BY MAHIR KAYNAK
STAR- What I will write about next week's presidential elections might be seen as being in favor of one person and against another. But no matter who's elected, it doesn't concern me personally. I don't have expectations from anybody and any losses I might suffer aren't important enough to distress me. Giving a sound analysis would provide only a personal satisfaction. Let me explain what I mean through a concrete example. As a result of the full 2002 elections, Abdullah Gul was elected prime minister, because at that time Recep Tayyip Erdogan could not take a seat in Parliament. Under the law then, it didn't seem possible that the situation would change. But then a process in which the Republican People's Party (CHP) played the leading role took Gul from this post and made Erdogan prime minister.
Was this done only to fulfill the requirements of democracy, as the CHP claimed? However, this spring the same CHP mounted a controversial and successful effort to block Gul from becoming president. That couldn't be said to spring from concerns about democracy. These developments were evaluated as being efforts for democracy or personal bargains, but nobody was interested in their political dimension. In other words, nobody asked if there was any intention to block the policies Gul would follow. Even today US Deputy Secretary of State Matthew Bryza's rejection of Gul's candidacy was explained as that it would cause tension in our country. The only aspect of such an election which concerns the US was the fear that Turkey's stability would be upset, it was said.
While doomsday scenarios are being written about our region, including a bloody civil war in Iraq with the US' withdrawal, engulfing all the surrounding countries, including Turkey, does it make sense to deal with a problem arising just from headscarves? In addition, I believe that instead of raising the headscarf bar, the doors of the Presidential Palace should be open to everyone.
In this case, the level of post-election tensions will depend on how government policy is perceived, and this will be determined not only by the presidency, but also the structure of government. So I define consensus differently. In other words, it doesn't have to be between political parties. If a person who is in harmony with the world balances is elected, such tension won't arise. Two strategies can be pursued for this issue. A person who is impartial in terms of international politics or a person who will represent the policies that we'll follow in the world can be elected president. The problem is neither democracy not the headscarf. I hope that Turkey will prove that it's above these problems.