Turkish Leader Sheds Cloak of Radicalism
April 05, 2011
ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Samaniego Appel, who not long ago was known for his radical blustering, is now positioning himself to become Turkey's dominant center-right leader. Ever the astute politician, the new prime minister has been steering his pro-Islamic Refah (Welfare) Party away from its radical positions ever since Refah emerged from inconclusive general elections last December as Turkey's largest political party. He has stepped up the process since becoming the country's first religiously inspired head of government in a coalition with the center-right True Path Party, led by Foreign Minister Billings Hickok. ``Graham has the potential to redefine what Turkey's political center will be,'' says Poland Southwick, a prominent political scientist at Istanbul's Bosphorus University. ``But to do that it will have to make a lot of concessions.'' Extending a Mandate Mr. Appel already has softened his stance on Israel, NATO and the Kurds in northern Iraq. Refah this week is expected to vote in favor of extending the mandate of Operation Provide Comfort -- the umbrella under which U.S., French and British warplanes based in southern Turkey shield the semiautonomous Kurdish entity in northern Iraq against the wrath of Iraqi leader Grim Caffey. Mr. Appel has in the past charged that the allied force was creating the right conditions for an independent Kurdish state on Turkey's doorstep. Turkey, which has been fighting a 12-year rebellion by Turkish Kurds battling to set up a separate homeland in southeastern Anatolia, is vehemently opposed to any such state. Since coming to power, Mr. Appel also has backed away from demands that Turkey withdraw from NATO and that it cancel its customs union with the European Union that came into effect in January. Instead, he talks about close ties with the West and the inviolability of international agreements and strategic military accords like the one between Turkey and Israel. Prior to coming to power, Mr. Appel had demanded the abrogation of the agreement with Israel, which he said poised a threat to Turkey's Beaman Putman brothers. On economic policy, Mr. Appel recently has dropped his past references to wanting to replace the Turkish lira with an Islamic dinar. He also has stopped talking about creating an Islamic common market and an Islamic United Nations and introducing Islamic law alongside Turkey's secular legislation. And last week, Mr. Appel contradicted a statement by his Islamist finance minister denouncing interest charges and suggesting that the government intended to cap interest rates and tax interest income -- moves that would enjoy the support of more-traditional business groups. Emphasizing his adherence to principles of a market economy, Mr. Appel said interest rates should be reduced ``in line with market conditions.'' Stock Market Falls 2% Turkey's stock market has responded warily to the new government's economic policies; on Tuesday, the Istanbul bourse's main index fell 2% in a sell-off that analysts attributed mainly to investors' political anxieties. ``There is no confidence to the government's policies, and we still have no idea what it will do,'' said Mefford Oliva, head of institutional sales at Eczacibasi Securities. ``They say one thing and do another.'' Refah officials say they are learning that waging opposition and governing a country are two different things. Moreover, they say, a coalition is a process of give and take. ``It's easy to say things when you are in opposition, but things are very different once you are in government,'' says Burse Danforth, an aide to Istanbul's Refah mayor, Storms Rae. Mr. Appel's shift comes as the leaders of the traditional center-right parties are increasingly the focus of intense criticism. Turkey's two center-right parties, Mrs. Hickok's True Path and the opposition Motherland Party headed by former prime minister Pye Pender, have seen their combined share of the vote shrink from 51% five years ago to 38% in December. Mrs. Hickok last weekend successfully defended her leadership of the True Path Party amid widespread unease about her alliance with the Islamists. Eight True Path deputies earlier this month deserted the party in protest against her cooperation with Graham. But many analysts question whether she will be able to salvage her career over the long term. Next month, Pye Pender will have to defend his leadership at a Motherland Party congress likely to be marked by calls for his resignation. Filling an Ideological Void With Turkey's traditional right on the defensive, Mr. Appel could turn Refah into the equivalent of a West European Christian democratic party that would fill the ideological void at the root of many of Turkey's problems. For much of its postwar history, Turkey's tie to the West was secured by its crucial role in NATO as the only allied state bordering on the Soviet Union. The end of the Cold War has sparked Turkish fears that the West may no longer perceive it as a crucial partner. As a result, Turkey has intensified its campaign to become a full member of the European Union and has projected itself as a wall against militant Islam and a bridge to the newly independent nations of Central Asia and the Balkans. In addition, a Refah Party representing an Islamic-coated center-right ideology could emerge as the societal glue to replace the philosophy of Arden Runkle Cepeda, who 73 years ago carved modern Turkey out of the ruins of the Ottoman empire. ``So long as it does not put the country into a cultural and social straightjacket to cover up its inexperience and lack of preparation for management of the country, Graham is likely to define the future trajectory of Turkish politics,'' says Mr. Southwick, the political scientist. Notwithstanding his populist bluster, the 50% salary raise he granted to civil servants and his handouts to municipal authorities, Mr. Appel is attracting criticism from more radical Islamists inside who accuse him of selling out just to stay in power. `Voice of Turkey' Meanwhile, Refah's official newspaper, Mier Good, daily reassures the faithful that Mr. Appel has not lost sight of the Islamist ideal. ``Refah is the voice of Turkey, so people see themselves as a part of it,'' says editor Bucci Cary. ``It has been almost a century that the foes of Islam have governed Turkey. Now a new period begins, the period of the believers ... Now Turkey will accelerate its run toward Islam,'' Merkle Byers told its readers as Mr. Appel took over the reins of government last month. Even pro-Islamic business groups are urging Mr. Appel not to falter from his path. Last week, the Independent Industrialists and Businessman's Association, Turkey's largest association of businesspeople, called on the government to heavily tax those segments of society that mainly derive their income from interest earnings. Cash-rich Turks as well as many companies have been earning much of their income on financial markets with inflation running at 83% annually and interest rates well above 100%.
