Friday, August 1, 2008

Turkey: Islamic Party to Stay in Power



I am sorry to say that there is more bad news coming from the Islamic world today. Turkey had their vote on whether they should ban the Islamic based ruling party the AKP. The Party won and is staying in power. The only good that can come out of this is that, they will get so strict that they will never be accepted in the EU. We do not need 70 million Muslims running around Europe, with those open borders. The party has recently started arresting women for the way they dress, and has been constantly raising taxes on alcohol, to discourage drinking. This is the 3rd strike of the day. First, the Mosque spokesperson I exposed that wants us to pay extortion, Tyson Chicken dropping Labour Day in favor of a Muslim holiday and now this. I am out.....if this keeps up we will all be out.


Turkish court refuses to ban ruling party



ISTANBUL (AP) -- Turkey's top court on Wednesday narrowly decided against banning the ruling party over accusations that it was steering the country toward Islamic rule, preserving a government locked in a power struggle with the secular elite.


The Constitutional Court, however, delivered a strong -- though unspecified -- warning to the ruling Justice and Development Party and said it would be deprived of half of its funding from the state treasury.

“The decision that came out was a warning to this party. It is a serious warning,” said the court chairman Hasim Kilic. “I hope that this outcome will be assessed and that the necessary measures will be taken.”

He said six of the 11 judges wanted to ban the party of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. However, a total of seven votes were needed to ban it under court regulations.

The decision represented a reprieve for Erdogan and his allies in an overwhelmingly Muslim country with a secular system that seeks to join the European Union. A decision to ban the party would have triggered a sharp escalation in political turmoil in the NATO member, where a bomb attack on Sunday killed 17 people in a mostly residential area of Istanbul.

A ban would have severely damaged Turkey's image as a democracy because the ruling party won a strong majority in elections last year; EU leaders have said the ruling party's viability should be decided in elections, not courtrooms.

The court case was the latest battleground between the pious Muslims who run the government but embrace aspects of Western political and economic systems, and the secular establishment that draws support from the military and judiciary. The rift has evolved over the last century since national founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk jettisoned Islam as a guiding force in society and politics, instead imposing a strictly secular system amid the ruins of the Ottoman Empire.

In March, Turkey's chief prosecutor asked the Constitutional Court to disband Erdogan's party and bar him and 70 other party members from joining a political party for five years.

President Abdullah Gul was also on the prosecutor's list.

Prominent party leaders have backgrounds in political Islam, and the party itself is a successor to parties that were banned in the past. But those leaders now say they are not following an Islamic agenda, citing EU-backed reforms as proof.

“This party is definitely advocating a more moderate streak of thought than its predecessors,” said Ilter Turan, a political science professor at Istanbul's Bilgi University. Earlier, Turan said: “No matter what the decision is, this case shows that Turkey needs a restructuring of its laws and a constitutional reform.”

The judges began hearing the case Monday, a day after two bomb explosions at a packed Istanbul square. It was the deadliest attack in Turkey in almost five years. Turkish officials blamed Kurdish rebels, who denied responsibility.

The timing of the attack on the eve of the Constitutional Court's deliberations raised speculation over a link. Prosecutors are also preparing a case against alleged coup-plotters, including retired army officers, who stand accused of trying to bring down the Islamic-oriented government by fomenting chaos in Turkey.

The conflict between the government and secular opponents escalated last year during Gul's candidacy for the presidency, and the military issued a warning to the government that recalled past coups by the armed forces. But the Justice and Development Party triumphed by winning 47 percent of the votes in general elections, and 341 seats in the 550-seat Parliament.

This year, the party attempted to lift a decades-old ban on the wearing of head scarves at universities, but the top court overturned that bill, saying it was anti-secularist. Chief prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya cited the head scarf bill as proof the government is trying to scrap secularist principles enshrined in the Constitution.

The court has banned two dozen political parties since it was established in 1963. But none had such strong electoral support as the current ruling party.

Link to Article

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank God that the Euros had enough brain cells left to NOT admit Turkey to the EU!

Anonymous said...

Anon, I've been thinking the same thing lately.....how it seemed the admission was so close....and how quickly they've fallen so far from what they'd tried to say they were......makes me shudder....

********

Chris, on behalf of BabbaZee, until she comes back online to say it for herself: thanks for visiting her good site!

sincerely,
Ma Sands

Anonymous said...

