Justice and Development Party (Turkey)

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Justice and Development Party
Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi
Leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Founded August 14, 2001 (2001-08-14)
Headquarters No. 202 Balgat, Ankara, Turkey
Ideology Conservatism, Liberalism
International affiliation None
European affiliation European People's Party (observer)
Official colours Yellow, orange, blue, white
Website
http://www.akparti.org.tr
Politics of Turkey
Political parties
Elections

The Justice and Development Party (Turkish: Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, abbreviated AK Parti or AKP†) is the incumbent Turkish political party. The AKP portrays itself as a moderate, conservative, pro-Western party that advocates a liberal market economy and Turkish membership in the European Union.[1] In 2005, the AKP was granted observer membership in the European People's Party. The AKP won 46.6% of the popular vote and was allocated 341 seats[2] in the rescheduled 22 July 2007 elections. While the total vote share represented a massive increase over the 34% of the vote it received in the 2002 general election, the AKP ultimately garnered fewer seats as a result of another party, the MHP, passing the 10% total vote threshold necessary to claim parliamentary seats.[3] Abdullah Gül, a prominent AKP leader and former Foreign Minister, is currently the President of Turkey, while Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is the head of the party and the Prime Minister.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Formation

The AKP was established mostly by former members of the Fazilet Partisi distributed through Turkey. A reformist faction (Turkish: yenilikçiler) inside the former Islamist party Fazilet Partisi (Virtue Party) founded the AKP. The Fazilet Partisi carried on an unbroken political Islamist tradition: from Milli Görüş (National View) to Milli Nizam Partisi (National Order Party) to Milli Selamet Partisi (National Salvation Party) to Refah Partisi (Welfare Party) to Fazilet Partisi. Disputes between the reformists and the traditionalists in the Virtue Party caused the formation of the Justice and Development Party on August 14, 2001, by several dissident Fazilet members including Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Abdullah Gül, and Bülent Arınç, who resigned following the congress of the Virtue Party. The main factor behind the growth of AKP in Turkey was its Islamic agenda, and its support by the Gülen movement.[citation needed]

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the leader of the AK Party, stated that "AK Party is not a political party with a religious axis" when the party was first founded. However, critics accused it of harboring a hidden agenda.[4]

[edit] Economic reforms

Erdoğan’s AK Party shifted the focus of religiously-affiliated politics from concern over Turkey’s lack of Islamic characteristics to pushing for democratic and economic reforms in addition to stressing moral values through the communitarian-liberal consensus. Erdoğan also sought to temper his party’s Islamist image by building a broad-reaching coalition with members of centre-right parties, and by promising to further Turkey’s bid to join the European Union. Erdoğan also positioned the AK Party as the opposition party to the old, secular, state-driven development parties that had been proven ineffective by the repeated economic crises of the 1990s and early 2000s.[citation needed]

[edit] 2003

After some initial stumbling, notably when Erdoğan was temporarily blocked from taking up the Prime Ministership, the AK Party has found its feet. It survived the crisis over the 2003 invasion of Iraq despite a massive back bench rebellion where over a hundred AKP MPs joined those of the opposition Republican People's Party in parliament to prevent the government from allowing the United States to launch a Northern offensive in Iraq from Turkish territory.

AKP rally in 2007

The AK Party has undertaken structural reforms, and during its rule Turkey has seen rapid growth and an end to its three decade long period of hyperinflation—inflation had fallen to 8.8% by June 2004. Influential business publications such as The Economist consider the AK Party's government the most successful in Turkey in decades.[5]

[edit] 2004 local elections

In the local elections of 2004, the AK Party won a 42% of the votes, making inroads against the secular nationalist Republican People's Party (CHP) on the South and West Coasts, and against the Social Democratic People's Party (Turkey), which is supported by some Kurds in the Southeast of Turkey.

[edit] EU membership bid

In January 2005, the AK Party was admitted as an observer member in the European People's Party (EPP), the conservative party of the EU. It is likely to become a full member of the EPP if Turkey is admitted to the EU. If the EU eventually rejects Turkey for membership, however, many fear that the AKP could again split between its reformist and conservative factions, heralding another period of instability in Turkish politics.

