Where is the independence of the judiciary?

The president of the Turkish Bar Associations, Prof. Metin Feyzioğlu, visited Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and with that visit the ice between the two was broken.

Well done. The president’s stance at the beginning was wrong. The incident had taken place when he was still prime minister. He had walked out of a meeting, followed by the president, where Feyzioğlu was talking. That was not appropriate.

The stance of then President Abdullah Gül was weird as well. The prime minister enters into a war of words with a speaker at a meeting where the state is represented by the president; the prime minister walks out of the room, while the president follows him in a rush to catch up to him!

Gül had a problem filling that seat. Now let’s see if anyone can dare enter into a war of words with the president!

At any rate, following the warming of the weather, it was decided to have a ceremony for the opening of the judicial year. The place for the ceremony is the palace at Beştepe!

It is impossible to assume that such a location was decided due to security concerns. 

The president travels each day to the same place, addresses crowds and there is no security problem. That’s why I am skeptical about the location. 

The independence of the judiciary is a prerequisite of democracy, as admitted by the elites of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) after the coup attempt. 

Who is the president? The head of the executive. He says himself that he is one step ahead of the prime minister, who is the head of the executive. Cabinet meetings take place in his presence.

What then does it mean to have “the opening ceremony of the judicial year under the patronage of the president?”

Will this year’s opening be a milestone of the passage from “a judiciary in line with the executive” to “a judiciary under the orders of the executive?”

The race among religious cults

When Efkan Ala became the interior minister, 74 of the 81 provincial security heads were loyal to Fethullah Gülen.

At the same time, 6,500 of the 7,000-strong police apparatus were loyal to Gülen.

Ala became minister after the Dec. 17 and Dec. 25, 2013, operations, designated as a milestone by the government. So he might not see himself as responsible. 

Yet, the head of the security department when all of this was taking place was the current governor of Ankara. Does this mean that Mr. Governor was not aware of what was going on at that time? This is mystery to me. And I have heard that he is currently very influential in the appointments within the Interior Ministry. And I see that the (religious) criterion of “he prays” remains valid in replacing the Gülen sect, which was allowed to get stronger with the same criterion. Currently the new form of criteria is: “Does he pray? Which religious sect is he a member of?”

Currently there is a war of dominance about different religious sects in the ministry. This is now the conversation in Ankara: “Which religious sect will gain dominance in the ministries?”

In short, there is still no meritocracy. 

Next thing we will see the disruption of the alliance between the government and another religious sect; thousands suspended, fired, their property seized.

And the responsible party will again be: “The higher mind, the United States, Amnesty International, the EU, Manchester United, the airport lobby, etc.”