Ruling Party to be banned in Turkey?

[Devrim]

Ruling Party to be banned in Turkey?




The chief prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals applied to the Constitutional Court on Friday evening demanding that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) be disbanded.


Amid a background of war and workers strikes, the chief prosecutor has started proceedings to close down the Islamicist AKP, the governing party in Turkey. While this move is unlikely to be successful, it is not unprecedented. The Refah Party (The ancestor of today’s AKP) was closed down when it was in office during the ’post-modern coup’ of 1998, and the next incarnation of the party was closed down in 2001. In total in its 44 years of existence the constitutional court has closed down 24 parties

Devrim

[RedAnarchist]

So, what if they are closed down? Will Turkey have to have new elections?

[Devrim]

The deputies would probably lose their seats allowing for a rump government or new elections.
Devrim

[Dimentio]

Ruling Party to be banned in Turkey?






Amid a background of war and workers strikes, the chief prosecutor has started proceedings to close down the Islamicist AKP, the governing party in Turkey. While this move is unlikely to be successful, it is not unprecedented. The Refah Party (The ancestor of today’s AKP) was closed down when it was in office during the ’post-modern coup’ of 1998, and the next incarnation of the party was closed down in 2001. In total in its 44 years of existence the constitutional court has closed down 24 parties

Devrim

Exactly what makes the AKP so much worse than the corrupt labor parties/kemalist parties of previous eras or the military governments of previous eras? I mean, they do not seem to be any worse than your average European christian democrat party?

[Devrim]

In the eyes of whom? They are charged with being 'a focal point for attempts to overturn the secular ethos'. That is illegal in Turkey. It is part of the struggle between the Army and the AKP.
Devrim

[Cheung Mo]

Banning proponents of theocracy from the political process is nothing to be sad about. Nonetheless, the ban will be a hollow victory for Turkish workers given how rotten the rest of the establishment is.

[piet11111]

Exactly what makes the AKP so much worse than the corrupt labor parties/kemalist parties of previous eras or the military governments of previous eras? I mean, they do not seem to be any worse than your average European christian democrat party?

the turkish people fear that their secular government will become an islamist one now that the AKP is the biggest party.
a very understandable concern.

[Dimentio]

the turkish people fear that their secular government will become an islamist one now that the AKP is the biggest party.
a very understandable concern.

The AKP won 48% of the votes in the last election. Clearly, the Turkish people is far more divided that what it might look like from the viewpoint of secularists. Also, did all the people who voted for the AKP want a theocracy? That does not sound plausible.

[spartan]

As far as i know the AKP has done nothing to warrant being banned by the Turkish authorities.

I know that they had that big issue over the wearing of headscarfs by women at universities, but the AKP was only arguing for it to be a choice for religious students who are currently being forced not to wear headscarfs by the secular authorities.

The university issue wasnt about forcing women to wear headscarfs it was about having the choice for those who may want to wear a headscarf for religious reasons.

So much for Democracy in Turkey when a party elected to power by 48% of the population is facing being banned by the military for no good reason.

[Devrim]

Prosecutor’s move persecutes markets
Traders work during the morning session at the stock exchange in İstanbul on Monday. The YTL fell almost 4 percent and shares plunged 7.5 percent as fears over the global banking system intensified and state prosecutors sought to close down Turkey's ruling AK Party.
Turkey's stocks plunged, the lira sank and interest rates rose yesterday as markets reacted strongly against a case opened by Supreme Court of Appeals Chief Prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalçınkaya demanding the closure of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) on Friday.

Fortunately, I changed most of my salary to Euro last week.

Devrim

[Severian]

In the eyes of whom? They are charged with being 'a focal point for attempts to overturn the secular ethos'. That is illegal in Turkey. It is part of the struggle between the Army and the AKP.
Devrim

That this is even seriously considered would seem to indicate the most important political office in Turkey remains "general." But maybe a bit less than in the past?

I read an interesting bit once on what the generals mean by "secular".

Some mullah got in trouble for denouncing "secularism". It turns out that partly he was in trouble because he made his comments while wearing a particular kind of hat which can only be worn by clerical figures approved by the Ministry for Religious Affairs.

So apparently their concept of 'secularism' is not exactly about church-state separation. Rather, it appears to mean that mullahs should take orders from generals and not vice versa. Or something like that.

Anyway, it should be pretty apparent that the removal of elected officials by the military is not in the interests of working people, to put it mildly. It restricts rather than expands our political space to organize and discuss.