[edit] Islamist stance

The AK Party has brought on many changes that are interpreted as being non-secular or rooted in Islam. In 2005, AK Party banned the sale of alcoholic beverages in a section of Ankara which was mostly occupied by bars and restaurants. This ban was soon lifted due to the response from the area's business owners; however, a licensing requirement still remains for the establishments. AK Party has also been accused of placing anti-secular individuals in government offices and giving out government contracts to parties with a reputation for being rooted in Islam. In 2007 AKP passed a bill lifting the headscarf ban in all universities. This action was criticized by the secular parties, and led to the 2008 indictments calling for the Party's outlaw.

Upon being indicted, the AK Party government has made multiple arrests in the secular population. This has been interpreted as the final attempt to rid the country of powerful secularists before the party's possible closure. On August 5, 2008, President Abdullah Gul, assigned 21 new deans to all government Universities after the verdict of the party closure trials. The Turkish media released that all newly placed deans were for the lift of the headscarf ban. On August 9, 2008, Edibe Sozen, an AKP parliament member, proposed establishing a prayer section in all schools, and to ban the sales of pornographic images to anyone under the age of 16. The the proposed bill also included that anyone over 16 purchasing the content, would be logged via, Citizen Identification Number.[6] In 2004, in providence of Istanbul, Muammer Guler, the mayor of Istanbul, passed a bill banning all publicly displayed images, including advertisements, containing partial nudity such as swim suit advertisements.[7]

The party's non-secular activities have also been described as having to allow the "free exercise" of religion with the secular system also present. Like the United States, Turkey is a highly religious society which both have a secular constitution, however the Turkish system is different. The Turkish government in the past have often been anti-clerical or even anti-religious like France, for example the banning of the wearing of headscarves and the fez. The AK Parti therefore is trying to implement the American type of system with a neutrality between religion and secularism.[8]

[edit] 2007 general elections

See also: Turkish general election, 2007
Map illustrating the party's performance at the 2007 general election by constituency.
AKP poster with the PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan thanking the Turkish people for the election results.

The AKP achieved victory in the rescheduled July 22, 2007 elections with 46.6% of the vote, translating into control of 341 of the 550 available parliamentary seats. Although the AK Party received significantly more votes in 2007 than in 2002, the number of parliamentary seats they controlled decreased due to the rules of the Turkish electoral system. However, they retain a comfortable ruling majority.[1]“Don’t Stop, Keep Going On!” was the slogan of the Justice and Development Party in the general elections of 2007.

Territorially, the elections of 2007 saw a major advance for the AK Party, with the party outpolling the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party in traditional Kurdish strongholds such as Van and Mardin, as well as outpolling the secular-left CHP in traditionally secular areas such as Antalya and Artvin. Overall, the AKP secured a plurality of votes in 68 of Turkey's 81 provinces, with its strongest vote of 71% coming from Bingöl. Its weakest vote, a mere 12%, came from Tunceli, the only Turkish province where the Alevi sect form a majority.[9]

[edit] 2008 closure case

During a trip to Spain the prime minister remarked "What if the headscarf is a symbol (of political Islam)? Even if it were a political symbol, does that give right to ban it? Could you bring prohibitions to symbols?" After the party's attempt to lift the headscarf ban, the Chief Public Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals, Abdurrahman Yalçınkaya, first warned (January 17), then formally asked the Constitutional Court to close the party (March 14).[10] Addressing the Constitutional Court, he said "According to the laws in effect, if a party is committing crimes and has really become a 'hotbed of anti-secular activities,' in accordance with the constitution, the office of the chief prosecutor is left with no other choice but to file this closure lawsuit."[11]

This judicial manoeuvre came after a similar suggestion by retired general Doğu Silahçıoğlu in February.[12][13] Silahçıoğlu has been named as the possible leader of the Ergenekon network,[14] whose suspected members are currently undergoing a high-profile trial. Hinting at Ergenekon, retired intelligence officer Mahir Kaynak says that the closure case was motivated by the group's desire to stop the AKP and remake society.[15]

[edit] Preparations

The chief prosecutor's office made the "chief prosecutor file" public on 14 March 2008. Prime Minister Erdoğan and his deputies immediately convened the governing body to discuss the chief prosecutor file the next day. The Constitutional Court reviewed the file and unanimously accepted the indictment.

