Cypriot government was intending to untie Cyprus with Greece in 1974, Turkey launched a military invasion and has since created a new country in the occupied Cypriot territory called "The Turkish republic of Northern Cyprus". The main reason for the launch of the invasion was because Turkey felt that Cyprus's unification with Greece would have put the rights of the Turkish minority in Cyprus in danger. Despite the fact that no country recognises the Turkish republic of Northern Cyprus except Turkey itself, nevertheless for 30 years Turkey has supported the de facto country militarily and economically. All in line with its nationalistic policy.
The Kurds who number approximately 3 million in Turkey (5% of total population) have been claiming discrimination by the Turkish government for many years (although this has decreased recently). Therefore in 1984 a Kurdish separatist group called the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) started a military campaign against Turkish authorities. The goal of the campaign was the establishment of a Kurdish homeland in Turkey's Kurdish populated provinces, and increased rights for Turkey's Kurdish minority. This campaign continued until the head of the PKK was captured in 1999. Nevertheless despite the death of 12000 Turkish citizens and soldiers, no Turkish government at any time met the PKK's demands which called for cessation of Turkey's Kurdish populated territories to the PKK. The truth is that no politician dared to even mention a compromise which would have included partial creation of a another country on Turkish territory. This is because such an act would been seen as treason and even blasphemy against Turkey's AtaTurk inspired secular nationalistic politics.
However Turkey's political DNA has been evolving recently. The election of the Justice and Development Party and its charismatic leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2002 are evidence of the change within Turkish politics. This is signified by the following factors:
Mr Erdogan is a former Pro – Islamic activist and has even served a four months jail sentence for his pro Islamic activities. Previously a person from his pro – Islamic political background (plus the fact that he has a criminal record for being in jail) would have not been allowed to become a Prime Minister. However the Turkish legal system went as far as changing the law to allow him to enter office. Tayyip Erdogan also backed the UN Cyprus peace plan which calls for the unification of the island. The plan included compromises for Turkish nationalistic interests in Cyprus.
Previously such seemingly non nationalistic and non secular thinking and activities would have been stopped by Turkey's powerful military. However this has not happened. The question is why? The answer is the establishment of a new pillar in Turkey's political foundations and that is the Turkish economy. The instability brought about by the military's intervention in Turkish politics and the noted corruption and mismanagement of the country's economy by successive governments weakened the economy to a point when Turkey was almost bankrupted in 2002. Nationally this was a humbling experience and financially the Military and Turkey's politicians have first hand experience of the magnitude of the loans and their repayments which Turkey has been saddled with. Notwithstanding the conditions imposed on the Turkish economy by the IMF which it has to meet if it wants to receive further loans. Upon the realisation that political stability is essential for the creation and maintenance of a viable independent economy, Turkey's military and civilian leaders started to make compromises. The compromise includes the acceptance of other non nationalistic and non secular thinking and beliefs into mainstream Turkish politics and the government. At the same time Turkey's leadership realised that economic and political reforms are needed to enable Turkey to join the EU. Examples include granting more political rights to the Kurdish minority, recognising the Greek Cypriot government as well a range of reform programs for the country's economy.
The positive or negative outcome of Turkey's efforts in making the reforms will have a corresponding impact on the chances of the country entering the EU.
The Turkish political system, as defined by the 1982 Constitution, is a secular, parliamentary democracy with executive, legislative and judicial branches.
The executive branch includes a President, who serves as chief of state, the Prime Minister, who heads the government, and the Council of Ministers (or Cabinet). The President, who plays a non-partisan role, has broad powers of appointment and supervision, and is chosen by the Parliament for a term of seven years and cannot be re-elected. The Turkish Parliament elected Constitutional Court Chairman Ahmet Necdet Sezer as president in May 2000.
The legislative branch of the government is the Turkish Grand National Assembly, which consists of 550 deputies elected in national elections at least every five years. The Prime Minister administers the government; the Prime Minister and Cabinet are responsible to the Parliament.
Elections are by proportional representation. To participate in the distribution of seats, a party must obtain at least ten percent of the votes cast at the national level. The last national elections were held in April 1999.
The judicial system consists of a constitutional court, a series of state courts that consider terrorist crimes, a council of state, and a high council of judges and prosecutors. y: Meir Javedanfar- www.meepas.com Back |
