A good day for Turkey

Turkey, the seat of the old Ottoman Empire is undergoing some changes. By vote of the people, 26 amendments to the Constitution of Turkey were approved yesterday. Below are some quotes from one of the reports:

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed the passage of a wide-ranging package of constitutional amendments as a “milestone for democracy” after voters approved the measures in a Sunday referendum. …

“Our nation has said from now on, we go forward,” Erdogan told supporters Sunday night. “Yes to freedom. Yes to rule of law. No to the law of the rulers. The tutelage of the coup regime is over.” …

The proposed amendments include articles that would allow collective bargaining for public sector workers and affirmative action measures for women. But when asked what was the most important achievement of the reform package, a senior Erdogan adviser made it clear that the main goal was to overhaul the country’s judiciary.

The proposed reforms include amendments to the judicial system, curbs on the power of military courts and an article abolishing the immunity currently enjoyed by the leaders of the 1980 coup. Other measures would guarantee gender equality and put in place measures to protect children, the elderly and the disabled. …

Sunday’s vote is the latest confrontation in a power struggle between Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted party and Turkey’s secularist establishment, which have repeatedly clashed since AKP swept to power eight years ago.

The AKP narrowly avoided being banned from politics in 2008 when it was fined by the country’s constitutional court — one of the last bastions of secular opposition — for alleged anti-secular activities. The court has also blocked legislation to lift a ban on Islamic headscarves at public universities.

Because the AKP is an Islamist party, there has been some hesitation by many in Europe and in America as to whether the AKP would lead to repression or not. However, from another source, below is a summary of some of the amendments passed:

* Article 10: Equality before the law

This would be amended to say that measures favoring children, the elderly, the disabled, widows and orphans of martyrs and veterans do not violate the principle of equality.

* Article 20: Right to privacy

The changes would protect individuals’ personal information. Such information could only be obtained with an individual’s permission or in certain legal circumstances.

* Article 23: Freedom of movement

The changes say the right to travel abroad may be restricted only during ongoing criminal probes and upon a judge’s order.

* Article 41: Children’s rights

The article would contain the following sentences: “Every child has the right to adequate protection and care and the right to have and maintain a personal and direct relationship with his or her parents unless the relationship is explicitly contrary to his or her best interests.

“The State shall take measures to protect the child against all forms of abuse and violence.”

* Article 51: Right to organize labor

The amendment would repeal a clause that bars membership in more than one labor union.

* Article 74: Right to petition

The amended version allows individuals to file complaints and requests for information to a government-appointed ombudsman.

* Article 84: Loss of membership in parliament

The changes would end the practice of expelling members of parliament whose actions were cited by a court as grounds to ban a political party.

* Article 125: Recourse to judicial review

A new version would allow soldiers discharged by a Supreme Military Council decision to appeal against such decisions.

* Articles 128, 129: Public service

The articles would include giving civil servants the right to collective contracts and to appeal disciplinary action.

* Article 144: Inspection of judicial services

The proposed amendment requires Justice Ministry reviews of prosecutors to be conducted by judicial inspectors and internal auditors, who must be judges or prosecutors themselves.

* Articles 145, 156, 157: Military justice

Crimes against state security and the constitutional order allegedly committed by military personnel would not be tried in military courts but in civilian courts. Civilians shall not be tried in military courts.

Of course, all us Orthodox would point out that all those Constitutional changes do not mean that the Patriarch of Constantinople would be allowed to re-open the seminary that the government closed many years ago. It also does not change the policy of recognizing the Patriarch as only a local Turkish bishop, who has no other presence in the world. But, on the other hand, there is a funny thing about constitutional reform that grants more human rights. A diet of more human rights tends to increase the hunger for full human rights. We can, and should, argue that Turkey has not gone far enough in several other areas. But, the reason I call this a good day for Turkey is (and I repeat) that human rights create a hunger for more human rights. Having begun to walk down this path, it gives hope that Turkey will continue to walk down this path and that in the future there will be even better changes to come.

For those of you who doubt, I point you back to the reforms brought in by Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev in the old Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. In 1985 he was elected as General Secretary of the Communist Party and became head of state. He tried to appease the people by bringing in reforms of the type that Turkey is bringing in. It was called perestroika. But, the reforms created a hunger for more human rights. In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed. By 1992, the Berlin Wall was torn down and Germany was reunited, something which I was taught as a child would probably not happen in my lifetime.

So, I have great hope that a hunger has been kindled that will lead to more reform. But, let us also pray that there will not be another end, such as the end of the Prague Spring back in 1968.