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July 30, 2007
Somehow it's been a month...
Sorry for the delay—I have to make sure to only post State-approved information, so there can be a bit of a delay sometimes!
The past week has probably been my busiest and most exciting so far. I went on a day trip to Bursa, worked in the Consular section, and got to see the results of the parliamentary elections! Not bad, huh?
Every time elections are held here the Consulate makes an effort to get to the biggest towns in our district to gauge governmental, voter, and party leadership attitudes. Our district includes Thrace and the Marmara region. We have a small consulate office in Izmir and a consulate in Adana and then of course the embassy in Ankara, so the work is divided. In addition to geographic distribution, we also divide topics by region. For example, in Istanbul we have someone who focuses on religious minorities because it is a population center for many minorities. Ankara and Adana (a city in the south, located close to the Syrian border) deal with ethnic human rights issues, including the Kurdish situation (among other issues), although each of the posts follows each of the issues to one degree or another, with particular attention to local groups and issues.
Anyway, even though it was very close to the election, we went to Bursa to have some last-minute meetings. Bursa is the fourth largest city in Turkey (2.5 million people) and a major hub for the automotive and textile industries. Since the 1980s it has become a destination for immigrants from northeastern Turkey and the Black Sea region. We had a full day of meeting with government officials and party leaders and a delicious Iskender Kebab lunch near the impressive Yesil Cami (Green Mosque). Iskender is famous in Bursa and is a tasty combination of bread, meat, tomato sauce, yoghurt, and melted butter. Ok, so it’s a little hard to explain to an American palate at first, but believe me it’s great! The meetings went well too, although they were pretty formal and reserved. Local officials are proud of the low unemployment rates in the region and the maintenance of order in spite of the influx of people. It was great to get out of the office and to go back to Bursa. I was there for a weekend last summer and so I got to do all the tourist sites and to buy the silk scarves that the region is famous for! I’m glad I did that before because with the number of meetings we had there definitely wasn’t time for shopping.
For the rest of the week I was in the Consular section, helping with visa interviews, but unfortunately my entry on that will have to be postponed until I get official approval from the office.
And finally the results are in! Almost. Final results from the Supreme Election Board have not yet been released, but as of now, preliminary results for yesterday’s parliamentary vote are as follows:
Justice and Development Party (AKP): 46.6%
Republican People’s Party (CHP): 20.8%
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP): 14.4%
There are also a number of independent candidates who made it into the parliament, but no other parties passed the 10% national threshold that is needed to win seats. These numbers are not official yet, but the results should be announced soon and will probably remain close to those above. Once the new parliament meets, its first task will be to try to elect a new president. It remains to be seen who the nominee will be but AKP falls short of the 367 seats needed for the quorum required to begin voting for the president. (See previous post on elections for more information). There has been lots of coverage in western media, including broadcasts on BBC news and articles in the Washington Post, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal. As the implications for this vote become clearer, I’ll be sure to write more.
Posted by Jill Luxenberg at 01:51 AM | TrackBack
July 16, 2007
A Day in the Life...
Reading over my last entries, I realized that I haven’t given a very good picture of what I actually do on a daily basis. Every day is different here, but I’ll try to give a sense of my work life. Department of State employees posted abroad are supposed to be the eyes and ears of Main State back in Washington D.C., so our job here is to meet with people and then to report back. For political officers, this means meeting with government officials, journalists and party leaders in an attempt to gauge the political climate. Once we have these meetings we then send cables back to D.C. with summaries of the discussions and our own analysis of the situation.
In each of my three times in Turkey, I’ve been lucky enough to learn about the country in a different way. Last summer it was all about language all the time. During the fall semester it was about hanging out with Turkish friends and exploring Istanbul. Now it’s about the news and politics. Every morning we get three different news summaries sent out over email that have been compiled from news and columns in the Turkish press (and of course translated for us!). Later, our section meets with our two Turkish analysts and they brief us on the day’s papers. It’s exciting to be so informed and great to have people to ask a million questions.
But it’s not all about work. On July 3rd we had an enormous 4th of July celebration for 2,000 people! Most of them were local businessmen and we wined and dined them with all the best American products, including Burger King, Jack Daniels, and Pizza Hut. Needless to say, it was quite the event. I’ve had a couple of friends visit, but I’m actually enjoying living on my own and taking it easy. My building has a gym and a pool, so I’ve spent more than a few low-key weekends outside. Istanbul can get pretty tiring sometimes and it’s nice to have a bit of a refuge.
Next week I’m helping out in the consular section, so it will be interesting to see how another part of the Consulate-General works. They’re responsible for processing the 300 plus people a day who want visas to the U.S.! Look for an entry about that next week.
