I do not seek the closure of the governing party in Turkey, AKP, but the EU condemnation of the current court case is muddled hypocritical nonsense. Olli Rehn, the Commissioner for Enlargement, has said that it is unacceptable to try to close down a party which is non-violent. In that case it is time to expel Germany from the EU, since the Federal Government tried to close down NDP, a far-right party with Nazi roots. The prosecution case referred to the views of NDP members,not acts of violence. The case collapsed because provocative statemtns quoted in the indictment were found to have been made by state agents operating under cover in the NDP.
AKP has some similar roots to NDP. Its roots are in the idea of a pure Turkish-Muslim community exclkuding Jews and intenrational capital. AKP appears to have taken another road, but instances keep coming uğ of minor shifts towards Islamicisation of the Turkish state and society: a district of Ankara which has banned the sale of alcohol, municipalities where canteens are not open for lunch during Ramadan, more cosnervative religious behaviour by students at high schools which prepare students for the university faculties of theology and a career as an Iman. Wgen a party with such extreem roots behaves in a way which suggests that it might not have completely overcome its past, what rule of EU membership makes it immune to legal investigation?
What criteria are there for EU membership which prevent the Turkish courts testing the compatibility of AKP polices and practices with the Turkish constitution? What gives Rehn the right to dictate to the Turkish courts? Does he not understand that liberal democracy means separation between courts and government, and the accountability of the government to the courts? People like Rehn have sadly failed to gain much legitimacy in European public opinion. I'm a great supporter of the European ideal, but the reality about Rehn and his colleagues is that no one finds them to be a great advertisement for the European ideal. The bossy interfering hypocritical attitude of Rehn over this issue is a good example of why the Brussels leaders have not won over Eurıpena public opinion, indeed they have failed to even create a genuine European wide sphere of public debate. They are not up to recognising such basic distinctions as the difference between agreeing with a prosecution case and the right of the courts to investigate a topic. Hopeless.
AKP has some similar roots to NDP. Its roots are in the idea of a pure Turkish-Muslim community exclkuding Jews and intenrational capital. AKP appears to have taken another road, but instances keep coming uğ of minor shifts towards Islamicisation of the Turkish state and society: a district of Ankara which has banned the sale of alcohol, municipalities where canteens are not open for lunch during Ramadan, more cosnervative religious behaviour by students at high schools which prepare students for the university faculties of theology and a career as an Iman. Wgen a party with such extreem roots behaves in a way which suggests that it might not have completely overcome its past, what rule of EU membership makes it immune to legal investigation?
What criteria are there for EU membership which prevent the Turkish courts testing the compatibility of AKP polices and practices with the Turkish constitution? What gives Rehn the right to dictate to the Turkish courts? Does he not understand that liberal democracy means separation between courts and government, and the accountability of the government to the courts? People like Rehn have sadly failed to gain much legitimacy in European public opinion. I'm a great supporter of the European ideal, but the reality about Rehn and his colleagues is that no one finds them to be a great advertisement for the European ideal. The bossy interfering hypocritical attitude of Rehn over this issue is a good example of why the Brussels leaders have not won over Eurıpena public opinion, indeed they have failed to even create a genuine European wide sphere of public debate. They are not up to recognising such basic distinctions as the difference between agreeing with a prosecution case and the right of the courts to investigate a topic. Hopeless.
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What I find even more hypocritical is the EU freezing Turkey's accession process over Turkey's refusal to open it's ports to the Greek Cypriots when in fact the EU continues to persist in its embargo of TRNC. All Turkey wanted was some reciprocity. What can be more reasonable than that?
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