Since then there have been no elected authorities with the strength of will to fully settle their scores with the coup mentality and therefore initiate a move to introduce a brand new Constitution, making democracy and the supremacy of the rule of law as basic principles.
The current constitutional amendments, though the most comprehensive so far, lack to a great extent articles completely ending the military tutelage system. Although it is insufficient, it deserves a yes vote.
Even if we only recall the days of the coup periods and the last 1980 coup, this package justifies a yes vote.
About 14,000 people were stripped of their citizenship, 30,000 people left the country to take refugee in various European and Scandinavian countries, an estimated 17,000 extrajudicial killings occurred mainly in the Kurdish dominated war stricken southeast, many young people were hanged and violations of human rights and torture were systematic. These events have been among the many brutalities of the 1980 coup. The 1982 Constitution dictated by the military has consolidated the military tutelage system under which all sorts of freedoms have been eliminated.
The main reason behind the prolongation of the 26-year old war with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) until now has been the existence of the current highly undemocratic Constitution. Only one third of it has so far been changed and Turkey’s European Union membership process has accelerated some military and civil reforms. But they have been less than satisfactory.
Still, constitutional amendments that people will vote for or against on 12 September, this Sunday, coinciding with the anniversary of the 12 September coup 30 years ago, contain various military and civilian reforms that will improve to a certain extent democratic standards.
Yes and No votes at the moment have been neck and neck, according to some opinion polls. According to other opinion polls, yes votes will be about 55 per cent.
Despite the many virtues of adopting the Constitutional amendments during the referendum, the above mentioned opinion polls indicate that yes and no votes are going hand in hand. This is alarming as it tells us how deeply society has been polarized and unfortunately shows the high degree of ongoing influence of the establishment seeking to retain its iron fist -- its power at the expense of democracy.
The essence of this polarization has been the deep secular and religious divide that has been the product of military coups since 1960. Fear-based policies imposed from the top have been hard to eliminate.
In order to deal with grave human rights violations and mass executions, Latin American countries created commissions to find out the truth while taking some steps in their fight to bring officers accused of torture to justice. Whereas, Turkish society, 30 years after the 12 September military coup and in the 21st century, has not done any of these as the Latin Americans did, says Professor Ümit Cizre of the İstanbul based Şehir University in her article published last Sunday in Star daily’s Açık Görüş supplement.
To contribute to Cizre’s opinion about Turkish absence of courage in settling scores with the junta, for example, the current ruling authority that has taken the lead in many reforms and made amendments to the Constitution, does not seem to be ready to convert infamous Diyarbakır prison into a museum of shame.
Thousands of innocent intellectuals were either brutally tortured or killed in this prison in the Kurdish dominated southeastern part of Turkey during the 1980 period just for expressing their opinions. Some committed suicide to end the torture that they were subjected to.
Keeping the memories of the bad old days through museums of shame is crucial so that we do not repeat the same mistakes.
It will be unfair, meanwhile, if we do not applaud the courageous steps taken by the Turkish judiciary in bringing senior retired and active officers to court over alleged coup plots. The current civilian authority’s reforms have encouraged some prosecutors to initiate probes against alleged coup planners.
If the amended package is endorsed it will encourage the political authority to continue with reforms. If it is not adopted, it will play into the hands of those seeking to retain the status quo. And the reform spirit would fade.
