'The State Has Completely Lost Its Mind'!..

Faced with what is being done by those who govern the country, we as a nation have reached the point of walking around with funnels on our heads. 

Such strange claims are being voiced in the war the Court of Cassation has started against the Constitutional Court that, may God protect our sanity. 

Before those claims, let us recall what happened 11 months ago.

There were months until the May 14 elections; the terms of 5 members of the Supreme Election Council (YSK) had expired. In their place, 3 names were to be elected from the Court of Cassation quota and two from the Council of State. 

The Council of State elections finished quickly. However, the elections could not be held at the Court of Cassation for a long time because a simple majority could not be reached despite dozens of rounds. In those days, the disagreement between the “nationalist and conservative groups” in the Court of Cassation was mentioned. This was once again an indicator of how the judiciary has become politicized. 

Ultimately, whatever agreement was reached, 3 members were elected one after another at the end of January, and the YSK became ready for the election. The common feature of those elected was that they had “worked closely with the government.”       

However, according to another claim circulating in the lobbies at that time, a bargain had been entered into to provide a raise that would equalize the salaries of other high judicial members with those of the Constitutional Court members, and once this promise was obtained, the elections were quickly completed. Again, according to the claims, the person who conducted the said negotiations and received this promise was a Court of Cassation member who would later be elected to the YSK.  

CAN THERE BE THIS MUCH “SENTIMENTALITY”?

When did these rumors take shape?  

While the country was experiencing the pain of the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquake; with three special articles added to the omnibus bill accepted in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) on March 30, it was decided to give a raise of up to 15 thousand liras to the salaries of Court of Cassation and Council of State members. 

This caused discomfort among all first-class judges and prosecutors who were not serving in the high judiciary. Resignations from the Association of Union in the Judiciary began as a reaction. 

As a result, a judge first applied to his institution and requested that he also benefit from this raise. When his request was not accepted, he filed a lawsuit. The court hearing the case decided that the regulation in question was unconstitutional and applied to the Constitutional Court (AYM) for the annulment of the law. 

And on October 11, the Constitutional Court annulled the provision of the law that provided for an additional raise to the salaries of Court of Cassation and Council of State members. The said annulment decision will enter into force 6 months after the justification is published in the Official Gazette. 

The pain of the earthquake and the rush of the election caused it to escape attention; let us note that the judge who ensured this annulment is Judge Colonel Mehmet Yüzbaşıoğlu, who has come to the fore in the fight against “FETÖ” and currently serves as the Head of Legal Services of the Land Forces Command.  

Coming to today; what is being talked about? 

Sir, after this annulment, the members of the Court of Cassation and the Council of State protested the workshop organized by the Constitutional Court... 

No, the tension between the Court of Cassation and the Constitutional Court has increased significantly because of this annulment decision...

For God's sake, can state affairs be conducted with such “sentimentality,” can justice, the foundation of the state, be established this way? Since it cannot, are these very rumors not discrediting the judiciary? 

DO NOT DO YOUR JOB, BLAME THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT 

The point reached after the war that started over the Can Atalay file is known; the government is after making a new constitution under the guise of limiting individual applications to the Constitutional Court. 

Erdoğan used the following expression regarding individual applications while returning from Riyadh recently:   

“I just learned. I said how many individual applications are there? The answer is 130 thousand. It means that the Constitutional Court has unfortunately not achieved its goal of accelerating its work.”

Did Erdoğan just learn that there are 130 thousand applications before the Constitutional Court?!. 

However, we know that the President of the Constitutional Court, Zühtü Arslan, stated the number of files before them at almost every meeting. For example, he gave the figure of 123 thousand on November 1, 2022, and finally 130 thousand last month at the international symposium on the 11th anniversary of individual applications. 

More importantly, in all meetings, including the 61st anniversary ceremony of the Constitutional Court on April 25, which Erdoğan also attended, he showed the ways to solve the problem and explained that the legislative and executive branches should make regulations that will dry up the source of rights violations, and that judicial bodies should “apply the basic principles and foundations set forth in violation decisions.” 

Those who have not done their duty for years are now putting the entire bill on the Constitutional Court. Oh, how convenient!..

THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT HAS ALSO BECOME A “TERRORIST”

There was another important part in Erdoğan's statement upon his return from Riyadh. He said; 

“Going for a legal regulation regarding individual application is not a difficult event. Everything depends on the decision the People's Alliance will take and the step it will take. However, the work does not end after handling the individual application. Where will the door that this individual application relies on be after this? It will be the Constitutional Court again. First, the Constitutional Court needs to be ready for this. Because many legal regulations go to the Constitutional Court. They are turned upside down in the Constitutional Court. Here, too, the parliament takes such a decision, but if this decision is turned upside down by the Constitutional Court, it serves no purpose other than a waste of time.”

The Turkish translation of these words is; before a restructuring or closure decision, the Constitutional Court needs to be dealt with!.. 

But how?!.

Let us refer to the speech of the Alliance's partner, MHP Leader Devlet Bahçeli, at his party's Parliamentary Group Meeting yesterday. 

He wanted President Zühtü Arslan to “go to Kandil”... He said that the Constitutional Court is “a center that stands out on the side of oppression and against the nation and the state, and that it pats the backs of traitors whose heads are crushed in the mountains, in the plains, within the borders, and beyond the borders”... 

In short; it only remained for him to officially declare the Constitutional Court a “terrorist organization”!.. 

If we combine the statements of the two partners; are the President and members of the Constitutional Court being forced to resign with these discourses?.. Or will they be eliminated by opening a “terror” investigation against them?.. 

Two weeks ago, Erdoğan had said for Israel, “It is seen that it has completely lost its state mind.” 

Looking at what is happening, one cannot help but ask; is it only Israel?!.