There are reports that Davutoglu decided to step down after disagreements with the president over a range of issues, the presidential system included. Erdogan said a referendum on the presidency issue to change the constitution would make Turkey stronger and more stable. Critics of the presidential system warn that it would concentrate too much power in Erdogan’s hands.
Davutoglu had just negotiated a deal whereby it would change its anti-terror legislation to make it clearer and the definition of terrorism as less broad in return for visa-free travel in Europe for Turkish citizens. Erdogan said the legislation would not be changed: “We’ll go our way, you go yours.” In spite of fact the presidency is traditionally apolitical Erdogan said; “Some are disturbed by me monitoring closely the developments related to the party… What can be more natural than this?”
Davutoglu asked the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to avoid any divisions, saying he would not utter a word against President Erdogan. There will be an extraordinary congress on May 22. The Turkish parliament has been rocked by divisions — on Monday there was a fistfight with politicians punching, kicking, and hurling insults at each other. This is the third brawl in recent weeks.
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who leads the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) said the resignation of Davutoglu was in effect “a palace coup” and blow to democracy and was not just an internal party issue. The successor to Davutoglu is likely to be more supportive of Erdogan’s demand for a presidential system. Several Erdogan loyalists, including his son-in-law, have been suggested as possible replacements for Davutoglu.
One of the heated debates in the parliament concerned Oscar Wilde. A member of the Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) said he wanted to quote a line from Wilde. A deputy from the ruling AKP party objected to anyone being cited who was not a Muslim or a Turk saying: “Do you not have any examples from this culture, this civilisation?” Another member confused the author with the Oscars and had to be straightened out by HDP opposition deputy Burcu Ozlkan. She informed the member: “It’s Oscar Wilde. He is not an award, he is a man!” The quote was about the vulgarity of power.
An article in the Guardian notes: Turkey is no longer simply politically polarised. It is now bitterly divided into two planets: those who support and will continue to support the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, no matter what; and those who are, for a variety of reasons, against him. The president, who is theoretically above political parties and strictly neutral, is in truth, anything but. Erdoğan is the most divisive politician in Turkey’s modern political history.
Repression of opposition including journalists is widespread. Murat Beige a well-known academic and columnist was put on trial for insulting the president. The Turkish peace process appears to be collapsed. There is also talk of a religious constitution and abandoning secularism, a principle that long separated Turkey from other Middle East regimes. The country was known for being relatively more liberal, open, and diverse than many parts of the Mideast. Hikmet Çetinkaya and Ceyda Karan, two veteran journalists from the daily Cumhuriyet, one of the last remaining alternative voices in the media, were sentenced to two years in prison for reprinting Charlie Hebdo cartoons. Recent research shows that only half of Turkeys’ citizens think that it is OK to criticize the government publicly.
Another recent case of suppression of free speech involves the jailing of two prominent journalists, Erdem Gul who received five years and Cam Dunbar who received five years and 10 months. A court found the two guilty of revealing state secrets. Both worked for the opposition daily Cumhuriyet. They reported Turkey had tried to ship arms to rebels fighting the Assad government. Just before the verdict a gunman tried to shoot Dunbar. The trial was widely criticized in the west. Reporters Without Borders world press freedom index ranks Turkey 151 out of 180 countries.
