Turkey’s political weather forecast


Date posted: December 29, 2013

MURAT YETKİN

Turkey’s new Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ had an unpleasant start to his office on Dec. 26; hours after assuming office, he had a number of blows, one after another.

The first blow came from within his own house. A statement from the Higher Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) said a decree from Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKParti) government was against the Turkish Constitution. The Board was mentioning the government’s Dec. 21 decree, asking prosecutors to inform local administrative authorities about their investigations, which was supposed to be confidential. But Erdoğan was very upset that the son of his (now former) Interior Minister was among those who were arrested during the Big Corruption Probe operations on Dec. 17, on charges of taking and facilitating bribes to get government related businessmen’s problems solved, without the knowledge of the Interior Minister himself. Actually, it was something brought by the Erdoğan government back in 2005, in the framework of European Union harmonization laws to strengthen the independence of the judiciary from executive bodies. But the fury cost dearly for some 650 police officers who were removed from their posts, including İstanbul’s mighty police chief. Pro-government papers claimed most of them were sympathizers of the moderate Islamist scholar Fethullah Gülen who is living in the USA; he was one of Erdoğan’s closest allies against the military’s involvement in politics and his sympathizers within the police and judiciary had allegedly played an important role during alleged coup trials, like Ergenekon and Balyoz.

There is an important detail here: the justice minister is actually the head of the board. It was understood in minutes that there had been a vote among the board members without the presence of the minister and 13, out of 21 members of HSYK had voted against the government decree, to which the Union of Turkish Bars had already strongly denounced as being unconstitutional.

Right after the HSYK statement an Istanbul, prosecutor Muammer Aktaş -literally- released a written statement in front of the main Istanbul Justice Palace and said a second wave of corruption investigations that he wanted to start was obstructed by his superiors and the new Istanbul police chief, who apparently turned out to be a classmate of new Interior Minister, Erdoğan’s former Undersecretary Efkan Ala. In the meantime, PM Erdoğan had told the press the “real aim” of the corruption probes was to “reach him through his son Bilal, but they will remain empty-handed.” Akkaş claimed because of the delay and leaks to media, the potential accusants might have destroyed potential evidence. An hour after that, his superior, Istanbul Chief Prosecutor Turhan Çolakkadı appeared before the cameras and suggested the prosecutor to make “independent decisions,” to start an investigation; one of the weirdest suggestions to be made of a prosecutor.

So the first statement of Bozdağ in his new post on Dec. 27 morning had to be quite a defensive one; HSYK had no right to make press statements. But Bozdağ was more than happy when HSYK made a statement in his support when he was attacked last year during his Deputy Prime Minister post.
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), strongly criticized the government and accused them of “Putting pressure on the judiciary, which wants to catch the thieves, in order to let the thieves go free”. He called on the government to leave the courts free to do their job.

As Istanbul police and gendarmerie (also under the Interior Ministry) refuse to obey the prosecutors’ demands to carry out a corruption investigation, the Council of State, which was acting upon the demands of the Bar of Ankara and other applicants, nixed the government decree. The General Staff, which has remained silent since the Ergenekon and Balyoz cases, said they are determined to stay out of political debates. In the meantime, three more members of Parliament on the AK Parti list, one of them being the former Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay, resigned from the party in protest of being put on the party disciplinary board because of their statements asking for a clarification for corruption probes.

All of these developments made Erdoğan even more furious. He said he would have wanted to try the judiciary if he had the authority. Hours later, AK Parti organized a crowded welcome for him in Istanbul, knowing almost all national channels would broadcast it live, as otherwise is unthinkable given Turkey’s current political atmosphere.

Is it complicated? That’s why the title is political weather forecast. Electricity loaded clouds are piling up in the sky.

Source: Hurriyet Daily News , December 28, 2013


Related News

The system is the root cause of corruption

We have the perfect recipe for all kinds of corruption. The media has been silenced. It does not work as a watchdog, inspecting the government’s financial dealings. Parliament cannot inspect the government’s financial transactions. The Court of Accounts (Sayıştay) cannot inspect the government’s expenses. There are no internal mechanisms within the ruling party to make sure its leaders are accountable; there is only an infallible leader figure, and whatever he does, the party endorses it.

In Netherlans court orders parents to stop calling De Roos primary a terrorist school

Judges in Haarlem have banned four mothers from calling an Islamic primary school in Zaanstad a ‘terrorist’ school. People who press ahead with saying the school supports terrorism face a fine of €1,000 with a maximum of €10,000.

Teacher detained while visiting relatives during Eid holiday

A teacher, identified with his/her initials M.P., was detained while on a visit to his/her relatives in Tatar village, Sivas on the very first day of the Muslim festival, Eid al-Fitr. It is a tradition that Muslims visit their elderly relatives at their homes as part of Eid celebrations in Turkey.

Speaking about Gülen, Chomsky: ‘Mandela declared as terrorist, too’

World-famous philosopher, philologist and historian Prof Dr. Noam Chomsky gave a speech about the claims of ‘terrorist’ against Fethullah Gülen in Boston. Chomsky reminded that legendary leader Nelson Mandela, who was awarded with Nobel Peace Prize for his struggle against racism and insistence on peaceful solution for racism, had been in ‘list of terrorists’.

Gülen offers condolences for police officer, resident

Gülen said in a statement on Friday that Turkey’s “atmosphere is being spoiled with rancor and hatred” and that the country needs a nationwide return to common sense and security above all else.

Yamanlar Schools students sweep AMC 8

İzmir’s Yamanlar Schools won 18 golden, 25 silver and 17 bronze medals at the recently held 60th Annual International AMC 8 contest, jointly held by Mathematical Association of America (MAA) and University of Nebraska. 350 thousand students from 6 thousand schools in 86 different countries attended the contest online.

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

Exiled journalist warns of a genocide in the making in newly released book

A major scandal by the Mukhabarat state

Peace Islands Institute hosts iftar in NY

Global Doctors Movement goes to Africa, performs 65 cataract surgeries

Reflections on the Gulen Movement Conference in Senegal

Food and fun abound at Turkish Festival

Erdoğan admits calling Habertürk executive to change reporting during Gezi protests

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News