[Devrim]

That this is even seriously considered would seem to indicate the most important political office in Turkey remains "general." But maybe a bit less than in the past?

Much less than in the past. In the past they would have been out of office by now.


I read an interesting bit once on what the generals mean by "secular".

Some mullah got in trouble for denouncing "secularism". It turns out that partly he was in trouble because he made his comments while wearing a particular kind of hat which can only be worn by clerical figures approved by the Ministry for Religious Affairs.

So apparently their concept of 'secularism' is not exactly about church-state separation. Rather, it appears to mean that mullahs should take orders from generals and not vice versa.

I am not sure about your story, but the basic premises is right. Laiklik (secularism) is not secularism as people in other countries would understand it. Basically it means complete domination of the state over the church. That is why we have a directorate of religious affairs, which pays the imams as civil servants. Actually on a funny side point one of the imam's unions was talking about strike action last year.


Anyway, it should be pretty apparent that the removal of elected officials by the military is not in the interests of working people, to put it mildly. It restricts rather than expands our political space to organize and discuss.

It seems far from obvious to many Turkish workers. Many support this as a defence of secularism, and women's rights. There are genuine fears, fulled by the army about the danger of Turkey becoming another Iran.

Our organisation says it is an inter-bourgeois faction fight.

You seem to be suggesting that AKP should be supported against the generals. Am I reading that right.

Devrim

[Devrim]

AK Party leader Erdoğan has decided to change the Constitution and Turkey's laws on political parties within the next 10 days to disable the prosecutor's authority to file for the disbandment of political parties. Speaking to Today's Zaman on the issue, Nihat Ergün, deputy chairman of the AK Party's parliamentary group assured that the issue of closure would be off the Turkish agenda within the next two weeks at most. "We can't simply sit down and watch the blazes burn the economy. Parliament will take this issue off Turkey's agenda within the next 10 or 15 days," he said.

http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=136748

Devrim

[Devrim]

MHP (fascist) has refused to support these proposals. This means the government can't get the two thirds it needs to change the constitution.

Devrim

[Severian]

You seem to be suggesting that AKP should be supported against the generals. Am I reading that right.

I'd suggest that military efforts to remove elected officials should usually be opposed, if that's what you mean. This should not be a novel or surprising concept to you; Luis Henrique once spent several posts attempting to explain it to you (or was that Leo?) in the context of Venezuela.

Regardless of what one thinks of the elected official or party in question, military rule is generally a step backwards unless one enjoys being jailed or tortured.

There was a sizable rally a while back in Turkey under the slogan "Secularism yes, coup no." Sounds good to me.


It seems far from obvious to many Turkish workers. Many support this as a defence of secularism, and women's rights. There are genuine fears, fulled by the army about the danger of Turkey becoming another Iran.

I do take your point here; I know U.S. administrations have often had some success justifying wars and repressive moves with progressive-sounding stated goals.

[Devrim]

Regardless of what one thinks of the elected official or party in question, military rule is generally a step backwards unless one enjoys being jailed or tortured.

You write this as if you are lecturing a school child. Workers in Turkey know what happened in the 1980 coup. Over 600,000 were detained. It effected virtually every working class family. It is something that still has resonance today. If you look at just the posters on this board, the reason that Leo's mother is so kooky is because of the time she spent being tortured. The reason my wife is so scared about my involvement in politics is because of all the members of her family who were arrested.

However, people also know that the military coup of 1998 was a very different event in the aftermath of which there weren't attacks upon the working class. The banning of AKP today would be more similar to the events of 1998 than 1980, and wouldn't even bring military rule as it didn't then.


I'd suggest that military efforts to remove elected officials should usually be opposed, if that's what you mean. This should not be a novel or surprising concept to you; Luis Henrique once spent several posts attempting to explain it to you (or was that Leo?) in the context of Venezuela.

It wasn't me, but even if Luis was right (which I don't believe he was), this is a different situation. There he was arguing to defend a 'left' government against the right. The AKP government is in no way a left government. It fact it is launching extremely vicious attacks against the working class at the moment. There was a two hour general strike against their new social security law last week.


There was a sizable rally a while back in Turkey under the slogan "Secularism yes, coup no." Sounds good to me.

You have either misread this, or been misinformed. It didn't happen. What has happened is that a handful of leftists on huge rallies have raised this slogan. The rallies themselves were organised by supporters of the army.


