TURKISH SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC VIEW C H P
Republican People’s Party
www.chp.org.tr
June 2010
THE TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIP AND CHP
‐ THE NEW CHP PRESIDENT KEMAL KILIÇDAROĞLU SUPPORTS TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIP
‐ SHORTH BIO OF MR KEMAL KILIÇDAROĞLU
‐ THE NEW CHP CENTRAL EXECUTIVE BOARD
‐ SHORT BIO OF NEW MEMBER OF CHP CENTRAL EXECUTIVE BOARD IN CHARGE OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS IS MRS GÜLSÜN BİLGEHAN ‐ “ WE WILL HOPE FOR A CHANGE AND WE WILL WORK FOR IT” ‐ THE FORMER CHP PRESIDENT MR DENIZ BAYKAL’S BRUSSELS VISIT
C H P EUROPEAN UNION REPRESENTATION
Republican People's Party – Turkey ( Member of the Socialist International )
11, Rond Point Schuman 1040 Brussels
T: +32 2 256 7537 F: +32 2 256 7570 brussels@chp.org.tr www.chp.org.tr Facebook & Twitter : CHP EU
The New CHP President Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu Supports Turkey’s EU Membership Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu supports Turkey’s bid to join the European Union. In a briefing session given by Kader Sevinç, CHP EU Representative in Brussels, on the recent developments in EU‐Turkey relations, Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu expressed the CHP’s strong support for Turkey’s membership to the EU, while stressing that a considerable and ambitious effort needs to be made in order to ensure a better communication with the EU institutions and capitals. Mr.Kılıçdaroğlu said “the mission of CHP EU Office in Brussels is of great importance to the CHP’s EU policy in this regard.” In his speech in the Congress, Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu criticized the EU for having stalled the Turkey’s membership for years. He stressed that when coming into power, the CHP would seek a firm date for full membership. Mr. CHP President Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu
Kılıçdaroğlu also drew attention to the growing economic potential in Turkey’s relations with Russia, India and China.
Who is CHP President Mr Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu? Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu was born in Nazimiye District of Tunceli Province in 1948. He continued his primary and secondary education in various places like Erciş, Tunceli, Genç and Elazığ. He studied economics at Ankara University in Ankara, from which he graduated in 1971. After university, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu entered the Ministry of Finance as deputy accountant. He was later promoted to accountant and sent to France for additional professional training. In 1983, he was appointed deputy director general of Revenue Administration attached to the same ministry. In 1991, Kılıçdaroğlu became director general of the social CHP President Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and security administration, Bağ‐Kur. The following year he was CHP EU Representative Kader Sevinç appointed director general of the other social security administration, SSK. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu was named in 1994 "Civil Servant of the Year" by the weekly periodical "Ekonomik Trend”. Before retiring in 1999, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu had served for a while as the deputy undersecretary in Ministry of Labor and Social Security.
C H P EUROPEAN UNION REPRESENTATION
Republican People's Party – Turkey ( Member of the Socialist International )
11, Rond Point Schuman 1040 Brussels
T: +32 2 256 7537 F: +32 2 256 7570 brussels@chp.org.tr www.chp.org.tr Facebook & Twitter : CHP EU
He taught in Hacettepe University for a short period. He chaired the ad‐hoc committe of informal economy, established during the preperatory works for Turkey’s 8th five–year Economic Development Plan. He was one of the Board Members of Turkish Is Bank. Following the 2002 general elections, he entered Parliament as member of parliament from Istanbul. He was re‐elected to parliament in 2007. He became the deputy speaker of his party's parliamentary group. Kılıçdaroğlu was elected as Chairman of Republican People’s Party at the Party’s Congress in Istanbul on May 22nd. The new CHP Central Executive Board (MYK) Twelve of the 20 members in the newly selected MYK are deputies. The new MYK consists of Önder Sav, Süheyl Batum, Gülsün Bilgehan, Gaye Erbatur, Mevlüt Coşkuner, Turgut Dibek, Mahmut Duyan, Gökhan Günaydın, Hüseyin Karakoç, Ali Koçal, Abdullah Özer, Berhan Şimşek, İzzet Çetin, Tekin Bingöl, Haluk Koç, Şahin Mengü, Hakkı Süha Okay, Umut Oran, Faik Öztrak and Abdülrezzak Erten. New member of the CHP Central Executive Board in charge of Foreign Affairs is Mrs Gülsün Bilgehan Gulsun Bilgehan was born in Ankara, 1957. She was graduated from Institute of Political Sciences in Paris with a major in International Relations. She started writing and journalism at an early age; her articles were published in many newspapers. She was awarded the “The Author of the Year” and “Abdi Ipekci” Prizes. Her books have several editions. She was elected as a member of the Parliament in the 2002 elections. She represented Turkey in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and Western Europe Union (WEU). On January 2005, she was elected as the Chairperson of the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men of the Parliamentary CHP Central Executive Board Member Gülsün Bilgehan Assembly of the Council of Europe. She directed the “Campaign Against Domestic Violence” in Europe. She travelled to Bosnia and Bulgaria as the Council of Europe’s election observer and submitted numerous reports, especially on the subject “Integration of Immigrant Women in Europe.” In recognition of services rendered to the European cause, Gulsun Bilgehan is designated honorary associate of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and owns a medal of “Pro Merito.” Currently, she is an academic in the Bilkent University and the Vice‐President of Inonu Foundation and Turkish‐ European Foundation and CHP Central Executive Board Member in charge of foreign affairs.
