Outgoing President Ahmet Necdet Sezer warned Friday that Turkey's secular system is under "unprecedented threat" from foreign and local forces who also want to weaken the staunchly secularist military. "Turkey's political regime today faces a threat unprecedented since the foundation of the Republic" in 1923, Sezer, a committed secularist whose term expires in May, told a military academy here in a speech released by his office. "Domestic and foreign forces with a common objective are acting together on this issue," he said, without giving names. | I'm keeping an eye on the Embassy of Turkey. There's a statue of Ataturk in the courtyard. When the statue comes down, the Ottomans will ride to arms again... |
At least part of Sezer's criticism appeared aimed at Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government, the offshoot of a now-banned Islamist party which the army forced from power in 1997. His warnings came amid tensions in Ankara over Erdogan's presumed intention to succeed Sezer when the parliament elects a new president next month. Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) can easily elect the candidate of its choice thanks to a strong parliamentary majority. It says it will announce its candidate after the application period starts Monday.
The AKP has disowned its roots, pledged commitment to secularism and carried out a series of democracy reforms to boost Turkey's bid to join the European Union. Yet, it has often come under fire for still pursuing Islamist ambitions. The party, most of whose members are practising Muslims, is opposed to the headscarf ban but has failed to abolish it, wary of the secularist elite. It has made unsuccessful attempts to criminalise adultery, restrict alcohol-serving places to special zones outside urban centres and ease university access for graduates of high schools training Muslim preachers. Sezer has sent back to parliament several laws he deemed breaches of secularism and often blocked the appointment of officials he saw as Islamist government cronies.
AKP members, backed by liberals, say the interpretation of secularism in Turkey is too restrictive and infringes on religious freedoms and democracy. In his lengthy speech, Sezer also argued that foreign forces wanted to turn Turkey into a "moderate Islamic republic" under the guise of encouraging democratisation. "The moderate Islamic model can mean advancement for other countries whic have adopted Islam, but for the Turkish Republic it is ... a reactionary model," he said. "Turkey can be a model for the region only as a secular, democratic state," he said, warning that "moderate Islam will inevitably turn into radical Islam."