Gül should return this law

President Abdullah Gül should ask for modifications or veto the new package of amendments in Turkey’s sports laws that contradict with public consciousness. His statement before he departed for Kyrgyzstan was applauded by all areas. The reason is very simple: These amendments in the laws concerning sports satisfy no one.

Although we have nicknamed it the “match-fixing law,” the majority of recent amendments concern other matters. Yet the public’s mind is still focused on the part of “match-fixing.”

There are a few important points I have had difficulty understanding from the outset.

1. Have those writing the law not noticed the abnormality of the punishments they have inserted?

2. Was the sports minister of the time only watching?

3. More importantly, why didn’t the sports clubs forward their objections on time instead of now provoking everyone to make amendments?

This much of a frivolity has not been seen.

Actually, there are such clauses in the law that would put club presidents and executive boards in a very difficult situation. These clauses should be changed for this reason.

But why now? Why did you not think about it before? If you are so frivolous, then you should bear the consequences, right?
The general public impression is the sports mafia has put pressure on the deputies to change the amendment package.
Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç has expressed his discomfort and has supported the president. Meanwhile, Justice and Development Party (AKP) Spokesperson Hüseyin Çelik has withdrawn his support of the amendments.

 After such reactions, it should not be expected that President Gül endorse the package as it is. It will most likely be returned from Çankaya.

[HH] Hopefully Syrian sanctions will work Turkey did not hold a major sanction power anyway. As a matter of fact, the nine item sanctions series Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has announced will not cause Bashar al-Assad to fall. It will only increase the inconvenience, but an important message will be given. These sanctions can easily be met by Iran and Russia.

When looked from this point of view, Ankara’s last steps are more of a symbolic feature. The really painful sanctions, such as cutting off the water and stopping the transfer of electricity, cannot be used because it would make the people miserable. These sanctions are equal to the deterrence power of a nuclear bomb. You may use it, but it would destroy everything, damaging you also and you would be unable to carry on.
My only hope is that international sanctions will work so that this file is closed before reaching the stage of military intervention against the al-Assad regime. A military intervention would not only hurt al-Assad, it would also injure us. It would strengthen Turkey’s relations with the West, but it would leave an extremely bad taste among the Arab public.

[HH] Dersim file opened thanks to political polemics The Dersim debate was initially regarded as an Erdoğan-Kılıçdaroğlu polemic. The AKP leader was believed to have acted to corner and weaken the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). As the polemic widened, public attention turned to the Dersim incident. Until a short while ago, Dersim was known about, but its details were not very much spoken about. When the prime minister said the incident was grave enough to demand an apology, Pandora’s Box was opened.

Many books, articles and even documentary films have been made on the topic of Dersim. Despite this, they did not draw much attention. There was a weird shyness. Speaking about Dersim was seen to be equivalent to supporting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Well, the recent debates have dispersed such an atmosphere.

For the first time, what was experienced was considered and witnesses were asked to talk. We have involuntarily entered a process of encountering our past. If you are careful, you will see the public has faced this development with maturity. It should not stop there.

It brings comfort to societies to come to terms with its past and to talk about the rights and wrongs. This neither threatens the country’s integrity not demoralizes it.