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“We will hope for the change, then we will work for it” Following the election of Mr Kılıçdaroğlu as the President of CHP, a taxi driver speaking to a national TV said “He (Kılıçdaroğlu) is one of us”. Not any other expression could better explain the reason for the CHP’s votes to increase so dramatically right after Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu’s election. The people consider him as a tolerant, hard working, trusthworthy, modest, open‐minded, calm, peacuful person, transparent in respect for his personal assets and has an outstanding professional career in bureuracy.. The people are also quite confident about his qualifications for and extensive experience in politics. That is why the slogan of “President Gandhi” perfectly fits in his excellent credentials.
“We are coming to power. We are commencing our long march. We are running for power.” 1. The promotion of social state, built upon, inter alia, the following pillars. Fight againist poverty through increasing employment in context of sustainable economic growth, climate friendly economy and the controlled financial markets investment to R&D for a competitive economy combatting corruption and fight against informal economy ensuring budgetary discipline through the establishment of a parliamentary commission to be chaired by the opposition leader, in order to make an ex‐post control of state expenditures strengthening labor market by fully introducing labor rights, as enshrined in ILO Convention ensuring a fair distribution of the national income generated taxation policy based on fair taxation principles
C H P EUROPEAN UNION REPRESENTATION
Republican People's Party – Turkey ( Member of the Socialist International )
11, Rond Point Schuman 1040 Brussels
T: +32 2 256 7537 F: +32 2 256 7570 brussels@chp.org.tr www.chp.org.tr Facebook & Twitter : CHP EU
2. Strengthening democracy and guaranteeing the rule of law •
The CHP is a democratic party, aiming at social progress
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reduction of general election threshold to %5 from %10
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reforming of the judiciary system, the abolishment of the specially authorized courts serving in fact to the civil dictatorship under the AKP rule
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protecting the privacy of the citizens in their communication and data and the independence of the media
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lifting parliamentary immunities
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strenghtening inner‐party democracy
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adopting political ethics code
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formulating “a inclusive and humanistic citizenship policy” promoting equal opportunities for all, irrespective of religion or belief,ethnic origins, gender, sexuality, disability or age
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introducing a viable solution for Kurdish problem by eliminating feudalism in the southeast region determined by the religious sects and political groups, boosting investments in the region and recognizing of cultural rights.
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building a solid civil society dialogue
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pursuing policies for youth and women promoting employment and equality 3. The EU‐Turkey Relations under a possible CHP Rule: a continuity in or shift from policies?
The CHP supports Turkey’s membership to the Union from the very start. In the 2008 Party Programme of the CHP, it is stated that the CHP: regards Turkey’s membership to the EU as a project of social transformation, naturally rooted in the vision for modernization of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Republic of Turkey. is in favor of the full membership within the framework of the fundamental values of the Turkish Republic, which are democracy, respect for human rights, secularism, the rule of law and social welfare for all the citizens. strongly opposes to the efforts to grant Turkey with a special status other than full membership. commits fully to the alignment with EU acquis including Maastricht and Copenhagen criteria, and asks that Turkey is treated equally as all other candidate states.