Posted by Jill Luxenberg at 04:25 AM | TrackBack
July 03, 2007
Elections Background
As promised, this entry will deal with the hottest topic in Turkish politics right now, the July 22nd parliamentary elections. These elections were originally supposed to be held in the fall, but because the Grand National Assembly (GNA) failed to elect a president in April, Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister and leader of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), called for early elections.
The current president’s term was due to expire on May 16th, so the 11th president was supposed to be determined before President Ahmet Necdet Sezer left office on this date. Under the Turkish parliamentary system, the president is elected by the parliament and is largely a symbolic figurehead. Historically, the president has represented the secular nature of the Turkish Republic.
Because the parliament is currently controlled by the AK Party, which has Islamic roots, many secularists are concerned about the presidency losing its secular nature. Although the AK Party claims to support the principle of secularism and has pursued moderate policies aimed at securing Turkey’s bid to the European Union, many people are skeptical about the party’s assertions holding true in the future. The AK Party currently controls 352 of the Grand National Assembly’s 550 seats, with the next closest party (the Republic People’s Party, or CHP) controlling 149 seats.
After speculation that Erdogan himself would run generated a strongly negative reaction, the AK Party nominated current Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul as their candidate. In the first round of voting on April 27, Gul received 357 votes, with 361 members of the parliament present. Members of the CHP and other parties boycotted the vote and the AK Party came 10 votes short of the necessary two-thirds majority (367) to elect Gul.
On the same day, the Turkish Armed Forces issued a statement of its interests on its website. Turkey’s military is considered the guardian of Kemalism (the ideology of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of Turkey) and the staunch defender of secularism. It was responsible for coup d’etats in 1960, 1971, and 1980 and most recently Islamic-oriented Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan left office in 1997 after a so-called “post-modern” or “soft” coup wherein the military made repeated strong statements against the government and rolled tanks through a neighborhood in the capital, Ankara. The military’s recent e-posted comments included the following statement and other indications that the army might step in if secularism was challenged. "It should not be forgotten that the Turkish armed forces are a side in this debate and are a staunch defender of secularism". Europe and the United States have cautioned against military involvement in the election process and thus far, aside from their initial statement, the military has been quiet.
Before the second round of voting could begin, the CHP filed a claim to the Supreme Court, seeking annul the first vote on the grounds that if two-thirds of the votes were needed to elect the president, two-thirds of the parliament needed to be present for a quorum to be called. On May 1 the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the CHP and annulled the first round of voting. When the AK Party failed to reach a quorum again on May 6, Gul withdrew his candidacy. Three days later Erdogan called for early elections. Interestingly, as I found out today during our daily press briefing, the CHP are not the first ones to use the ambiguity in the constitution’s wording regarding the quorum. In an interview today Erbakan acknowledged that he brought up the same issue in 1969 and so although he is more aligned with the AK Party than with the CHP, he supports the ruling of the Constitutional Court. Turkish politics are never as simple as they might seem…
Throughout the political maneuvering popular protests have been erupting, particularly in western Turkey, in the name of secularism. Enormous rallies were held in many cities, including Ankara, Istanbul, Canakkale, and Izmir. In Izmir, a historically secular city on the Aegean, as many as 1.5 million people were thought to have participated in the demonstration. A quick search on “Google Image” shows hundreds of pictures of the protests and the overwhelming nature of the demonstrations. 
Many of the protesters expressed concerns about increasing Islamic influence in Turkey. One of the symbols invoked as evidence of the AK Party’s Islamic agenda is that of Gul’s wife wearing an Islamic headscarf. The headscarf is currently banned in governmental buildings and educational institutions and so the first lady’s choice to wear one and reside in Cankaya, the presidential residence and bastion of secularism, would be disquieting to secular Turks.
In the upcoming weeks AK Party, the CHP, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP, a rightwing nationalist party) and other parties will be campaigning across the country. These three parties are considered likely to pass the threshold (meaning that they will get at least 10% of the votes) and will therefore be able to hold seats in the Grand National Assembly. Other parties such as the Genc Party (Young Party) and Democratic Party (DP) will likely have to form coalitions in order to get representation in the GNA.
Turks have expressed serious reservations about the elections—they really feel uncertain about the results. I hope I’ve managed to convey some of the excitement and tension in the air here. I’m looking forward to the next few weeks and feel very lucky to be in Turkey at such a pivotal time for Turkish politics.
More next week and I promise it won’t be so technical!
(Sources include: “Army ‘Concerned’ by Turkey Vote,” BBC News, "Turks Rally Against Pro-Islamic Leaders,” The Washington Post, May 13, 2007, Google Image Search )
