NEW YORK - Former Ambassador of the United States in Ankara Mark Parris said on Saturday that Turkey, "a key U.S. ally and one of the Middle East`s most important democracies" was sliding inexorably toward crisis with the closure case opened against Justice & Development (AK) Party.
In his article "Turkey`s Courts Should Respect the Will of the People", published in Wall Street Journal, Parris said the case would cause "a lost year, or more, for a country of enormous strategic importance and almost unlimited potential."
Parris also said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan acted contrary to his postelection commitment and failed to follow through on promised economic and political reforms and new constitution.
Parris said, "the court`s action can arguably be justified under the Turkish Constitution`s proscription against political parties` violating the `principles of a democratic and secular republic", however noted that the current constitution was criticized much in Turkey as it remained from the military period.
Commenting on the consequences of the case, Parris said: parliamentary and bureaucratic dysfunction as the case makes its way through the court (a process that could consume months), political churning, evaporation of foreign investor confidence and economic slowdown, undermining of Turkey`s candidacy for admission to the EU.
In the article Parris said, "the loss will not be Turkey`s alone. While some have sought by labeling the party `Islamist` to suggest its hostility to Western values, and thus avoid a discussion of the merits of the case to close it down, the fact is that the AK Party is the closest thing to a liberal democratic party in Turkey."
(AY)