I do take your point here; I know U.S. administrations have often had some success justifying wars and repressive moves with progressive-sounding stated goals.

Even though you say you take my point, I think that you underestimate the power of this argument. I would say that the vast majority of left leaning workers think that the AKP should be banned.

Devrim

[Devrim]

Selçuk, Perinçek and Alemdaroğlu in custody over Ergenekon
Kemal Alemdaroğlu (Former İstanbul University rector), Doğu Perinçek (Workers Party (İP) Chairman), İlhan Selçuk (Cumhuriyet daily chief columnist)
Two senior officials of a Turkish political party, a former university rector and the chief columnist of a daily newspaper -- all known for their neo-nationalism and ultra-secularism -- were taken into custody early on Friday morning over alleged links to a criminal network with suspected links to the army and bureaucracy.

http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=136930

Devrim

[Guerrilla Manila]

... It's a shame the PKK is not on the ballot :star2:

[BobKKKindle$]

What has the AKP done that could actually be considered a serious threat to secularism? I don't think allowing women to wear the hijab in official buildings indicates a desire to introduce a theocracy, this was actually a progressive reform, because it allowed Muslim women to have access to higher education, whereas previously women who may have wanted to attend university (and had the necessary academic record) were prevented from doing so because they would not have been able to follow the tenets of their religion on campus. Anyone who wants to improve womens access to higher education should therefore welcome this reform.

In the interests of respecting the choice of the electorate and maintaining political diversity, we should oppose this ban.

[Devrim]

... It's a shame the PKK is not on the ballot :star2:
Why? The only reason I could see that it would be a shame is that they wouldn't be out of place amongst all the other anti-working class gangsters on there.
Devrim

[Devrim]

What has the AKP done that could actually be considered a serious threat to secularism? I don't think allowing women to wear the hijab in official buildings indicates a desire to introduce a theocracy, this was actually a progressive reform, because it allowed Muslim women to have access to higher education, whereas previously women who may have wanted to attend university (and had the necessary academic record) were prevented from doing so because they would not have been able to follow the tenets of their religion on campus. Anyone who wants to improve womens access to higher education should therefore welcome this reform.

In the interests of respecting the choice of the electorate and maintaining political diversity, we should oppose this ban.

You really have no idea at all what you are talking about, do you?

Devrim

[Sendo]

What has the party done that's been so bad?

How is freedom of religious expression (in ways which affect no one else) a return to theocracy?

I guess I'm just confused and I don't understand what the party has done? Do they have some infamous "Central Committee" filled with theocratic Snidely Whiplashes? I know nothing about 20th century Anatolia (either state) besides the cock-sucking my history classes gave to Ataturk when I was in High School.

[Leo]

What has the party done that's been so bad?

They viciously attacked and are still attacking the living standards of the working class.

http://www.thesmilies.com/smilies/animal/lion.gif

[Keyser]

This is a inter-bourgeois conflict, between the ruling and established 'secular' elite, which represents the large Turkish corporations and monoploy interests along with the upper layers of the Turkish bourgeois state and the Turkish armed forces and on the other side, the more Islamist side of the Turkish bourgeoisie and their supporters in the Turkish petit-bourgeoisie who now wish to play a greater role in the affairs of Turkish capitalism.

The Turkish working class and all genuine communists and socialists should not waste their time and effort in supporting either side in this conflict. Instead they should organise the political independence of the Turkish working class and the building of a genuine mass revolutionary communist party along the line of Marxism-Leninism.

[Devrim]

The latest updates for those following this story:


Proposal against party closures on way to Parliament
Ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) acting group chairman Nihat Ergün said yesterday that a new set of regulations was needed to make party closures more difficult in Turkey.

A chief prosecutor asked the Constitutional Court earlier this month to close down the ruling party for allegedly trying to create an Islamic state in secular Turkey.

He also sought to ban 71 party officials, including the prime minister, along with the president, from politics for five years. The AK Party has denied the charges.

http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=137223


Neo-nationalist party leader Perinçek arrested
A Turkish court on Monday filed charges against the leader of a small leftist, neo-nationalistic political party in a probe into a network of extreme nationalists who allegedly want to topple the governing Justice and Development Party (AK Party).

