Turkey is being pulled in two opposite directions. The ruling AKP wants it go on to become a liberal Islamic country. The powerful army, judiciary and bureaucracy wants that Turkey continues following the path shown by Kemal Ataturk. They distrust the AKP and feel its leaders want to turn Turkey into an orthodox Muslim nation.
The clash between the two forces has been going on for a long time. But things have come to crisis point as the courts begin hearing on the appeal to disband AKP and bar its leaders from taking part in the country’s politics. The bad news for Recep Tayyip Erdogan is that his fate will be decided by the judiciary, which is a part of the Kemalists.
Erdogan is scared as the courts have disbanded parties before, albeit smaller ones. A similar judgment would put AKP back in square one. Its leaders will have to come back again with a party that would be a new avatar of the AKP. He is going to vehemently argue his liberal credentials by pointing out the attempts of his government to integrate Turkey with the EU.
The Kemalists are going to stress on the lifting of the ban of wearing of scarves by women (the courts have earlier derided the wife of Abdullah Gul, the president, for wearing one) and attempts to put curbs on liquor sale. They are supported by the ultra-liberals who fear their free lifestyles will be curbed if Turkey goes the Islamic way.
The factor in AKP’s favour is the solid public backing it still enjoys. If the courts ban the party, it is expected that there will be big demonstrations on the streets. The Kemalists are also aware that the AKP’s newer version will only ride back to power on the resultant sympathy wave.
It is difficult to predict what the judiciary will do, but one thing is for sure. The ‘war’ between the secularists and the AKP will continue to rage on for a long time.
Image
Source: Timesonline
