22 October 2022
His Excellency Mr. Ejaz Rafi Butt
Tehreek-e-Insaf Party
Secretary of the Bureau of Education and Training
Islamabad-Pakistan
Prior to all, I thank you sincerely. The fact that you requested our contributions in your education and development program on “Fundamental Characteristics of the Political System of Türkiye” strengthened our feelings of responsibility.
The nation and state of Pakistan have a special place in the hearts of the people of Türkiye. You express this fact as “two states but one nation”. How nice!
“The role of the political system in the national development of Türkiye” is undoubtedly apparent. Of course, when we say “political system”, there is a legal dimension to this: we are talking about “Constitutional Law”. However, the political system, as we all know, is not only law, but political practice. When we explain this practice in all its social, economic, cultural and legal dimensions, we can make healthy determinations.
We can consider the recent history of Türkiye from the first half of the 19th century. The two centuries that have lasted to date can be summarized as a history of resistance and fight against imperialism. The collision between National Democratic Revolutions and counterrevolutions has also defined the journey that the political system has passed through.
I have summarized the text you requested in historical depth and by drawing attention to the links between the constitution and the socio-economic process.
I present my sincere feelings and respect.
Doğu Perinçek
Chairman
Vatan Party of Türkiye
Political System of Türkiye
– with reference to the Historical Dimension and Socio-Economic Basis –
The Westernization period brought by the Tanzimat
The Trade Agreement signed with the British Empire in 1838 and the Tanzimat Arrangement announced by the Ottoman Emperor in 1839, in fact, was that the doors were opened to the imperialist capital. Thus, a colonization process, also called “Westernization”, has begun. The sultans of the Ottoman Empire in this period, Abdülmecit, Abdülaziz and the Abdülhamit II, are the sultans of the Tanzimat system, in other words, the colonization process. In their time, law and the system were regulated in favour of English, French, and later German capital.
The Young Ottoman Movement and the Constitutional Monarchy of 1876
The National Democratic Revolution Movement in Türkiye started and rose on the basis of the struggle against the Tanzimat. The Freedom Movement, called the ”New Ottomans“ or ”Young Ottomans”, established secret organizations and achieved success by revolting civilian and military students in 1876. This is the social movement that enabled the proclamation of the First Constitutional Monarchy. Thus, the first Constitution came into force. Karl Marx applauded this event saying, “firm, honest bearing of the sons of Mohammed”. (Jenny Marx to Friedrich Adolph Sorge, Marx & Engels Collected Works Volume 45 Letters 1874-79, Lawrence&Wishart Electric Book, 2010, p. 447)
Revolutionist Young Turks and the Liberty Revolution of 1908
The 1876 Constitution determined the powers of the Sultan and established a National Assembly. It was more about counting powers than limiting powers in there. In his first year, Sultan Abdülhamit II suspended the Constitution and also closed the Parliament temporarily.
In this process, the Revolutionary Young Turks stood up with the slogan “Liberty”. The Young Turks, the most famous Turkish brand in the whole world, were the continuation of the Young Ottomans. They also created secret organizations. The organization, which eventually took the name of the İttihat ve Terakki Partisi (Union and Progress Party), organized popular movements in Anatolia at the beginning of the 20th century and established the Second Constitutional Monarchy by revolting under the leadership of Young Military Officers in the Balkans in 1908 and re-enacted the Constitution. The Parliament was opened, and in 1909, by making major amendments to the Constitution, they actually put into effect a new constitution. This time, the constitution limited the powers of the sultan and guaranteed freedoms. The young military officer Mustafa Kemal was also in the Young Turks Movement and was on the leadership staff of the Union and Progress Party.
The Liberty Revolution of 1908 came after the Russian democratic revolution of 1905 and the Iranian democratic revolution of 1907 and reverberated all over the world. The Mexican Democratic Revolutions of 1910 and the Chinese Democratic Revolutions of 1911 are also part of this international democratic movement. The independence struggles that gave birth to India and Pakistan against British colonialism in the 1920s are also in the same scope.
The War of Independence and the Constitution of 1921
National Revolutionary Türkiye, founded with the Revolution of 1908 created the accumulation to fight for the Independence War from 1914 to 1922.
