Black Turks on the offensive —Ijaz Hussain

Many analysts believe that the real reason for the Turkish army’s unrelenting hostility towards the AKP lies less in its desire to protect secular values and more to guard its own powers and privileges, which it sees under attackThe newly elected Turkish President Abdullah Gul is persona non-grata for the Turkish army whose chiefs refused to extend him the protocol he deserved as commander-in-chief of the armed forces or as president of the Republic. For example, they were absent from his swearing in ceremony in the Parliament and failed to greet him at the Victory Day parade. They treated his wife and that of the prime minister no differently as they refused to invite them to the state functions. Analysts explain the snub in terms of the army’s suspicion of the AKP leaders’ commitment to secular values on which the Turkish Republic is founded and its belief that the AKP is working on the Islamist agenda. What does this tug of war portend for Turkey?The Turkish army that claims to be the guardian of the constitution has always suspected the Islamists of promoting their political agenda. It has a long history of overthrowing such governments, the last being that of Necmettin Erbakan in 1997. The army has not forgotten that President Gul was a minister in the Islamist government of Erbakan and supposedly made statements in the past against secularism and in favour of political Islam. This is compounded by the fact that his wife wears a headscarf, which symbolises Islamist outlook. According to the Turkish army, the case of Gul’s former boss and the head of the AKP Prime Minister Erdogan is no different; he, too, was an ardent follower of Erbakan, whose hands he would kiss with reverence. The army also blames Erdogan for making statements critical of secularism and favourable to political Islam. It cites, in particular, the poem in which he compared minarets with bayonets, domes with helmets, mosques with barracks and believers with soldiers and for which he received a prison sentence in addition to being banned from active politics.The AKP leaders now claim that they have changed; that they have renounced their Islamist past and are now firmly committed to the secular orientation of the Republic. The Turkish army is, however, not convinced of their claims. It believes that the leopard has not changed its spots and that the AKP leadership is merely engaged in the well-known Islamic practice of dissimulation (takiyye), hiding its true intentions and would show its true colours at an appropriate time. It refuses to consider the fact that, unlike Erbakan, the AKP leadership has worked for Turkey’s entry into the EU which would never accept an Islamist country; and that a section of the liberal electorate that voted for the AKP in the recent general elections accepts the party’s credentials. Many analysts believe that the real reason for the Turkish army’s unrelenting hostility towards the AKP lies less in its desire to protect secular values and more to guard its own powers and privileges, which it sees under attack. They cite in this regard the example of the National Security Council (NSC) through which the army used to impose its will on the Parliament and the government; the AKP leadership in its earlier stint in office successfully ensured that the NSC was transformed into a toothless body. They also cite the AKP’s reported intention to get the army-imposed 1982 constitution, which is the source of most of the powers and privileges that the army currently enjoys, replaced by a “civilian” constitution.The AKP has not yet revealed details of the proposed constitution as it is still working on it. However, the salient features that have appeared in the press are sufficient to scare secularists including the pashas (read: the army) as it puts their vested interests in jeopardy. For example, the proposed constitution envisages reforming the judiciary and the universities the secularists dominate. Similarly, it would require the head of the armed forces to report to the defence minister rather than the prime minister, which is the case presently. Again, it proposes to remove the exemption that rulings of the high military board currently enjoy from judicial review. The AKP intends to submit the final document to public for referendum, which it can only win if it enjoys support across the board including that from the liberals. How are secularists including the army likely to respond to the challenge?It is undeniable that secularist forces are terribly upset with the new development. This is evident from the fact that even before the ‘draft constitution’ sees the light of the day they are up in arms against it. For example, the Turkish daily Radikal rhetorically asks, “why is the “civilian” constitution being hidden from the civilians?” The Republican People’s Party, the main opposition secular party, has equated the move as a conspiracy to dismantle the secular principles of the Republic and has therefore pledged to resist it. Given the deep divisions within the Turkish society, it appears as if the coming battle on the constitution may be nothing short of an Armageddon. Though the army must be terribly upset with the AKP move, it would be hard for it to intervene for two reasons. First, the AKP enjoys popular support of 47% of the electorate that voted for it in the general elections (including a large section of liberals. With this kind of support, the pashas would think twice before moving. Secondly, the AKP enjoys unwavering EU support for the proposed change as the latter has been suggesting repeal or amendment of a large number of articles of the constitution to bring them in conformity with its own standards. The army knows that any action against the Erdogan government would not go down well with Brussels and would spell disaster for Turkey.Does the adoption of the “civilian” constitution augur well for Turkey? The secularists including the army do not think so because, in their opinion, it would erode the principle of the separation of state and religion, downgrade the army and foment ethnic divisions, particularly in the Kurdish southeast. These fears are largely unfounded because the real reason for the army’s opposition is its desire to perpetuate its hold on power through scare tactics. Nor is the fear of the Islamists dismantling secularism and introducing the Sharia rule warranted because the ever-vigilant Western world and domestic public opinion would never allow it to happen. Already the prediction that the Islamists’ first election is the last one has proved wrong, as the AKP has held second general elections. Whereas the incubus of Islamist threat is largely unfounded, the proposed change promises to be immensely beneficial for Turkey. The Kemalists have very little knowledge of the West or the true meaning of secularism. Their secularism is essentially anti-religion and imitates external Western forms while refusing to incorporate the core Western values of tolerance, liberalism and democracy in their worldview. The militant secularism they profess has divided the Turkish society into “white” and “black Turks”: the former have appropriated most of the powers and privileges while the latter have been left disenfranchised. The “civilian” constitution promises to bring about a paradigm shift in the power structure and rectify this imbalance by providing a level playing field to the both. The writer is a former dean of social sciences at the Quaid-i-Azam University. He can be reached at hussain_ijaz@hotmail.com