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ANKARA, Aug 8 (AFP) - In his first disagreement with the government since taking office, Turkey's new President Ahmet Necdet Sezer rejected Tuesday a controversial decree aimed at purging public offices of employees deemed to harbor radical Islamic or separatist views. The decree comes as part of a massive crackdown carried out by Turkish officials since 1997 to eliminate political Islam, which the country's powerful army deems as the major threat to the country's secular order. Sezer, a former jurist who was elected in May as the government's sole candidate, returned the document to the prime minister on the grounds that the decree, which would bypass parliament, should be embodied in a bill approved by MPs, his office said in a statement. Sezer underlined that he did not oppose the protection of secularism and state unity, but said that under the constitution, a parliament-approved law should enforce disciplinary sanctions. "The president is aware that no idea or opinion could enjoy protection against the indivisible unity of the Turkish republic, and deems himself responsible to safeguard these values," the statement said. The rejected decree, drawn up by the three-way coalition of Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, enables the expulsion of civil servants from public service for life on the basis of reports by state inspectors that they are linked to subversive Islamist or separatist Kurdish movements. Ecevit refused to comment on the president's decision and said he would take up the issue with his two coalition partners. The document was harshly criticized by human rights organizations, trade unions, bar associations, the press and Turkey's pro-Islamic Virtue Party on the grounds that it violates basic human and labor rights. Under the constitution, the government is not obliged to modify the document before submitting it again for approval, while the president can delay his decision as long as he likes. However, the government's time for issuing a decree on the subject is limited by a parliamentary authorization bill, which will expire at the end of December. If the government insists on the decree, the president can approve it and then resort to the constitutional court for its cancellation. |
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