After this, the deluge!

Democracies have three pillars:

Legislative, executive, and judiciary…

Until today, the coups we have experienced were always carried out or attempted by the armed forces, which are tied to the executive branch.

Yesterday, for the first time, we witnessed a coup attempt by a high judicial body against another judicial body at the very top!

***

Did I believe until yesterday that there was law in this country and that the principle of the rule of law was functioning?

No!

Did I think that the judiciary was not independent, that it remained under the pressure of the executive, and that it had become politicized?

Yes!

Today, unlike yesterday, I am overcome with great pessimism due to the “judicial war” officially declared by a high judicial body.

***

You cannot simply dismiss what happened yesterday as an ordinary “legal scandal.”

The latest decision by the 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation regarding the imprisoned Hatay MP and lawyer Can Atalay is officially a declaration that: “As high judges, we do not recognize any law. And no one else should either!”

Instead of implementing the decision of the “highest judicial body” that does not think like them, the high judges filed a criminal complaint against the members who issued that decision.

In other words, they demanded their punishment.

Rest assured, while doing this, they drew strength from the MHP Chairman who said, “The Constitutional Court should be closed!”

They followed in the footsteps of the former Prime Minister, and today’s President, who said, “I do not recognize the decisions of the Constitutional Court.”

***

Well, what if the citizens also follow this new “trend”!

What if everyone who dislikes a court decision tries to punish each other?

As a member of the press who is accustomed to having lawsuits filed against him after every article he writes, I am one of those who knows best that this country is not a “rose garden without thorns.”

Hundreds of criminal complaints have been filed against me to date, dozens of lawsuits have been opened, and I have received conviction rulings three times.

I have seen coups, conflicts, friends who died under torture, earthquakes, floods, and explosions.

I have witnessed my country return from the brink of destruction many times.

***

I swear on everything I know to be true; I have never, ever been as “hopeless” as I am today…

Because I believed that every wrong decision would eventually be corrected by “Baghdad.”

And that “Baghdad” was undoubtedly the Constitutional Court…

I knew that the judges of this high court in Ankara would not allow a major mistake to be made.

Even if they did, there was the European Court of Human Rights!

This is the reason for my fear and hopelessness today:

The Baghdad we trusted is being burned and razed to the ground.

My country is being stripped of its status as a “constitutional state” and turned into a “state of laws.”

You know; “laws are not always in accordance with the law…”

In countries governed by law but where justice is destroyed, chaos ensues.

Those with the power call the shots.

Justice falters, the scales falter, and humans falter!

When disputes and injustices cannot be resolved in courts, the fight spills into the streets!

The economy and democracy falter…

If rights and law are slaughtered, that country becomes unlivable…

***

This is the reason for my hopelessness…

The judges of this country, who are primarily responsible for implementing the principle of the rule of law, have attempted to slaughter the highest judicial institution!

They have officially staged a coup and declared war…

So, who and what will we trust now, and to whom will we entrust our fate?

To this judiciary?

Oh friends, oh…

It is hard to write, but… the village in sight needs no guide:

After this, the deluge!