On corruption and justice

The allegations of corruption in Turkey, which have reached the scale of plunder, are not being raised in vain. While deep poverty is observed in a large segment of society, an exaggeratedly massive increase in wealth and consumption has become evident among members of the political power, their inner circles, and the businesspeople who support them. 

Rumors of self-interest and corruption are rampant in every conceivable field. Budget expenditures, tenders, privatizations, treasury guarantees, zoning changes in municipalities, zoning practices of the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, investment incentives, tax and customs exemptions, mining licenses, tourism allocations, import permits, interest rate decisions, decisions of supposedly independent boards such as the Capital Markets Board (SPK), the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK), and the Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK), evaded taxes, special legislative changes made in the Official Gazette in the middle of the night, mafia-type semi-official organizations,  and the facilitation of criminal organizations by the police and their protection within the judiciary have led to the plundering of both state and societal assets.

What is the scale of this corruption? Figures ranging from 300 billion dollars to 800 billion dollars are being discussed. On Saturday, July 27, 2024, between 10:00 and 12:00, Namık Koçak hosted economist Aykut Erdoğdu, who served as a CHP deputy between 2011 and 2023 and specializes in finance and particularly auditing, on the Weekend Forum program on Tele1. I recommend that you find and watch this interview on YouTube.

I emphasized this above. Aykut Erdoğdu is a finance expert, particularly in the field of auditing. Before the 2023 Presidential and Parliamentary elections, he conducted a study with a group of colleagues and found that the amount subject to corruption in the 20-year period between 2003 and 2023 was 418 billion dollars. He suggested that a strong narrative should be prioritized in the elections to ensure that this money is accounted for.

 According to Erdoğdu, not only did AKP members oppose these corruption allegations,  but there were also those within the CHP who opposed them. Two prominent economics professors, whom I believe to be party members, appeared on a TV program and objected, stating that they found this amount to be exaggerated. Some influential figures within the party also blocked the "Corruption and Accountability" election campaign, arguing that using corruption rhetoric for election propaganda would cause a loss of votes.  In the meantime, I should add a note. The factor of Ali Babacan and Ahmet Davutoğlu, partners in the Table of Six who were both active implementers and signatories of the Türk Telekom privatization, public-guaranteed highway, bridge, airport, and patient-guaranteed city hospital projects, also prevented the anti-corruption propaganda during the elections.

I value Erdoğdu's work. I hope he shares the details of this study with the public. Erdoğdu states that, due to party discipline, he will not disclose the names of the two economics professors who objected or those within the party who opposed the idea of holding people accountable.  I respect Erdoğdu's stance. However, I am one of those who believe that “the truth has a habit of coming to light when the time is right.”

THE ECONOMIC DIMENSION OF ACCOUNTABILITY...

Now, let us come to another dimension of the issue. Creating a 'Devri Sabık' (a reckoning with the past), holding people accountable for looted public assets and corruption, and ensuring that stolen money is recorded as revenue for the Treasury down to the last penny is not just an economic matter. It is also necessary and essential for repairing the collapse in social morality, which is the foundation of justice, and for establishing a fair legal order.

When it comes to the fight against corruption, we must give credit to Doğru Party Chairman Rifat Serdaroğlu. The political leader who has used the harshest and most consistent rhetoric regarding holding people accountable for corruption, creating a reckoning with the past, and reclaiming assets from those—whether public or private individuals—who have unjustly acquired public property is Doğru Party Chairman Rifat Serdaroğlu. The issue has also been clearly recorded in writing in the Doğru Party's Roadmap and announced to the public. To summarize by blending Serdaroğlu's previous statements:

 “A 'Devri Sabık' is not an act of revenge. It is the process of bringing reports prepared by a committee consisting of international auditing firms, the Court of Accounts, and Turkey's trained, experienced financial experts, account specialists, and inspectors, along with allegations, before an independent judiciary. If the individuals held responsible are found innocent, they will be cleared. If the allegations are slander, this will also be an opportunity for them to be exonerated. It is not just the political institution and the bureaucracy that will be held accountable here. With the report from international auditing firms, a project (such as a bridge) that would be assigned to a single entity  those who do it for five units, seize public assets through this method to enrich themselves unfairly, and have become cogs in the wheels of bribery  people disguised as businesspeople will also be put on trial. We believe the mentioned amount is no less than 700 billion dollars.

This amount is large enough to significantly increase the welfare of all our citizens, especially those with low incomes.

This amount is a resource that will provide the financing for investments that will triple Turkey's economy, from agriculture to industry, from urbanization to culture and arts.

 This amount is also an important resource for fulfilling the requirements of a social state. The right to free and quality education where all educational expenses, including nutrition and housing, are covered for every student; quality and free healthcare for everyone; living conditions in peace and prosperity for all retirees; and ensuring a dignified standard of living for those in need are the first priorities of being a social state.”

ITS IMPORTANCE FOR SOCIAL MORALITY AND JUSTICE

It is truly important to return this resource, which has been formed and accumulated through corruption, back to society and the economy through legal means, to close the black holes, to cut off the looting hoses, and to transfer similar resources to economic development and social welfare every year...  It will contribute to the solution of many of Turkey's economic problems.  However, beyond the economy, it is also valuable for the restoration of justice and law, and especially for the decaying and collapsing social conscience and social morality...

The concept known as justice rests upon the "Social Conscience and Social Morality" which has been formed by traditions filtered through the alembic of centuries, even millennia. Constitutions, laws, the prosecutors and judges who implement them, and the law enforcement agencies tasked with maintaining public order—in short, the "Legal Order"—cannot be considered separately from "Social Morality and Public Conscience."

Due to factors such as prolonged high inflation, enrichment through influence peddling, the looting of public assets, unaccountable corruption, the disease of viewing the usurpation of others' rights as a personal entitlement, bribery, and nepotism, we are witnessing decay and collapse in social morality and social conscience that are difficult to repair. If we were to eliminate all politicization in the judiciary today and bring in personnel at every level who adhere to the principles of law, could we ensure justice?

For social morality and conscience to flourish again, it must first be demonstrated that those who commit wrongdoing do not get away with it and are held accountable. You cannot easily explain the virtues of honesty and the necessity of living in a rule-based society that respects everyone to a new generation that sees people living in wealth derived from corruption for which no one has been held to account.

Let us conclude the article with a simple example. Presidents, heads of state, prime ministers, judges, prosecutors, generals, and police chiefs derive their duties and powers from the constitution and the laws. If the person at the very top violates the constitution and is not held accountable, no legal system can prevent a motorcyclist from driving on the sidewalk. Failing to follow rules in the public sphere means usurping the rights of others. The more natural and easy it becomes for people to disregard rules, the more decayed and collapsed social morality, social conscience, and public order become.