Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro de la Prensa-Basm Özeti
gieux ou du 'tùrbân. Les confréries
:reJigieuses,la presse iSlamique se-
.rontmises sous 'surveillance; les
!écolescoraniques devront être pla-
'cées sous le contrôle du ministère
de l'éducation nationale. Des
:amendements légaux sont égale-
'ment prévus pour empêcher l'infiltration
de cadres islamistes dans la
fonction publique. La mise en
place d'un mécanisme permettant
,de vérifier la bonne application de
ces mesures, dans un délai dedeux'
mois, est prévue dans le cadre du'
conseil national de sécurité.
: Les recommandations du' MGK
:~,ont généra:lemerlt ,entérinées'
presque automatiquement par le
gouvernement, mais la presse
,turque affirme que le premier ministre,
Necm.ettinErbakan, hésite à
apposer sa signatüre sur le document
détaillant ces mesures, qui
visent en fait son propre électorat
et devraient être soumises au
conseil des ministres, lors de sa
prochaine réunion.
UNE CI HARMONIE'; CONTEsTtE
Le premier ministre et Tansu Ciller,
sa partenaire au sein de la coa~
Iition, ont tenté de minimiser le sérieux
de la situation. « Que
personne n'attende de coup d'Etat »,
a déclaré MmeCiller. De son ëôté, gagnée sUr ie processUs'politique
.M. Erbakan a affirmé aux membres en 1\rrquie.
de son Parti de la prospérité que le
gouvemementet l'armée étaient Nicole Pope
« en parfaite harmonie ».' .
.Cette affirmation a été immédia- • Le premier ministre Alain
'tement contredite par un commu- Juppé a souhaité, samedi 1 er mars,
niqué écrit du secrétaire général de que« la Thrquie poursuive son che-
.l'état-major, le général Èrol Ozkas- ~min vers l'Europe, car elle a toute sa.
nak, qui, annonçant que «le conseil. :place.dans lafamille euroJ?éenne ».
;ne peut être en harmonie qu'avec ;~Lorsd'une réunion à Matignon de
ceux qui suivent la ligne d'Ataturk et .l'Union démocratique européenne ,
croient du fond du cœur.à ses prin-(UDE), il a encore souhaité que la
cipes », a révélé à la fois l'étendue ;-Turquie «consolide la démocrade
la méfiance des militaires à tie », mais il s'est refusé à com-
'l'égard du premier ministre et l'em- :menter la situation politique ac-
,{!riseJlJl.el',armée il désormais reo' tJlelle à Ankara.
'
dâllynews
Wednesday, Marcl1 5, 1997
Crisis with Iran
Turbulent but uninterrupted ties
sEMIHD. IDtz
ADlaua - Turkish Daily News
There is really one way to describe
. Turkey's relations With Iran since that .
country's Islamic revolution in 1979, arid
that is ..turbulent but uninterrupted."
The latest crisis, which has now resulted in the
ambassadors, along with, consul generals, on both
sides being expelled or withdrawn, clearly demonstrates
the extent to which ties between Ankara
and Tehran can sour. .
But this latest crisis is not unique in that this
k:~b~~s~~ has been seen before in Turkish- ..
, - The üöchaIi~g-heart of the probleiribetween
the two countnes reIDains the fact that while both
are predominantly Islamic - albeit from radically
different wings of Islam - one' is religiously secular,
while the other is unbendingly committed to
the Islamic Shariah Law, which governs every
aspect of its citizens' lives.
Inthis sense, even at the best of times in bilateral
ties, there has been an undercurrent of tension
between the two capitals, a sort of Cold War along
the secular-Shariah fault line. Inother words there
is a "clash of civilizations"between the two countries,
which inevitably works its way into their
bilateral ties. .
This does not mean that the two countries have
not had problems based on non-religious considerations.
There has in fact been no shortage of these
also; mostly centered on the "security issue," with
Ankara complaining bitterly that Tehran is aIding
and abetting separatist Kurdish militants in Turkey
and using them as leverage against this country.
But the main bone of contention for Turkey's
secular establishment has been the alleged undercover
activities by Iran aimed at p~o.n.lOting~slam
as a political order in Turkey. ActlVltleS whi~h the
Turkish side has claimed on numerous occ~IOns
go as far'as accomplis~ed or atte~pted politlc~
assac;sinations of Turkish champIOns of seculansm.
This leads one to the main pOÎIltwhich has
complicated these ties between Ankara and
Tehran. Namely, the fact that while Turkey is
staunchly secular, it also has a resurgent political
Islam. elements of which look to Iran as a model
and for assistance. ' .'.
Iran's Islàmic system, however, has been
enforced so fimily and with such rigid sanctions
that there is no possibility for any advancement for
those believing in a secular lifestyle, andtherefore
for anyone in that country to emulate Turkey or
take it as a model.
In other words, Turkey. is a working dem0C!'3cy
which also has no means 10 the end of preventmg
the resurgence of some form of political Islam,
while Iran is a theocracy which tolerates nothing
except what is in the Holy Koran.
In this Sense the direction of the influence that
the two countries try to exert on each others' societies
has ~asically been one way, wif!1Iran having
the capaCity to make more headway 10 Turkey -
due to the Islamists in this country - than Turkey
has in Iran; where any outward appeal to secularism
would not be tolerated.
In fact it can be argued that the loathing the secular
establishment in Turkey has for Iran's system
is more than matched by Iran's loathing, as well as
deep-rooted fear, of the model that Turkey poses .
26