Turkish President Gül, Parliament Speaker Çiçek meet in emergency summit

ANKARA

With few prospects for the defusing of the political tensions which are affecting the functions of the state, Turkey’s top two officials, President Abdullah Gül and Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek got together Jan. 10 in an unannounced meeting. The meeting took place upon the President’s call. 

Both leaders have already announced their uneasiness with ongoing political fight between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Fethullah Gülen community or the Hizmet Movement that erupted following a massive corruption and graft operation. 

Both Gül and Çiçek have issued statements for the resolution of the problem as the former assigned a columnist for the daily Star, Fehmi Koru, to act as a mediator. 

The meeting came on the day a parliamentary commission started to debate a bill that curbs the authority of a key high judicial board at the expense of undermining the judiciary’s independence. 

In recent days, Çiçek was very loud in his criticisms of political and legal inability to resolve problems. “The independence of the courts has collapsed,” he said last week.