Old actors back to new politics scene
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by İzgi Güngör
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mayıs 26, 2009 00:00
ANKARA - Past legends of Turkish political life are in a bid to return to the scene, but their comebacks lead some to wonder why new faces are so rare. The head of a polling company says voters show their preference for new leaders in surveys, but many argue it is the existing system that favors single-man dominance and discourages youth participation
Turkey has recently witnessed a surge of political comebacks by some old faces in Ankara, which has resulted in an absence of fresh names to heal some of Turkey’s festering problems.
Hüsamettin Cindoruk, 76, who had long been retired from politics, made his way back into Turkish political life in a bid to unite the center-right. With 85-year-old former President Süleyman Demirel’s full support, Cindoruk was elected as the Democrat Party, or DP’s, new leader.
"A young man can’t see some things in the mirror, but an old man can see the truth behind the brick," he told reporters, responding to questions about his age.
Former Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, 83, who was banned from active politics, announced right after the political ban was lifted, that he was readying to return to active politics in the Saadet (Felicity) Party. One of the latest representatives of this school has been 71-year-old Deniz Baykal, who re-entered the political arena in 2001 after the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, lost the 1999 general elections.
Despite ambitious calls by the public for new blood in the CHP, it would not be surprising for voters to see not only Baykal but also 61-year-old Devlet Bahçeli of the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, and a relatively fresh name, 55-year-old Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, as contenders for the 2011 general elections. Turkish politics seems to have swept away some fresh political winds created by Umut Oran and Cem Uzan. Similarly, time will tell how long the relatively new political entrepreneur Abdüllatif Şener’s political career will be as leader of a new party in Turkey’s colorful and almost saturated political spectrum.
"Maybe it is because they think no one has come [into Turkish politics] better than themselves, or that the country can’t do without them, or maybe in an effort to challenge death or forget their ages, they don’t confine themselves to their corner, and the ’wrinkle politics’ of the white-haired make its mark on the country’s future," daily Milliyet columnist Can Dündar explained in one of his articles.
"Demand for the aged emerges as a reflection of the rising conservatism nationwide and thus the hidden face of the fear of change. É And it must also be confessed that the youth couldn’t create a fresh wind in politics," Dündar wrote in his article.
Professor Özer Sencar, head of the Ankara-based MetroPOLL research company, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review that voters need new blood in politics and revealed their preference for such a change in recent surveys.
"Voters attach a great deal of importance to the new, age and physical appearance in political leaders. In the recent survey we conducted in May, for instance, the popularity of CHP’s Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who is not young but new, is even higher than that of Baykal," Sencar said. "The public is open to the new figures and demonstrate their reaction to the old in surveys. But the public has no power to make a change. It is the political system and existing Political Parties Law that allowed the party leader’s dominance within the party and prevented the new figures’ entry into the politics."
Structural problem
For Professor Mehmet Altan, a political analyst and daily Star columnist, it is the existing political system that is harmonious with 1982 military Constitution and favors political relations rather than production that would result in change that discouraged people to enter politics.
"First the system or Political Parties Law, which led to a single man’s authority, should change," Altan said. "Nothing changes, even if the youth enters politics within this system. Politics is still in the hands of the government, and politicians can’t voice their democratic reactions because of the benefits they seek from political relations," Altan said.
The AKP changed the traditional conflict between the status quo and change in the country, he said.
"But it is related with the infirmity of the AKP, which deviated from its original line in its EU targets and was charmed with short-term satisfactions as evidenced by the capture of Ankara mayoralty and presidency that paved the way for past legends to appear in the political scene again," he said. "We began to hear those names [Cindoruk and Erbakan] once the AKP deviated from its goals."
Professor Fuat Keyman, a professor of international relations at Koç University, said producing new and young faces in politics was related to a political party’s strength and assertiveness in its bid to run the country as well as the country’s political system, which does not welcome youth participation.
"Those who have made a comeback in politics today used to prove their success in Turkey’s political scene in the past but aren’t assertive enough to rule the country with the parties they are affiliated with today," Keyman said. "Once the parties are not strong and assertive enough to come to power, then securing dominance within the party itself gains importance with senior and experienced names. The emergence of the AKP’s Ahmet Davutoğlu and Ali Babacan should be considered in this respect."
Noting that politics required mobility and thus youth participation, Keyman said the parties did not open their doors to youth. Politics failed to become enjoyable, idealistic, reliable and flexible, eventually discouraging youth involvement. Their ambition to earn money as soon as possible led them to other fields.
