The path Turkey has taken under AKP rule has polarized the country and created deep divisions in it. The erosion of separation of powers and the restrictions on the authority and power of formerly independent state institutions leave the over 50% of the Turkish population that does not vote for the AKP fearing the direction in which that party is steering their country - away from democracy and towards an Islamist dictatorship.
Turkey's judiciary is no longer independent, and the AKP holds a majority in a parliament that unanimously passes all of its own bills, no matter how controversial. Journalists, authors, and citizens of all walks of life are arrested on charges of "insulting" President Recep Tayyip Erdo─ƒan, or on charges of "membership in armed terrorist organizations" and "plotting a coup to overthrow the government."[1] Dissidents are labeled traitors, or pawns of the U.S., CIA, Israel, Mossad, or foreign "interest lobbies," and are often referred to as present-day "Lawrences" (i.e. of Arabia) who are plotting against Turkey and its government. Additionally, protests against these phenomena are dispersed by police with increasing brutality, sometimes leaving protestors dead.
All affairs of state are now decided by one man - President Erdo─ƒan - who is obeyed unconditionally by the members of his party. At this time, in the run-up to the June 2015 parliamentary elections, Erdo─ƒan is speaking to mass gatherings, where he criticizes and attacks the opposition parties, and campaigning for AKP candidates so that the elections will yield 400 MPs (of a total of 550) for a parliamentary majority that can singlehandedly draw up a new constitution that would also change Turkey's parliamentary system of government to a "Turkish-style presidency," meaning one without checks and balances.[2]
While under the current parliamentary system the president, sworn to impartiality, is mostly a symbolic figure, Erdo─ƒan operates like an omnipotent and partisan president, overriding even the authority of the head of the executive branch - the prime minister - in violation of the constitution.
Hopes for democracy are dimmed as Turkey marches towards a single-party state in which institutions serve the ruling party, not the country.
Following are some of the AKP government's recent actions in this direction:
Turkey's National Intelligence Chief - And Erdo─ƒan's Confidant - Resigns To Run For Parliament On AKP Ticket; Erdo─ƒan Disapproves, And He Is Reinstated
On February 7, 2015, Hakan Fidan, chief of Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MIT), resigned from his position to run in the upcoming June 7 parliamentary elections on the AKP ticket. His resignation was accepted and he was welcomed to the AKP by Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, after the latter met with Erdo─ƒan on the matter. Turkish media speculated that Erdo─ƒan wanted Fidan to be prime minister or foreign minister in the next cabinet.
However, it was later learned that Erdo─ƒan had not approved this move; Erdo─ƒan repeatedly told reporters, at various venues, of his disapproval of Fidan's resignation, calling him his "secret-keeper." While en route to Turkey from Saudi Arabia following an official visit there, he told journalists, "It [MIT chief] is not a random position. It was I who brought him [Fidan] there. Therefore, he should have stayed there, unless he obtained [my] permission to leave." He added that MIT was the country's most important institution, and that if a state's intelligence apparatus is weak, the state will not survive.
Following Erdo─ƒan's repeated statements that he was "upset" about Fidan's resignation, Fidan unexpectedly withdrew his candidacy for parliament, on March 9, 2015. He was immediately reinstated as MIT head by PM Davutoglu, with Erdo─ƒan's approval.[3]
Then-prime minister Erdo─ƒan, MIT chief Hakan Fidan, Secretary of State John Kerry, and President Obama, at May 16, 2013 White House luncheon: WSJ.com, October 10, 2013.
Heated Reactions To Fidan's Reinstatement As MIT Head
Omer Faruk Eminagaoglu, former president of Turkey's Union of Judges and Prosecutors, filed a lawsuit at the Council of State for the cancellation of Fidan's reinstatement as MIT head, arguing that under on Article 14 of the law governing MIT, five years must pass until he can be reappointed to the post.
