Destici: No one should attempt to change law to save themselves


Date posted: December 30, 2013

İSTANBUL
Grand Unity Party (BBP) leader Mustafa Destici, speaking about an ongoing corruption operation and the government’s response to it, said on Sunday that everyone has a responsibility to respect the laws in the country and that efforts to change the laws to protect a certain group of people from accusations are unacceptable.

In the wake of a corruption operation which has extended to several ministers and their sons, the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government, which views the investigation as a “dirty operation” to topple the government, has removed hundreds of police officers who took part in the operation from their posts, leading to claims that it is obstructing the investigation from proceeding.

Making a press statement ahead of his party’s Central Decision and Administration Board (MKYK) meeting at the party headquarters, the BBP’s Destici said: “What needs to be done here is not intervening in the job of the police and the judiciary or removing police officers from their posts. There is no end to this. It was you [the government] who appointed those policemen. It was you who established the judicial system you are complaining about today. If the new ones you appointed today act in the same manner tomorrow, will you also remove them from their posts? The right thing needs to be done. Everyone should respect the current laws and not try to evade them. No one should attempt to change or discredit laws in order to protect themselves.”

He said the laws in advanced democracies do not change according to events, time, persons or governments and that everyone is equal before the law.

‘Be acquitted or be held accountable’

Pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Diyarbakır deputy Altan Tan on Sunday called on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to respond to the corruption allegations which his government is allegedly involved in, saying if these allegations are untrue, his government will be acquitted sooner or later.

Speaking to the Cihan news agency, Tan said many politicians and their relatives have been prosecuted in Turkey due to claims of involvement in corruption and that it is not a new thing for some politicians to be facing corruption charges in the country.

“Whoever was involved in such business [corruption] in Turkey was tried and investigated, and most of them were punished. Now, you [Erdoğan] are facing similar accusations. If you are right, you will be acquitted sooner or later. If not, you will be held accountable for your actions. … You just need to respond to these accusations,” Tan said.

Concerning Erdoğan’s claims that the US, the UK, Europe, Israel and the Hizmet movement are behind the corruption investigation and that their aim is to topple the government, Tan said these groups have been supporting Erdoğan for the past 11 years and that he needs to explain why they withdrew their support from his government.

“Why have you [Erdoğan] been brought to power and why are you now being toppled? You just need to explain this but you don’t,” he said in further remarks.

In the meantime, Felicity Party (SP) leader Mustafa Kamalak, who also shared his views about the ongoing corruption operation, said on Sunday that it is unacceptable to “present those individuals claimed to be thieves as innocent and those who detained them with an order from the prosecutor as criminals.”

Speaking at a meeting of his party, Kamalak said the best way to clear oneself of corruption charges is to allow the judiciary do its job, directing criticisms at the government for meddling in the corruption investigation.

Meanwhile, the house of a woman who held up a shoebox during a meeting of Prime Minister Erdoğan in Akhisar town in Manisa province on Sunday in protest of the government’s alleged involvement in corruption was raided by Erdoğan’s security guards.

Shoeboxes have become a symbol of the ongoing corruption investigation as a huge amount of money was discovered hidden in shoeboxes in the house of state-run Halkbank’s general manager.

The woman, Nurhan Gül, was detained by Erdoğan’s security guards.

Source: Today's Zaman , December 29, 2013


Related News

Hizmet and countering violent extremism

The Hizmet movement is in trouble in Turkey because of the increasingly despotic Justice and Development Party (AKP) regime’s persecution of its volunteers. But, ironically, this may be good for world peace.

“Volunteers of education can end the chaos in the Muslim world”

Republican People’s Party (CHP) former party council member, Muhammed Cakmak referred to the global initiatives by volunteers of education as “a universal movement” and shared his belief that it will end the chaos in the Muslim world. CHP advisor noted this understanding based on de-marginalizing should prevail in Turkey in order to overcome social problems. […]

Turkish gov’t detains more than 70 women over their alleged financial support for jailed Gülen followers

The Turkish government detained more than 70 women on Wednesday evening in five provinces across Turkey as part of a investigation targeting alleged members of the Gülen movement. It was claimed that the detained women have been helping financially to the relatives of those who were jailed or escaped from the persecution of the Turkish government.

Turkey’s post-coup purges shake higher education

With the summer holiday almost over, computer science student Hande Tekiner should be gearing up for a year of cram sessions and late-night homework. Instead, she may have nowhere to return to, as her university was shut after Turkey’s failed coup.

Ankara-supplied clerics spy on Turkish-Australian communities

Turkish imams preaching in Melbourne and Sydney mosques have been instructed to spy on Australian supporters of Fethulah Gulen, an exiled cleric blamed by President Recep ­Erdogan for the failed July coup bid in Ankara.

Indonesian students in Turkey at risk of Gulen purge

Some 300 Indonesian students in Turkey are seen at risk of losing their education stipends as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan tightens his grip on national security following the failed coup attempt in mid-July. Meanwhile, PDI-P lawmaker Charles Honoris said there was no need for the government to heed Erdoğan’s call to close down nine Gülen-affiliated schools in Indonesia, dismissing the Turkish President’s advances as “paranoia.”

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

Arabs, Turks attempt to redefine Arab uprisings, political trajectories

Police officers become victims of torture in Turkey

Autistic child injures self to express grief after father detained in Malaysia: mother

Peace Islands Institute Massachusetts Fifth Annual Friendship and Awards Dinner

Young environmentalists awarded at 22nd INEPO

Turkish schools in Africa important for strong relations

Gulen Schools Fight Provokes New Tensions in Bosnia

Copyright 2023 Hizmet News