KEBABBLE In Turkey, a political prodigy steps aside
By Fazile Zahir
FETHIYE, Turkey - Last month's local elections have dashed Suleyman Soylu's
dream of bringing a new egalitarian system of democracy to Turkey. The leader
of the Democratic Party, and inheritor of five decades of the party's political
triumphs, is now forced to wake up to a new political reality.
Soylu's party had been slipping steadily since the mid-1990s, its place at the
center-right of Turkish politics usurped by the ruling Justice and Development
Party (AKP). In this most recent vote, the Democratic Party won only 3.7% of
the electorate of some 40 million people in 81 provinces. Soylu had sworn that
should he fail to keep the party above 5%, he would step down. A man of his
word, he says he will do exactly that at the party's upcoming congress.
The local elections were contested on national issues, and the result was seen
as a vote of confidence in the government. The AKP, in power since 2002,
received 40% of the vote, down from a high of 47% in the parliamentary contest
in 2007.
Analysts say the ruling party underestimated the impact of the global economic
crisis on Turkey, and the sentiment of Kurds, close to a fifth of the
electorate. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his "disappointment"
with the results, and said "lessons will be drawn" from the setback.
The left-of-center Republican People's Party (CHP) upped its tally to 28%,
while the resurgent rightist National Movement Party rode the recent wave of
nationalist fervor to reach 15%.
"This could be the beginning of AKP sliding downward," Sanem Argun, an analyst
of Turkish politics, told Inter Press Service. "It will liven up politics, and
other parties will see themselves as viable alternatives to AKP."
But Soylu will not be leading the charge with his cries for true representative
democracy. The emergence of new political parties and movements has led to an
inauspicious exit for the one-time political prodigy. Yet even in parting, he
remains gracious to voters and political victors alike.
"The people should not be condemned for choosing the CHP over us. We didn't
really lose votes to the CHP, we lost our votes to AKP. The CHP can run
negative campaigns and get votes, but we shouldn't. We have to oppose the whole
system. The CHP claims that the AKP is failing and that they can run things
better. I say that AKP, CHP and MHP all suffer from the same problem, they have
failed to modernize Turkey's political system and it's a fundamental failure,"
Soylu told this correspondent.
"We are very different to them because we could build a new Turkey."
A political prodigy
At only 26 years old, Soylu was selected to head his local party branch,
becoming the youngest politician in Turkey to hold such a position. Four years
later, he was voted in as leader of the Istanbul party. In 2008, aged only 39,
Soylu was elected head of the national Democratic Party.
His impending departure from politics has come as a surprise to his supporters
and, admittedly, a disappointment to his parents - both center-right activist.
"They would like me to continue, but even for them it's a bittersweet desire,
like wanting your son circumcised but having to see him in pain or giving your
daughter away in marriage," Soylu said in a recent interview.
The poor showing of the Democratic Party can be blamed on several salient
factors. For one, Soylu was left with a disastrous legacy by his predecessor,
Mehmat Agar.
Agar was implicated in Deep State subversion scandals and alienated hardcore
supporters by flirting with Kurdish separatists - an anathema to right-wing
voters. Agar also changed the party's name from the True Path Party (Dogru Yol
Partisi), under which the political giants Suleyman Demirel and Tansu Ciller
had led the country, to the Democratic Party. According to reports, during the
recent election campaign candidates were resorted to identifying the party as
"the old True Path Party".
Still, Soylu maintains it was the right decision. "It wouldn't have been
possible to change the name back to the True Path Party because as soon as we
dropped it someone else registered it for their own use," he said. "Anyway,
it's not good for a political party to flip-flop around. I'm proud of the name
and of the history of the Democratic Party, it links us to the party of Bayar
and Menderes and was the historical progenitor of all the center-right
parties."
Soylu's age and inexperience (he has never held an elected position of power
outside of his party) may also have counted against him.
"In Turkish politics, it is important to have been seen to be in a position of
responsibility like a council leader or an MP; you get more popular support.
Also Turkey is not used to 40-year-old leaders, especially if they have come
from humble backgrounds and risen on their own efforts," he said, adding, "But
I think maybe there were positive effects from my youth, too. I haven't had the
composition of our one-and-a-half million votes analyzed yet but I feel sure
that many of them came from young voters."
Most newspapers and television stations chose to focus almost exclusively on
the Republican People's Party (CHP) CHP and the AKP. Smaller parties were
marginalized as demonstrated by the fact that the leader of the tiny Grand
Unity Party, Muhsin Yazicioglu, only made the headlines when he died in a
helicopter crash 48 hours before the election.
Invoking past legends Ciller and Demirel would have done much to boost the
struggling party. Their absence at campaign meetings surprised many observers.
But Soylu, touted for years as Ciller's "golden boy", deflects the criticism.
"There is no tradition here in Turkey of former leaders coming out on the
election campaign to support their party or new leaders - not like in the
United States. Here, everything is left on the shoulders of the person who has
put themselves forward," he said. "Of course I wanted their support and asked
for it, I think everyone should do their part for the party, but these are
personal choices that people have to make and you have to respect them."
Soylu puts the failure of the Democratic Party down to his own performance.
"Our party has been losing political blood for a long time and though we
organized our internal dynamics we failed to get our external dynamics in
order. The nation decides on a new and inexperienced leader at the ballot box
and they showed their view," he said.
Despite the setbacks of the March 29 election and the personal cost to himself,
Soylu says his belief in the Turkish people is undiminished. His political
vision is also intact.
"I want a new politics that the people lead ... That's not to say that a
people's government won't make mistakes, they will. But those types of errors
are the most easily rectified because the people have common sense," he said.
"You have to esteem the people and that's the type of politics I wanted, one
that respected the people."
According to Soylu, the Democratic Party's death rattle is still a long way
off. He says that if candidates can make people understand the benefits of
principles the party put forward in the 1950s - democracy, freedom,
globalization and human rights - the Democrats will continue to be a force in
Turkish politics.
Soylu has supported the idea of merging with other center-right parties,
specifically the Anavatan Party. "In the times ahead of us the center-right
needs to take serious new action. The Democratic Party needs this and Turkey
needs it. I see the future as the chance for this, and this is the route that
the election results have highlighted," he said.
Soylu was a key backstage player in the party long before he came to power and
that looks unlikely to change. With the March 29 election results still fresh,
it's too early to know what form the party will take or whether it will
continue to drive for true representative democracy in the Soylu style.
At worst, Suleyman Soylu may be seen as the man who hammered the final nail in
the Democratic Party coffin. But, at best, he may go down in Turkish history as
a visionary leader who was simply ahead of his time.
Fazile Zahir is of Turkish descent, born and brought up in London. She
moved to live in Turkey in 2005 and has been writing full time since then.
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