07.12.2006

Holy diplomacy amid coup rumours

The pope's visit has laid bare the deep divisions in Turkish society. Esen Uslu of the Communist Party of Turkey reports

Last month's brief visit of the pope to Turkey in the midst of that country's increasingly strained relations with the European Union was the subject of much press coverage and interest here. Commentators noted that this was the first trip of Benedict XVI to a muslim country, and the third visit of a pope to Turkey.

Cardinal Ratzinger, before he was elected to the top job in the Vatican last year, was renowned for his anti-islamic and anti-Turkish sentiments. While still a cardinal he spoke against Turkey joining the EU and unsurprisingly he is not greatly loved either by officialdom or the religious public. His first papal gaffe came when he quoted a Byzantine emperor's words degrading the basic tenets of islam, and by doing so he contributed greatly to the islamophobia prevailing in Europe and the US after 9/11.

Ecumenical?

The pope originally intended to visit the ecumenical patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church, situated in the Fener district of Istanbul along the shores of the Golden Horn. The patriarch heads what is known as the 'Greek patriarchate of Fener' in the official parlance of secular Turkey, which refuses to accept the 'ecumenical' title and formally defines the institution as coming under the governor of Istanbul province.

However it is known, the patriarchate has been a thorn in the flesh not only of the state, but of islamic Turkey, which takes a dim view of its relations with the EU and with the christian-western world in general. The religious foundations and clerical schools attached to the patriarchate have long been the subject of controversy over issues of freedom of conscience and property rights.

The holy father of the catholic world intended to meet his counterpart in the Eastern Orthodox Church as part of the prolonged attempt to settle disputes that originated in the 11th century when the predecessors of both excommunicated each other. In those days Rome might send the crusaders to sack Orthodox Constantinople on their way to rescue the holy lands from the clutches of the infidel muslims. Today, under the prevailing atmosphere of peace and reconciliation, the pope merely wanted to visit the patriarch in Istanbul, while placating the muslim world. After all, the patriarch, for his part, has dropped by in Rome several times over the last four decades.

However, the secular islamic officials of the Republic of Turkey were offended by the nature of the proposed visit. They pointed out that the vicar of christ is also the Vatican head of state. Clearly, then, the occasion should be a state visit and must therefore start with a meeting with the president of the Republic of Turkey and the compulsory outing to the mausoleum of Atatürk (Benedict would also get to talk to a government minister or two).

After lengthy negotiations, the pope's trip was given the necessary makeover and was eventually presented as an official state visit with just a side interest in religion.

Presidency of religious affairs

As part of the official schedule, the pope's stay in Ankara included a visit to the presidency of religious affairs (DIB). According to the secular system of the republic, this person is not a religious leader representing either the whole or a part of the islamic population, but a mere clerical official, the head of a department of state. However, for the islamist mice gnawing away at the edges of the secular republican project, the meeting had an important meaning.

In reality this department has a huge budget and workforce under its command. It oversees all Turkey's mosques and their imams and muftis. Its status as a department of state is a blatant breach of secularist principles, especially given its role in European countries, where it is attached to embassies and consulates to oversee the religious activities of the Turkish migrant population. The papal visit gave the DIB the religious representation its strives to be accorded, albeit unofficially.

The Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) government used the visit to strengthen the position of DIB, to the chagrin of secular democrats. Following the controversy caused by his anti-islamic speech in Germany, the pope was more than willing to provide a sop to islamist sentiment.

Cold feet syndrome

However, after all their efforts to redesignate the visit and use it to further their own agenda, suddenly the AKP big wigs got cold feet. Facing opposition from rightwing islamists as well as the powerful secularist army and state officialdom, and a general public dissatisfied with developments in the EU, they then tried to avoid even meeting the pope.

The foreign minister jetted off to a meeting god knows where. The prime minister was scheduled to fly to Riga to attend to the Nato summit the same day. The minister of state for religious affairs disappeared into another hole. Nobody wanted to be seen in close proximity to the pope.

Last-minute diplomatic efforts forced prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to change his schedule to meet the pope at the airport for a 20-minute chat. In the end, he did it in style, graciously welcoming the pontiff off the plane on the tarmac.

Protests in Istanbul

The islamists tried their best to milk the controversy created by the pope's Regensburg remarks to serve their own anti-christian, anti-western agenda by organising a large rally in Istanbul before the visit. They managed, because of lax security, to perform a mass namaz - ie, the muslim prayer ritual - in the Ayasofya museum.

Also known as Hagia Sophia Basilica, the Ayasofya museum was the seat of the patriarchate before the Turkish conquest of Istanbul. After the conquest it was converted into Istanbul's first mosque, but was taken over by the state in the 1930s. It is still considered a holy site by orthodox christians and islamists, while traditionalists and nationalists also claim it as their own as a symbol of the conquest.

