Academics sign statement saying ‘rule of law suspended’
Date posted: February 6, 2014
ANKARA
Academics signed a statement declaring that rule of law in Turkey has been suspended since a corruption scandal implicating various businessmen and government officials erupted on Dec. 17.
Professor Ayhan Aktar, Professor Ersin Kalaycıoğlu and Professor Yasemin İnceoğlu, as well as 147 other academics, signed a statement saying that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government cannot ignore corruption allegations by making up claims of a “parallel state” — which has no meaning in political science or law — and placing all responsibility of unlawful acts on the Hizmet movement, which was inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.
A signatory, Professor Gencay Gürsoy, read the statement on behalf of the academics on Thursday.
The statement stressed that the reassignments of thousands of public servants and the worrisome attempts to curb the separation of powers through the judiciary have damaged Turkey’s respect for the principles of law and security and that they have broken the ties between law and legitimacy.
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A group of 49 people, nine experts from Turkey’s State Inspection Council and 40 key advisers of President Tayyip Erdoğan, will closely monitor trials concerning the Gülen movement and submit reports to the president.
A little fairness, please!
Please, take a deep breath and take a trip back to a short time ago. What do you remember of the “Justice and Development Party (AK Party)-Gülen movement disagreement”? Here’s a brief reminder, for a better understanding of the discussion: Fethullah Gülen was taken to the hospital in an ambulance because of an emergency. Because I visited him that day, I wrote as follows: “One of the persons who made [the] first phone call was Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Hundreds gather in front of Silivri Prison to protest media crackdown
Hundreds of people gathered in front of Silivri Prison on Saturday to protest the detention of Samanyolu Broadcasting Group General Manager Hidayet Karaca, who is being held in custody in the prison as part of a government-orchestrated police operation targeting journalists, scriptwriters and police officers.
Even a village cannot be ruled this way
A simple question: by what standards is Turkey being ruled now? Constitution? Laws? Unfortunately, neither. We have a rule based on arbitrariness and bullying. How about democratic criteria? They were long shelved. Legal criteria?
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