Erdoğan’s parallel state (1)

Dr. Ihsan Yilmaz
Dr. Ihsan Yilmaz


Date posted: February 12, 2014

İHSAN YILMAZ

The Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) semi-official think tank the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA) has been championing the view that the Hizmet movement has formed a parallel state within the state.

It seems that they are distorting the original meaning of the term. Today, the term parallel state must be used to characterize Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s own political design. The recent legal wiretappings that were recorded by a court order have confirmed once again that he has increasingly been building up his own parallel state, despite the fact that he was democratically elected and has been powerfully ruling the country. It is obvious that the constitutional powers given to him have become insufficient for his desires, ideological pretensions and sociopolitical aspirations.

The term “parallel state” was coined by American historian Robert Paxton in order to denote a collection of organizations, organs, associations or institutions that are state-like in their organization, management and structure, despite the fact that they are not officially part of the legitimate state or government. These parallel structures serve primarily to promote the prevailing political and social ideology of the state. Parallel states are, first, created by the executive branch of the government and second, are unofficially or illegitimately financed by the executive branch. The executive branch tries to create Althusserian apparatuses of the executive and not the state, since the state normally includes elements which the executive cannot control such as the judiciary and some autonomous official bodies such as the central bank, the Ombudsman’s office, etc.

In some extreme cases, after fully controlling the state, the executive dissolves the parallel state into the official one. The parallel state differs from the term “state within a state.” While a parallel state is usually endorsed by the prevailing political elite of a country, a “state within a state” refers to state-like institutions that operate without the consent, and even to the detriment, of the authority of an established state with their own secret laws and court systems. Parallel states can be found in totalitarian or semi-totalitarian countries, such as Nazi Germany, fascist Italy, the Soviet Union, Iran and North Korea, and in youth organizations, leisure organizations, work/labor collectives, unions and militias.

Erdoğan is now creating his own parallel state in the sense that the judiciary, law enforcement officers, the Court of Accounts, intelligence agencies, the police force, etc. are some state bodies that must be able to monitor the activities of everyone in the country, including elected politicians, so that illegality and corruption do not occur. Nevertheless, he has been reducing the powers of all these authorities either de jure or de facto so that they cannot effectively uphold the rule of law. For instance, he has been trying to change the law so that prosecutors will not be able to covertly chase down corrupt politicians without letting the politicians know!

The recent Internet ban legislation is similar. Instead of giving independent judiciary the authority to ban website content that is deemed illegal, obscene, attacking personal lives, etc., he wants to give it to one of his bureaucrats who will be able to close down these websites without any court orders. This means that he can censor any criticism on the basis of being insulted, etc. He is effectively transferring the power of the judiciary onto himself.

In my next piece, I will continue with this discussion to show how Erdoğan has been creating a parallel media, economy, his own religious community and even laws by using the public’s money and power of the executive.

Source: Todays Zaman , February 12, 2014


Related News

Turkish Authorities Deny Funeral Service for Drowned Gulen Supporters and babies

Local municipality officials in western Turkey denied funeral service and funeral vehicle for six people, including three babies, who drowned while attempting to reach Greek island of Lesbos in a bid to flee persecution in their home country.

Fethullah Gulen, the man rushing to put out the fire

Salih Can “On condition that the national honor is not disrespected, no effort should be spared to establish peace among groups under threat of split within as Alevi-Sunni, Kurd-Turk and Laz-Circassian” Fethullah Gulen Sivan Perver’s view of Fethullah Gulen Sivan Perver’s words reflected the truth when he said “The Honorable Gulen’s opinions are pretty much well-intentioned. […]

Jihad Turk on Fethullah Gulen and Hizmet Movement

Jihad Turk, a founding Board Member of Claremont Lincoln University, has been instrumental in the establishment of Bayan Claremont, a graduate school designed to train Muslim scholars and religious leaders. He previously served as the Director of Religious Affairs at the Islamic Center of Southern California.

Reassignments — new mobbing on massive scale by gov’t to silence dissent

According to commentators, the governing Justice and Development Party (AK Party), through these reassignments, is not only putting pressure on those carrying out the graft probes but also sending a message to its critics in state positions that their fate will be no different from that of their reassigned colleagues if they do not desist from their criticism of the government.

TUSİAD chairman says does not see ‘parallel structure’ within state

Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (TÜSİAD) Chairman Haluk Dinçer has said that he does not see any “parallel structure” within the state as is asserted by pro-government circles, adding that discharging some police officers on accusations of illegal wiretapping does not prove the existence of such a structure.

Global Muslim networks: How far they have travelled

IT IS a long way from the Anatolian plains to a campus in the heart of London, where eminent scholars of religion deliver learned papers. And the highlands that used to form the Soviet border with China, an area where bright kids long for an education, seem far removed from a three-storey house in Pennsylvania, […]

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Islamic scholar Gülen’s family criticizes PM’s offensive language

Dozens of Dutch-Turkish businesses ‘threatened’ after failed coup

Human Rights Watch Director: This is a political purge… pure and simple!

Gülen urges Hizmet members to defend prep schools in civilized way

Saudi journalist with links to king visits Erdogan rival Gulen

How It Feels to Be a Dissident in Turkey After the Failed Military Coup

Hizmet and the interfaith movement

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News