Designer fascism or rebirth of the Grey Wolves?
In the Turkish parliamentary election on April 18, the openly fascist Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) gained 18 per cent of the vote making it a close second party in the contest. The Democratic Left Party (DSP) of Prime Minister Ecevit won a mere 22 per cent, scraping into first place..
At the last election the MHP, also known as the Grey Wolves received 8 per cent , and therefore did not have even one MP in the last parliament as it did not pass the 10 per cent bar nationally.
The Grey Wolves take a very hard line on the Kurdish and Cyprus issues. They fully support Turkey’s annexation of part of Cyprus and deny the very existence of Kurds as a people.
It is virtually certain that the Nationalist Movement Party will be part of the next government coalition. This surge in support for this dangerous, far right party took place against all predictions at the expense of other right wing contenders and the Islamist party.
About 12 groups of people from various European countries travelled to Turkey as independent monitors. Alain Hertzman, one of those who went from Britain, explains.
There are two main reasons for the staggering increase in the MHP vote. One was that voters refused to vote for the parties in power, as they had not kept their promises to sort out the economic crisis.
The second was the effect of the "Falkland factor", in this case, the arrest of Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdish guerrilla struggle. Ocalan’s kidnapping by the Turkish state in breach of international law after his trek round Europe seeking political asylum, has strengthened Turkish nationalism. The preparations for his show trial due to start on May 31 are whipping up further anti-Kurdish bigotry.
The MHP’s slogan during the election campaign was "Turkey, love it or leave it". Ecevit’s DSP ran a very nationalistic campaign but were not able to keep pace with the Grey Wolves enough to undercut their support.
Fazilet, the Islamic party, received 15.5 per cent, a loss of some 3 per cent since the last election. It is quite likely that it was due to their watering down of their previous hard-line fundamentalist line. A good part of their vote went to the MHP.
The Istanbul stock market dropped by 6.58 points in response to the results. The bourgeoisie is definitely worried that social tension will increase sharply and will affect profits.
In Southeast Turkey, where the majority of the people are Kurds, the People’s Democratic Party , HADEP received around 50 per cent of the vote. It is the only party which is supportive of the Kurds. All the same they will not be able to sit in parliament, as their share of the vote nationally was only 5-6 per cent.
HADEP is constantly subject to harassment – for example Veli Haydar Guleg, the party’s candidate for mayor of Istanbul was arrested four times in the last six months and spent two months in prison. No charges have been brought against him. Now the possibility of a political solution to the Kurdish question seems even more remote than ever.
Our group travelled to the town of Batman in Eastern Turkey. This is an industrial city, under military rule, sitting astride the only oil reserves of Turkey. We talked to trade unionists, human rights activists, and members of the People’s Democratic Party (HADEP).
Members of the PETROL-IS union told us that although the union was not allowed to declare publicly for any candidate, over 90 per cent of its members supported HADEP. Everyone we met agreed that in Batman itself the situation was bearable, but in the small towns and villages in the area, repression was harsh and people were commonly threatened that if they voted for HADEP their villages would be burned.
Of course what is bearable in Turkey would lead to outrage here. For example on our way to Batman we were travelling on a public bus and were stopped at 4 military checkpoints and at the third forced off the bus and questioned. We managed to spend around 24 hours in Batman before being forced to return to Istanbul. Around 20 security personnel came to our hotel, surrounded us and escorted us to the airport where they ensured we boarded the first plane out. We only got to stay long because we had escaped their notice earlier.
We quickly realised that Batman was an exception, as in other towns, repression was continuous and often on a grand scale. For example in Diyarbakir, the de facto capital of the Turkish Kurdistan, when HADEP organised a public meeting, 40,000 came. The police attacked the meeting and arrested 4,000 people. A German women’s group went to Diyarbakir to discuss raising funds for a womens’ project there. They were heavily intimidated, with security personnel sitting at the same table as them so that no one could talk with them in any confidence. They were swiftly forced out of the area.
Turkey has long been seen as an important ally of both Britain and the US, who routinely ignore its human rights abuses. Again within the war in the Balkans it is playing a key role supporting NATO’s intervention. So it was little surprise when the well known democrat Tony Blair, announced the day after the election, that Turkey was now a candidate for entry into the European Union.