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calls on the EU to lift unilateral restrictions on free movement of people, agricultural subsidies and regional development, as laid down in the Negotiation Framework, and to ensure that the free trade agreements concluded between the EU and the third countries concurrently become parallel agreements between Turkey and the third countries concerned. supports accelerating reform process, while calling on the EU to provide Turkey with an exact date for membership.
TURKEY’S EU AGENDA AND CHP Turkish opposition asks for a new Constitution and criticizes Government’s authoritarian trends 05 May 2010
Turkey needs to modernise its constitution but some of the government's reform proposals would seriously undermine the independence of the judiciary, Kader Sevinç of the main Turkish opposition party told EurActiv in an interview, accusing Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of showing "authoritarian" and "un‐European" behaviour. Kader Sevinç is the Brussels‐based representative to the EU of CHP, the Republican People’s Party. Led by Deniz Baykal, the CHP is a social democratic and secular political force, the second biggest party in Turkey and the main opposition party in parliament. She was speaking to Paul Hutchison. What is the position of the Turkish Republican People's Party (CHP) towards the constitutional reform package recently submitted by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) to the Turkish parliament? The AKP needs the support of other parties on the proposals as it lacks the required two‐thirds majority. The CHP is a European social democratic party that has been promoting radical democratic and social reforms in Turkey. In this respect, we have been asking for a comprehensive modernisation of Turkey's constitutional order. We need a shorter constitution focusing on the basic values, principles, rights and responsibilities of a modern European democracy. It has to be an innovative constitution, not only for Turkey but also for all world democracies. The CHP's priorities are human rights, separation of powers, checks and balances between the executive, legislative and judiciary authorities, secularism, gender equality, social rights, the green economy, the information society, growth and jobs.
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Turkey's current constitution was set up following the 1980 military coup. The AKP proposal is being described as a more 'civilian' constitution, with more basic freedoms, reduced powers for the Supreme Military Council and less independence for the judiciary. What are the CHP's views on these points? 27 out of 30 proposals in the current draft are similar to the CHP's previous proposals. For example, as a party that suffered a lot from the military interventions of the past, CHP was the first to propose the necessary amendment permitting the trial of the generals who were behind the 1980 military coup. Thus, an irreversible jurisprudence would be set to enhance civilian democracy in Turkey. We have already declared our readiness to approve these amendments by fast‐track. But as you emphasise, there are three amendments that seriously undermine the independence and the impartiality of the judiciary, increasing the already problematic influence of the executive on the system of nomination and promotion of judges and prosecutors. This is also a matter of debate in many other European countries. CHP's positions are all based on the reports by the relevant bodies of the Council of Europe. We believe that Turkey should find the right system of separation of powers, avoiding the current authoritarian trends and promoting an atmosphere of political compromise and public confidence. Prime Minister Erdoğan stated that the constitutional changes have no purpose other than to promote Turkish membership of the EU. Would the proposed reforms indeed help to speed up this process? Some European legislators have welcomed the proposals. The European Parliament's Socialists & Democrats (S&D) group supports the CHP's position on the importance of secularism, a civilian government and the separation of powers for a democratic constitution. Many other members of the European Parliament, several media reports and academic opinions are also of this line. Moreover, as the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe and statements by the president of the European Parliament's S&D group underline, the AKP government's attempt to take all the constitutional changes to a referendum as a package is undemocratic. On Monday (3 May), the Turkish parliament rejected an article in the constitutional reform package that would have made it harder to ban political parties. As it didn't receive enough votes, the article has now been dropped from the package. What is your reaction to the vote? Were you surprised that a number of AKP MPs voted against it? The AKP has many jurists among its ranks and many of them have probably been uncomfortable with the legal dilemmas created by this rejected proposal for this constitutional amendment. A majority of the Turkish electorate wants amendments to prevent corruption and foster human rights and democracy, and not political manoeuvres for individual politicians' interests. It is also possible that more and more AKP deputies are concerned with the authoritarian and un‐ European behaviour of Prime Minister Erdoğan and his undemocratic statements – such as recently