The matter of the First World War was the division of the Ottoman lands, especially the oil regions. Türkiye entered the war on the side of Germany against the imperialists which were Britain, France and Tsar regime of Russia, who decided to share Türkiye at the end of October, 1914. We fought for four years. The February and October Revolutions took place in Russia in 1917, the Tsar of the Russia collapsed because we closed the straits. A new era was opened in which the Turkish-Russian revolutions walked hand in hand.
The Ottoman Empire signed an Armistice agreement with the British and French imperialists in October 1918 after the surrender of Germany at the end of the war. However, Türkiye did not accept the surrender, immediately fired the first bullet 44 days later in December 1918 and continued the War of Independence, this time under the leadership of the Müdafaai Hukuk Cemiyeti (Defence Law Society) established in Anatolia, headed by Mustafa Kemal Pasha. The leading party of the revolution, which will be named the Republican People’s Party after 1923, was founded in the heat of war.
At the beginning of the war, Mustafa Kemal Pasha convened the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye on April 23, 1920 in Ankara as the first thing and established the National Government. Thus, he created a power centre against the Sultan’s Government in Istanbul, which surrendered to British and French imperialism. The Sultan’s Government could not conduct the war of Independence. There was no other way to mobilize the strength and talent of the nation. The Constitution of January 20, 1921 is the constitution of this National Revolutionary Government. This constitution was against imperialism and was populist. The war and the revolution did require Jan Jacques Rousseau’s Unity of Powers rather than Montesquieu’s Separation of Powers. With the Constitution of 1921, the Parliamentary System of Government was established and led the war.
Abolition of the Sultanate and Proclamation of the Republic
The name of the Sultan was not mentioned in the 1921 Constitution and the National Sovereignty system was introduced. When the war was brought to victory, the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye abolished the sultanate with the Constitutional decision on October 30, 1922 and established the New Turkish State on the basis of National Sovereignty. The Republic was actually established on April 23, 1920 with the convening of the National Assembly in Ankara. On October 29, 1923, the Parliament amended the 1st Article of the Constitution and proclaimed the Republic.
The Program of the Revolution: Six Arrows
After the war of independence, Türkiye continued its National Democratic Revolution, this time in the social, economic and cultural spheres. To achieve this, a strong and effective executive body was required. In the constitution made in April 1924, the state powers were concentrated in the hands of the government headed by Mustafa Kemal Pasha. The revolution was made with strong government.
The essence of the program was Republicanism, Nationalism, Populism, Statism, Secularism and Revolutionism. This system, called “Six Arrows”, was applied in practice and was written at the beginning of the Constitution in February 1937, in the last year of Atatürk. Thus, Türkiye has established a unique, national and revolutionary political system. The Six Arrows Program was based on the common realities of the World of the Oppressed. For this reason, all the revolutions of the World of the Oppressed have implemented the same National Democratic Revolutionary program under their own specific conditions. The Tehreek-e-Insaf Party, which governs Pakistan today, also feeds on Pakistan’s nationalist roots and practices populism. Because our historical processes are similar to each other.
The Calcification of the Revolution in 1945 and the “Little America” Process
The turning point of Türkiye’s political system in recent history is the date of 1945. Atatürk had closed his eyes to life in 1938. His last will to the government leaders and his friends was “Do not leave friendship with the Soviet Union”. The historical significance of this will was proved by the experience after 1945.
Türkiye remained neutral in the Second World War. After the war, the United States, which came on the scene as the “leader of the world of democracy”, seized control over Türkiye. The Turkish Revolution had lost its great leader Atatürk, and the CHP, the leading party of the Revolution, was divided into two, the Democratic Party emerged from it. In the post-1945 period, the CHP and DP both pursued policies in compliance with the Atlantic System. Atatürk’s will was forgotten. The leaders of both Parties said, “We will make Türkiye a Little America.” Thus, Türkiye entered the “Little America” process with its government and opposition. Türkiye, which was aiming at big goals with the revolution, was directed towards a goal such as being the “little one of the USA” by giving up on continuing the revolution.
Connecting to the Atlantic System brought the new system. The US control was introduced as “Democracy”. The multi-party regime was passed. The essence of the Atlantic program was the liquidation of the Kemalist Revolution.
