“WHITE” PARTY REPAINTS TURKEY INTO GREEN COLOUR OF ISLAM

PanARMENIAN.Net - The elections revealed the failure of the progressive political forces willing to establish normal relations with Armenia. Only one percent of the electors voted for the Democratic left party led by the head of the former governing coalition, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit. The “New Turkey” party founded by the former foreign minister Ismail Cem got even less votes despite the fact that it spent about $200 million for the pre-election campaign. We’ll remind that not long before the elections Ecevit said that if his party succeeded, the opening of borders and establishment of economic contacts with Yerevan would become more realistic. The companions of Cem said that in case if the “New Turkey” won, the issue of restoration of the railway communication on the Kars-Gyumri sector would be solved within a year. Other more or less constructive politicians – Tansu Chiller and Mesud Yilmaz also turned to be political bankrupts.

The Turks were hoping that as a result of the preterm elections the deep political crisis threatening the unprecedented credit program of the International Monetary Fund worth $16 billion could be overcome. But in fact, the elections did not solve anything. Their unexpected result raised more questions instead of providing answers. Many political observers forecast further deepening of the political crisis in Turkey.

The foreign political priorities of the new authorities are not clear up to now. The leader of the Party of Justice and Development that won the elections, former Mayor of Istanbul Rejep Erdogan says that the ideology followed by him does not reject the European values. However, his activity in the past obliges us to doubt this. The party of Erdogan is the successor of the Islamist party “Rifah”, which in 1998 was considered extremist and was prohibited. Erdogan, as well as the leader of “Rifah” Najmeddin Erbakan, was deprived of his right to conduct political activity on the decision of the court. Moreover, for propaganda of ideas of radical Islamism and for provocation of religious discord he was sentenced to imprisonment. Despite all this, in 2000, with a group of companions he founded a new party, “Saadat”, which was also prohibited. Last year he founded the Party of Justice and Development (Adalyat ve Kalkinma), its other name is “White Party”. But the court debarred its leader from participation in the preterm elections. Two weeks before the elections the prosecutor general applied to the constitutional court asking to prohibit the party.

So, the status of Rejep Erdogan is obscure. If believe the laws, he can not become not only a Prime Minister, but even has no right to lead a party. The judgment can be reversed only by changing the constitution, but for a qualified majority allowing to do it, the “White” party lacks 4 mandates. However, whoever heads the cabinet of ministers, it is evident that the future government will be exceptionally “white”. And this means that the Islamism ideology will in fact become official in Turkey. Of course, if the Turkish generals which are the guardians of the secular way of country’s development, do not stand against. In any case, the coming to power of a regime having a clerical orientation will hardly have a positive effect its relations with neighbors and particularly with Armenia. Nevertheless, the winners themselves, naturally, try to convince the world that they are for continuation of the constructive dialogue with Armenia. Deputy Head of the Party of Justice and Development Yakis Yashar, which in the future cabinet will probably be the foreign minister, has said recently that “the Whites” are for improvement of Turkish-Armenian relations and are going be active in the given issue. Such a statement of course, should not be taken in all good faith. The leaders of the party just try to calm down the Western world, which is concerned with the success of the Islamite party, and their own compatriots, the two thirds of which, judging from the results of the elections, do not admit the ideology and the clerical views of the “whites”. In order to gain upon those who are concerned with the radicalism of the new authorities, Erdogan declared his sudden intention – the first visit in the post of the leader of the governing party he will pay to Greece, with which Ankara, as known, has rather tense relations.

This statement caused dissatisfaction in Azerbaijan, as according to them the first visit of the leader of the new political elite of Turkey should be paid to Baku, in order to verify the priority of the ideology of the Turk unity over the idea of the European integration. By the way, Heydar Aliyev, as expected, was the first President to congratulate Erdogan with his success. During a telephone conversation with the head of the brotherly country, the leader of the Party of Justice and Development confirmed his intention to strengthen the relations with Azerbaijan and to defend its interests in the Karabakh issue. Nevertheless, not all pin their hopes on Erdogan in Baku. Many Azerbaijani political scientists share the opinion of the western experts that the government formed from followers of Islamite ideas will not remain in power for a long time. For example, the commentators of the “Echo” newspaper believe that “the political situation in Turkey remains indistinct, and various developments are possible: starting from military coup and finishing wit dissolution of the governing party on the decision of the constitutional court”. Under these conditions it’s senseless to speak about the efficiency of a dialogue.