Turkish President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan (R) with Binali Yildirim, the ruling party's new chairman
and new prime minister, prior to their talks at the Presidential Palace
in Ankara, Turkey, on May 24, 2016. (Presidential Press Service via AP)
EAST LANSING—The Turkish political system, touted only a
few years ago as a model for other Muslim countries in the Middle East
to emulate, lies in tatters.
The parliament’s May 20 decision to approve an amendment to the
Constitution to strip a select group of MPs, many from the predominantly
Kurdish HDP, of immunity from prosecution may be the last nail in the
coffin of the Turkish democratic experiment.
This amendment sponsored by the ruling AKP was passed with the help
of ultra-nationalist MHP members viscerally opposed to any concession to
Kurdish demands.
Political turmoil
in Turkey has not only complicated its relations with the European Union
and regional neighbors but ended hope that a secular, democratic Turkey
could be a model for the Muslim world.
Political turmoil in Turkey has not only complicated its relations
with the European Union and regional neighbors but ended hope that a
secular, democratic Turkey could be a model for the Muslim world.
The amendment’s principle
aim is to disqualify HDP parliamentarians from membership. Authorities
have already filed cases, accusing MPs of aiding and abetting the
outlawed PKK with statements espousing the Kurdish cause for fair
treatment or autonomy.
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