Prolific author Professor Mete Tunçay, Bilkent University professor and Zaman daily columnist Hilmi Yavuz and famous religious scholar, Yeni Şafak daily columnist Hayrettin Karaman were the keynote speakers of the program, which was dedicated to Turkey’s recent path towards democracy. While Friday’s Constitutional Court ruling on the closure of the DTP dominated the agenda, intellectuals spoke of how to prevent party closures and attempts at coups.
Discussions, which focused on the education in democratic principles of Turks, were an attempt to find ways to consolidate the democratic experience in the country. Tunçay said that democracy is based on ignorance. The situation in Turkey, a country populated predominantly by Muslims, is not really conducive to some democratic experiences, Tunçay said. “In Islam, there are strict rules that you cannot change. There are people claiming that they know the truth, that they know how things must work. Claiming that the truth is one and obvious is not compatible with democracy.” He said in a democracy people are not sure about the right choice and they put their claims up to debate. “They eventually vote to adopt the best option, and that is democracy,” Tunçay stated.
Emphasizing the fact that Turkish democracy has been consigned to the high bureaucracy and the military, Tunçay said it has become impossible to persuade the military and the high bureaucracy to relinquish the task of overeseeing democracy. He said to end the discussion on coups and coup attempts in Turkey, the ongoing investigation into Ergenekon, a clandestine criminal organization, should be immediately concluded and the guilty parties arrested.
The Constitution bestows on the military bureaucracy the privilege of “taking care” of democracy and taking over the government if necessary. Noting that the Constitutional Court emerged with the 1960 Constitution as the government copied the European model, Yavuz said the problem with respect to the Constitutional Court is the control of “appointees” over “elected” members. Criticizing the constitutional order by claiming that it is not the military’s duty to watch over democracy, Yavuz said only civil society can check the degree of democracy in Turkey. “To prevent coup attempts and politically motivated court rulings, civil society must be the sole institution playing a watchdog role in a democracy,” Yavuz said. He also added that the Support for Modern Life Association (ÇYDD), an organization granting aid to poor students and also known for their strict adherence to Kemalist ideology, is not a civil society organization as it supports the state’s official ideology and therefore cannot be counted as such Karaman, who moderated the panel, spoke of Islam and democracy and their compatibility.
