Democracy For Sale

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) government has endorsed a bill that envisages drastic changes in the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) and the Code on Criminal Procedure (CMK).

The following outline in Today's Zaman explains what the bill entails for Turkish citizens:

“The government-introduced bill that envisages harsher penalties targeting any dissident movement by extending the scope of offenses and granting extensive powers to the police, is being harshly criticized for posing a threat to basic rights and freedoms and harming state-citizen ties, reminiscent of the period of martial law that Turkey previously experienced.

“The bill severely restricts the right of suspects and their attorneys to acquire information about the details of legal proceedings brought against them during the course of an ongoing investigation. The lack of access to the investigation file against their clients by the defense, either during the questioning by the police or the prosecutor, or during the arraignment hearings, will hamper the right to a fair trial or violate due process. The defense will only be able to see the evidence against suspects when the indictment is prepared and accepted by the court.

“The bill provides new and expansive powers to the already-controversial system of penal judges of peace, which was hastily introduced following graft probes that went public on Dec. 17 and 25 and implicated senior government officials.” (“Gov't perceives its citizens as threat, hurting state-citizen ties,” Oct. 16)

As expected, experts on the law have debated the details of the bill and most agree that the bill does not contribute anything to Turkish democracy. Even government officials agree that the bill is a reintroduction of a law passed 10 years ago in 2004.

It is obvious that the bill has two targets: to avoid possible street protests, which the government is most afraid of; and to conduct operations against the Hizmet movement as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan seeks to punish the movement's decision to not to bow before him.

Ever since Turkey lost its orientation in the last few years, its citizens have been expecting Erdoğan to do anything to tighten his control over the system and Turks.

He has established a media empire and silenced the opposition. He feeds his own businessmen with massive state investments. He established semi-official NGOs to support whatever he does. He even established his own religious network that aims to create a religious generation, a generation that think they believe in Allah but are more afraid of Erdoğan than they are of Allah.

Given the fact that the state and religion is so powerful in Turkey, the one who has control over the two power centers is able to do these kinds of social engineering projects to implement top-down modernization or religious projects.

Just like the Kemalists, Erdoğan too uses the state as an apparatus to impose his own worldview on Turkish society.

One of the reasons why Erdoğan believes he can do anything to harm democracy, ensure his longevity and impose his own vision on society is related to Turkey's strategic location. Just as Arab dictators use oil as a strategic asset to sell and in return, buy legitimacy from the West to support their dictatorship, Turkish dictators too use the country's strategic importance to sell to the West and in turn receive assurance for their attempts to harm democracy.

Unfortunately Erdoğan has also learned this dirty game of exchange between Turkey and the West. The West seeks assurances of their national interests and in return turn a blind eye to the eroding democracy in Turkey.

It is surely not a coincidence that Erdoğan and his associates are endorsing a bill taking away basic rights from Turks when Turkey is in negotiations with the West to use its strategic position against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

As expected, the West, especially the US, has so far remained silent against Erdoğan's proposed bill to eradicate the basic principles of democracy and freedom of speech.

All in all, democracy for sale in return for the assurance of Western interests…

EMRE USLU (Cihan/Today's Zaman)