BY ISMAIL KUCUKKAYA
AKSAM- With yesterday's historic decision, a heavy burden was taken off the Constitutional Court's shoulders. Now we might see a new era in Turkish politics. Instead of praising or damning the ruling, all relevant figures and institutions should learn lessons from it, and the ruling and opposition parties and public institutions should find a way to provide social restoration and domestic peace. All institutions, and especially the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), have made many mistakes over the last year-and-a-half. I guess only the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) got through this without harming itself. Practicing politics by hoping that some party will be shut down should be left behind, and the AKP will pay for its mistakes at the ballot box. I argue ruling parties should be given their walking papers through elections.
A decision to close the AKP would have hindered the development of politics outside the AKP. Yes, the AKP made serious mistakes, but closing it would have been a very heavy penalty. Now, again it got a stern warning. So Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his party got a new lease on life. Now a new window of opportunities which shouldn't be closed has been opened, and mistakes which shouldn't be repeated have been exposed.
Many said from the very beginning that the indictment was weak and lacked evidence of anti-secular actions. A large part of society had and still has genuine concerns, but the evidence of crimes is lacking. Only AKP propaganda appealed to religious populism. But its decision not to criminalize adultery as well as its efforts to integrate with the European Union belied the accusations against it.
Two mistakes made by the AKP were in last year's presidential elections and its push to relax headscarf restrictions. But many feared that closing it would throw the country into chaos. Many people, as well as the financial markets, thought closure would be a step backwards. I personally wouldn't want to give the AKP the trump card of unjust treatment.
If opposition arguments are needed, they should include economic policy, privatization, corruption and how state resources are allocated. The headscarf push was an important turning point. The AKP tried to relax the restrictions because its economic policies weren't working. But the Constitutional Court annulled the changes. Now the AKP should think about the accusation it was the focus of anti-secular actions and change its image. Saying 'I'm not the problem' is no solution. If the perception exists, it should be changed. The way to do this is through policies. I really think AKP leaders made great mistakes over the last year. But the reaction to this shouldn't be closing it.
This party, which acts in line with the social stratification in Turkey, established relations with all layers. It had a lot of traits packed into its bag: liberal, EU supporter, nationalist, social democrat and conservative. Politics opposing it should follow the same road. Turkey has 70 million people and a great state, but its political institutions have failed toy solve its problems and the whole burden was put onto the court's 11 members. This time foresight won, and I hope this will be a lesson for everybody, and that the AKP accounts for its recent actions and what they have cost. We're going through a period in which extreme ends don't work. Conflict should result not in disintegration, but consensus.
Our democracy is getting stronger and gaining experience. Turkey faced a serious outlay of energy, but what's important is to gain experience to build the future. The nation has certain sensitive points. Now Erdogan has a task, and Turkey has expectations from him. He's the prime minister of not only AKP voters, but the entire Turkish nation. We have to make the ruling benefit Turkish democracy, not just the AKP."