‘52 percent’ doesn’t change the constitution

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, “I do not find it proper that a president who is elected with 52 percent of the people’s vote and the institution of the presidency to become an issue of discussion.”

“Respect to the national will requires respect to this 52 percent. The nation has given this mission to the president,” he added.

This is the president’s familiar style of doing politics.

He never says the issue as it is. He defines an issue in a way that will make him look right.

And then he tries to prove he is right over the manipulated issue.

We need to correct this twisted perception so that the “national will” will not be deceived.

First of all, the issue of the discussion is not the institution of the presidency.

The issue we are debating is not who the president is or whether he deserves to be there or not.

The people chose Erdoğan in free elections and made him the president; no one should dare debate that.

The issue we are debating is for the president elected by the people’s vote to remain within the mandate delineated in the constitution that was accepted by the people’s votes. The issue we debate is the fact that he has not remained loyal to the oath that he took on his honor, instead, using all state means to organize rallies and ask for votes in favor of a political party. When he became a candidate, Erdoğan knew how the mandate and power of the president was defined by the constitution.

He knew when he became a candidate that he would take an oath to remain unbiased. The fact that 52 percent of the people voted for him does not change the constitution.

The fact that he said prior to his election that he “will be a different president, not biting but running,” does not change the constitution either.

If he wanted to become a super president, as he is trying to do now, what he was supposed to do was obvious.

He should have asked people to vote for him to change the constitution and, if he had gotten the vote, changed the constitution and then tried to be elected as president.

He did not do that. Now, he tries to convince people of the fact that being elected with 52 percent of the votes gives him the right to violate the constitution.

No, sir, it’s not like that. The people elected you according to the current constitution. If you don’t like that, then resign, enter politics, change the constitution and ask for the people’s consent to be reelected.

If you can’t do that, then abide by the constitution and remain loyal to your oath.

Taking an oath on one’s honor is still important for some of us.

The presents of the Saudi King

I read with great curiosity the interview with Ahmet Sever, the press adviser of former President Abdullah Gül published on Sunday, June 14.

Çınar Oskay, who did the interview, asked him this question:
 
“Mehmet Y. Yılmaz, in his column, has asked for years about the presents given by the King of Saudi Arabia. Why did Abdullah Gül not answer [his questions]?”

Sever answered, “He was angry at the way it was said. It was the first years of his presidency. There were already several attacks from all quarters. Whatever present he got, it was all taken to be given to the Abdullah Gül museum in Kayseri. All of it will be shown there. I don’t know what came from Saudi Arabia, but all have been registered and will be on display in the museum.”

Gül could not have been angry with my style because I did not insult him. I just asked a question.

Besides, I even have the right to be rude because the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights stipulates that civil authorities need to be tolerant to the heaviest criticism.

I asked a question and I continued to ask it each week when I did not get an answer. The law stipulates that any present received in these circumstances needs to be transferred to the treasury. 

There is no liberty in our laws that stipulate that once you get presents, you register them and display them at a museum.