A new constitution was not made, the 1924 Constitution continued on the legal plane. However, in fact, a new system has come in political practice. This is how the calcification process of the revolution began.
The Democratic Party came to power in 1950. The CHP went into opposition, but it did not oppose the Atlantic system, it stood within the system. Türkiye joined NATO in 1952 with the agreement of both parties and sent a brigade to the USA’s Korean War. In the meantime, socialist parties established against US imperialism were banned, arrests were made. All this was done for the sake of “democracy”.
The Revolution of May 27, 1960 and the Constitution of 1961
Towards the end of the 1950s, the system went into a severe crisis. Inflation and devaluation have brought living difficulties among the people. The ruling party has put pressure on the opposition. Masses of people in the metropolitan cities stood up with the slogan “Freedom”. In these conditions, the Revolution of May 27, 1960 came. The young military officers, relying on the discontent of the masses of the people, made a military intervention and formed a Constituent Assembly. The 1961 Constitution was adopted by popular vote and entered into force.
The 1961 Constitution was liberal in its main features. The rights to trade unions and strikes, as well as other economic rights, entered the Constitution. Strict rules and institutions were introduced in the supervision of state bodies over each other. A second assembly (Senate) and a Constitutional Court were established. However, with all this, the Six Arrows, namely Republicanism, Nationalism, Populism, Statism, Secularism and Revolutionism, were removed from the beginning of the Constitution. It was replaced by the Western system’s “Democratic, Social, Secular, Rule of Law” formula.
The May 27, 1960 Movement could not go beyond the Atlantic system, but it created a favourable ground for the struggle against the US imperialism. The Workers’ Party of Türkiye was founded in 1961. Peasant struggles with production and land demands rose in rural areas. I led the revolutionary youth movement in 1968 as the chairman of the organization for the struggle against the US imperialism. In particular, the great labour movements that began in June 1970 shook the system. The Vatan Party was founded and activated by the leaders of the revolutionary youth movement, who were oriented towards the working masses.
American Coup Regime of March 12, 1971
In the face of the rising popular movement, the underground organization of NATO, called “Gladio”, first destabilized Türkiye, and then the high rank commanders under the supervision of the United States carried out the coup of March 12, 1971.
The US led Military Coup imprisoned tens of thousands of people, including the leaders and cadres of our Party. About 1500 Kemalist military officers in the army were liquidated. Revolutionary organizations and the labour movement were suppressed. A terrorist regime was established, which lasted until 1974. The freedoms imposed by the 1961 Constitution have been largely amputated.
However, due to Türkiye’s historical accumulation, this regime could not continue. Türkiye switched to a multi-party parliamentary system again in 1974.
The Counter-Revolution with the US led Coup of September 12, 1980
Starting from the mid-1970s, the rising popular movement based on the NATO Gladio has set up a new destabilization process. Religious bigotry was incited, massacres were carried out, youth were crushed against each other under the veil of the political right- political left conflict, and the intellectuals were assassinated. The goal was to create the conditions for a military coup. Finally, on September 12, 1980, the US led junta seized power.
The Military Regime of September 12, 1980 served as the cudgel of the economic program that US imperialism called “Integration with the World Economy”. As many as 600 thousand people were detained or arrested. Political parties and trade unions were closed. A total of more than 1500 executives and members of our Party were imprisoned. The 1961 Constitution was completely abolished this time, and the Military Administration created its own Constitution in 1982 by convening a so-called Constituent Assembly.
However, Türkiye’s democratic accumulation once again outweighed, and in 1983, Türkiye again switched to a parliamentary system. Thus, Türkiye continued the counter-revolution, which began with the coup of 1980, this time under the parliamentary regime under the leadership of Turgut Özal.
The 1980 Coup put an end to the system of protecting the national market with customs, industrialization with state-owned economic organizations, supporting agriculture, controlling the entry and exit of money, which remained from the Kemalist Revolution. The European Customs Union was integrated. Through privatization, the public economy was significantly lasted. The subvention to the farmers has been abolished. The entry and exit of the money was freed. The reign of the dollar was established, and the Turkish lira was expelled from the markets. Producers, especially farmers, were declared” the hump on the back of the country”. The national economy, manufacturers suffered a heavy blow. As a result, Türkiye sank into a debt of 500 billion dollars, agriculture and industry suffered a heavy blow. At the top of the system sat hot money brokers, dollar and stock market profiteers, big loan sharks and holy belief traders under the guidance of world financial centres.
