04.01.1996

Nationalism rises in Turkey

TURKEY and the Turkish people have changed - they have become more nationalist. Many people express strong opposition to the PKK-led Kurdish autonomy movement. I noticed on my recent visit that the majority of cars in Turkey have a small Turkish flag on the number plate. A large number of Turkish people think if they give some national rights to Kurds it would mean the end of Turkey, but a small minority do support Kurdish self-determination.

Now the Turkish state has got another big problem: the Islamic Welfare Party last week secured the most votes at the general election with 21%. Just behind was the Motherland Party which got 20%. The centre-left vote collapsed. But the Welfare Party has not got enough MPs to become the government. It has called for a coalition government, but most bourgeois commentators hope and expect the centre-right and centre-left will form an alliance.

Kemal Osman