The Greatest “Mine” the AKP Has Discovered!..

They sold everything Atatürk created from nothing, and while selling it, they provided the country with the most prisons. We have 405 prisons. They will open 12 new prisons in 2024 and 8 more in 2025.

This was one of the greatest indicators of their understanding of governance and justice; but we either didn't understand or chose to ignore it. Everyone looked at their own neighborhood and said, “Let the snake that doesn't touch me live for a thousand years.”

The result: cries for justice rising from every corner of the country have reached the heavens. The voices of those with money and power are heard; the rest suffer.

But according to members of the government, everything is rosy. After “FETÖ,” they have introduced such a judicial system that you might as well enjoy it while lying in prison!..

Oh, if only it weren't for this Constitutional Court President Zühtü Arslan... He, too, cries out every other day, exhausted from issuing rulings on rights violations!..

I look at the statements of government members, then at Arslan's; I get confused about who is living in Turkey and who is in Sweden or Switzerland.

AN INTRODUCTORY LESSON TO THE “CENTURY OF JUSTICE”

Even though we have become accustomed to the differences between rhetoric and action, let's remember the speech Erdoğan made just 2 months ago at the opening of the new judicial year. What didn't he talk about?!

He gave the good news that “they would continue their efforts with determination to make the Turkish century the 'century of justice'”... He said, “The rule of law is our common goal and red line... It is the duty of all of us to prevent complaints from society by increasing trust in the judiciary... For this, we can never compromise on the principle of the rule of law.”

But look; this part is especially important. He said;

“One of the most effective ways to divide a society and split it into camps is to weaken the belief in the justice system. A society whose belief in the justice system has weakened also sees its trust in its state and institutions eroded. The emergence of such sedition only pleases the enemies of the nation and the country and serves their interests; it causes Turkey to lose. Whether it is a politician, a media member, or an ordinary citizen; no one has the right to do this evil to the country.”

What true words and warnings, aren't they?

COMMITTING THE CRIME OF “DEPRIVATION OF LIBERTY” BY THE STATE

But, here is the first product of the second century of the Republic of Turkey or the AKP's “Century of Turkey”: The Can Atalay file.

Those who became the government and then the state by constantly saying “national will” recognize neither the national will that elected Atalay nor the Constitutional Court, which is a constitutional institution.

The rights and laws of the citizen are being passed around like a football!..

I will not go into the details and absurdities of this entirely unlawful process, I will only say this.

For years, I have been following the trials of judges and prosecutors imprisoned in “FETÖ” cases, especially those who served in the Balyoz, Ergenekon, and Odatv conspiracy cases. In fact, I will be at the trial where the judges and prosecutors in the Odatv conspiracy are being tried tomorrow.

These individuals are being tried for the crime of “deprivation of liberty” in addition to “membership in an organization.”

What is the crime of “deprivation of liberty”? In short; depriving individuals of their freedom through unjust and unlawful detention.

It is believed that those being tried for “FETÖ” committed this act within the scope of “organizational instructions.”

Well then, the fact that Can Atalay, an elected member of parliament, has been imprisoned for months;

The Court of Cassation allowing this lawlessness;

A member of the Constitutional Court, which is supposed to discuss the issue, saying “I couldn't study my lesson” on a vital issue like freedom, thereby delaying the meeting, that is, extending Atalay's detention;

And even though the Constitutional Court said clearly that “there is a rights violation” and Constitutional Court President Zühtü Arslan was forced to issue written and verbal warnings for the implementation of the decision, the local court sending the file back to the Court of Cassation after days, as if waiting for a “voice from the heavens,” is this not in itself the crime of “deprivation of liberty” committed by the state?

THIS IS CALLED A STATE CRISIS

Read those words of Erdoğan above, which I said “This is very important,” again.

Hasn't the belief in justice been dealt another major blow with the Can Atalay incident, and hasn't society been divided and split into camps once again?

Well, who does such “sedition” please, and who does it cause to lose? In Erdoğan's own words; “it serves the interests of the enemies of the nation and the country, and it causes Turkey to lose,” right?

Then, who are those doing such evil to the country, and what are their goals?

Look at the situation; the State's Constitutional Court is at odds with other institutions...

They haven't achieved results from their plans to divide the nation for decades; I don't know if they want to finish the job by dynamiting the foundation of justice that makes the state a state - but let's name it.

What is happening is, on one hand, the funeral of justice, which has long been dead, even rotten and stinking, being left in the middle, and on the other hand, it is a state crisis.

THE GREATEST “MINE” DISCOVERED

A former member of the judiciary I chatted with a few months ago said, “The greatest mine the AKP has found is not Gabar oil or Black Sea gas, it is the law. They discovered that they can do anything with the law.”

I guess so.

Let me remind you of these words of Erdoğan from 1994:

“They are asking if Turkey will become Algeria. We are coming by making it digestible, with God's permission. This film has started to be recognized now. Now the nation is aspiring to change not just the actors, but the script, and these efforts are efforts to change this script. We are coming for that. We cannot be the protectors of this order, it is impossible. Those who prepare this law will be the pawns of the removal of this order.”

MY HUMBLE SUGGESTION TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

Therefore, as a last hope; I have a humble suggestion for Constitutional Court President Zühtü Arslan, who has left almost no words unsaid in the name of the rule of law.

During the Balyoz and Ergenekon conspiracy periods, we held a “Justice Watch” in front of the Constitutional Court and let out “silent screams.”

I wish that those who still believe in the law and are fighting for it - starting with himself - would start a “Justice Watch” in front of the Constitutional Court!..

Müyesser YILDIZ
October 31, 2023