Turkish Court Upholds Ex-Premier’s Sentence

The highest appeals court in Turkey upheld on Wednesday a one-year prison sentence imposed on former Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, founder of the nation’s Islamist political party, for “provoking racial hatred” in a speech six years ago.

The ruling was a setback for Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, an adversary of political Islam who nonetheless wants to overcome Western criticism of Turkey’s human rights record and speed the nation’s path toward European Union membership.

“I respect the court’s decision but can’t say I’m pleased,” Ecevit declared.

The 74-year-old Erbakan may seek a presidential pardon on grounds of ill health but is unlikely to get one if Turkey’s powerful armed forces remain opposed. He would go to prison in 120 days, after a technical appeal that Turkey’s chief prosecutor is virtually certain to reject.

European governments often cite Turkey’s harsh treatment of dissidents as a reason for delaying its EU membership. Hundreds of the country’s politicians, academics and writers are in jail for breaching curbs on free expression.

By prosecuting Erbakan, Turkey has turned a politician whose government raised alarms in the West into a test case for Western standards here. The convicted politician’s lawyers said Wednesday that they will appeal his sentence to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, if he goes behind bars.

“How can we claim to be European when we continue to torture our own citizens [and] lock up former prime ministers for speaking their mind?” asked Hashim Hashimi, a Kurdish member of parliament’s human rights commission.

Erbakan was sentenced in March for lashing out at Turkey’s secular establishment in a speech to a largely Kurdish audience before he became prime minister. He called pro-secular members of parliament “infidels” and criticized the requirement that ethnic Kurdish children begin their school day calling themselves Turks rather than Kurds or Muslims.

The Turkish military, which has seized power three times since 1960, puts a high priority on combating Kurdish separatism and Islamic fundamentalism. But free speech curbs favored by commanders are under growing attack by civilian leaders.

Ahmet Necdet Sezer, a former judge who was elected Turkey’s president in May by a vote of parliament, has promised to push for democratic reforms, even though under law he is supposed to remain above politics.

Sezer called last week for an overhaul of the military-drafted constitution, saying it created “a situation in which people served the state, rather than one in which the state serves the people.”

If Erbakan seeks a pardon, however, it remains to be seen whether the new president would risk antagonizing the armed forces by granting one.

The court’s ruling is the latest of many blows to Erbakan’s Islamist movement since he quit as prime minister in 1997 under pressure from the generals. They accused him of trying to introduce Islamic rule during a turbulent year in government.

In 1998, Turkish courts barred Erbakan from politics for five years and outlawed his Welfare Party. Chief prosecutor Vural Savas, backed by the generals, has kept up pressure on Erbakan’s followers, who regrouped as the Virtue Party.

The Virtue Party is now facing closure on grounds that it’s merely a new label for an unvarying Islamist movement led by those Savas calls “bloodsucking vampires” and “malignant tumors.” The charge could stick because Erbakan, despite being officially sidelined, has moved aggressively to keep control of the party.

Opposition to Erbakan is gaining force in the party. Moderate young reformers led by Abdullah Gul came surprisingly close to ousting Erbakan’s handpicked successor, Recai Kutan, from the party leadership in May.

Kutan prevailed thanks to his mentor’s maneuvering and very deep pockets.

A prison sentence would take Erbakan out of circulation but might also provoke a wave of sympathy among Islamists, helping him hold on to the party.