DSP leader supports democratization, asks president to step in

    In an exclusive interview with Sunday's Zaman, Masum Türker, the head of the center-left Democratic Left Party (DSP), said the government has misgivings about the continuation of the state's endorsement of the process, putting further delays on the solution.

Underlining that the Turkish Republic definitely needs a full democratization package, Türker said, “Unfortunately the government can't make known its own views out in the open because of this concern, and we need to find a solution that will make the government's job easier to handle.”

In a sharp contrast with main opposition leftist party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), which has been very much opposed to the democratization package from the start and even refused to meet with the government minister tasked with drafting the package, the DSP has lent its support to the government's initiative and party Chairman Türker accepted the invitation extended by Interior Minister Beşir Atalay to discuss the initiative despite some resistance from within party ranks.

He stresses that the name of the initiative should be carefully selected because of the sensitivity regarding the issue among the public. “If you dub this the Kurdish opening or initiative, the process would be off to the wrong start,” he said, adding that the government changed the name of the initiative after he conveyed this concern to Atalay during a meeting held at DSP headquarters. The DSP sees the problem as a democratization issue for Turkey and argues that all impediments in the collective usage of basic rights and freedoms should be eliminated. “Every region in the country has problems of its own, just like the Southeast, where citizens of predominantly Kurdish descent live; they have a lot of problems in exercising their fundamental rights and freedoms. Therefore, to define it as only a Kurdish problem would make it difficult to achieve progress on the democracy front,” he added.

The DSP entered Parliament following the 2007 national elections after working in coalition with the CHP, running on the same platforms and using the same campaign. The party later distanced itself from the CHP and formed its own separate parliamentary group. Asked why the DSP took a different stance to the CHP on the new initiative, Türker said he and his party leadership believe the country has a real problem in living up to full-fledged democratic standards. “The people demand that the government solve the problem, complete the democratization process and end the terror,” he said. “What we did in contrast to the CHP and the Nationalist Movement Party [MHP], which leads the charge in opposition to the initiative, is to tell the government that the approach chosen initially was wrong. We contributed to the process positively as we hold the view that everybody should be part of the solution,” he added.

In fact, the government has listened to the DSP and changed the name to the “democratization process” to further broaden the base of support for what it is trying to accomplish. Türker is also critical of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's handling of the process. “It was wrong for Erdoğan to send his interior minister to discuss the process with other party leaders while he met with the leader of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party [DTP] personally,” he argued. Describing this as a major tactical mistake on the part of the government, Türker said: “In hindsight, we can say that the process would not have been stuck had the prime minister personally requested meetings with all party leaders. Then the interior minister could have worked on fleshing out the process,” he added.

Military is on board

The DSP leader further argues that citing terrorism as the reason for this initiative was wrong as well. “Terror is terror and should be treated separately,” he said, emphasizing the point that there is no need to find a reason when contemplating new regulations that will boost fundamental rights and freedoms.

From the vantage point of the powerful Turkish military, Türker does not see much difference between the government's approach and the military's one. The red lines mapping out the democratization process in Atalay's public remarks are very similar to the lines the military drew: These are the maintenance of the unitary structure of the state and the retention of Turkish as the official language. “We think the government and the military is in sync with regards to the process, and they seemed to be sincere in solving the country's problems,” Türker believes.

In decoding the government's thinking from the meeting he had with the interior minister, Türker has come to the conclusion that government is not willing to stake the AK Party's future on the process by going “solo.” “They insist the process should be seen as state policy rather than the government's project and would very much like to see Parliament involved in the solution. I think pointing to Parliament as the arena for the solution is an important and required step for us,” Türker noted. He anticipates that the government will not try to achieve major constitutional change in this process but rather will introduce changes in regulations and laws to ease the rigidity of the Constitution in some matters. “The important thing is that the AK Party does not want to take these steps alone,” he said.

As for the explanation of the government not wanting to go it alone, Türker says the price tag for the AK Party would be huge if the process fails and the issue is a tense, highly sensitive one which could be easily be manipulated by rivals and could potentially inflame public furor against the government. “The prime motivation is that the government does not have full confidence in the system. They are concerned that the AK Party would be left out in the open in the middle of the process,” Türker explains.

The government has so far shied away from disclosing the details of the democratization plan, saying they are still consulting with other parties and civic organizations. The prime minister has said on the record, however, that Turkey would see some results before year's end. As a matter of fact, the AK Party does not have much time left to find solution to the problem as the general elections will be held in 2011 and next year will be a campaign year for the government and the opposition parties as well.

DSP put forward own proposals

Türker said the DSP has submitted a list of proposals to the government with a hope that it will contribute positively to the solution. He thinks the process is now deadlocked and that the government needs to do something to dislodge the process from its current stalemate. “What we need to do is to create conditions so that government can act freely and comfortably in pursuing this process, and as a party we are taking risks in helping out the government as well,” he said.

