Talking about deriving different meanings

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the referendum will be a response to the July 15 coup attempt. “The position of naysayers is taking sides with July 15. Nobody should derive a different meaning from this,” he said. In my opinion, nobody should derive a different meaning from this too. Saying “No” is not being a terrorist, or cooperating with the Fethullahist coup plotters. “No” has only one meaning: It is considering that it is wrong; the government system trying to be introduced with these constitutional changes - that’s it. With the 18-article constitutional package, Turkey will transform into a one-man administrated party state.

 This president will appoint all state administrators, if he or she wants and will be able to form new provinces or merge them. The civil servants appointed by this president will act like a member of the party. Turkey knows this from past single-party eras. Very few people who have lived those days are now alive, but we all know what was experienced then. The party affiliated president will select his or her own vice presidents, and these people selected will replace the president when necessary and use his or her powers. Can, in any democracy, somebody appointed, be allowed to use governing powers? The cabinet ministers selected by the party-linked president will not be able to be controlled by the parliament.

The parliament will not be able to hold any minister accountable. In an order where the monitoring power of the parliament is removed, can one talk about the will of the people dominating everything? The party-affiliated president will select members of the Constitutional Court and the Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK). This board made up of members selected by the president will appoint the party affiliated high judges. The Supreme Court of Appeals and the Council of State will be under the command of the political party.  Can there be such separation of powers?

The party affiliated president will rule the country with decrees without any need of laws to be processed by the parliament. When he or she declares a state of emergency, they will be able to suspend our individual rights and freedoms. Can so much power be given to one person? Why do we elect the parliament? Opposing them does not mean being a terrorist or a coup-lover. Whoever wants to, can say “No” or “Yes.” Nobody should derive different meanings other than the true aim of the vote.

Cyclist at the Eurasia tunnel A 22-year-old who drove his bicycle across the newly opened Eurasia tunnel was fined 294 Turkish Liras. The cyclist, İsmail Özman, recorded images from a camera that was perched on his cask while he was cycling. He shared them on social media, which is how he was caught by the police. If he had only cycled past and not shared his recordings, then nobody would have known about this. This means there is a serious security gap in the Eurasia tunnel.

Before its opening, it was told that the tunnel was to be monitored 24 hours with an active camera system. It was said that special motorized teams would patrol the tunnel. But we have seen that a cyclist was able to enter and exit the tunnel without anybody noticing him. No doubt there are all kinds of tools and equipment for the safety of such a tunnel. I want to believe that after this incident, those shortcomings in the security measures of the tunnel have been reviewed.