The Political Situation in Turkey
3 The National Security Council consists of military and civilian figures. The military representatives are the Chief of General Staff and the chiefs of the armed forces. As for the civilians, they are the President, Prime Minister and the Defence, Interior and Foreign ministers.
4 These two competing sources of control, of the political medium and authority, are among the main factors that cause the political crises whose consequences affect the life of the masses. These consequences manifest themselves in the military coups, imposition of martial law, or carrying out of wide campaigns to purge the rival political medium; this is beside other measures that affect nearly all the populace.
5 The political crises may occur due to differences between the two authorities, i.e. between the NSC and the government, or between the factions in a coalition cabinet, who unite and differ according to their personal interests. The most severe crisis is that which occurs due to differences between the NSC and a majority government that enjoys overwhelming popular support. Such crises mostly end by strict military measures that lead to the removal of elements of the government and maltreating them, as happened during the reign of Menderes from 1950 to 1960. He enjoyed an overwhelming majority government allied to America, while the National Security Council was subject to the British influence. The result of that crisis was a coup in 1960 at the hands of Jamal Gursil, who overthrew Menderes and executed him, under the pretext that he had violated the constitution. As regards the crises that take place between the coalition parties, they mostly lead to the government dissolving, followed by fresh elections. Such differences generally occur due to major disagreements between the parties, or due to the conflict between the foreign countries that have influence on these sides: America and Britain. The competing influences of the British (on the NSC) and the Americans (on the government) sometimes initiate governmental crises.
6 The weakest governments in authority are the coalitions, which consist of parties of different orientations. The difference between them is fierce and deep-seated, their division stems from the differing interests that they represent. Splits can occur even if they agreed on the interests temporarily, or they were very close in their orientations. An example of this is the deep-seated difference between the True Path party and the Motherland party, present since the time of Demirel and Ozal (early 1980s). The coalition governments are generally at the mercy of the National Security Council. This is because their weakness lends power to the NSC, so it imposes its policies on them and is able to overthrow them and remove them from power. Such governments will be unable to ignore its decisions and they usually execute its will, otherwise a political crisis might occur that leads to the collapse of the government.
7 The greatest political crises occur when some agents loyal to America and some loyal to Britain are present in both the NSC and the coalition government. In that case, unrest and confusion prevail in ruling, so that neither party can resolve matters and control the affairs of the country, causing a state of paralysis and chaos.
8 Politicians in Turkey (from both the government and the National Security Council) use Islam as a winning card, as it has been used in Iran and Lebanon and as it is still used in Sudan to separate the South. They use it for the purpose of serving western objectives, as well as to protect and safeguard secularism. The NSC and the military encouraged the introduction of imamhateb (imams and preachers) schools in the middle of the last century, to stand in the face of the leftist wave that was prevalent at that time. When the cold war came to an end, they started to contain and remove them, until they brought in legislation abolishing them at the time of the Yilmaz coalition government in 1998 and they were annexed to the secular schools. In 1969, they brought in Necmettin Erbakan, who played his role by forming a party with an Islamic face for the first time in the history of secular Turkey. Between 1970 and 1997, he led this party under four different names: National Discipline Party, National Salvation Party, Refah (welfare) Party and Fadeelah (virtue) Party. He took part, as a minister, in a coalition government with Bulent Ecevit (who is one of the most deep-rooted agents of Britain) in 1974. He also took part as deputy Prime Minister in a coalition government with Suleiman Demirel (who is one of the most deep-rooted agents of America) in 1975. He also joined Tansu Ciller (the American agent) as a Prime Minister in a coalition government in 1996. In his ruling or participation in ruling, he did not differ from any secular ruler; he abandoned all the Islamic campaign slogans he had raised before assuming authority. He endorsed the military cooperation agreement with the Jewish entity in Palestine and he concluded a contract with that entity for aeroplane maintenance that amounted to $590 million. He worked actively in the “morality” measures, besides other matters that contradict with the Islamic slogans he used to raise. Erbakan played a role drawn up for him, to use the name of Islam for the sake of consolidating secularism, true to his statement on 13/5/1997, before the members of his party: “Turkey is not going to be like Algeria and Iran. The Refah Party is the true guarantee for Secularism”. This is in addition to the great role he took to abort the correct Islamic work in Turkey, by attracting the sincere Muslims amongst the youths of political ambition in Turkey. Sometimes the National Security Council or the successive governments used to prevent him from taking part in political activities or ban his party, so he would have to change their colour. But this was a premeditated deception to cheat the Muslims who supported him.
9 In the recent elections, America played a great role in placing Receb Teyyep Erdogan and his party (Justice and Development) over the necks of the Muslims. She tries through him to take power from the army and to salvage secularism in Turkey from collapse, after the country plunged into two of the most severe crises of its history. The first was a political crisis, while the second was economic. The country reached a state not matched before in terms of political bankruptcy of the secular parties and corruption in ruling, as well as a level of instability that the country had not experienced for 15 years. Alongside these issues was a state of economic decline that the country had not witnessed since 1945. The country was drawn, due to IMF plans, into the economic crisis, inflation prevailed and the Turkish Lira fell to one and a half million for one US dollar, the lowest level it had ever reached in its history. The national debts reached an astronomical figure, $109 billion, to the point that their interest became a heavy burden on the Turkish economy. This is besides what resulted in terms of increases in poverty and unemployment. Business failures reached an unprecedented high.
10 One of the most important matters that Erdogan was brought to achieve is changing the constitution whose deficiency became clear. This is what Abdullah Gul confirmed in his government statement before the parliament on 23/12/2002, where he said: “We shall prepare a new constitution that emphasises the importance of the freedoms and participation”.
