Turkish gov't has no interest in lifestyles, says PM Erdoğan

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. AA photo

The Turkish prime minister has rejected allegations that his government is taking actions that intervene in people’s lifestyles, a claim most recently made amid a furor of criticism over new regulations on alcohol sales and consumption.
“We never intervene in anyone’s lifestyle, and we’d never allow anyone to do that. All the worries on this point are baseless,” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Thursday, adding that he and his party have themselves been the target of such attempts, the Anatolia news agency reported.
Speaking to the general assembly of the Turkish Industry & Business Association, or TÜSİAD, the prime minister said distrust is pumped into the society on issues such as democracy and secularism and that the government has been continuously tested for its sincerity on those issues.
“We are a conservative democratic party. Our personal attitude and stance is clear on certain issues. But we say that imposing personal attitudes and understandings on the rest of society is pressure, cruelty and unfairness,” Erdoğan said.
The prime minister specifically criticized reactions against a new regulation that limits where alcohol can be sold and consumed. “I might have a certain attitude against alcohol in my personal life and within my family, but as we are democratic, in addition to conservative, we are very sensitive about not imposing our personal judgments on society,” he said.
Erdoğan said the Constitution orders the protection of youth from alcohol, bad habits and other addictions, adding that the new regulation is in harmony with practices in the European Union and United States. “Our job is doing this,” he said. “We know that freedoms should not breach others’ freedoms.”
In a speech at the same event, TÜSİAD head Ümit Boyner said she is worried about deepening polarization in Turkey due to different lifestyles, something that can also be seen in election results.

New constitution

Erdoğan also said efforts to prepare a new constitution would be launched immediately after the general elections in June. He added that the new constitution should not be prepared only by constitutional experts, but with contributions from the media and academia as well as other fields.
TÜSİAD will announce the conclusions of its work on a new constitution March 22, Boyner said, adding that the group has been discussing constitutional reform on five topics with a group of 25 experts since September. The TÜSİAD head said the group would not declare a new constitutional text but aims to create sensitivity within society by putting forth the views of experts from different perspectives. The five topics TÜSİAD is addressing are the method for making a constitution, fundamental principles and institutions of the constitution in the 21st century, identities, freedom of religion and the separation of powers.

Criticizing the judiciary

The need for judicial reform that would satisfy people’s hunger for justice and give them faith in the law is crucial and deeply felt, Boyner said in her speech. She also emphasized the unsolved murders in Turkish history, such as the murder of Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink and journalist Uğur Mumcu. “[Those murders] remind us that justice never fulfilled,” she said.
Addressing Boyner’s comments, Erdoğan said his ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, was not in power when Mumcu was killed, but delivered the suspects in the Dink murder within 36 hours after his killing. The prime minister also stressed the need for judicial reform, criticizing the judiciary for not concluding cases on time and leading them to be barred, and adding that his party would like to reform the judiciary but has encountered impediments. He also criticized the decision by the Council of State, the country’s top administrative court, to halt the Higher Education Board, or YÖK, decision to allow headscarf-wearing students to take post-graduate exams.
During the referendum process for the government-led constitutional reform package in September, Erdoğan had criticized TÜSİAD for not taking sides in the referendum. “Those who do not take sides become disposed,” he said following a statement from TÜSİAD saying it would not make a call for its members to vote yes or no in the referendum.