The Constitutional Court reviewed both the initial response of the AK party and its technical position and developed questions regarding the positions. The court's questions were presented to the AK Party officials. Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek presented the AK Party's defense testimony in court.[16] A court-appointed rapporteur, Osman Can, advocated in his report that the Court should reject the closure case.[17]

[edit] Indictment

Search Wikisource Turkish Wikisource has original text related to this article:

In the indictment—comprising 2455 pages in 441 files—in addition to the AK Party's disbanding, the prosecutor demanded a five-year ban from involvement in politics for 71 senior AK Party administrators, including Prime Minister Erdoğan and President Abdullah Gül, which claimed the party has:

The chief prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals applied to the Constitutional Court on Friday evening demanding that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) be disbanded

Abdurrahman Yalçınkaya filed a court request for the closure of the AK Party, accusing it of "being a hotbed of anti-secular activities." The party won 47 percent of the votes in last year's general election.

In addition to the AK Party's disbanding, the prosecutor demanded a five-year ban from involvement in politics for 71 senior AK Party administrators, including Prime Minister Erdoğan and President Abdullah Gül.

The indictment—comprised of 17 folders, according to initial reports—lists news stories that were printed in the press, including statements and certain implementations allegedly committed by AK Party mayors, such as an alcohol ban that was overturned by the Council of State or the construction of gender-segregated parks, as evidence for the charges. Although the complete list of evidence was not immediately available, some of the news clips that made their way into the case file had been refuted, reports said. Prime Minister Erdoğan and deputy chairmen of the AK Party immediately convened to discuss the situation.

[edit] Verdict

After deliberating for three days, the court gave its verdict on 30 July 2008. AK Party was found guilty of becoming the focus of anti-secularist actions. A qualified majority of seven out of eleven votes is required to disband a political party. Six members of the Court voted in favour of disbanding the party, thus falling short of the required qualified majority by one vote.[18] Four members voted to cut government funding for the party, while the Court leader rejected to close it down. The Court rejected most of the demands of the prosecutor and did not ban the party, however it determined the party as the focus of actions that are anti-secular and halved its funding from the Central Bank as a penalty.[18][19]

