Amid parliament boycott, Turkey enters uncertain period

Just weeks after Turkey’s election, the refusal of two opposition parties to swear into parliament sparks a political crisis.

By Alakbar Raufoglu for Southeast European Times — 30/06/11

”]President Abdullah Gul met with main opposition CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu on Thursday (June 30th), hoping to find a way to solve the boycott crisis in the 24th Parliament, which has ominously marked the beginning of the ruling AKP’s third term.

Gul will meet with Ahmet Turk and Serafettin Elci, representatives of the pro-Kurdish BDP, on Friday (July 1st).

The walkout revolves around six members of the BDP, including Hatip Dicle, and two from CHP, who are being prevented from swearing in as parliamentary deputies despite being democratically elected. All these deputies are currently imprisoned; the BDP group was accused of having connections to the terror group PKK, while the CHP individuals are implicated in the Ergenekon scandal.

The dialog between the AKP and CHP started on Wednesday with a meeting among Haluk Ipek, State Minister Cemil Cicek, and Kilicdaroglu at the parliament.

“Their [AKP leaders] behaviour and words are not consistent,” CHP Deputy Chairman Faik Oztrak told SETimes, adding, instead of questioning the opposition for nominating jailed candidates, the government should release them.

“We’re behind our decisions,” he says. “If no step is taken, the CHP MP’s will continue to refuse swearing in, although they will attend the General Assembly. This is shameful for Turkish democracy.”

Unlike CHP, their Kurdish colleagues did not show up in Ankara early this week, convening instead in Diyarbakir.

Ibrahim Binici, BDP MP from Sanliurfa, says the boycott “will continue until the end, unless a democratic atmosphere is provided by both the AKP and through laws and regulation”.

“We didn’t earn our parliament seats by weapons, but democratic ways — we went to people and asked their permission,” he told SETimes, adding, “Now, we can’t betray voters.”

Binici said they also believe the relevant articles of the Turkish Penal Code, the Terror Law and constitution should be reconsidered in a way to open parliament’s doors to Dicle.

Mustafa Elitas, AKP parliamentary group deputy chairman, however, warns the opposition “is committing a constitutional crime by their actions”.

“They are doing wrong,” he told SETimes. “Our message to them is ‘do not use threats. Take the oath and bring your proposal to parliament.’”

“By choosing the imprisoned candidates during the election, the CHP and BDP triggered this crisis […] and now they want us to fix it for them.”

“It is not the end of parliament without CHP and BDP taking oaths,” Elitas says, adding that next Monday they are going to elect the speaker of parliament and “continue our responsibility by serving our voters”.

Gareth Jenkins, an Istanbul-based British analyst, says it looks as though the CHP will not object to the AKP’s choice of parliamentary speaker, which was discussed in the Kilicdaroglu-Cicek meeting.

“This could create an atmosphere more conducive to solving the problem of the imprisoned elected deputies. Parliament is due to go into recess for the summer anyway. So there is time to solve this [prisoner MPs] problem before it returns from recess in the fall,” he told SETimes.

The much greater problem is the case of Dicle, he says, which had already sent tensions soaring even before the courts refused to release the five imprisoned BDP deputies.

Gerald Robbins, senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, argues that besides having been duly elected, the BDP and CHP perceive a double standard. That is Erdogan being released from prison to run for prime minister in 2003.

“Furthermore there’s a concern the ruling AKP will replace these deputies and inevitably the whole BDP parliamentary contingent with their own people, allowing them to be within striking distance of a two thirds majority which can allow them the ability to govern by decree,” he told SETimes.

As for the CHP, Robbins says the party is having post-election factional problems: one side is demanding new leadership, believing the election results were disappointing and a new chairman is needed.

“It might well be that Mr. Kilicdaroglu needs to show a toughness to these detractors by not sitting in parliament with a government that has imprisoned their cadre. What transpires from Mr. Kilicdaroglu’s meeting with AKP officials may be an indicator of how secure his position is as chairman.”

This content was commissioned for SETimes.com.

via Amid parliament boycott, Turkey enters uncertain period (SETimes.com).