The leftist party leader also draws attention to the military's succinct warning about the latest announcement regarding the process. “Though the military Chief of General Staff [Gen. İlker Başbuğ] basically repeated what he has been saying in the past in parallel with the government position, he also made clear that tactics and methods employed in the process would determine its fundamentals,” Türker said, signaling that the military wants the process to become a compromise solution with all parties involved. “They basically said to the government, ‘Go back and change your tactics and methods',” he noted.

Commenting on the link between the DTP and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is listed as terrorist organization, Türker said the former benefits from violence and terror. He proposes raising the 10 percent threshold in national elections to enter the Parliament in a bid to prevent terror from determining the outcome of elections in the region. The DSP also suggests major land reform in the poverty-stricken region and asks the government to distribute lands belonging to the Treasury to farmers and villagers in the Southeast. “Even the fertile lands along Syrian border with Turkey can be given to the villagers there after the land mines are cleared out,” he hinted.

Türker says he understands the feelings of families who have lost their loved ones during the 30-year campaign against terrorism and their reaction to the new initiative. He notes, however, that millions of families are concerned as well when they send their sons to fulfill their compulsory military service. “The democratization package ought to be shaped in Parliament with the utmost consideration paid to all these sensitivities,” he said.

Round table proposal

The DSP leader suggests that a round table discussion with the presence of all party leaders chaired by President Abdullah Gül be held in a bid to get the democratization process moving again. He thinks this is the only viable option at this stage as both the CHP and the MHP have politicized the issues, creating polarization in the society. The DTP is seen as a front for the PKK by many Turkish citizens as well, creating a major obstacle for its hopes to be perceived as an honest broker in the process.

Asked why a “round table” meeting chaired by the president is needed, Türker said he believes the prime minister has already spent his political capital and has created barriers by increasing tensions with other party leaders. He also argues that in a round table meeting, every leader has a chance to speak and listen to the others in a face-to-face discussion. “We would be able to see whether the government can talk with others using the same tone as it did in the bilateral meetings. People talk in a respectful and reserved manner when they address each other during round table meetings where all the relevant parties are present,” he said.

Türker is strongly opposed to a closed session in Parliament to debate the democratization process. He thinks a closed session will further increase tension in the country and argues for more transparency in governance. Türker also lambastes the DTP for proposing Kurdish as a language of instruction in schools. “Kurdish could be an elective course, but the official language of instruction should be Turkish,” he noted. “In the early stages, dwelling on details makes it difficult for the solution to be found.” he added.

Pressure on Armenia

“In principle, Turkey should have friendly relations with all its neighbors,” the DSP leader says. He adds, however, that Turkey's neighbors should remove any references that might be found in official documents, their constitutions or other legal documents which infringe on the unitary structure of the Turkish state and its territorial integrity, just as Turkey respects the territorial integrity and unitary structure of its neighbors. He stresses that Armenia should openly reject any claims on lands in Turkey.

Türker conditionally supports Armenian rapprochement, saying that Ankara should pay attention to Azeri concerns before deciding on normalization of relations with Yerevan. Recalling that the initial talks have been Swiss-mediated, Türker said this was a mistake as well. He said the Swiss Federal Parliament has recognized the 1915 incidents as genocide. “Switzerland has chosen a side on this issue. The talks being held under the mediation of a country that has already chosen its side has weakened its position here. It would have been much better if these talks had taken place under the mediation of a neutral country,” he underlined.

As for its position on Turkey's bid to join the European Union, Türker says the DSP supports the EU membership process. He criticizes, however, the double standards the EU has applied on Turkey with respect to the Cyprus issue. “We should not open our ports to Greek Cypriot ships before we become a full member of the bloc,” he said, noting that signing the customs union agreement with the EU before getting full membership was a mistake. He stressed that opening up Turkish ports should be conditional upon full membership.

Türker says the DSP is in favor of the overhaul in the judiciary, especially in the formation and operation of Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK), which came under close public scrutiny recently with a failed attempt to change judges hearing ongoing trials in the country. He supports the increase in the number of members in the HSYK from seven to 21 and endorses the idea that decisions made by the HSYK should be open to review by introducing an appeals process in the newly constructed bicameral system.

The DSP leader is opposed to the idea, however, that Parliament should select members of the HSYK, saying there is no full democracy within the parties right now. “Whatever the party leaders decide, the members have to follow the suit because in the next election they are afraid they will not be nominated by the leaders,” he said. Türker said the Political Parties Law should be amended and party membership protected under the Constitution, allowing delegates to choose party nominees rather than party leaders. “If we could do that, then we can allow Parliament to choose members of the HSYK or the Constitutional Court,” he stressed.