Turkey suffers from clash between secularists and Islamists<\/p>\n
By Riza Sihbudi<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Turkey is a country with a host of unique
\ncharacteristics. It is reckoned that 99 percent of its citizens
\nare Moslem. However, in general they see religion as a private
\nmatter in that religious practices are, except for in a few
\nregions, kept in the background. This is perhaps the result of
\nthe notion of secularism developed by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the
\nfather of modern Turkey, more than 70 years ago.<\/p>\n
Turkey covers 779,452 square kilometers, of which only three
\npercent is in Europe. The remainder is in Asia, separated from
\nthe European part by the Bosporus strait that flows through the
\ncity of Istanbul.<\/p>\n
Turkey takes greater pride in being part of Europe than of
\nAsia. The people's daily lifestyle reflects the European heritage
\nmore than the Asian. Young men and women flirt freely in public
\nand pictures of naked women in dailies and magazines are an
\nintegrated part of Turkish life.<\/p>\n
When you fly by Turkish Airlines you notice how European the
\nTurks are. All of them, old and young, men and women, love to
\ndrink wine. They are also generally heavy smokers.<\/p>\n
In such a sociocultural context, the emergence of a leader
\nfrom the pro-Islam Refah Partisi (welfare party), Dr. Necmettin
\nErbakan, as prime minister in June 1996 was certainly surprising,
\nfor most Turks as well as for the international community, and in
\nparticular the country's close allies in the West.<\/p>\n
These Western countries, especially the U.S., are worried
\nabout having Erbakan as Turkish prime minister, at least because
\nof the NATO military base in Turkey. The U.S. is anxious that
\nErbakan may suddenly close it down. The problem is that as Iran
\nis now in the hands of the mullahs who are not on friendly terms
\nwith the U.S., and on account of the uncertain situation in
\nAfghanistan, Turkey seems to have become the last Western
\nfortress in the Middle East and Central Asia.<\/p>\n
Erbakan's fate is in the balance. What might prove to be his
\nfall from grace started with a controversy in the wake of his
\nvisit to Libya in October 1996. The visit itself did not pose any
\ngreat problem but it was followed by a diplomatic crisis which
\nshook Erbakan's position.<\/p>\n
The crisis was linked to a statement made by Libya's leader,
\nMoammar Qaddafi, when receiving Erbakan in Tripoli. Qaddafi said
\nthat Turkey should sever relations with Israel, and that the
\nKurds should be given freedom to establish their own country.<\/p>\n
Qaddafi's remarks aroused great anger in senior military
\ncircles and the secular political elite. Both were irked not only
\nby Qaddafi but also by Erbakan whose visit to Libya was seen as a
\nmistake. This is understandable considering that the Kurdish
\nquestion is one of the most sensitive issues in Turkey. As
\nKurdish expert Dr. Martin van Bruinessen says, Turkish
\nauthorities tend to ignore the existence of the Kurdish ethnic
\ngroup. Whoever tries to defend the Kurds must be prepared to be
\nthrown in jail.<\/p>\n
However, the criticism directed against Erbakan is apparently
\nnot due to the diplomatic incident. The Turkish military, self-
\navowed defenders of Kemal Ataturk's heritage, secularism and
\n"democracy", have for a long time disliked Erbakan. Therefore,
\nthe generals -- who have now forged an alliance with politicians
\non the left -- are now watching Erbakan's every step. They seize
\non every error, however small, committed by Erbakan, to topple
\nthe 70-year-old man who is referred to as modern Turkey's first
\nIslamist leader.<\/p>\n
It is therefore not surprising that -- after the motion of no-
\nconfidence lodged by the opposition in support of the military
\nwas rejected by Erbakan's supporters recently -- including
\ncoalition partner Tansu Ciller and her party -- the military has
\ntried again to test Erbakan. It fears that the prime minister is
\nplanning the destruction of Turkey's secularist foundations.<\/p>\n
An example of this was when Erbakan was planning to revoke the
\nlaw which bans Moslem women wearing a headscarf in universities
\nand government offices. He also intended to increase the
\ndissemination of Islam on television. Tension came to a head when
\nthousands of Erbakan supporters poured onto the streets, followed
\nby a show of force by the military who sent dozens of tanks to
\nRefah party strongholds.<\/p>\n
Erbakan finally, albeit temporarily, bowed to the pressure
\ncoordinated by Deputy Armed Forces Commander General Cevik Bir,
\nafter Bir threatened a fourth military coup d'etat in modern
\nTurkish history. (The three previous ones took place in 1960,
\n1971 and 1980). On March 6, Erbakan was forced to sign an
\nagreement of 20 articles submitted by the National Security
\nCouncil, a very powerful military institution.<\/p>\n
These included banning the dissemination of Islam in the
\nelectronic media, restrictions on the wearing of Moslem
\nheadscarves and preventing Islamic fundamentalists from
\ninfiltrating the Turkish political elite.<\/p>\n
But the conflict between the secularists and Islamists appears
\nto be anything but over. Refah's success at the ballot box in
\n1995 clearly showed, particularly at the grassroots level, a
\ngrowing dissatisfaction with Turkish secularism and the ideology
\nof Kemal Ataturk.<\/p>\n
After their 70-year reign, the secularists have shown they
\nhave failed in their obsessive efforts to raise Turkey up onto
\nthe same level as Western countries. Corruption is noticeably on
\nthe increase, and Turkey -- despite utmost efforts to implement
\nsecularism -- is still a developing country.<\/p>\n
Secondly, secularism, "democracy", and Western-style
\nliberalism, the pride of secularists, have not succeeded in
\nmaking Turkey a member of the European Union (EU). Early in March
\nthe EU again rejected Turkey's application for membership. This
\nis ironical. Turkey has been a staunch ally of Western countries,
\nbut to borrow a phrase from The Economist (March 8, 1997) --
\n"They see the Turks as too poor, too numerous and too Moslem."<\/p>\n
For that reason, Erbakan and his supporters are becoming more
\ndetermined to "forget the West, and return to the Islam world",
\naccording to the same Economist article. Moreover, many Turks are
\ndisappointed over the attitude of Western countries for allowing
\nthe massacre of Bosnian Moslems, with whom the Turks have very
\nclose historical and cultural links.<\/p>\n
For Erbakan, Turkey's roots are Islamic, and therefore in his
\neyes it is useless attempting to Westernize Turkey. On the other
\nhand, the generals and secularists still wish to realize their
\ndream.<\/p>\n
It seems to be becoming ever harder to narrow the differences
\nbetween the two groups. It may turn out that the recent Erbakan-
\nmilitary conflict is only the initial stage of a series of hard-
\nto-avoid long-term hostilities.<\/p>\n
And there may be some truth in the prediction of a prominent
\nmember of the True Path Party -- an associate of the Refah
\ncoalition -- that Erbakan may fall because of the disappointment
\nof Turkish Moslems, not because of pressure from the military.<\/p>\n
The writer is a researcher at the Indonesian Scientific
\nInstitute who had spent time recently in Ankara and Istanbul,
\nTurkey.<\/p>\n
Window: After their 70-year reign, the secularists have shown
\nthey have failed in their obsessive efforts to raise Turkey up
\nonto the same level as Western countries.<\/p>",
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