Civil society will not bow

Şahin Alpay
Şahin Alpay


Date posted: January 5, 2015

Turkey is effectively governed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in violation of all the constitutional provisions that define a parliamentary system and a presidential oath that obliges him to maintain political neutrality. Claiming that serious corruption allegations against members of his Cabinet and family were fabricated in a conspiracy to topple his government by what he calls the “parallel state,” meaning the faith-based social movement inspired by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, he has introduced legislation that has emasculated the rule of law and crippled the independence of the judiciary in order to stifle the graft probe.

Erdoğan is leading the country toward a one-man, one-party rule, building (or believing himself to build) not-so-veiled alliances with those implicated in the Balyoz and Ergenekon military coup attempts on the one hand and with pro-Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) elements charged with organizing a true parallel state in the Kurdish-majority region on the other, both of whom also claim to simply be victims of evidence fabricated by Gülenist prosecutors and police, having done no wrong.

Opposition parties, civil society groups, media and intellectuals committed to a liberal democracy do not, however, bow before Erdoğan. Voices against the direction he is leading the country in are getting even louder. Let me give examples from just the last two weeks.

A number of prominent writers and journalists issued a statement calling on the government to reverse course on the dangerous road it is leading the country down. At least 10,000 citizens have co-signed that statement, so far. Last week, Haluk Dinçer, chairman of the Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (TÜSİAD), the country’s most powerful civil society organization, said in an interview that he does not see any “parallel structure” within the state, was not at all surprised by the corruption allegations against the government, is against the adoption of a “Turkish-style” presidential system as desired by Erdoğan, and that his interlocutor is not the constitutionally neutral president but the prime minister. Erdoğan was infuriated.

Sedef Kabaş, a journalist who was detained because she protested against the dismissal of the corruption charges on Twitter, said: “There is nothing to be afraid of. Why should we be afraid? Those who lie and steal are the ones who should fear…” The Journalists Association of Turkey (TGC) objected to her detention and stated that not less than 70 journalists were currently on trial for reporting on the corruption allegations.

Salih Memecan, a well-known cartoonist of the pro-government newspaper Sabah, surprised with his new year’s cartoon that criticized the government on issues ranging from the Gezi Park protests, the corruption allegations and pressure on journalists to the detention of a 16-year-old student last week for insulting the president. Professor Eser Karakaş, a columnist for the pro-government newspaper Star, said in an interview: “The Justice and Development Party [AKP] is not a conservative but an opportunistic party… It sees Turkey as a country to be saved from non-Muslim domination.”

There are also voices raised against the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democracy Party’s (HDP) not-so-veiled appeasement of the AKP. When Hatip Dicle, an HDP deputy, parroting Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, claimed that the recent clashes between pro-PKK and pro-Hizbullah (Turkey) militants were a provocation by the “parallel state” to derail the peace talks between the government and the PKK, Altan Tan, another deputy from the same party retorted: “Even a stone that drops from the sky is blamed on the ‘parallel state.’ … Some people are doing this just to please the government. This is not right.”

But the most remarkable criticism directed against the HDP came from a former pro-Kurdish parliament member, Mahmut Alınak, who said: “While the AKP is deceiving the people by functioning as a matchless lying machine … you are helping it to maintain the status quo. It is well known that holders of power often encourage their harmless opponents to use the harshest of words against them, even engage in polemics with them. They manage to rein in the raging discontent of the people by taking advantage of sharp-tongued but congenial politicians.” What harsh words!

Source: Today's Zaman , January 04, 2015


Related News

Gulen, Moderate Cleric, Vilified In Turkey

The Turkish government’s war on the Gulen movement has shown no signs of ebbing. Ankara is so determined to crack down on this loose network that its top security council framed it as a terrorist group last week.

Is the March 30 referendum in danger?

It has become very evident that some businessmen who benefitted illegally in major state tenders acquired independent media, a person very close to Erdoğan was appointed as the editor-in-chief and that this media organ became a mouthpiece of Erdoğan. Independent civil society groups such as the Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (TÜSİAD) and the Hizmet movement are constantly depicted as traitors and the puppets of international dark forces by Erdoğan.

How did we step into the missionary threat trap?

After the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) assumed office in 2002, the “missionary threat” was brought to the agenda of the National Security Council (MGK) out of the blue. This council had been acting just like a shadow cabinet as it was dominated by top brass commanders and enjoyed powers and authorities that were […]

Turkey cooperates with smugglers to catch Gulen sympathizers seeking asylum abroad

A Turkish teacher seeking asylum in Greece claimed that Turkey has been cooperating with smugglers to hunt those fleeing the country.

TÜBİTAK scolded for hiding olympiad winners were from Hizmet schools

The president and members of the government have scolded the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) for not revealing that the majority of medal winners at two recent scholastic olympiad events were students from schools affiliated with the Hizmet movement, the Taraf daily reported on Tuesday.

Gulen Movement Educates Kurds, and not Everyone Is Happy

Nicolas Birch,  Turkey There is a studious silence in the basement floor of the Rose Pink Women’s Education and Mutual Aid Association in Diyarbakir, the largest city in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast. In three classrooms, 70 12-year-old girls are hard at work studying for exams that will decide their secondary school future. Wearing headscarves that […]

Latest News

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

University refuses admission to woman jailed over Gülen links

In Case You Missed It

Turkish police detain 35 lawyers for ‘defending’ Gülen sympathizers

Did Turkey Really Save Democracy On July 15?

Is there anybody there for Kimse Yok Mu?

On Gülen vs Erdogan – “And not equal are the good deed and the bad”

DUTCH MP’S FURIOUS ABOUT PRESSURE FROM TURKISH AMBASSADOR

Yes, Love Is a Verb!

Turkish PM calls on Islamic scholar Gülen to return to Turkey

Copyright 2023 Hizmet News