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MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS IN TURKEY: Minorities Emerge From Political Isol

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  • MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS IN TURKEY: Minorities Emerge From Political Isol

    MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS IN TURKEY: MINORITIES EMERGE FROM POLITICAL ISOLATION
    By Daniel Steinvorth

    Spiegel Online
    http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0 ,1518,615041,00.html
    March 24 3009
    Germany

    The EU charges that minorities in Turkey are still persecuted. But they
    are growing more politically active with numerous minority candidates
    on the ballot for this weekend's municipal elections. The country
    may even get its first Jewish mayor.

    It may be the quietest voting district in Istanbul -- no smog, no
    traffic jams, no police sirens. On the Princes' Islands, in the Sea
    of Marmara, only horse-drawn carriages are allowed, and those only for
    tourists. But in the winter even the tourists remain on the mainland,
    since the weather on the sea is ice-cold. Heavy rain whips over the
    ferry terminal on Buyukada, the largest of the nine islands.

    PHOTO GALLERY: MINORITIES RUN FOR LOCAL SEATS IN TURKEY Click on a
    picture to launch the image gallery (5 Photos)

    Yusuf Bahar, 37, businessman and politician, steps out of his
    speedboat. The friendly, somewhat shy-seeming islander has just given
    a radio interview in hectic downtown Istanbul. Now he wants to see
    the citizens in his voting district -- he wants to visit tea houses,
    shake hands and give out brochures.

    Most people here know Bahar already. But Turkey's national media has
    noticed him recently, too -- and not just because he has a decent
    chance this Sunday of becoming mayor of the Princes' Islands, as
    a candidate for the Democratic Party (DP). He also happens to be
    Jewish. A non-Muslim mayor would be new in Turkish history. "I would
    be the first," he says.

    But he doesn't like to emphasize his background. His local religious
    community has promised to mention his Judaism only when asked about
    it. "My name sounds Turkish, I look Turkish, I feel Turkish," he
    says. "My people have been here for 500 years."

    Three (Official) Minorities

    Around 20,000 Jews now live on the Bosporus, and long experience has
    made them cautious. They make up one of three officially-recognized
    minorities in Turkey -- alongside 60,000 Armenians and 2,500
    Greeks. The status of "minority" brings certain privileges, like the
    right of a given group to set up its own schools and places of worship.

    REPRINTS Find out how you can reprint this SPIEGEL ONLINE article in
    your publication. But they still experience discrimination. "After
    the Republic of Turkey was founded (in 1923), a non-Muslim was barred
    from even the least important government job," said Ayhan Aktar,
    at Istanbul's Bilgi University. The reason, he added, was official
    fear of ethnic diversity. A "true" Turk was a Sunni Muslim who swore
    allegiance to "Turkishness." Non-Muslims tried not to draw attention
    to themselves. For decades they simply ducked out of the way.

    Progress can be hard to notice. The latest report on Turkey by the
    European Union mentions "persistent hostility and violence against
    minorities." But minorities seem to be finding their political feet. In
    nationwide municipal elections on March 29 some 30 representatives of
    Turkish minorities are running for mayoral or city council seats --
    more than ever before.

    One of them is Karun Kovan, an Armenian dentist. He's campaigning in
    the Princes' Islands, too -- but for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
    Erdogan's Islamic, conservative Justice and Development Party
    (AKP). "My friends were at a loss when I told them about my decision,"
    he said. "But wasn't it the so-called Islamists who first stood up
    for minority rights? And why should I vote for Kemalists (the secular
    Turkish party), when 'Armenian' is like a bad word to them?"

    Kovan and many other Turkish Armenians voted for Erdogan in the last
    election, because they believed he would lead the country into the
    EU. Etyen Mahcupyan, publisher of the Turkish-Armenian weekly magazine
    Agos, recently endorsed the AKP again, for the same reason.

    'Unspeakably Racist'

    But they have little choice. They would hardly vote for the largest
    opposition party. During the last election, a parliamentarian from
    the Kemalist Republican People's Party (CHP) named Canan Aritman
    tried to smear President Abdullah Gul by saying he was the son of an
    Armenian mother.

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    When Gul protested that all his ancestors were Turkish Muslims,
    Aritman demanded DNA evidence. "Unspeakably racist," is how the
    Armenian writer Raffi Hermonn described the demand -- though it didn't
    stop him from joining the CHP himself, and running for city council.

    Hermonn, 42, is a large man with stubble and a ponytail. He's one of
    the freest-thinking members of his district. He has his own explanation
    for the new visibility of minorities in Turkish public life. "The old
    Armenian bourgeoisie doesn't exist anymore," he says. "We aren't a
    threat to the Turkish state, so now it can flirt with us. Armenians
    in politics -- that's good, isn't it?"

    He joined the CHP because he believes their candidate for mayor of
    Istanbul is one of the party's few liberals. He also thinks the ruling
    AKP needs competition after seven years in power.

    Yusuf Bahar, the man from the Princes' Islands, feels the same
    way. When it comes to his own political future, at least, he sees
    Barack Obama as a role model. "Turks should be proud when someone
    with a minority background can succeed here," he says. "That would
    be a true test of the democratic process in our country."

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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