A victory for democracy

As the initial results of Turkey’s constitutional referendum were being announced on Sunday, the Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the world that that evening there would be three reasons to celebrate: “… the end of Ramadan, the victory of democracy and the basketball final”.

The referendum was called by Erdogan’s government to decide on a 26-article reform package that it claims will give Turkey the democratic constitution it needs for EU membership, curtailing the judiciary and making the armed forces subservient to civilian rule. The high turnout to the polls (77.6%) and 58% votes in favour of the amendments amounted to a landslide victory for the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP), prime minister Erdogan and president Abdullah Gul.

The European Commission, which in the past had expressed worry over the lack of democratic reforms and the frequency of human rights violations in Turkey, welcomed the results which are, according to the commissioner for enlargement Stefan Fule, “a step in the right direction”. The European Parliament’s rapporteur on the referendum, Ria Oomen also praised Turkey, saying the clear result underlines the support of Turkish citizens for a more democratic and modern Turkey with more rights for its citizens.

Those who voted “yes” may have done so in favour of democracy but some critics say that the constitutional change being offered is neither sincere nor fully democratic. Among the 15.8 million people who voted “no” on Sunday were a reputed “record high” number of Kurds who abstained from voting (source:www.gunlukgazetesi.net), many of whom took to the streets on Sunday in protest of a referendum that they feel does not represent them. None of the 26 amendments directly impacts the issues that affect the Kurdish minority, most of which lives in the south east of Turkey. Other minorities also have issues with the referendum as it allows political parties to be banned and leaves the 10% electoral threshold, whereby parties must achieve at least 10% of votes to gain seats in parliament, considered by many as “un-European” as it leaves little change for parties representing minorities to have a say in national affairs.

Despite the victory, Erdogan measured his words saying that “everybody has won, both those who voted yes and those who voted no” he also said that this is just the beginning and that changes to the constitution will be made making compromises.