This Is the AKP's 'Century of Turkey' Snapshot!..

On Friday, another legal massacre took place in this country; but, unfortunately, not a leaf stirred again.

I need to tell the whole story once more, from beginning to end, with its new details.

Elif Akkuş is a young woman of 46. She worked as a war correspondent at TRT for 25 years.

On April 20, at 04:00, she was summoned to the Board of Inspection with a message sent to her phone and was informed that she had been suspended for 3 months.

The justification was the belief that she had provided information regarding certain allegations made about the institution by an account called TRT Gerçekleri (TRT Truths)!..

As if no one heard, saw, or knew what was going on at TRT... As if these had never been voiced in Parliament or made the subject of parliamentary questions.

FIRST ATTEMPT: NO GROUNDS FOR INVESTIGATION

TRT did not stop at suspending Elif Akkuş; it filed a criminal complaint against her with the Prosecutor's Office.

And what was the outcome of this criminal complaint? The Prosecutor's Office did not even summon Elif Akkuş to testify and decided that there were no grounds for an investigation.

Let us return to the Elif Akkuş front. She initiated a legal process regarding the suspension and filed a lawsuit in the Administrative Court.

When the 3-month suspension period ended, she went to the TRT building to learn about her status and to return to work.

What she saw at the gate was a huge photo of herself, reminiscent of cowboy movies, in a “Wanted” style, and underneath it was written in capital letters: “ENTRY TO THE INSTITUTION IS PROHIBITED!!!”

Upon her insistence, those at the gate called the authorities and said that Akkuş had arrived and wanted to enter. After 2 hours of effort, she was told to leave, saying, “You will be notified.”

On the same day, a notification arrived at her home. The suspension had been extended for another 2 months.

However, although some decisions of the Council of State consider the initiation of an investigation against the relevant person sufficient for the extension of a suspension, according to established jurisprudence, a prosecution condition was required.

Elif Akkuş's lawyers, Hüseyin Ersöz and Nazlı Çubuklu, filed a lawsuit in the Administrative Court regarding this action as well.

Meanwhile, the administrative investigation conducted by the TRT Board of Inspection against Akkuş was ongoing. The expenses of her foreign assignments, especially the Libya war, began to be scrutinized in detail. Inspectors were even sent to Libya.

And one day, Akkuş appeared before the inspectors with her lawyers to give her defense. She answered all questions one by one. When baseless accusations were directed at her, an argument broke out between the lawyers and the inspectors at one point. When the lawyers stated that they wanted the President and the inspectors to be dismissed and that they would file a criminal complaint against them, the President of the Board of Inspection said, “I am ending the testimony.” Later, when the atmosphere softened, it was reported that the remaining questions would be sent to Elif Akkuş in writing.

In the meantime, the suspension of Akkuş was extended for the third time.

CAN PRESSURE BE PUT ON A HOSPITAL?

While Akkuş and her lawyers were waiting for the questions and preparing to take the last suspension decision to the judiciary, what happened, happened.

Starting from October 10, this time, certain allegations about TRT began to be shared from another social media account.

Interestingly; while all posts on other topics were pro-government, for some reason, the TRT administration was being targeted in these posts.

Even though she did not share the posts in question, Elif Akkuş was still considered the “usual suspect.” TRT General Manager Mehmet Zahid Sobacı and some other complainants filed a criminal complaint within a few days against the owner of the account, some people who shared the posts, and Akkuş.

An investigation was immediately opened. An arrest warrant was issued for Elif Akkuş, and they went to her home in Istanbul. On the same day, an attempt was made to seize Akkuş's social media account.

Elif Akkuş was in Ankara at the time. She went to the police station and surrendered; however, Akkuş, who had a stent placed in her brain after a surgery she underwent last year, was taken to the hospital with high blood pressure. When she was not treated properly for two days, the lawyers went to the Prosecutor with her reports and requested her transfer to Medicana, where she had her surgery and where her treatment was being handled.

QUESTIONS WERE SENT WHILE IN CUSTODY

The request was accepted. When Elif Akkuş went there, she was immediately admitted to intensive care.

A day later, when she moved to a normal room, the Prosecutor sent police to take her statement despite the doctors' objections. Elif Akkuş barely gave her statement because her blood pressure problem continued.

And what a coincidence, the questions expected from TRT also arrived while Elif Akkuş was in custody.

After Akkuş's statement was taken, a series of oddities began.

The Prosecutor lifted the detention order; but immediately after, he sent a letter to the hospital with the instruction, “Ensure that she comes to us as soon as she is discharged.”

Whatever else happened behind the scenes; the hospital management, which said “Her condition is critical,” discharged Elif Akkuş, whose blood pressure they had lowered by administering medication throughout the night, in a hurry the next day.

She was supposedly not in custody, but the discharge procedures were carried out under police escort. Again, Akkuş went to the office of her lawyer, Nazlı Çubuklu, under police surveillance. From there, she came to the Courthouse under police escort.

The medication had ruined Elif Akkuş's stomach. That is why she had to go to the toilet twice during the Prosecutor's statement.

Attorney Hüseyin Ersöz recorded all these events in the statement report and asked, “Didn't you lift the detention order?” After the Prosecutor replied, “Yes, we lifted it, but actually we didn't,” he referred Elif Akkuş to the Criminal Judgeship of Peace with a request for arrest. Along with it, he took a new detention order. It was seen that the name of another suspect, who was released the day before with judicial control conditions, was also on the order.

THE JUDGE WAS ALSO A HYPERTENSION PATIENT

While waiting to give a statement at the Criminal Judgeship of Peace, Elif Akkuş became ill again. Her lawyers requested an ambulance from 112.

The arriving team measured her blood pressure; it was 17/10. Medication was given. It was reported to the center that the patient needed to be kept under observation immediately. When courthouse officials said they had to ask the judge about this, they went to the judge; however, the judge rejected their request for a meeting.

When her turn came, Elif Akkuş was taken to the courtroom on a stretcher, accompanied by a doctor and nurses. They waited for a while for her blood pressure to drop.

The judge asked about the situation; when the health personnel stated that it had dropped to 16, he said, “I am also a hypertension patient. I have sublingual medication in my room. If she gets sick, we can have it brought,” and asked the doctors to leave and began taking Elif Akkuş's statement.

WHILE DOCTORS WERE PREPARING TO TAKE HER TO THE HOSPITAL

The hearing was short. While waiting for the decision, the health personnel began planning which hospital to take Elif Akkuş to; because her blood pressure had risen to 19.

But despite this serious picture, Elif Akkuş was arrested on charges of “illegally obtaining or disseminating personal data, blackmail, and slander,” which do not even have a prison sentence.

While the health personnel were still thinking that they would take her to a hospital and waiting for that, Elif Akkuş was sent to Sincan Prison.

All of this happened just five days ago.

I have given up on the authorities and politicians; have you heard a single word so far from press professional organizations, human rights, or health organizations?

In five days, we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of our Republic.

Except for TRT. Whatever kind of celebration they were going to have; they canceled them due to what is happening in Gaza!..

In the preparations made on behalf of the Palace, it was seen that the works of the AKP era were promoted, and Erdoğan and the “Century of Turkey” slogan were brought to the forefront.

Ladies and gentlemen!.. The snapshot of the AKP's “Century of Turkey” is that even seeking one's rights is now considered a crime, and people can be arrested even while on a stretcher;

Our reality as a nation is that we have become accustomed to injustices and have fallen into a deathly silence!..

Müyesser YILDIZ
October 24, 2023