ANKARA Ñ A new Islamic-oriented government could be powerful enough
to change Turkey's secular mandate.
Turkish political analysts said the Justice and Development Party, known
as AKP, appears to have won close to two-thirds of the 550-seat parliament.
Two-thirds of parliament is required to change the constitution.
AKP won 363 seats, about 20 short of two-thirds of parliament. The party
has insisted that it is not a
religious movement.
The analysts said the AKP could win the required support from the nine
independent candidates elected to parliament as well as members of the
Republican People's Party, a secular and the only other movement elected to
parliament. The Republican People's Party, called the CHP, was said to have
won 178 parliamentary seats.
Analysts said statements by AKP leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan have hinted
that his party would seek a revision of the constitution that maintains a
completely secular state, including a ban on Islamic dress in government
offices and universities. AKP has pledged to ease such restrictions.
"Turkey will experience a very different order with respect to basic
rights and freedoms with the AKP at the country's helm," Erdogan said.
Erdogan's statement alarmed some analysts. "Now, did he mean by that
that if the AKP held power with a majority, whatever it does will be
legitimate?," Orhan Erinc, a columnist at the Cumhuriyet daily, asked. "Did
he mean that the AKP would lift all the restrictions on the headscarf issue,
which is in Turkey a political symbol? We'll have to wait and see."
For his part, Erdogan said he will respect the constitution. This
includes the role of the secular military in Turkish society.
"Everybody's area of responsibility is clearly stated in the
constitution," Erdogan said. "This is our army, the apple of our eye. Nobody
should allow himself to come between us and the military. We won't allow
anybody to do that."
CHP leader Deniz Baykal said he hoped the AKP will avoid a debate over
Turkey's secular constitution. Baykal said his party would not seek to
exacerbate secular-religious tensions.
"The government should do everything in its power not to bring Turkey to
a point where it debates the secular order," Baykal said. "We will not add
to existing problems, but work to resolve them."
