ISTANBUL (AP) _ Huge throngs of mourners converged on a
mosque Tuesday for the funeral of a former prime minister
who laid the roots of political Islam in modern Turkey and
inspired the current government in its struggle against
military-backed secular circles.
The coffin of Necmettin Erbakan, draped in a green,
Islamic shroud, was surrounded by crowds that sought to
touch it, and tributes to this pious figure, who died
Sunday of heart failure at the age of 85, poured in from
around the country and the world. The Palestinian militant
group Hamas expressed sorrow, and Turkey's prime minister,
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, cut short a European trip to attend
the funeral.
+God is Great!; the mourners chanted at the Ottoman-era
Fatih mosque in Istanbul, which was first built in the 15th
century and rebuilt several times after earthquake damage.
As many as 200,000 attended, though police did not provide
a crowd estimate.
Attendants included men with Islamic cloaks and turbans as
well as academicians, Cabinet ministers and even a few
military officers in khaki uniforms. Erbakan's demise was
announced from minarets of around 3,000 mosques in Istanbul
_ a practice usually limited to the mosque where prayers
are being held.
Erbakan, a jovial, stocky figure who sported bright
Versace ties, served only a year as prime minister before
being pressured by the fiercely secular military to step
down in 1997, but he never dropped his interest in politics
despite deteriorating health. Aides said he was working on
a possible election alliance between his Felicity Party and
other small pro-Islamic parties before his death.
His wit endeared him even to political opponents. He was
affectionately known as +Hodja,; or +Teacher,; by his
followers and former members of his banned Welfare Party,
including Erdogan, President Abdullah Gul and other
proteges.
Erbakan won election in 1995 on a campaign to build closer
ties with the Islamic world, and visited Iran and Libya.
His meeting with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, now
besieged by rebels, turned into a diplomatic disaster when
Gadhafi criticized Turkey for cracking down on
autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels and having close ties with
the West.
A shocked Erbakan said: +We don't have a Kurdish problem,
we have a terrorism problem,; to save face in front of
dozens of Turkish journalists accompanying him to Libya.
Erdogan, whose ruling Justice and Development Party had
spun off from Erbakan's outlawed movement, returned from a
trip to Germany for the funeral, canceling a stop in
Brussels.
Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh expressed the +deep
sorrow; of Palestinians in a message to Turkish leaders,
and said Erbakan was an +important figure.;
Erdogan's Justice and Development Party, now in its second
term, is the front-runner ahead of national elections in
June. While inspired by Erbakan's overtly Islamic doctrine,
Erdogan's government chose a more moderate path. It has
campaigned for membership in the European Union and pledged
allegiance to the secular constitution, despite the
suspicions of opponents that it is plotting to impose Islam
on society.
In doing so, it kept an uneasy peace with the powerful
secular establishment in its critical early years in power,
though the government, buoyed by strong electoral results,
later took robust action to dismantle the political clout
of the military.
Erdogan has burnished his Islamic credentials by his
backing of Palestinians against Israel, once a strategic
military ally, and seeking stronger alliances with Iran and
other Muslim countries, to some consternation among
Turkey's Western allies.
In the Erbakan era in the 1990s, the Turkish military
signed agreements with Israel that allowed Israeli pilots
to train in Turkish air space and its military to hold
joint drills with the Turkish navy in the Mediterranean.
But Israel's deadly raid on a Gaza-bound Turkish aid ship
that left nine Turks dead last year signaled how far the
relationship between the two countries has deteriorated.
As prime minister, Erbakan also drew the wrath of the
military, the self-appointed guardian of Turkey's secular
traditions, with his moves to allow female civil servants
to wear Islamic attire at work and to rearrange working
hours to fit fasting times in the holy month of Ramadan. He
resigned in June 1997 to appease the military, which has
staged three coups since 1960.
After he quit, Erbakan was barred from politics for five
years and also convicted of falsifying party records and
hiding millions in cash reserves that were earmarked for
confiscation after his party's closure in 1998. He was
elected as head of the small Felicity Party as soon as his
political ban ended in 2003.
While Erbakan lost the power struggle against his secular
opponents in the 1990s, his political successors have since
gained the upper hand. Today, hundreds of military generals
and officers stand accused of conspiring to overthrow
Erdogan's government in 2003, underlining the willingness
of Turkey's civilian leaders to challenge generals, who say
the charges against them are based on flimsy evidence.
Erbakan challenged the military even before coming to
power, saying in parliament in 1994: +We'll come to power
no matter what, but will the transition be soft or
bloody?;
The remarks were interpreted by prosecutors as a hint that
his party could stage an armed uprising, but charges were
later dropped.
mosque Tuesday for the funeral of a former prime minister
who laid the roots of political Islam in modern Turkey and
inspired the current government in its struggle against
military-backed secular circles.