11 The most important contents of the government statement after the changing of the constitution are the following:
a. “Electoral reform and (changing) the laws concerning political parties”. This is after their failure became quite obvious.
b. “Taking into consideration its deficiencies and the problems that resulted from the current economic programme, the government is going to implement a new economic programme”. This is “after the failure of the economic policy of the previous coalition government and its results, involving the country in the worst economic crisis of its history. As a result of that, our people were afflicted by an unprecedented level of poverty, hundreds of thousands of people lost their jobs, tens of thousands of businesses ceased and people lost their hope in the future”. Naturally, this new policy contradicts with the IMF policy, which has grabbed the Turkish economy by its throat; it is difficult for Turkey to free itself from its influence, thus the country will be exposed to turbulence in the future.
c. “The government shall continue the policy of (free) floating the Lira”. This means the continuation of the source of the problem, because the inflation rate that the country faces, unmatched by any other country in the world, is due to the system of floating. This is because there is only one way the Lira’s value will settle, the use of the gold standard. This is a notion that does not come to the mind of any of the rulers in the Islamic world, because it directly contradicts with the interests of America.
d. “The government shall work to make the ideology of secularism and religious freedom, as it is determined in the constitution, more real and practical. We shall give special attention to the teaching and learning of the deen in a way that prevents tricks being playing with it, or with the religious emotions and the matters that are considered sacred, in order to fulfil personal and political interests”. This goes along with the current campaign in the Islamic world to change the educational curricula, in response to American demands following the events of September 11th 2001.
e. “Turkey’s attainment of complete membership in the European Union is a fundamental aim of our government.” “In this context, the amended laws adopted by the Parliament regarding the European Union shall be cemented”.
f. “Our long time defence-related cooperation with the USA shall continue. This cooperation will be extended to the economy, investment, science and technology”. It is worth mentioning that, besides buying agents, the armament issues and the economy are the strongest and most important tools America uses to influence Turkey’s policies. This is because Turkey purchases 80 percent of its weapons from America. Moreover, the IMF, which is controlled by America, controls the incredible debts under which the Turkish economy suffers.
g. The statement did not give the expected attention to the Cyprus issue, though this matter was active this year, particularly due to the European Union’s agreement to start talks with the Greek side of Cyprus, on EU accession. The words were general to show good intentions.
h. The statement gave “special importance to relations with the Arab world” and “making the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) enjoy a more dynamic framework and a more respected status in the international arena”.
12 America and Britain strongly support Turkey’s entry to the EU; therefore it is probable, at the end of the matter, that Turkey will join, but only after great efforts and a long period that could exceed 15 years.
13 The points in the UN plan for the settlement of the Cyprus issue, which was proposed in the aftermath of the 1974 crisis, contradict with the Cyprus Independence agreement. This agreement, between Britain, Turkey and Greece, gave the Cypriot Turks complete equality with the Greeks. As for the UN plan, it proposed sovereignty for the majority in points concerning the relations between the two factions. This would leave the Turks at the mercy of the Greeks, a matter that is rejected strongly until now by Rauf Denktash (Prime Minister of Turkish Cyprus)
14 Erdogan is subject to strong national and regional pressure to solve the Cyprus issue. But he is reluctant to overrule Denktash regarding the solution of the problem, because he is the historical leader of the issue and nobody can dispute with him. Denktash enjoys great popularity, despite opposition to him that is encouraged by Turkey and Greece. This is because he demands rights that were recognised in official agreements. Erdogan cannot step over him unless he was given a green light from the military and the NSC (which inclines towards the UN solution) In that case he might resort to the parliament or to a popular referendum that would help him to solve it. It is worth mentioning that Turkey abandoned the policy of annexation (of Turkish Cyprus) that it used to advocate as an option if (Greek) Cyprus joined the EU.
15 The proposed agreement by the UN did not mention the two British military bases on Cyprus, which are considered to be among the most important British bases in the world and which house some of Britain’s nuclear weapons. This indicates that there is mutual agreement in this regard between America and Britain. This is despite the fact that according to the independence agreement, these bases are legally considered to be a third entity, like the Turk and Greek entities on the island.
16 The Turks, both the government and the NSC, agreed to give America all the facilities necessary for her attack against Iraq. This permission was given during the last visit to Turkey of Paul Wolfowitz, the U.S. assistant secretary of Defence. As regards the regional tour of states that Abdullah Gul is conducting, allegedly to stand against war being waged, it is purely for domestic consumption and to satisfy Turkish public opinion, which opposes the war. This is in addition to the campaign against the war that is encouraged internationally by Britain.
O Muslims in Turkey!
O grandsons of the conquerors, who opened the capital of Kufr and turned it into the city of Islam, ‘Islam Bul’; those who spread Islam in the East and West and struggled for the cause of Allah
(Subhanahu Wa Ta’aala) as one ought to struggle.
The secular state in Turkey is now in the tenure of the Justice and Development Party, which uses Islam as a cover in front of the people, despite the people electing them for the sake of Islam. Instead of showing the Muslims gratitude, it is punishing the carriers of Islam severely, by arresting the true believers who call to Allah
(Subhanahu Wa Ta’aala). These true believers call for the resumption of the Islamic way of life, by the establishment of the Khilafah Rashidah on the way of the Prophethood. The Messenger of Allah
(SalAllahu Alaihi Wasallam) gave us the glad tidings of its return in the authentic hadith reported by Imam Ahmed;
“…then there will be a Khilafah on the way of the Prophethood.”
Then the power and honour will return to the Ummah and she will be saved from her humiliation; she will be saved from the influence of the disbelieving colonialists, led by America, which extends the length and breadth of the country.
