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Daily Sabah, Turkey
Jan 2 2015
The future of the AK Party
HILAL KAPLAN @hilal_kaplan
Published8 hours ago
The year 2013 was one of the most eventful in Turkey's history. In
January, with the announcement of the reconciliation process, three
women from the PKK were brutally murdered in Paris. This violent act
of provocation that tried to weaken the process did not achieve its
intended goal.
In February, an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Ankara by a radical left
terrorist organization, the Revolutionary People's Liberation
Party-Front (DHKP-C), one of the groups active in the Gezi Park
protests. That was followed by other terrorist attacks on the Justice
and Development Party (AK Party) headquarters and the Justice Ministry
in Ankara. In the following days, the transcript of the meeting the
Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) delegation had with the PKK's
imprisoned leader Abdullah Ã-calan on Ä°mralı Island was leaked to the
press. This transcript, which was expected to cause public resentment,
conversely increased confidence in the negotiations.
In May, one of the most fatal terrorist attacks in Turkey's history
took place in Reyhanlı. As a result of the attack, some 52 people were
killed and 146 injured.
In June, Turkey witnessed the most large-scaled uprising in its
history. People attempted to occupy the Prime Ministry office in
Istanbul and then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an's house in
Ankara. Taksim Square, one of the most buzzing locations in Turkey,
was barricaded for 14 days. The demonstrators and vandals could not
achieve their aims though. ErdoÄ?an was not overthrown through the
street demonstrations. Turkey's democracy was victorious once again.
The Dec. 17 and Dec. 25 operations, which revealed the parallel
structure's strategy to seize control of the state, were conducted. It
was introduced as a corruption and bribery operation, but at last this
parallel structure was deciphered.
The March 30 local elections, the first of the three elections of
vital importance for determining Turkey's future, were held in such an
atmosphere. The AK Party won the election with 44 percent, a record
rate in the history of local elections. Subsequently, the second vital
election, the presidential election, was held by popular vote for the
first time and ErdoÄ?an won.
Within this period, the law on the reconciliation process was approved
and enacted. The process of returning non-Muslim foundations gained
speed and their rights to build schools were expanded and made easier.
More importantly, the state broke the taboos regarding Armenian
deportation for the first time after 99 years. ErdoÄ?an, prime minister
at the time, issued an official condolence and called both Armenia and
the Armenian diaspora to compensate for the past and build the future.
The headscarf ban was lifted to a great extent and a law on hate
crimes was approved by Parliament. Turkey became one of the several
countries recognizing the Egyptian coup and stood out among the others
as the one that raised its voice the most. While the oil contract with
the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) started to bare its
first fruit, it was also declared that Turkey came to terms with
Russia on the "Turkish stream" agreement.
Now we have the general elections ahead, which will determine who will
rule Turkey until June 2019. The AK Party will join this election with
another chairman for the first time, Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu. But seemingly
this will not influence the results since DavutoÄ?lu is already the
second name favored by AK Party proponents. Also, since ErdoÄ?an does
not have a complex to prove that his ties with his party are cut like
other presidents in the past, he still maintains his abilities to
mobilize AK Party supporters.
After gaining victory again in the 2015 elections, challenging tasks
will await the AK Party such as the formation of a new constitution,
finalization of the reconciliation process and managing the Syrian
crisis with minimum damage. If a critical problem does not arise in
economy management, the future of the AK Party will seemingly continue
to be synonymous with the future of Turkey.
http://www.dailysabah.com/columns/hilal_kaplan/2015/01/02/the-future-of-the-ak-party
Jan 2 2015
The future of the AK Party
HILAL KAPLAN @hilal_kaplan
Published8 hours ago
The year 2013 was one of the most eventful in Turkey's history. In
January, with the announcement of the reconciliation process, three
women from the PKK were brutally murdered in Paris. This violent act
of provocation that tried to weaken the process did not achieve its
intended goal.
In February, an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Ankara by a radical left
terrorist organization, the Revolutionary People's Liberation
Party-Front (DHKP-C), one of the groups active in the Gezi Park
protests. That was followed by other terrorist attacks on the Justice
and Development Party (AK Party) headquarters and the Justice Ministry
in Ankara. In the following days, the transcript of the meeting the
Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) delegation had with the PKK's
imprisoned leader Abdullah Ã-calan on Ä°mralı Island was leaked to the
press. This transcript, which was expected to cause public resentment,
conversely increased confidence in the negotiations.
In May, one of the most fatal terrorist attacks in Turkey's history
took place in Reyhanlı. As a result of the attack, some 52 people were
killed and 146 injured.
In June, Turkey witnessed the most large-scaled uprising in its
history. People attempted to occupy the Prime Ministry office in
Istanbul and then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an's house in
Ankara. Taksim Square, one of the most buzzing locations in Turkey,
was barricaded for 14 days. The demonstrators and vandals could not
achieve their aims though. ErdoÄ?an was not overthrown through the
street demonstrations. Turkey's democracy was victorious once again.
The Dec. 17 and Dec. 25 operations, which revealed the parallel
structure's strategy to seize control of the state, were conducted. It
was introduced as a corruption and bribery operation, but at last this
parallel structure was deciphered.
The March 30 local elections, the first of the three elections of
vital importance for determining Turkey's future, were held in such an
atmosphere. The AK Party won the election with 44 percent, a record
rate in the history of local elections. Subsequently, the second vital
election, the presidential election, was held by popular vote for the
first time and ErdoÄ?an won.
Within this period, the law on the reconciliation process was approved
and enacted. The process of returning non-Muslim foundations gained
speed and their rights to build schools were expanded and made easier.
More importantly, the state broke the taboos regarding Armenian
deportation for the first time after 99 years. ErdoÄ?an, prime minister
at the time, issued an official condolence and called both Armenia and
the Armenian diaspora to compensate for the past and build the future.
The headscarf ban was lifted to a great extent and a law on hate
crimes was approved by Parliament. Turkey became one of the several
countries recognizing the Egyptian coup and stood out among the others
as the one that raised its voice the most. While the oil contract with
the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) started to bare its
first fruit, it was also declared that Turkey came to terms with
Russia on the "Turkish stream" agreement.
Now we have the general elections ahead, which will determine who will
rule Turkey until June 2019. The AK Party will join this election with
another chairman for the first time, Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu. But seemingly
this will not influence the results since DavutoÄ?lu is already the
second name favored by AK Party proponents. Also, since ErdoÄ?an does
not have a complex to prove that his ties with his party are cut like
other presidents in the past, he still maintains his abilities to
mobilize AK Party supporters.
After gaining victory again in the 2015 elections, challenging tasks
will await the AK Party such as the formation of a new constitution,
finalization of the reconciliation process and managing the Syrian
crisis with minimum damage. If a critical problem does not arise in
economy management, the future of the AK Party will seemingly continue
to be synonymous with the future of Turkey.
http://www.dailysabah.com/columns/hilal_kaplan/2015/01/02/the-future-of-the-ak-party