MHP Deputy Chairman Cihan Paçacı said it was an absolute necessity for the prosecution to carry out this investigation to the very end. He also criticized the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) for acting like “prosecutors and lawyers” throughout the investigation. Ergenekon, a stay-behind perpetrator of many incidents, is suspected of having links to academics, politicians, the military, the media and the business world. The Ergenekon investigation has been interpreted by some as a fight between Turkey’s secularist establishment and the ruling AK Party, which comes from a religious-minded political party that was shut down in the late 1990s. Structures like Ergenekon dominated the political scene in Turkey prior to the Sept. 12, 1980 coup. The MHP’s youth branches have been used as attackers by such networks, which try to shape the country in accordance with their own ideologies.Paçacı said the Ergenekon investigation was proof that there were still attempts to use the MHP. “We, as the administrators of the MHP, have issued the necessary warnings to all MHP members not to get involved in the slightest act of violence. And our warnings have reached their target. Today’s youth is the guarantee of the future. This youth should be equipped with knowledge. It should have computers in its hands, not guns.”
Constitutional change and the MHP
The MHP will back any legislative change to avoid any future crisis similar to the one that Turkey narrowly escaped when the Constitutional Court on Wednesday ruled not to close the ruling party, which stood accused of being a focal point of anti-secular activities, its officials emphasize.
Senior members of the MHP all stress the words of Chief Justice Haşim Kılıç, who said while announcing the court’s ruling on Wednesday that politicians should change the country’s legislation to make it more difficult for the judiciary to shut down political parties, noting that Kılıç’s call is very important. The MHP’s Paçacı stated in an interview with Today’s Zaman that Turkey cannot afford ambiguity and instability on its way to become a leading world country.
Relief swept through Turkey on Thursday after the Constitutional Court announced the day before it would not be shutting down the ruling AK Party. However, the possibility that the ruling party, re-elected to power in July of last year with 47 percent of the vote, might be closed has caused serious tension in the country in the past few months since the accusation was brought against it in March. This case, too, was seen by some analysts as a showdown between the country’s secularist establishment and the AK Party, not unlike the Ergenekon investigation.
“The MHP has policies in place to fend off current and potential crises. We will continue these policies. The fact that there is no conflict in our country at such a great time of tension shows that our policies are working,” Paçacı said.
The head of the party’s parliamentary group, Mehmet Şandır, said to Today’s Zaman that to realize this aim, the party is currently developing projects that would help the country normalize. Saying that a great responsibility lay on the shoulders of political actors to prevent party closures from turning into political crises in the future, Şandır said: “Turkey, a country dreaming of becoming a leader at the start of the new century, should get rid of these small and futile discussions. To achieve this, the MHP will do its part and invite the AK Party and the CHP to a resolution-focused approach. This country is not only worthy of being a global power in its own region but one that should become such a country. For this, we should first ensure our social unity and allocate all our resources to production. We need to do this for a strong economy and sustainable growth. An economy that can compete in international markets, a sovereign nation and an independent state are our policy. These are what we have in mind when we emphasize the need for normalization.”
MHP deputy from Antalya Mehmet Günal also stated to Today’s Zaman that his party was representing a constructive opposition. Günal said that without normalizing first, Turkey’s problems awaiting solution cannot be solved. “We believe in reaching a consensus in the social, political and economic spheres. The nation and the state should reach a consensus with all institutions. In other words, the values of the nation and the sensitivities of the state should not be at odds with one another. And while doing this, one should not be making political calculations that might cause tension. Unfortunately, the government and the main opposition party have been conducting politics based on conflict. The MHP, to the contrary, wants to open the path in front of Turkish society with a new vision. We should not waste time with internal conflicts while other countries are developing. In the environment of fast-paced globalization, the cost of lost time is much more than just timeless.”
People should shut down parties
Paçacı recalled that in Turkey’s political history, the Constitutional Court has so far closed 26 political parties. “This situation has negatively affected our political culture and our democracy. A constitutional amendment that prevents the closure of political parties -- with the exception of parties linked to terrorist groups -- should be enacted. As long as a party does not promote or use violence as a method, political parties should be shut down only when they lose public support,” Paçacı said.
Günal criticized the main opposition, saying their mentality of simply opposing everything for the sake of opposition was costing Turkey greatly. “Our understanding of opposition is not supporting or opposing blindly.” He said, “We now strongly agree with the call of the chief justice, and we invite the AK Party and the CHP to do what the situation calls for and change the legislation.”
Paçacı also stated that the current investigation into Ergenekon should be completed with utmost care and with no cover-ups, as has been the case in the past when such organizations were exposed. “We believe in the Turkish judicial system. We believe that it will shed light on the subject very clearly,” he said.
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