What Has Happened To Turkish Ultra-secularists ?
We have seen the news that the Chief Prosecutors of Supreme Court Of
Appeals have filed a case for banning the ruling AK party for violation of
their sacred principle of secularism. What violation they have done , they have
withdrawn ban on wearing hijab or scarf covering head by the university
students anf to allow that they have amended a few sections of law.The case
also demands exclusion of the President Mr Abdullah Gul and the Prime Minister
Mr Erdogan from politics. Nobody has any doubt that some sinister gang has
planned this.
The ruling party which came to power with thumping majority in a free
election only recently has condemned this effort as an effort to derail the
democratic advancement of the country. However as it appears in Turkish press
the AK party has taken the issue calmly , not organizing any public protest and
has decided to face it legally.
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A Turkish paper reports that, the atmosphere within the ruling Justice
and Development Party (AK Party) was one of shock on Friday when news hit the
media in the early evening hours that the chief prosecutor of the Supreme Court
of Appeals had applied to the Constitutional Court for the party's closure on
charges anti-secular activities.
But they were quick to get over the initial surprise and resolved to
remain calm at all costs at the end of an ad hoc meeting on Friday night. The
AK Party has decided to set up a committee chaired by Deputy Prime Minister
Cemil Çiçek to defend itself against Prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalçinkaya's
indictment. Another decision that came out of Friday's meeting was to warn all
party administrators and deputies not to speak to the media about the closure
case unless instructed otherwise by the party administration.
The first official announcement on behalf of the AK Party was "Thinking
about the future of Turkey is not just the duty of the AK Party. Those who hurt
Turkey will pay in history for what they do. It is again our responsibility to
invite our nation to act with common sense. We will, until the very end, own up
to the responsibility of representing the nation entrusted to us on July 22. We
will not allow the eradication of the democratic advances our nation has made.
Some judicial organs should stop using the law as an instrument for power
struggles. Everyone will need the law at some point. Democracy and the law
cannot be poised against each other. Turkey does not deserve such a scene."
We deplore the Turkish development and request all human rights groups,
the democratic governments and international organizations to take note of the
situation and help Turkish government to face this obviously planned assault on
democracy.