MPs from the CHP, MHP, and HDP opposition parties have also objected to Fidan's reinstatement at MIT, underlining that the institution must remain independent and impartial, and above politics. They argued that now that Fidan had shown his political colors as an AKP member, he could no longer occupy that post, because under him MIT would serve the ruling AKP party, not the country.[4]
MHP Secretary-General: Did Fidan Meet With Iranians Before Withdrawing His Candidacy?
Ismet Buyukataman, secretary-general of the nationalist opposition party MHP, criticized Fidan's reinstatement as MIT chief, accusing Erdo─ƒan and AKP for using the entire apparatus of MIT to further their political aims. He also asked:[5] "Did Hakan Fidan have any contact with former Iranian president [Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad and others in his delegation, during their recent visit to Turkey to participate in the commemoration of late [former Islamist Turkish] prime minister Erbakan. [And if so,] did this contact have any influence in his withdrawal of his bid?"
It will be recalled that in 2013 the U.S. accused Fidan of being pro-Iran.[6]
"What Are The Secrets Between The President And The Chief Of Intelligence?"
In an article titled "Government and Intelligence," Hayko Bagdat, columnist for the liberal daily Taraf, wrote:[7] "The relationship, and the distance, between the ruling government and the intelligence agencies are the most critical area in all democracies. Where a government's standard is transparency and accountability, how can an MIT chief be a president's 'secret-keeper?' What do these secrets cover?
"From Reyhanli[8] to Robosky,[9] from Dink's murder,[10] to the truckloads [of arms] to [Islamist rebels in] Syria, on all the issues that the government is seen as suspect, how should we read the secret sharing between the government and the intelligence apparatus? Can an intelligence organization armored with extraordinary authority work as a party organization serving the political interest of AKP?[11] Can we say that the MIT belongs to all of us?
"People do not feel secure in this country. We do not trust the police. We do not trust the judiciary. We do not trust the media, the political structure, the pollsters - and, most dangerous of all, we do not trust the MIT at all. The main reason [for the mistrust] lies in the secret-keeping that Erdo─ƒan talks about."
Turkey Blocks Charlie Hebdo, 48 Other Websites
To date, Turkey has blocked nearly 68,000 websites; the most recent addition is the website of the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, in addition to specific pages on the Turkey's most popular Internet forums.
Hurriyet Daily News, March 5, 2015
The latest bans were handed down in a February 27, 2015 ruling by an Ankara Civil Court after the Telecommunications Directorate (T─░B), a government body, filed a criminal complaint for blasphemy. The court imposed sanctions on 49 websites, ruling that they "humiliated the religious values of society." According to Article 216 of the Turkish Penal Code, blasphemy is punishable by imprisonment.[12]
The ruling imposed a blanket ban on the websites of Charlie Hebdo and of Turkey's first, and recently established, Atheism Association, and also blocked individual pages of two hugely popular Turkish forums, Ek┼ƒi S├Âzl├╝k (Sour Dictionary) and ─░nci S├Âzl├╝k (Pearl Dictionary), and pages on the Turkish news portal T24.
Turkish Pollster Raided By Inspectors Following Results That Displeased The AKP
Turkish Finance Ministry inspectors raided a research and polling company two days after the release of a public opinion poll showing support for AKP falling below 40%. Murat Gezici, the owner of the Gezici Research Company, said that on February 24, 2015, inspectors arrived at the company's headquarters in Istanbul to examine the company's financial records, contracts, employees and "even the part-time pollsters," and confiscated computers; he added that "they found no wrongdoing."
He said, "The aim was to pressure us, intimidate us, and stop us from releasing poll results."
Gezici's latest poll showed the AKP at 39.1% approval countrywide, with the main opposition CHP party at 28.7%.[13]
Prominent Turkish Columnist: "I Watch The Killing Of My Profession, Journalism, With A Deep Sense Of Shame"
Kadri Gursel, veteran columnist for the mainstream centrist daily Milliyet, wrote of his many years in the domestic and international media as a reporter, editor, and administrator and of his fight for press freedom:[14] "Now, as a journalist who has turned 50, with nearly 30 years at my work, I watch the killing of my profession, journalism, with a deep sense of shame.
