How can we believe him after all those lies?

It was said that the phone conversation said to have occurred between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his son was “technically edited.”

My sincere opinion on this subject: I hope that this phone conversation is one that has been technically edited.

Because the disclosure that a prime minister is involved in such relations means the collapse of many things I believe in. As a preconception, I do not believe that politicians of that level are involved in such relationships; I do not want to believe it. But real life makes me think that my beliefs are naïve. I remember the story of the liar shepherd who nobody believes because of his previous lies.

 “They battered my headscarf-wearing sister in Kabataş. We have images,” he said. But there is no such thing. What the woman has been saying has been proved untrue, but the prime minister continues to cry out the same lie in town squares.

“They drank alcohol in the mosque. We have images,” he said. Such an image has yet to be presented. The imam who said it was not true is now suffering all kinds of experiences. But he still insists on the same lie.

At Uludere, people were bombed and killed because of an “intelligence mistake.” “We are using all our means to enlighten the event,” he said. The incident was covered up. Nothing has been enlightened.
He said he had given orders to the person he trusts the most, the undersecretary of the National Intelligence Organization (MİT), to disclose the gang who stole the KPSS exam questions. To this day, nothing has been revealed.

For the villas “with sprinklers” in Urla in İzmir province, he said “these have been there for 30 years.” It was found out that they were not even there last year.

Now, he says, “That phone conversation was technically edited.”

Well, good, but how can I believe you after so many lies?

In the end, even the PM needs it 

We are face to face with a scandal to an extent unprecedented in the history of the republic. The phones of thousands of people were intercepted. No law, no regulation has been respected.

And those who are accused of doing this are the same people who are responsible for law enforcement: Judges and prosecutors. These people are the ones that we, the ordinary people, believe would protect rights and be just.

On the other hand, a series of mind-blowing phone conversations have been posted. Conversations between the prime minister and his children that make even the listener ashamed.

Those prosecutors who have been accused of eavesdropping on thousands of people on the grounds that they are members of a made-up terror organization, are now saying, “We did no such thing; this should be investigated immediately.”

The prime minister who is claimed to have conducted embarrassing chats with his children, says, “No such conversation took place; these are a montages.”

We have to acknowledge the truth of the declaration, and unless the opposite is proven, everybody is innocent.

In this case, the prosecutors have an easy job! If there is an investigation, if the crime is proved, then the prosecutors will be punished. If there is no evidence, nobody can say anything to the prosecutors. As a matter of fact, the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) has started an investigation.
But the prime minister’s job is not so easy.

He will not be investigated. He passed a law to make the judiciary report to him. He made the prosecutors and judges unable to move.

Now, there is no possibility of an investigation into him that anybody would trust. For this reason, he will not be able to convince anybody that these conversations are a product of “technical editing,” except for those who obey him unquestioningly.

When we were saying, “independent judiciary,” we meant exactly this. I’m not so sure if he has understood now how valuable that is for a person.

But it is still not too late. Let him withdraw his hand from the judiciary and let this conversation be investigated properly so that all of us learn the truth.

Mehmet Y. Yılmaz is a columnist for daily Hürriyet in which this piece was published on Feb 26. It was translated into English by the Daily News staff.