TURKEY: COURT PRESIDENT ISSUES WARNING TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001112 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/10/2027 TAGS: PGOV TU SUBJECT: TURKEY: COURT PRESIDENT ISSUES WARNING TO "REACTIONARY FORCES" Classified By: Political Counselor Janice G. Weiner, for Reasons 1.4 (b ,d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY AND COMMENT. The President of the Council of State (Danistay, Turkey's highest administrative court), Sumru Cortoglu, used her remarks on the court's anniversary to issue a thinly veiled warning to the government. She held PM Erdogan's government accountable for the 2006 attack that resulted in the death of a member of her court, praised the recent massive pro-secularism rallies, and underscored the "reactionary threat" to the republic, which she defined as a rejection of Ataturk's secular principles. The military, the president, the Constitutional Court, and now Turkey's highest administrative court, have all lined up squarely against the Justice and Development Party's (AKP) government. With the country already headed into general elections, this most recent statement suggests that the secular establishment has no intention of settling back to observe democracy in action, but considers the fight against the "reactionary (Islamist) threat" to be an ongoing struggle in which they have an active -- indeed, leading -- role. END SUMMARY AND COMMENT. ¶2. (SBU) Addressing an audience that included President Sezer, Deputy Prime Ministers Sahin and Sener, newly appointed Justice Minister Kasirga, Supreme Court of Appeals (Yargitay) president Osman Arslan, chief prosecutor Nuri Ok, and members of the Constitutional Court, Cortoglu referred to the May 17, 2006, attack on the Council of State as "a black stain on the history of humanity that was not an individual incident, but an attack aimed primarily at the secular state order, the Republic, democracy, supremacy of law, and judicial independence." Referring to her 2006 anniversary speech a few days before the attack, she said her warnings had gone unheeded with disastrous results: "I mentioned that the uneasiness, criticism, and comments about some decisions of the Court were exceeding their (appropriate) limits and sought to hurt the judiciary and identify it as a target. ... Unfortunately, these aspects that we stressed were not taken seriously by those using the authority of the state.... This situation was taken lightly by those who say this level of reactionaryism does not threaten the republic. Irresponsible comments and guidance in media organs encouraged certain circles and led to many bloody incidents in our country." (The Turkish word, "irtica," often translated as "fundamentalism," literally means "a going back to the past" -- or reactionaryism. After the court's controversial ruling on a headscarf case in February 2006, Vakit newspaper published pictures of the court members.) ¶3. (SBU) Cortoglu referred warmly to the recent rallies in Ankara, Istanbul, Manisa, and elsewhere. "We are putting emphasis on social sensitivity in order to fight against reactionaryism, to protect the secular structure of the Republic, and prevent exploitation of religion and sacred values. We consider this the greatest guarantee of the secular state order." ¶4. (SBU) Cortoglu defined reactionaryism and the balance between personal freedoms and the public order. "Any action against Ataturk's principles and reforms is reactionaryism. There has always been this threat in Turkey, although its importance and priority changes, and it will continue to be a threat. ...One should not allow freedom of religion and conscience, which has to do with an individual's internal world, to turn into actions to disrupt the public order." ¶5. (SBU) Cortoglu criticized the shortage of women in parliament, and held up her own court as a counter-example, where 42 of the 93 members are women. She chafed against restrictions on judicial autonomy, criticizing the constitutionally-defined limitations on judicial oversight. She also objected to the practice of having candidates for the judicial or bar exams be orally tested by the Ministry of Justice. Finally, she addressed President Sezer, recalling that it was an honor for all jurists that Sezer, himself a former Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, had been elected to the presidency by five parties in parliament. She said that history would remember him as a modest citizen devoted to the democratic and secular republic, who never made any concessions from the supremacy of law. ANKARA 00001112 002 OF 002 Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ WILSON