Turkey spends an inordinate amount of time and energy worrying about foreign threats, but no enemy outside Turkey’s borders has ever caused it more damage than those inside who claim to protect the nation.The politics of confrontation I mentioned in a recent column have once again won the day with the closure of the Democratic Society Party (DTP) by the Constitutional Court. While it can be argued that this outcome was expected, given the laws currently in force, the timing of this unanimous decision raises serious questions.
We will in time get used to a new party, just as we learned over the years to juggle acronyms and replace HEP with ÖZDEP, DEP or HADEP. The DTP is, after all, the fifth Kurdish political party and the 27th political formation closed down by the Constitutional Court.
But while the bans achieve little and bring Turkey no closer to solving the entrenched Kurdish problem, each court decision erodes tolerance and goodwill a bit more. The court opted to exclude 37 Kurdish politicians from political life for a five-year period, including moderates such as party leader Ahmet Türk. This approach will only help more radical elements gain the upper hand.
Such is the understanding of politics in Turkey that moderates who might contribute to solutions are often feared more than the radicals who fuel conflict. It was clear in recent weeks that the war lobby on both sides, including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which staged an ambush that killed seven soldiers in Tokat, was at work to torpedo the government’s somewhat clumsy but brave attempt to foster a lasting solution.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), after coming close to being closed down last year, breathed a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, it proved too shortsighted to take the legal steps necessary to prevent other political formations from suffering this fate, despite the fact that the DTP was already the target of a court procedure at the time.
The court decision shows once more that in the absence of a new constitution and new rules on political parties that offer better democratic guarantees, it takes little to derail peace moves. Without legitimate interlocutors on the Kurdish side and a legal framework that allows an honest debate, moves toward peace will remain vulnerable to provocations.
The testosterone-laden climate in Parliament and the fact that trading insults and accusations of treason appears to be the only form of dialogue between the government and the opposition parties further contribute to creating tension in the country. Politicians across the board share the responsibility to provide the country with a legal and social environment that makes peaceful coexistence possible, but instead of seeking a consensus, they play with fire and stand in the way of Turkey’s progress.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who is rarely at a loss for words, has been noticeably silent since the court announced its decision. At the time of writing, he had yet to point the way forward. The government must urgently take the situation in hand to prevent the protests that have taken place across the country from degenerating into widespread ethnic clashes.
Far from abandoning its democratic opening, it needs to take concrete steps to push it forward. Turkey has been going round and round in circles for years. In the meantime, people continue to die, and millions are denied the level of political stability and economic prosperity they deserve. In spite of this major setback, the government must pursue its attempt to break the vicious cycle once and for all with renewed determination.