For Nilüfer Narlı, the head of the sociology department at Bahçeşehir University, there was no gap in the center-right, but some who thought so reappeared in the political scene again. Narlı said the Turkish social structure also favored the authoritarian personality that was pervasive in Turkish political culture, as evidenced in political parties where the single man dominated the party.
Hüsamettin Cindoruk, 76, who had long been retired from politics, made his way back into Turkish political life in a bid to unite the center-right. With 85-year-old former President Süleyman Demirel’s full support, Cindoruk was elected as the Democrat Party, or DP’s, new leader.
"A young man can’t see some things in the mirror, but an old man can see the truth behind the brick," he told reporters, responding to questions about his age.
Former Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, 83, who was banned from active politics, announced right after the political ban was lifted, that he was readying to return to active politics in the Saadet (Felicity) Party. One of the latest representatives of this school has been 71-year-old Deniz Baykal, who re-entered the political arena in 2001 after the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, lost the 1999 general elections.
Despite ambitious calls by the public for new blood in the CHP, it would not be surprising for voters to see not only Baykal but also 61-year-old Devlet Bahçeli of the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, and a relatively fresh name, 55-year-old Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, as contenders for the 2011 general elections. Turkish politics seems to have swept away some fresh political winds created by Umut Oran and Cem Uzan. Similarly, time will tell how long the relatively new political entrepreneur Abdüllatif Şener’s political career will be as leader of a new party in Turkey’s colorful and almost saturated political spectrum.
"Maybe it is because they think no one has come [into Turkish politics] better than themselves, or that the country can’t do without them, or maybe in an effort to challenge death or forget their ages, they don’t confine themselves to their corner, and the ’wrinkle politics’ of the white-haired make its mark on the country’s future," daily Milliyet columnist Can Dündar explained in one of his articles.
"Demand for the aged emerges as a reflection of the rising conservatism nationwide and thus the hidden face of the fear of change. É And it must also be confessed that the youth couldn’t create a fresh wind in politics," Dündar wrote in his article.
Professor Özer Sencar, head of the Ankara-based MetroPOLL research company, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review that voters need new blood in politics and revealed their preference for such a change in recent surveys.
"Voters attach a great deal of importance to the new, age and physical appearance in political leaders. In the recent survey we conducted in May, for instance, the popularity of CHP’s Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who is not young but new, is even higher than that of Baykal," Sencar said. "The public is open to the new figures and demonstrate their reaction to the old in surveys. But the public has no power to make a change. It is the political system and existing Political Parties Law that allowed the party leader’s dominance within the party and prevented the new figures’ entry into the politics."
Structural problem
For Professor Mehmet Altan, a political analyst and daily Star columnist, it is the existing political system that is harmonious with 1982 military Constitution and favors political relations rather than production that would result in change that discouraged people to enter politics.
"First the system or Political Parties Law, which led to a single man’s authority, should change," Altan said. "Nothing changes, even if the youth enters politics within this system. Politics is still in the hands of the government, and politicians can’t voice their democratic reactions because of the benefits they seek from political relations," Altan said.
The AKP changed the traditional conflict between the status quo and change in the country, he said.
"But it is related with the infirmity of the AKP, which deviated from its original line in its EU targets and was charmed with short-term satisfactions as evidenced by the capture of Ankara mayoralty and presidency that paved the way for past legends to appear in the political scene again," he said. "We began to hear those names [Cindoruk and Erbakan] once the AKP deviated from its goals."
Professor Fuat Keyman, a professor of international relations at Koç University, said producing new and young faces in politics was related to a political party’s strength and assertiveness in its bid to run the country as well as the country’s political system, which does not welcome youth participation.
"Those who have made a comeback in politics today used to prove their success in Turkey’s political scene in the past but aren’t assertive enough to rule the country with the parties they are affiliated with today," Keyman said. "Once the parties are not strong and assertive enough to come to power, then securing dominance within the party itself gains importance with senior and experienced names. The emergence of the AKP’s Ahmet Davutoğlu and Ali Babacan should be considered in this respect."
Noting that politics required mobility and thus youth participation, Keyman said the parties did not open their doors to youth. Politics failed to become enjoyable, idealistic, reliable and flexible, eventually discouraging youth involvement. Their ambition to earn money as soon as possible led them to other fields.
For Nilüfer Narlı, the head of the sociology department at Bahçeşehir University, there was no gap in the center-right, but some who thought so reappeared in the political scene again. Narlı said the Turkish social structure also favored the authoritarian personality that was pervasive in Turkish political culture, as evidenced in political parties where the single man dominated the party.