"This is the murder of democracy, being committed quietly but systematically. Eliminating press freedom means eliminating democracy.
"There is no place for press freedom, for true journalism, in the authoritarian regime and society that is being constructed by the current rulers [AKP] who have a totalitarian worldview.
"The political power in government cannot tolerate the presence of independent and honest professional journalists in the mainstream media.
"The [partisan] media of the political power is directed from a single center. The only competition in that media is who will reflect most strikingly, in newspapers and broadcasts, the political rhetoric dictated by the government and the information given to them each day. The [media] write the information... as given to them by the government, and as they are told. You therefore cannot have a new generation of true journalists coming from the government media.
"While the party in power kills its own media before birth by making journalism impossible, it has also, since 2008, been eliminating the mainstream media, by various methods: huge tax fines, calls for boycotts, advertisement embargos, confiscation of media outlets and transfer of their ownership to their supporters,[15] publication bans, targeting of journalists in rallies, and having journalists fired, imprisoned, and prosecuted for frustrating charges of insult.
"The hit men of this that media threaten whatever little freedom of expression and freedom of the press remains in Turkey.
"Accusing every journalist who opposes government policies of being a spy indicates a sick mind. What is even more worrying in terms of the future of our freedoms and democracy is the fact that people with a paranoid and conspiracy mentality, which used to be considered fringe, is today threatening and targeting journalists who are unrestrainedly disliked by the government."
Photo: Taraf, Today's Zaman, February 26, 2015
Turkish Daily Taraf: Here Is AKP's "New Turkey"; Government Inspectors Sit In On Daily Editorial Meeting
On February 24, 2015, Taraf columnist Cüneyt Oruç tweeted, "And finally we went down in the history books of an 'advanced democracy.'" The editorial meeting today began with [the arrival of] inspectors. The government, which says Turkey has the freest media in the world, has gone down in history because the government attended our editorial meeting via its inspectors."[16]
Prosecution, Prison Sentences For Insulting Erdo─ƒan
Prominent Turkish Journalist Faces Trial For "Insulting" Erdo─ƒan, Says Prosecutions Have Become 'Nature Of Journalism' In Turkey
"Standing trial has become the nature of the profession," Can D├╝ndar, editor-in-chief of the secular daily Cumhuriyet, told reporters outside the ─░stanbul Courthouse, where he had testified on charges of "insulting the president."
He continued: "I am here to be tried because of my reports about the December 17-25 [2013] corruption investigations. Erdo─ƒan is pursuing a policy of coercion by pushing for insult cases against every incident of criticism. He is trying to punish everyone who raises their voice in the media - which is already under siege. But you will see that it will be fruitless, because we will continue to speak, and continue to write.
"This has become the technique when publication laws and censorships are not enough [to silence dissent]: showering journalists with expedited criminal cases."
Can D├╝ndar. Photo: Cumhuriyet, March 5, 2015
The same day, journalists Barış İnce, Ömer Ödemiş, and Çiğdem Toker also appeared before judges or prosecutors.
D├╝ndar vowed to continue reporting on the corruption investigation.[17]
Former Miss Turkey Faces Up To Two Years In Prison For "Insulting President Erdo─ƒan"
Industrial designer, model, and former Miss Turkey Merve Büyüksaraç currently faces up to two years in prison for posting on social media a satirical poem that "insulted" Erdoğan. According to the prosecutor's indictment, "the remarks shared by the accused cannot be considered within the terms of freedom of expression."[18]
Merve Büyüksaraç. Photo: Hurriyet Daily News, February 26, 2015
16-Year-Old Faces 37 Months In Prison For "Insulting Erdo─ƒan"
In December 2014, a 16-year-old was picked up from his classroom and detained in the central Anatolian city of Konya, on charges that he insulted President Erdo─ƒan. He remained in custody for two days, in a move that many saw as an attempt to intimidate the opposition in Turkey.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu expressed his support for his detention, saying: "Everyone, no matter who, should show respect for the office of the president."