The court in İstanbul charged Doğu Perinçek with "being a senior member of a terrorist organization and obtaining and possessing classified documents." Perinçek is the leader of the Workers' Party (İP), which won a tiny fraction of the vote in general elections last summer. In 2007, a Swiss court convicted Perinçek of racism for denying that the mass killing of Armenians in the early 20th century was genocide.

http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=137233

Devrim

[Devrim]

Top court to decide on chaos or stability today
A decision to be made today by the Constitutional Court over whether to hear a case calling for closure of the governing Justice and Development Party (AK Party) will either further deepen the existing atmosphere of chaos in the country or end the tension in society that arose following the filing of the case.

http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=137677

Devrim

[Guerrilla Manila]

There shouldn't even be a Turkey ...


There should be Eastern Greece, Western Armenia, and Northern Kurdistan ...

the Mongols can go back to Turkmenistan

[Devrim]

the Mongols can go back to Turkmenistan

This is pure racism.

Devrim

[Marsella]

There shouldn't even be a Turkey ...


There should be Eastern Greece, Western Armenia, and Northern Kurdistan ...

the Mongols can go back to Turkmenistan

Why don't you follow the advice in your sig? <_<

[Devrim]

It has just been announced that the case will open with the exception that President G&#252;l has been removed from the brief.

Devrim

[Devrim]

No, G&#252;l is in with the rest of them.

Devrim

[Devrim]

From al-Jazeera:

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C7F23347-766D-4AFE-9E9C-3AE9F46231CC.htm

"Turkey orders trial of ruling party

Turkey's highest court has agreed to hear a case calling for a ban on the ruling ruling Justice and Development party (AKP).

The 11-member Constitutional Court said on Monday it had decided to hear the full case for shutting down the AKP on grounds that it is trying to scrap secular principles enshrined in the country's constitution."

Devrim

[ArabRASH]

I am totally against the "anti head-scarf in universities" law. Basically it causes girls who don't know better to choose between their religion and their education, and guess what most of them end up choosing? Religion.

How it promotes secularism is beyond me. If you want secularism come to American University of Beirut. You have girls dressed up in hijab with nothing but their eyes showing. And you have girls with mini-skirts and shirts that only cover their breasts. Now THAT'S secularism.

[Guerrilla Manila]

Why don't you follow the advice in your sig? <_<

It's hard to "Unite", when one ethnic group has shown a contemporary historical precedent for enacting genocide (and then denying it) on all the other ethnic minorities of a given nation (under the ideology and hero worship of their demigod Ataturk). You can't unite corpses.

[Devrim]

It's hard to "Unite", when one ethnic group has shown a contemporary historical precedent for enacting genocide (and then denying it) on all the other ethnic minorities of a given nation (under the ideology and hero worship of their demigod Ataturk). You can't unite corpses.

So ethnic groups have particular characteristics now, and what is the solution:


the Mongols can go back to Turkmenistan

Deportation, a thing which was a major contributor the the genocide of Armenian in WWI

Devrim

[black magick hustla]

It's hard to "Unite", when one ethnic group has shown a contemporary historical precedent for enacting genocide (and then denying it) on all the other ethnic minorities of a given nation (under the ideology and hero worship of their demigod Ataturk). You can't unite corpses.

I thought communist dealt it as a question of class, not race.

Workers have no country.

[spartan]

There shouldn't even be a Turkey ...


There should be Eastern Greece, Western Armenia, and Northern Kurdistan ...

the Mongols can go back to Turkmenistan
Oh dear.

Are you sure that revleft is the right place for you?

Those views that you expressed are popular on stormfront last time i checked, so why not consider posting your racist propaganda there?

[Luís Henrique]

It's hard to "Unite", when one ethnic group has shown a contemporary historical precedent for enacting genocide (and then denying it) on all the other ethnic minorities of a given nation (under the ideology and hero worship of their demigod Ataturk). You can't unite corpses.

Are you from the Philippines, as your screen name seems to point?

If so, are you of pure native descent? Or are you a Spaniard (the Spaniards should go back to Castilla-la-Vieja?)? Or are you of mixed descent? In this case, should you be torn apart and partially sent back to Madrid?

Or perhaps we should get you a brain as birthday gift?

Luís Henrique

[RedAnarchist]

Maybe his father was a folder?

[Ferryman 5]

Rosa Lichtenstein (http://www.revleft.com/vb/member.php?find=lastposter&t=74271) is a “moderator” which means she will threaten to shut you out of this site if you persist in arguing with here. That is why she is able to talk nonsense without sanction. The best thing is to pretend that she is of some consequence and talk round her.