High Court Lets Islamic-Rooted Party Continue, but With a 'Serious Warning'
By Ernesto Londoño
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, July 31, 2008
ISTANBUL, July 30 -- Turkey's highest court decided Wednesday not to outlaw the nation's Islamic-rooted ruling party, handing Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan a narrow victory and frustrating Turks intent on protecting the secular character of the government.
Addressing members of his ruling Justice and Development Party, Erdogan hailed the court's decision. "Democracy wins," he said to vigorous applause. "Political and economic stability win."
The court, however, halved state funding of the party for one year, and its chief jurist said most members found credible evidence that party leaders had undermined secularism.
Court chairman Hasim Kilic said the ruling party should interpret the outcome as a "serious warning" and "take the necessary lessons from this."
The case threatened to unseat Erdogan, along with scores of lawmakers from his party. Justice and Development won 47 percent of the vote in parliamentary elections last year, in part because of the country's economic growth and because of the party's determination to win Turkish membership in the European Union.
Six of the court's 11 judges voted to outlaw the party, falling one vote short of the seven needed in this case. Four other judges agreed with the prosecutor's contention that the party had undermined Turkey's constitutionally mandated secularism but decided that cutting its funding was an adequate sanction. Kilic favored neither option.
Party supporters labeled the case an attempted "judicial coup" and accused secular leaders of resorting to judicial maneuvers to attempt to seize political power they were unable to attain at the ballot box.
Turkish political parties have been banned by the judiciary in the past, but this case marked the first time a popular ruling party faced such a prospect. The decision averted an abrupt change of guard at a time when Turkey is grappling with domestic terrorism and seeking to bolster its case for inclusion in the E.U.
But the underlying political tension that led to the standoff remains. The country's ruling party, whose leaders are observant Muslims, and the secular establishment, which includes opposition parties, the military and the judiciary, are beset by deep mutual bitterness and suspicion.
They are at odds over a question that has divided Turks for years: What role, if any, should Islam play in the affairs of a predominantly Muslim democratic state whose constitution regards secularism as sacred?
"There is no consensus as to what secularism is and how it should be maintained," said Bulent Aliriza, the director of the Turkey Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "What you have is leaders who are not secular who are trying to change the rigorous aspects of secularism. The ruling party has accepted the continuation of secularism. What it is trying to do is adjust it to take it to the wishes of the electorate."
Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya, the country's top prosecutor, filed a lengthy complaint against the party this spring, alleging that its leaders were steering the country toward conservative Islamic values in violation of the country's secular principles.
The case relied heavily on party leaders' attempt this year to repeal a policy that bans women from wearing head scarves at universities and in other public buildings. Some secularists said they suspected it was a first step in a broad campaign to turn Turkey into an Islamist state.
Addressing supporters Wednesday night, Erdogan said the proceeding had taken a toll on party leaders, but he hailed its outcome as a victory. His opponents saw it differently.
Onur Oymen, a senior member of the Republican People's Party, the largest opposition party, said the outcome validated the opposition's criticism.
"The ruling party can by no means state that what they did so far was in conformity with the constitution," he said in an interview. "They have to adjust their policies. If they insist on their present policies, there will be serious consequences."
The case was one of two politically explosive legal proceedings that have dominated Turkish politics in recent weeks. Earlier this month, Istanbul's top prosecutor indicted 86 people, including former military officials, alleging they were planning to overthrow the government.
The military has been a bulwark of secularism since the birth of modern Turkey in the early 1920s. It has overthrown several elected governments that military leaders felt were overly religious. In April 2007, military leaders posted a protest on their Web site criticizing the nomination for president of Abdullah Gul, a former member of an Islamic party who joined the ruling party. Gul became president last fall.
Ergun Ozbudun, a professor of political science and constitutional law at Bilkent University in Ankara, said the head scarf, once merely a symbol of piety, has become the leading wedge issue and political symbol of the broader debate about the role of Islam in Turkey.
Parliament approved a proposal to lift the ban this spring, but the country's top court ruled it unconstitutional. Suddenly, a prohibition that had been selectively enforced for years became dogmatic, and the issue became a flash point.
In recent months, some of Ozbudun's female students have found other ways to shield their hair at school -- and make a political statement.
"Sometimes they come in with wigs and hats, rather queer hats," he said, chuckling.
For Busra Kidam, 17, a high school student who wears a head scarf, the issue is highly personal. The garment gives her inner strength and security in her beliefs, she said Wednesday afternoon, standing inside the Blue Mosque, an Istanbul landmark. When she starts college next year, she said, she will reluctantly take it off at the gate.
"I see it as unfair," said Kidam, who wears purple-rimmed glasses and colorful head scarves. "But I am in silence for the sake of my country." Removing the scarf, she said, "will not erase my ideas."
The issue may seem trivial to some. But analysts say it illustrates a deepening rift in a country of sharp contrasts. Women in tank tops and stiletto heels share cafe patios in Istanbul with women draped in black veils; abortion is legal in Turkey, yet the wives and daughters of the president and prime minister cannot set foot in military facilities because they wear head scarves; monumental mosques are a short cab ride away from packed gay bars.
"We will have to go through a period of reconciliation and debate," said Ali Carkoglu, a political scientist.
Special correspondent Zehra Ayman contributed to this report.
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