Foreign reporters grill Turkish ruling party figures

ISTANBUL

Turkey's European Union Minister Volkan Bozkir and ruling AK Party Deputy Chairman Mustafa Sentop answered questions from 40 foreign journalists at a breakfast on Friday in Istanbul.

Bozkir and Sentop fielded questions on Turkey’s upcoming general election on June 7 and a proposed executive presidential system as well as on the Kurdish ‘solution process’ plus pressure on journalists in the country.

Reporters from the Wall Street Journal, Der Spiegel, Al Jazeera English and the Financial Times were among the press group.

Regarding a question which claimed that the foreign journalists in Turkey were being labeled as spies and receiving death threats from the ruling AK Party, Bozkir said that no one had threatened anyone in the country.

“I do not agree with you. No one has such an intention,” he said.

Stating that, as in all counties, all individuals are equal before the law, Bozkir said: “You can be a politician, prime minister, doctor or journalist, but your title cannot mean that you do not commit a crime.

“The government has right to investigate journalists due to their non-journalistic activities. Those journalists who were imprisoned have not been convicted on the grounds of their writings, but their activities,” he said. 

Bozkir said that the journalists who had been imprisoned in Turkey had been convicted of offenses such as the bombing of a police station, bank robbery and kidnapping.

According to a 2014 report of the International Committee to Protect Journalists, seven people have been referred to as “journalists in prison in Turkey”.

However, according to the Ministry of Justice, two of those journalists have been released while five of them have been convicted of crimes that are not related to journalism.

Regarding a question about surveys which claim a drop in the AK Party's vote rate, Bozkir said that surveys often do not reflect the exact result.

"Almost nobody reaches the calculations which occurred before the election," Bozkir said.

Stating that the percentage depends on the participation rate during the election, Bozkir added: "We have absolute confidence that we will get more than 45 percent."

Sentop also reminded reporters that the AK Party had won nearly 10 elections so far.

"I think most of the surveys are aimed at manipulating the election results. I want to let them [opposition parties] win the election in the surveys"

"But the surveys which we made have showed that the AK Party is at around 47 percent," Sentop said.

President's 'impartiality'

Upon a question regarding President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's support in the election campaign in favor of the AK Party – leading to accusations that he is violating the constitution – Bozkir said that during the 2014 presidential campaign, Erdogan said that he would not be protocol-led leader.

"Erdogan got 52 percent of the vote in the presidential election in last August. [...] When he was elected, he again said that he would work more like a president of the country than only dealing with protocol," Bozkir said.

Stating that the constitution gives the president some rights, Bozkir said Erdogan was entitled during the election campaign to address the people who had voted for him.

Sentop also noted that constitution says that although the president cannot be a member of a political party he or she has a political identity.

"I would like to clarify that president addressed people about the new constitution and presidential system, not about current political issues," Sentop said.

Sentop also denied that the participation of Erdogan in the upcoming celebration of the 562nd anniversary of Istanbul's conquest by the Ottomans – alongside Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu – was a political campaign.

"The conquest celebrations have been held for years as a joint organization by Istanbul Governorship and the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. The representatives of the other political parties were invited, as well as Erdogan," Sentop said.

Presidential system

After a question about the details of presidential system, Sentop said that it would not increase Erdogan's authority but restrict him – contrary to popular opinion.

"The current parliamentary system enables a president to recommend a law and pass it, but in presidential system, he won't have the authority to recommend a law," he said.

Sentop said that there were two important reasons for supporting the presidential system.

"Firstly, in the current system people do not vote for the government – they vote for the parliament. In 1999, three parties came together to form a government and it took nearly a month."

"However, in the presidential system, voters vote separately for the parliament and government. It means stability. It means forming the parliament and the government on the same day. The current parliamentary system does not guarantee stability," Sentop said.

Pointing out that the second reason is that people are knowledgeable about the presidential system in Turkey, Sentop said: "We have been implementing a presidential-like system in the local elections for nearly 100 years."

He said: "In local elections, people vote for the mayor and the municipal council separately."

The issue of a potential presidential system has been a hot topic in Turkey. A constitutional amendment or a new constitution would be needed to establish such an executive presidential system.

The AK Party will need at least 330 seats in the 550-member parliament to be able to take either the presidential system or the new constitution to a referendum. It currently has 311, having won over 49 percent of the vote in the 2011 general election.