The namaz was a direct response to the pope's earlier request to be allowed to pray at the museum. The secular foreign ministry declined to grant permission, but considerately included a stopover at Ayasofya on the itinerary. And both parties agreed to a visit to the Blue Mosque, which stands just across the square.

It is understandable that the pope's visit to the museum should arouse such passion in the islamists, who not only look in awe to the conquest, but celebrate the conversion of such an important church into a mosque and condemn the ending of religious observance at Ayasofya.

Pressure within

So the islamist protest action had two targets: to condemn the pope, who represents the western-christian world, and to condemn the secular republic. They also damn the government that came out of their midst, but is now regarded as nothing but a puppet of that christian club, the European Union.

The protest created a backlash from secularists in the army and state bureaucracy, as well as from a large segment of population, who view with disdain the growing influence of the islamists and the government's accommodating attitude. The protest came right after the funeral of former prime minister Bülent Ecevit, the 'conqueror' of Cyprus, the issue which has given rise to strong secularist sentiment directed against the government in recent years.

Secularism is also identified with Turkish 'independence', which always comes to the fore when things go wrong or when the bureaucratic state structure is challenged. When the US attempted to force Turkey to participate in the Iraq war, this was said to be an affront to the independence of the state - although membership of Nato since the 1950s is not regarded in that way. These 'secularists' also claim the independence of Turkey is under threat when the EU requests some moderation in the crude and sometimes brutal methods of government.

These anti-islamist and pro-'independence' sentiments were so high that some so-called social democrats even called for military intervention to move against the AKP government. During the summer, a reshuffle of top commanders of the armed forces sparked rumours of military intervention, of a new junta formed by junior officers dissatisfied with the government. Just before the papal visit Newsweek reported that the likelihood of another military coup was 50-50.

Turkey is entering a period of tension. Next spring sees presidential elections, to be followed by a general election in the autumn. The islamists, with their majority in the general assembly, are at present calling the tune, but the secularist, republican and pro-'independence' forces are dead against moves to elect prime minister Erdogan as president. They are trying all types of persuasion and coercion to avoid such an outcome.

The AKP wants to be seen as both 'moderate islamist', as it was called by the 'greater Middle East' US policy-makers, and 'pro-European' by inviting the pope. It is doing its best to muster as much support as possible from its European and American friends to resist the internal pressure.

Pressure without

Meanwhile the government is hoping that Turkey's EU membership application can be kept on track. During the pope's visit it became obvious that the EU was ready to suspend negotiations. It seems ongoing negotiations have been left in limbo.

While this is celebrated as a victory by anti-muslim and anti-Turkish elements within the EU, in fact the stumbling block seems to be Cyprus. Turkey did not sign the agreement that was to open the negotiations for accession, and stated that it would not open its ports to Greek Cypriot shipping until the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot community was ended. It was obvious that such a position was untenable.

The EU has accepted south Cyprus into membership, even though Greek Cypriots voted 'no' in the referendum to reunify the island in accordance with the Annan plan. The pressure exerted by the EU has focused less and less on 'human rights' and democracy, and more and more on the single issue of Cyprus. Rightwing secularist-republicans, as well as militarist-expansionists, are adamant they will not accept any compromise on Cyprus unless the price is right.

The hapless government has tried desperately to reconcile these conflicting forces. In the end their efforts came to nothing: the EU seems set to take a dim view of this slight to the will of the mighty, while the Turkish republican-military right will not allow the government to make concessions over Cyprus.

Actually the Cyprus issue has became a Trojan horse for those who oppose Turkey's membership. It has served as a convenient pretext for those who hate the very idea of those barbaric Turks, who massacred orthodox christians and occupied their land, now spreading their muslim faith further west. The actual causes and history of the conflict in Cyprus, as well as the ongoing isolation of the Turkish Cypriots, are forgotten.

Fault lines

The papal visit provided a number of opportunities to paper over the cracks. The pope said he believed Turkey's place was in the EU and during his visit to the Virgin Mary Church in Ephesus he carried a Turkish flag to placate the secularist nationalists. He also seems to have smoothed over some of the differences with the Greek Orthodox Church, which does not recognise the primacy of the Istanbul patriarch.

One thing is for sure, though - there can be no papering over the cracks which divide Turkish society. If anything, the old fault lines were made even more apparent. The visit took place under conditions of a big security presence that were imposed on Istanbul. Large areas of the city were sealed off and there was a massive police numbers on the streets, with an array of clerical, traffic and passport officials drafted in as reinforcements. 'Security' measures included that old practice of detaining 'trouble-makers' without charge or evidence of any offence for the duration.

With the renewed rumours of a looming coup, the visit was even considered by some to be a dress rehearsal for a military takeover.