‘Independent justice: a rare commodity?

AHMET HAKAN ahmethakan@hurriyet.com.tr

The president said, “Justice is independent.” Everybody was excited… Word went around, “A very courageous statement… the president has openly pointed out to the government.”

The president said, “The place to solve legal issues is no doubt the independent justice.” The ground rocked. “Is he? Is he? Is the president now taking sides?”

The president said, “We should refrain from the attitudes that damage independent justice.” Turkey is filled with assessments such as, “Wow. The president is truly fine-tuning the government.”

Do you see what has become of Turkey?

The sentence “Justice is independent,” which is one of the most cliché sentences on earth, has become the first sign of opposing the government.

The sentence, “The place to solve legal issues is no doubt the independent justice system,” which could have been considered as the utmost cliché up until yesterday, has become a symbol of criticizing the government.

Precatory words such as, “Let us not damage the independent justice system,” have become a sentence to fine-tune the government.

If the president had uttered a couple of more cliché sentences, the warriors fighting in the government ranks would have started chanting slogans, “The resident at Çankaya is an enemy of the national will.”
The year is 2014… The fact that the president has said “Justice is independent” is perceived as a “brave proclamation.”

How can a bigger disaster strike us?

Eight crazy questions for the Justice Minister

ONE: Will the court decision to freeze the assets of seven people in connection with the second corruption operation that was not carried out be implemented or not?

TWO: Are we or are we not going to continue calling our country “rule of law,” a place where court orders are not executed arbitrarily?

THREE: Is the verbal “thank you” the prime minister sent “over the ocean” after the Sept. 12 referendum, which was done to create the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) of today, still valid or not?

FOUR: Will you or will you not follow up on the claim of the former Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Şahin about “The imam of the Supreme Court of Appeals”?

FIVE: You are saying, “The prosecutor is so and so… The police are so and so…” Well, what do you say about the arrest warrants the court issued about the sons of cabinet ministers and the general manager? Is the court also a “deep state gang”? Will you or will you not answer this?

SIX: Is it fair or not that while the detainees and convicts at Silivri Prison can enjoy the right of unrestricted free visits from their relatives and friends only once a month, while the charitable businessman Reza is able to have visits from his family and friends as if he is not under arrest?

SEVEN: Is it or is it not a crime to send “shoe boxes” to the prime minister? What do you say to this as the Justice Minister?

EIGHT: After all of these debates and after all of these statements, can you tell us, the citizens: Are we going to trust this justice or not?

Ahmet Hakan is a columnist for daily Hürriyet, in which this piece was published on Jan 2. It was translated into English by the Daily News staff.