Erdogan resists Republic Day celebration, opposition is defiant

PanARMENIAN.Net - Official festivities were sanctioned to take place only at Ankara hippodrome and were attended by the country’s leadership. However, the key opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), as well as the Workers' Party (IP) along with about 40 NGOs decided to hold a “mobilization manifestation”; the action was to start at the building of the first parliament of Turkey and then move to the mausoleum of Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic. Approximately 6000 police officers were providing for the security; they used truncheons and tear gas to stop anti-government rallies. People were injured, some were arrested. According to opposition media, the police blocked entry to the city to bar the way of about a hundred of buses with opposition activists on board who headed for Ankara to take part in the action.

Participants of the action blamed the current Islamist government for infringement upon Turkey’s secular bases. Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of CHP labeled this as agony of Erdogan’s regime. “Erdogan speaks about human rights in Syria, while he has trampled on all democratic values in his country. All this demonstrates that we are just a step away from authoritarianism,” he said. It is worth noting that hundreds of opposition journalists are jailed on charge of mythic conspiracy. The army is demoralized. Almost all officers are arrested on suspicion of plotting a military coup d’etat to overthrow the government. Meanwhile, the army has always been the guardian of the secular regime. However, the Islamists have staked on the people who have remained ignorant, fanatic, and uneducated through all these 89 years.

Current president Abdullah Gül is the only one lacking a general rank, a mandatory condition in Turkey until 2002. Prime Minister Erdogan is not much keen on army either. The poem that entailed a 10-month jail sentence upon him in 1998 has the following ending: “Mosques are our caserns, domes are our helmets, and minarets are our bayonets. Our soldiers are full of faith.” Meanwhile, Turkey has been developing as a secular republic, with authoritarian governance and army’s intervention aimed at maintenance of this very model of development. Naturally, the Islamists make every effort to eliminate the cult of Ataturk that has been successfully enrooted during 70 years. Such plan will hardly satisfy Turkey’s secular sector that votes for the CHP and anyone other than the Justice and Development Party (AKP).

AKP wrested the victory during the recent elections; gaining 49% of votes it did not manage to form a constitutional majority. In fact, half of the country voted against Erdogan. Also, inevitable forgery took place, and administrative resources were used. However, this is not very important. Erdogan is getting troublesome news from Syria. Kurdish military troops that have maintained neutrality in the Syrian conflict until recent, have now started to fight against the opposition troops in Aleppo. If Bashar Assad manages to use this and maintain the tendency, the balance of powers in the Syrian war may be altered to favour him. The Kurds constitute over 10 per cent of Syria's population; if they back the governmental troops not only in Aleppo but other parts as well, this will cause serious problems for the opposition.

Participants of the hostilities against the opposition mostly represented troops of the Democratic Union party closely linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which is engaged in armed fight against the authorities of neighbouring Turkey. Turkey is much active in supporting the Syrian opposition, and recently appeared on the verge of armed conflict with Damascus after a number of frontier incidents. If Kurds interfere in this, Turkey will face an unpleasant situation. Hypothetically, the Turkish Kurds may unite with the Syrian and Iraqi ones, and even those in Iran, which may result in implementation of another U.S. project, namely the Great Kurdistan. Unlike Erdogan, the Turkish opposition actively cooperates with the Kurds, and the outcome of this potential alliance is easy to predict: Islamists may be overthrown, and special national elections may be organized, in strict compliance with the democratic norms.