The 1982 Constitution is still in force in Türkiye today. However, this Constitution has amended many times in the direction of the parliamentary regime in the remaining 40 years, and it can be said that a new Constitution has been formed.
The 2002-2014 Gladio-Mafia-Holy Belief Regime of the GME Co-Chair and FETÖ Gladio
The AK Party administration came to power in the autumn of 2002 in the process of counter-revolution. The United States found that it could not keep Türkiye under control as it wanted with the central-right wing parties established before 1980, and organized the establishment of the AK Party, allowing this Party to come to power in 2002 with early elections. In the Rand Corporation reports of the US invisible government in 1996, it was clearly planned that “Tayyip Erdogan would become prime minister and Abdullah Gul would become Foreign Minister”. We announced this plan in our publications at that time (See: Aydınlık Newspaper, October 12, 1996).
The plan was operated. The task assigned to Tayyip Erdogan was the Co-Chairmanship of the Greater Middle East Project. The project envisaged the “change of the regime and borders” in 22 countries inhabited by Muslim peoples. In this context, the US invasion and partition operations in Iraq in 1991 and 2003 were supported. As a result of the US imposition, the “Kurdish Initiative” and the “Armenian Initiative” were launched in 2010. Unfortunately, the US and Israel’s opening of a corridor in northern Syria and the civil war arrangements in Syria were supported. In order to carry out this process, after 2007, the leaders of the Vatan Party and thousands of patriotic officers were thrown into prisons with the so-called Ergenekon and Balyoz diversions. During this process, the AK Party administration shared its ruling powers with the Gladio organization, which we call FETO.
The Vatan Party, as it is called today, the Workers’ Party, as it was called at that time, mobilized large masses of people against the Gladio regime. We have combined the struggle we have waged in the courts and prisons with the popular movement that has surrounded Silivri prison three times. In all three actions, we surrounded a mountaintop prison with close to a hundred thousand people. We have isolated FETO Gladio. In the meantime, FETO has also attempted some attacks against the Tayyip Erdogan administration. In the spring of 2014, thousands of Vatan Party members and Turkish military officers came out of prisons and Türkiye entered a new era.
The Process of Breaking Türkey’s Atlantic Chains after 2014
After the spring of 2014, Türkiye entered a process of liberation from the Atlantic system. The main phenomena of this process are:
– As the Vatan Party, with the collapse of the Ergenekon-Balyoz diversions of FETO Gladio in the spring of 2014, we liberated the leading forces of Türkiye resisting the US imperialism, freed the Turkish Armed Forces from captivity and opened a new door in Türkiye’s history.
– Thus, the elimination process of Gladio, which the United States has placed in the Turkish state and army, has also begun. Within eight years, 25 thousand of them were dismissed from the Turkish Armed Forces, 30 thousand from the police, 14 thousand from the judiciary, including 4 thousand judges and prosecutors, and more than 130 thousand FETO members were dismissed from their posts at various state offices. More than 30 thousand FETO members are in prisons. Today, “NATO generals” are sentenced in Turkish prisons.
– The Turkish Armed Forces, which have saved from the US control, have broken through the US-Israel Corridor in northern Syria with the “Euphrates Shield Operation” that started on July 24, 2016.
– As the Vatan Party, we played a decisive role in suppressing the bloody coup attempt that the United States attempted on the night of July 15-16, 2016 through the FETO Gladio. We have defeated the armed forces of the United States in the Turkish Army and state with the cooperation of the Army and the Nation. Thus the Atlantic period started in 1945 was ended.
– In this process, the freed Turkish Army has dealt heavy blows to the US-led PKK terrorist organization and bigoted terrorist organizations such as DAESH, who are waging war against Islam under the Islamic flag, with the operations they are conducting in the north of Iraq and Syria.
– As the leader of the Vatan Party, I have brought the struggle we started in 2005 against the imperialists’ lie of the “Armenian genocide” targeting the independence and integrity of Türkiye to a final conclusion on October 15, 2015. With the three separate decisions taken by the 2nd Chamber and the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in the Perinçek v. Switzerland Case, we have put an end to the lie of the ‘Armenian Genocide’. Thus, we have put to naught one of the four main impositions of the USA and the EU on Türkiye.
