He was succinct when he addressed the annual assembly of the International Press Institute (IPI) over the weekend. He lashed out at some European countries that are trying to stop Turkey from attaining EU membership. He said the Turkish people had been disappointed with the way the EU had treated their country and that this has considerably reduced public support for the move.

As an EU member, he pointed out Turkey's "soft power" - being democratic and transparent - would increase and positively influence its neighbours and eventually enhance peace and international security. Obviously, he linked EU membership with democracy in Turkey. His country, he reiterated, had kept the dream of EU membership alive against all odds since 1963.

However, he avoided commenting on the current political situation, which is a cause of great concern in Europe these days, following the veiled threat by the Turkish military to intervene if the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not call off presidential elections. These were likely to install Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as president. But the military fears the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), with control of the presidency, and subsequently parliament in the next election, would weaken Turkey as a secular state.

Everybody here knows when to tow the military's line. The Turkish military has a long history of intervention in civilian affairs when it comes to ensuring that Turkish society remains secular.

Over the weekend, a million people demonstrated in the city of Izmir on the Aegean coast in support of Turkey remaining a secular state. Izmir belongs to opposition parties and is outside the AKP's reach. Previously, similar shows of support for the conservative government occurred in Erzurum, way out in the country's far east. Ertugrul Ozkok, editor-in-chief of the daily Hurriyet newspaper, said these demonstrations show how polarised Turkey is at the moment. He said that extreme minority groups from both sides had exploited the situation for their own ends.

What was interesting was the absence of reporting and comment on the role of military in the latest political crisis. Newspapers here, both vernacular and English language, avoid touching on the subject of the military. Indeed, the issue remains the media's biggest taboo.

It must be said, though, that the Turkish military shares with the Thai military an overzealous concern for democracy; both armed forces seem to feel they have to take political control. But the Thai military has been subject of media and public criticism. Over here, anybody who dares to criticise the military would receive little mercy. My Turkish journalist friends did not like it even when I tried to compare the democratic controls of the Thai and Turkish militaries. They see the military's intervention as necessary and providing a guarantee that Turkey remains secular. The military has been prevailed upon to protect the secular state. Most importantly, the Turkish people have come to accept this reality. Andrew Mango, an expert on Turkey, reiterated that the Turkish military was not all bad. Its job was to protect the state and secularism, he said.

Many are hopeful that Turkey's admission to the EU would weaken the military's interference and further democratise the country. But quite a few people I talked to believe that the military does not want to relinquish its power, especially now.

Bassam Tibi, a professor of international relations at the University of Gottingen, said that as long as civil society organisations in Turkey remained weak and inefficient, the military would continue to serve as the backbone of society. He believes that the military will return to the barracks when the civil sector is strong.

Already, EU demands for further openness and democratisation in Turkey have met with strong resistance, which has provided further ammunition for nationalists and fundamentalists. Take for instance, the notorious Article 301 of Turkey's Penal Code, which has been used to prosecute anyone who insults Turkey and "Turkish-ness", whatever that means. This broadly defined concept has instilled a culture of fear among the country's intellectuals and journalists. According to the Vienna-based IPI, over 60 journalists, publishers and writers have faced criminal charges under this draconian law. At the moment, 26 journalists are in jail. In January, Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armenian journalist, was murdered followed comments on Turkish-Armenian relations.

Turkey's democracy has been interrupted several times before in its history. As with the development of Thai democracy, there have been hiccups here and there with military interventions. But in the end, the progress and prosperity that the Turkish people enjoy will somehow dictate the shape of politics here in the future.

The differences between the Islamists and secularists can be managed.

Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, used to say that one does not need to go to religious scholars to learn what Islam is, because whatever is good for the country, is good for Islam.

Kavi Chongkittavorn

The Nation

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