Fraudster to Greece by yacht, reporter to prison by Metrobus

What a week it was... Could so much absurdity really fit into one week? It did!

Just when we thought, 'Okay, this is over,' a bombshell exploded on Friday, making us forget all the week's absurdities in one fell swoop. Eight people, including former Central Bank Deputy Governor Emrah Şener, were arrested. The reason? The discovery of corruption exceeding 100 million TL in tenders held at the Interbank Card Center.

So, who is this distinguished gentleman?

He is the gentleman whose signature is still on the 200 TL banknotes we carry in our pockets today! Yes, that's right, the signature you see on that banknote belongs to the deputy governor whose name is involved in tender corruption...

Are you surprised? I am not.

Because in Turkey, almost everyone working at the head, in the middle, or at the door of an institution is now abusing their position.

I say 'almost' because it would be rude to say 'everyone,' but the percentage keeps rising as we wake up to a new scandal every day.

So, who are we supposed to trust?

The doctor is fake, the lawyer is fake, the diplomas are fake, even what we eat and drink is fake. Is no one in this country doing their job with integrity anymore?

He was the brightest economist

Look, in 2016, the then-Minister of Finance Mehmet Şimşek had said of this Emrah Şener's appointment, 'He is one of Turkey's brightest economists.'

So that 'brilliance' came from there; it turns out our gentleman's light was from corruption!

If the man we trust the most does this, what won't those we don't trust do?

The country has sunk into such a swamp that people are turning to illegal paths because they can no longer make a living with normal earnings; then they legalize that filth with titles, positions, and status.

One rigs a tender, another turns out to be a university rector and appoints his wife wherever he wants. Someone else grants privileges to his son, another fills the municipality with his relatives. Every day, everywhere, a scandal!

And I ask:

Doesn't every citizen who takes that 200 TL banknote out of their pocket to get change, or Mehmet Şimşek who approves that signature, say 'wow' when they look at it?

The man with no flight risk was caught while fleeing!

But as I said, everything in this country is strange.

This week, members of a fake diploma gang who were released to be tried without arrest because there was 'no flight risk' were caught while planning to flee abroad.

Then came the news that Ünsal Ban, the ex-husband of former AKP deputy Zehra Taşkesenlioğlu—the gentleman we know from files on bribery, embezzlement, money laundering, and stock market manipulation—had fled to Greece.

Moreover, this is not the man's first attempt!

He was caught the first time.

He had bought a house in Greece, received a 'golden visa' in return, and was caught in Fethiye while trying to escape with a fake seaman's certificate.

In other words, the man was caught in the act of fleeing!

What happened next?

He was released on the grounds that there was "no suspicion of flight risk."

How can there be no risk, brother? The man was already caught while fleeing!

Well, of course, if you let him go, he will flee again.

And indeed, he did flee... Now the gentleman is sipping frappe by the seaside in Greece.

Furkan will go home at most

You know how we say "where there is no justice, there is nothing"; let me give you another example. We have a young journalist friend: Furkan Karabay... He has been imprisoned for 156 days. He is in prison for doing his job as a reporter. The charges are familiar: insulting the President, targeting prosecutors...

I have known Furkan for years. For a very long time, he has not been working for any institution; in other words, he is unemployed. He is an independent journalist. He runs through courthouse corridors without receiving a salary from any institution to deliver news to the public; sometimes he chooses to walk instead of taking the bus, and sometimes he skips lunch, settling for a simit at the courthouse instead. 

Believe me, if this kid were released under judicial control, he could at most go home and back, and even then, by metrobus... He wouldn't get a 'golden visa' like the ex-husband of a former AKP deputy and flee to Greece; he couldn't. Since he is not a thief, he doesn't run from justice either... Like many of my colleagues, he works for a pittance, or even less. On the other hand, rectors, former deputies, corrupt individuals, and gang members flee freely.

Then they get offended when we say, 'Lady Justice is blindfolded, but it is unclear whose hands she is in.'

In this country, there is now a penalty for being poor and for being moral. The real issue here is not how the political power views events, but the perspective of the individuals in the institutions tasked with ensuring justice: the mindset of 'Let's not get into trouble, let's not lose our seats, let's not have our robes taken from our backs because they look so good on us'; this is what sends these fraudsters to Greece and Furkan to Silivri!

An umbrella for the governor 

As I said, the week was full of absurdities, and I will mention another press freedom scandal. İhlas News Agency reporter Sebahattin Yum reported on a ceremony in Iğdır where an umbrella was held for the governor while veterans were left to get wet in the rain.

The headline was spot on: 'An umbrella for the governor, none for the veterans.'

Then what happened?

The governor got angry and had the reporter detained.

That wasn't enough; he also had another journalist, Erhan Tunç, who is also the President of the Iğdır Working Journalists Association, detained for filming the detained reporter as he left the police station.

I mean, if the governor hadn't stopped there, he would have detained those who read the news too!

Things have reached such a point that if you have the power, you can silence anyone who criticizes you.

Yet, being a governor requires state discipline.

If our governor had come out and said, 'We couldn't foresee the rain, our veterans got wet, I am very sorry, I invite them to my office for tea.'

He would have won all of our hearts. Both the veterans' and ours would have been warmed.

But no... In our country, arrogance has long since slapped state discipline in the face.

The man who is supposed to talk about family safety has beaten his own wife!

Is that all? Of course not.

There is a conference at the Konya Book Days, organized by the Konya Metropolitan Municipality between October 18 and 26. The guest speaker: Halil Ürün, a founding member of the AKP and a 22nd-term member of parliament.

What do you think the topic is?

"Family safety!"

But lo and behold, the gentleman received a six-month prison sentence for "intentional injury" in 2006 for beating his wife!

His wife obtained a medical report for assault, and the report lists everything from bruising and contusions to swelling.

What happened next?

The announcement of the verdict has been deferred.

Now, my very honorable former deputy will come out and talk about "family security."

I wonder what he will say?

Will he say, "Wear boxing gloves so your hands don't hurt while beating your spouse"?

Or, "Hit them where it won't be noticed in court, don't leave bruises"?

Or perhaps, "Protect the family by beating them"?

Mine is just out of curiosity; I am only asking what he will talk about. I would have loved to follow the conference. My request to my readers is that if anyone attends the conference, please share what happens.