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Identify this Famous Turk... Click for enlargement!

Caught Between 2 Bad Choices -- The Turkish Presidential Selection, May 2007 Conclusion Is Turkey stuck with this choice of President and First Lady? Click for enlargement! Thanks to Hürriyet Gazetesi -- 5 March 2007 It's lose-lose for Turkish secularists... In Part 1 of this article we raised the question, "Would 5 more years of Erdoğan as Prime Minister be better for Turkey, than 7 years of Erdoğan as President?" According to Journalist Oktay Eksi, the answer is a resounding 'No'... because, Erdoğan as Prime Minister would still be AKP Party Leader in 'the cat bird seat' -- and would still be able to control the appointment of a crony (like Abdullah Gül, who would be forever in Erdoğan's back-pocket) to fill the Presidential seat. Erdoğan would thereby (directly or indirectly) control 2 of the 3 branches of the Turkish government -- the Executive and the Legislative. And that, according to Eksi, would mean, "the end of democracy" in Turkey. On the other hand, Eksi explains, if Erdoğan becomes President, he is obliged by law to sever all political ties -- which would mean giving up his AKP party leadership role. An Erdoğan-less AKP, says Eksi, will fall to in-fighting, decline rapidly -- and splinter into at least 4 independent parties. That latter scenario, according to Eksi, is a 'better result' in the long run, for those who favor an Ataturk-principled Turkish State. The 'better result' won't come cheap, though, because... Erdoğan as President will have powerful influence over Turkish institutions that are vital to the county's well-being... such as the Constitutional Court, the Council of State, the Supreme Court, the Board of Higher Education, the Universities, the High Board of Prosecutors/Judges, and the Supreme Military Command of the Turkish Armed Forces -- just to name a few 'lightweight' institutions that fall under the Turkish President's purview. And, as Eksi says, that "holds many threats for the future of the secular republic." Between these choices, then, secular Turks are in a lose-lose situation. But Eksi opts for Erdoğan as President -- being the lesser of two evils. He says, "If we have the opportunity of ridding ourselves of the AKP, at the cost of enduring Erdoğan as President for seven years, we have to favor this option." The 2nd option (Erdoğan as PM for 5 more years) would be devastating, and mean "the end of Democracy" in Turkey. So, maybe US Presidential Candidate Baruk Obama was being clairvoyant -- when he completely overlooked the 84-year-old democratic Republic of Turkey in his statement of 5 March 2007... "İran hepimiz için bir tehdit. İsrail bölgedeki yerleşik tek demokrasi." (Iran is a threat to everyone. Israel is the only established democracy in the region.) Or maybe he's just another US politician who doesn't know the history of this part of the World -- and who doesn't know where to find Turkey on a World Map. hmmm? Comments Posted by Jerry | April 11, 2007 Have you considered that Obama was complimenting Turkey by NOT including it in the 'Middle East'. Every since I moved to Turkey, it has been DRILLED into my head that Turks are NOT Middle East....and I'm quite sure he's aware of too. Just a thought. Habibullah's Reply | April 12, 2007 Turkey is unmistakably 'in the region' by anyone's approximation (whether the 'drill' is in play, or not). But further...Where's the compliment, when Candidate Obama chooses to slight Turkey's hard-earned democracy in favor of a dubious geographical label? Sadly, we don't share your optimism about this Candidate's knowledge of the region, nor (for that matter) are we optimistic in that regard about the other 2008 US Presidential hopefuls we've seen so far -- from both US parties. I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but where is Bill Clinton when we really need him? Related: Final Results Charts for the 2007 National Elections What the Turkish National Election Results of 2007 may fortell About the 2007 Pre-Election Polls The Next Turkish President Must Not Be.... Bang, bang! The AKP gets shot down (for the moment) for strong-arm tactics When Worlds Collide -- Kemalist Democracy and the AKP 1/2 Threats to Turkey's Well-Being - Terrorism and Religious Excess Murder in the Court Turkish 'Religious Attitudes' and Politics Countdown To A Turkish Secularist's Nightmare, Presidential Selection Day 2007 Turkish National Pre-Election Polls 2002 Turkish National Election Results 2002 Local elections 2004 -- No 'Girl Power' (see yerel seçimler) International Study with an Outhouse Smell 'Troubles in Turkish Paradise' Language-Guide LPT's Geopolitical pages... Post your comment...»

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