Vote for a better EU. Vote YES at www.FreeEurope.info

Maggie Thornton said...

Turkey is walking a tight rope. 9/11 accelerated Islam to new heights and Muslim countries will be under hard and focused scrutiny from their brothers.

This event marks a dire day for Turkey's citizens.

Once their somewhat secular daily life begins to feel the full weight of the Islamic paw on their shoulders - again, it will be too late for them.

Just an aside, I'd love to see the truly freedom countries pull out of the EU.

Maggie
Maggie's Notebook

Christopher Logan said...

Thank you Ma Sands

Maggie, you are correct, once these type of people get into power. it is almost impossible to get them out, i.e. Iran.

Anonymous said...

First of all, I am not here to defense AKP or its ideology. What bothers me is , prejudgments, concealed thoughts and illiteracy about Turkey which can be seen miles away from your comments (including Mr. Sorry Logan ) .

AKP won power via free and fair elections conducted by its ideological rivals. It never had recourse to violence, never murdered opponents, never robbed banks to finance itself and never burned hundreds of people alive to terrorize public opinion.

The AKP forced no one into exile, didn't fill the prisons with opponents, provoked no wars and did not tear up the constitution. Nor did it destroy the Turkish state's institutions, notably the armed forces

Anyway, I feel like I wasting my time yet I will use my right to comment about your comments.

Iran and Turkey comparison;

Don’t be ridiculous. I’d strongly advise you read little bit more about Islamic models. Start from, Al Azhar, The Iranian Islamist movement’s Marxist-Leninist-Maoist plus Europen facist background and then concept of the walayt faqih (little help “guardianship of the theologian”)

EU comments; What EU ! It is an economic giant but a political dwarf. ... EU is only a tool not a goal for Turkey. Besides, believe me we are not dying to pay Mr. Sarkozy’s playboy activities or Carla’s next album.

Special note to very red, heartland state resident “Don’t leave your day job”

Have a great day my devoted Christian brothers and sisters

Christopher Logan said...

1.Obviously you are here to defend them.
2.Them being voted into office makes the situation even worse. It shows the true colors of millions of people in Turkey.
3.The ONLY comparison that I made to Iran was that once hard line groups get into power, they are hard to get out.
4.Yes, the EU is a goal of Turkey.
5.I do not live in the heartland and obviously that a pathetic attempt at intimidation. Not impressed, or scared.
6.OBVIOUSLY I hit a nerve, whats the matter, did I insult Turkishness? It is called freedom of speech, if you do not like it stay off the net.
7.If you think anyone here believes that you our brother or a Christian, you are even more foolish then you appear.

Christopher Logan said...

Typo in #5.

There you have folks, just another thin skinned Muslim.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous from Turkey is partially correct - the EU membership quest IS a tool to ensure the military is subordinate to the politicians. When the constitution is changed to make that the law of the land, the AKP can then push their agenda for sharia law.

Anonymous said...

Mr Logan Turkey is not exactly what this artcle perecieves it to be. Turkey is a democratic state and maybe the present govt is quite islamist but if 98% of people are Muslims what do you expect. The real test is to ask non-muslims how they feel living in Turkey. Do they believe it is secular.

Anonymous said...

I am proud that the Muslim party gained some ground, made some strong reforms and cleanup, brought Turkey out of the insidious corruption in which it was entrenched, and is now restoring some of the glorious old Ottoman values to the region.

The 'secular' army and its corrupt dictatorial leaders have done enough damage. Prohibiting freedom of expression (the headscarf), siphoning off the money, interfering with and hobbling free trade, and promoting a surge in prostitution, gambling, drunkenness, and irresponsibility.

I'm overjoyed to see that the democracy in Turkey has worked to this extent. The people are enlightened enough at least to know what works for them, and are attempting to limit the power of the old dictatorships masquerading under the banner of the Turkish army (the corrupt politicians like Saddam Hussein and the like who were propped up by America just like these generals are now).

The party stood with people in the streets in Cairo, Tunisia, and other Middle Eastern nations trying to shed their corrupt, American-supported human rights-violating dictators and trying to establish proper, moral Islamic governments. I'm happy virtues and values are coming back to Turkey and the rest of the Middle East, and can only hope and pray the trend continues.

vibradores said...

It will not really have effect, I feel like this.

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