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Turkey's reforms frightens Iranian fundamentalists

By M.Behnoud

The European Union's somehow positive, however unofficial, stance towards Turkey to start negotiations with that country, regarding its application to join the EU, has brought great joy to Turkey and has been interpreted as a significant victory for its government. However it has attracted fierce opposition from Iranian fundamentalists who regard having Europe as their neighbours a threat to their efforts to turn Iran into a strict Islamic society.

After the events of 9/11, US and its allies revised their international and regional policies; US soldiers were deployed in Eastern and Western borders of Iran; Central Asian republics did not interpret their newly gained independence in the same way that the Muslim fundamentalists did, and turned their attention to Western markets to fulfil their needs; and the Persian Gulf states who had gone that way years ago, strengthened their friendship with the West by showing more political and social solidarity and providing bases for Western troops. However Turkey, with the victory of Islamists in the 2002 elections remained the only hope for Iranian fundamentalists to propagate the advancement of Islamic ideas in the world.

The Iranian hard-line newspaper, Kayhan, that after the victory of Islamists in Turkey, welcomed the spread of Islam in the region in its headline, attacked the Turkish prime minister with the harshest of words two weeks ago, at the time when Ankara was expecting a visit by the Iranian president.

The Turkish 'Islamist' PM had become under Kayhan's, attacks, on behalf of the Iranian fundamentalist and militant institutions, after he introduced a law to abolish harsh penalties for adultery and stated that it had been a precondition of the EU to accept negotiating about Turkey's application.

Kayhan's article, written by the representative of the Iranian leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was so harsh that made political observers to believe that a new era of tensions had begun in an otherwise warm relationship. Other newspapers noted that the relations between the two countries were deteriorating at a time when 'Iran's best friends', meaning Turkish Islamists, were in power.

However a reformist newspaper, Sharq, explained the true reasons behind this contradiction. Its editor wrote that Turkish religious intellectuals inside Turkey's secular governing system had gone a step further than theoretical stages and had been able to put their doctrine into practice. They were successful in modernizing religious thoughts and harmonise it with the modern secular school of thought. Reformist wrote; "Turkish religious intellectuals, to prove the effectiveness of their Islamist government, are trying to succeed by democratic means where secular governments failed, namely joining the EU. However democracy is not the only thing that Europeans are expecting from Turkey. They also want secularism that includes abolishing death penalty and reforming social-crimes laws such as adultery."

All these developments are, in the eyes of fundamentalists who are becoming increasingly tough in enforcing Islamic laws to reach their ideal Islamic society in Iran, just a sign that Turkey is distancing itself from their ideas, despite the fact that an Islamic party is in power in that country.

However in the background of these theoretical and religious arguments, almost no one doubts that Turkey as Iran's gateway to Europe, holds a special place in Iran's foreign trade, the same place that helped Iran when during Iran/Iraq war and the closure of Iranian sea routs, most of the country's import from Europe was transported through Turkish roads.

Many observers believe that Turkey's economic prosperity during thirteen years of military and semi-military rule that enabled Turkey to pull closer to Europe was largely caused by that country's special position from both sides during the Iran/Iraq war. As the war made the Persian Gulf increasingly dangerous and unsafe, Tehran and Baghdad's reliance on Ankara increased. And As a result Turkey earned an income equal to Iraq's oil income that practically gave that country an opportunity to close in on its dream of joining Europe.

In the words of an economic expert, Iran is worried about its neighbour's designs but, at the same time, can not easily forego its relations with her neighbour. It is in this atmosphere that it can be said that Europe's decision that will let Turkey to harmonize with global policies, is an extremely significant development for both fundamentalists and reformists in Iran. In their eyes it is not less important that other developments taking place in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In other words at a time when Afghanistan has taken a great leap towards democracy by organising elections under the watchful eyes of US-led forces and Iraq, despite all the negative news coming out of that country, will follow suit in the near future, is the religious governing system in Iran able to follow what militants want, namely relying on force and central authority to digest the destructive developments of the early 21 st century?

Turkey's new developments have surfaced through free elections and the will of the majority. It is different from Afghanistan and Iraq where foreign military forces were responsible for change. That is why Tehran can not accuse Turkish government of betraying country's independence. And that is why it means more bad news for Iranian fundamentalists.

BBC Persian   Oct. 7 th . 2004