C H P EUROPEAN UNION REPRESENTATION
Republican People's Party – Turkey ( Member of the Socialist International )
11, Rond Point Schuman 1040 Brussels
T: +32 2 256 7537 F: +32 2 256 7570 brussels@chp.org.tr www.chp.org.tr Facebook & Twitter : CHP EU
advising a Turkish child that "as prime minister one can do anything, including executing or cutting into pieces any person as you wish". Is the CHP entirely happy with the current law on banning parties? Is it key to the secular state? No, this would be a simplistic assessment of Turkey's current political context. Of course, as the president of the Socialists & Democrats group in the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, stated in a joint press conference with CHP President Mr Baykal on 13 April in Brussels, "secularism is an essential pillar of democracy". The CHP is a European social democratic party proposing a constitution for Turkey that is fully in line with the Copenhagen political criteria. This is why we have been asking the AKP government to opt for a wide, democratic consultation seeking an atmosphere of social compromise and political consensus to pave the way towards a new, modern, progressive and innovative constitution. Unfortunately, the AKP unilaterally introduced a series of amendments which may result in an unbalanced legal situation harming the independence and the impartiality of the judiciary. The rejected article was creating such a situation, boosting an authoritarian government style and making it impossible for the judiciary to intervene if, for example, a political party organises paramilitary groups. The EU has been somewhat critical of the law on political parties – almost 20 parties have been banned since 1982. Do you think that the rejection will have implications for Turkey's EU membership bid? The banning of political parties is a problem of democratic culture and the interpretation of laws. The current legislation can certainly be reformed, but not in the way proposed by the AKP government – replacing problems with more problems. The methodology and substance proposed by the CHP for a modern European Turkish constitution would make these problems irrelevant anyway. Do you expect the reforms on judges and prosecutors and the Constitutional Court to be voted in? Will the CHP appeal to the courts to have these amendments annulled if this happens? If there are any illegal or undemocratic amendments voted by a government, it is the duty of the opposition to appeal to the Constitutional Court. CHP's position on this issue is in line with the relevant bodies of the Council of Europe. Relations between the executive and the judiciary are also a problem and a matter of debate in many EU countries. Turkey has to be creative and find an effective and efficient balance between the executive, legislative and judiciary powers. Most important of all, if the majority of the Turkish public loses confidence in the judiciary because of the political domination tools proposed by the AKP, then the whole democratic system would be in serious crisis. This is why the CHP has been asking for a rational methodology as proposed by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, to modify the constitution on the basis of a comprehensive public consultation and national compromise referring to European values.
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Polls suggest that public support for Erdoğan's AKP is as high as 40%, while the CHP only gained 21% of the vote in the last national elections. Why is public support for the CHP this low? Is it in touch with young Turkish voters? As of 26 April, latest polls show that the AKP has around 29% of the vote and the CHP has around 26%. In any case, polls and public opinion may change. An overwhelming majority of the Turkish electorate with higher education or belonging to the working class vote for the CHP. Parties which try to rely on religious sentiments or the distribution of electoral gifts may gain ground from time to time, but it is CHP's duty to communicate better the realities and challenges of a competitive Turkey for the 21st century. We have to work more for this. Northern Cyprus – an entity recognised only by Turkey – recently voted in a new president, Derviş Eroğlu of the right‐wing National Unity Party, who favours a two‐state solution for the island. What is the CHP's view on his election? The result is likely to dim reunification hopes and affect Turkey's EU accession bid… CHP's position is to support a solution for the Cypriot problem though talks between the parties. The Turkish side already demonstrated its commitment to peace and to Europe by voting 'yes' in the referendum of 2003. This was a 'yes' vote that the EU also promoted. But the EU's policies have been inconsistent since letting only the government of southern Cyprus get EU membership, although this government voted 'no'. It even censored then Commissioner Verheugen's speech on TV. Since then, the use of veto by the nationalist and un‐European Southern Cypriot government and its nationalist successor finally provoked a reaction by the Turkish Cypriots. The new Turkish Cypriot president, Mr Eroğlu, made clear that he will carry on the talks. We hope that a rational settlement will finally be reached, creating a bastion of peace and economic dynamism in the Eastern Mediterranean.