– Since July 24, 2015, Türkiye has been waging a Homeland War against the forces under the guidance of the US imperialism. This war is our second Independence War.
– Türkiye has met its true friends in the conditions of the Homeland War, and cooperation with Eurasian countries in the fields of security and economy is successfully underway.
The AK Party’s Semi-Presidential System in a Painful and Zigzag Process
How did the AK Party, which came to power in cooperation with the United States at the end of 2002, get out of US control after the spring of 2014 and, in its own words, turned to the “Asian Reinitiative” again?
The answer to this question lies in Türkiye’s two-century accumulation of National Democratic Revolutions. The Atlantic system had imposed drowning in debt and separation on Türkiye with the “Kurdistan” project. However, after the US invasion and division of Iraq in 1991, the Turkish Army returned its front to the US threat. The Ergenekon and Balyoz diversions of the USA after 2007 were aimed at suppressing the resistance of the Turkish Army and the Vatan Party. However, Türkiye could not accept the separation, and the US plan was failed.
It can be said that after 2014, Tayyip Erdogan is not ruling Türkiye but Türkiye is ruling Tayyip Erdogan. The US and European press often express this fact with comments that “the AKP has entered the Kemalist Revolutionary line and is guided by the Vatan Party”.
The fact that the AK Party split several times after 2014 is also connected with this process. The US-guided and FETO-friendly leaders in the AK Party, such as Abdullah Gül, Babacan and Ahmet Davutoğlu, left one after the other and founded new parties.
Türkiye within the AK Party and the United States within the AK Party are separating from each other, and this process continues.
The process is also taking place at the Constitutional level.
After the AK Party took over the “Integration with the World Economy” program, which began in 1980 under the leadership of the September 12 Junta and Turgut Özal, it also turned to constitutional amendments appropriate to the process. The most suitable government system for that program, which is connected to the world financial centers, was seen as a Presidential System imitating the United States. Despite the support of the AK Party, the Atlanticist opposition CHP, the constitutional amendments in this direction could not be implemented. However, in 2016, Ak Party was able to implement a constitutional amendment enforcing a Semi-Presidential System under the name of the Presidential System, and on April 16, 2016, this amendment was adopted by a popular vote of 51 percent.
The principles of the Presidential System can be summarized as follows:
The government is no longer formed in the Assembly, and the Assembly’s instruments of control over the government have been largely pruned. Now the government is formed by the President, who is elected every five years. Thus, an unchecked “Cabinet” was created, consisting of those appointed by the President. The traditional system of government established in the Parliament from the history of Türkiye and supervised by the Assembly has been liquidated. In practice, the economic barons, formed by liquid money brokers, dollar and stock market profiteers, high interest payers, holy belief traders, have also left their sign on the constitution. This is how mafia-led economy was reflected in politics and the structure of power.
The legislative power was also partially taken out of the hands of the Assembly. The Presidential office is engaged in legislative activity through Decrees having the Force of Law.
The semi-presidential system called the ”Presidential System” has been implemented for six years, but it is being questioned even within the executives of the AK Party because it does not comply with the established constitutional order of Türkiye and the needs of society.
The Political System in the horizons of Türkiye
Türkiye has gone beyond the Atlantic system with its nation and state.
In the polls conducted, 47 percent of voters explain that they will not vote for the Republican Alliance led by the AK Party and the so-called National, but the Atlantic in reality, Alliance led by the CHP either. The people say, “it does not go like this” they are looking for solutions outside the Atlantic System.
Türkiye is in the process of settling itself in Asia as one of the leaders of the rising Asian Civilization.
The program of this process is the Program of Uniting and Producing Türkiye.
Türkiye has entered the process of completing its two-century National Democratic Revolution.
This process is the process that leads to the National Government of the Producers.
The coming year 2023 will be the year of decision for Türkiye.
Circumstances are calling the Vatan Party to power.
We are entering a period in which the Turkish-Pakistani brotherhood will rise.
I present my sincere feelings and respect.
Dr. Doğu Perinçek
Chairman
Vatan Party of Türkiye