The Turkish Justice Ministry then gave the required approval for the teen's trial to proceed. He will face one to four years in prison.
The teen, a member of an online group called Democratic High School Students, had in a December speech at a meeting criticized Erdo─ƒan and the AKP government for corruption.[19]
Photo: DHA, January 24, 2015
13-Year-Old Arrested For "Insulting" President Erdo─ƒan On Facebook
On February 27, a 13-year-old boy was dragged out of his classroom in the Western Turkey town of Ayvalik, on suspicion that he had insulted Erdo─ƒan in a post on his Facebook page. The boy's father sought to obtain a medical report attesting to the boy's psychological problems in an unsuccessful effort to get his son released.[20]
Photo: Hurriyet Daily News, March 2, 2015
Turkish Comedian Arrested For Not Paying Court-Ordered Damages To Erdo─ƒan For Insulting Him
According to media reports, actor, director, and stand-up comedian Haldun Aciksozlu was arrested in Istanbul for failure to pay court-ordered damages of 6,000 Turkish lira to Erdo─ƒan for insulting him in 2011, when he was still prime minister; it was not the first time he was arrested in this matter.
The court order for damages, by the local court of the Central Anatolian province of Çorum, was later upheld by Higher Court of Appeals.
Dozens More Arrested, Charged With Insulting Erdo─ƒan
Dozens of people have been charged with the crime of insulting Erdo─ƒan in the last few months. On February 13, 2015, at nationwide protests, many students, mostly in their teens, were also arrested on charges of insulting Erdo─ƒan. The protests were held by teachers and students demanding secular and scientific education.[21]
Photo: CNNTurk, December 14, 2014
Police Raid Media Outlets Affiliated With Fethullah Gulen
On December 14, 2014, Turkish police launched a sweep of arrests of media figures, in addition to former chiefs of police, on charges of plotting a coup to overthrow the government. The Islamist Zaman daily was raided, and its editor-in-chief Ekrem Dumanl─▒ was detained, as cameras rolled and a crowd of supporters carried banners and chanted "A Free Press Cannot Be Silenced."
Samanyolu TV director Hidayet Karaca and a producer, a scriptwriter and a director were also arrested, on charges of "founding and directing an armed terror organization, being a member of said organization, and engaging in forgery and slander."
Zaman and Samanyolu are known for ties to U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah G├╝len,[22] once an ally and now the target of Erdo─ƒan and the AKP government. Government officials, pro-AKP media, and Erdo─ƒan fiercely attack the Gulen movement, which they call the "parallel structure," for "trying to overthrow the government via a coup" for its exposure of Turkey's largest ever corruption case that involved a number of former cabinet ministers, relatives, and Erdo─ƒan himself; the case broke in December 2013.[23]
The inauguration of the Gulen-affiliated Bank Asya in 1996, by then-MP Abdullah Gul (who would go on to be president, 2007-2014); then-prime minister Tansu Ciller; and then-Istanbul mayor Erdo─ƒan, with prayers and blessings. Photo: Cumhuriyet, February 4, 2015.
Government Seizes Gulen-Affiliated Bank
Following Erdo─ƒan's year-long smear and harassment campaign against Bank Asya, which was founded by followers of Gulen and opened to public in 1996, the government-run Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) seized control of it on February 3, 2015. This move was harshly criticized by Turkey's opposition parties and economic circles both domestic and foreign.[24]
It should be noted that the bank's opening ceremony, in October 1996 was attended by then-Istanbul mayor Erdo─ƒan, then-president Abdullah Gul, then-prime minister Tansu Ciller, and many other AKP officials, who at the time were members of the Islamist Refah Party of Erbakan.
Endnotes:
[1] Hurriyet, Zaman (Turkey), December 14, 2014
[2] Hurriyet Daily News, February 20, 2015. Asked what he thinks about the presidential system that President Erdogan wants to adopt, former Turkish president and cofounder of AKP Abdullah Gul challenged Erdogan's frequent statements demanding a presidency unique to Turkey, saying: "What kind of presidential system? It should not be a 'Turkish-style' presidential system." Gul said that it could be a presidency like in the U.S., with strong checks and balances. Additionally, Ergun Ozbudun, a leading legal scholar in Turkey, has warned that AKP's "super-presidential" system would lead to a one-man-rule. Hurriyet Daily News, March 2, 2015.