[edit] Footnotes

  • ^†  The former of the two abbreviations is the official one, as documented in the third article of the party charter, while the latter is mostly preferred by its opponents; since the word "ak" in Turkish means "white", "clean", or "unblemished," lending a positive impression.[20][21]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "New to Turkish politics? Here's a rough primer". Turkish Daily News. 2007-07-22. http://arama.hurriyet.com.tr/arsivnews.aspx?id=-610584. Retrieved 2008-07-22. 
  2. ^ Secim 2007, NTV-MSNBC[dead link]
  3. ^ Tavernise, Sabrina (2007-07-22). "Ruling Party in Turkey Wins Broad Victory". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/world/europe/22cnd-turkey.html?ex=1342843200&en=0c7bf3c05e702351&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink. Retrieved 2008-07-22. 
  4. ^ An editorial cartoon captures the divided opinion, referencing the Islamic practice of taqiyya (dissimulation): Asyalı, Ergin (2003-08-22). "Körün istediği bir göz, Allah verdi iki göz". Gözcu/Asabi (Ankara: Gerçek Yayıncılık A.Ş.). http://www.practicalturkish.com/idioms--korun-istedigi-bir-goz.html. 
  5. ^ "The battle for Turkey's soul (Democracy v secularism in Turkey)". The Economist. 2007-05-03. Archived from the original on an unspecified date. http://www.muslimstoday.com/en/Contents.aspx?AID=5610. Retrieved 2008-07-22. 
  6. ^ "AKP'DEN BÜTÜN OKULLARA İBADETHANE ÖNERİSİ" (in Turkish). Ulusal Kanal. 2008-08-08. http://ulusalkanal.com.tr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8823&Itemid=5. Retrieved 2008-09-12. 
  7. ^ "İstanbul'da fiilen mayo reklamı yasağı uygulanıyormuş" (in Turkish). NetHaber. 2008-09-12. http://www.nethaber.com/Ekonomi/21883/Istanbulda-fiilen-mayo-reklami-yasagi-uygulaniyormus. Retrieved 2008-09-12. [not in citation given]
  8. ^ Jack Miles (4 April 2009) Talking to Turkey, but Islam is listening Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on 2009-04-08.
  9. ^ "Turkey: 22 July 2007 - Election Results". BBC Turkish. 2007-07-23. http://www.bbc.co.uk/turkish/indepth/story/2007/07/070719_election_results_en.shtml. Retrieved 2008-07-22. 
  10. ^ Gungor, Izgi (2008-07-22). "From landmark success to closure: AKP's journey". Turkish Daily News. http://arama.hurriyet.com.tr/arsivnews.aspx?id=-634073. Retrieved 2008-08-11. 
  11. ^ "Closure case against ruling party creates shockwaves". Today's Zaman. 2008-03-15. http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=136476. Retrieved 2008-11-16. 
  12. ^ Silahçıoğlu, Doğu (2008-02-03). "Çıkış Yolu". Cumhuriyet. "Laik Cumhuriyeti savunmaya kararlı her yurttaş, hükümetin antidemokratik uygulamaları karşısında, toplumsal tepkisini olanca gücüyle ortaya koymalı; anayasal kurum ve kuruluşların da desteğinde, halkın geniş katılımıyla bir 'ulusal cephe' oluşturulmalı ve AKP hükümeti en kısa sürede iktidardan uzaklaştırılmalıdır!" 
  13. ^ Karakas, Eser (2008-03-30). "Sözü Doğu Silahçıoğlu Paşa’ya bırakmak" (in Turkish). Star Gazete. http://www.stargazete.com/gazete/yazar/sozu-dogu-silahcioglu-pasa-8217-ya-birakmak-94608.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-11. 
  14. ^ Subasi, Cemal; Ongun, Selin (2008-11-16). "1 numara kim?" (in Turkish). http://www.tempodergisi.com.tr/politika/16140/. Retrieved 2008-11-16. 
  15. ^ Gundem, Mehmet (2008-04-07). "Mahir Kaynak: Hedef Erdoğan'ın tasfiyesiyle Türkiye'nin frenlenmesidir" (in Turkish). Yeni Şafak. http://yenisafak.com.tr/Roportaj/?t=07.04.2008&i=109963. Retrieved 2008-11-16. 
  16. ^ "Full text of testimony" (in Turkish). Milliyet. http://i.milliyet.com.tr/akpsavunma/default.aspx?ver=59. Retrieved 2008-09-04. 
  17. ^ "Constitutional Court Takes Up The AKP Closure Case". Bianet. 2008-07-28. http://www.bianet.org/english/kategori/english/108647/constitutional-court-takes-up-the-akp-closure-case. Retrieved 2008-09-04. "The rapporteur’s conclusion was to reject the closure case." 
  18. ^ a b "Turkey's court decides not to close AKP, urges unity and compromise". Hurriyet. 2008-07-30. http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/home/9547882.asp?gid=244&sz=29614. Retrieved 2008-07-30. 
  19. ^ Tavernise, Sabrina; Arsu, Sebnem (2008-07-31). "Turkish Court Calls Ruling Party Constitutional". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/31/world/europe/31turkey.html?fta=y.. Retrieved 2008-11-25. 
  20. ^ "Less than white?". The Economist. 2008-09-18. http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12273885. Retrieved 2008-09-22. 
  21. ^ "AK Parti mi, AKP mi? (AK Parti or AKP?)" (in Turkish). Habertürk. 2009-06-05. http://www.haberturk.com/haber.asp?id=151231&cat=160&dt=2009/06/05. Retrieved 2009-08-10. 

[edit] External links

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