Ali Yerlikaya's popularity and the realities of Turkey

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, who replaced Süleyman Soylu, is receiving praise from many, including opposition journalists.

The element that makes Yerlikaya popular and earns him appreciation is that he frequently shares the security operations conducted these days on his account on the social media platform X.

The posts generally consist of videos showing a large group of police, motorcycles, vehicles lined up one after another, and raids on locations where criminals are found, made even more attractive with drone footage.

The images certainly provide relief to the ordinary, law-abiding citizen who is anxious and fearful. People who have no one to turn to naturally feel hopeful... By "no one to turn to," I mean people who do not have powerful uncles, aunts, or political connections behind them.

However, there is a massive reality that is being overlooked.

The biggest culprit in Turkey's transformation into a hell of crime and criminals is the AKP government, which has been ruling the country for 21 years. Now, the same government is trying to show that it is in a fierce fight against crime. If it is governing the state, isn't fighting crime what it is supposed to do anyway? Isn't this what is normal?

Criminals from all over the world, especially in Istanbul, continue their activities in our country. Sometimes we witness clashes with long-barreled weapons. After the horrific murder committed at a tobacco shop in Esenyurt, the images of the taxi driver who was recently killed in his vehicle with 10 bullets chilled our blood.

Even the Swedish mafia is in our country.

The number of those processed and the criminal elements seized in Minister Ali Yerlikaya's posts are also noteworthy. For example, Yerlikaya himself reports that in the 'NARKOGÜÇ' (NARCO-POWER) operations carried out simultaneously with the participation of 387 teams, 985 police officers, 2 aircraft, and 27 narcotics detector dogs, the following were seized during searches of the suspects' addresses: 846 kg of methamphetamine, 223 kg of skunk, 11 kg of cocaine, 15 kg of cannabis, 5 kg of bonzai, 0.5 kg of heroin, 35,000 narcotic pills, 14 pistols, and 4 rifles.

A SINGLE OPERATION AND THE RESULTING PICTURE

This is the amount of drugs seized as a result of a single operation.

In his post today, November 6, 2023, mentioning the 'Mengene' (Vice) Operation, Yerlikaya announced that administrative proceedings were initiated against 517 individuals, judicial proceedings against 118 individuals, 33 suspects were detained, and a total of 650 people with outstanding arrest warrants were caught. A single operation and the resulting picture...

It is not possible to deal with crime and criminals in such a moment, with serial operations compressed into a certain time interval. It is necessary to understand why Turkey and the Turkish people have reached this state and to determine a new, long-term roadmap.

The most effective ways to be successful in the fight against the culture of violence, crime, and all kinds of criminal elements are undoubtedly an educated society and ensuring justice.

Everyone, from members of the judiciary to all layers of the government, the public, and journalists, knows that the justice system is experiencing a historic collapse. Those who have no faith in justice and believe they can provide their own justice are turning to individual armament. We know that the number of unregistered firearms in Turkey has exceeded 36 million. There are also about 4 million licensed weapons.

Murders are committed in our country every day. Simple arguments turn into neighborhood wars involving dozens of people, or bloody struggles of primitive-era tribes. People attack each other with axes, clubs, and sharp objects. You see that those who commit murder are among us again...

HOW DID WE GET TO THIS STATE?

Crime and power are glorified. Even small children have a tendency toward violence. While glasses of rakı are blurred in TV series, no one says "stop" to violence against women, the mafia, death-spewing weapons, criminal organizations, dark structures, and male dominance; on the contrary, they pave the way for them.

The result is thousands of murders and millions of young people and children growing up with distorted perceptions...

In short, let the Minister continue to share operation footage, let him make the operations even more frequent, that's fine. But it is useful to remember and remind of this:

How did we get to this state?