"The EU has negatively influenced Turkey's political situation"

25/05/2016

Haluk Kabaalioðlu, Dean of the Faculty of Law at Yeditepe University, Istanbul, is committed to the integration of Turkey into the EU and at the same time is critical with his country's current political situation. He spoke on this issue on 18 May at the Faculty of Law, in a conference which formed part of the lectures in the UAB master's degree in European Integration.

Recently, journalists have been accused of and sent to prison for allegedly revealing state secrets, espionage and giving support to terrorist organisations.

There is a great amount of debate concerning these issues. In the case of Erdem Gül (who together with Can Dündar, director of the newspaper Cumhuriyet, was sentenced to prison for revealing the alleged illegal arms shipment to Syria by the Turkish secret services), the government claims that the shipment was meant for Syrian Turkmen who were under difficult situations. The opposition however maintains that the arms were being sent to the Islamic State. When there was an attempt to stop the cargo the government considered that was a violation of official secrets. The trial was influenced by the Gülen Movement (a social and religious organisation led by preacher Fethullah Gülen) with support from the United States.

How would you describe freedom of press in Turkey today?

Unfortunately, there are problems to be able to work freely as a journalist. However, I believe Turkey's higher courts (the Court of Cassation and the Constitutional Court) will consider these a violation of the freedom of expression and freedom of press and therefore the journalists will soon be released.

What are the most sensitive issues? The image of president Recep Tayyip Erdoðan, perhaps?

Currently, the president is even more important than the prime minister. Erdoðan wants a presidential system. Turkey has a long tradition of parliamentary democracy, even during the Ottoman Empire: after 1876, under the sultanate, we had a parliamentary monarchy system. this system is now under debate. I don't think a presidential system is suitable for us. Many Latin American countries have tried it to no avail; it has worked in the United States, but has needed many checks and balances and separation of powers. Without separation of powers, the presidential system is not a very healthy one.

Is the Turkish political system becoming more authoritarian?

There are trends towards that direction, but I am optimistic and believe the tide will turn sooner or later. The problem is not the government but the opposition: there is no viable opponent who can take over the country. That is why Erdoðan and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) obtained the 49% of votes in the past elections. If you change the opposition leaders, the situation will also change. We need more democracy in the centre of the political parties.

A constitutional reform will be carried out. Is the secular character of the state in danger?

The current government has begun to create many imam Hatip schools (secondary schools centres dedicated to religious teaching). These schools first appeared in the 1950s. In the villages, imams were educated in these schools and the current government wants to increase them thinking they will be their "backyard". Unfortunately, a man called Graham Fuller, head of the CIA in Ankara, wrote a book in 1995 called The New Turkish Republic: Turkey as a Pivotal State in the Muslim World (Paperback), where he complained that Turkey was too secular and that it should be like a soft Islam. It is therefore an American attempt to make Turkey a moderate Islamic country. However, there is also a strong laïcité tradition against these changes, despite the fact that the government aims to weaken this system; and therefore, the secularism of the country will continue.

In this sense, do you think Turkish society is divided between supporters of a secular state and supporters of Islamisation?

The Islamic parties receive 16 to 20 per cent of the votes. People vote for AKP because of a lack of opposition and because they think the economy is going well. Once normal conditions return, I do not think Islamic parties will not get more than 20 to 25 per cent. The original idea is, as there are Christian democratic parties, there also will be Islamic democratic parties. However, depending on their leadership, these parties will not be so democratic.

Do you consider Turkey's integration into the EU is closer?

When the government of Tayyip Erdoðan came into power in 2002, they eliminated all constitutional amendments, changed legislation, and in 2004 the European Commission reported that Turkey sufficiently qualified for membership under political criteria. However, once the negotiation started, Angela Merkel said it would only be a privileged partnership, Nicolas Sarkozy blocked six chapters and made remarks. I feel that the EU is responsible for derailing this issue. Unfortunately, EU negatively influenced the political situation of the country. The declarations made from other countries did not help the democracy of Turkey.

You are completely in favour of integration?

I believe the natural place for Turkey is in European integration and this has been so for many centuries. Turkey was a founding member of the Council of Europe of 1949, when many of the Eastern European countries and the Iberian Peninsula were not. Turkey already had a multiple party democracy, elections, etc. It signed the association agreement in 1959, a pre-accession agreement providing for membership in the European Union. We accepted all the provisions of the Treaty of Rome in 1959 and established a customs union in 1995. That was supposed to be the final stage before membership. Today, there is a full customs union and industrial products between Turkey and the EU. However, no other provisions have been implemented; Turkey did not accept this union for the sake of a trade relationship, it was fully understood as something before integration.

What about adaptation to European law?

With the customs union, the country adopted over 70% of the EU acquis. Turkey adapted its laws to fit Switzerland's civil law, Germany's trade laws, etc. However, everything is based on Roman Law, which is the base of European law and which was drafted in Istanbul. Turkey was one of the first countries to give women the right to become political candidates, forty years before any other European country. Therefore, Turkey's place is in Europe. Moreover, it would help to stabilise the Middle East and is essential in the defence of Europe.

More information: Official Master's Degree in European Integration