An average Turk rejects a theocratic state, but wants respect for religion...

- 10 / 05 / 2008 13:16

Discussing European Union Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn's term 'democratic secularism,' Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called his Justice and Development Party (AKP) the party of 'average Turks.' If we see average Turks in line with our observations, we would averaging out the social group that we belong to.

For a proper definition, we need to look at data from various studies. First let's look at findings of a reliable pollster, A & G: AKP support rose to 54 percent in January, but fell to 42 percent at the end of April.

So the AKP is still the political current in society but its support is slippery, and can rise or fall. The economy and stability are the key factors. If the market suffers and the AKP has an aggressive image, its votes fall, or vice versa.

Support for the Republican People's Party's (CHP) hasn’t fallen yet, but its support could rise slightly from 19 percent to just 23 percent. So the CHP isn't greatly influenced by social developments. It moves around a stable and constant vote basis. In addition, its relation to social dynamics is weak and gives the image of an isolated party.

The AKP's high but unsteady support shows its sensitivity to social trends. The fact that CHP support is low but stable shows that it's not so affected. So millions of small businesses, farmers and unemployed people have problems, and calls for democratization in society are rising, but these millions of people don't see an alternative in the CHP.

 The sociological meaning of the 'opposition gap' is that the CHP is an isolated party in these terms. It isn't a party of social needs, but an elitist and ideological one. Back in the '70s, CHP leader Deniz Baykal said as much in his book 'Siyasi Katılım' (Political Participation). What's more, the CHP has turned into an ideological party and has become more isolated from societal sectors.

Hurriyet daily's chief columnist Ertugrul Ozkok charged that the CHP has ceded the issues of the economy and the European Union to the AKP by making it a front for a totalitarian nationalism. This is a serious charge. To put it symbolically, small businesses don't affect either party. That's why employers, small businessmen and farmers don't consider the CHP an alternative to the ruling party.

The CHP's elitist and ideological structure, inflexible and insensitive to social requests, keeps it from being a mass party of average Turks! To define the average Turk's social and cultural characteristics, sensitivities, hopes and wants, academics have looked over a decade of data.

An average Turk rejects a theocratic state, but wants respect for religion; believes in democratic secularism, but wants the headscarf ban to be lifted; and places importance on a non-problematic course of things. Obviously, this Turk usually votes for the AKP, to which there is no alternative, because unfortunately we lack a social democratic party supported by millions of average citizens from throughout Turkey.