[3] Hurriyet, TodaysZaman, March 10, 2015.
[4] Hurriyet Daily News, TodaysZaman, March 10, 2015.
[5] Milliyet, March 10, 2015.
[6] Wall Street Journal, October 10, 2013; The Washington Post, October 16, 2013. The Wall Street Journal article stated that Fidan is Erdogan's implementer and the architect of Turkey's Middle East policies, and that it has secretly provided arms, money and logistical support to anti-Assad radical Islamist groups in Syria. It also said that Fidan had earlier shared with Iran crucial intelligence gathered by the U.S. and Israel. The Washington Post article, by David Ignatius, stated that then-prime minister Erdogan's Turkey had disclosed to Iranian intelligence the identities of 10 Iranians who had been meeting in Turkey with Israelis, and that this information had been collected by Fidan.
[7] Taraf (Turkey), March 11, 2015.
[8] On May 11, 2013, two car bombs killed over 50 and wounded 150 in the Turkish southern border town of Reyhanli. The AKP government was quick to blame the Syrian government for the attack, and imposed a news blackout on the incident; most Turkish opposition members blamed it on Syrian Islamist rebels, and on Turkey's Syria policy of actively supporting the rebels.
[9] On the night of December 28, 2011, Turkish air force warplanes bombed and killed 34 villagers in the Kurdish town of Roboski (Uludere) on the Turkey-Iraq border. The civilian villagers were Turkish citizens who were smuggling goods into Turkey. The AKP government said that the attack was due to an intelligence error that took the villagers for terrorists. There was a news blackout on the incident, and the file was closed without any prosecution. Journalists who criticized the government for its part in the massacre and for the subsequent cover up were prosecuted and sentenced to prison.
[10] On January 17, 2007, Turkish Armenian intellectual and journalist Hrant Dink was murdered on a busy street in Istanbul by a 17-year-old ultra nationalist who allegedly had ties and was led by security and military officials. The murder remains unsolved due to alleged cover-ups.
[11] Cumhuriyet (Turkey), April 20, 2014. Following local prosecutors' exposure of MIT trucks and buses carrying heavy armaments and ammunition across the border into Syria; the legal process was halted by order of then-prime minister Erdogan, the file was closed, and prosecutors and local security personnel were removed from their posts, and some were arrested. The AKP majority in parliament then passed a new MIT law, giving the organization extraordinary powers and protections; these were termed "Gestapo laws" by the opposition, jurists, and mainstream media, who accused the government of creating a mukhabarat [intelligence] state.
[12] Hurriyet Daily News (Turkey), March 5, 2015.
[13] Cumhuriyet, Hurriyet Daily News (Turkey), February 25, 2015.
[14] Milliyet, Hurriyet Daily News (Turkey), February 20, 2015.
[15] See The MEMRI Blog, AKP Government Sells Turkey's Second Largest Media Group To Calik Holding Whose General Manager Is PM Erdogan's Son In Law, December 6, 2007.
[16] Taraf (Turkey), February 25, 2015.
[17] Cumhuriyet, Todays Zaman (Turkey), February 26, 2015.
[18] Hurriyet Daily News, Zaman, February 25, 2015.
[19] DHA (Dogan News Agency) (Turkey), January 23 and 24, 2015.
[20] Hurriyet Daily News (Turkey), March 2, 2015.
[21] Milliyet, Hurriyet (Turkey), February 19, 2015.
[22] See MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis 375, The Upcoming Elections in Turkey (2): The AKP's Political Power Base, July 19, 2007.
[23] Hurriyet, Zaman (Turkey), December 14, 2014.
[24] Hurriyet Daily News, Zaman, February 4, 2015.