C H P EUROPEAN UNION REPRESENTATION
Republican People's Party – Turkey ( Member of the Socialist International )
11, Rond Point Schuman 1040 Brussels
T: +32 2 256 7537 F: +32 2 256 7570 brussels@chp.org.tr www.chp.org.tr Facebook & Twitter : CHP EU
Poll shows CHP lead 1 The opinion polls published by SONAR at the end of last month (May 2010). Here are the topline percentages for voting intention, with changes from the company's last published survey in January: CHP: 32.5 (+5.4) [Republican People's Party] AK Party: 31.1 (+1.6) [Justice and Development Party] MHP: 18.6 (‐1.8) [Nationalist Action Party] BDP: 4.3 (‐2.0) [Peace and Democracy Party] SP: 3.7 (‐1.8) [Felicity Party] DSP: 3.5 (+0.5) [Democratic Left Party] DP: 2.4 (‐1.7) [Democrat Party] Others: 4.0 (+2.1)
1
SONAR interviewed 3000 people in towns and villages in 16 Turkish provinces between 24 and 27 May 2010. The full survey can be found here.
C H P EUROPEAN UNION REPRESENTATION
Republican People's Party – Turkey ( Member of the Socialist International )
11, Rond Point Schuman 1040 Brussels
T: +32 2 256 7537 F: +32 2 256 7570 brussels@chp.org.tr www.chp.org.tr Facebook & Twitter : CHP EU
This poll would roughly produce the following seat distribution 2 in parliament (with changes from the present situation):
209
Number of seats
201
20
120
4 2.4 3.5 3.7
Votes % 32.531.1 4.3 6 18.
0
100
200
300
Votes % Others
400
500
600
Number of seats
4
DP
2.4
DSP
3.5
SP
3.7
BDP
4.3
20
MHP
18.6
120
AKP
31.1
201
CHP
32.5
209
2
Assuming the 10 percent electoral threshold is not lowered and the pro‐Kurdish BDP's 20 MPs decide to run again as independents, this poll would roughly produce the following seat distribution in parliament (with changes from the present situation).
C H P EUROPEAN UNION REPRESENTATION
Republican People's Party – Turkey ( Member of the Socialist International )
11, Rond Point Schuman 1040 Brussels
T: +32 2 256 7537 F: +32 2 256 7570 brussels@chp.org.tr www.chp.org.tr Facebook & Twitter : CHP EU
Two more deputies joined the CHP Two independent deputies, Hüseyin Pazarcı and Harun Öztürk, joined the CHP, bringing the party’s number of seats in Parliament to 101. Kılıçdaroğlu said the CHP is ready for a possible early election. Current seat sharing in Turkish Parliament: 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0
Seats (Total 550)
AKP
336
CHP
101
MHP
69
BDP
20
Independent
8
DSP
6
DP
1
TP
1
Free
8
C H P EUROPEAN UNION REPRESENTATION
Republican People's Party – Turkey ( Member of the Socialist International )
11, Rond Point Schuman 1040 Brussels
T: +32 2 256 7537 F: +32 2 256 7570 brussels@chp.org.tr www.chp.org.tr Facebook & Twitter : CHP EU
TURKEY’S MEMBERSHIP TO THE EU AND CHP The President of CHP Mr. Deniz Baykal (in office until May 2010) paid a visit to Brussels – April 2010 He was invited by the Socialists&Democrats Group (S&D) of the European Parliament to be the guest speaker at the group meeting held on 13th April. Before this meeting, Mr. Baykal also met the Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Füle at the Parliament. In a joint press meeting Martin Schulz, the leader of the Socialists & Democrats Group said “CHP, as a member of the world of social democratic parties of Europe, has certain sensitivities in issues such as democracy, secularism and justice reform in Turkey.” As member of the Socialist International and associate member of the Party of European Socialists, the CHP defends a social‐democratic agenda for Turkey based on more democratic reforms, economic policies focused on growth and youth employment, social progress, education, gender equality, innovation and green technologies. Mr. Baykal had visited Brussels last year in February as well for the inauguration of the CHP’s EU Representation at Rond‐Point Schuman. He had met during this visit with the Commission President Barroso, the members of the European Parliament and the European Confederation of Labour Unions (ETUC). http://brussels.chp.org.tr
C H P EUROPEAN UNION REPRESENTATION
Republican People's Party – Turkey ( Member of the Socialist International )
11, Rond Point Schuman 1040 Brussels
T: +32 2 256 7537 F: +32 2 256 7570 brussels@chp.org.tr www.chp.org.tr Facebook & Twitter : CHP EU