The coffin of Necmettin Erbakan, draped in a green,
Islamic shroud, was surrounded by crowds that sought to
touch it, and tributes to this pious figure, who died
Sunday of heart failure at the age of 85, poured in from
around the country and the world. The Palestinian militant
group Hamas expressed sorrow, and Turkey's prime minister,
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, cut short a European trip to attend
the funeral.
+God is Great!; the mourners chanted at the Ottoman-era
Fatih mosque in Istanbul, which was first built in the 15th
century and rebuilt several times after earthquake damage.
As many as 200,000 attended, though police did not provide
a crowd estimate.
Attendants included men with Islamic cloaks and turbans as
well as academicians, Cabinet ministers and even a few
military officers in khaki uniforms. Erbakan's demise was
announced from minarets of around 3,000 mosques in Istanbul
_ a practice usually limited to the mosque where prayers
are being held.
Erbakan, a jovial, stocky figure who sported bright
Versace ties, served only a year as prime minister before
being pressured by the fiercely secular military to step
down in 1997, but he never dropped his interest in politics
despite deteriorating health. Aides said he was working on
a possible election alliance between his Felicity Party and
other small pro-Islamic parties before his death.
His wit endeared him even to political opponents. He was
affectionately known as +Hodja,; or +Teacher,; by his
followers and former members of his banned Welfare Party,
including Erdogan, President Abdullah Gul and other
proteges.
Erbakan won election in 1995 on a campaign to build closer
ties with the Islamic world, and visited Iran and Libya.
His meeting with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, now
besieged by rebels, turned into a diplomatic disaster when
Gadhafi criticized Turkey for cracking down on
autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels and having close ties with
the West.
A shocked Erbakan said: +We don't have a Kurdish problem,
we have a terrorism problem,; to save face in front of
dozens of Turkish journalists accompanying him to Libya.
Erdogan, whose ruling Justice and Development Party had
spun off from Erbakan's outlawed movement, returned from a
trip to Germany for the funeral, canceling a stop in
Brussels.
Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh expressed the +deep
sorrow; of Palestinians in a message to Turkish leaders,
and said Erbakan was an +important figure.;
Erdogan's Justice and Development Party, now in its second
term, is the front-runner ahead of national elections in
June. While inspired by Erbakan's overtly Islamic doctrine,
Erdogan's government chose a more moderate path. It has
campaigned for membership in the European Union and pledged
allegiance to the secular constitution, despite the
suspicions of opponents that it is plotting to impose Islam
on society.
In doing so, it kept an uneasy peace with the powerful
secular establishment in its critical early years in power,
though the government, buoyed by strong electoral results,
later took robust action to dismantle the political clout
of the military.
Erdogan has burnished his Islamic credentials by his
backing of Palestinians against Israel, once a strategic
military ally, and seeking stronger alliances with Iran and
other Muslim countries, to some consternation among
Turkey's Western allies.
In the Erbakan era in the 1990s, the Turkish military
signed agreements with Israel that allowed Israeli pilots
to train in Turkish air space and its military to hold
joint drills with the Turkish navy in the Mediterranean.
But Israel's deadly raid on a Gaza-bound Turkish aid ship
that left nine Turks dead last year signaled how far the
relationship between the two countries has deteriorated.
As prime minister, Erbakan also drew the wrath of the
military, the self-appointed guardian of Turkey's secular
traditions, with his moves to allow female civil servants
to wear Islamic attire at work and to rearrange working
hours to fit fasting times in the holy month of Ramadan. He
resigned in June 1997 to appease the military, which has
staged three coups since 1960.
After he quit, Erbakan was barred from politics for five
years and also convicted of falsifying party records and
hiding millions in cash reserves that were earmarked for
confiscation after his party's closure in 1998. He was
elected as head of the small Felicity Party as soon as his
political ban ended in 2003.
While Erbakan lost the power struggle against his secular
opponents in the 1990s, his political successors have since
gained the upper hand. Today, hundreds of military generals
and officers stand accused of conspiring to overthrow
Erdogan's government in 2003, underlining the willingness
of Turkey's civilian leaders to challenge generals, who say
the charges against them are based on flimsy evidence.
Erbakan challenged the military even before coming to
power, saying in parliament in 1994: +We'll come to power
no matter what, but will the transition be soft or
bloody?;
The remarks were interpreted by prosecutors as a hint that
his party could stage an armed uprising, but charges were
later dropped.
No comments:
Post a Comment