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

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro
The Battle for Secularism
Moves to a Turkish Court
Mayor of Istanbul Faces Charges of Subversion
---B-y--=S-te-p":"'he-n--=K::'inze--r--- In his defense, Mr. Erdogan said the
words he spoke were from a poem and
New YorA:rUMS S~rvic~ were aimed at "no person or target."
ISTANBUL - Defendants who face After his testimony he flew back to Istanstate
Secmity Courts in Turkey tend to bul and his job of running a metropolis
be suspected guerrillas, Kurdish nation- that is home to 9 million people.
alists or the odd journalist or editor who Mr. Erdogan declined to discuss the
violates unwritten rules about what may case against him. He agreed, however, to
and may not be said in public. reflect on the secularist crusade that
Few defendants amve at the local threatens to put him behind bars.
airport on a chartered jet accompanied "It doesn't seem that democratic
by a phalanx of lawyers and have a principles are being applied," Mr. Erchauffeur
waiting to take them to court. dogan said. "In a democracy, only the
That happened recently, however, when people can put you in power and only the
Mayor kêcep Tayyip Erdogan of Istan- people should be able to remove you.
bol flew to Diyarbakir, in the southeast, Democratization should go hand in hand
to answer charges of subversion. with civilization. That is a sign of de-
Mr. Erdogan is the most prominent of velopment and progress. Otherwise you
more than 200 mayors and other of- enter a period ofstagnation."
ficials, elected and appointed, who are Although the case against Mr. Erdogan
targets of an anny-backed campaign has been brought in a security court. many
against Islamic fundamentalism. Be- other mayors are threatened by the In-
,cause he is a national figure and hero to terior Ministry, which has power to remillions
of Islamic-oriented voters, his move those it considers subversive.
case has focused attention on politicians The ministry has used that power sevwho
are feeling the generals' wrath. eral times in recent days. One victim was
Themayor,43,isbeingprosecutedfor Mehmet Sekme~, mayor of the Kartal
a speech he gave near Diyarbakir last district in Ankara. The decree ordering
year in which he said: "The mosques are his removal said he had placed "adour
barracks, the domes are our helmets, vocates of the reactionary movement,"
the minarets are our bayonets, and the meaning fundamentalists, 6n the public
faithful are our anny. "
payroll. It also said he had allowed re-
Prosecutors assert tJW. by making ligious groups to use city facilities and
such a statement. be was praising fun- favored advocates of political Islam
damentalisrn and violating a law that when awarding contracts.
bans "provoking enmity and hatred At least six other mayors have been
among the people." If convicted, be removed in recent weeks. Among those
faces loss of his offICe and a prison term still under investigation are Melib Gokof
up to three years. cek, mayor of Anlcarl!-, and Ali Nabi
I
Detention of Mayor
SeelDs to Highlight
Iran Political Split
R~utt!rs
DlJ.BAI - The detention of Mayor Gholam-Hossein Karbaschl
of Tehran on graft charges has brought into the open a
struggle between moderates and conservativ.es brewing in Iran
since the election of President Mohammed Khatami, accordin~
to analysts.
Iraman analysts as well as some of the media said Monday
that Mr. Karbaschi's detention on Saturday went beyond the
legaJ issues and highlighted a national ,dispute among the
fachons.
"This' is not a minor investigation into a city mayor,"
Jahangeer Behrouz, a Tehran-based political analyst, said by
telephone. "This is a national issue which is part of the battle
between the right and the left in Iran's government.
"The conservatives sent a message through the judiciary.
de la Prensa-Baszn Özeti
Kocak, mayor of a district in Istanbul.
Mr. Kocak is charged With feigning illness
in ordh to avoid attending ceremonies
honoring Mustafa KeQ1al /\taturk,
founder of the Turkish lteptlblic
and the pre-eminent symbol of Tûmsh
secularism.
All these mayors, like Mr. Erdogan,
belong to the Islamic-oriented Virtue
Party. This is the successor to the Welfare
Party, which was banned in January
on the ground that it was trying to subvert
the secular order.
Although mayors from all major
parties are under investigation, the
largest group is from the Virtue Party.
Many of the investigations began after a
meeting of the military-dominated National
Security Council last month
where generals gave Prime Minister
Mesut YiImaz a list of officials they
consider untrustworthy.
Prosecutors are also reviewing tapes
of radio and television broadcasts, especially
by stations considered pro-Islamic.
They say they will close thoSe that
"motivate the masses to change the
democratic legal order."
But secularists insist they must act to
save the country from militants who are
posing as simple believers.
"There is a conscious effort on the
part of ultra-religious groups to infiitrate
people into these high positions," said
Sunna Kili, a political science professor
at Bosporus University in Istanbul who
maintains close ties to the military.
"They want to have a voice in controlling
the government, and the military
is the only institution which can be successful
against them," he said. "The
question is how democratic tb.is all .is,
especially when you are dealmg With
elected officials. You cannot challenge
someone for expressing his views after
he is elected. But if he is violating the
principles on which our constitution
based, that is another matter."
The message is that we have power, too."
The judiciary denies the charges, pointing to the conviction
of several of Mr. Karbasclù' s top aides on graft charges since
last year. The moderates have questioned the legality of some
of those convictions by referring to charges of torture and
mistreatment raised bythe convicted officials.
Mr. Karbaschi, a close ally ofMr. Khatami's, was detained
following a court appearance on graft ,and mismanagement
charges. The court ordered the mayor to be held without bail
for up to one month pending further investigation.
Newspapers said Monday that his case would go to trial in
about three weeks.
Supporters of the mayor
'This is a national
issue which is part
of the battle
between the right
and the left.'
say he ~as targeted by the
conservative-led judiciary
because of his open backing
of Mr. Khatami in elections
last May, when the moderate
Shiite cleric soundly defeated
conservative opponents.
"The right-wing forces
have expended a lot of energy
on bringing Karbaschi down since the election,"
said Amid
Naeini, editor of Payam-e-Emrouz, a moderate monthly
magazine.
"Karbaschi's detention is aimed at imposing pressure on
the government of President Mohammed Khatami and weak-
is
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