Date posted: July 13, 2015

Former Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin has denied allegations in a recent police report which claimed that he helped the so-called ‘parallel structure’ setting up its own cadre at the Justice Ministry during his term in office.

The so-called “parallel state structure” (PDY) document that was recently sent by Zeki Çatalkaya, deputy chief of the National Police Department, to the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The document, strongly criticized by jurists, defines the structure as an organization which aims to “seize all the constitutional institutions of the Turkish Republic and become a large-scale and influential political and economic force on the international level.” The report also states that the fact that the organization has these aims “is understood from the statements of those who were once a part of this organization.”

It also accuses Ergin of “shaping laws in accordance with orders he took from lawyers close to the parallel structure” and “recruiting those who are close to the parallel structure to the ministry.”

The former justice minister denied the allegations, saying they are groundless assumptions. He said a justice minister cannot act against the policies of the government it is a part of.

The “parallel structure” is a term invented by then-Prime Minister and current President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to refer to followers of the Hizmet movement that was inspired by Gülen, particularly followers within the state bureaucracy, such as the police department. Erdoğan launched this large-scale battle against the movement because he and the government believe that the movement was behind a major corruption and bribery investigation that implicated Erdoğan, his relatives, four former ministers and some pro-government businessmen first revealed on Dec. 17, 2013.

Source: Today's Zaman , July 11, 2015

Tags: Defamation of Hizmet | Hizmet and politics | Turkey |