The Ethics Committee of the Socialist International decided at a meeting on Thursday to call for a report on "how the CHP acted when it comes to support for democracy," Anne Ludvigsson, a Swedish politician and Socialist International member told Today's Zaman in a phone interview. She said the committee's decision had been unanimous.
The Council of the Socialist International will discuss the call from the Ethics Committee today. If it gives the go-ahead for an investigation into the CHP's conduct, then a group of officials from the SI's secretariat will prepare a report.
That report will be assessed at the next meeting of the Council of the Socialist International. Whether the CHP should be expelled from the Socialist International will be made on the basis of this report.
Ludvigsson said she expected the council to back the Ethics Committee's call to report on the CHP's compliance with Socialist International norms, thus paving the way for an investigation.
The CHP has received much criticism from Socialist International members, who say its "nationalist rhetoric" is in violation of universal democratic standards. Ludvigsson said she was annoyed when the CHP took a supportive stance towards what appeared to be a military intervention in politics during Turkey's failed presidential election process.
The military issued a powerful statement hours after the first round of presidential election on April 27, expressing concern over secularism debates in the context of the election and warning of intervention. Earlier the same day the CHP took the election to the Constitutional Court, which cancelled it, saying in a controversial ruling that there should have been at least 367 deputies in attendance.
CHP leader Deniz Baykal, a vice president of the Socialist International, is attending the council meeting in Geneva. Asked whether he has been notified of the measure discussed at the Ethics Committee, Ludvigsson said it was very likely that he has been informed about Thursday's decision.
Baykal, Kurdish leaders spar over terrorism
Baykal, a harsh critic of the government for not adopting a sufficiently tough stance against Iraqi Kurdish leaders concerning the presence of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Iraq, was given a cold shower at the Socialist International meeting, where he had to share the same dinner table on Thursday night with both Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani, who heads the de facto autonomous Kurdish administration in northern Iraq.
In his speech at the council, Baykal accused Iraq of exporting terrorism and providing legitimacy for the PKK, following which Talabani walked out in protest. Baykal's speech was interrupted with noise inside the meeting hall when a huge crowd of journalists left their chairs to follow Talabani.
Earlier in the day, Baykal refused to listen to Talabani at seats reserved for senior officials of the Socialist International and took a chair among the audience in protest of the Iraqi leader, a Kurd. Baykal and Talabani both attended a dinner on Thursday night but there was no conversation between the two.
In his speech Baykal said the Iraqi administration had failed in "treating organizations that constitute a threat to neighbors as terrorists" and added that explosive materials smuggled from Iraq into Turkey have been used in several terrorist attacks inside Turkey.
Baykal also complained that what happened in northern Iraq, where the PKK terrorists enjoy freedom of movement, was unique in the world, complaining that the terrorists were trained there to attack Turkish targets, but that the Iraqi security forces were not doing anything to stop them.
Addressing the council before Baykal, Talabani noted that the Turkish military reinforced troops along the border and emphasized that the Iraqi Kurds pursued a policy of friendship. "We reject rhetoric of threat and embrace rhetoric of dialogue," he said.
Ironically, Talabani also touched on the threat of terrorism in his speech and said Iraq has turned into a training ground for terrorists worldwide. Talabani also said Iraq had been inundated with terrorists coming from Arabic countries ever since its liberation from Saddam Hussein's dictatorship, calling for help from the Socialist International.
Talabani refused to respond to questions from Turkish journalists.
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