HURRIYET- Columnist Ferai Tinc comments on Turkey’s new political outlook and chances for cooperation between the two parties which will make up Parliament following this Sunday’s general elections. A summary of her column is as follows:
We have been witnessing very interesting developments since this Sunday’s elections. The victorious Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in spite of his controversial legal status, has been quite successful in having himself recognized in both Turkey and the international community as his party’s undisputed leader. This, in turn, owes much to the AKP’s compromising and reassuring stance. A strong leadership in the AKP will gradually prove a guarantee for fulfillment of the party’s responsibilities vis-à-vis society without giving an opportunity to create domestic political tensions.
The discrepancy between Erdogan’s legal status and his actual position, discussions on who the next prime minister will be, and the question marks in people’s minds about the AKP concerning whether or not it’s a ‘Trojan Horse’ could all distract us from one very important point: the crucial part to be played by the Republican People’s Party (CHP) on the political stage in the days to come. If Turkey really wants to make that great leap which it has been long waiting for, the CHP’s role must not be limited to being a mere opposition party in Parliament. Both the AKP and the CHP must try to find ways of cooperating as if they were partners of a coalition government. Indeed, CHP leader Baykal’s recent meeting with Erdogan and yesterday’s meeting of both leaders with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer all pointed to cooperation being the leitmotif of the new era in Turkish politics.
Baykal has indicated that the CHP is ready to fully cooperate with the AKP in matters awaiting urgent solution. Therefore, the CHP must be given the chance to actively contribute to formulating policies in such areas as Turkey’s EU membership bid, relations with Greece, Russia and the Caucasus, as well as the conflict in the Middle East, with the party’s prominent figures seasoned in foreign affairs.
Such cooperation between the two parties would do much to re-establish Turkey’s trust in politics and politicians. But if the AKP chooses to turn its back to the opposition party and rule solely on its own, the civil and military bureaucracy will again be pushed to the foreground in Turkey’s political scene, a situation that nobody wants to ever face again.
The Turkish nation, together with both its government and opposition, is for the first time demonstrating a resolved and determined stance on its EU membership bid. This could be a historical opportunity for Turkey to work things out with the EU. Let’s all hope that we don’t pass it up.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION