Last week I published a column in the Zaman daily calling on the Socialist International (SI) to expel the Republican People’s Party (CHP) from membership. I would like to explain for foreign observers of Turkish politics why I really believe the CHP, with its current leadership and policies, has absolutely no place in the global organization of social democratic, socialist and labor parties of the world. The “Ethical Principles” adopted at the 22nd congress of SI held in Sao Paolo in September 2003 stated the following: “The Socialist International member parties defend pluralistic democracy. This means allowing citizens to make their choice at free, coordinated and clear elections; changing of governments in a peaceful way and providing freedom for citizens; showing respect to the rights of minorities and individuals; standing for an independent and neutral judiciary system based on the rule of law, a free and pluralist press, and administrating the parties in a democratic way.”
If SI is to remain true to its “Ethical Principles,” it has to conclude that the CHP of Turkey as led by Deniz Baykal no longer deserves membership in the organization, mainly due to the following reasons:
The CHP is not at all a party that is “administrated in a democratic way.” Baykal and his clique have established autocratic rule over the party, eliminated all dissenting views and members from the party and alienated all true social democrats.
The Baykal clique has turned the CHP increasingly away from the people and basically aligned it with the bureaucratic elites. It has increasingly turned the party away from social democracy towards a 1930s-style Kemalism that refuses to recognize the ethnic and religious diversity and cultural rights of Turkey’s citizens and fully supports an authoritarian type of state secularism that does not separate state and religion, and restricts religious rights and freedoms.
The Baykal clique is not only disrespectful of democratic rights, but increasingly of democratic processes. It has made the party a spokesman for the civilian-military bureaucracy which continues to think that the Turkish people at large are not mature enough for democracy and wants to preserve its tutelary powers over the regime.
The Baykal clique has pursued a policy of polarizing the electorate over the issue of secularism, with a view towards increasing his party’s sinking share of the popular vote. His statements have led many to conclude that he is using the threat of military intervention to achieve his political goals.
Baykal has not uttered a single word against the memorandum issued by the military threatening the parliament against the election of Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul as president and thus has tacitly supported the military’s intervention in the democratic process. Baykal and his clique have openly opposed “pluralist democracy” SI stands for. One of the vice chairmen of the party who most clearly reflects the widespread militarism among the ranks of the CHP came out and said he is in full agreement with the memorandum, which states among other things that: “All who do not share the understanding ‘Happy is he who says he is a Turk’ are enemies of the republic and will remain so,” in a thinly veiled reference to citizens of Kurdish origin who defend their ethnic identity. Baykal’s CHP is in growing agreement with nationalist parties in support of continued suppression of Kurdish identity.
During the recent crisis over presidential election, Baykal called on the Constitutional Court to declare unconstitutional the election process that has been used to elect the last three presidents and warned the court that the country would otherwise risk domestic conflict and “clashes.” He has thus displayed his disrespect for an “independent and neutral judicial system based on the rule of law.”
In summary, the views and policies of Baykal’s CHP are in open conflict with principles of both social and political democracy. There may be nothing wrong within Turkey with the CHP being a statist and nationalist party, but it surely has no right to describe itself as a “social democratic” party, and this needs to be made clear to them by SI. The CHP’s expulsion from SI may perhaps help end the Baykal clique’s domination of this important actor of Turkish politics and open the way for democratic reform within it.
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