BDP-backed Diyarbakır deputy Hatip Dicle and six other suspects in the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK) case were denied entry to Parliament due to ongoing cases. Against a background of recent tensions that have been brewing over the status of elected deputies who have past convictions or are currently standing trial for criminal offenses, there seems to be a growing consensus among policymakers that the new Parliament, set to overhaul a military-era constitution, is the only venue to address and heal many of the rifts emanating from the current legal and constitutional framework in Turkey.
A final word about the ongoing debate was said by Turkey’s man at the helm of the state on Saturday when he issued a written statement saying that “the only venue for a solution to all those problems is the Parliament.” President Abdullah Gül said, “I call on all political parties with seats in Parliament to work together on this legitimate and democratic issue by taking into consideration the views of all segments of society.”
His message was especially directed to independents endorsed by the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) who called on a boycott of Parliament in protest of a Supreme Election Board (YSK) decision to strip Hatip Dicle, one of six jailed deputies, of his right to assume his post over an earlier separate terrorism-related conviction. The Diyarbakır court also denied petitions for the release from jail of three Kurdish deputies who were elected as independents.
President Gül stated: “I believe we can turn these problems into an opportunity for our country. It has become necessary now to find a solution and to write a new constitution to increase our democratic standards.
Recent decisions made by judicial bodies and arguments over those decisions revealed once again that we need more fundamental reforms to improve our legal system and democracy to universal levels.” He also added: “Any delay in efforts to find a solution will make these problems more serious. The only venue for a solution to all these problems is Parliament.”
President Gül, during a visit to the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri on Sunday, also made a call against a possible boycott by the BDP. Gül said the essential components of a pluralist and representative democracy had emerged as a result of the June 12 general elections. “There are problems stemming from some regulations,” he said, referring to the situation of the KCK and Ergenekon deputies. “I’m sure all these problems will be solved by means of dialogue, democracy and the law,” Gül said.
Speaking at a Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) convention, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also made similar remarks, saying the country needs to a completely new constitution to solve problems caused by the current legal system. In his first public remarks on the controversy following the June 12 elections, Erdoğan said: “What we are saying is that we need to abandon this car that is dented all over and has a sputtering engine. … We should continue on our way with a brand new, zero-mileage car,” he said, drawing on the analogy of an old car when talking about the old constitution. Erdoğan has called on all parties to put aside their biases and start working on a new constitution with a sprit of compromise.
According to Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay, the 1982 Constitution, which was drafted under martial law after a bloody military coup in 1980, is the reason for all the problems in Turkey. “What we should do is not boycott Parliament. We should support and protect our Parliament. I ask all my colleagues [deputies] to enter Parliament and seek solutions to the problems there,” he stated. Many senior Justice and Development Party (AK Party) officials joined Günay in his call to revise the Constitution to address all these problems, stressing that the forum to address them should be Parliament.
Significance of Tuesday’s oath-taking ceremony
In what could be seen as a signal that the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) may also boycott Parliament, just as the 30 independent deputies who have already decided to do, CHP Deputy Chairman Gürsel Tekin said last week that they would consider all options if the appeals filed against a Thursday ruling barring two jailed CHP deputies from entering Parliament are denied. Newly elected Kurdish lawmakers have already announced their decision for a boycott and have called on the CHP to follow suit. The new Parliament is to convene Tuesday for an oath-taking ceremony, but the CHP has not yet announced its final decision.
When pressed by a reporter on Saturday about a possible stand by the CHP at the oath-taking ceremony, CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said the party position would be clear following the result of their appeal of the court decision to bar Mehmet Haberal and Mustafa Balbay, both of who were elected as deputies but are currently under arrest pending trial for aggravated crimes allegedly committed against the state and its Parliament as part of the Ergenekon terror network, whose ultimate aim was to overthrow the democratically elected government in Turkey through a coup d’état.
Kılıçdaroğlu maintained the suspense on Sunday during a visit to the town of Ayaş near Ankara. “We are awaiting Tuesday in good faith. All 550 deputies should be there to take the oath,” he said, without going into detail of what the CHP would do if the appeal to overturn the court decision was rejected. “Until the national will is reflected in the Parliament and all the people who were declared elected by the YSK come to Parliament to take the oath, the CHP is determined to maintain its position. We will not yield,” he stated.
The CHP is not the only party to be dealt a bow by the courts. The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which has also had a deputy who has been barred from attending Parliament by the court because of ongoing criminal proceedings, announced that it would be participating in parliamentary proceedings. In a written statement MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli noted that his party would instruct his deputies to join in the oath-taking ceremony out of respect for the national will and reputation of the Turkish Parliament. “The MHP will support the functioning of the democratic process,” Bahçeli underlined.
The 10th İstanbul High Criminal Court late on Friday rejected a request to release Sledgehammer suspect Engin Alan, who was elected to Parliament for the opposition MHP in the June 12 elections. This marked another blow to jailed deputies seeking release in order to enter Parliament.
Sledgehammer is a subversive plot allegedly prepared in 2003-2004 by a clique within the military, which included plans to crash jets and bomb large mosques during busy prayer hours in efforts to undermine the AK Party government, with the hope of eventually overthrowing it.
26 June 2011
SOURCE: TODAY’S ZAMAN
