Prosperity? No thanks! The Islamic fundamentalist Refah (Prosperity) party came to power in Turkey at the end of 1995, on an anti-Western and populist programme, following the collapse of a conservative coalition government. Once in power Refah made massive concessions to their neo-liberal backers within the Turkish bourgeoisie and the military bureaucracy that still controls Turkish politics behind the scenes. Disillusionment, and a series of scandles linking Refah and the other bourgeois parties to the military, the Mafia and the neo-fascist right have rocked the country.
We asked Ufak Uras of the Freedom and Solidarity Party (Ozgurluk ve
Dayanisma Partisi -ÖDP) how the left is • What is the result of the first year of Prosperity Party rule?
The Prosperity Party (Refah Partisi) came to power with the tacit support of the army and the business community. Its behaviour in power has embarrassed its own militants: the Refah government has implemented pro-business economic restructuring projects. As a result, Retah has lost its fresh, new image. Nevertheless, Refah is different in some respects from the other parties, with its strong rank-and-file base, its network of economic relationships, and the community identity it has developed.
Refah presents itself as the ideological umbrella protecting all those rejected and marginalised by neo-liberalism and privatisations. At the same time, they reach for the whip to strike discipline into the working class.
The only real ideological challenge to Refah at the moment is from rather marginalised Islamic radicals and intellectuals within the party. The poorer sections of Turkish society have not yet reacted against Refah's anti-social policies. They have not yet realised Refah can neither transform relations of power at the local level, nor significantly transform daily life; the party has nether the intellectual capacity nor the force to do so.
The Freedom and Solidarity Party (ÖDP) links a libertarian, non-confessional perspective with an orientation towards social struggles, particularly the labour movement, in opposition to political Islam and neoliberal orthodoxy. • Retah may be a fundamentalist party, but they follow the same foreign policy as their pro-Western predecessors
As part of the opposition, Refah said relations with the Muslim Middle East were more important than those with the European Union. But once in power, Refah declared their allegiance to the traditional foreign policy objectives. Refah didn't even hesitate to implement a military co-operation agreement with Israel, a decision that alarmed many ordinary party members.
The lowest-common-denominator politics of "we are all Muslims, we can solve all our problems by talking to each other" no responding to this unstable situation longer hides the truth about Refah: they came to power without having done their homework. Their opposition to the West is a cultural opposition, which doesn't question the capitalist system that links us with Europe.
Turkey's relations with the European Union are limited to a customs union. Ankara cannot enter the European Union, but its economic ties, and position in the Middle East oblige Europe to take Turkey into account. But the West European countries have distanced themselves from Turkey over the state of emergency, the human rights issue, democratic problems, and the chronic economic crisis that has caused massive unemployment and very high inflation. • Is there a possibility of democratic openings?
We try to express the libertarian, democratic alternative. The ODP slogan is "either they become accountable, or the people will sweep them away!" We seek to accelerate the massive protests that have been developing. To oppose the establishment parties, we need the broadest possible union of left forces. The ÖDP is building its own solidarity networks at a district and provincial level. • Why are Greek-Turkish relations so bad?
The initiative in Greek-Turkish relations has always come from the hawks on both sides. The previous Ciller government was yet another example of the strategy of political masturbation on the international arena whenever the domestic crisis deepened. • What does the ÖDP suggest to reduce the tension?
At our own level, we are preparing for a joint conference [of anti-militarist forces] to strengthen internationalist solidarity. We hope to work together with AKEL (Greek Cypriot Communists), the Turkish Republican Party of Cyprus, the Greek Communist Party and the Greek left party Sinasmismons. • What about the Kurdish question?
The state of emergency continues. We call for a mutual cease-fire and a general am-
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Ufuk Uras (right) with French Trotskyist leader Alain Krivine. Both men attended the recent Congress of the French Communist Party [see report inJanuary issue] nesty. We recognise the HADEP party as our ally [in the Kurdish regions]. We celebrated World Peace Day together on September 1st, 1996, launching a campaign to gather one million signatures on a peace petition. We realise that the struggle with the pro-war parties will be difficult. But there is no alternative to the construction of a multilingual, libertarian, egalitarian society, that respects a plurality of identities. Despite the challenges, we are gaining ground with these ideas. • How is the ÖDP developing?
For 16 years in Turkey, fascism, political Islam and neo-liberalism all found a hearing for their ideas. But not those of labour, socialism and revolutionary thought. Hence the interest that greeted the founding of the ÖDP one year ago. A range of groups recognised the importance of uniting the revolutionary left, socialists, rank-and-file social democrats, feminists, greens, anti-militarists, anarchists and others in a pluralist party, with multiple voices, and a rainbow perspective.
The second important step was to unite the masses. Today, 85% of our 30,000 members were not previously members of left political groups. One million people have responded to our dialogue. In one way or another, our activities can reach about 450,000 people.
We have three main campaigns - for peace; for democratisation; and for the defence of workers' rights against the New World Order, globalisation and privatisation.
A few months after the ÖDP was founded, we faced the challenge of local elections in many regions. Despite the risks, we decided to participate in five districts where the right was particularly strong. Unlike all the other parties, theÖDP selected its candidates locally, rather being designated by the national leadership. We received about 2% of the vote. Given the conditions, this was a success. Recent polls put our support at about 5%. We will be much better organised during the Autumn 1997 parliamentary elections. We are building up our district and provincial organisation, with a layer of experienced cadres. We are now present in 62 districts, 300 sub-districts and 1,000 municipalities.
We have to restructure the left too. No more arbitrary behaviour by the leaders. No more hierarchical models, with obedience to orders from above. No to the excessive professionalisation of politics, with decisions are made far from where they are to be implemented. Enough of people not participating in politics, but viewing it passively!
As ÖDP President, I support the principle of rotation of party posts. I have kept my job at the University. We have also implemented a 30% minimum quota for women in the party's leading bodies. And indeed, the number of women and young people in the leadership is increasing.
Many outside the ÖDP were sceptical when the former Stalinists, Maoists and Trotskyists came together in a new party. People expected to see internal disputes. Instead, there has been active co-operation, as we have prioritised common work against the system rather than sterile arguments.