After the Referendum the Pressure on Liberals in Turkey Will Increase: Expert on Turkey (EXCLUSIVE)
On the eve of the constitutional referendum in Turkey to be held on April 16, "Armedia" IAA has talked with an expert on Turkey, Levon Hovsepyan.
- How will you assess the process of the campaign on constitutional referendum in Turkey?
- Quite an active campaign has been carried out until now, though it was obvious that those administrative resources that the current authorities have, are being fully used during the campaign. On the other hand, one cannot say that the opposition or the supporters of "No" campaign had no opportunity to make their voice heard to their electorate, to the society.
In regard with these changes there is a clear division, quite deep polarization among the society. Taking into consideration the data received from sociological surveys conducted recently, it is obvious that the number of the society that is not in favor of constitutional changes for different reasons, is becoming more. The threat of one-man rule played a great role in this.
It should be taken into consideration that today’s politics is being build on one person and the part of the society that was undecided, the opposition was able to convince saying that those changes lead to the rule of one person, which is quite dangerous for Turkey. However, I do not think that the referendum will fail. The authorities will succeed in carrying out constitutional changes, though different experts say about the possibility of its failure.
- What position do the ethnic and religious minorities have?
- There is not an emphasized position among the minorities. Nevertheless, it can be mentioned that more liberal parts also among ethnic and religious minorities are more inclined towards "No", as in case of such behavior of the current authorities it is obvious that there will be greater pressure on them. That is to say, in terms of rights, this part of the society is in quite poor condition. I think that after the results of the referendum are confirmed, these tendencies will even more deepen.
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